There used to be really robust discussion on the forum, and over the last 6 months or so it seems to have really dried up. I’m not saying there’s nothing left, but it’s nowhere near like how it was a year ago, let alone 2 years ago.
Having a strong forum is one of the selling points for a 3D printer, so it’s not without possible consequence. There has to be a certain critical mass, or things tend to fizzle out even more
Maybe all the issues are already “settled” to whatever degree their going to be? Maybe everything now works so well that everyone’s fat dumb and happy? Maybe AI is now good enough that it has replaced regular discourse?
I kind of agree with you. I am not sure what the cause of this is. I see that there are many new topics posted every day. I also think not too many of the new users know about forums. I have had my Bambu printer for almost a year, and I just recently learned that forums existed.
I stopped using AI for a while, and that caused me to discover forums. Another thing I have noticed is that the culture on forums can be a little harsh at times. Most people look out for one another and help others when they have issues. But occasionally, someone says something they think is funny, but the other person takes offense at it. Also… I have had some encounters where asking questions was met with some rude and unhelpful forum activity. Those responses made me want to go back to using AI, which is a lot more understanding. I am also the type of person to ask several related questions at once. I know this can get extremely repetitive, but I think it is a part of the learning curve. I found that AI was much more patient.
Thank you for starting this thread. You have been on it for a lot longer than I have, so it is very cool to see your perspective on this.
I would have to agree here. I myself am brand new to Bambulab, have had gotten my printer from them just a couple months ago, and the only reason I know that this forum exists is because I randomly saw a link to it on the sidebar in makerworld and decided to click on it. I would say that most of the Bambulab community isn’t here mostly just because they don’t know it exists.
Absolutely. When I first saw forums, I thought it was a new thing from Bambu Labs, but as it turns out, it has existed for quite a while. @BambuLab, perhaps it could be marketed more on Maker World and on the Bambu Lab site. I think having a vibrant community would attract a lot of people to the brand. I know that the 24/7 online support was one of the reasons I went with Bambu Lab.
I found the forums pretty quickly but I purposefully searched them out knowing that most hobbies have forums of some kind.
I don’t have facebook, I don’t have twitter or reddit, I rarely use AI unless if is a very specific calculation type thing I need, and I also have a son that prints but lives in another country so I needed a community to throw questions at.
I agree it is pretty quiet here in comparison to other forums but I have found most people to be very kind and helpful. A long time ago when I was young forums I went to were ruthless and nasty… you really needed to drink concrete and harden up.
I agree with you on that. A while back, I made a post encouraging beginners to be helpful to one another, and that AI is helpful. I mentioned that some were not kind and put others down… they ended up shutting down that thread because my comment made them angry. My comment was a little chippy… but the intention was to warn others and make sure they know that they have a positive community behind them… some people did not like that.
Conversations are getting more bland, over discussed, or flat out stupid. There are more people that have the only goal to complain. There are more people that their only goal is to be right.
@PrinterMcgee is a mod now. Possibly made a new account for normal posting
Theres about 6 people that sit on the forum 24/7 and crap on people. Call conversations stupid etc. Possibly part of the issue. Very anti customer, pro corp attitudes lately.
And its allowed by the mods.
I recently got a ban for flagging a few of them. The notice basically said I was wasting mods time by pointing out the rule breakers
Yeah, totally, like the other day I was trying to express my favorite 3d printer, but some dude had a huge stick up his back side about it and dogged on me. I have no idea why he decided to take issue with me.
To me, seems like there’s more trolls roaming under the bridges than before. Most with attitudes like their point is THE point and have an axe to grind with BL.
I’ve noticed more have the same “issues” and describe themselves as having the same qualifications or skills. Sock puppets I suppose.
With all due respect to Jon, I think they’re allowed to roam too freely and for too long. It’s one thing to have a disagreement over a topic, it’s another to bring a spear and look for reasons to cause arguments.
I’ve blocked more and more weekly. The childish stomping and demanding to get their way gives me a headache. Most things give me a headache though.
R3d-Five, Josh-3D and MashMaster are spot on. There is a strong presence of a few individuals that frankly make it not worth the time to even engage because it will end up being drowned out by the noise. It is unfortunate that you can find better engagement on Reddit which is notorious for being a trolls paradise than here.
You’ve always claimed this. In your eyes disagreement is impossible without swearing allegiance to BL. Many of use our printers daily without issue. Because we are happy does not mean we are shills. Just as you being unhappy doesn’t mean we are all against you. Feel free to have your opinion and allow others to have theirs. I’ve taken to trying to get along with you and yet you still throw shade. Just as you did yesterday to Josh.
Because I like my printer, and because I see problems with arguments does not mean I’m anit-consumer. It means I disagree with you and whomever. If you can’t handle that and need to color it black and white I think the issue lies internally with you, not us. I respect your opinions until you start slinging thinly veiled insults (or just flat out insults) because you feel slighted.
Same argument you’ve always had. Again you carry this chip on your shoulders and no matter how much someone points it out you keep going. I’ve tried in PMs to reach out to you, you were rude. I’ve tried getting along with you publicly, hasn’t worked.
You see dragons where there are windmills. You have some interesting and valid points that, at times, lend positively to conversations. You ruin them (and I’ve told you this before) when a disagreement comes and you start blaming the mods for not acting when there’s nothing to act on.
Again, dude chill. You were reprimanded, just move on. Many of us have been, we just accept it, keep it private and move on. @JonRaymond is not out to get you. I’m not against you. No one I’ve seen is out to get you, so just chill.
This is what kind of struck me. I realized that MeshMaster is StreetSports. You know, and we’ve got into it in the past, but I thought we buried that hatchet and moved on. So like, where is this coming from? Why are we still trying to grind this axe?
These divides just splinter the community, and there’s no reason for it. We need to stop banging our heads against the trees and work to chop down the barriers that turn this into an “us vs them”. This angst is causing our little community to wilt. We’re all part of the same forest here though, and we can all flourish in it if we stop fighting.
We need to clear cut this non-sense already. This community can bloom into something beautiful, if we take care of it.
