One thing that sets this forum off from the others is the constant preoccupation with fakes. I can ignore those threads, but those threads give the visitor a false impression of Montblanc fountain pen afficiandos as largely paranoid status-conscious nerds. They may be right.

In any event, the fakes are a problem. With a fakes subforum, hundreds if not thousands of warnings could be posted about eBay sellers, listings, Asian sources and whatnot, each with an easily searchable topic title, while not flooding the main forum with them. Then when any of us want to check on a seller or post a query about a particular listing, it'll be easily found.

What say you?

Fred

P.S. The title for the subforum could be: The Sincerest Form of Flattery

Thanks Fred for the wonderful idea. I would vote a yes for sure. Mod, what say you?

Great idea! I whole-heartedly agree.

I agree that this would help sort the Montblanc Forum. A good idea, I hope we can get it.

I say yes.

[quote name='FredRydr' date='Jul 24 2008, 02:57 PM' post='680604']
One thing that sets this forum off from the others is the constant preoccupation with fakes. [\quote]

if fakes is such a great proccupation with the forum then why would adding a subforum improve anything. a new viewer would see that MB reuires a subforum about fakes to cement the preoccupotion with them.

And who would read to make sure that all reports of fakes are true?

True, but it would make the main forum more readable without having to slog through the many threads about eBay fakes, unscrupulous sellers and people asking if this pen/box/advert is legitimate.

I was thinking about suggesting a Sticky thread in the MB forum for this. A subforum would be an even better idea.

But if fakes are the main topic why segperate it into a sub-sub forum? I think a step back and a quick counting of the first page showing 45 posts with 1 being about fakes...2% of the total is enough for a newer forum???

There have been several times over the past few months in which 'fakes' posts were the top six or seven of ten entries on the front page. We never seem to cover any new ground with those posts. Posters are referred to any of the references listed in the important topics section, and more specifically to the fake pens section of fountainpen.de, and there are 13 pages of postings one could thoroughly research. Sometimes it's easier to ask the question about authenticity, but I suspect several regular posters have stopped responding to these numerous queries.

As I look further at this, I think you're right. I counted 10 'fakes' entries on the front page and six on the second page. Maybe they just seem prevalent.

Because it has become tedious and boring. When I see yet another is my eBay purchase a fake? I have to roll my eyes skyward and wonder whether the poster has read any of the prior posts warning of buying Montblancs from various sources, including eBay.


Come on, you know that's not valid. When this thread began there were more than that, and the thread may have even headed some off. Step even further back, such as to the last time this was raised in response to a solid block of "fake Montblanc" posts taking up most of the top ten, plus more.

In any event, such a simple count isn't going to resolve the issue one way or the other. It's more of a gut revulsion at seeing the same thing over and over and feeling enough is enough. It's not that it isn't a real problem; it is. Since it is, let's give it the space it needs.

If, as you suggest, fakes are the main topic, perhaps the name of this forum should honestly say so. Then the Waterman and Sheaffer and Parker people can have their chuckle without even coming into the forum. (That's sarcasm.)

Fred (owner of several MBs and got a brand new WE last week, too)

Despite the joking, fakes aren't the most-discussed topic here. I believe that honor belongs to the MB Writers Edition pens.

Unfortunately, making a subforum just for posts about fake MBs will make more work, for mods who have to police all the threads for new users who don't know that they need to post about fakes only in the fakes forum, for threads that started with non-fakes topics that wander into discussion of fakes, and then more moderation will probably be needed in the fakes forum to make sure that legitimate sellers aren't getting slandered there.

It might make sense to look at this from a different angle. This is a very busy and successful Montblanc forum, and there aren't many MB-specific forums on the web. We have a fairly large group of people with all kinds of MB expertise and who are located in places all over the world. The people asking about fakes are coming to us for our expertise, and a number of them are staying and joining the non-fakes conversations once they get the hang of spotting the fakes. We're making more experts here..

Well, no one is for that. Perhaps a sticky Fakes FAQ to hit the repetitious fake issues. No, that's no good, because I never read stickies myself! I suppose I'll just have to go buy a fake on eBay and join the chorus. I wonder when the counterfeit Shaw will become available?

Fred

I think that a subforum for fakes is overdoing it. Not only does it require more Moderator attention, but the folks who can best help determine whether a pen is a fake are the ones on the specific forums (keep in mind that Parker Sonnets have this problem as well). Fortunately, nobody needs to open and look at a thread if they don't want to read about it. If FPN (actually, its members, such as Axel) is doing a great service in helping people figure out whether they are fakes, that's a good thing. A "Fakes" forum, IMO, would not do the same since it would marginalize that topic and probably the service we provide to people concerned about this would diminish.

Erick