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Forum personality types: Not officially part of the DSM


HonestOpinion
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Most of us agree it is important to discuss and encourage innovation. Hopefully with as little rancor as possible. There does seem to be a few different camps of people on the forum when it comes to technology advancement requests and new ideas in general. Feel free to add your own I know I have overlooked a few. I think many of us move from one camp to the other depending on the day:


"Glum" = Part pragmatist, part realist, part depressive. Often but not necessarily an engineer (and certainly not all engineers), or practical minded sort, long on solid procedural talent, short on creativity, and highly averse to change, there is almost nothing that does not already exist on the Helix that they can envision as remotely desirable. If it is not in there already as far as they are concerned it shouldn't be. He/she can be instrumental as a first line of defense against the worst ideas for changes and contrary to their group's name can make us all happy by reminding us that the device we have already is the best design that could possibly have been imagined and absolutely nothing would make it any better.

"The Dreamer" = This guy read just a little too much science fiction and Tolkien as a kid (who are we kidding, still continues to), and listened to Bowie's "Changes" just a few too many times. Their imagination is always in maximum overdrive and they would prefer a weekly firmware update. This is your manic type with two or three types of ADD as well as ADHD, a prescription to Adderall that they neglected to take and they are on their fifth cup of coffee for the day. They never met an idea, no matter how outlandish, expensive or expansive, time-consuming, unnecessary, etc. that they did not like. They are lucky to have a 50/50% ratio of good ideas to bad at best although mileage may vary. When the ideas are good they can be visionary. This person's ideas can result in paradigm shifts and major improvements to the product when they have merit and get implemented. They are also the ones who may have a difficult time appreciating what is already "in the box" and may not have taken the time to examine its contents. This leads them to passionately entreat the powers that be for features that already exist. They are just moving too fast, are on to new changes before the latest can be digested, and are particularly annoying to the "Glum" type of forum user.

"Night Templar" = Demonstrating fanatical devotion bordering on the theological, this protector of the faith sees every request no matter how reasonable to be an attack on Line6. They tirelessly defend the faith by shooting down every new idea or stating categorically that it is impossible, too hard, too expensive, or would divert development resources from the status quo. They refuse to acknowledge a bug and view them all as "features" even if it means they are staring at a blank screen on a device that produces nothing but a buzzing sound. Often classified as "fan-bois" they can help put the brakes on bad ideas, explain, defend, and justify the implementation on well-designed existing features, and often demonstrate extensive product knowledge as, to them, the manual and current feature set is an immutable holy text handed down by the gods to be studied for a minimum of ten to twelve hours a day and committed to memory. They can also show a glaring lack of objectivity and are particularly annoying when something is broken and needs to be fixed. Conversely they protect us from those who would fix something that ain't broke.

"Ordinary Joe" = This is probably the most ubiquitous forum user. He/she may be a busy musician, have many other hobbies, interests and responsibilities, and otherwise has limited bandwidth for the forum. Occasionally makes suggestions for improvements that tend to be easily attainable, but usually only bother when they are features of relatively high importance to the way they use the Helix. They peruse the forum for tips and are generally content to let Line6 make whatever improvements they see fit on whatever timetable Line6 chooses. They tend to either remain silent or be supportive of other's ideas and make reasonable requests when their interests align, all in a tone that offends no one. We can all be grateful for these paragons of patience, restraint, courtesy, and rationality.

"The Troll" = Self explanatory, this guy is a trouble-maker, mixer, lover of conflict and turmoil, or maybe just a fan-boi of or worse yet affiliated with a competing product. They probably don't even own a Helix. They are best left unanswered or diverted as they create a vacuum that can suck all oxygen, meaningful dialogue, and even the will to live out of the room.

"The Vulture" = Lurks in the metaphorical trees above and loves to pick other's ideas apart like a piece of carrion but rarely contributes any idea of their own preferring to preside over and accelerate the swift death of nascent potential developments/fiascos and feast on the remains. Some would argue they occupy a critical niche in the forum ecosystem by removing the detritus of ideas that are either dead on arrival or decaying slowly. They can be a problem however when they band together and gang up on a healthy living idea.

"The Technical Genius" = This guy loves ideas for their own sake. No implementation is too complex, no routing scheme or cabling monstrosity is a river too wide. They have auditioned over a thousand IRs, although they prefer to create their own, and are laboring on networking their Helix to NASA and a supercomputer. This forum member had at least five patents pending and three chess championships under their belt by the age of nine. They live for obfuscation and puzzle solving to fend off the madness that would otherwise surely ensue from the sheer monotony of applying Occam's razor to any problem. Their suggestions can result in ingenious possibilities who's only drawback is that they require advanced degrees in physics and aeronautics as well as a team of rocket scientists and several days worth of setup time to employ. They are also an invaluable resource and the ones who most often solve the truly challenging technical questions on the forum, come up with bug fixes on their own, post the most interesting if sometimes indecipherable explanations, and generally educate the rest of us on how to achieve some of the trickier setups.

"Agenda Guy" = This one-trick pony quite possibly suffering from OCD is firmly fixated for extended periods of time on only one issue. For them no number of posts regarding their pet project is excessive and there is no topic that cannot somehow be construed as relating to their object of desire. They are the very definition of tiresome but it is their single-minded perseverance when all others have lost hope that can be instrumental in keeping a good idea or necessary fix in the conversation and eventually maybe even get it addressed.

"Lazy, Busy, or New Guy" = This guy may lack the energy, initiative, or perhaps just the time to properly research what has already been covered extensively in the forum. Alternatively they may just be late to the party and the prospect of reviewing potentially thousands of posts is just too daunting. It is safe to say that this type is often not a prodigy when it comes to using search engines. They consistently find it easier (for them) to post a question anew than to check the 25 previous threads that have already covered it exhaustively. They do provide some utility in that sometimes they revive a topic that needs further examination, leads to further illumination, or the circumstances have changed since the topic was first discussed. "New Guy" of course is critical to the growth of the forum,  provides fresh ideas, usually moves quickly into one or more of the above groups, and without them there would be no new and entertaining user names.

"Your Type Here..." =

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I'll add one, but this applies mainly to other forums, Facebook, YouTube, and online retailer review sections:

"Poorly Hidden Competitor's Shill" = Despite the requirement that corporate affiliations must be made public, pretends to have "just popped in because they're sooo excited about [Product X]!" Posts only in threads about their company's product. For some reason, has information about [Product X] that no one else seems to have, and when confronted about it, claims to have "inferred it from watching three videos over and over." Loves to spread misinformation. On Facebook, claims to love their [Product X] and all their friends love their [Product X], even though [Product X] isn't even shipping in their part of the world.

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...and the guy who really enjoyed his Psych 101 course 27 years ago, and proceeds to "diagnose" (with overly broad, slow news day AP article-style psychobabble) every poor schmuck who wanderers up to his window at the DMV. ;)

 

LOL!  I think I may have veered into that lane at high speed with this topic.  ;)

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Btw, not trying to offend, judge, or pigeonhole anyone, just attempting to provide some diversion over a holiday weekend. I have personally been a member of most of those categories at one time or another. Most forum users reflect less extreme versions of the characteristics listed for these groups. A bit of exaggeration was employed for entertainment value. It's all good!  :P

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"The Tube Snob" - Maintains that tube amps are vastly superior to digital modelers and that any good audio engineer (such as himself, who has watched a few course advertisement videos on Full Sail's web site) can easily pick the modeler out of a comparison clip.  Despite their qualifications, they can't pick the modeler out of the comparison clips.  Complains that a modeler will never sound like an "amp in the room".  Milder cases may admit that modelers are 98% of the way there but lack that 2% that make tube amps tubey.  Doesn't own a modeler.  Monitors tone from their amps from 4 feet above the speakers and complains of "fizz" in recordings of digital modelers.  Once tried a Vox ToneLab because it was the only modeler with a tube in it.  Didn't like it, but proclaims it as the "best" of the modeling bunch.  Occasionally shows up in forums to remind modeling users how wrong they are.  Frequently asked by sound guy to turn down.

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"The Tube Snob" - Maintains that tube amps are vastly superior to digital modelers and that any good audio engineer (such as himself, who has watched a few course advertisement videos on Full Sail's web site) can easily pick the modeler out of a comparison clip. Despite their qualifications, they can't pick the modeler out of the comparison clips. Complains that a modeler will never sound like an "amp in the room". Milder cases may admit that modelers are 98% of the way there but lack that 2% that make tube amps tubey. Doesn't own a modeler. Monitors tone from their amps from 4 feet above the speakers and complains of "fizz" in recordings of digital modelers. Once tried a Vox ToneLab because it was the only modeler with a tube in it. Didn't like it, but proclaims it as the "best" of the modeling bunch. Occasionally shows up in forums to remind modeling users how wrong they are. Frequently asked by sound guy to turn down.

Lmao... well done! 😂

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While I will say I miss my amp in the room sound. I did take a drive to Sweetwater and spent the day on a ton of amps. Took a couple home. Sounded awesome. There it was again.

 

And then I decided to do the text.

 

I put the amps in another room. Put various mics on them. Went back to the studio and ran everything through the PA system. A/B comparison of the mics vs the helix only able to hear the PA.... I ended up returning the amps. Liked the helix more.

 

To be far - Amps I have owned:

JVM 410H and C

Carvin VT50

Dt50 2x112 combos, head, 212 combo

Mesa Mark V 90w

Mesa Roadkind v1

Blackstar Series One 1046L6

Fender rock pro 1000 (I was young, first half stack)

A few other solid states.

 

I like the helix. While that isn't a huge collection of tube amps it's enough to know the difference.

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I do feel like I fall into a few categories here:

 

The Dreamer

 

Technical genious (I only use genious because it was used... I would say tech guy when it comes to the circles I am in. To say genious I would need to already know all the things. Would like to keep an attitude of learning to avoid "the dunning Kruger effect")

 

Lazy, busy, new guy

 

Ordinary Joe

 

Agenda Guy - just because it says OCD.

 

I think the dreamer and tech genious play hand in hand. Need to come up with the outlandish ideas before moving on to execution. 😉

 

Troll would be fun to pursue one day. Perhaps when an old grumpy man.

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"The Golden Ear" - Hears nuances in amp tones that nobody else can hear.  Will frequently deride the auditory ability of anyone that doesn't hear the same thing.

 

"The Peter Player" - Similar to the business phenomenon known as "The Peter Principle", this "guitarist" has been promoted beyond his ability, by sheer size of his income, into owning multiple boutique amps, all of the top end modelers, and a dozen or so high dollar guitars...all despite a demonstrated lack of ability to play, yet with seemingly unlimited time to impart his unique viewpoint on guitar gear forums.  This is differentiated of "Bedroom Guitar Syndrome" as the forum dweller doesn't actually play guitar in their bedroom but has a dedicated "studio" space in their dwelling, and also because Bedroom Guitarists might have actual chops.  Moderate to severe Peter Players will also never have played in a band or with others, and may have YouTube channels dedicated to high end gear reviews.

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