New Guy disillusioned with WA

I just came over from the Wine Advocate to see what Berserkers is all about. I subscribed to the WA for 20 years, but things have really deteriorated since Parker sold out. Reviewers come and go with little consistency. Worse, their bulletin board which used to be my favorite thing, has really gone down hill. It used to be vibrant and full of information. Now there’s just a handful of people posting and it can be 2 or 3 days between postings. I wonder, are there are others here that have had the same experience at the Wine Advocate?

pretty much everyone
hi mark good to see you here!

Occasionally a WBer who subscribes to WA makes the same observation. Most of us packed up when eBob went subscription only and have never looked back.

Did someone just open a time capsule from 2010?

This.

And funny that they never looked back and changed course. They just ran their once very solid BB into the ground.

Mark, you have a lot to catch up on… did you hear the Cubs won the series? :wink:

Welcome! [berserker.gif]

Very sad. Wonder what RP is up to these days in his semi-retirement? I wonder if he regrets the direction things went after he sold out, or is he chuckling all the way to the bank? whatever you think of the man, he had his impact. I wonder how long the entire Wine Advocate Brand will even be sustainable. Vinous seems to have passed them in the fast lane these days although i am not a subscriber there.

Welcome, Mark! That WA board has been dead for a long time. There’s plenty of action here. Of course, it’s the internet, so there’s some nonsense that’s worth ignoring, but mostly it’s good conversation and a lot of great information.

Walls are funny. East Germany used to say the Wall was to keep people safe from the west, but of course the truth was that the wall was to keep people from leaving for the west.

Maybe they needed more tanks and barbed wire when they built the wall around the ebob forum.

I will always have fond memories of that board. It was certainly a ‘launching point’ into meeting so many wonderful people - both ITB and wine consumers. Back in its heyday, it was tremendous - and the number of threads that had winemakers / winery owners / distributors / wine reps / store owners involved was mind-boggling. Parker himself would step in from time to time to many of the threads.

This place is quite different indeed - but so much more active than the current Ebob boards. Winemaker involvement is not as great, and things tend to go off the rails here a bit more often than any of us would probably wish, but the diversity of wines discussed really is impressive - and the ability to attend offlines/events is awesome.

I pretty much meet folks from he board on a weekly basis - whether it be at a tasting I am part of (as I did this week in Pasadena) or at my tasting room in Los Olivos (got a PM this morning from someone dropping by this afternoon). I cherish those chance meetings - and hope to continue to interact online and in person with as many Berserkers as possible.

Welcome, take part in the discussions when you can, and don’t be afraid to offer up alternative views . . .

And as far as walls go, many have tried it elsewhere on the web and unless there is something so compelling that you ‘can’t live without it’, it simply does not work. That said, that was not the reason that board ‘failed’ - it had more to do with stifling alternative viewpoints (and, in all honesty, lots of nastiness on the part of posters there as well).

Cheers.

Hmm. My analogy works there too!

[stirthepothal.gif] [pillow-fight.gif] Start here!
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=29718&hilit=Bashing+thread

This should be a HBS case study once it tanks on how to tank a business. Ignore your customer base and adamantly come up with reasons they are all wrong. Lack of integration with CT, one of the best tools in our hobby, when the others have done it. Revolving door of reviewers. When the talent leaves it speaks to the culture and leadership. Turning the one time best bulletin board into a joke. Watching the posting go down to what you can count on one hand. Watching one member after another leave many with their subscriber-ship. There was a recent thread there saying that the board is not important to the business. I wonder what the change in subscribers has been.
There are still good reviewers there and a few loyal posters but you have to wonder how long the brand will last.

Well…don’t any of you pine for the good ole days of the NewsGroup alt.food.wine?? Some of my first Internet wine friends I met there.
What’s things like on the WineSphincter board??
Tom

They looked back at their software “upgrade” that chased away about 70% of their users away in 2001 and decided to do it again. With basic 1984 level of user friendliness long gone, they had to be creative in how to make it more tedious. I’d say it looked like it was designed by a high school student, but I doubt someone that age so inclined would do such a bad job. It’s more like a community college student, who’s never used a bulletin board system, is working on a deadline and only needs a passing grade would do. If you visit, your eyes will start hurting very quickly. There still seems to be around 10-20 posts a day.

Yeah the software upgrade was terrible. It’s interesting how something so simple can make such a big difference. The site is almost unusable.

Welcome.

I agree that at one stage it was an amazing “place”. A text book screw up.

I wondered if WA was a new Ray Walker project. [berserker.gif]

Was on WA board since mid to late '90s, Parker banned me back in January of 2009, after he decided he got one too many a very public beating from me over his utter lack of wine making knowledge and his ill informed grand standing over issues he seriously misunderstood and misrepresented. Add to that wine makers leaving in droves (as a reaction) and moving wholesale to this place, no wonder WA is dead now.

Welcome! I am sure you’ll love it here.

I would never post on Wine Berserkers. Everyone there is weird.