Which Country Do You Live In? [Archive]

Bardo

10-08-2007, 06:17 PM

Inspired by the spirited debate in this thread (http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7216), I'm hoping you could respond to the poll and tell us where you live.

Who uses this site?

Responses are not necessary, but you can post one if you want.

I've obviously made a lot short-cuts out of necessity since the forum software won't let me make a poll with more than 10 options. I would have preferred 25-30. Accordingly, no offense is intended and I did the best I could with a very limited number of options.

Thanks. :)

EDIT - Just so we're clear, this poll is FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. I don't mind questions and concerns of the methodology, otherwise, please keep other content to the appropriate thread, unless it involves where you live.

Machinus

10-08-2007, 06:22 PM

How is this information relevant?

Bardo

10-08-2007, 06:37 PM

How is this information relevant?

I am genuinely curious who is visiting this site on a regular basis. It may have no affect on the other discussion at all.

Machinus

10-08-2007, 06:40 PM

I am genuinely curious who is visiting this site on a regular basis. It may have no affect on the other discussion at all.

You linked to the other thread as if there were some connection. Please elaborate on what this has to do with the DTB forum.

Eldariel

10-08-2007, 06:40 PM

Well yea, Eastern Europe - Finland.

Silverdragon

10-08-2007, 06:54 PM

Germany. Southern Germany to be more precise. Btw I know some people who visit this site but don't post. How much does that count?

Wallace

10-08-2007, 06:58 PM

Syracuse, New York

WiLdFiRe

10-08-2007, 06:59 PM

Wooooo! Australia!

Soto

10-08-2007, 07:06 PM

Canada ...euhh Quebec

Sims

10-08-2007, 07:25 PM

I don't see how that is relevant. Can someone explain?

It's relevant in the sense that the discussion in the DTB thread sparked his interest into what the demographic of the source is. It may or may not be relevant to the discussion at all, but it will give us a better idea on site readership breakdown. That might help impact or influence desicion making and forum policies in the future, beyond any implications it may/may not have upon the LMF.

Vacon

10-08-2007, 07:32 PM

You should eliminate Africa and Middle-East because I almost guarantee no one on this forum lives there, and if they do they can qualify for the Other section, and just post their home country. You should also eliminate Russia and Eastern Europe and merge them with Europe. The Europeans can post their country of origin as well considering we probably only have 20. Split North America into seperate sections for Eastern USA, Western USA, Canada and Mexico (we probably don't have any Mexicans either, but it's more likely than Africans.) If you fix it like that you can also just tell anyone who's not in a minority "post your country" section to not post at all and follow the poll. It would make it much easier to find generally where people live without having to read six million posts.

EDIT: Also, Mexico is Central America, that and Panama. You should just eliminate Central America from the Central/South America section. South America is probably only Brazil anyways, I doubt we would have any Panamanians to give it trouble.

Machinus

10-08-2007, 07:34 PM

The facts that Mexico and Canada are grouped with the US, and that Europe is divided into two, makes the data in this thread useless for comparing with the ideas in the other. Europe and the US are the terms of the discussion.

Bardo

10-08-2007, 07:39 PM

You linked to the other thread as if there were some connection. Please elaborate on what this has to do with the DTB forum.

I was citing the inspiration for this thread--that was primarily the reason. Otherwise, I'd like to let the poll results speak for themselves--one way or the other.

More like it should be split five ways (Syracuse/Albany, Mass/Conn, Virginia, Portland, San Diego, possibly a midwest one, since I'm not sure if they have a healthy legacy metagame or not).

Actually, that's an interesting poll idea in itself, but it's outside the scope of what I'm trying to do here. If we did such a poll, I'd like to wait for a week until this one dies down a little.

Well yea, Eastern Europe - Finland.

Just for you, Jarno, I had a poll option called "Scandanavia," but it was weeded out in my effort to get to 10. Sorry. :)

How much does that count?
An extremely good point, though I don't know. It would help if they responded to the poll though.

The facts that Mexico and Canada are grouped with the US, and that Europe is divided into two, makes the data in this thread useless for comparing with the ideas in the other. Europe and the US are the terms of the discussion

Again, that is outside the scope of this poll. Don't read any ulterior motive into this poll that what has been stated: "Where do you live?" "Who uses this site?" This is NOT about US vs. European relevance. It isn't to me, anyway.

Listen - I don't want to spend much time moderating this thread and merging posts with DTB: WTF? Thread.

The discussion here is just about geography. Please keep it purely to that topic. If I pruned your post, I apologize, I'm trying to keep this thread focused.

Cait_Sith

10-08-2007, 07:52 PM

Different locations hold different players, different deck building theories, different available card pools (Cloud of Faeries was once extremely difficult to find in Europe due to the popularity of Spring Tide, just like Reset is now an insanely expensive card thanks to Solidarity.)

Consider this:

In America, most of the time people running 61 card decks are called crazy, often by themselves.

In Europe, 61 card decks are relatively common.

Different places, different people.

Also, this thread is here mostly because Bardo is curious about it. I admit, it is an interesting poll.

Machinus

10-08-2007, 08:06 PM

frolll

10-08-2007, 08:23 PM

Belgium qualifies for Western Europe, even if I'm born in Québec. :)
I do really encourage splitting the USA apart form the Canada. And then East US from West US. That'll make a tad bit more sense to me...

Cait_Sith

10-08-2007, 08:29 PM

I do really encourage Quebec apart from everyone else because Quebec is best. Seriously. We are almost French!

AH HA! I knew you had it in you. From near French culture to near French Geography. You are a rare Near Franchian, worth more than a triple playset mint Alpha Black Loti.

Also, there is another poll where they are split so you can vote separately there.

Bardo

10-08-2007, 09:52 PM

You stated in the original post that this poll is for data regarding the DTB debate. The poll options are constructed so as to make them irrelevant to that topic. Fix the poll or remove any claims that this has any bearing on the DTB discussion.

'My apologies. When the thought ocurred to me, it was in context with the "who is the LMF intended for" sub-debate in the "[DTB] WTF?" Thread. As I got to thinking about it, I got more curious about who actually uses this site, around the world? At that point, it became more of a tangent to the WTF thread and while it certainly has a bearing on that thread, the point of the data collection is much broader than that particular debate, though it may inform policy decisions about the structure of the LMF. That last sentence was personal speculation and I cannot say if that will come to pass or not.

For now, the primary motive is to understand who visits this site, geographically.

OP edited accordingly.

Barook

10-09-2007, 01:16 AM

I voted for Western Europe, although Germany is Middle Europe...

Nihil Credo

10-09-2007, 07:39 AM

Italy. Though I'm not sure my location is very relevant, since IRL I only play Limited (although I do discuss Legacy when I meet another player).

steffri666

10-09-2007, 08:34 AM

Germany, even though its middle Europe as Barook already pointed out. Can't have everything I guess...

Oh and I think Finland does not belong to Scandinavia AFAIK

Eldariel

10-09-2007, 08:46 AM

Finland does belong to the group of Scandinavian countries. The Scandinavian peninsula consists of Norway and Sweden, but the Scandinavian countries include Finland. So yea, usually when talking about Scandinavia, Finland is a part of it.

And Bardo, thanks for trying ^^ I'll make do with what was fittable.

Taurelin

10-09-2007, 10:09 AM

Germany -> Western Europe

Atwa

10-09-2007, 10:18 AM

The Netherlands -> Western Europe.

steffri666

10-09-2007, 10:19 AM

Hummingbird TG

10-09-2007, 10:28 AM

Singapore, Asia

Eldariel

10-09-2007, 11:03 AM

When I was studying in Finland people told me that it does not belong to Scandinavia. I thought this quite odd, since I was counting all countries with the "scandinavian cross" on their flag. But you obviously know better.
Or has there been any change of this recently? Like how people feel where their country belongs?

In Germany we call it the "northern countries" which then includes Finland.

While this probably doesn't belong here, geographically Finland isn't a part of Scandinavia, but it's cropped together with the others when talking about Scandinavian countries, as said. They're two separate concepts and Finland belongs to one, while is excluded from the other one. "Northern countries" covers Iceland and Denmark too. The definitions aren't really crystal clear, but normally when we talk about Scandinavia, we mean Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Bardo

10-09-2007, 11:36 AM

EDIT: Also, Mexico is Central America, that and Panama. You should just eliminate Central America from the Central/South America section. South America is probably only Brazil anyways, I doubt we would have any Panamanians to give it trouble.

I was thinking in NAFTA terms, but Mexico is typically considered part of North America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_america).

Re: Scandanavia. From high school geography, I was led to believe Scandanavia encompassed Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark--even though Denmark shares a land border with Northern Europe. I never really understood it, nor did I really dwell on it either. :)

electrolyze

10-09-2007, 11:50 AM

western europe--> the netherlands:laugh:

Soto

10-09-2007, 11:56 AM

I'm sorry, but Greece > all of Europe (in the ass ^^ )

matelml

10-09-2007, 11:59 AM

The Netherlands, western Europe

Illissius

10-09-2007, 11:59 AM

Hungary

Brehn

10-09-2007, 12:20 PM

Western Europe -> Germany

Lego

10-09-2007, 03:28 PM

The title asks for Countries, but the poll only has two countries listed :-P

Bardo

10-09-2007, 03:32 PM

The title asks for Countries, but the poll only has two countries listed :-P

By my count, I listed 8 countries, though Korea should have been listed as "North or South Korean." But meh. The actual countries are listed in the paretheses.

entity

10-09-2007, 04:16 PM

Europe, Lithuania.
I'm not posting in the forums due to the lack of time, but i read a lot for sure ;) . And there are at least a pair more lithuanian players who read these forums.
Anybody planning to play at legacy side event in gp Krakow?

mikekelley

10-10-2007, 02:49 AM

New Zealand.

We don't even have a meta.

Hell we don't even have Legacy.

SnakeEater

10-10-2007, 07:25 AM

Western Europe, Germany

Geeba

10-10-2007, 07:35 AM

Western Europe, The Netherlands

GreenOne

10-10-2007, 08:26 AM

Italy. Someway between Western EU and Third World Countries.

Just jokin', love my home.

Yamaelle

10-10-2007, 08:35 AM

Okay, so as far as I am concerned, I work&live in Shanghai. So thank you for the previous poster who said these Asian countries should have not been added to the vote list.

Unfortunately, living in Asia and loving Legacy is sometimes difficult. Legacy is non existent in the whole continent, except in Japan, where they have a couple of 40+ tournaments a month. But you'd better live around Tokyo for that. There is also the language barrier. Most of the people I play Magic with around here do not understand any English. So truth is I really wonder how many "real" Chinese read on the Source, but probably very little. Hope this help this poll....

caiomarcos

10-10-2007, 10:47 AM

Central and South America - Brazil.

I'm probably one of the few Brazilians who visit/read the forum.

We barely have a Legacy metagame here because staples are so hard to find, and that has two reasons:

1- The first set in Portuguese was 4th, so no FBB dual for us, like French, Italian and German.

2- Old satples used to be cheaper here than in the international marked, so dealers bought duals, FOWs, Mages and such and 'exported' them, making a lot of money. More recently the demand for such cards starded to increase, but the availability were so scarse that nowadays duals here are more expensive than one would pay in the US. Dealers are actually importing duals and fows.

Even though, with a little effort one can a ssemble a good collection and have all the necessary cards to play. I'd guess Rio and Sao Paulo have a healthy metagame.

Mordenkain

10-10-2007, 11:20 AM

Western Europe - Denmark

mogote

10-10-2007, 12:04 PM

Germany -> Western Europe
QFT.

xsockmonkeyx

10-10-2007, 04:09 PM

California (Dark Side of the Moon) USA

godryk

10-10-2007, 06:05 PM

Spain.

The first spanish set was BB 4th but we are playing since old Alpha/Beta times. Anyway thanks to Vintage, eternal cards such as Duals or FoW are easy to get. And of course, the current Euro/Dollar exchange makes very hot for european players to buy online, consider I've recently seen Gofs reach 28€ (39$) in local stores.

Atwa

10-10-2007, 06:51 PM

Wow, almost 30% is from western europe at this moment.

I knew the number of european members had increased the last year(s), but this is really a lot!

(I still remember the time when I was one of the few european members, those were the days :))

Pee-Dee-2

10-10-2007, 07:05 PM

Germany for Legacy!!! :tongue:

DeathwingZERO

10-10-2007, 11:48 PM

I have to agree with you, ATWA. I've noticed over the past few months that more and more European players are coming here and being much more vocal. I think this is exactly the kind of wake up call the DTB:Wtf thread needs to see. This isn't the completely USA dominant site people thought it was.

I can only hope that in due time we'll actually have more connection between the various areas of the world as far as design and play is concerned. It's one thing to have random people from one country completely dominate a single tournament with some insane rogue builds (re: Japan in EVERYTHING they touch), but we've still got a long way to go to stabilize the world view of Legacy, it seems.

Brot_Ohne_Kruste

10-11-2007, 07:38 AM

Western Europe - Germany :)

Nightmare

10-11-2007, 07:44 AM

I think the most important message garnered from this poll is:

FUCK RUSSIA!!!!!!

MasterC

10-11-2007, 02:09 PM

Southern Germany (-> Bazaar Liga Tournaments)

Bahamuth

10-11-2007, 02:20 PM

Western Europe, The Netherlands.

The legacy community is actually pretty big over here. The Netherlands is (are?) a small country, so everyone knows each other.

Meteora

10-11-2007, 02:52 PM

Germany -> Western Europe

Lukas Preuss

10-11-2007, 02:57 PM

Germany.

Jackill

10-11-2007, 03:29 PM

Western Europe - Germany

Holo_rip

10-11-2007, 03:38 PM

Western Europe - France.

Holo.

Machinus

10-11-2007, 06:53 PM

The 55% is inflated due to the inclusion of Canada, but according to this poll, half of the users on this site are not from the US.

ParkerLewis

10-13-2007, 08:24 AM

Western Europe, France.

odabella

10-13-2007, 09:07 AM

Western Europe - Germany

Belgareth

10-13-2007, 09:27 AM

The 55% is inflated due to the inclusion of Canada, but according to this poll, half of the users on this site are not from the US.
Yes this Huge perceived American majority is actually non-existent, there is a lot more Europeans than we get credit for.

Pale Moon FTW

10-13-2007, 11:33 AM

Western Europe - Denmark

Muradin

10-13-2007, 11:47 AM

Germany

diffy

10-13-2007, 03:52 PM

Western Europe -> Germany -> Baden Würtemberg -> Karlsruhe

Bardo

10-13-2007, 04:29 PM

Yes this Huge perceived American majority is actually non-existent, there is a lot more Europeans than we get credit for.

Yeah, I'm really surprised by this. I had no idea so many Europeans were on this site on a regular basis.

Behind closed doors, we've decided to drop the US-only results to determine the LMF.

troopatroop

10-13-2007, 04:36 PM

Behind closed doors, we've decided to drop the US-only results to determine the LMF.

Aha! So it did have a secret motive!

/jk

DeathwingZERO

10-13-2007, 04:56 PM

troopatroop

10-13-2007, 05:17 PM

LOL good to see it opened the eyes of some of the admin/mod staff to past our borders. I'm surprised at the number of German players as compared to anybody else in the world, personally I was hoping to see more Japanese players (those guys have mad tech, yo).

So what's being discussed for the new outlining of the LMF?

Japanese players actually do have tech. I was trying to find a group of players to play legacy with, and the only kids that play it are the asian group. They play alot of type 2, but I started talking about legacy, and they got really excited. Apparently they all developed this Psychatog deck that wrecks everything. I asked what colors, they said just blue and black. They said it runs Time Warp.

Crazy asians...

DeathwingZERO

10-13-2007, 05:21 PM

What, you thought I was joking? I KNOW those guys have mad tech. I've been watching for a while now at how they've been starting to wreck Standard, Block, and Extended tournaments in the PT scene.

A straight U/B Tog list? Interesting. I'd be very tempted to see what that is, as the list my buddy and I are working on still has green in it, which we're considering on cutting, since Deed is becoming too slow and Berserk is effectively 2UG to cast on the spot.

Belgareth

10-14-2007, 05:18 AM

Yeah, I'm really surprised by this. I had no idea so many Europeans were on this site on a regular basis.

Behind closed doors, we've decided to drop the US-only results to determine the LMF.

Well that's good to know :laugh: I guess my job of getting Europe fairly recognised is done then. :wink:

Pale Moon FTW

10-14-2007, 10:08 AM

Originally posted by Eldariel
Finland does belong to the group of Scandinavian countries. The Scandinavian peninsula consists of Norway and Sweden, but the Scandinavian countries include Finland. So yea, usually when talking about Scandinavia, Finland is a part of it.

From Wikipedia
Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centred on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe which includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The other Nordic countries, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, are also often included because of their close historic and cultural relations to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

Eldariel

10-14-2007, 10:20 AM

You said it, Zombie-boy! Couldn't have put it better myself...although I think it's technically Wikipedia doing the saying. But still, good going.

DS2

10-14-2007, 12:21 PM

Western Europe->Belgium

Joon

10-15-2007, 10:08 AM

Germany

Yep, teh same. Germany --> Schleswig-Holstein --> Norderstedt (near Hamburg)

slyfer

10-15-2007, 11:32 AM

Italy
the world champion!
Campioni del mondoooooooo!!:laugh:

Nightmare

10-15-2007, 11:55 AM

Italy
WORST. POSTAL SERVICE. EVaR.

Adan

10-15-2007, 01:29 PM

Western Europe -> Germany -> Baden Würtemberg -> Karlsruhe

Western Europe -> Germany -> Rheinland Pfalz -> Speyer

diffy

10-15-2007, 02:15 PM

Western Europe -> Germany -> Rheinland Pfalz -> Speyer

Just to make the point of him quoting me sure: Speyer and Karlsruhe are fairly close to each other and something like the center of Legacy in the area. You could really count them as one seeing as how most of the players are on both tournaments more often than not...

Yey, gogo Germans to make up more than 40% of this site's readership!

jegger

10-15-2007, 03:02 PM

Italians do it better :cool:

Bardo

10-16-2007, 12:47 AM

Atwa

10-16-2007, 01:19 AM

Welkom would also do Bardo :)

My knowledge of German is pretty low, but since Dutch and German are a lot alike (dutch is often considered a 'softer' language) I think I can make a decent guess about what Jagermeister means.

To me, it sounds like master of the hunt (jachtmeester in Dutch). That would at least explain the logo of the brand (a hunted deer).

SpatulaOfTheAges

10-16-2007, 01:22 AM

I'll throw out there that national pride may be a factor in the poll results. My initial response to a thread called "Which Country Do You Live In?" on any obviously US-based website is "Disclaimer; this thread is for everyone outside the US". In this instance I knew more of the context of the thread's purpose, but I think this fairly typical, and admittedly America-centric inclination may be skewing results. Americans are less interested in announcing what country they're from, because the concept of internationalism is less relevant to us than it is to Europeans.

When I look at the names of users currently on, almost always, 80% or more are English looking names. Given that, it'd really take more than one poll to convince me a third of the site's users are German, and only slightly over half are American/Canadian.

Machinus

10-16-2007, 01:28 AM

The ratio of European to US users is about 4:5 by these results. Given the attendance in Europe I'd say a global perspective is extremely relevant in Legacy.

I think we would be doing ourselves a favor by realizing just how important "internationalism" is anyway.

SpatulaOfTheAges

10-16-2007, 01:57 AM

That would still be true if the Source consisted only of Americans, since life is much larger than Legacy or Magic.

It doesn't really relate to the question of what the real ratio is.

Adan

10-16-2007, 02:34 AM

Holy shit. Europe is taking over this thread!

Willkommen.

@ Deutschland - I was getting trashed at a bar w/ my lady last night; we were putting back a sickening amount Jaggermeister and inevitably got to wondering wtf "Jagger" is. Meister is master, right? What's the "jagger?" And please don't say "semen."

Actually, it's not "Jagger", it's "Jäger" or "Jaeger", which means "Hunter".
Jägermeister -> "Huntermaster".
The word "Jägermeister" was used during the nazi-regime as another word for "forester" because it sounds cooler. It seems that they wanted to let the crappy job look better than it is. The nazis often used belittlements or exaggerations to manipulate the folks.

But anyways, Jägermeister has nothing to do with the right wing extremists. I just wanted to explain the word's origin.

spirit of the wretch

10-16-2007, 04:26 AM

Southern Germany. Just around the corner from Adan =)

Adan

10-16-2007, 04:45 AM

You see, I'm the center of Germany xD

No, actually I'm just a small fish in the sea.

Nihil Credo

10-16-2007, 10:18 AM

When I look at the names of users currently on, almost always, 80% or more are English looking names. Given that, it'd really take more than one poll to convince me a third of the site's users are German, and only slightly over half are American/Canadian.

English looking names like spirit of the wretch's, jegger's, slyfer's, Joon's, Pale Moon FTW's, Belgareth's, ParkerLewis's, Holo_rip's, Jackill's, Pee-Dee-2's, Silverdragon's, Barook's, Hummingbird TG's, electrolyze's, entity's, SnakeEater's, or GreenOne's?

I'll let you guess what all these users have in common.

diffy

10-16-2007, 10:44 AM

When I look at the names of users currently on, almost always, 80% or more are English looking names. Given that, it'd really take more than one poll to convince me a third of the site's users are German, and only slightly over half are American/Canadian.

It's not about being on all the time... most of the people I know are actually visiting this site only to get information (so they don't have an account) or only get on to give some relevant information/tournament reports etc.
Also, the sound of the names (it's only a nick!) is irrelevant to determine the nationality of a person... look at the member list (http://www.zkforum.de/memberlist.php) of one of the largest German Legacy forums for instance and you'll also see a lot of english sounding names.

kicks_422

10-16-2007, 10:53 AM

The Philippines. Home of the most terrifying food in the world (http://www.cracked.com/article_14979_6-most-terrifying-foods-in-world.html)... Or so they say. My day's not complete without one of those.

SpatulaOfTheAges

10-16-2007, 12:21 PM

It's not about being on all the time... most of the people I know are actually visiting this site only to get information (so they don't have an account) or only get on to give some relevant information/tournament reports etc.

I was under the impression you needed an account to vote in the poll.

Also, the sound of the names (it's only a nick!) is irrelevant to determine the nationality of a person... look at the member list (http://www.zkforum.de/memberlist.php) of one of the largest German Legacy forums for instance and you'll also see a lot of english sounding names.

I'm aware the name isn't a concrete thing, but it can give you some idea of what the member base is like. It's not a smoking gun by any means, but it does make me suspicious when the poll says only a slight majority of the forum users are from the US *AND* Canada, combined. Plus whatever Mexicans we have.

English looking names like spirit of the wretch's, jegger's, slyfer's, Joon's, Pale Moon FTW's, Belgareth's, ParkerLewis's, Holo_rip's, Jackill's, Pee-Dee-2's, Silverdragon's, Barook's, Hummingbird TG's, electrolyze's, entity's, SnakeEater's, or GreenOne's?

I'll let you guess what all these users have in common.

They've all slept with your mom?

Belgareth

10-16-2007, 12:32 PM

English looking names like spirit of the wretch's, jegger's, slyfer's, Joon's, Pale Moon FTW's, Belgareth's, ParkerLewis's, Holo_rip's, Jackill's, Pee-Dee-2's, Silverdragon's, Barook's, Hummingbird TG's, electrolyze's, entity's, SnakeEater's, or GreenOne's?

I'll let you guess what all these users have in common.

We all think Spatula is trying to fight a losing battle ?

Seriously, just accept the userbase isn't as American centric as you believed.

Yes the server is in the states, yes the admins are Americans, but this site is no more American centered as any other forum dedicated to a worldwide topic.
As the saying goes , "Pride comes before a fall".
Why would anyone assume a European would choose a name based on their homeland , it's clear they understand English to a high level or they would not be reading these posts.

SpatulaOfTheAges

10-16-2007, 12:38 PM

We all think Spatula is trying to fight a losing battle ?

Seriously, just accept the userbase isn't as American centric as you believed.

Yes the server is in the states, yes the admins are Americans, but this site is no more American centered as any other forum dedicated to a worldwide topic.
As the saying goes , "Pride comes before a fall".
Why would anyone assume a European would choose a name based on their homeland , it's clear they understand English to a high level or they would not be reading these posts.

I don't think that's at all what I said.

I'm skeptical that the poll is accurate. I don't think pride factors into it, Senor Project-O. I gave a fairly unthorough overview of the reasons for my skepticism. If you have specific points about them, I can address them, but how about we assume that everyone is operating in good faith, rather than projecting motives onto people, yeah?

Edit: I think I see the confusion. I meant "national pride" on the side of Europeans, not Americans. "National identity" may be a better term. Americans that have little or no international experience don't typically identify themselves as American on a concious level. Most of the Americans on this site list their location as "Northern Virginia" or "Seattle" or "Missouri" or some other specific region. Europeans think more about their national and international identity than the average American does, so the question "Where are you from?" is much less likely to be answered on a national level. Another reason we think about ourselves in national terms less is because the US is twice the size of the EU together. Seriously. My state, Virginia, which is in the bottom half ranking for size, is bigger than Austria. By a signifigant amount.

You guys are part of the EU, and are in relatively close proximity with dozens of countries. We live with only two neighbors, both of which are also very large, and thus, we deal even less with their neighbors. Plus, Canada is viewed as almost synonomous with America, in cultural terms, to the average American(minus Quebec).

So my point is that Americans just aren't going to have as strong a repsonse to a thread with the title "Which Country Do You Live In?"

Nightmare

10-16-2007, 12:46 PM

Voters: 158
Active Members: 689

The numbers don't lie.

Belgareth

10-16-2007, 12:50 PM

I'll throw out there that national pride may be a factor in the poll results, I think this fairly typical, and admittedly America-centric inclination may be skewing results. Americans are less interested in announcing what country they're from, because the concept of internationalism is less relevant to us than it is to Europeans.

When I look at the names of users currently on, almost always, 80% or more are English looking names. Given that, it'd really take more than one poll to convince me a third of the site's users are German, and only slightly over half are American/Canadian.

Those are the conclusions I drew from what you said.
You implied that Americans are not voting on the poll because of pride, and the assumption it somehow doesn't relate to them.

I don't think you have any motives, there is nothing to gain .
I do think it's fairly narrow minded to assume internationalism is less relevant, given we all occupy the same planet but that takes us off topic.

I was merely pointing out that you could repeat the poll countless times and the results would never satisfy you unless you had proof that every single user had voted (clearly possible but not feasible).
I think the results are actually fairly revealing, it shows a global interest which is clearly a good thing as it means a broader spectrum of ideas.

EDIT: @nightmares numbers : It follows the same principle as milling cards from a library, You cannot assume those unknown voters are All American , there could be exactly the same proportion as the poll of none-voters. So I don't see how the fact is relevant ?

EDIT: Ok spatula :) that makes more sense.

Nightmare

10-16-2007, 12:51 PM

It shows that Americans are apathetic. I thought we knew that already.

Nihil Credo

10-16-2007, 01:13 PM

It shows that there are 531 active members who didn't vote in the poll. You need further assumptions to deduce that the majority of them is American.

Mind you, I'm not as convinced as Belgareth that this is impossible. But so far, I've seen no evidence pointing at any overwhelming American presence.

SpatulaOfTheAges

10-16-2007, 01:23 PM

Anyone can just go through active names periodically and check location.

I'm not saying that there isn't obviously a growing European presence, but I don't think the poll is entirely accurate.

Nihil Credo

10-16-2007, 01:39 PM

One more thing came to mind - time zones.

Right now I see a large number of European names, because it's late afternoon/early evening here, a convenient time for browsing the Net - whereas it's about midday in the US, give or take a time zone, and most people are working or having lunch.
If one were to check out the active names list at, say, 2.00 CET = 20.00 EST, the results would be considerably different.

Mehioch

10-23-2007, 09:03 AM

South Africa->Western Cape->Stellenbosch
Rugby 2007 Champions :)

Mordenkain

10-23-2007, 11:30 AM

If anyone is interested in knowing, I did a bit of research myself. Browsing through the member list, sorting per post count, I found that from all members with more than 65 posts (which was 360 members actually):

America: 187
Non-America: 30
Unknown: 135

I was 100% objectively, so even tho I recognized several members in the "unknown" sector which I know is not from America I didn't include them in "non-America".

Anyways, these results is not correct by any means tho, because as you all know that ones number of posts is not necessarily equal to ones activity level. Futhermore because a lot of people visit this site regular just to check out lists.

Anyways, thought this might add something to the discussion here.

- Mordenkain

EDIT: I realize that the 360 members i checked doesnt add up in the categories under, but I did it in a hurry, so it may be a few numbers off. +/- 5-ish.