Why are Mods making this forum Ask Jeeves?

[WkdPaul]

4 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

seems like some of you newer users don't really like the forum style and are more after a discord server or social media.

This comes up often, some user repost threads up to 5 times, post memes and "one liners", and generally treat the forum like it's a social media platform (twitter, facebook).

 

It's ok IMO, that's the primary way people are communicating now. And new users can't be expected to know how a forum works right away. I remember being a mod on a forum almost 20 years ago, and we had similar issues (same questions asked repeatedly by new users, even though the answer was in a pinned thread, or people making threads after threads asking the same question because "nobody replied after 15 minutes", etc ...).

 

It's something people have to get used to, it's fine (IMO) for new users, but people with thousands of posts shouldn't be thread dumping and "shitposting", they should know better.

[Haro]

I mean like what everyone said, these type of threads are just useless crap, of someone who made a terrible meme, or is not asking a question/ looking for a discussion, this is a tech forum at the end of the day, there's no way going around that really. you can always just follow someone you're interested in.  

[SansVarnic]

2 hours ago, dizmo said:

I agree, I think since it's a forum feature, it should be placed right below the new forum posts, above the section with the Discord/Donate links. That could be something @colonel_mortis could look at (I think he deals with that...); while I get they want the video links there to advertise for the business, the forum is kind of a different beast, and you're likely already watching the content, or have no interest in it.

I cannot speak for Mortis but some of these features we have or are available is up to the Forum Designers/Host and the Admin team does has a long list of things that have been brought up for the forum to address... many, many things.

 

2 hours ago, dizmo said:

I think one thing that could be improved in regards to that, is the handling of new users. If they get told something is status update material, and their thread gets locked within some of their first few posts, it's a good way to dissuade them from using the forum; especially if they have no idea what a status update is, or how to get to it. Which might be quite common judging the number of people who mentioned it in this thread. I do get that mods are busy dealing with the absolute mess that the GD sub forum is, but maybe taking a minute to look at their post count and point out how to get to status updates might be a bit better.

Hopefully you (and others) have noticed that I and several other Mods have been including where to find the Status Feature in our locked topic comments. It has been helpful and honestly as I mention in a previous comment it is up to the individual Moderator and depending on time and how busy we are to take that extra step.

<removed>

 

For anyone that is asking this silently, let me make this clear.

• A Moderator is a 100% Voluntary Position in this Forum, we receive No compensation for our time spent here, none. We do this because we care about this community. I cannot speak for all the team but I feel each of us has similar feeling about why we do this.
• Moderation is not always a singular decision, issues are discussed, sometimes at length from 12hrs - to a week before a final decision is made. (this why people get upset when moderation seems slow) Sometimes only 2-3 mods get involved, sometimes its half or more. Bans for the obvious are made immediately, we give chances to correct before we ban, bans also involve discussion and at times a vote is taken. All sides of issues are taken into account.
• We make mistakes, we do have an appeal system that you cannot find in most forums and these appeal requests are taken with the same seriousness as any issue is taken.
• The fact this discussion is taking place and being allowed speaks volumes about this Mod/Admin Team and how we perceive your concerns. The Community Stands change with time, it replaced the old CoC (Code of Conduct) as it needed to address somethings. Since the new CS was posted it has changed to address certain concerns. We take into consideration the community and make changes to address those concerns. 

 

Edited July 29, 2020 by Spotty

[Spotty]

Thread cleaned.
I have removed several replies discussing specific moderation actions and issues with particular posts. If you have an issue please contact staff privately.

 

Moderation & Bans

• Do not openly discuss the moderation of any content or user. If you have an issue please contact a staff member.

[GDRRiley]

10 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

It's ok IMO, that's the primary way people are communicating now. And new users can't be expected to know how a forum works right away. I remember being a mod on a forum almost 20 years ago, and we had similar issues (same questions asked repeatedly by new users, even though the answer was in a pinned thread, or people making threads after threads asking the same question because "nobody replied after 15 minutes", etc ...).

I don't expect them to know right away, some people seem to get it and other just don't.

 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

18 minutes ago, gloop said:

If you look at this screenshot, 15 out of 23 posts to general discussion were moved. The problem isn't mods being overly aggressive, its that people don't give a sh*t and don't read the rules, or just post at the first subforum instead of actually checking for one.

Yea if we could remove those pointers, it would go a long way. When I see like half of the posts get moved, I just close the tab and find something else to do if I'm honest. 

[WkdPaul]

1 hour ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Yea if we could remove those pointers, it would go a long way. When I see like half of the posts get moved, I just close the tab and find something else to do if I'm honest. 

They are removed after 24h

 

[GDRRiley]

2 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

They are removed after 24h

that is kinda a long time. maybe 4-10 hours

[GDRRiley]

Just now, BlueScope819 said:

Even 30 minutes

thats too short. if a member takes a break or responds to another thread for a bit and comes back they may not be able to find it.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

1 minute ago, GDRRiley said:

that is kinda a long time. maybe 4-10 hours

Yea 24 hours seems like a long time. Especially if it's a topic people aren't interested in seeing anyways. Like I don't care about nor am I'm interested in reading PSU threads if I'm browsing the General Discussion section. So... why even make a note in the General Discussions index that it's been moved? 

[GDRRiley]

1 minute ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

 So... why even make a note in the General Discussions index that it's been moved? 

so people who were watching it know its moved. maybe you planned to respond but went to go eat or something

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

1 minute ago, GDRRiley said:

so people who were watching it know its moved. maybe you planned to respond but went to go eat or something

 I guess... though I figured a majority of people are tab freaks at this point and they'll  just open every thread they're interested in reading through as a new tab beforehand. 

[WkdPaul]

Maybe 24h is too long, but 30 minutes? or even 4h ? That's way too short IMO.

 

Should be between 12h and 24h. Though we usually leave a comment that the thread was moved. So if the member understand how notifications work, they should be able to find the thread even without the forward link.

[GDRRiley]

20 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

Maybe 24h is too long, but 30 minutes? or even 4h ? That's way too short IMO.

 

Should be between 12h and 24h. Though we usually leave a comment that the thread was moved. So if the member understand how notifications work, they should be able to find the thread even without the forward link.

8-12 is plenty

[AlwaysFSX]

8 hours ago, TetraSky said:

A small solution to that would be having a single thread, like the meme thread, for everything pointless to the rest of the forum

The boredom thread years ago was an experiment of this and it was deleted fully, for a reason. Too much of a disaster to have going on in the forum.

[TetraSky]

24 minutes ago, AlwaysFSX said:

The boredom thread years ago was an experiment of this and it was deleted fully, for a reason. Too much of a disaster to have going on in the forum.

Ah right, there was such a thread wasn't there. I can't remember if I ever even opened it.

[colonel_mortis]

There's been some good points raised in this topic, and in the internal discussion that this raised. Whatever changes we make, we won't be able to please everyone, but hopefully with the right combination of technical changes and tweaks to the policy we might be able to find a slightly better place. Please continue to post your opinions and suggestions in this topic - we are trying to make the forum as good as possible for the community, not just for the moderators, so your opinions really do matter.

[AlwaysFSX]

33 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Ah right, there was such a thread wasn't there. I can't remember if I ever even opened it.

I have a feeling some moderation choices now exist because of it

[Trik'Stari]

I've often wondered the same.

 

I've had status updates deleted before.

 

The thing that annoys me, is the locking of threads because "politics", despite the fact that some topics are VERY tech related, but also VERY political.

 

I get that the modding staff has a job to do, and considering the traffic flow of the forum it is a big one. I remember when the forum used to list names and numbers of the people currently online (something that should absolute be brought back) at the bottom of the main page. So I get it, there is a LOT of activity to keep up with.

 

My question is this:

 

Why not just let the people argue? If people want to argue and get deep into topics, why not just allow it to happen? Anyone involved is a willing participant. I myself have been involved at times. I understand entirely that there are certain things that the modding staff have no choice about, things that are legitimately illegal and have to be removed (threats, etc.) but if people are just arguing..... let them? What is the actual harm? Someone gets their feelings hurt? I've had mine hurt now and then, and I've had my opinions proven wrong and shoved down my throat, but it hasn't actually harmed me in any way. Arguably it's made me a better person on some subjects.

 

In the end, I feel that if you cannot tolerate being insulted on the internet, or think that it amounts to some actual harm, you probably should not be on the internet to begin with. To be completely honest, you probably shouldn't leave the house, ever. Or maybe that's why you feel that way?

 

I'm more than certain someone will quote that one idiotic XKCD comic at me about private entities being able to censor, please don't waste your time, mine, or anyone else's.

9 hours ago, TetraSky said:

A small solution to that would be having a single thread, like the meme thread, for everything pointless to the rest of the forum but you feel like shouting out for some reason and people can react to it outside of the Status Update page. That way, instead of getting your "status update" thread locked, it'd be moved into the one big thread once seen by a mod. It could be called "The Void".... Could even be a dedicated sub forum for anything that doesn't fit in Off-Topic. Would also be easier to find "Status Updates" for new members if it was just a sub forum instead of a "hidden feature"

We used to have a glorious shitposting thread. Then it got locked (and IIRC deleted) because one fucking asshole complained about an anime image of two females making out being "pornography".

 

That person, IIRC later got banned for something I don't remember. Why that thread has not been brought back, is beyond me. It was glorious and fun.

 

Other veterans will know who I am talking about. I won't say his name.

 

*string of obscenities aimed at that piece of shit*

[Beerzerker]

25 minutes ago, colonel_mortis said:

There's been some good points raised in this topic, and in the internal discussion that this raised. Whatever changes we make, we won't be able to please everyone, but hopefully with the right combination of technical changes and tweaks to the policy we might be able to find a slightly better place. Please continue to post your opinions and suggestions in this topic - we are trying to make the forum as good as possible for the community, not just for the moderators, so your opinions really do matter.

This.

 

I for one already know it's not possible to please everyone, ain't happening and that's how it is BUT the mission of the staff isn't to please everyone either.
It's to provide good management of the forum, keep things inline according to the rules outlined and deal with those that want to cause problems or just a mess in general.
How they do that is in itself another thing and we are lucky to have the team that's here, I've rarely ran across a staff team that's friendly, it's cool to take a "Poke" at yet at the same time when it comes time to do the job they do it. This is a place that's actually fun to be but do realize members themselves have a responsibility to do what's right to keep it this way.

We could have it like other places, some being described as a staff of "Forum Nazis" as one person (Not here) had put it before. Those were said to be like if you had any criticism, disagreement, or just anything that wasn't directly in step with the place you'd get nailed and that even included things that could and were proven to be true.

Had to say that not only because it's true (It was said that way) but also to drive home the point here - Everyone here is fortunate to even have these guys around as they are, all while doing it 100% for free on their own time.

 

No place will be perfect but this forum is, from what I've seen among the best you can name in that capacity. I know, some things they do may or may not make much sense to some but it's best to let them worry about it and make the emphasis of your worry about keeping yourself straight. 

[GDRRiley]

31 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

The thing that annoys me, is the locking of threads because "politics", despite the fact that some topics are VERY tech related, but also VERY political.

if you want to talk about politics and tech go to somewhere else. I don't want to hear it here.

[Trik'Stari]

2 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

if you want to talk about politics and tech go to somewhere else. I don't want to hear it here.

You don't have to hear it. You can just scroll past and ignore it. The same way I ignore comments and posts that I am not interested in.

 

If we're going to hold having to scroll past things we aren't interested in or don't want to hear as an egregious offense, me and a few others trump just about everyone else on here.

[GDRRiley]

Just now, BlueScope819 said:

You don't have to click on the thread. Perhaps add a Politics tag that you select when making the post? Exactly like the flair on Reddit.

go to redit then. I signed up here cus I didn't want any policies in threads

 

1 minute ago, Trik'Stari said:

You don't have to hear it. You can just scroll past and ignore it. The same way I ignore comments and posts that I am not interested in.

I can't ignore people being stupid it is how I am.

[Trik'Stari]

Just now, GDRRiley said:

go to redit then. I signed up here cus I didn't want any policies in threads

 

I can't ignore people being stupid it is how I am.

I was wondering if you would have the courage to admit that it's not "I don't want to have to scroll that far" and really just "I disagree with your opinions and don't think you should be able to share them here".

 

Cudo's, for having that small amount of courage.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

7 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

This is the thread we are talking about:

 

 

5 hours ago, TetraSky said:

Oh, that's the thread that sparked this whole "discussion" about moderation?

Yeah I remember reporting it for being Status Update material. 

 

Well, I can only guess nothing of value was lost, then. 

Spoiler