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Suggestions for the new forum

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Sideways:
I don't want this to turn into a thread of bitching/moaning/complaining/etc, just suggestions, maybe small gripes and what we can do about them before things get out of hand.

- If there is going to be tighter moderation, could this moderation be accompanied by more detailed explanations?  Maybe I'm not being clear... the best example I can think of is when someone creates a thread, and after 3 pages people are still on-topic, civil, etc... but a mod comes in and says "Ok, that's enough of that!" and locks it.  Enough of what?  I'm certainly not going to complain about the thread being locked... it's not my forum, and I'm not paying anything to be here, so whatever Jeph and the mods want to do, hey... that's fine.  But could more detailed explanations be posted?  Just a thought.

- Instead of complaining about problems, creating threads to complain about other threads (that the the complainer may have created themselves) could we not rely a bit more on constructive posting?  I mentioned this in the last forum, in the big complaint thread that started this whole... thing.  If you fear that what you post is going to cause people to turn around and be nasty towards you... guess what?  It probably will.  So, instead, maybe post more interesting things?  Maybe create more useful threads?  If you don't like how threads deteriorate, then here's a crazy idea; don't perpetuate the issue.

- General communication.  Perhaps we should have a stickied, strictly on-topic thread where we can talk to the mods, where we can discuss issues of the day relating to the forum, forum moderation, forum discussions, whatever.  I think it would be better than the monologues we're treated to now... there's this idea that us forumers don't posess the strength of character to actually discuss issues with the powers that be... there are comments made that relate to general age of forumers being low (I'd like to point out that I'm not having a cry here about ageism, I happen to be older than most of you, Jeph and mods included, it's merely something I've noticed) or that relate to how all forumers act 'this' way or 'that' way... maybe if we had more open lines of communication there would be less assumptions made.  A blurring of the lines between slave and master, perhaps?  The best bosses I've ever had are the ones who speak to me often about what's going on... not the ones who only come into my office when there's a problem.

- Stricter rules or stricter enforcement of the rules should mean very clearly understood rules.  If this means you guys (mods and Jeph) have to create a 50-page thread dedicated solely to specific rules... then perhaps that's something you should do.  Leave no room for misinterpretation, leave no flexibility.  Note: in re-reading this suggestion, it seems to come across as being sarcastic, which is not the intent.  Seriously, if you're going to be stricter with us, then make sure we all know exactly what we're supposed to be doing here.

That's all I have.  If anyone else has suggestions, maybe post them here.  If any mods don't much care for this thread, then please post your thoughts and lock away.  This could be a prime example... I mean; is this sort of thread ok or not?  Lets leave no room for uncertainty.

jeph:
Nah this sort of thing is fine, you were not being rude or anything.

I can't really post 50 pages of rules because that's not what I am going for. I am basically just trying to get rid of threads where one person is like "omg i stubbed my toe" and gets 40 responses ranging from "lol ow" to "u shuold go 2 doctor".

A thread for talking to mods is not a bad idea. i might make one later once the hubbub over "OMG HE KILLED DON'T BE STUPID!" has died down.

SpacemanSpiff:
I know I haven't been here for a long time, but I still feel like adding my opinion about this:

First of all, I agree with Sideways about having clear rules. They should be understandable and not too complicated.
That said, I don't think you can be that specific because from me experience, there's a gray area when posting in a forum. The posts are somewhat spammy but spammy enough to be annoying, if you hit that, it's okay. Finding out where that area is in my experience depends on common sense and watching people who have been posting here for longer than you.
Case in point: That marine life thread: I don't get it. I honestly admit that, it seems like spam to me, but I guess it's not and I just don't get the joke. I won't post in it, problem solved.

That said, I also post at another message board which is pretty spam free. The reasons for this in my opinion are three things:
1. Everything can be discussed but check whether there's a thread about this already. If there is, use that and discuss your problem there (we have one for politics and relationships for example, even a general spam thread (though it's really just little discussions that don't warrant opening a new thrad, actual spam gets you banned), a car thread and so on). Only if you feel that your thread is about a new topic and interesting enough, you can post it.
If you post something that's either considered useless or fits into an existing thread already, your thread will get closed along with a link to the existing thread or a short explanation. If you do it again, you get banned. Simple as that.
2. Coherent, intelligent and respectful posts: If you're going to have discussions about touchy subjects (politics, religion, relationships), you need strict rules. If someone is posting populistic bullshit or insulting people, he will get banned. This rule is enforced pretty strictly, I've seen people getting banned that were really popular and had posted there for over 3 years. But they knew the rules and chose to violate them, so they got banned.
3. Chatting on a forum gets you banned or at least the thread gets closed. There's IRC, IM or PM for that. Don't do it in a thread.

What I'm trying to say is: I feel a forum is a lot more useable and friendly if you only have a couple of threads where discussions about these things go. And if the rule "only open a thread if you deem it valuable" is enforced, the spam dies pretty quickly, because interrupting a thread with stupid spam is a lot harder to pull off (either people keep the discussion going or at least you have to be more of an idiot to do it) than creating a new thread to spam in.
And if you don't feel like discussing certain topics, you can easily avoid the specific thread adressing them and additional threads about the same topic won't spam up your forum. It's just one thread.
I think everything can be discussed on a forum as well, even touchy subjects, as long as people adhere to the rules. Then it can be quite fun.
I know this is against Jeph's opinion but I think it doesn't hurt to suggest it, it's not like I'm forcing him to do it (not that I could anyway).

Edit: Before people yell at me: These are only suggestions. They are not meant as accusations ore personal attacks, just things that I think might improve this forum.

Maui:
The music forum needs to be moderated more fo realz. Its insanity over there. I understand music is a touchy subject on here since we're all obsessed and there really is no right or wrong side, but people are starting to be total assholes or just plain stupid. I mean,  the other day, someone asked for some recomendations about indie christian music. They werent asking for a debate, they werent looking for your opinion on it, they didnt care if you liked christian music or not, they just wanted some band names. Its not rocket science, GEEZ!

Other threads are much worse, they always end up the same way, which is arguing about something completely different than what the topic was. I think if we could just get some of these locked once they start being idiotic and pointless, itd be a way better forum.

[/rant]

Switchblade:
I'm reading this thread, and all I see is sense.

My particular head-nodder is point one that Sideways raised - I think I just object to a thread being locked with a "this is stupid now" and no further explanation.

Sometimes, that's enough, don't get me wrong, but I have seen a few occasions where just knocking a few heads together and actually contributing an on-topic post to the thread would have done for more good than locking it.

Now, despite how much I may bitch about lockings (far too often, really) I acknowledge that I'd make a far worse mod than any of the guys actually doing the job.

So here's a suggestion I borrowed from somewhere else: Why not start up a forum called the "Tangentarium" or something like that. Here's the kicker: it's policed, but posts there do not count towards the total count. Obviously, if things get stupid in there, threads are locked and people banned as per normal, but mostly it's a repository for all those threads that aren't serious, but are popular.

The effect of this is to seperate the OT forums into two groups - the serious one, and the one full of the threads that, although they're fun, really fail to contribute anything useful.

Isn't there a way of locking a forum off so that non-mods can't start a thread there? What happens then is that threads deemed not right for "I like fish" get moved to the Tangentarium, where things happen to them and they eventually die.

I've seen it used before, to good effect. It might not quite match the flavour of the QC boards, however...

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