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Someone, PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING ON THIS PLANET, make an announcement in GC telling people to STOP WITH ALL OF THE DUMB THREADS!
And please tell everyone to stop saying "lol" in EVERY SMURFING POST! It's annoying.....
And tell people to try to spell things as well as possible! We don't need AOL speak or newbie speak....Like this:
With all of that being said, a mod or admin can say something and close this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Someone here....
I've learned not to expect intelligence or coherence from any forum here besides Feedback.
*sighs*
I wish it were that simple, Dixie. And there have been announcements made, but to no avail.
The things you're pointing out are all complaints I share, but I don't think there's that much that can be done on them. Maybe we can crack down on spam more, but as for the newbie typing...I don't think we can ever get rid of it.
At least you guys try!:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Leeza
(The horrible spelling burns my eyes.)
EDIT: The newbie speak...at least try to limit it!:(
Yeah Im sick of people talking as if this is a chat...
0MG LE1K n0
If your trying to stop people from being nerds for who we are, good luck :up:
If it's newbie speak done by someone who normally posts with proper grammar, it's entirely within our ability to tell them to knock it off. However, for people who actually type like that, it's a much more difficult situation.
As for stupid threads...we try to jump on them before they go out of control, and I think for the most part we succeed. If you think a bad thread has been made, report it and we'll jump on it. Well, some of us, anyway.
Welcome to the world. The more people you interact with the more dummies you meet.
You mean it's not?Quote:
Originally Posted by crash26821
I think he means "chatroom/AOL/MSN."Quote:
Originally Posted by rubah
To sum up this thread:
Nobody's perfect
You gotta be so harsh on those posts there, buddy?? Here have a seat and relax...Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawkeye
Being harsh? Me? NahQuote:
Originally Posted by crash26821
XD. I meant chatroom like dixie said. Sorry. Forgot about general chat...Quote:
Originally Posted by rubah
Just for the record, I don't think that people who constantly have large amounts of noticeable grammatical errors in their posts should be critiquing anyone else's style.
This isn't at anyone in particular. Just a general note.
I think lots of people ignored this.Quote:
Originally Posted by RSL in an announcement
and I agree with Hsu.
I'll see what I can do.
Thankies, eest.:)
Yeah if it only were that easy. Its impossible to stop. There'll always be newbie speak. Spam can't be stopped. There are people are just ignorant/lazy/jerks/etc. It can't be stopped. I don't approve of bad typing and like most people I know spam. As much as you try it'll always happen. It can be reduced but it can be stopped entirely in my opinion.
Why is this such a big deal? Im not trying to justify more than half the posts in GC, but if your looking for serious discussion, theres other forums for that.
I know that. I'm just saying that people should be a little more serious n GC and try not to go overboard.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawkeye
Hey thanks!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sephiroth.
This statement just dawned on me, and I cant stop laughing :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by crash26821
GC doesn't have to be serious discussion, but there's a big difference between non-serious posts and some of the crap that's in there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawkeye
*Chatroom. Better now?? (*Mumbles*Immature...*Mumbles*)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawkeye
I think it's also time to bring in a tournament or something that will grab the members attention from stopping them to spam other threads. :P
You mean it's not?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dixie
Yeah...That helps.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Agent Proto
We were talking about bringing back the decathlon, or some form of competition of that nature. It sounds like a lot of fun, and I wouldn't mind helping out, though I don't think I'd be the right person to run one.
I've considerably lowered my expectations of the General Chat populace over the years. It's so low right now that I find refuge in the quality of the photo thread.
Will you people quit whining? It's summer, which is newbie season. Wait for the kiddies to go back to school and forget this ever happened. EoFF has always been so isolated. Have any of you people ever been to bigger forums? Maybe a band's forums or different game's official boards? Yeah, EoFF is not that bad. If you have a problem with this community you:
1. Haven't seen the others.
2. Need to find a smaller community.
3. Need to stop whining about it, it's natural.
I see very few warned posts in GC. If there were more, we'd be much more likely to catch it.
Nobody's forcing you to post in any of these 'dumb' threads, so you can ignore them if you like. Likewise, nothing's stopping you from starting your own conversation about something you want to discuss, so go ahead and do it or stop complaining. Sure, General Chat's seen better days, but that's because of fewer good threads being made, rather than an increase in the number of bad threads.
However, I agree that a competition of some sort would liven up GC a bit. Another decathlon would be a good idea, or maybe even something new.
[q=ShlupQuack] Welcome to the world. The more people you interact with the more dummies you meet.[/q]:p
Or hey, a more constructive suggestion: Ask Mommy and Daddy to turn the parental filter back on for you.
:oQuote:
Originally Posted by Azar
It's not like I'm addicted - I can stop spamming anytime I want. I just don't.
If you don't like what people post, warn their posts. *shrugs*
That's just the problem. If you start a thread on a topic you find interesting, it gets spammed into last century before you know it. It's not possible to have a thorough, intelligent discussion in GC.Quote:
Likewise, nothing's stopping you from starting your own conversation about something you want to discuss, so go ahead and do it or stop complaining.
You've hit the nail on the head, Big D. I've seen threads started in GC that could have been decent, but have closed down (some by me) because other members see them as nothing more than a new field to spam in.
This is how I feel about the situation too. If people would like to see more serious discussion in GC, please warn the spam posts and we'll handle it. We try our best to keep it decent, but we can't catch all of it.
I don't mind deleting some spam posts, but what bothers me most is when the same people continue to act that way after their previous spam has been deleted. Your posts being deleted should be a pretty clear indication that that type of content is not welcome, yet members don't seem to react that way. Either they are too dumb to get that or they just don't have much respect for the rules. Maybe an announcement should be made to clear this issue up.
I'd say that thorough, intelligent discussion is more suited to EoEo, and that GC is home of the 'What's your favourite brand of toothpaste?' style of thread. Most of the threads I've seen have stayed pretty much true to their original topic, its just that the topic itself was pretty spammy to begin with. I'm not trying to say that there isn't a problem, just that not every thread in GC is being ruined by spam. A stricter stance on spam/off-topic posting would help, but the forum isn't going to improve without some decent topics.Quote:
Originally Posted by Big D
An announcement would be a good idea. Nobody outside of feedback will ever take any notice of these concerns otherwise.Quote:
Originally Posted by Del Murder
You don't see all of the posts that are deleted when you look at those threads.Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Mage 121
http://forums.eyesonff.com/showpost....2&postcount=21
OFF TOPIC! ZOMG!!!111
According to Del, Leeza is too dumb to understand that she has posted spam, or else has no respect for the rules. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because posts like this are much more enjoyable, for the poster and the reader, than "I WANT TO READ PSYCHOTIC's PMS HE IS HOT!" :)
Would you rather I keep quite and have more Raistlins around? :)
Ew, no. One of me is more than enough, even for me. :p
Depends what the Raistlins were wearing.
No, of course not, I don't have problem with off topic posting unless it gets too extreme, as like I said, I find posts like that more enjoyable than the topic.
There is smart spam and there is stupid spam. People who are smart enough to be able to find EoFF should be able to tell the difference.
Why is everbody making this such a hard problem then it already is. Ban everyone who spams
Spam
Like Czech said, if you want smart discussion, go to EoEo. And like Psy said, warn the posts. I personally enjoy the posts lately. :)
Just because they (supposedly) ban you if you're an idiot in Eoeo, that doesn't mean you can be an idiot everywhere else.
It's like if they give you the death sentance in some places, that doesn't mean you can go willy-nilly murdering people in other states!
Even though you are misinterpreting me, I will agree that perhaps the majority of people find those posts more enjoyable. This thread obvioulsy indicates there are some who do and some who don't. For those who don't, I will recommend that they warn the posts they deem inappropriate, or continue to use Feedback/pms to voice their opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Psychotic
I have always thought that some nonsense is good, but when it comes too often it just gets watered down and annoying, but that's just the way it is today and it doesn't really concern me. My main gripe is when a mod deletes posts and makes a comment in a thread about cutting down on spam, and then it keeps on going.
*insert comment about lost causes and such*
*insert comment about how this thread isn't any better than what it's complaining about*
Big Deal. By which I mean its not.
You mean it's No Big Deal?
Sorry, couldn't resist.
I'm going to attempt some "semi-serious" topics in GC - something with a little more depth than the stuff that gets spammed so easily. I'll see what happens.
How about this: Del Murder spam is acceptable, and CrashNUMBERS spam is not. Agreed?
No Big Deal
Bert spam > all
I think its time for a new usergroup.
"No General Chat for me"
or possibly
"filthy spammer"
YES I AGREE!!!!!Quote:
How about this: Del Murder spam is acceptable, and CrashNUMBERS spam is not. Agreed?
Whatever happened to Equality among Members?
edit: well, it was cool when I was thinking about it
Of-course.Quote:
Originally Posted by nik0tine
...?Quote:
Originally Posted by Meat Puppet
That's one of those things that's funnier in your head.Quote:
Originally Posted by Meat Puppet
If you take a little time to think of a reasonably deep topic, you can end up with fairly spam-free discussions in GC. Looser and more informal than EoEO, but still thought-provoking. My two GC threads seem to be working ok - the one on workplace romance (inspired by Kishi), and the one on postmodernism.
...I haven't checked in GC, but if it was titled "True romance in and out of the workplace," then it is an instant classic.
I'm double-posting so people will see this.
http://www.eyesonff.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67539
Read that thread. We had a great discussion going - with people posting regularly, until a small handful of members decided to spam it up with irrelevent comments. Who were these members? Were they newbies who didn't know better? Were they spammers who ignored authority? Were they anything that people in this thread have been complaining about? No. They were mods and veteran members.
I guess Big D and I were the only ones in that thread who cared about serious discussion.
I cared about a serious discussion but everyone ignored my comments.
I didn't ignore them. I actually agreed with them(for the most part), which is why I didn't respond. I was busy debating with Big D. :p
Since when does you agreeing prevent you from responding?
That thread was far from out of line.
No, I just meant that I was busy arguing with Big D. :p
And I know it wasn't out of line. I was just pointing out that people complained about legitimate threads taken off-course.
I can't even read a complete thread in General Chat anymore. There're so many off-topic replies that aren't even funny in most of them that I really have very little interest in reading anything posted at this board.
It got to the point where I made a poll at Fool's Gold asking which board had more spam. Twelve people voted that EoFF had more spam, two people voted that FG had more spam, two people voted the obligatory "Other" option, which got changed to "Ook" to represent the Other account's recent transformation into an orang-utan. There were a couple of other responses that said the boards had the same/similar amounts of spam, but FG's was readable and EoFF's was not. Granted, it's probably a bit skewed since regulars of one board are more likely to prefer it, but it still speaks rather strongly since Fool's Gold was initially created as a spam-tolerant, laid-back alternative to EoFF (albeit one where people could discuss things that weren't Final Fantasy games in greater depth).
Really, I don't think it's a matter of any individual staffers doing a bad job. I simply don't think there are enough staffers to maintain an orderly community. It used to be I'd go away for a month and there would be 800 new threads. There're 2,453 new threads, and the last time I visited was on July 15th. That's a tremendous amount of growth, but the number of staff members has actually seen a net decrease since when I joined (I think there were something like fifteen Knights, albeit only four administrators). There just aren't enough people to do the job efficiently. And it's showing. With a larger staff, staff members can actually sit down and talk to members at length about what they're doing wrong instead of just giving them warnings. It's a far more effective strategy. (Edit: I should probably point out that this is why Fool's Gold has always had such a large staff to members ratio compared to most other boards).
there's a bunch of other stuff that I don't really feel like going over here. I'm not sure I'll even bother posting here much in the future, since I'm going to be taking a much fuller courseload this year, but it's something to consider.
Not even one?Quote:
Originally Posted by The Man
That's a quality thread right there, though. :cool:
well, that one goes without saying, and I just read the screen name tournament thread in its entirety as well. I suppose "can't even read a complete thread" was a bit of an exaggeration. :shifty: But if you pointed me to a random active thread in GC, I probably wouldn't be arsed to read through it. :smash:
You actually made some good points, but it seems like for the most part people are enjoying the way it is, and only a handful have a problem with it. If that handful grows, then maybe something else should be done, but for now things are running pretty smoothly.
I agree that deleting posts isn't much of a deterrant for spam so I suggest that we edit the posts and/or issue warnings in the future. I remember the Ciddies thread where two (or three) people would have an irrelevant conversation in the thread, then the posts would be deleted, and then the same people would go right back at it again. That bugs me.
I'm all for editting and warnings instead of deleting, but with warnings come more bannings when people ignore too many warnings and that's bound to happen here.
The people who post spam might not even notice that you have deleted or edited their posts, so I can't see how that is supposed to act as a deterrent. And if they have noticed it, it probably would spur them on, if they are determined to make a name for themselves as a spammer.
What I'd do is look out for repeat offenders, and then PM them and say something like "It has come to our attention that you've been spamming a lot recently. Examples of this include X (link to post) Y (link to post) and Z (link to post). (Explanation as to why these are bad) We don't expect every post to be on topic, but please try not to go overboard like this in the future. Thanks."
That way the member knows for certain that what they've done is wrong, and also have seen which types of posts aren't acceptable and why. If they continue to do it, you give them a warning. And if they still continue, they deserve a little pink title.
I think this ties in with what Aaron said.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Man
We've given some people like twenty warnings at Fool's Gold before banning them, and even then we lifted almost all our bans earlier this year. As long as what someone's doing isn't inherently destructive to the board and time-consuming to fix, I don't see why it's too much of a problem. At least, it wouldn't be with a large staff who could actually deal with problem users one-on-one. Some people just really don't understand why what they're doing is wrong, but if you explain it to them on a case-by-case basis they start to get it. I think with that approach you'd end up banning a lot less people.Quote:
Originally Posted by Leeza
The "lots of warnings" approach only works with small things like unentertaining spam or mild, debatable instances of flaming, obviously. If someone started calling the entire board racial slurs I'd be a lot less inclined to offer extra chances.
EoFF...more spam that FG? Hahahahahaha
Anyway, I don't think the size of the staff is the perceived problem here. I just think it's that most staffers are content to just delete posts time and again, and members don't even care anymore. "So what if I spam? The worst that can happen is a mod deletes my posts."
Well, you see, that is one big difference here. Once we ban someone, we don't turn around and then unban them so once they're gone, they're gone. And twenty warnings is far too many and far too much work. But it sounds good to me. With warnings instead of deletions it will be much easier to clean the place up.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Man
go read threads in the lounge, or general gaming, or ff1-4. There's places around here to avoid spam. Gen Chat goes in cycles, trust me there's plenty of times when it's dead. And when you're gone for a week or more, don't even try to catch up. You didn't miss anything anyway. Just start going with new threads. If you want the content to be more to your liking, write more of the content.
Raistlin: You haven't visited Fool's Gold in seven months, so your perception of the way the boards actually stack up to one another right now (or, more accurately, a week ago, when the poll was taken) can be considered accurate how?
eest et al: The problem is that General Chat is unreadable right now. I suppose the other forums are largely okay, albeit rife with the "lolz cefiroth rulz wth teh masamuem :smoek:" form of half-assed replies that Fool's Gold has taken upon itself to ridicule unceasingly, but those forums are not what this thread was created to talk about, and to be honest, I haven't looked in them much and don't care about them much. I would submit that if the general chat section to any forum is not interesting, the entire forum is not interesting. Very few people even bother looking beyond the general chat section of a message board unless they're just visiting the board for help, in which case it's questionable as to whether they'll stick around once they've got their answer in the first place. Eyeson is by far the most active board I visit these days, but it's just about gotten itself placed into the same bin as AdventChildren.net, which is the "overwhelmingly active and overwhelmingly unreadable" bin. Which is a shame, because it used to be one of those "refresh-every-five-seconds" boards.
I guess you can shrug this off as "well it's only a few people," but... a brief rereading of this thread suggests that most of the people who have been posting it have actually agreed more or less with the gist of the original post, except Raistlin, who can always be counted upon to provide a dissenting opinion. When Dixie and the readership of Fool's Gold are telling you off for having a spammy General Chat section, and you're a board that's theoretically supposed to be less spammy than Fool's Gold, it sounds like you have an overwehelmingly spammy general chat board. If you want to go on allowing the collective IQ of the board to be dragged through the mud, feel free, but I, for one, won't be participating anymore if the recent trend of uninteresting spam continues.
edit: I should also point out that the last thing I want to see result from my suggestions is more bannings. EoFF already has more than enough of those as it is, for my liking.
man, there are some stupid threads in there right now. Now I challenge everyone who has posted in this thread to go make a new thread in gen chat today. If you want good threads you have to make them.
this is true, but to stem the flow of stupid threads you also have to close them. Or just split out the uninteresting spam posts, which amounts to much the same thing.
As soon as I come up with an intelligent idea for a GC thread, I'll post one.
My my, touchy, aren't we? I see some things haven't changed.Quote:
Raistlin: You haven't visited Fool's Gold in seven months, so your perception of the way the boards actually stack up to one another right now (or, more accurately, a week ago, when the poll was taken) can be considered accurate how?
That poll(or at least, what the members thought of the poll) was probably comparing EoFF GC to FG GC. Since EoFF has aload more activity, it stands to reason that there would be more spam.
However, there is little to no spam at EoFF outside of GC and Feedback(with less in Feedback now than a while ago). FG has a spam forum, and I know some of the members there - any thread anywhere could get spammed up.
There's no way in hell there's a higher percentage of spam at EoFF than FG.
Unreadable? By what standards? The rest of the board seems to be able to read it just fine.Quote:
eest et al: The problem is that General Chat is unreadable right now.
Most of the threads are crap, yes. They're not against the rules, they're just crap. I don't care enough about EoFF GC to make good threads to try and get better discussion. The spam is a bit much, but the staff said they'd work on it. Just use the Warn button.
And Aaron, who can always be counted upon to have a differing opinion.Quote:
I guess you can shrug this off as "well it's only a few people," but... most of the people who have been posting in this thread have actually agreed more or less with the gist of the original post, except Raistlin, who can always be counted upon to provide a dissenting opinion.
Actually, the poll left the question rather open-ended. The exact question, I believe, was "Which board is currently spammier, EoFF or FG?" but the exact wording is open to question as the host of FG does not seem to be behaving at the moment. It would stand to reason, therefore, that the members were comparing the whole of both boards' content. And given from the fact that the percentage of newbies in Fool's Gold's gaming forums posting the kind of content that Big D's current profile scheme is made to ridicule is very low indeed, it doesn't entirely seem misguided to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by RaistlinMy my, touchy, aren't we? I see some things haven't changed.
That poll(or at least, what the members thought of the poll) was probably comparing EoFF GC to FG GC. Since EoFF has a
However, there is little to no spam at EoFF outside of GC and Feedback(with less in Feedback now than a while ago). FG has a spam forum, and I know some of the members there - any thread anywhere could get spammed up.
There's no way in hell there's a higher percentage of spam at EoFF than FG.
Feel free to question the results, but be aware that in doing so you are questioning more than just myself and therefore you cannot dismiss them with a simple "lolz it's aaron again" response.
Judging from the evidence of this thread, I'd have to say you're probably wrong.Quote:
Unreadable? By what standards? The rest of the board seems to be able to read it just fine.
I seem to remember you arguing last week that users shouldn't have to use the warn button in World Events; the staff should fix the better part of the crap themselves. If that should apply to the World Events forum then surely it should also apply to General Chat. Just a thought.Quote:
Most of the threads are crap, yes. They're not against the rules, they're just crap. I don't care enough about EoFF GC to make good threads to try and get better discussion. The spam is a bit much, but the staff said they'd work on it. Just use the Warn button.
Ah yes, just because I provide sarcastic disagreement with you I have a stick up my ass. I, too, am glad to see some things haven't changed at all.Quote:
And Aaron, who can always be counted upon to have a stick up his ass. :love:
Hi kids, take the personal attacks somewhere else. Thanks.
Well, either they thought it was EoFF GC versus FG GC - in which case my reply is "no duh," or they're just idiots. With some of those guys, I think it's a coin toss which it is.Quote:
Actually, the poll left the question rather open-ended. The exact question, I believe, was "Which board is currently spammier, EoFF or FG?" but the exact wording is open to question as the host of FG does not seem to be behaving at the moment.
Feel free to question the results, but be aware that you're questioning more than just myself and you cannot dismiss that with a simple "lolz it's aaron again" response.
The staff's point is that there's a thousand members posting in GC, and 3 or 4 consistently complaining here. And some of the complaining is about the crap threads, which the staff can't do anything about.Quote:
Judging from the evidence of this thread, I'd have to disagree with your assessment.
Do you think these arguments through in context, or just wherever they seem to fit? I said that when the entire staff said "I don't check EotW anymore because it sucks." I was saying that the staff cannot depend solely on the members to keep track of flames, etc. All of the mods read GC.Quote:
I seem to remember you arguing last week that users shouldn't have to use the warn button in World Events; the staff should catch the better part of the crap themselves. If that should apply to the World Events forum then surely it should also apply to General Chat. Just a thought.
Some of us want that stick up our asses.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Man
Hahahahahahahahaha
Exactly. :shifty:Quote:
Originally Posted by eestlinc
See you in another month.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Man
Do not worry, I will repesent The Man when I post a new thread.
Why would you do that to yourself?Quote:
Originally Posted by Agent Proto
Ok, I'm done. :D
OMG MY MESSAGE BOARD IS SUPERIOR TO YOURS LOLZ!!111
As you'd see if you read my edit, you'd realize there's a lot more to the issue than FG spam forum vs. EoFF as a whole. I'll repeat the particularly relevant bit:Quote:
Originally Posted by Raistlin
But hey, I'm sure people like Proto and LH will be very happy to know that you consider them idiots.Quote:
Given from the fact that the percentage of newbies in Fool's Gold's gaming forums posting the kind of content that Big D's current profile scheme is made to ridicule is very low indeed, it doesn't entirely seem misguided to me.
I counted nine people acknowledging the poor quality of General Chat on the first page alone.Quote:
The staff's point is that there's a thousand members posting in GC, and 3 or 4 consistently complaining here. And some of the complaining is about the crap threads, which the staff can't do anything about.
And of course the staff can do things. They can close the crap threads, they can split out the crap posts, they can warn the crap posters. I see them doing none of those things, at least to the extent they could be doing.
Funny that you say I don't think my arguments through in context. All these staff members read General Chat, and yet none of them do anything about the consistently poor quality of the replies posted there, despite the fact that several users have asked them to, and that several suggestions have been presented as to how they might do so. How, exactly, is a General Chat forum that no one bothers to moderate different from a World Events forum that no one bothers to read? The net result is the same: The forum ends up unmoderated.Quote:
Do you think these arguments through in context, or just wherever they seem to fit? I said that when the entire staff said "I don't check EotW anymore because it sucks." I was saying that the staff cannot depend solely on the members to keep track of flames, etc. All of the mods read GC.
Earlier today, after reading this thread, I checked through GC for posts that deserved to be deleted. I couldn't find any.
It seems more like you're going on the idea that GC is crap rather than providing specific examples. There's actually been quite a few good posts there lately, in my opinion.
How do you know nothing has been done about it? Aaron you need to work on your exaggerating. It's a problem you've had for a long time and it doesn't help your case to be taken seriously. :)
I have to admit that I haven't read much in General Chat in the last five or so days, so maybe things have drastically improved since then. However, it seems like just last week that several staff members were complaining that you couldn't post a thread in GC without it getting spammed to oblivion. Which, as can be confirmed with a simple check of this thread, it was.
The spam certainly have cut down recently in GC, and I find that good, though I'm sure Aaron can't be arsed to find the threads without the excessive spam. Though, I think it's the members to be thankful for.
The members just need to be told that moderation is the key and too much spam is a bad thing.
I'd like to revisit this thread in mid-September, when most members (myself included) are back in school five days of the week.
My posts are still be deleted, so GC shall remain as always.