These forums are degrading

[JonnyWhoopes]

Just an idea, but maybe instead of post count join date, I think you should have to be a member for at least a week to post, and a month to make a new thread (execpt for membeer introductions). I didn't post much at all my first month on the forums, maybe this will force people to lurk.

That kind of locks out people who have things to contribute right off the start though. For example, let us say that somebody like Ms. Fridrich herself decides to get an account. She'd have to wait a full week to even be able to post, let alone waiting a month to have the ability to create a thread with her thoughts. Now, this is quite far fetched, but the concept exists. People who have things to contribute can't post.

That being said, I liked the idea. Maybe create a workaround for the problem?

P.S. Let's all keep in mind that this a brainstorming session. Very few of these ideas (if any) will ever be taken into actual consideration, or have already been taken into consideration and rejected.

 

[kprox1994]

That being said, I liked the idea. Maybe create a workaround for the problem?

Maybe since this would be a minority of new users, there could be an appeals process application to post right away for people that have been cubing for a long time but never bothered to join the forums. This could be sent to the mods to review for acceptance (or rejection).

 

[JonnyWhoopes]

Maybe since this would be a minority of new users, there could be an appeals process application to post right away for people that have been cubing for a long time but never bothered to join the forums. This could be sent to the mods to review for acceptance (or rejection).

That could cause an application overload. That's what happens at TwistyPuzzles. They have an application process to even post on the forums at all, and the admin gets overloaded with applications. It's a great quality filter, but the process takes so long. My fear is that everybody who wants to post ever would want to post quickly. Everybody would apply for an appeals, and to be fair and just our admins/mods would have to sort through them all. Causing yet another problem.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm liking all these ideas. I also just happen to like being the Devil's Advocate.

 

[jskyler91]

That could cause an application overload. That's what happens at TwistyPuzzles. They have an application process to even post on the forums at all, and the admin gets overloaded with applications. It's a great quality filter, but the process takes so long. My fear is that everybody who wants to post ever would want to post quickly. Everybody would apply for an appeals, and to be fair and just our admins/mods would have to sort through them all. Causing yet another problem.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm liking all these ideas. I also just happen to like being the Devil's Advocate.

Every side of an argument deserves to be heard.

I think something in the middle of what everyone has said would be great. Some combination like you can't create threads until you have posted 30 times or after 1 week, whichever comes first and those wishing to make a thread before that time must make a request to the Mod. Just an idea.

 

[kprox1994]

That could cause an application overload. That's what happens at TwistyPuzzles. They have an application process to even post on the forums at all, and the admin gets overloaded with applications. It's a great quality filter, but the process takes so long. My fear is that everybody who wants to post ever would want to post quickly. Everybody would apply for an appeals, and to be fair and just our admins/mods would have to sort through them all. Causing yet another problem.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm liking all these ideas. I also just happen to like being the Devil's Advocate.

I agree with the overload, which made me think that you should have to have you WCA ID on your profile to appeal, and if you impersonated someone else and was found out-permaban.

 

[emolover]

Every side of an argument deserves to be heard.

I think something in the middle of what everyone has said would be great. Some combination like you can't create threads until you have posted 30 times or after 1 week, whichever comes first and those wishing to make a thread before that time must make a request to the Mod. Just an idea.

Sometimes the new users make an account and don't post on it for like a month or more. The same person comes back and makes a stupid thread.

I think a new users should be able to make new threads if a mod approves of it. Once the user has proven his worthiness then a mod could let the user make threads without consent of the moderator.

Problem with that is we would need more moderators to keep up with amount of things to do.

 

[stoic]

It seems to me the mods have a very tough job. Sometimes I see posts or threads that have obviously been moved or moderated, but it's clear that there is LOADS of work going on in the background that many of us haven't appreciated. So respect is due.

I think something in the middle of what everyone has said would be great. Some combination like you can't create threads until you have posted 30 times or after 1 week, whichever comes first and those wishing to make a thread before that time must make a request to the Mod. Just an idea.

I like the "middle ground" of this idea. Stopping people being able to open an account and immediately start making threads seems valid as it would stop people going crazy (there does seem to have been a LOT of silly/duplicated/unneccessary threads in the last couple of weeks). One week seems reasonable to wait, as there are plenty of places in the forums to go to get answers or help (OAQT or whatever)...but in extremis the theoretical Ms Fridrich in the above example could still contact a mod if she had something important to say and get her thread out there. I don't think much higher post counts like 100 or so would be fair on those like myself who lurk a lot but do think before we post

 

[Bapao]

I hope that I'm not being seen as a contributor to this "degradation process", but I can't help feeling as if I'm being mentioned. I have my fair share of "useless" posts that are more or less meant as comic relief a lot of the time. I can appreciate that not everybody shares my sense of humor, so I can see how my posts could be a source of irritation to others.

I know that many members want to have this be a clean and to the point Forum. But not all of us share the same level of intellect (among other things), which may explain the current diversity. There are some extremely wise and talented people here that I consider the "Elite". Then there are the clever guys that dwell somewhere inbetween the "Elite" and the bottom end of the member list. These guys generally post good material, but are also up for a laugh that doesn't require the mutual level of insight that the elite guys often share and demand. And then there's the average Joe segment. Which I consider myself to be a part of. I'm just an everyday person who likes cubing. I'm not very intelligent, not always considerate and don't always contribute with my posts(spam?). Although I do tend to stay as far away as possible from threads that are about things that I don't understand or have no hope of contributing to in any meaningful way. A lot of those threads have a very focused and serious air that tells me to stay out anyway, so all's good.

The above is just a generalization, since "intellect" can also be age related. There are a lot of clever young-uns here that just aren't mature enough yet to communicate on the type of level demanded by others.

At the end of the day, I can respect that the elitists and focused members want this forum to make them proud as a member, and don't appreciate what they might deem to be "trash" messing the place up.

This thread has made me become more aware of what I have been posting up until now and I will think thrice before posting after this. If it turns out that this place becomes too strict and mods start bashing away with the ban hammer like there's no tomorrow, I have a plan B.

I'm considering making my own Forum, I've made one before, so that's a start. It'll be something of a SS Junior. Where cubers can let loose a bit more than they are officially allowed to here (but are doing anyway ). There will be rules of course, but more lenient than the official rules and the etiquette on this site.

My site, if it should become popular, might take some of the strain off of this site and off of the members that don't like what this "place is becoming".

So yeah, if anybody is interested in helping me out with said project...

 

[aronpm]

I hope that I'm not being seen as a contributor to this "degradation process", but I can't help feeling as if I'm being mentioned. I have my fair share of "useless" posts that are more or less meant as comic relief a lot of the time. I can appreciate that not everybody shares my sense of humor, so I can see how my posts could be a source of irritation to others.

You weren't mentioned when statue was discussing this in IRC.

 

[JonnyWhoopes]

I'm considering making my own Forum, I've made one before, so that's a start. It'll be something of a SS Junior. Where cubers can let loose a bit more than they are officially allowed to here (but are doing anyway ). There will be rules of course, but more lenient than the official rules and the etiquette on this site.

My site, if it should become popular, might take some of the strain off of this site and off of the members that don't like what this "place is becoming".

So yeah, if anybody is interested in helping me out with said project...

The last time that was tried, it became what is now the barren wasteland of MasterTheCube. Not trying to scare you off, but just know that it may not succeed very well.

 

[stoic]

@ b4p4076: I would have thought that with 600+ posts you'd have been flamed/infracted/moderated enough by now if you were out of order... yours certainly wasn't a name which sprang to my mind.

I can't comment on the intention of the OP, but for clarification, when I said "silly" above I didn't mean "silly/funny" - there's an "off-topic" forum for a reason and I think most people on here are up for a laugh most of the time. Generally, if I'm not interested in a thread topic, I won't read it.

The last time that was tried, it became what is now the barren wasteland of MasterTheCube.

Wow I just clicked that link and it is seriously barren over there

 

[blakedacuber]

To whoever suggested the idea about having a wca id before......
Thats rather unfair as i live in ireland where there never has been a comp and was cubing a year and a half before i went and on the forums a year before i competed but for the majority of cubers in the US a comp is coming up in a relatively near area for me how ever i had 3 hours of a car journey and a plane flight just to get there and the same on the way back and was the closest comp to me. But i can see how you might have deemed it as fair as the majority of cubers that have been to a comp tend to make good quality relevant posts/threads

 

[Clayy9]

What if new members could post, but only in certain threads like the OAQT and selected others? After a certain criteria is met (time or # posts, etc), they have full access.

 

[kprox1994]

To whoever suggested the idea about having a wca id before......
Thats rather unfair as i live in ireland where there never has been a comp and was cubing a year and a half before i went and on the forums a year before i competed but for the majority of cubers in the US a comp is coming up in a relatively near area for me how ever i had 3 hours of a car journey and a plane flight just to get there and the same on the way back and was the closest comp to me. But i can see how you might have deemed it as fair as the majority of cubers that have been to a comp tend to make good quality relevant posts/threads

That's not to join the forums, just to appeal to wail to post, I have never been to a comp before either. But if I was an exteremely good/well known cuber that has never joined before, chances are that you have a WCA ID.

 

[kprox1994]

What if new members could post, but only in certain threads like the OAQT and selected others? After a certain criteria is met (time or # posts, etc), they have full access.

DP because of phone. I agree, so that new members could get basic questions answered, but we wouldn't have to worry about them spamming other threads.

 

[izovire]

uhmmm... Let's disregard the amount of posts people have made, that's just silly. I thought of the 100 post minimum for a lil bit but there is something better!

What if new threads could be posted differently? Like, they're submitted for peer review by a Mod. BEFORE they are posted. This will at least help reduce the newbie nubness.

Here's an example:

A. Kewber wants to start a new thread titled "What's the best 3x3?"... he/she submits the thread...
B. A mod looks at the thread (before it's accepted to post). Instead of letting it pass he/she denies the new thread and informs Kewber why it was denied. Along with that the mod redirects Kewber to a similar thread that will have meaningful answers for Kewber.
C. Kewber is probably happy that he/she got the right (or decent) answer instead being embarrassed or ridiculed by others on SS.


Something like this might be a fairly easy task for Mods. Since there aren't that many new threads per day/week or w/e. On the other hand, changing the site like this might be a big task for PJK. Even slight improvements in certain areas takes a heavy amount of effort to implement. Trololol

 

[Clayy9]

Basically what I said, except you're including everyone.

How about all new users, until they reach a certain post-count, have to get their thread approved by a moderator (or someone dedicated to doing this) before it can be posted? Obviously, this isn't a fix-all solution, just an idea to work with.

 

[vcuber13]

I said the same (but better imo) thing 3 pages back

that isnt necessarily my point, why put a post requirement when you could make it so certain users are allowed to post decided by mods, and have threads that a new person wants to start needs to be approved.

 

[StachuK1992]

How about everyone starts with -5 karma and they can make a thread at +5.

 

[Anonymous]

IMO, karma and reputation and other similar forum functions are kind of meaningless. On most other forums, nearly everyone has insane amounts of positive reputation, even if they're not really good posters at all. Plus you have the issues of people begging for reputation, people ganging together to rep each other, people revenge-negging each other, etc...

I don't think it would be worth it.