why does a mod always lock threads in off-topic?

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Thanks for the info hashbaz, your posts cleared things up a bit.

#favoritemodstatus

[vivalarevolución]

I guess that I am in the minority, but I find such childish nonsense to be very entertaining.  I love a good poking of the bear.  Oblivious, humorless people that fall for the nonsense and cannot identify the troll are the real problem.

I don't mind it in moderation.  In fact, I'd say it's necessary sometimes; however, they were flooding.  That will get you banned almost anywhere. 

If you're going to troll, do one good troll instead of 50 ****ty ones, especially if they're all in the span of two days.

Fine point.  A good troll shall never get identified as a troll.

[Malphas]

I'd disagree with poor judgment and killjoy.  They were flooding the sub-forum with pointless or controversial spam to get a rise out of people.  Personally, I'm amazed they allowed it to go on for as long as they did.

I'd disagree with poor judgment and killjoy.  They were flooding the sub-forum with pointless or controversial spam to get a rise out of people.  Personally, I'm amazed they allowed it to go on for as long as they did.

Nah, I get that, but it wasn't working. A few suckers went for it, wading in with "omg stop making these dumb threads" comments, but for the most part no-one took the bait and some people actually discussed the subject in earnest, regardless of the motivation the OP had making the thread (which was actually funny).

Regardless, the threads weren't actually disruptive and are clearly labelled, including the poster, so they're easy to ignore. The off-topic forum in general is fairly slow anyway so they broke up the monotony a bit, more than anything.

[lightsout714]

I'd disagree with poor judgment and killjoy.  They were flooding the sub-forum with pointless or controversial spam to get a rise out of people.  Personally, I'm amazed they allowed it to go on for as long as they did.

I noticed some of those threads and stayed away as I knew it was just going to be an argument.

[domoaligato]

we are lucky we even have a off topic area.
A large percentage of the threads in OT are garbage that get locked and waste the mods time.
They have better ways to spend there time then policing the off topic threads.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

I'd disagree with poor judgment and killjoy.  They were flooding the sub-forum with pointless or controversial spam to get a rise out of people.  Personally, I'm amazed they allowed it to go on for as long as they did.

Nah, I get that, but it wasn't working. A few suckers went for it, wading in with "omg stop making these dumb threads" comments, but for the most part no-one took the bait and some people actually discussed the subject in earnest, regardless of the motivation the OP had making the thread (which was actually funny).

Regardless, the threads weren't actually disruptive and are clearly labelled, including the poster, so they're easy to ignore. The off-topic forum in general is fairly slow anyway so they broke up the monotony a bit, more than anything.

Well said, sir.

I'm just glad the 3 WORD STORY THREAD wasn't locked...

[Malphas]

we are lucky we even have a off topic area.
A large percentage of the threads in OT are garbage that get locked and waste the mods time.
They have better ways to spend there time then policing the off topic threads.

But they don't need policing... We're all adults, I'm sure we can decide for ourselves what threads are and aren't worth taking part in.

[paicrai]

"we're all adults"
lol right

[jdcarpe]

.... We're all adults....

Actually, no. There are children that are forum members, and plenty who access the forum as guests.

[paicrai]

Do you mean children or teenagers

[Malphas]

Well if you're going to take me overly-literally, then I'll rephrase that as we're all self-aware human beings capable of rational thought that don't need babysitting or other people to decide what topics of conversation we take part in, then.

[jwaz]

Do you mean children or teenagers

They sure don't seem to be mutually exclusive...

[Pacifist]

I agree that a "banned" flag in the avatar would be helpful.  Not sure if that's just how SMF is, or whether we can configure it to do that.

If it can show muted and have custom texts, I don't see how a banned flag isn't possible.

[jwaz]

I agree that a "banned" flag in the avatar would be helpful.  Not sure if that's just how SMF is, or whether we can configure it to do that.

If it can show muted and have custom texts, I don't see how a banned flag isn't possible.

It isn't impossible at all, code changes are just difficult at the moment.

[jdcarpe]

Well if you're going to take me overly-literally, then I'll rephrase that as we're all self-aware human beings capable of rational thought that don't need babysitting or other people to decide what topics of conversation we take part in, then.

I'm not sure that can be assumed, either.

[paicrai]

We're all humans

[jdcarpe]

We're all humans

It's possible that's a true statement. Are we 100% certain there are no artificial intelligences browsing GH?

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

We're all humans

ARE WE NOW???

(jk, I'm half human)

[Pacifist]

We're all humans

It's possible that's a true statement. Are we 100% certain there are no artificial intelligences browsing GH?

So far no bots that I see

[hashbaz]

Nah, I get that, but it wasn't working. A few suckers went for it, wading in with "omg stop making these dumb threads" comments, but for the most part no-one took the bait and some people actually discussed the subject in earnest, regardless of the motivation the OP had making the thread (which was actually funny).

Regardless, the threads weren't actually disruptive and are clearly labelled, including the poster, so they're easy to ignore. The off-topic forum in general is fairly slow anyway so they broke up the monotony a bit, more than anything.

Again, I agree in general.  Under this doctrine we let a lot of stuff go that could probably be justifiably locked/removed.  But in this particular instance, MW had been flooding the OT forum with troll threads.  That's a terrible precedent to allow and I think it overrides the more casual stance to him that I usually try to take given his age on the forum and long history of amusing Windows propaganda.  I left some threads alone that seemed to be having legit conversation despite MW's intent, but many had become arguments as intended.

[domoaligato]

We're all humans

It's possible that's a true statement. Are we 100% certain there are no artificial intelligences browsing GH?

So far no bots that I see

Just what a bot would say!

[Pacifist]

If MW kept all his posts either keyboard or windows related, it would have been fine and dandy. Like his mousepad IC, that was pretty amusing. But the generic trolling threads are just crap and aren't even amusing

[Puddsy]

This went exactly where I expected.

I vote against troll threads. There's a difference between trolling and being off topic.

[kishy]

Late to the party, but hey...I showed up.

Maybe if he came up with some better material. After a while all the IE6 and Win98 posts got REALLY old...

And remember what happened last time they banned him? He created a new account, they IP banned him, so he logged on from several different IPs before the admins/mods finally gave up and unbanned him.

It's easy to see how users who weren't active participants for 3, 4, 5 years or more could appreciate and see some degree of novelty in his posts. The issue is that it wears off quickly, and in the context of GH as a community there is nothing new about it.

And yes, those of us who remember John Deer (sic), as in Deer power supplies, all share a special but meaningless part of GH history.

[strict]

The off-topic forum is not a free-for-all.  The forum rules still apply.  The threads that have been locked were very clearly intended to incite argument and drama (i.e., trolling).  MW and the1onewolf have dramatically ramped up the noise recently.  Locking their threads was intended to squelch them a bit, both because the threads were going off the rails and because it's against the rules to spam the forum with garbage.

I went through a ton of off-topic threads last night that were recently posted by MW and the1onewolf, closing some and leaving others (and even posting in some).  This was not a blanket action but has been specifically targeted at particular threads.

MW has been temp-banned, and I'm sure he'll be back.  He's already attempted to create a second account to circumvent the ban, which is also against the rules.  Transparent enough for you?

Remember that (1) we are under-staffed and (2)  the mods are volunteers with lives and family and school and work just like everyone.  Those of you who know me personally through skype or IRC or whatever know that I am always open to discussing this stuff.  This thread is totally valid and TBH I expected someone to post something like it, but frankly we don't have the time or the obligation in general to justify all moderator actions publicly.

The only issue I ever had with either of them was the1onewolf's signature trainwreck. His signature annoyed me badly enough I would have turned down free clacks/bros from him just on principle  )

I noticed some of those threads and stayed away as I knew it was just going to be an argument.

This is pretty much 100% true for me, almost all of the posts in question were clearly troll topics/posts that would have been lame even if they were legit so I never even open the majority of them. A few topics weren't bad, like the internet data/speed posts but they were more of an exception.

FWIW, I think removing the topics/user was the right move. They were lame as **** and I think we're better off not having that garbage clog up the forum, including the off-topic area.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Maybe you're just too strict.

[rowdy]

[...] and because it's against the rules to spam the forum with garbage.

Uh-oh

[strict]

Maybe you're just too strict.

[noisyturtle]

Mods should just steer clear of Off Topic altogether.

This is not your land, begone foul beasts of repression!

wonder how long till this topic gets locked.....

[hashbaz]

wonder how long till this topic gets locked.....

I've been responding here all day, so I'm gonna say ... a long time?

[dante]

[tinlong117]

Show Image

[Lu_e]

As much as I feel this place can feel over-moderated at times, I guess it's better than under-moderated.

[hashbaz]

Show Image

Never do that again.

[tinlong117]

Show Image

Never do that again.

[IvanIvanovich]

Sometimes I miss the way the forum was when I joined a few years ago. There was no real moderation. Sure often threads were derailed with wildly off topic remarks and random animated gifs and lego pictures... and there were a few quite bad flame wars, but it was fun. It felt like how I remembered the internet being in the late 80's/early 90's, a no holds barred frontier. Back when I joined the forum felt like... an illegal rave at an open all night donut shop. Now days I often think it feels more like an office party. It's still a lot of the same people but acting 'growed up'.
I think the real problem is not people being silly, posting worthless content... but that there are too many thin skinned cry babys that take things too seriously. Personally I don't see the need for moderator intervention in many cases. Sure, if people are being wholly vicious to the point where it is a serious disruption there should be some words/action taken but that is generally few and far between as most members aren't that way.

[Malphas]

Yeah, skins here have definitely gotten a lot thinner compared to a few years ago.

[dante]

Sorry if my animated graphic offended anyone (OTOH - if it offended why did you not delete it?)

I'll try to keep it G rated.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Sorry if my animated graphic offended anyone (OTOH - if it offended why did you not delete it?)

I'll try to keep it G rated.

That GIF was equal parts hilarious and disturbing, but not offensive IMO.

[hashbaz]

Sorry if my animated graphic offended anyone (OTOH - if it offended why did you not delete it?)

I'll try to keep it G rated.

Not morally offended, just visually.   

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

You had me scared for a second there hashy... thought you were gonna lock this thread too...

[hashbaz]

Sometimes I miss the way the forum was when I joined a few years ago. There was no real moderation. Sure often threads were derailed with wildly off topic remarks and random animated gifs and lego pictures... and there were a few quite bad flame wars, but it was fun. It felt like how I remembered the internet being in the late 80's/early 90's, a no holds barred frontier. Back when I joined the forum felt like... an illegal rave at an open all night donut shop. Now days I often think it feels more like an office party. It's still a lot of the same people but acting 'growed up'.
I think the real problem is not people being silly, posting worthless content... but that there are too many thin skinned cry babys that take things too seriously. Personally I don't see the need for moderator intervention in many cases. Sure, if people are being wholly vicious to the point where it is a serious disruption there should be some words/action taken but that is generally few and far between as most members aren't that way.

The amount of moderation we do is actually shockingly small compared to the size of the forum.  We've been dealing with thread derailment and spam because it's a much bigger problem than it was in the old days.

[esoomenona]

But can't a forum evolve? Change from just being about keyboards, and become something more? A community of people, rather than a place that has nothing but keyboard information peppered in random time?

[baldgye]

But can't a forum evolve? Change from just being about keyboards, and become something more? A community of people, rather than a place that has nothing but keyboard information peppered in random time?

While GH has never been a home for me, I have to say; the forums that I've really been a core member of are those that evolve past there original topic and intention.
But those have been much smaller forums.

I'm not sure if it could work but maybe running a no hold bars (bar porn ofc) general chat thread in the OT section might be a nice way for people to banter, argue, troll etc etc in one place without filling OT with nonsense threads that just end up getting closed?

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

GH18+ subforum pls

unmoderated

[esoomenona]

21+, I would suggest. Though it's impossible to verify age online, so in reality, anyone could come in...

[paicrai]

21+, I would suggest. Though it's impossible to verify age online, so in reality, anyone could come in...

apart if ur a haxor
but they're ****ing losers

[baldgye]

21+, I would suggest. Though it's impossible to verify age online, so in reality, anyone could come in...

+13 becasue its legal in japan looooooooooooooooooooool

[IvanIvanovich]

I don't know... maybe I just don't notice it or something or you moderator guys move fast to delete? But I don't really notice a high amount of spam/derailment. It's certainly much less than it was 3 years ago. But most of those worst offenders from back then are not around anymore whether from being banned or just leaving on their own. I guess I would just maybe do things different like move/merge all that stuff into a thread like 'so and so's random observations' instead of delete/lock stuff.
As far as time waste threads... maybe bringing back first post preview on title hover (can SMF even do that?) might help curb some anger against people that like to make silly threads? Then if you haven't even opened the thread perhaps people won't feel obliged to comment at all? As we all know, the best way to beat a troll is not to respond at all. Generally if people don't feed their behavior they get bored and stop... eventually.

[paicrai]

21+, I would suggest. Though it's impossible to verify age online, so in reality, anyone could come in...

+13 becasue its legal in japan looooooooooooooooooooool

wait what

13 year olds can do the sex in the japanimes?