The Future of Off-Topic

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07-23-2010, 11:47 AM
Wildor

Quote:

Originally Posted by trogdor1316

You're right, this isn't trolling, it's flaming.

The prodigal poster is right. And you would all be well advised to calm down and start behaving civilly towards one another.
07-23-2010, 11:58 AM
Ikeni

Quote:

But, this isn't an argument Ikeni. I'm not trying to prove any points.

Things are fine here, they were always fine, they will always be fine.

Repeated derailment is not fine. Trolling is not fine. Spamming is not fine. Flaming is not fine. All of these are rampant in off-topic, and if you think they're fine then you must either expect very little of the members on this forum or you haven't been to many forums. The other forums i've been on are able to go without every single thread in their chat forum from being derailed with nonsense.

Quote:

Stop wasting your breath complaining and go make some quality posts.

You don't really need to ask me to do that, i'm quite confident my posts are of an acceptable standard.

Quote:

If you are so concerned with thread derailment, go make your threads in SOT.

I wasn't on about my own threads, I was on about OT as a whole. You seem to think i'm being self-centred in my concerns about OT, but my posts are the culmination of the trends i've seen throughout the forum.

Quote:

The prodigal poster is right. And you would all be well advised to calm down and start behaving civilly towards one another.

How have I not behaved civilly?
07-23-2010, 12:00 PM
rasterbee

Ikeni, let's take this to VMs if you really want to continue.

And no one was saying you were flaming.

I'm the only flamer here right now.
07-23-2010, 12:03 PM
Lazzzzzzzzalicious!

http://a2unes.files.wordpress.com/20...hm8anca051.jpg
caaaan youu feeeeel, the loveeeeeee tonightt!!!

*glares at everyone*
07-23-2010, 12:06 PM
rasterbee

Everything is cool. I was just mean and stupid for a second.
07-23-2010, 12:12 PM
Wildor

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bkFIPLIOGL...boat-logo1.jpg

Love, exciting and new
Come aboard, we're expecting you
Love, life's sweetest reward
Let it flow, it floats back to you

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure
Your mind on a new romance

And love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore
It's love
Welcome aboard
It's love!

:D
07-23-2010, 01:25 PM
Lazzzzzzzzalicious!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knuckles

I am the biggest mod ass kisser evar! Why I am still here everybody loves me

:flame: :flame::flame:

XD
07-23-2010, 03:33 PM
DeSalvionjr
My ideas.. based on topics discussed in the Evony Reps handbook, The Essential Evony mod guide , Evony Admins little black book (there is a lot in there, it IS larger on the inside), and finally the SAS survival guide
- Special usergroup of preapproved people who can give negative rep
- Stricter Rule Enforcement
- more mods
- Make trolling and derailing a suspendable offense
- Make harassment a bannable offense
- make acer a mod
- Give all mods jurisdiction over off topic
of course these are suggestions, and not all of them may be a perfect fit or even a viable option for the ot, but I am bringing them up for discussion and debate to decide whether or not they ARE viable or fitting for off topic.
07-23-2010, 03:35 PM
Nesterus
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeSalvionjr

My ideas.. based on topics discussed in the Evony Reps handbook, The Essential Evony mod guide , Evony Admins little black book (there is a lot in there, it IS larger on the inside), and finally the SAS survival guide

Special usergroup of preapproved people who can give negative rep
Stricter Rule Enforcement
more mods
Make trolling and derailing a suspendable offense
Make harassment a bannable offense
make acer a mod
Give all mods jurisdiction over off topic

of course these are suggestions, and not all of them may be a perfect fit or even a viable option for the ot, but I am bringing them up for discussion and debate to decide whether or not they ARE viable or fitting for off topic.
http://images.encyclopediadramatica....achadvice5.png
07-23-2010, 03:53 PM
Ikeni

Quote:

Special usergroup of preapproved people who can give negative rep

I would support this since it limits abuse of the system. The counterargument against it however is that it might just be used to let the mods' favourite members have the negative rep option. I thought mods were supposed to be unbiased in their decisions, but anyway.

Quote:

Stricter Rule Enforcement

Case-by-case. There's no point harshly punishing some one-time poster for something that was technically a violation of the rules but they were unaware of the fact. Rules should be more strictly enforced for frequent rule breakers who would be familiar with the rules however.

Quote:

more mods

I think my "Lack of Moderation?" thread summed up why more mods aren't necessary, though if there's a good counterargument against this then I would be interested in hearing it.

Quote:

Make trolling and derailing a suspendable offense

I disagree with making trolling a suspendable offence. It's entirely based on opinion rather than a clear fact and could result in moderator power abuse whereas derailment is more clear-cut. Even then, rather than making it suspendable it should be done case-by-case.

Quote:

Make harassment a bannable offense

I'm sure if you are harassed and you contact the staff the issue will be dealt with appropriately. IIRC, vBulletin forums use an infraction system so if you accumulate enough points then you get banned/suspended. Not sure if Evony has a different infraction system though, though I suppose in theory if a member frequently harassed others they would get banned regardless of whether it was "officially" a bannable offence which I think all violations of the rules are if to a great enough extent.

Quote:

make acer a mod

I don't know him myself, so my opinion on this would be useless.

Quote:

Give all mods jurisdiction over off topic

Well just think, there are the regular moderators who have power in the off-topic forum, then there are the seniors and the administrators, so there's plenty of moderators to police each forum. Overall I think I agree with your intentions, just not your execution of your ideas. I'm sure with a bit more input from other members who frequent the forum however we can gauge an accurate summary of what needs to be done.
07-23-2010, 03:57 PM
acer5200
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeSalvionjr

My ideas.. based on topics discussed in the Evony Reps handbook, The Essential Evony mod guide , Evony Admins little black book (there is a lot in there, it IS larger on the inside), and finally the SAS survival guide

Special usergroup of preapproved people who can give negative rep
Stricter Rule Enforcement
more mods
Make trolling and derailing a suspendable offense
Make harassment a bannable offense
make acer a mod
Give all mods jurisdiction over off topic

of course these are suggestions, and not all of them may be a perfect fit or even a viable option for the ot, but I am bringing them up for discussion and debate to decide whether or not they ARE viable or fitting for off topic.
I just read this. I don't agree with any of those points.
07-23-2010, 03:57 PM
Nesterus

and here is the TL: DR version

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ikeni

my opinion on this would be useless.
07-23-2010, 04:04 PM
rasterbee

I had a thought yesterday...

Most of us just act like this because it's fun to muck around with authority figures.

I bet if OT were modless for 24 hours everything would be fine. I'm not joking. Aside from spambots and CCC...we do a pretty good job of policing ourselves. There is the occasional rude comment that crosses the line, but I think everyone is overreacting.

Would you green and blue and purple people be willing to open another invite-only section of the forum that was unmoderated for 24 hours to prove me wrong?
07-23-2010, 04:53 PM
FoxyBunny
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeSalvionjr

Special usergroup of preapproved people who can give negative rep - we already have this. It's called "The highest forum ranks"
Stricter Rule Enforcement - Already doing this.
more mods -Just brought in three more.
Make trolling and derailing a suspendable offense -Did this too. And suspended two for it already.
Make harassment a bannable offense -Always has been.
make acer a mod _ No.
Give all mods jurisdiction over off topic We have 2 mods, 3 senior mods, and 3 reps here. Plus the other mods keep an eye and give a heads up when stuff goes down. I think that is plenty.
Quote:

Originally Posted by rasterbee

I had a thought yesterday...

Most of us just act like this because it's fun to muck around with authority figures.

I bet if OT were modless for 24 hours everything would be fine. I'm not joking. Aside from spambots and CCC...we do a pretty good job of policing ourselves. There is the occasional rude comment that crosses the line, but I think everyone is overreacting.

Would you green and blue and purple people be willing to open another invite-only section of the forum that was unmoderated for 24 hours to prove me wrong?

We've tried this before, many times. It's called "having a life" and whenever all the staff dares to do so at one time, for anything longer than an hour or two, we come back to find flames, hysteria, and spray paint on the walls. The latest incident of this was about 2-3 days ago.
07-23-2010, 05:27 PM
DeSalvionjr

how about a forum reform!

or just move to environmentally friendly servers..
07-23-2010, 05:29 PM
trogdor1316

Quote:

Originally Posted by FoxyBunny

[/LIST]

We've tried this before, many times. It's called "having a life" and whenever all the staff dares to do so at one time, for anything longer than an hour or two, we come back to find flames, hysteria, and spray paint on the walls. The latest incident of this was about 2-3 days ago.

I'm pretty sure the incident you're talking about wasn't so much an incident as it was one spamming user making spam threads and a spambot that happened to open about 40 threads. Not much of an incident.

Unless something happened that I'm completely unaware of.

Unless my memory took a dump on me again...wait, what were we talking about?
07-23-2010, 05:31 PM
rasterbee

Quote:

Originally Posted by trogdor1316

Unless my memory took a dump on me again...wait, what were we talking about?

I didn't know what she was talking about either. I just wasn't in the mood to address Foxy again and possibly rile her up.
07-23-2010, 09:26 PM
wpack10

I honestly dont either.
07-24-2010, 12:44 AM
Wildor

Quote:

Originally Posted by rasterbee

I had a thought yesterday...

Most of us just act like this because it's fun to muck around with authority figures.

I bet if OT were modless for 24 hours everything would be fine. I'm not joking. Aside from spambots and CCC...we do a pretty good job of policing ourselves. There is the occasional rude comment that crosses the line, but I think everyone is overreacting.

Would you green and blue and purple people be willing to open another invite-only section of the forum that was unmoderated for 24 hours to prove me wrong?

This place would rapidly degenerate and members just wouldn't get along without rules and Mods.

Members hardly get along with rules and Mods...
07-24-2010, 02:50 AM
rasterbee

Yeah...you and Foxy both say that.

But neither are willing to give it a shot.

Invite only, like SOT. Nobody gets infracted/suspended/banned from the forums for what they post inside, they just get their privileges to hang out there taken away.

24 hours....no sub-forum implosion. You say it can't be done. C'mon....prove me wrong.
07-24-2010, 04:10 AM
trogdor1316

I doubt it'll happen, but it's a good idea. Hopefully the mods will prove me wrong.

About the doubting part. Not the good idea part.

Just to clarify.

...k then.

...........ummmmm...yeah.
07-24-2010, 04:13 AM
wpack10

Wouldnt work because everyone would know that for those 24 hours the mods would be ever presently watching from the shadows waiting for us to prove them right. No one would be themselves.
07-24-2010, 04:15 AM
trogdor1316

Quote:

Originally Posted by wpack10

Wouldnt work because everyone would know that for those 24 hours the mods would be ever presently watching from the shadows waiting for us to prove them right. No one would be themselves.

Paranoid pessimist is paranoid.
07-24-2010, 08:43 AM
Alusair

I'm sure the 24 hour invite-only forum would work, because you guys would just be goofy to break rules during the 24 hours you know you're being watched for rule-breaking.

What would be much more impressive would be a week or month or so of such behaviour in OT itself. :p
07-24-2010, 12:34 PM
rasterbee

No, you don't understand, Alusair.

There wouldn't be rules.

That's what I'm proposing. Unless you got a buncha PMs from us saying "Hey, Miss Kitti and powerwolf are posting CP all over the place." you wouldn't even need to look in there unless you wanted to join in.
07-24-2010, 12:38 PM
Wildor

Raster, why do you insist on this? Just find yourself an on-line forum with no rules or Moderators and see if the experience suits you.
07-24-2010, 12:40 PM
rasterbee

I'm not insisting.

I was just explaining again what the original idea was.
07-24-2010, 12:43 PM
Wildor

Quote:

Originally Posted by rasterbee

I'm not insisting.

I was just explaining again what the original idea was.

Alright. I apologise.

Can we go back to the matter at hand? The future of O-T?
07-24-2010, 12:44 PM
rasterbee

Yeah...I'll drop it.
07-24-2010, 12:56 PM
abracax

Quote:

Originally Posted by rasterbee

Yeah...you and Foxy both say that.

But neither are willing to give it a shot.

Invite only, like SOT. Nobody gets infracted/suspended/banned from the forums for what they post inside, they just get their privileges to hang out there taken away.

24 hours....no sub-forum implosion. You say it can't be done. C'mon....prove me wrong.

I have seen it several times when mod staff was low. The people of the forums, not just OT take notice of when mods weren't available and used the opportunity to act however they wanted. Can't tell you the titles of some of the threads made without getting infracted myself, or just the complete breakdown of everything and people behaving like a bunch of hoodlums.
07-24-2010, 01:37 PM
Nesterus

Quote:

Originally Posted by abracax

I Can't tell you the titles of some of the threads made without getting infracted myself

you have a secret weapon
07-26-2010, 10:52 AM
BigBlugga

Quote:

Originally Posted by FoxyBunny

For about a year now, the condition of this section of the Evony forum has been a constant topic of debate. It has also been the source of frustration, countless wasted hours trying to clean it up, rick-rolls, phishing links, more drama than the Hispanic channel's daytime television line-up, and the majority of all warnings/infractions/suspensions/bannings. In other words, it has become a garbage dump.

As we have now proven in the Seriously Off-Topic section, the On-Topic section, and every OTHER section of this forum, our members are quite capable of holding polite discussions, even on heated issues. We have some of the most intelligent, thoughtful, and genuinely humorous forum members I have seen in quite a long time. We even have a fondness for most of our chronic trolls.

The problem, of course, is that none of that addresses the rubbish continuing to accumulate in this section of the forum. You've seen the staff take a crack at all the other sections and clean them up. I believe it is OT's turn. Since more than any other forum section, the OT is a true community, I want to listen to what you all have to say about this. I will also be discussing with our moderating staff what their own suggestions and recommendations are. The final decision will be made by myself and Dawnseeker in conjunction with Evony's administrators.

Here are my personal recommendations at the moment (subject to change, and yes, I'm listening to what you have to say):

Retain the King's Bar and the General Announcements threads.
Retain the active games and continue to allow forum/chat games such as the Ban Game and others.
Allow one spam thread for pictures (aka Lolcatz) and one for conversations.
All other threads will be patrolled HEAVILY to ensure they have a viable topic, respect is shown by all members within the thread, and derailing and trolling will be dealt with sharply and rapidly.

If this leads to a whole lot more infractions, a lot of closures and deletions, and even some bannings, so be it. If we can actually manage to clean up the OT and make it a respectable part of the forum, we can merge it with the Seriously Off-Topic, opening up the more serious discussions to all members and creating a much more enjoyable environment for all.

I welcome your feedback on this.

P.S. I should add that by "viable topic" I don't mean to say there can be no silliness or fun. I am not trying to stifle anyone's enjoyment. I do believe that we are overloaded on spam, though.

Like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound.
07-31-2010, 07:54 PM
Ruyuk

Seems as to why I quit this forum...
08-01-2010, 08:06 AM
woody513

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruyuk

Seems as to why I quit this forum...

I know eh seems terrible nowadays...
08-01-2010, 02:26 PM
DeSalvionjr

hrm... trolling has gone down while I was gone.. that means my new suggestions are unneeded...
08-09-2010, 07:17 AM
Are

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeSalvionjr

hrm... trolling has gone down while I was gone.. that means my new suggestions are unneeded...

oh boy back in september trolling was sky high
08-09-2010, 07:59 AM
Starking4

Shouldn't the main idea be to have fun? Now i'm pretty new to the forums so I don't have an idea of what trolling was like before I was here, but as long as people still have fun posting and get a laugh occasionally shouldn't that be what matters?
08-09-2010, 07:12 PM
SunTzu123

no we live in a dictatorship forum there is no fun aloud unless foxybunny approves it
08-10-2010, 02:29 PM
Are

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunTzu123

no we live in a dictatorship forum there is no fun aloud unless foxybunny approves it

LMAO!! I gave you rep for that.
08-10-2010, 04:21 PM
Skirata

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starking4

Shouldn't the main idea be to have fun? Now i'm pretty new to the forums so I don't have an idea of what trolling was like before I was here, but as long as people still have fun posting and get a laugh occasionally shouldn't that be what matters?

Well, we never had a troll problem... Everyone just disagreed so much that the term troll was thrown around.

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