Guidelines for posting in off-topic forums

[Geo]

You guys make me very angry, you have troubled my oh so beloved routine.

I come in here to lurk like my usual self, only to find that the political forum is no longer accessible.

It isn't? New rules in effect already? Did this get announced and I missed it?

Edit: From Jbark's post, I guess so. Staff care to tell us what they are? Updating this would be a good idea: http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/showpost.php?p=553347&postcount=1

 

[Geo]

I was only a couple posts under the "Member" theshold, so I went ahead and posted a couple times to cross the threshold.

And they were even perfectly fine posts! Thanks for that.

 

[Geo]

So you guys are going to have to convince me of the need to prevent people like me to lurk the off-topic lounge. Or am I just collateral damage?

1 core post in two years? You aren't collateral damage, you have a bullseye on your back on this one.

Edit: Tho having said that, I doubt that *reading* those forums was the prime target --but then the technical limitations of the tools at hand may have driven the solution implemented, so maybe you would be "collateral damage" after all since you don't seem to have posts in those forums.

 

[Geo]

Okay, I've done a little testing on this, assuming it didn't change again in the last few minutes.

When I log out as me, close all my browsers, and come back to the site *without logging in*, I'm able to read those forums just fine.

So that would appear to be the way to "Read only" for those folks who are being locked out by their current profile and would like to continue their voyeuristic. . .err. . .lurker habits on those forums.

 

[BRiT]

1 core post in two years? You aren't collateral damage, you have a bullseye on your back on this one.

Edit: Tho having said that, I doubt that *reading* those forums was the prime target --but then the technical limitations of the tools at hand may have driven the solution implemented, so maybe you would be "collateral damage" after all since you don't seem to have posts in those forums.

It is not a technical limitation. vBulliten has the ability to setup user-groups/forums that allow people to only-read and not reply to msgs. We have similar limited/special forums and user-groups setup on our site.

 

[Zaphod]

1 core post in two years? You aren't collateral damage, you have a bullseye on your back on this one.

Only one off topic post as well: the one above, so that seems a bit harsh. I don't see the point of limiting lurking-rights.

 

[Geo]

Only one off topic post as well: the one above, so that seems a bit harsh. I don't see the point of limiting lurking-rights.

As I showed above, lurkers can still lurk those forums. All they have to do is log off their account.

 

[Zaphod]

As I showed above, lurkers can still lurk those forums. All they have to do is log off their account.

Fair enough I guess, but it was the bullseye comment i refered to as harsh.

There are several people with at most a handfull of 'core' posts and several hundred in RPSC. Throwing lurkers who like to browse but not post into that category is not really productive. Registering but not posting is more common that you'd think as many like the features that are enabled by registering such as getting unread posts listed. Sevaral 'productive' members have started out lurking, and I doubt many come her *only* to lurk in the off topic sections (allthough it can be a nice diversion).

Want to leave posting in the off topic forums as a service to only certain usergroups, then that's certainly understandable, but limiting browsing would only cause confusion without any upside that I can see.

 

[Geo]

Fair enough I guess, but it was the bullseye comment i refered to as harsh.

I added an Edit afterwards admitting as much. The afterwards being after I checked his post history and saw he wasn't posting at all. Yes, I did initially assume he was an RSPC poster. I suppose I could have just deleted the post, but it'd been there a little bit at that point and I didn't want to be accused of burying my mistakes.

 

[Geo]

I gather there has been some further tweaking of this in the interim. RPSC no longer appears when not logged in, but will appear for Junior Members now (but no posting in it for Junior Members). Members and up may post.

Apparently GD itself is unaffected.

If my little birdy was correct anyway. :smile:

 

[willardjuice]

Aw now I cannot see it.

I always liked reading the RPSC (never a fan of posting).

*sigh* I think I am going to go cry...this is unfair... ...

 

[Boke]

Aw now I cannot see it.

I always liked reading the RPSC (never a fan of posting).

*sigh* I think I am going to go cry...this is unfair... ...

Same here...

 

[Simon F]

It looks like they already did, as I couldn't view the offtopic forums this morning. I was only a couple posts under the "Member" theshold, so I went ahead and posted a couple times to cross the threshold. Guess I'll see if I can access it tomorrow morning.

Now that you're a member, we'll show you the secret handshake...not that we have one.

 

[Geo]

Now that you're a member, we'll show you the secret handshake...not that we have one.

Well, that *is* the secret. Or *was*, anyway. Wtg, Simon!

 

[mcsven]

I'm one of these 'non-core' posters that everyone gets so upset about, and I disagree with the new rules. Signal-to-noise has always been an issue in the General Discussion forums; it comes and goes. Adding restrictions (and moderation) just makes the place less diverse and less enjoyable IMO.

I also don't agree about these boards being a 'perk'. That's elitist nonsense. They're a lightning rod to prevent the emotive discussions there spilling over into the other forums, and they do a damned good job.

I'm constantly surprised by the level of emotion that seems to surround the RSPC and General Discussion boards. They certainly don't seem to be popular with the powers-that-be, yet by thread count they're the second most popular forum behind the console forums (by posts the third).

People obviously enjoy posting in these forums. They've survived the life of the board being open and unmoderated. I don't see a need to change now.

 

[Neeyik]

They certainly don't seem to be popular with the powers-that-be, yet by thread count they're the second most popular forum behind the console forums (by posts the third).

People obviously enjoy posting in these forums. They've survived the life of the board being open and unmoderated. I don't see a need to change now.

Couple of points. The GD/RPSC boards are, and have always been, moderated and they're certainly not "open". The boards are popular because, by their very nature, there is more day-to-day content that's likely to be relevant for a new discussion; plus such content requires less high-brow and specific knowledge/experience from the forum user with which to take part in the conversation.

The GD/RPSC boards are of the "lowest rank" in the B3D forums as far as I am concerned and any steps taken to reduce the amount of time I need to spend (away from working on site content) moderating them are totally justified.

 

[willardjuice]

Couple of points. The GD/RPSC boards are, and have always been, moderated and they're certainly not "open". The boards are popular because, by their very nature, there is more day-to-day content that's likely to be relevant for a new discussion; plus such content requires less high-brow and specific knowledge/experience from the forum user with which to take part in the conversation.

The GD/RPSC boards are of the "lowest rank" in the B3D forums as far as I am concerned and any steps taken to reduce the amount of time I need to spend (away from working on site content) moderating them are totally justified.

But why not let Junior Members at least view the GD/RPSC (and not let them post), blocking them from seeing it is a bit extreme... ...

 

[RussSchultz]

But why not let Junior Members at least view the GD/RPSC (and not let them post), blocking them from seeing it is a bit extreme... ...

I agree. Though, I suppose the tempation presented by reading would provoke people to fluff post to gain access. Somewhat unconvincing of an argument to me, but I'm not the boss.

 

[digitalwanderer]

The GD/RPSC boards are of the "lowest rank" in the B3D forums as far as I am concerned and any steps taken to reduce the amount of time I need to spend (away from working on site content) moderating them are totally justified.

Gimme a banstick for RPSC and I can promise you you'll never have to worry about there again.

 

[Geo]

But why not let Junior Members at least view the GD/RPSC (and not let them post), blocking them from seeing it is a bit extreme... ...

Well, it was my understanding that was the intent. . .that the Jr members should be able to see it without posting. Dunno what happened.