Since there's been a lot of trouble with people spamming in the Rumor Mill, couldn't you just turn post counts off there? And in New Card Discussion and Speculation?
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
Or we could just turn post counts off everywhere and say "We don't care what your post count is" <.<.
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Sing lustily and with good courage.
Be aware of singing as if you were half dead,
or half asleep:
but lift your voice with strength.
Be no more afraid of your voice now,
nor more ashamed of its being heard,
than when you sang the songs of Satan.
Or we could just turn post counts off everywhere and say "We don't care what your post count is" <.<.
Exactly. This is how I feel. Of coarse the general community does not, and never will, but it would be nice. Just stick it in profiles or make it so only moderators can see it. It really does not need to be there. I mean whenever I hear talk about turning off post counts I think, "Well if you are going to do it there, why not here?" which leads to "Well if it does not count in there either there is no way it should count in there." and so on.
I can make a case for turning off post counts in almost every forum, save Debate and maybe a few others. But if they are off everywhere esle, may as well be off there too, y'know?
Debate seems like the only place that they actually mean anything, I would agree.
Really? I disagree. I think that post mean something in a lot of the forums. Speculation, New Card Discussion, OM, Storyline, Custom Cards, all the Strategy forums, etc. This is, of course, assuming that the posts are of good quality in the first place.
Post counts are to mark how many worthwhile posts a user has contributed to the community. Be it a discussion of a new rumor, an argument for the inclusion of certain cards in a T2 competitive deck, a review of the latest novel, a debate on politics or commenting on cards made by another user for a homemade set. I think each one of these contributes equally and should be counted, if we are to count such things at all.
actually though, i didn't even realize that some of the threads don't increase your post count, probably because i just don't care. for the most part I'm more interested in the join date of someone then their post count, although the combination of the two often gives some *relatively* valid information. For instance someone with two posts that joined this month is clearly a new user, whereas someone with two posts who joined a year ago probably has been following the rumor mill if nothing else for quite some time, and simply doesn't contribute their thoughts.
The upside of displaying the post counts are that some people really like it, and some threads that want lots of people to post, even if it's just a couple of words, get more attention that way. For instance in the "opinions and polls" of "general magic," there are a number of ongoing votes going on, and it's nice to get lots of people voting on them because it's easier to get valid answers with more opinions. without public poll counts it's possible some people wouldn't participate.
on the flip side though, are the forums where the number of posts is irrelevant, it's the content that's important. most notably IMO are the deck design forums (ie. standard, extended, etc.), where someone posting "the deck looks good" or "add more basic lands" doesn't really help much.
so I don't know what the answer is. hrm...
oh well, +1 poll count for me
er, does the poll count go up in this thread? now I'm confused...
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Quote from Avatar of Kokusho »
What in the name of all that's holy are you smoking????
oh well, +1 poll count for me
er, does the poll count go up in this thread? now I'm confused...
No. This is Speak Your Mind, posts do not count here.
Quote from Mikey »
Really? I disagree. I think that post mean something in a lot of the forums. Speculation, New Card Discussion, OM, Storyline, Custom Cards, all the Strategy forums, etc. This is, of course, assuming that the posts are of good quality in the first place.
Post counts are to mark how many worthwhile posts a user has contributed to the community. Be it a discussion of a new rumor, an argument for the inclusion of certain cards in a T2 competitive deck, a review of the latest novel, a debate on politics or commenting on cards made by another user for a homemade set. I think each one of these contributes equally and should be counted, if we are to count such things at all.
I would like to think that users are not judged by their post counts alone. Why it is a tool in evaluating a user's status and contributions it matters little in the grand scheme. I mean, regardless of Senori's and Butte's post counts, I know they make valueable posts all the time. It does not matter what the number is, they will always have my respect. However no matter how many posts tomothy, ollie, or the spammers of today make I will never respect them. It does not matter how much they spam, they are spammers and I do not care.
Which brings us to the fact that post counts encourage spam.
Which brings us to the fact that post counts encourage spam.
Quote from Senori »
Or we could just turn post counts off everywhere and say "We don't care what your post count is" <.<.
I'm seeing a distinct correlation here... One that I would like to "solve". Personally, I couldn't care less about that number next to my name. By all means, I'm sure the staff could come up with some better use of the space that is currently there. Post counts should be visible only in the Profile View screen. If a user is desperate enough to absolutely *need* the knowledge of their postcount, it doesn't take a whole lot to look at their profile.
Either that, or we could eliminate post counts in general, rather than just taking them off of the Thread View page.
I disagree entirely on Speculation. Many (if not most) of the things that I have seen in Speculation ought to be in a Forum called Blind *** Guesses. New Card Disscussion frequently degenerates into "This card is awesome" x 2000. Gah. In both of these, I would count posts against someone I didn't know.
Well, do note that I said my opinion only applies when a post is a quality post in the first place. I don't believe posts as you suggest contribute much at all.
However. Threads in speculation where posters take a tidbit of info from the Rumor Mill and try to make educated guess to fill in the missing details or whatever are good contributions. At least in my opinion. The subforum isn't there for out-of-your-ass ideas, it's there so we can speculate on how bits and pieces of information fit together to make actual cards, sets, themes, mechanics, etc.
Threads in NCD are much the same. Posts that are nothing but "This card roxxors, wee!!!" is spam in the first place. Which is not to say posts there can't contribute. Discussing how rumored cards combo with existing cards and strategies, trying to design a deck to take advantage of a powerful new card, all things like that contribute to the overall community. Or at least the threads in that subforum.
OM is different, as it really means very little. I don't know what Storyline is.
OM means a lot to me. Especially Entertainment. Some of the posts I think are some of my best and highest quality are there, discussing a television show, a movie or a game.
And Storyline is the forum dedicated to discussing Magic's story.
Custom Cards you are 100% correct. Strategy varies quite a bit. I tend to find a lot of posts in Strategy to be illegible, and I would warn the **** out of people if I had to mod that scary place...
Again, posts that are of low quality in the first place don't contribute much by definition.
Quote from SorryGuy »
Which brings us to the fact that post counts encourage spam.
Depends. Post counts certainly encourage ++ery, but let's not pretend removing post counts would eliminate spam and posts that fail to contribute to a topic. I would hope that no one believes that in the first place, but it begged to be said.
Post counts certainly don't help matters, but I strongly believe that some posters are going to post like crazy regardless in the pursuit of being relevant.
Though I do agree that putting the post count in the user profile might be a good idea. I'm just not sold on how massive an influence it would have. It would stop the blatant ++ery, but the overzealous mentality goes beyond just post counts.
I think that post counts should just be gotten rid of. Not only are they not very important, but I'm pretty sure this is at least the fifth different thread on this topic. It would be neat to see if spam goes away without postcounts.
Well, do note that I said my opinion only applies when a post is a quality post in the first place. I don't believe posts as you suggest contribute much at all. However. Threads in speculation where posters take a tidbit of info from the Rumor Mill and try to make educated guess to fill in the missing details or whatever are good contributions. At least in my opinion. The subforum isn't there for out-of-your-ass ideas, it's there so we can speculate on how bits and pieces of information fit together to make actual cards, sets, themes, mechanics, etc. Threads in NCD are much the same. Posts that are nothing but "This card roxxors, wee!!!" is spam in the first place. Which is not to say posts there can't contribute. Discussing how rumored cards combo with existing cards and strategies, trying to design a deck to take advantage of a powerful new card, all things like that contribute to the overall community. Or at least the threads in that subforum.
Sadly, pretty much every post in the Rumor Mill subforums ends up being pointless. NCD *is* filled with posts like "This card roxxors, wee!!!", and Speculation (which, IMO, is one of the closer sections to the WotC boards as this site gets) has a million cards which are more like deluded fantasies and/or have been randomly pulled out of somebody's *** (for example, this thread which is a bunch of random cards, and this thread where the original poster makes a random assertion and pages fill up with people talking about the brokenness of Yawgmoth's Will).
Sadly, pretty much every post in the Rumor Mill subforums ends up being pointless. NCD *is* filled with posts like "This card roxxors, wee!!!", and Speculation (which, IMO, is one of the closer sections to the WotC boards as this site gets) has a million cards which are more like deluded fantasies and/or have been randomly pulled out of somebody's *** (for example, this thread which is a bunch of random cards, and this thread where the original poster makes a random assertion and pages fill up with people talking about the brokenness of Yawgmoth's Will).
In my opinion, if a post or thread is pointless and contributes absolutely nothing, it should be warned/closed/whatever. Both of the Rumor Mill subforums have a good purpose, and posters should be expected to follow through with that in mind. Personally, I consider random ass-pulled speculation and "this new card iz brokenzors" posts to be unproductive spam and should be treated as such.
So yeah, I agree with you. It just shouldn't be that way.
In my opinion, if a post or thread is pointless and contributes absolutely nothing, it should be warned/closed/whatever. Both of the Rumor Mill subforums have a good purpose, and posters should be expected to follow through with that in mind. Personally, I consider random ass-pulled speculation and "this new card iz brokenzors" posts to be unproductive spam and should be treated as such.
So yeah, I agree with you. It just shouldn't be that way.
Removing the postcount from the Thread View page, or from the forums altogether, would go a long ways towards not encouraging users to post such threads and replies. By doing one of the above, the staff is now forcing the user's hand, in that, the only incentive to post is to make a worthwhile discussion.
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
However, post counts are an incentive for people to be active around the community.
Having a wonderful forum, with many kind members, all seeking an active and worthwhile discussion is incentive for posting. If any person on this site posts on MTGSalvation, or any other net forum, simply to gain an "e-*****"... That person has my undying pity.
However, post counts are an incentive for people to be active around the community.
Are they really?
For the most part, I don't think the worthwhile members would post less if they didn't have a number tick off.
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Sing lustily and with good courage.
Be aware of singing as if you were half dead,
or half asleep:
but lift your voice with strength.
Be no more afraid of your voice now,
nor more ashamed of its being heard,
than when you sang the songs of Satan.
Removing the postcount from the Thread View page, or from the forums altogether, would go a long ways towards not encouraging users to post such threads and replies. By doing one of the above, the staff is now forcing the user's hand, in that, the only incentive to post is to make a worthwhile discussion.
I don't think that's completely true. There are some posters who post sometimes just to be noticed. They don't have much to say or contribute, they just want to get in on whatever's going on. This may or may not be motivated by the drive to increase their post counts. I believe that in a lot of cases it's not, that such overzealous behavior has other roots. The upped post count may just be a happy bonus.
I'm not trying to be argumentative. I do think that moving/removing post counts would help in some cases, I just think the spamming mentality is deeper than simple ++ery sometimes. And doing something about post counts wouldn't really help that.
I mean, if all we want to have is worthwhile, quality posts that contribute something, we could just make anything that doesn't fit that bill against the forum rules ..... oh, wait.
In all seriousness, another good way to make worthwhile discussion more alluring would be to really enforce spam warnings. Which I know is happening now, I'm just saying. If posting something stupid and unproductive that does nothing to contribute to the topic got you in trouble, I think posters would be far less inclined to do it. But maybe not. Spam warnings get handed out pretty often, and it doesn't seem to be putting an end to it.
I don't think that's completely true. There are some posters who post sometimes just to be noticed. They don't have much to say or contribute, they just want to get in on whatever's going on. This may or may not be motivated by the drive to increase their post counts. I believe that in a lot of cases it's not, that such overzealous behavior has other roots. The upped post count may just be a happy bonus.
The post count may just be a bonus. But as was evidenced in prior threads regarding this same topic, many users fought tooth and nail to protect post count. Most of the users supporting post count, were those overzealous posters. Sure, it may not be the solitary catalyst for their overzealous posting nature, but it is one of them.
I'm not trying to be argumentative. I do think that moving/removing post counts would help in some cases, I just think the spamming mentality is deeper than simple ++ery sometimes. And doing something about post counts wouldn't really help that.
No, it would not get rid of all spam. Nothing will ever eliminate all spam. Spam is a fact of the internet, and it's about damn time people accepted it. Should it be dealt with on this forum? Yes. Deleting posts and warning users goes a long way towards that. However, it is undeniable that a certain cliche of users who enjoy watching their "e-*****" grow will become disillusioned with such silly matters, and begin to post to make a statement, rather than posting to post.
I mean, if all we want to have is worthwhile, quality posts that contribute something, we could just make anything that doesn't fit that bill against the forum rules ..... oh, wait.
I wouldn't want to beat the moderators down to a bloody pulp by asking them to keep up under such a work load.
In all seriousness, another good way to make worthwhile discussion more alluring would be to really enforce spam warnings. Which I know is happening now, I'm just saying. If posting something stupid and unproductive that does nothing to contribute to the topic got you in trouble, I think posters would be far less inclined to do it. But maybe not. Spam warnings get handed out pretty often, and it doesn't seem to be putting an end to it.
*shrug*
Again, no single internet user should ever expect to eliminate even the majority of spam. Spam has existed as long as there was an available medium for it, and it will continue to exist as long as there is an available medium. The moderators are doing a wonderful job of enforcing anti-spam rules in most areas of the forum, however, I feel that turning off posts counting in areas like the Rumor Mill, and then hiding the post counts from the Thread View page would also be beneficial to the moderating staff and the forums as a whole by discouraging users who were formerly obsessed with upping their post count to post only when they have some contribution to make to the discussion.
Don't get me wrong, if there was no such thing as a 'post count', I would still post as much as I do now, cause I enjoy posting around the site and being a part of the community, I'm just saying that a lot of people post because they want a higher post count (not necessarily spam though - many people post a lot to up their post count yet are conscious of not spamming).
Anyway, I didn't want this thread to talk into a discussion argument about post counts.
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
I wouldn't want to beat the moderators down to a bloody pulp by asking them to keep up under such a work load.
Hee!
I mean, I know the mods have a lot to deal with, but keeping up with the onslaught of crap is a part of the job. And it would totally suck to expect people to do their jobs.
As far as eliminating spam, internet-wide elimination is of course a pipedream, but it can be done on an indicidual forum basis. I'm active on a few boards where spam is pretty much nonexistent because it is dealt with swiftly. I suppose it also has to do with the userbase itself, but it's still possible to significantly cut down on spam. I doubt we could ever achieve that here without getting pretty extreme with the moderating.
I say we experiment with turning post counts off, see how it goes. It's pretty much win-win for me. Either spamming decreases and we get basically only worthwhile posts or the overzealous mentality continues and some members continue to post to get noticed/respect/whatever. Peak rumor season is coming up, so it'd be interesting to see how that would go down.
I mean, I know the mods have a lot to deal with, but keeping up with the onslaught of crap is a part of the job. And it would totally suck to expect people to do their jobs.
I do not believe you fully appreciate the workload that moderators handle as-is. Now, you were asking for them to somehow manage the forums in such a way that no topic ever goes off-point, and to stop all rules infractions from ever occurring. Moderating is hard with the way the forum is now - what you ask would be impossible, not to mention, improbable.
As far as eliminating spam, internet-wide elimination is of course a pipedream, but it can be done on an indicidual forum basis. I'm active on a few boards where spam is pretty much nonexistent because it is dealt with swiftly. I suppose it also has to do with the userbase itself, but it's still possible to significantly cut down on spam. I doubt we could ever achieve that here without getting pretty extreme with the moderating.
Pretty much.
I say we experiment with turning post counts off, see how it goes. It's pretty much win-win for me. Either spamming decreases and we get basically only worthwhile posts or the overzealous mentality continues and some members continue to post to get noticed/respect/whatever. Peak rumor season is coming up, so it'd be interesting to see how that would go down.
spanglegluppet dot com
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
[Ye olde] Avvy[Blurrycloud]banner[Rakdos]
Where you get a random hot chick after every post.
Creater of the [Guildpact], join today.
My Siglet(extendo-sig)
count with me
Be aware of singing as if you were half dead,
or half asleep:
but lift your voice with strength.
Be no more afraid of your voice now,
nor more ashamed of its being heard,
than when you sang the songs of Satan.
That'd be pretty neat actually.
[KalmWave] [Last.FM]
Ubuntu Linux
Exactly. This is how I feel. Of coarse the general community does not, and never will, but it would be nice. Just stick it in profiles or make it so only moderators can see it. It really does not need to be there. I mean whenever I hear talk about turning off post counts I think, "Well if you are going to do it there, why not here?" which leads to "Well if it does not count in there either there is no way it should count in there." and so on.
I can make a case for turning off post counts in almost every forum, save Debate and maybe a few others. But if they are off everywhere esle, may as well be off there too, y'know?
[crossfingers]Please be serious.[/crossfingers]
Really? I disagree. I think that post mean something in a lot of the forums. Speculation, New Card Discussion, OM, Storyline, Custom Cards, all the Strategy forums, etc. This is, of course, assuming that the posts are of good quality in the first place.
Post counts are to mark how many worthwhile posts a user has contributed to the community. Be it a discussion of a new rumor, an argument for the inclusion of certain cards in a T2 competitive deck, a review of the latest novel, a debate on politics or commenting on cards made by another user for a homemade set. I think each one of these contributes equally and should be counted, if we are to count such things at all.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
actually though, i didn't even realize that some of the threads don't increase your post count, probably because i just don't care. for the most part I'm more interested in the join date of someone then their post count, although the combination of the two often gives some *relatively* valid information. For instance someone with two posts that joined this month is clearly a new user, whereas someone with two posts who joined a year ago probably has been following the rumor mill if nothing else for quite some time, and simply doesn't contribute their thoughts.
The upside of displaying the post counts are that some people really like it, and some threads that want lots of people to post, even if it's just a couple of words, get more attention that way. For instance in the "opinions and polls" of "general magic," there are a number of ongoing votes going on, and it's nice to get lots of people voting on them because it's easier to get valid answers with more opinions. without public poll counts it's possible some people wouldn't participate.
on the flip side though, are the forums where the number of posts is irrelevant, it's the content that's important. most notably IMO are the deck design forums (ie. standard, extended, etc.), where someone posting "the deck looks good" or "add more basic lands" doesn't really help much.
so I don't know what the answer is. hrm...
oh well, +1 poll count for me
er, does the poll count go up in this thread? now I'm confused...
My decks:
Standard - MUC, Glittering Wish Control, Battle of Wits
Extended - White Rock, UW Control, Train Wreck
Legacy - SI, UbaStax, CounterSlivers
Vintage - Manaless Ichorid, Flash, Gush-a-Tog
Highlander - Burn, MUC
I test on MWS!
No. This is Speak Your Mind, posts do not count here.
I would like to think that users are not judged by their post counts alone. Why it is a tool in evaluating a user's status and contributions it matters little in the grand scheme. I mean, regardless of Senori's and Butte's post counts, I know they make valueable posts all the time. It does not matter what the number is, they will always have my respect. However no matter how many posts tomothy, ollie, or the spammers of today make I will never respect them. It does not matter how much they spam, they are spammers and I do not care.
Which brings us to the fact that post counts encourage spam.
I'm seeing a distinct correlation here... One that I would like to "solve". Personally, I couldn't care less about that number next to my name. By all means, I'm sure the staff could come up with some better use of the space that is currently there. Post counts should be visible only in the Profile View screen. If a user is desperate enough to absolutely *need* the knowledge of their postcount, it doesn't take a whole lot to look at their profile.
Either that, or we could eliminate post counts in general, rather than just taking them off of the Thread View page.
[KalmWave] [Last.FM]
Ubuntu Linux
Well, do note that I said my opinion only applies when a post is a quality post in the first place. I don't believe posts as you suggest contribute much at all.
However. Threads in speculation where posters take a tidbit of info from the Rumor Mill and try to make educated guess to fill in the missing details or whatever are good contributions. At least in my opinion. The subforum isn't there for out-of-your-ass ideas, it's there so we can speculate on how bits and pieces of information fit together to make actual cards, sets, themes, mechanics, etc.
Threads in NCD are much the same. Posts that are nothing but "This card roxxors, wee!!!" is spam in the first place. Which is not to say posts there can't contribute. Discussing how rumored cards combo with existing cards and strategies, trying to design a deck to take advantage of a powerful new card, all things like that contribute to the overall community. Or at least the threads in that subforum.
OM means a lot to me. Especially Entertainment. Some of the posts I think are some of my best and highest quality are there, discussing a television show, a movie or a game.
And Storyline is the forum dedicated to discussing Magic's story.
Again, posts that are of low quality in the first place don't contribute much by definition.
Depends. Post counts certainly encourage ++ery, but let's not pretend removing post counts would eliminate spam and posts that fail to contribute to a topic. I would hope that no one believes that in the first place, but it begged to be said.
Post counts certainly don't help matters, but I strongly believe that some posters are going to post like crazy regardless in the pursuit of being relevant.
Though I do agree that putting the post count in the user profile might be a good idea. I'm just not sold on how massive an influence it would have. It would stop the blatant ++ery, but the overzealous mentality goes beyond just post counts.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
In my opinion, if a post or thread is pointless and contributes absolutely nothing, it should be warned/closed/whatever. Both of the Rumor Mill subforums have a good purpose, and posters should be expected to follow through with that in mind. Personally, I consider random ass-pulled speculation and "this new card iz brokenzors" posts to be unproductive spam and should be treated as such.
So yeah, I agree with you. It just shouldn't be that way.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
Removing the postcount from the Thread View page, or from the forums altogether, would go a long ways towards not encouraging users to post such threads and replies. By doing one of the above, the staff is now forcing the user's hand, in that, the only incentive to post is to make a worthwhile discussion.
[KalmWave] [Last.FM]
Ubuntu Linux
spanglegluppet dot com
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
Having a wonderful forum, with many kind members, all seeking an active and worthwhile discussion is incentive for posting. If any person on this site posts on MTGSalvation, or any other net forum, simply to gain an "e-*****"... That person has my undying pity.
[KalmWave] [Last.FM]
Ubuntu Linux
Are they really?
For the most part, I don't think the worthwhile members would post less if they didn't have a number tick off.
Be aware of singing as if you were half dead,
or half asleep:
but lift your voice with strength.
Be no more afraid of your voice now,
nor more ashamed of its being heard,
than when you sang the songs of Satan.
I don't think that's completely true. There are some posters who post sometimes just to be noticed. They don't have much to say or contribute, they just want to get in on whatever's going on. This may or may not be motivated by the drive to increase their post counts. I believe that in a lot of cases it's not, that such overzealous behavior has other roots. The upped post count may just be a happy bonus.
I'm not trying to be argumentative. I do think that moving/removing post counts would help in some cases, I just think the spamming mentality is deeper than simple ++ery sometimes. And doing something about post counts wouldn't really help that.
I mean, if all we want to have is worthwhile, quality posts that contribute something, we could just make anything that doesn't fit that bill against the forum rules ..... oh, wait.
In all seriousness, another good way to make worthwhile discussion more alluring would be to really enforce spam warnings. Which I know is happening now, I'm just saying. If posting something stupid and unproductive that does nothing to contribute to the topic got you in trouble, I think posters would be far less inclined to do it. But maybe not. Spam warnings get handed out pretty often, and it doesn't seem to be putting an end to it.
*shrug*
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
The post count may just be a bonus. But as was evidenced in prior threads regarding this same topic, many users fought tooth and nail to protect post count. Most of the users supporting post count, were those overzealous posters. Sure, it may not be the solitary catalyst for their overzealous posting nature, but it is one of them.
No, it would not get rid of all spam. Nothing will ever eliminate all spam. Spam is a fact of the internet, and it's about damn time people accepted it. Should it be dealt with on this forum? Yes. Deleting posts and warning users goes a long way towards that. However, it is undeniable that a certain cliche of users who enjoy watching their "e-*****" grow will become disillusioned with such silly matters, and begin to post to make a statement, rather than posting to post.
I wouldn't want to beat the moderators down to a bloody pulp by asking them to keep up under such a work load.
Again, no single internet user should ever expect to eliminate even the majority of spam. Spam has existed as long as there was an available medium for it, and it will continue to exist as long as there is an available medium. The moderators are doing a wonderful job of enforcing anti-spam rules in most areas of the forum, however, I feel that turning off posts counting in areas like the Rumor Mill, and then hiding the post counts from the Thread View page would also be beneficial to the moderating staff and the forums as a whole by discouraging users who were formerly obsessed with upping their post count to post only when they have some contribution to make to the discussion.
[KalmWave] [Last.FM]
Ubuntu Linux
Anyway, I didn't want this thread to talk into a
discussionargument about post counts.spanglegluppet dot com
"Hello! I've come to serenade you. I can't play guitar. I can't play this accordion either, but I thought it'd be less obvious."
Dylan Moran, Black Books
Hee!
I mean, I know the mods have a lot to deal with, but keeping up with the onslaught of crap is a part of the job. And it would totally suck to expect people to do their jobs.
As far as eliminating spam, internet-wide elimination is of course a pipedream, but it can be done on an indicidual forum basis. I'm active on a few boards where spam is pretty much nonexistent because it is dealt with swiftly. I suppose it also has to do with the userbase itself, but it's still possible to significantly cut down on spam. I doubt we could ever achieve that here without getting pretty extreme with the moderating.
I say we experiment with turning post counts off, see how it goes. It's pretty much win-win for me. Either spamming decreases and we get basically only worthwhile posts or the overzealous mentality continues and some members continue to post to get noticed/respect/whatever. Peak rumor season is coming up, so it'd be interesting to see how that would go down.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
I do not believe you fully appreciate the workload that moderators handle as-is. Now, you were asking for them to somehow manage the forums in such a way that no topic ever goes off-point, and to stop all rules infractions from ever occurring. Moderating is hard with the way the forum is now - what you ask would be impossible, not to mention, improbable.
Pretty much.
Agreed.
[KalmWave] [Last.FM]
Ubuntu Linux
Hm. . . the moderator staff should fight about whether or not to make a public poll to turn off postcounts everywhere, + make the fightthread public
2¢