My Opinion

[Neutrino]

I'm just posting this as a form of feedback for your site.

I personally enjoy internet forums and like having discussions with others. This is the reason I came to this site originally. But upon being here for a while, I find that I do not like how things are operated around here. I realize you have certain policies, but I think they are quite a bit too strict for a gaming forum, and create a rather unpleasent atmosphere. Of course you need some rules and obviously you must moderate the site, but I think that many of the situations could be handled differently. I think there is too much interference in normal discussions and too much emphasis on trying to regulate the posts in every topic. I prefer a more open discussion attitude that promotes free speech. Overall, I just highly dislike how highly controlled and standardized these forums are. After all it's just a gaming forum.

Now I realize that with so many member you have to have rules. My point is only that I think the rules have gone too far. Also, I don't blame any of the mods at all for anything. They're just doing their job. I do however fault the general policies of the site. Now, I'm not trying to bash the site, I'm just trying to offer some hopefully constructive critism, and describe the way I see things.

Cheers,
Neutrino

 

[The Dark Elf]

I gave you all a fair warning in that thread, I let you off a post cause you were writing it at the time I made the warning. I let things slide a little afterwards, I replied to your PM about it giving the reasons why I said I would close the thread and also explained while we allow a bit of drift, which is natural, it was getting way too silly with this my sister knows more law than you crap and I would close the thread if it continued, which you agree'd with and understood and promised to try keep on topic. Thre thread had a couple of on topic posts before bam, back to arguing again so I finally closed the thread sometime later when the both of you showed no sign of stopping, after which you sent another PM admitting you couldn't leave it alone and said you were sorry.

I'd say I was being very fair and far from strict and should have locked that thread a hell of a lot sooner really.


Cheers and Merry Christmas etc. etc. etc.

 

[Axyon]

Originally posted by Neutrino
I'm just posting this as a form of feedback for your site.

I personally enjoy internet forums and like having discussions with others. This is the reason I came to this site originally. But upon being here for a while, I find that I do not like how things are operated around here. I realize you have certain policies, but I think they are quite a bit too strict for a gaming forum, and create a rather unpleasent atmosphere. Of course you need some rules and obviously you must moderate the site, but I think that many of the situations could be handled differently. I think there is too much interference in normal discussions and too much emphasis on trying to regulate the posts in every topic. I prefer a more open discussion attitude that promotes free speech. Overall, I just highly dislike how highly controlled and standardized these forums are. After all it's just a gaming forum.

Now I realize that with so many member you have to have rules. My point is only that I think the rules have gone too far. Also, I don't blame any of the mods at all for anything. They're just doing their job. I do however fault the general policies of the site. Now, I'm not trying to bash the site, I'm just trying to offer some hopefully constructive critism, and describe the way I see things.

Cheers,
Neutrino

If you want to make some 'constructive criticisms', then please give examples. I don't have the time to wade through everything on the forum to find what you're going on about.

 

[Neutrino]

Originally posted by Fenric1138
I gave you all a fair warning in that thread, I let you off a post cause you were writing it at the time I made the warning. I let things slide a little afterwards, I replied to your PM about it giving the reasons why I said I would close the thread and also explained while we allow a bit of drift, which is natural, it was getting way too silly with this my sister knows more law than you crap and I would close the thread if it continued, which you agree'd with and understood and promised to try keep on topic. Thre thread had a couple of on topic posts before bam, back to arguing again so I finally closed the thread sometime later when the both of you showed no sign of stopping, after which you sent another PM admitting you couldn't leave it alone and said you were sorry.

I'd say I was being very fair and far from strict and should have locked that thread a hell of a lot sooner really.


Cheers and Merry Christmas etc. etc. etc.

Yes, I wasn't blaming you at all fenric. As I said I don't blame any mods. Your just doing your job. I just happen not to agree with some of the general policies of the site which makes that necessary. I agree I was wrong to continue after you gave us a warning and I'm not saying you were being unfair or too strict. I apologize if it seems like I was attacking you in this post. I didn't mean to at all. I only have a problem with the general rules, not any mods. So sorry if I offended you, I truly didn't mean to :cheers:

Abom|nation: I appreciate the response. My main concern is just that I think it is unnecessary to lock posts that go offtopic. Of course you have to lock really horrible flame wars or illegal material, but I personally don't feel it necessary to lock any thread that has gone off topic no matter how silly it is. Nor to make sure every thread stays on topic. It's just people having free discussions. If there is interest in the original subject then people will talk about that. But if there's not then maybe that subject will spark another conversation. I don't think it is necessary to give examples, I just mean I think the policy of sticking exactly too topic is a bit too stict for a gaming forum.

Now, this is just my opinion. I'm not trying to be rude or bash your site. And you may totally disagree and think that I am a moron, which is certainly your right since you operate the site and I don't. I just wanted to express my opinion, whether it is right or wrong. So :cheers: to you as well.

 

[Axyon]

I see. Spam is a key element that is not tolerated on this forum, and we've had a big problem with people spamming up perfectly legitimate threads in the past. However, standard procedure before the thread is locked is to warn everyone participating in the spam to go on topic, or face the topic closing. A good majority of the time everything works out and the thread can go on, but there are instances where the thread will have to be closed as people have not followed the rule.

This is where the difference is though, if people go off track in the thread and start a discussion on something else, then it's fine for them to make another topic on the forum to discuss that, instead of keeping it in the original thread. We like to keep order here, and having many discussions woven into many threads just isn't efficient. As mentioned earlier though, spam is not tolerated... spam is constituted by talking about random nonsense that really doesn't progress a thread in any way, so there's no real need to allow it here.

We do promote and encourage varied discussion on the forums, so long as it doesn't breach any of our rules. I hope you can realise that we need these rules to keep order on the forum, so they must be followed strictly. Your concern into the matter is most appreciated though, I will take it into matters and see if I can improve the general attitude of dealing with off-topic threads in the future.

 

[Neutrino]

First, there now seems to be two of the same thread. I don't know if I did anything to cause this. Strange.

I thank you for your reply Abom|nation. I appreciate you taking my conerns seriously. I do understand that you are trying to run a well ordered site and I do realise that you need rules. I just happen to disagree with the current strictness of the rules, not the basic rules itself. Perhaps, I'm the only one who thinks this, but I just thought it wouldn't hurt to voice my opinion. So again, thanks for the response and explanations.

And Merry Christmas Fenric.

Edit: Ack! Why does it keep copying my entire thread every time I reply? I now see three of the same threads. Sorry about that, I don't know why it's doing it.

Edit II: Aw crap, sorry. I think I was accidently hitting the "new thread" button right next to the "reply" button. I didn't even see it there. Oops. . Sorry to make you delete those others.

Edit III: I'd reply again but it'd just make another thread. Ah, a bug huh. I thought I had started some kind of chainreaction that was going to destroy the world.:bounce:

 

[Axyon]

Originally posted by Neutrino
First, there now seems to be two of the same thread. I don't know if I did anything to cause this. Strange.

Forum software bug, we've been trying to fix it for a long time :/

 

[Munro]

Hi thanks for the feedback.

I have to admit yes there have been a lot of different opinions from everyone about the moderation of these forums. It does look like we’re a bit strict but with the massive amount of people on these forums when the whole ‘beta’ thing hit the scene we had to be. I have to say this is partly my fault for not writing up a proper policy or guidelines for the moderators to look at. Now that I am more active I am working on improving the communication between moderators, making our guidelines clear and alerting members to our forum rules.

I shall try to keep the community, aswell as the site staff updated on all progress.

 

[Neutrino]

Thanks Munro.

I also PM'd an idea to a couple mods to make my critisism possibly a bit more constructive.

 

[latency2]

Hope I'm not intruding but I had to say it...

These forums are very laxed when it comes to moderation IMO. Try most of the planetforums. There you'll be humiliated by the mods without any provocation. Close threads on the whim. You name it, blah.

You got it good here. Not many cool places have mods that will participate in a fairly useless but fun thread.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Hope I'm not intruding but I had to say it...

These forums are very laxed when it comes to moderation IMO. Try most of the planetforums. There you'll be humiliated by the mods without any provocation. Close threads on the whim. You name it, blah.

You got it good here. Not many cool places have mods that will participate in a fairly useless but fun thread.

Thanks Latency2, and welcome to the forums!

Edit: Sorry things look a bit weird here right now, we're redecorating and Munro forgot to order the wallpaper :E

 

[Neutrino]

Hope I'm not intruding but I had to say it...

These forums are very laxed when it comes to moderation IMO. Try most of the planetforums. There you'll be humiliated by the mods without any provocation. Close threads on the whim. You name it, blah.

You got it good here. Not many cool places have mods that will participate in a fairly useless but fun thread.

Not intruding at all.

I understand what your saying and I can agree with you to an extent. I'm also not saying this site is bad, I just had a concern with one aspect of it. My opinion just reflects my own preferences, which I'm sure others will disagree with. Thanks for putting another perspective on things, though.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Personally, I have no issues with the moderation of these forums, though I think it would be worth considering an 'any last words?' option for the thread starter. So many people I know say that these forums are rubbish, that the people are immature and the mods are lax. I see no truth in either claim - the people here are no more immature than people anywhere else. As for the mods I couldn't possibly comment for fear of being abducted by the Hl2 secret police and thrown in a gulag in deepest Worcestorshire.

 

[ray_MAN]

These forums are great IMO. There is only one thing I don't understand. Why can't we discuss the beta? I once posted a reply to a post, that asking about CS2 in HL2. I gave information regarding the beta and CS. My post was edited and I was given a warning by a moderator(forgot who) saying, "One more post like that and you are banned."(something like that) We made a promise to Gabe not to download the beta(though many have broken the promise), he never said we couldn't discuss it. I just don't understand about why we can't talk about the beta. Maybe you can make a forum regarding the beta(only to talk about, no pictures). I will gladly moderate that forum if needed. Remember we once had a forum for the beta and there was no mass panic and craze(you deleted it Munro). Just try it out. It might work out for us.

Thanks for listening,
ray_MAN

 

[Neutrino]

These forums are great IMO. There is only one thing I don't understand. Why can't we discuss the beta? I once posted a reply to a post, that asking about CS2 in HL2. I gave information regarding the beta and CS. My post was edited and I was given a warning by a moderator(forgot who) saying, "One more post like that and you are banned."(something like that) We made a promise to Gabe not to download the beta(though many have broken the promise), he never said we couldn't discuss it. I just don't understand about why we can't talk about the beta. Maybe you can make a forum regarding the beta(only to talk about, no pictures). I will gladly moderate that forum if needed. Remember we once had a forum for the beta and there was no mass panic and craze(you deleted it Munro). Just try it out. It might work out for us.

Thanks for listening,
ray_MAN

Off topic post! Off topic post! Delete this thread!!!!!

Hehe, just kidding guys.

I imagine you can't talk about the beta because there is an explicit rule against it on these forums.

 

[ray_MAN]

I imagine you can't talk about the beta because there is an explicit rule against it on these forums.

That's why I am posting that, to change the rule.

 

[D33]

These forums are great IMO. There is only one thing I don't understand. Why can't we discuss the beta? I once posted a reply to a post, that asking about CS2 in HL2. I gave information regarding the beta and CS. My post was edited and I was given a warning by a moderator(forgot who) saying, "One more post like that and you are banned."(something like that) We made a promise to Gabe not to download the beta(though many have broken the promise), he never said we couldn't discuss it. I just don't understand about why we can't talk about the beta. Maybe you can make a forum regarding the beta(only to talk about, no pictures). I will gladly moderate that forum if needed. Remember we once had a forum for the beta and there was no mass panic and craze(you deleted it Munro). Just try it out. It might work out for us.

Thanks for listening,
ray_MAN

1) because people don't want the game ruined for them.
2) there was a board for it, it was deleted on the grounds of bad taste.

 

[Axyon]

3) You shouldn't be playing it in the first place, let alone discussing it.

 

[Sulkdodds]

I think he was asking why the rule is there...

 

[bgesley426]

Opinion noted Neutrino. But..um...I don't see the point of making an entire thread. Yes its your opinion but it didn't look like there was anything to discuss. Was this a way for you to just vent/express some personal disagreement with this forum or what? I'm all for freedom of speach and all but I just don't understand why some people "talk a lot but say nothing". I mean...so you don't like the way the forum is run. Okay..Noted. Do you want us to suggest something for you to do? I mean you don't neccesarily have to BE here, all is welcome so I don't think anyone is saying GTFO. Just me having a hard time understanding WHY you made an entire thread.

 

[Neutrino]

Opinion noted Neutrino. But..um...I don't see the point of making an entire thread. Yes its your opinion but it didn't look like there was anything to discuss. Was this a way for you to just vent/express some personal disagreement with this forum or what? I'm all for freedom of speach and all but I just don't understand why some people "talk a lot but say nothing". I mean...so you don't like the way the forum is run. Okay..Noted. Do you want us to suggest something for you to do? I mean you don't neccesarily have to BE here, all is welcome so I don't think anyone is saying GTFO. Just me having a hard time understanding WHY you made an entire thread.

Um...because this is a forum where people write out their opinions to spark discussion perhaps? You say there was nothing to discuss. Well I happen to feel differently about the topic. Yes this was a way to express my opinion. That's how I communicate to others what I think. So I "talk a lot but say nothing"? See, that's your opinion and you were free to express it just as I was mine. And why shouldn't I have made a thread about it? I felt it was an important issue to resolve and I thought that others should be given the chance to voice their own opinions on the same subject, just as you are doing. That is usually why people start threads; to hear what other's have to say about the topic. By the same logic you use, one could ask why you felt it necessary to write an "entire" post on a subject that the mods had already dealt with.

 

[OFFMason]

Silly? Telling him my sister knows more law than him is silly? How is it silly when its fact? Not only did I tell him that lawyers agreed with me, but I also showed him examples to back up my statement which obviously he didn't want to comprehend. I gave him a definition of the damn word and I gave him scenarious, its not silly at all. It was also all on topic, and I don't understand why it was locked.

The topic was whether we think Valve should've made a release date or not, I explained why and the way I explained it required me to explain some legal stand points. I don't see how it was off-topic only that we started to discuss the legal reasons as to why there shouldn't have been a release date.

 

[Neutrino]

Silly? Telling him my sister knows more law than him is silly? How is it silly when its fact? Not only did I tell him that lawyers agreed with me, but I also showed him examples to back up my statement which obviously he didn't want to comprehend. I gave him a definition of the damn word and I gave him scenarious, its not silly at all. It was also all on topic, and I don't understand why it was locked.

The topic was whether we think Valve should've made a release date or not, I explained why and the way I explained it required me to explain some legal stand points. I don't see how it was off-topic only that we started to discuss the legal reasons as to why there shouldn't have been a release date.

I won't respond to any of the things you said just because it would just end up in another argument and get this thread locked as well. I will just say that I tend to agree with you that what we were discussing was relevant to the topic. That is why I made this thread to just find out if it would be possible to change the strictness of that policy. Also, why don't you respond to your PM's? If you would like to continue the debate I'm more than willing and sent you some pm's on the subject. Not that you have to or anything, but if it's important to you then feel free to write back.

 

[OFFMason]

Oh didn't see