"Meaningless Post" thread changes.

[blender]

meaningless post is necessary for those with personality disorders who have to let it out somewhere. without it, we are doomed and will have spam threads everywhere. Have an official red light disctrict so that it can be controlled and regulated. Dont have one and we have anarcrch and pimps moving into the nice middle class areas.

 

EDIT: in fact I'm feeling twitchy now... i', not sure whats going to happen now

[Fierce_LiNk]

Fierce has spoken. Do not disobey.

 

P.S Good to see you a round, even if it is only a little. Hope things are ok matey

 

Go to staff chat for various details.

[conzer16]

'twas just a suggestion.

 

If the staff don't want any spam at all delete the MPoTD thread for good, maintain a watchful eye over every thread - craking down on spammers, deleting anything that could be construed as spam.

 

That's my advice.

[Platty]

'twas just a suggestion.

 

If the staff don't want any spam at all delete the MPoTD thread for good, maintain a watchful eye over every thread - craking down on spammers, deleting anything that could be construed as spam.

 

That's my advice.

 

We do that already.

 

But we didnt want to delete the meaningless thread (well actually some of us did want to) as it was and still is a good idea until some people started getting silly.

[conzer16]

We do that already.

 

But we didnt want to delete the meaningless thread (well actually some of us did want to) as it was and still is a good idea until some people started getting silly.

 

Then crack down harder. If you want to stop people falling out of line, do something drastic to show how you mean it.

 

Delete the thread, ban the biggest spammers.

[Shino]

Yes! Go Nazi on our asses! Hype out what makes this community, just so we could have less spam, even if it does no harm.

[Shorty]

Then crack down harder. If you want to stop people falling out of line, do something drastic to show how you mean it.

 

Delete the thread, ban the biggest spammers.

I don't know if you've noticed but so many people have been banned lately... a lot more than it used to be. Not just the spammers but the troublecausers, fight starters, fanboys, flamers. Forumwide bans are far from the ideal answer though. What we've proposed to day is actually not that big a thing, everyone is just blowing it out of proportion. There's less than 12 hours til it'll be open again for crying out loud, and you'll sleep through most of it.

 

MPotD thread getting out of control was our own fault, we should've 'nipped it in the bud' so to speak - now it's so popular we would never get rid of it unless we absolutely had to, because that would just upset the majority userbase - and that's not our intention at all. Because it's so big people think they can get away with posting useless tiny posts, they see others do it and follow suit, raising their postcount, causing countless wasted pages and time for readers and the staff.

[conzer16]

I hadn't noticed actually - Haven't really been on here much the past 4-5 weeks.

 

Well, I've nothing left to say on the matter, so let's just see how this plays out then shall we?

[ReZourceman]

Can we rename the thread at all? It is a really random and misleading thread title.

 

If it really is a thread for meaningful to yourself but meaningless to others posts, then it would just be post after post of people effectively ignoring each other - Which you can do in your head. Lol.

[chairdriver]

Yeah (from what I've seen) it's more of a random, flowing discussion.

[Eenuh]

I don't know if you've noticed but so many people have been banned lately... a lot more than it used to be. Not just the spammers but the troublecausers, fight starters, fanboys, flamers. Forumwide bans are far from the ideal answer though. What we've proposed to day is actually not that big a thing, everyone is just blowing it out of proportion. There's less than 12 hours til it'll be open again for crying out loud, and you'll sleep through most of it.

 

MPotD thread getting out of control was our own fault, we should've 'nipped it in the bud' so to speak - now it's so popular we would never get rid of it unless we absolutely had to, because that would just upset the majority userbase - and that's not our intention at all. Because it's so big people think they can get away with posting useless tiny posts, they see others do it and follow suit, raising their postcount, causing countless wasted pages and time for readers and the staff.

 

I'm all for getting rid of the spammers and spam posts in there; they don't contribute to anything at all. I just find it a bit unclear as to what you would still like to see in there or not (especially the "get a blog" thing is confusing).

 

Also, I tried to get the IRC thing going but I don't get it. XD

[Dyson]

Well, if the eventual plan is to have no more MPT, don't delete it. I'm sure people will want to reference back to their old posts or something. Lock it for sure, though, if necessary.

[Shorty]

I'm all for getting rid of the spammers and spam posts in there; they don't contribute to anything at all. I just find it a bit unclear as to what you would still like to see in there or not (especially the "get a blog" thing is confusing).

I think some of the most useless posts were those that read "Just got up, morning N-E!", "Night N-Europe!", "my day sucked" and nothing else. Those are the kinds of things that do no good to say at all, but if you really had to you could keep it to yourself....

 

As for ircle I really have no idea since I don't have a mac to try it on - but most chat applications just give you a list of places to connect to, in which you want to find "Quakenet" or "Random Quakenet Server". You usually pick a username at that stage too. Then once you're connected (you'll see lots of "connecting" stuff go past on the console window, including Quakenet's rules) type in /join #cube-europe.

Well, if the eventual plan is to have no more MPT

That was never the plan as far as I know.

[Ashley]

'twas just a suggestion.

 

If the staff don't want any spam at all delete the MPoTD thread for good, maintain a watchful eye over every thread - craking down on spammers, deleting anything that could be construed as spam.

 

That's my advice.

 

You realise we have lives yeah?

 

And to re-iterate a point that has been re-iterated more than "wear a condom" during sex ed:

 

We aren't trying to rid the thread of random 'meaningless' discussions. We are trying to rid it of crappy little posts.

 

I mean really, do you walk up to people in real life just say "Bored!" and run away?

 

Anyway. On the bright side, about ten hours left. The scary day is nearly over.

 

Plus you have my personal word that tomorrow, after work, I shall look into ensuring the 'chat' link works with no faff.

[ReZourceman]

;458242]

I mean really' date=' do you walk up to people in real life just say "Bored!" and run away? [/quote']

 

 

....Errrr...no...thats errr....crazy.

[conzer16]

Oh the

 

We have lives... comeback.

 

Jeeze, It was only a suggestion.

 

Never mind anyways. I'm sure the all-seeing, all-powerful mods will prevail!

 

[/sarcasm]

[Eenuh]

I think some of the most useless posts were those that read "Just got up, morning N-E!", "Night N-Europe!", "my day sucked" and nothing else. Those are the kinds of things that do no good to say at all, but if you really had to you could keep it to yourself....

 

As for ircle I really have no idea since I don't have a mac to try it on - but most chat applications just give you a list of places to connect to, in which you want to find "Quakenet" or "Random Quakenet Server". You usually pick a username at that stage too. Then once you're connected (you'll see lots of "connecting" stuff go past on the console window, including Quakenet's rules) type in /join #cube-europe.

That was never the plan as far as I know.

 

Yeah those kind of posts are kinda pointless. But if they are more elaborate, like people actually talking about something that happened to them that day, will that still be alllowed?

I'm not trying to moan or anything (and think people shouldn't feel so offended by the temporary lock); just trying to make sure I get what you guys want this thread to be for. =3

 

And the IRC thing; I tried connecting to different Quakenet servers, but I always get errors (some related to the username) or it just won't connect. Meh. Plus it's only a trial version too it seems. =(

[Ashley]

Oh the

 

We have lives... comeback.

 

Jeeze, It was only a suggestion.

 

Never mind anyways. I'm sure the all-seeing, all-powerful mods will prevail!

 

[/sarcasm]

 

Well you know at times it seems like people expect us to be able to do all sorts. Start paying us and maybe.

[ShadowV7]

Good idea doing a temp lock and that.It's a good thread and I can see where your coming from.I've seen people post things that are beyond pointless.Some people looking to raise their post count because their a few posts away from the next user title.

 

Getting rid of the spam is good idea,mean the stuff that people post is meaningfull but same time meaning-less to others.Just wondering,if people see things getting spammy again,do we just report though the report post function? Give you guys a PM(By that I mean staffers PMing you ) Leave it? Or make a "Spam Watch" thread in the places where normal forumers can't see so you guys can get the heads up on things incase your not on at the time?

[Guest Stefkov]

There is that report a post button which could become a spam watch button like you said Shadow.

I don't know the workings of that button, but it's an idea.

[Shorty]

It sends us a message with a link and your description.

 

We're usually pretty good at keeping up with all the messages though, the staff's pretty big and there's nearly always one of us around. Blackfox is particularly vigilant at flattening spam messages.

[The Bard]

I think it's a big part of the forum, it makes the forum unique in a way, because you can go in there to talk about something, anything which would feel out of place in another thread, and which isn't worth creating a new thread for.

 

If you think about it, The Meaningless Post thread actually means that less spammy/ pointless threads will occur.

[Supergrunch]

I love the meaningless post thread. Even though I rarely post in it, I think it really adds to the community of the forum, and allows people to have the mundane little discussions that make life great. Nevertheless, people obviously go too far, and you mods/admins have the difficult task of telling the difference between posts that are meaningless and constructive and those that the thread could do without.

 

This latter type of post should indeed by cracked down upon, and it seems like you're going about it in the right way, but I think you should act with care. Some posts will naturally lead to discussion, and I think this is fine and part of what makes the thread so great.

 

Of course, many of these discussions (but, fundamentally, not all: there should always be some space for meaningless debate on the forum) could be had on the irc channel, which is sadly under used at this current time. I would love to see more people use it, and perhaps making it more accessible is the way to go about this.

 

If this worked, it would be phenomenal. I would be delighted to be able to drop in to a bustling room full of members I know, and have a chat.

 

So in conclusion, I feel that the meaningless post thread should be kept much as it is, though a few dregs should be flushed away, and the chat room should be promoted as a place for conversation.

 

Which is, of course, what you're all doing, so good for you. :wink:

[Aimless]

Of course, many of these discussions (but, fundamentally, not all: there should always be some space for meaningless debate on the forum) could be had on the irc channel, which is sadly under used at this current time. I would love to see more people use it, and perhaps making it more accessible is the way to go about this.

The thing is, the mediums are really different. Yes they're both text, but part of the beauty of the MPOTD thread is that it's akin to a chatroom but less ephemeral. It is a fast moving thread in relation to others, yes, but it doesn't demand attention the way instant messaging does as you can go off and do something else for a few hours and not miss out. You can always catchup, and that's how I've been able to read every single one of the thread's posts.

 

I'm not saying that the IRC channel shouldn't be made more accessible, I'm just highlighting that it isn't a case of one or the other as however ostensibly similar they might be they're still different beasts.

 

Anyway, vis-a-vis spam: I don't think it's that damaging per se, but I suppose it is undesirable. But then you have a problem of classification, as for instance I don't really care about people posting song lyrics as without actual music it's just poor man's poetry, but someone else might recognise a song that reminds them of an anecdote to share, or a happy occasion they'd forgotten, or even just tip them off as to other people that might share their tastes in music. So to those people maybe it is something, and, more importantly, perhaps it could become something more, such as a conversation, revelation, or even friendship.

 

Obviously a size seven 'lol' isn't very productive, and 'Bored!' is something of a dead end statement, but my point is that spam can be a very subjective label and one to be applied carefully; getting rid of 'spam' tends to cause more trouble than the post itself.

 

On the other hand, spammy posts can quite easily be brought up to standard with little to no effort from the poster. Posts that serve no purpose are spam, but injecting purpose is so simple that there's no excuse for not doing so. If it isn't immediately obvious how make a post worthwhile, then don't post; you save yourself the effort of posting, forumites the effort of reading, and staff the effort of deleting.

 

"I like baked beans." That's a pretty innocuous statement, and chances are the reader won't even remember who posted it as it's so forgettable. Whilst it might be true, it doesn't have any prospects.

 

"I like baked beans, but only Heinz and Branston's as other brands tend to taste of sweeteners. Anyone else find this?" That post isn't going to win any awards, but at least it's now involving the reader and is more likely to spark some kind of discussion or at least consideration.

 

A less user reliant method of keeping spam down would be to have a MPOTD thread which is literally one post per user a day. I don't know if these sort of allowances can be instigated in vBulletin, let alone thread specific ones, but some kind of technical limitation could force people to choose their words more wisely. I'm not saying it's a great idea — it brings plenty of problems with it — but if it's technically feasible then some sort of thread-specific requirement could improve upon the current situation. Emphasis on 'could'.

 

Anyway, this is something of a stream of conscience post, so sorry if it's a bit jumbled.

[Rummy]

All right, I skipped these pages as there's alot of text to read through, but I can't help but notice, looking at the first page and basically all of the posts on it, it pretty much is just a random post about what you've done aka like a blog sort of thread, thus I see the whole 'go get a blog and don't post it here' thing a bit contradictory to the argument about the thread's 'original' purpose. Is it just me that sees it like that?

I say if you want people in the IRC channel, fix that darn chat button! I doubt alot of people here use IRC, and the channel needs a bit of activity going on in it, I've popped in a few times, but it seems to just have people in there not saying much. I also think there IS a difference between an IRC channel and forum chat, as ReZ pointed out in that you can see everything that went on, it's not so much 'here and now' and a little while ago in the past.