the thing i hate is when a debate...not a flame war...is going on and the thread gets locked :P

and also....

i'm afraid to post new threads on the BBs due to the fact that a dick-wad moderator will ban me just because i want some views of what people think :(

At 6/3/09 07:26 PM, 111122223138 wrote: i'm afraid to post new threads on the BBs due to the fact that a dick-wad moderator will ban me just because i want some views of what people think :(

A pro-tip is to use the search bar before posting a new thread. This way, if a thread has been done before, you know not to post it, and if it has been done before and locked, you can read the locked one to see WHY it was locked.

If the thread you're planning to make doesn't show up in the search bar, ask yourself if it's something that should be on the BBS, or if it could go in your news post. If it's something silly then yes, it runs the risk of being locked (although you getting banned for it is a little extreme unless it's really bad content).

If you still aren't sure, you can ask a mod.

Also a line on the rules has been bothering me;

"If you're not here to have fun, go elsewhere."

A lot of the fun is killed by the mods themselves. Just because a topic is stupid doesn't mean it's not fun. I believe a lot of the mods will lock a topic simply because they personally themselves don't like what it's about, not because of their mod status.

I don't know. Just seems like it's going downhill a bit lately, and I never thought I'd say that.

i fully agree...and i agree with what you said about the "just cause they don't like it"...cause i made a thread ablout thing sint he bible you think is wrong.... 29 posts later = locked :P ...

At 6/3/09 06:51 PM, Fyndir wrote: Would there be any way to edit the system so that bans are automatically signed by the mod who handed them out?

If you saw some of the shit we had to put up with, you would TOTALLY understand why signing bans isn't mandatory.

At 6/3/09 08:41 PM, SuperMarioBrosS wrote: Unfortunately for me, Malachy is trying to bring this issue into the BBS (when he bans me, he bans me more harshly than normal because of the abusive reviews conflict). How is he bringing this issue here? His Review Answers 2.0 thread is the answer. That is where trouble is arising. Got to live with it though. If he's sweeping across the BBS hunting me down, he's going to have some trouble.

I've looked at your ban history, and it doesn't look like Mal has banned you that harshly at all TBH... looks fairly standard for the most part. Perhaps you're blowing this whole thing out of proportion?

You may think a certain mod has it out for you, but in reality we don't moderate that way, because targeting specific users is a pretty serious abuse of power. Also, mods and admins can view ban histories, so the evidence would be plain to see were a user to complain.

All right, I got two things...

I think that threads that just say "discuss" and a picture with nothing else shouldn't be allowed. Like, they can be funny sometimes (like this for example), but other times, it's just a title like "this happened" and then the author just says "discuss". Like, there's not much to add to that. I think that people should expand on their ideas more.

Also, I think that mods should send you at least a PM when they delete more important threads. Not stupid spam threads (I can understand that you guys don't want your PM box filled with "OMFG WTF!!??"s), but stuff where the person who made the post might have some questions as to why it was deleted. For example, a few days ago, I made an "Art Rock Club", which is a genre of music, only to come back 2 days later to find that my links to the page gave me the 'ol angry faic telling me the thread was nowhere to be found. And I was sitting there without any explanation as to why it was gone. I set up some guidelines, explained what art rock was, but got nothing telling me what I did wrong or why it was deleted. So, if you guys could do that in the future, that'd be great...

At 6/3/09 06:51 PM, Fyndir wrote: What is the current policy regarding the signing of bans?

Up to the individual mod, but as far as I know everybody signs bans unless they be destroy bans.

I can't remember the last time I had an unsigned ban, but I know it's happened before and it's frustrating to not know who to contact.

Yeah, it's been gone over a few times and I think everybody on the team now does voluntarily sign their bans unless they come from destroy.

Would there be any way to edit the system so that bans are automatically signed by the mod who handed them out?

Probably it could be done, but like any other changes to the system, it would take awhile as updating the BBS isn't a huge priority at present with all the other features being rolled out.

At 6/3/09 09:21 PM, Fyndir wrote: When a mod does choose to destroy a thread, the standard ban doesn't include their name, does it?

I think one of my destroy bans included the name of a moderator. My memory could be off though.

At 5/31/09 12:46 PM, Transformer wrote: The rules are pretty clear when it comes to alt- and gimmick accounts:
- Creating parody threads or posting with gimmick accounts.
- Posting with an alternate account whilst banned or your main account while an alt is banned. Both accounts may be deleted.

you may have as many alt accounts as you wish, but if you make an account soley for the purpose of bullshitting around, it will be banned - just llike any troll/flamer/whatever would be.

Pafatshwhaaaaaaaaaaaaa? My main account got locked just for having alt accounts...

At 6/4/09 05:39 PM, SuperMarioBrosS wrote:

Ultimately, it's a real shame that you feel so targeted by a mod... but you have to remember that this is only an internet site, and as such I feel that use of words like "hatred" are a little strong in these situations.

This matter, frankly, is between you and Malachy. I understand you may want to vent, but this thread really isn't the place for that. At first it seemed more like you were giving named examples of what you feel mods aren't doing right, but now it's just turned into a bit of a personal attack on one mod.

If you want to get this sorted out, you should do it quietly and in private as opposed to on the public BBS. I had a little run in with Mal myself back before I became a mod, and I can tell you from experience that if you approach him in a calm and collected manner about the problem, he'll be more than willing to try and resolve things with you.

This discussion should end here, as it's sending this thread off topic, which is the last thing we want.

I think we've pretty thoroughly covered the topic of mods (unless anybody has anything else to add), so does anybody have anything else to contribute on the subject of what could improve the BBS as a whole?

Firstly I hope you realise this topic is called "Open Discussion" NOT "Post Your Bitch Hurt Here". It's tempting to reply to everything you put, but it would only make matters worse =\ Like jumping in front of a runaway train to try and stop it.. You won't win, and you'll just help make it a bigger mess.

At 6/4/09 05:39 PM, SuperMarioBrosS wrote:

Although Malachy gave review help to users in 'Mal's gift to you: Review Answers', he does not deserve the title 'one of the best in the mod team' as evidenced by of him locking threads and saying 'blog it', discouraging me from flagging abusive reviews, being an opinionated moron and hurting innocent users while helping fucking statwhores with whistle help in BOTH of his review help threads.

This though annoys me.

I hope you realise that a large reason people keep coming back to this site is because of the stats feature. Levelling up, Whistle level, B/P Rank - A lot of users love that, and as this site is much more about the flash than it is the forums (even Wade says himself that the forums are really very unimportant when compared to the flash/audio portals), I'd say Mal is well within his rights to be concerned with helping users who give to this site not just take from it. And the 'stat whores' give to this site. They vote flash in and out, they flag abusive reviews, they let mods know when there are spam issues in the portals. Yeah I'd say Mal is doing a damn good job in helping them whenever he can instead of following up on your pathetic complaints.

You think you're doing NG a favor with this relentless rant, but really you just want to aid YOU.

I think there should be more moderator created threads about Newgrounds itself. Mod's threads are always good and I always greatly enjoy them.

At 6/4/09 06:00 PM, Gagsy wrote: You think you're doing NG a favor with this relentless rant, but really you just want to aid YOU.

Well said Leanne.

I've stated my views on either the last page or this. Quite frankly it's the users that make the BBS, and the users that break it. It's their general attitude/conduct that determines how the BBS is on any given day.

sum it up well? :D

At 6/4/09 05:58 PM, NEVR wrote: I think we've pretty thoroughly covered the topic of mods (unless anybody has anything else to add), so does anybody have anything else to contribute on the subject of what could improve the BBS as a whole?

I really think everything has been covered, I haven't been able to find anything to add since all of my initial ideas have already discussed. I thought I'd post a link to this thread where some of the NG vets were talking about general. Ultimately it ended probably like this thread will end, with absolutely nothing changing. I realize that's not the attitude that everybody wants to hear, but it's what continues to happen with every attempt to better this forum.

At 6/3/09 05:21 PM, BrianEtrius wrote:

At 6/3/09 03:49 PM, NeonFlame126 wrote: The mods haven't really done anything to kill the BBS's fun. The users have.

Exactly. On the other hand, I'd like to direct attention to the thread made by Evark almost two years ago, but it still holds true.

lol, why did i waste precious holiday time whilst in boston posting in that?

At 6/3/09 06:56 PM, Hellian00 wrote: I think a warning for the first time you do something would help. Instead of banning off the bat.

a one day ban should serve as warning enough. gives people time to think about what they've done.

and no, automated bbs thing, just because i'm making two replies in quick succession, i'm not trying to double post

Sorry NEVR, I've just got another mod-related issue I'd like to post here, because otherwise it will bug me! BBS thought bugs tend to crawl in through my eyes and lay eggs in my brain: it's only until I repeatedly smash my head into a wall, for whichever reason seems most natural, that they come flying out.

Transformer. I think I understand about half the joke, and the, erm, humour that arises from various responses, so I'll try to make this brief enough so I don't become that thing. That I partially understand it doesn't mean I think it's funny of course, but as I've said time after time that the forums are all about personal opinions. This applies particularly to humour, I feel, and mod/regular humour especially. I'm not going to talk about mod in-jokes, because I don't really have an issue with them. After all, I figure one of the largely unwritten benefits of being a mod here (in that, you don't state it as a standard reply if asked "what does a mod do?") is that you have access to a largely exclusive sub-community, so it's inevitable that you get different jokes and gimmicks seeping forth to elsewhere. If I severely criticised that, I think I'd almost be saying, "Mods can't have fun.". Who's the "Nazi" then, eh?

What I don't like about this particular thing though is what it says to younger and newer users, who definitely aren't in on anything (or atl east very little), and while it might be seen as a norm to rip them to shreds almost for being new and/or young, I think it still speaks bad things about the BBS. I believe this discussion was, at least partly, set up to get people to talk about the forums as a reaction to various regulars "leaving", so this next example might be relevant, I don't know. I've posted a link to it already I believe, but I point you to this thread. Yes, certain users there could've been a less stupid, I don't deny that, but take note of one of WilliWowza's comments in particular in response to something I said, if you'll excuse my usual grey cloud of seriousness here and there. As I've said, we can all have fun... no, we do have fun, which is why we subscribe ourselves to that disorder known as NG-coholism, but some of the things in this case... well, they come back to that classic equation of "Mod = Example", and that stays more true with those newer and younger users from before (not that I want to make it sound as though they're are defenceless puppies, pawing away at the keyboard or anything).

I'm sure a few of you have seen genuine attempts by newer users to... emulate Transformer's... ahem, "success", and not just those originating from the camp of trendy, fad parody threads. On top of that, I've seen a few more threads that are just simply confused about the whole thing. You might say that the creators of those threads deserve ridicule for questioning things about the mods, but I think the community here is close-knit enough to make it more of a natural response. After all, that's why a lot of us would probably love to scandalise other users out of a disagreement or something, breaking into their houses and getting snapshots of them making love to bedsheets, which can be quickly sent to the e-press.

You might say I'm "butthurt" for not being part of a joke. Despite me being around here for a relatively considerable amount of time, and the frightening amount of lurking I add to my daily tasks, I wouldn't believe myself to be part of a popular regular community unless someone told me I was. Paltalk and Stickam might be seen as tools to make yourself more popular in the community here: I have people I believe to be e-friends in Paltalk, but it's not like a magnet for everything good; I have restricted myself from using Stickam for a handful of reasons. On top of that, I wouldn't say I'm a funny guy: just flick through my last few posts here for a taste of how stiflingly serious I sometimes am. Still, I tell myself it's not really popularity I want, I just want to have a good time... and this is just a point that I feel can be related to good times here.

Pictures of me are developed in black and white, not in an attempt to be arty, but because I clearly don't have much colour about my personality at times. Hey, at least I sleep easier without all the distracting colours, eh?

I think this is quite possibly one of the best threads of the last six months, definitely the most interesting read.

At 6/4/09 10:21 PM, BananaBreadMuffin wrote: I think this is quite possibly one of the best threads of the last six months, definitely the most interesting read.

Exactly.

With this forum being public, it's the users who make it up. From a business point of view, you do want feedback from your customers so you can improve. It's threads like this one that makes me come back to this website. It's always interesting to hear another person's opinion, even if you may not agree with it.

Oh yeah, an edit button for posts would be really helpful.

At 6/5/09 02:03 AM, Reckon wrote: Oh yeah, an edit button for posts would be really helpful.

Never going to happen I'm afraid.

From liljim's opening post in the Ideas for Newgrounds' Evolution MK3 thread:

Suggested ideas previously rejected:

BBS edit button.

At 6/5/09 02:17 AM, NEVR wrote:

At 6/5/09 02:03 AM, Reckon wrote: Oh yeah, an edit button for posts would be really helpful.

Never going to happen I'm afraid.

From liljim's opening post in the Ideas for Newgrounds' Evolution MK3 thread:

Suggested ideas previously rejected:

BBS edit button.

I posted this in a locked thread a few days ago, because if it's not a programming issue then I really don't understand why the edit button is such a no-no.

"That's stupid, but I do agree that this forum needs an edit button and I don't know why people make it out as such a taboo. Just have an edit button and put a small message saying the post has been edited just like any other forum. Even NG blogs have this function. Allow mods to see the original post and no abuse can occur. At least add this function for topic starters because it's tedious maintaining info topics with the current system"

Opinions?

At 6/5/09 02:37 AM, life wrote: "That's stupid, but I do agree that this forum needs an edit button and I don't know why people make it out as such a taboo. Just have an edit button and put a small message saying the post has been edited just like any other forum. Even NG blogs have this function. Allow mods to see the original post and no abuse can occur. At least add this function for topic starters because it's tedious maintaining info topics with the current system"

Opinions?

I agree that an edit button could be useful. I think people (mostly mods and users that get hacked frequently) are more concerned about the abuse of the edit button, rather than the usefulness of correcting "your" to "you're". On a larger scale, think of how easily the edit button could be abused. Gaining access to someones account, adding some CP to their posts, and bumping a topic. That's a one way ticket to deletion if a mod catches it, and the original poster did absolutely nothing wrong. I think what would be an interesting idea, is to set a time limit to posts that can be edited. Lets say, 1 week. After one week (plenty of time to alter a post or two) the post is locked, and CANNOT be altered in any way.

At 6/5/09 02:37 AM, life wrote: "That's stupid, but I do agree that this forum needs an edit button and I don't know why people make it out as such a taboo. Just have an edit button and put a small message saying the post has been edited just like any other forum. Even NG blogs have this function. Allow mods to see the original post and no abuse can occur. At least add this function for topic starters because it's tedious maintaining info topics with the current system"

Opinions?

Not really worth the abuse we open ourselves up to. For purposes of info threads, perhaps it would be useful if there was a single updateable post which appears at the top of every page and requires a password to edit. That way, the OP could have whatever he needs to update at the top of every page, only editable by him, but doesn't link it directly to his account so he can pass it on to someone else if he loses interest. I see this especially useful in Clubs with rules for joining that have changed since the club's origin, or in threads that poll users.

Thoughts?

I don't think we should get banned for posting in spam forums.. Seriously.. We don't all have good judgement.

A user accessible delete post would be nice, with the similar function as making threads, deleting only up to 4-10 posts per day, to avoid abuse. This would cut down on mistake posts, and clearing up larger threads with old/useless information.

At 6/5/09 02:45 AM, Elios wrote: think of how easily the edit button could be abused. Gaining access to someones account, adding some CP to their posts, and bumping a topic.

But without an edit button there's nothing stopping someone gaining access to someone's account and posting several threads worth of childporn. :\

Also, guys, please note this isn't a "What feature do you want on the BBS?", this is a "What can the mod team do to improve the BBS"

This talk of edit buttons and delete buttons is all very well but it's not something we as a moderator team can change. This thread was designed so you can say "Well, I find it annoying that I was banned by X for Y but then X went along and did Y right after me!" or "Well I think that you guys need to respond to PMs quicker" or something.

Stuff we can actually change.

At 6/5/09 09:02 AM, BananaBreadMuffin wrote: But without an edit button there's nothing stopping someone gaining access to someone's account and posting several threads worth of childporn. :\

Very true. Either way, there's always a risk.

At 6/5/09 09:07 AM, BananaBreadMuffin wrote: Also, guys, please note this isn't a "What feature do you want on the BBS?", this is a "What can the mod team do to improve the BBS"

My bad, sry, got carried away with the button thing.

At 6/6/09 01:34 PM, GOTHCLAWZ wrote: Every thread I've seen that's even remotely like this has been locked.

Really? Maybe it's because most of those threads don't have the support of mods trying to police them and endorse them, and because they encourage some of the nonsense that's going on here where people only post their individual grudges against certain mods. Now if you have something to add next time, please do so, if not? Please don't post here anymore.

This shouldn't be the air you're grievances thread, you should be able to point out a problem you see, and maybe offer a workable solution to it that we can consider.