crack down on P.I

[Striker6]

I think we need a crack down on personal information in the Off-Topic forum. Because I'm tired of reading about people's problems, its very whiney and tedious most of the time. How some punk kid is having troubles at home, well we all have problems don't we? I don't need to here about it on an online forum because nobody really cares, its the Internet that is the beauty.

 

 

 

Some examples that come to mind. Happy Birthday threads(there is alot of these). Yay what can we say in the thread apart from 'happy birthday', 'have a nice day'. It's spam in a can and really boring.

 

 

 

Advice on medical problems, these are also annoying from 'weight loss' to 'oh knows i have a pimple what do I do'? (some guy even asked for advice on his testicles) TIF is not an online doctor and people that want advice should talk to real qualified people. I'm not going to name names but some people see themselves as good samaritans that need to help others over the Internet when the kid is just whining for attention.

 

 

 

Relationships, heh I suppose because there is a sticky this can be stomached now, as people like me can avoid it but is still very annoying as most advice given in painfully obvious and consists of the same problems being recycled over.

 

 

 

Family, some guy posted a picture of his uncles new born child and uncle, wahay but I'm suprised it wasn't removed because of the RL picture rule. Trouble about dieing relatives, ok I'm sympathetic here and of course if I knew the person they would have my utmost sympathy but this is the Internet, anybody lies to get some sympathy and attention and its awkward to discuss this with people thousands of miles away that you will never meet.

 

 

 

Also alot of miscelaneous about how people are having trouble at school, people copying their work etc. Or 'Oh look at me I'm emo wahay'!!! Also the 'Whats your favourite food, drink, peanut butter'? gets tedious as they've done a million times and result in pointless flaming which can be said aswell for many of the other threads mentioned, most people just type 'Who Cares' and a flame war commences.

 

 

 

I just miss the days where intelligent discussion could flourish. Don't get me wrong I don't mind hearing little interesting things about people, such as dream threads as interesting discussion develops. Or if someone has a genuine point to make not just about themselves but a bigger picture. Debates and interesting facts gets swamped by kids whinging about themselves, on and on and on. TIF is not a councelling service, people just take advantage of the generally open atmosphere of post what you want.

 

 

 

I'm just proposing an automatic lock on any of these topics where its just someone talking about themselves. Don't flame me too hard, if you have some good points to make please make them.

[happybappy]

Reading this topic has left me stressed and emotionally disturbed. I may even be depressed. I am really in need of some expert advice which I am sure this board has to offer.

[Guest]

if you have some good points to make please make them.

 

 

 

Reading this topic has left me stressed and emotionally disturbed. I may even be depressed. I am really in need of some expert advice which I am sure this board has to offer.

 

 

 

You PHAIL! :-$

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah I agree with you on this one Striker though its not going to be implemented (its too hard of a job on the mods) and there would be too much whinging from people after their threads get locked.

 

 

 

I think it'll just be easier if you ignore the topics and skip to the next one. :wink:

[Guest]

Crappy internet caused a double post. Nothing here >>

[Phil]

You have to remember that it still is an off topic forum.

 

Not a forum just for serious discussion.

 

 

 

I think your main argument we all agree with though and Futurama posted a topic here about splitting the ot board into a more serious board and a less serious one. (unfortunately it seems to have been caught up in that bug yesterday and hasn't been moved back here yet.

 

When it gets moved back I will link you to it.

 

 

 

But eels is right, if everyone ignored these annoying topics then they would die off themselves, instead of everyone posting on every thread about how crap the topic is and how it should be reported and how you are fed up with them all.

[Ginger_Warrior]

Advice on medical problems, these are also annoying from 'weight loss' to 'oh knows i have a pimple what do I do'? (some guy even asked for advice on his testicles) TIF is not an online doctor and people that want advice should talk to real qualified people. I'm not going to name names but some people see themselves as good samaritans that need to help others over the Internet when the kid is just whining for attention.

 

 

 

Relationships, heh I suppose because there is a sticky this can be stomached now, as people like me can avoid it but is still very annoying as most advice given in painfully obvious and consists of the same problems being recycled over.

 

 

 

Family, some guy posted a picture of his uncles new born child and uncle, wahay but I'm suprised it wasn't removed because of the RL picture rule. Trouble about dieing relatives, ok I'm sympathetic here and of course if I knew the person they would have my utmost sympathy but this is the Internet, anybody lies to get some sympathy and attention and its awkward to discuss this with people thousands of miles away that you will never meet.

 

OK, the Real Life pictures I think we'll all agree with, but I'm not with you on the other points. What's wrong with someone asking for relationship advice on Tip.It? I'm well aware that there are other, better, sources of information regarding friendships and sexual relationships, but if the user doesn't feel comfortable in talking to a Real Life councellor or in asking questions they'll never see OR talk to ever again, then maybe talking to friends on the Tip.It community is actually the best thing for them. I wouldn't recommend going there, but for some people it's actually the best thing for them, and while I understand Tip.It isn't designed for such discussion, I'm not gonna label it as personal information that needs to clamped down on.

 

 

 

As for your family argument, well I dont agree with you there for the same reasons. Just because someone lives over an Internet Connection doesn't make it an impossibility to gain help from that person. It just makes it harder since you can't read the other person's body language, which is where most of the communication in human behaviour lies. In times like this, I'd rather help that person than turn them away due to "personal information". I'd be pretty bad at my hopeful career if I didn't...

 

 

 

I just miss the days where intelligent discussion could flourish. Don't get me wrong I don't mind hearing little interesting things about people, such as dream threads as interesting discussion develops. Or if someone has a genuine point to make not just about themselves but a bigger picture. Debates and interesting facts gets swamped by kids whinging about themselves, on and on and on. TIF is not a councelling service, people just take advantage of the generally open atmosphere of post what you want.

 

If you want intelligent discussion, then pick up a newspaper, or go on a News Station's website. They almost all have forums now, with people literally gagging to debate things.

 

 

 

Unfortunetely, a game such as RS will always have its fair share of kids, and these kids will lack the emotional and mental capacity to articulate their feelings into an argument, and to analyse a problem rather than just state what a problem is. I don't think there's much the Mods can do about that, unless you suggest a Nazi-style clamp down on each and every post that doesn't have a strong point to it.

[Striker6]

OK, the Real Life pictures I think we'll all agree with, but I'm not with you on the other points. What's wrong with someone asking for relationship advice on Tip.It? I'm well aware that there are other, better, sources of information regarding friendships and sexual relationships, but if the user doesn't feel comfortable in talking to a Real Life councellor or in asking questions they'll never see OR talk to ever again, then maybe talking to friends on the Tip.It community is actually the best thing for them. I wouldn't recommend going there, but for some people it's actually the best thing for them, and while I understand Tip.It isn't designed for such discussion, I'm not gonna label it as personal information that needs to clamped down on.

 

 

 

Isn't the relationsip sticky titled 'Help I can't get a girlfriend' or something like that? And that is exactly the type of people it attracts people trying to get a partner because its "cool" to do so. When I meet the right girl I want to know I have met her because I enjoy her company amongst other things and vice versa. Not because I posted on this forum and I want to show off the fact I have a girlfriend to other people. A relationship isn't a new toy that you can simply purchase through a bunch of whiney chat up lines and advice, if you want a partner you have to mutually understand eachother. If you don't feel comfortable talking to the opposite sex then you simply are not ready for a relationship, brutal truth. Girls aren't stupid its pretty easy to see what kind of person you are talking to, the relationship sticky cannot change that. Besides most of the advice I have read is 'be yourself' in any case.

 

 

 

As for your family argument, well I dont agree with you there for the same reasons. Just because someone lives over an Internet Connection doesn't make it an impossibility to gain help from that person. It just makes it harder since you can't read the other person's body language, which is where most of the communication in human behaviour lies. In times like this, I'd rather help that person than turn them away due to "personal information". I'd be pretty bad at my hopeful career if I didn't...

 

 

 

Later on in your post you tell me this is a Runescape related forum that lacks people with emotional and mental capacity, now you're telling me we need to help them? It's the Internet I have already said, everybody has problems, people with real problems aren't the ones that post them here. The only problems I see her are desperate attempts at attention and result in spammy posts. Obviously if somebody has a problem that they want to relate in a more global sense it generates interesting discussion meaning it won't be locked.

 

 

 

I'm not talking about turning the forum into a debate forum guys, that was just one of the aspects in a forum I read. There are many other examples., but if the discussion is just centered around one person it gets boring and you can't really emphasise with the person because like Ginger Warrior said you cant see their body language and you dont understand the situation atall.

 

 

 

It wouldn't be hard to police this, if someone is talking about themselves and not really making a point it gets simply locked...

[Ginger_Warrior]

Isn't the relationsip sticky titled 'Help I can't get a girlfriend' or something like that? And that is exactly the type of people it attracts people trying to get a partner because its "cool" to do so. When I meet the right girl I want to know I have met her because I enjoy her company amongst other things and vice versa. Not because I posted on this forum and I want to show off the fact I have a girlfriend to other people. A relationship isn't a new toy that you can simply purchase through a bunch of whiney chat up lines and advice, if you want a partner you have to mutually understand eachother. If you don't feel comfortable talking to the opposite sex then you simply are not ready for a relationship, brutal truth. Girls aren't stupid its pretty easy to see what kind of person you are talking to, the relationship sticky cannot change that. Besides most of the advice I have read is 'be yourself' in any case.

 

Fair enough, that's a point I agree with you on. I can't see how you can have a relationship over the Internet and not when you're meeting in real life either. There are some that would disagree with me, but I speak from personal experience when I met this girl on holiday, and we lived hundreds of miles apart... I'm sure you can figure that story for yourself.

 

 

 

However, I was more making a point about the emotional side of relationships, not just refering to those who want to have one as a kind of 'trophy'. The title itself I believe is misleading, there are many intelligent and deeply philosophical posts in there; a lot more of those posts than "I want a GF" posts, put it that way! And yes, I believe its main purpose is to help people rather than serve as a billboard for a dating site.

 

 

 

Later on in your post you tell me this is a Runescape related forum that lacks people with emotional and mental capacity, now you're telling me we need to help them? It's the Internet I have already said, everybody has problems, people with real problems aren't the ones that post them here. The only problems I see her are desperate attempts at attention and result in spammy posts.

 

I don't actually say it's a RS-related forum. I was quite careful with my choice of words there. I said that Tip.It inevitably and rightly attracts players who play RS. Random people don't find the OT board by themselves - they find it by joining Tip.It Forums as a RS player. Now, with a game like RS (or any game for that matter), an audience of inarticulate children will be attracted, and there's nothing that can be done about that. And the chances are, children who can't articulate themselves won't usually turn to a place like Tip.It for a deep discussion about their personal problems anyway.

 

 

 

There are many other examples., but if the discussion is just centered around one person it gets boring and you can't really emphasise with the person because like Ginger Warrior said you cant see their body language and you dont understand the situation atall.

 

I never actually said that. I said it's harder to empathise, I didn't say it was impossible to understand the situation. In fact I said the opposite.

 

 

 

I can understand where you're coming from, and I agree - there is a lot more spam on the OT board than there is in other boards. But your examples and analysis are wrong IMO. The fact is, people misunderstand the word "Off-topic" to mean "irrelevant" or "unmoderated", and thus the OT board will always have more than its fair share of spam. I'm not flaming you, or disagreeing with you, but I'm intrigued to know if you can think of a solution.