IMHO topic get locked way too soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When a topic is three months old, and it gets bumped and get locked for it being old. So what if it's old? If people still have something to discuss, why in the world lock it? I think that's rather rude to interfere in this way. I browse fora where they bump three year old topics and they leave 'em open, I don't see what the problem is with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also I'd like to comment on everybody flaming eachother. There's a thread about Bush falling off his bike, everybody starts whining like "who cares" "w/e Bush sucks anyway!!" etc. Well, while the post is there, why can't we just have a laugh, instead of bashing the hell out of eachother, what's the point? Instead of making somekind of lame flame one-liner to the TS, make a fun one-liner about Bush falling of his bike, and other people shouldn't take things too serious either. For example: When Bush falls of his bike and somebody writes a fun one-liner, they start shouting "Bush bashers, you don't know anythin of politics!!". What's the point of that?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can't we have a little laugh without everybody flaming and fighting. It's something that goes around for longer now, everytime somebody makes somekind of topic with fun thing that's pretty useless, but still funny, everybody starts arguing about "maturity" and stuff. The atmosphere at Off-Topic forum has been real crappy the last weeks, IMO. We should get Off-Topic fun again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We've had tons of posts like this before..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's from the locked worst and best movies thread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't peoples opinions about movies change? Why can't we have a part five, because the other ones are poorly organized after five or 6 pages.

100% agreed with you How2PK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got banned for a few weeks for saying this once, but I'll say it in a more mature fashion this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SOME mods have.. things stuck up places.. that don't need to be stuck up in. But it isn't that the mods are cool these days. It's the members of the forum.. they have no sense of humour and they have fun in trying to challenge what other people have to say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agree for once, bush fell off his bike, he's a stooge, it's funny.

Right you are telling us to chill and not lock as many topics?

 

 

 

Lets take a look at the most recent locked posts...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-topic about harry potter was locked as there was already a topic about harry potter on the same page (I would lock any topic on harry potter if I had my way :twisted: )

 

 

 

-the movie thread - similar ones are posted a lot, you have to admit that

 

 

 

-a US government conspiracy thread - we get this too much too, along with the Bush bashing threads

 

 

 

-someone asking for people to help him pick a nick for himself

 

 

 

-"a question for a forum admin"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really don't see a problem with any of those being locked. There would be peope complaining if they were left open I bet.

 

 

 

Let us do our job and if you have a complaint or a suggestion then please pm me, another mod or an admin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just remember this Off topic board is my home too and I want to see it being kept clean.

 

 

 

-a US government conspiracy thread - we get this too much too, along with the Bush bashing threads

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phil, I think that If I had had time to post before it got locked (went to bed then work after I posted), I'd have had time to clear things up a bit. The thread was simply just me wanting to know what other people thought of the flash movie. I myself look down upon conspiracy theories and "the government is after us" types of thinking. I feel that I never had a chance to clear that up and post what I, the thread starter, thought of it. It wasn't supposed to be senseless posts about whoever believes that movie is an idiot and uneducated, as it so came to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier in that same thread it was mentioned "Topic already posted". Well, I wanted to talk and discuss the video and other stuff relating to it (didn't get the chance, but ok) and add my own opinions (which I never had a chance to do). If I had posted on that 10 month old topic, all I would hace gotten was a senseless lock, just like the dozens of others before it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I personally agree that the past couple of months have made the Off Topic forums a ...frustrating place to be. Everything is scrutinized and critized to the full extent of everyone, different opinions are heavily looked down upon, insulted, and ignored. Grammar and spelling are grounds for being insulted/flamed, it's just really, as I said, frustrating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that's just some of my thoughts on the topic.

Yes I see where you are coming from rocketman.

 

 

 

But these conspiracy threads always end up the same, with people ending up having a flame war with others etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also I try to understand the problems with the old threads being bumped and getting locked. I try not to be too harsh, but a lot of the time when I lock something for being posted with a similar thread, it's usually only a few weeks/months old. You wouldn't believe the number of people who don't search before posting.

 

 

 

I wouldn't lock a thread about something which was last discussed a year ago. I understand things change in a year :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The point you made about people flaming too much I agree with, but you only really see it in the religion/evolution/political threads. Remember if you see people flaming others needlesly then just give a quick pm to a mod. Personally I can't stand people who will go in and flame without so much as a discussion first.

Deletion of post > lock of thread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not always that easy, i know...

naw, deletion of threads doesnt work out well. Then you get people REALLY complaining about censorship. I used to do some reading on the Epiphone Guitars forums, their mods started turning into COMPLETE nazis who would delete posts if they seemed to be supporting another brand, or anything, basically just whatever the company didnt like. That really got people yelling and screaming...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

as a mod of ZFL forums, I'd say its really just the mod's discretion... generally, the people who get to be a mod of a popular forum for a significant period of time know what theyre doing, to an extent. Occaisionally you get a couple of idiots. I remember there used to be a mod on here i REALLY disliked, but i forgot who he was :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Youve just gotta make sure that when topics are closed because theyre 'dumb' that its the community's interest being protected, not just one mod's opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Generally, I think that topics should be left open until they start causing problems. I suppose the mod team here believes the same thing, but I think we have differing opinions on what 'causing problems' means. No preemtive strikes for me :wink:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

censorship can be a problem. I think that both the mods and the community in general need to keep it in mind, but not get too paranoid.

If I were running a message board such as this one, I would tell mods to lock posts in the "Off Topic" forum if, and only if, a member of the community could be affected in a negative way. Does it really matter that there are two Harry Potter posts? In my opinion, No, they will just die anyhow. Does it matter that something that has been posted 7 trillion times is posted again? Again, in my opinion, it does not affect the community in a negative way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I browse a lot of message boards from various games I have played and this has, by far, the most strict ruleset.

If I were running a message board such as this one, I would tell mods to lock posts in the "Off Topic" forum if, and only if, a member of the community could be affected in a negative way. Does it really matter that there are two Harry Potter posts? In my opinion, No, they will just die anyhow. Does it matter that something that has been posted 7 trillion times is posted again? Again, in my opinion, it does not affect the community in a negative way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I browse a lot of message boards from various games I have played and this has, by far, the most strict ruleset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agree mostly, however the statement that these boards are strict, well they are, but not enough sometimes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this case I compare to another forum, swedish one, http://forum.sweclockers.com, and they have alot stricter rules, they even removed their off-topic section. But, this is the board by far that has the most interesting and well written threads that I've ever visited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My 2 cents =)

Omnislash, I think he meant deletion of the post itself that was causing problems?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I'm taking Sweex's "challenge" of finding five posts that I think shouldn't have been locked that were, recently within the past two weeks... and vice versa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topics I feel shouldn't have been locked:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

President Bush crashes his bike. - No, not everyone was being mature, but then, people never really are. But it still was a light-hearted, fun topic, and we need more of these.

 

 

 

Explosions in London have been confirmed as terror attacks - This was a major issue. Some of the posts within the topic weren't "good" posts, but this issue is a major one that clearly people felt needed to be discussed, and they were discussing.

 

 

 

The Rapture- Your beliefs on how the world will end... - people seemed to be having a decent, enjoyable discussion on this. Though it was bumped from May, people were still adding interesting points to the discussion - the bump was a good post!

 

 

 

Rate My Hearts Game - another fun post. The responses to it weren't mostly bad, but people were discussing the game of Hearts and their best scores. I don't understand why it was classified "spam"

 

 

 

Weird car ad... Here's a topic I didn't think was that great. Mildly amusing maybe. Not a great topic. Nevertheless, there was nothing wrong with it, and no reason to lock it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe I just think the best modding policy is to protect users from the worst, and otherwise let people have the free will to discuss what they like... that's why they come to the forum, after all :D A lot of topics, mods do a GREAT job with, and I want to thank you guys for your hard work in keeping the forums readable, protecting us from the crazies, and all that good stuff :D Just... if there's an interesting discussion, maybe let it be and work itself out on its own.

President Bush crashes his bike. - No, not everyone was being mature, but then, people never really are. But it still was a light-hearted, fun topic, and we need more of these.

 

 

 

'tis a pity some of the replies weren't so lighthearted or fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Explosions in London have been confirmed as terror attacks - This was a major issue. Some of the posts within the topic weren't "good" posts, but this issue is a major one that clearly people felt needed to be discussed, and they were discussing.

 

 

 

This was left open all day and was only locked when people started to get really nasty. The mod who locked that started a new thread for discussion on the bombings soon after, as they knew it was a subject that needed to be discussed.

Agreed, mods who lock posts because they are overused are stupid. Would they want us bringing up a 4 week old post? No, in offtopic you gotta deal with people posting the same things over and over because you don't allow nsfw things.

 

President Bush crashes his bike. - No, not everyone was being mature, but then, people never really are. But it still was a light-hearted, fun topic, and we need more of these.

 

 

 

'tis a pity some of the replies weren't so lighthearted or fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Explosions in London have been confirmed as terror attacks - This was a major issue. Some of the posts within the topic weren't "good" posts, but this issue is a major one that clearly people felt needed to be discussed, and they were discussing.

 

 

 

This was left open all day and was only locked when people started to get really nasty. The mod who locked that started a new thread for discussion on the bombings soon after, as they knew it was a subject that needed to be discussed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rapture- Your beliefs on how the world will end... - people seemed to be having a decent, enjoyable discussion on this. Though it was bumped from May, people were still adding interesting points to the discussion - the bump was a good post!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The standard I was given is to lock topics bumped after a month. Overruling that for any reason I believe is disrespectful to the administrator that gave me the guideline, and if I took matters into my own hands - it would make me look power hungry or giving leeway to certain topics I like...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I find as a moderator I need to be completely objective to do the best job. Subjection only brings complaints and leaves room for blame.

Although I agree that every now & then a decent thread is locked unreasonably ( mistakes can & occasionally do happen), however on the whole the vast majority of threads that are locked are done rightfully. In my opinion its better to have a forum where the odd decent thread is locked rather than a forum full of spam & threads/posts that are well out of line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have a chat room, I know there are other chat-rooms that people can go to. This isn't a chat-room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry I know this is well off topic but has the chat room server down for a while or is it just me that has a problem? I keep getting "connection timed out". :?

In my opinion its better to have a forum where the odd decent thread is locked rather than a forum full of spam & threads/posts that are well out of line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I'm very thankfull to the Tip.it Admins and Mods for keeping things less monotonous and mature, despite some things one may disagree with. I recently tried out RuneHQ forums for some change, and wow. I have to say it must be a Tip.it mod's nightmare there. Only threads I've ever seen locked are completed trades/ sig competitions.

Well here's a new view of things:

 

 

 

Many topics are locked because they stray off topic with pointless posts, or are ruined by immature posters. I have to say, sometimes I do tend to get somewhat heated, but only because of previous immature posters. However, topics should NOT be locked because of a heated arguement. Instead, a warning should be given to each person involved. If 1 person gives a completely immature and rude post, thats a warning. 3 warnings = lock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also believe admins are way too soft, to be honest. Don't hesitate to hit the ban button (assuming its a button :lol: ) but you get my point. Ban these immature losers! Its AMAZING how many times a single guy can post amazingly rude and stupid THREADS, not even posts, but entire threads, and still not even get a warning. Spamming the boards, making stupid remarks, and nothing happens to em.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of them are funny, so leave those guys, but just give em a warning at least. Ban the stupid spammers, and I'm sure tip it will become a much better environment, and in fact, I guarantee it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So yea, as far as the "too strict, locking too much" thing goes, I agree, and disagree. DON'T lock bumped posts, as long as they have a tiny bit of potential for discussion, its ok! However, you all should be locking several of the same topics, gj thus far on that! Instead of creating new topics, bump an old one, if possible?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know really what else to say, the mods have been doing a pretty good job imo. The only thing is their response time, a bit slow, rude/inappropriate topics stay open for hours at a time, even if I pm a mod about it. However, I can't expect a mod to always be on, so I'm not complaining.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you will at least read over and consider any word that I have said. These are just my opinions, I'm not telling you how to do your job around here or anything, as you were chosen to be a mod for a reason! It's just a bit of insight from a non mod, hopefully allowing you to see things from a bit of a different point of view. Keep up the good work!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note to poster: Calm down. If you create stupid posts, too bad. Want to spam a lot? Go to a different forum, simple as that. Don't like the rules here? Mods too harsh you say? The door is over there, I'll gladly hold it open for you, sir.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bmw

Omnislash, I think he meant deletion of the post itself that was causing problems?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Correctamundo. Sorry if i didn't make myself clear on that one - i did mean deleteing the problem posts in a thread, would be a better solution than locking the thread altogether.

OK, seemed like people were confused by the bumping issue, including me, so I talked to an admin about it. :wink:

 

 

 

He said basically..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that it's fine to remake a thread if the last one is a month old or more - you can just add a link to the older one when making the new one, so people can see what was said.

 

 

 

Also it is up to the mod if they decide to lock a thread that has been bumped up from over a month. - but a pointless reply like "yeah I agree" would obviously get the thread locked straight away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So some may leave the bumped thread open if the post that bumped the thread was informative or adding to the thread, but don't expect it to be be left open. Best bet would be to make a new post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thought that users might want to know this. Hope you all understand that. :P

There are lots of rules that make zero sense on these forums, like when somebody makes a topic when there's already one yet mods lock bumped old topics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just deal with it. Lots of stuff, like this, is spam, but some of it isn't, and it angers me when a mod locks stuff and says "Don't bump old posts."

i think its mostly down to the fact that when a topic is over, mods lock it. it doesnt need to be locked, just leave it to die and nature will run its course.

Yeah, surely it's okay to bump an old post with a reply considered valid in some way to the topic?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at this for example, started as spam, turned into a half decent discussion about the nature of people on the forums...

Might be a bit off-topic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know if this is do-able. But on another forum they have auto-lock when a topic is going further than 6 pages (very long pages, would be thirteen pages in Tip.it size), then the last poster is the new TS. I think that would be pretty good. Then you don't have 99 pages long threads, and not that much bumping etc, easier to moderate.

Yeah if I owned this site, I would let people post anything, I would hardly lock anything...they are to strict!!...

 

 

 

-Nick

Yeah if I owned this site, I would let people post anything, I would hardly lock anything...they are to strict!!...

 

 

 

-Nick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I, for one, thank the metapohric God that you do not own this site.

Yeah if I owned this site, I would let people post anything, I would hardly lock anything...they are to strict!!...

 

 

 

-Nick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yet you are still here. Here's the door.