Tavern of the Blue Hand

Robbert · 05-30-2002, 12:01 AM

In April, these forums changed to the system they have now. While there are, arguably, some of the new features are very utilitarian. However, I still note the glaring lack of a search command, which should be standard fare, or could even be easily written as an accessory to the system which operates entirely independent thereof.

Prior to the change, I found myself reading the majority of the threads which were on the 'most recent' list on the main page, simply because they were interesting and readily accessible, even if they were on a forum which was not my normal wont to read.

It's depressing to see so many worthless posts on what was once a fine board system. I left TMC for a specific reason, but high noise traffic was also a motivational factor. Let's clean up the posts, quit doing stupid polls that have no depth behind them, eh?

Go ahead and jump on this post and lambast me if it makes you feel better. I won't be responding to it. Before you do so, consider the fragility of the glass walls in your house.

Dulan · 05-30-2002, 12:03 AM

By no means am I going to lambast you, Robbert. I may have disagreed with you in the past, but in this case, I entirely agree with you.

At one time, the recent threads were worth reading. Now? Look at the crap being spouted. Short of a ban of certain spammers, I doubt it will improve, however.

-D

Brody · 05-30-2002, 12:11 AM

Yeah, I have to say it hasn't been the same in a long time. Lately, I've seen at least a noise level increase in certain folks who are interested in nothing more than starting up ridiculous flame wars (and, sadly, as appears to be human nature, others who can't avoid falling right into the trap of participating).

Not sure what the fix is, because the problem began to manifest itself in the other incarnation of the bulletin boards - it's not the current format that's to blame. It's a symptom of TMS' growth in popularity.

So, it's great we've drawn all kinds of people to the site, but now we need to find a way to get a grip on the troublemakers.

Orion Elder · 05-30-2002, 12:44 AM

If you see the problem here, report it to me and I'll take care of it ASAP. So far, the problematic posts for the most part have lessened in this forum...

However, their seems to be a certain git who likes to spam the Storytelling thread with ALL of his posts no matter the topic...

But, as for this forum, if you see anything in here that is wholly spammy, let me know.

Dulan · 05-30-2002, 01:02 AM

what kicker kicks @$$ most. Enough said, Ori-poo.

-D

Shao_Long · 05-30-2002, 09:48 AM

well,as long as anyone would listen to me - here's my opinion :
no need for bans/removals/etc.
just newest posts system should be changed a bit,and everyone would be happy.Perhaps it can be simply made customizable ? like,show only posts from roleplay/coding forums in last posts

well, just an idea

besides,about my kicker post : hm,are the most popular films any better ? or any of the star wars posts ? they're all the same. (all cool

)

Robbert · 05-30-2002, 07:25 PM

Orion: Wasn't directed at this forum, sorry for the misconception. On the contrary, this is one of the ones which is NOT overwhelmed with worthless drivel posts. Although the kicker one referenced by Dulan does qualify, and I -believe- there was a chain letter post on this forum as well, which was totally worthless.

Brody: I don't have a solution, other than perhaps self moderation and/or selective response on the part of the entire community. In other words, simply ignore in their entirety those who are contribuitng to this phenomenon (more below), to the point that they may as well not even have posted. Note that this is all but impossible to pull off.

Shao Long: There is something inherently wrong in posting 8.53 times per day, on average. I do not doubt that you will provide some measure of worth to these forums, but I equally am positive that it will be lost among the plethora of worthless posts you produce. It may very well be that the one you did on this particular thread is the only one I will ever read from you with productive merit.

Brody, revisited: Perhaps suggest to Synozeer the following? -
-Ability to search the forums. As I said initially, this is a simple addition, and need not be dependent upon the rest of the system.
- Ability to selectively ignore individual posters.

Neranz Laverani · 05-30-2002, 07:50 PM

I still like the idea of removing polls from this forum and having a forum specifically for polls that don't fit into the other categories (Tavern Polls, Polls, Miscellaneous Polls, Whatnot). Most of the spam in this forum is in polls.

Neranz Laverani, Seeker of Knowledge

Robbert · 05-30-2002, 11:32 PM

At the risk of appearing a moron, I've found the oh-so-difficult-to-locate search button.

Regardless, my point still stands: There is entirely too much noise and not enough signal. Make it uncomfortable, or unworthwhile, for morons to post merely to increase their count (yes, 8+ messages per day, of which 9 have no merit whatsoever) qualify you as a member, if not the standardbearer, of said group).

Robespierre, who misses the obvious quite often.

Shao_Long · 05-31-2002, 03:12 PM

well,speaking of spam and flames and whatever,isnt all this thread more belonging to the flames thread ?
and,robbert,if you think i post to increase my post count.. well, i pity you

what i noticed,there are now much more discussions blaming spam and flames,then of these spam and flames themselves. this is really weird..
besides,have you checked what into my kickers post have evolved ? well,its still can be called spam and unmudding and at all,but its more then serious already

..

Orion Elder · 06-01-2002, 09:00 AM

A polls forum for regular members would be a very good addition to the site, and then simply restrict polls in a forum to that of the moderator. Want to suggest a poll for a specific forum? Send the idea to the moderator. If they like the idea, they'll post it. If not, they won't.

Just a thought.

I still think a Chatterbox forum for non-MUD related posts would be a good idea, and then restrict the Tavern to MUD related issues, because honestly (dunno about everyone else), but I could care less about Steven Seagal (he's a crappy actor, BTW) and Star Wars Episode Poo.

Valg · 06-01-2002, 02:45 PM

I'd rather see the Tavern forum obliterated, or at least wiped and restarted with rules stating that it is for MUD-related posts only. I agree with the other posters that the signal-to-noise here at TMS has dropped precipitously in the last few months. The "new posts" feature on the sites front page typically has 6 threads listed, and lately it's the norm that only 2 or 3 have anything to do with MUDs, and maybe 1 of those is really substantive.

As a user of the website, I don't want to have to hunt around and find the new posts forum-by-forum, or by waiting for a search to turn up. I want to log on, glance at a list, and go right to the threads I'd like to read. Since this site is dedicated to the discussion of MUDs, that means only threads about MUDs. If I want to read about Steven Seagal, imdb.com and similar sites are more appropriate places for that.

Every successful message board site lives or dies on organization, signal-to-noise, and keeping matters on topic.

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05-30-2002, 12:01 AM	#1
Robbert Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: #### Paso, Tx Posts: 89	In April, these forums changed to the system they have now. While there are, arguably, some of the new features are very utilitarian. However, I still note the glaring lack of a search command, which should be standard fare, or could even be easily written as an accessory to the system which operates entirely independent thereof. Prior to the change, I found myself reading the majority of the threads which were on the 'most recent' list on the main page, simply because they were interesting and readily accessible, even if they were on a forum which was not my normal wont to read. It's depressing to see so many worthless posts on what was once a fine board system. I left TMC for a specific reason, but high noise traffic was also a motivational factor. Let's clean up the posts, quit doing stupid polls that have no depth behind them, eh? Go ahead and jump on this post and lambast me if it makes you feel better. I won't be responding to it. Before you do so, consider the fragility of the glass walls in your house.

05-30-2002, 12:03 AM	#2
Dulan Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 354	By no means am I going to lambast you, Robbert. I may have disagreed with you in the past, but in this case, I entirely agree with you. At one time, the recent threads were worth reading. Now? Look at the crap being spouted. Short of a ban of certain spammers, I doubt it will improve, however. -D

05-30-2002, 12:11 AM	#3
Brody Moderator Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: North Carolina Home MUD: OtherSpace Home MUD: Chiaroscuro Home MUD: Necromundus Posts: 1,361	Yeah, I have to say it hasn't been the same in a long time. Lately, I've seen at least a noise level increase in certain folks who are interested in nothing more than starting up ridiculous flame wars (and, sadly, as appears to be human nature, others who can't avoid falling right into the trap of participating). Not sure what the fix is, because the problem began to manifest itself in the other incarnation of the bulletin boards - it's not the current format that's to blame. It's a symptom of TMS' growth in popularity. So, it's great we've drawn all kinds of people to the site, but now we need to find a way to get a grip on the troublemakers.

05-30-2002, 12:44 AM	#4
Orion Elder Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 346	If you see the problem here, report it to me and I'll take care of it ASAP. So far, the problematic posts for the most part have lessened in this forum... However, their seems to be a certain git who likes to spam the Storytelling thread with ALL of his posts no matter the topic... But, as for this forum, if you see anything in here that is wholly spammy, let me know.

05-30-2002, 01:02 AM	#5
Dulan Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 354	what kicker kicks @$$ most. Enough said, Ori-poo. -D

05-30-2002, 09:48 AM	#6
Shao_Long Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: belfast, UK Posts: 505	well,as long as anyone would listen to me - here's my opinion : no need for bans/removals/etc. just newest posts system should be changed a bit,and everyone would be happy.Perhaps it can be simply made customizable ? like,show only posts from roleplay/coding forums in last posts well, just an idea besides,about my kicker post : hm,are the most popular films any better ? or any of the star wars posts ? they're all the same. (all cool )

05-30-2002, 07:25 PM	#7
Robbert Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: #### Paso, Tx Posts: 89	Orion: Wasn't directed at this forum, sorry for the misconception. On the contrary, this is one of the ones which is NOT overwhelmed with worthless drivel posts. Although the kicker one referenced by Dulan does qualify, and I -believe- there was a chain letter post on this forum as well, which was totally worthless. Brody: I don't have a solution, other than perhaps self moderation and/or selective response on the part of the entire community. In other words, simply ignore in their entirety those who are contribuitng to this phenomenon (more below), to the point that they may as well not even have posted. Note that this is all but impossible to pull off. Shao Long: There is something inherently wrong in posting 8.53 times per day, on average. I do not doubt that you will provide some measure of worth to these forums, but I equally am positive that it will be lost among the plethora of worthless posts you produce. It may very well be that the one you did on this particular thread is the only one I will ever read from you with productive merit. Brody, revisited: Perhaps suggest to Synozeer the following? - -Ability to search the forums. As I said initially, this is a simple addition, and need not be dependent upon the rest of the system. - Ability to selectively ignore individual posters.

05-30-2002, 07:50 PM	#8
Neranz Laverani Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: The States Posts: 116	I still like the idea of removing polls from this forum and having a forum specifically for polls that don't fit into the other categories (Tavern Polls, Polls, Miscellaneous Polls, Whatnot). Most of the spam in this forum is in polls. Neranz Laverani, Seeker of Knowledge

05-30-2002, 11:32 PM	#9
Robbert Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: #### Paso, Tx Posts: 89	At the risk of appearing a moron, I've found the oh-so-difficult-to-locate search button. Regardless, my point still stands: There is entirely too much noise and not enough signal. Make it uncomfortable, or unworthwhile, for morons to post merely to increase their count (yes, 8+ messages per day, of which 9 have no merit whatsoever) qualify you as a member, if not the standardbearer, of said group). Robespierre, who misses the obvious quite often.

05-31-2002, 03:12 PM	#10
Shao_Long Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: belfast, UK Posts: 505	well,speaking of spam and flames and whatever,isnt all this thread more belonging to the flames thread ? and,robbert,if you think i post to increase my post count.. well, i pity you what i noticed,there are now much more discussions blaming spam and flames,then of these spam and flames themselves. this is really weird.. besides,have you checked what into my kickers post have evolved ? well,its still can be called spam and unmudding and at all,but its more then serious already ..

06-01-2002, 09:00 AM	#11
Orion Elder Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 346	A polls forum for regular members would be a very good addition to the site, and then simply restrict polls in a forum to that of the moderator. Want to suggest a poll for a specific forum? Send the idea to the moderator. If they like the idea, they'll post it. If not, they won't. Just a thought. I still think a Chatterbox forum for non-MUD related posts would be a good idea, and then restrict the Tavern to MUD related issues, because honestly (dunno about everyone else), but I could care less about Steven Seagal (he's a crappy actor, BTW) and Star Wars Episode Poo.

06-01-2002, 02:45 PM	#12
Valg Moderator Join Date: Apr 2002 Home MUD: Carrion Fields Posts: 642	I'd rather see the Tavern forum obliterated, or at least wiped and restarted with rules stating that it is for MUD-related posts only. I agree with the other posters that the signal-to-noise here at TMS has dropped precipitously in the last few months. The "new posts" feature on the sites front page typically has 6 threads listed, and lately it's the norm that only 2 or 3 have anything to do with MUDs, and maybe 1 of those is really substantive. As a user of the website, I don't want to have to hunt around and find the new posts forum-by-forum, or by waiting for a search to turn up. I want to log on, glance at a list, and go right to the threads I'd like to read. Since this site is dedicated to the discussion of MUDs, that means only threads about MUDs. If I want to read about Steven Seagal, imdb.com and similar sites are more appropriate places for that. Every successful message board site lives or dies on organization, signal-to-noise, and keeping matters on topic.

Tavern of the Blue Hand

Forums, polls, and signal to noise