Fixing the problems with the forums and trolls

[Glaucus]

1. People using HTML in their posts - often enormous images, which also appear in people's replies to the offending post.

Why shouldn't people take advantage of the World Wide Web when posting on a web forum?!? Perhaps we should turn A.org into a telnet/gopher server then?!?

2. People posting garbage like "this is my 4000th post". I think this is the worst kind of crapflooding.

It's called a right of passage. It's goofy, no argument there, but at the same time it's good to (self) honor those long time users of Amiga.org, with which without there would not BE an Amiga.org.

3. People posting stuff for the sake of it, that doesn't actually say anything.

Well that's highly subjective. Communication is always good. I'm surprised people are so anal about this crap-flooding BS. Personally, I think it livens things up a bit. I mean, A.org is full of wacky characters, many of which I strongly disagree with, while others I'm indifferent with, but I'd never want to see anyone be removed. If someone's a goof, well, the world is full of goofs and that tells me that even goofs have a role to play.

2. Politics. Apart from "FluffyMcDeath"'s never ending and tiresome crusade against the United States (this loon also used to have a picture of a 20-year old Saddam Hussein on his avatar).

One man's loon is another man's straight talker. However it seems you're perfectly fine with personal attacks (perhaps you should have made that point number 3). How charming.

  - Mike

[Glaucus]

bloodline wrote:
Wayne, Kees, Red!!! Lads lads lads... lets keep this on topic please :lol:

Please Bloodline, no laughing allowed! However it's perfectly fine to insult someone.

  - Mike

[Glaucus]

And if someone trolls, ignore them, no matter how tempting it is to reply!

Exactly! Perhaps we should penalize those who respond to the troll!

EDIT: Of course I'm just kidding.

  - Mike

[Glaucus]

-D- wrote:
I agree with what Ilwrath said...things will
eventually settle back down.

Yeah, me too. Funny how I missed his post first time around. Everything he said sounds about right to me.

  - Mike

[Glaucus]

1) refining the rules?
2) Getting stricter? (good idea or bad?)
3) Re-hashing the forums into a new schema to include more forums for personal discussion?

Well, I think someone else already suggested it, but I like the idea of patrolling all the forums except for the Talk-About forum more strictly. The way I see it, the Talk-About (or DMZ as I still think of it as) is not really about anything at all. Talking about the Mars lander in the Talk-About forum is as relevant as talking about the color of air or making fun of Michael Jackson. However, posting about smoking dope in the Amiga Hardware forum is obviously unwanted and justifiably deleted or moved to the Talk-About.

Btw Wayne, I think you mentioned in another thread that the Talk-About forum has "ballooned", out growing all other forums. I think it's a clear sign that people are more interested in socializing, as there's really few new things to discuss about Amigas any more. I think it's important for all of us in the community to just stay in touch, even if all we talk about is crap. I think the Amiga.org community has a spirit of it's own and I'm not sure it really needs to be overly regulated. I think this is the easiest and most likely to succeed scenario.

  - Mike

[Glaucus]

bloodline wrote:
Simple solution, 10 free posts per month, want any more and you have to pay a $5 subscription fee.

I'm gonna be really unpopular now :-(

It would kill A.org over night, as far as I'm concerned.

  - Mike

[Glaucus]

hmm, so I better shut up about politicians goin' to whores, since many moderators come from countries where such is forbidden

Yeah, but you can still talk about whores!  ;-)

  - Mike

[Glaucus]

My idea on how to get rid of posts
that are made solely to increase post count:

How many people here are obsessed with their post count? Not many, you could probably count them all on your index finger. I don't think we need to invent an elaborate safe-guard against such a "threat" to the Amiga.org community.

  - Mike