Have ya noticed?

[Talonis]

Just before an expansion, things in game get a little stale and tired. The content is beat, the front-line issues have been discussed ad nauseum, and a general restless boredom descends upon the playerbase like a bunch of crackheads suffering from post-Thanksgiving Tryptophan poisoning.

In the absence of compelling game discussion or juicy drama, we tend to create our own. Post counts soar and tempers flare as this manufactured filler content floods the forums. Most is viewed as a welcome distraction by the masses, but some is redundant, played out, or cranked out at a rate that rivals the best mechanized factories. The stage is set for a show that promises to be an epic train wreck.

It has delivered.

Unless you were busy getting a Brazilian wax for the past few weeks, you've pretty much all witnessed or participated in the umpty-fuck threads related to spamming, whining, polling, and the bonfires each have produced. I'm not going to open yet another thread on that subject.

I would like to take a minute and point out something interesting though. In the wake of all this, uh, stuff, a new 'type' of poster has materialized:

The forum narc.

Conversation 'X' is going along, one person says [blah], another says [blah][blah], and yet another says you both suck your uncle's dick and are wrong because [blah]. In walks Forum Hall Monitor Strickland and yells "Slackers! You can't post that here! It's SPAM! Police! Police! La Migra! Judge Dredd!" This person isn't even interested in participating in spam. They are more interested in running each and every post through the SPAM litmus test and running it up the SPAM flagpole to be scrutinized.

JFC, I am all for taking up a notch in the old rules belt to reduce the sheer amount of spam, and have a few of it's most notorious patrons reduce the SPAM Warp drive down from 'Ludricrous SPAM Speed', but goddamn. The fucking pendulum swung a bit far to the opposite side, dontcha think?

SPAM court? Was that really necessary? The air is charged around here and the mob mentality wants some blood. It is creating these new tattletale posters and bored members sit around staring at the post bot or hitting F5 like the Digdug pump plugged into a Frygar or Pooka, waiting for their opportunity to vote on a ban for some poor bastard that made the mistake of replying to a post about proc rates of ranged weapons underwater with a 'LAWL'.

I 'love' boobs, but I 'really like' EQ2Flames. (needed boobs for point of reference. ™Coyote) I support LFG and the things he's done to get the site going and in keeping it going, but I'm not sure handing out ban power to a 2/3 vote is what the site really needs. A new breed of retard narc is CERTAINLY not needed. Anybody else notice this?

Discuss.

[Morara]

High five.

The spam does need to be reduced, but this seems like an odd, and probably wrong, approach.

Putting the decision in the hands of the majority is bad 99% of the time, because the majority of people are retards.

I'm biding my time to see what happens with this whole spam court thing, and if it really goes to shit, ultimate subtlety may be in order.

[pagansaint]

I think everything started the slow slide into shit when the power of PM flooding won out over moderators of a flame site.

[Morara]

While I'm definitely for making the whiners post their complaints in public, the spam court is going too far.

[3devious]

I am not the one who gets all of those PMs, but I usually just ignore the people who post what I think is a bunch of crap. I know it can be cumbersome, but most of the appeal to me about this place is that you can be honest here.
You can pretty much say anything you want BUT you have to take responsibility for it. I also like the way you're just sort of left in here. If you say something completely assinine, you usually get flamed or ignored. I thought things were OK for the most part. Sure things sometimes degenerate into senseless arguments but I think that is just a natural symptom of people being able to be as honest with each other as they wish.

Even though I bitch a lot, I really feel like there is a lot of equality here and that most people get what they deserve most of the time. (Well, maybe except LFG, but he's in a fucked up position.)

[3devious]

Originally Posted by Morara

While I'm definitely for making the whiners post their complaints in public, the spam court is going too far.

Well, I think whiners should post their complaints in public, but I don't know if they should have to. I admit it, I am a chickenshit. If some asshole sent me this PM:

Nicole, I know where you fucking live. I am coming over to your house in xxxxxxxxx Herndon, VA and cutting up that piece of shit dog of yours named Misha into little bits and shoving them up your ass when you get home from your wussy little government job.

I don't think I want to have to publicly post that some asshole is making illegal threats to me like that. (But I would have only PM LFG to let him know that I was calling po-lice on that guy so that he has a heads up that there's a potential criminal on his site.

If I needed to cry about someone spamming, etc, I am more than happy to bitch about it in public.

[LFG]

This site is run by trial and error. We do many things here that are original and unique, and that aren't done on other sites. That's what gives this site it's own personality.

About half the new shit I try on this site ends up like flattened armadillo on a Texas highway. The other half becomes a keeper, and a cherished tradition on this site. Contests, "Rate-a-Retard", and class sections and class leaders, for example.

I am not Miss Cleo, I cannot predict the future. I do not really know which hair-brained ideas will end up succeeding, and which will fail. That's why I implement these ideas, because to me, this site is just a big sociology testing ground, and I understand that failure is a necessary component of success.

Regarding this new "Spam Court" idea, what is true is that we have a spamming and trolling problem on this site. Something must be done about that, it is driving away some of the original members on this site, those who followed me here a year ago and helped make this site what it is today.

What I need is a solution that puts decision and responsibility in the hands of the community, one that will takes less time than dealing with the angst and negative energy of users who are in denial of their destructive and annoying posting habits. And if this first global and self-policing attempt to deal with this chronic problem is stupid, I can live with that.

All I know is that this seemed like a good idea to me when I decided to try it, and it's too early to know yet whether it is just another failed trial or not. Maybe it is. But it's not like I've heard any better ideas yet. Want more mods? I think that would make this site suck, and would then be unsure myself how to explain the difference between this site and the Official Forums.

My formula for trying new things on this site is that any new thing must be intended to (1) solve a need (2) in an entertaining way (3) that makes users feel like they have ownership in the process themselves and get a piece of the action.

If you don't like this idea, fine, I have no problem with that. Many of my ideas for this site have sucked and failed miserably, and there is no doubt that many more will suck and fail in the future.

But don't just say "this new idea sucks and is stupid and is not the way to handle this problem". Because if we just cancel this without an alternative resolution, we will still have the problem. Instead, tell me what a better solution is, and preferably one that includes the 3 elements I mentioned above.

Thank you

[Meta]

How about spam court having it's own section instead of being under RaR?

BTW I also think this problem might just go away after RoK goes live... At least until it's all trivial.

[Coyote]

I think Rate-a-retard is probably one of the most successful sections ON this site.

Sure, getting nominated sucks, but it is usually fair, and many times I've seen someone called out as a retard only to have the person who did it get turned on and the "retard" in question defended.

It is pretty successful as a "trial" system, IMO - because even the biggest assholes here will defend someone wrongly dubbed shortbus.

Plus it is good for drama which is the bread and butter of this site.

[Nurta]

I definitely think the people who whine via PMs for completely asanine bullshit should be bringing their shit public. Obiouvsly harrassment is something different and no I don't think if someone sent a PM like that it should be made quite so public. But I do remember a time when this forum policed itself more now however... LFG getting 75 PMs a day about whining is just ridiculous.

I too however will voice that I think SPAM COURT is not a good way to moderate the forum. Yeah, it will generate drama but in the end popularity or even anti-popularity polls are not a good measure IMO.

I am also of the opinion that after you guys get some content the drama and topics will change into things more EQ2 related.


You could post publicly some of the more retarded whiney PMs you get. That would be entertaining And I bet it would cut down on the retard PM flow.