More severe moderation in update threads?

[nearmiss]

Just remove postings...you say

Deletion of postings should not be required.

Most of the members on this boards are adults.

In tune with the requests on this thread. The coming update thread will be more severely enforced. No big deal, 1 week bans to members posting off topic - first offense. It will not matter if you have been a member of this board for 3 years and have a good record. OFF TOPIC IS OFF TOPIC, no warnings.

The current update thread is locked because of all the OFF TOPIC postings.

Report OFF TOPIC POSTINGS when you see them. Moderators can't read every posting 24/7.

Thanks

[Splitter]

Originally Posted by nearmiss

Just remove postings...you say

Deletion of postings should not be required.

Most of the members on this boards are adults.

In tune with the requests on this thread. The coming update thread will be more severely enforced. No big deal, 1 week bans to members posting off topic - first offense. It will not matter if you have been a member of this board for 3 years and have a good record. OFF TOPIC IS OFF TOPIC, no warnings.

The current update thread is locked because of all the OFF TOPIC postings.

Report OFF TOPIC POSTINGS when you see them. Moderators can't read every posting 24/7.

Thanks

ROFL, see what ya'll have done? I predict drama when some old timer gets a week ban from something questionable that someone has reported to a mod. Nearmiss will have pulled his hair out by Saturday. Sorry Nearmiss.

You have my condolences. I've done it, being a mod is a thankless job. Now because things were perceived to be too far one way, you have to swing it back hard the other. Seriously, thank you for your efforts and good luck in trying to keep everyone happy.

It reminds me of when my pitching coach used to come out to the mound to talk to me...."Don't give him anything to hit and don't walk him.". Good luck!

Splitter

Originally Posted by nearmiss

Just remove postings...you say

Deletion of postings should not be required.

Most of the members on this boards are adults.

In tune with the requests on this thread. The coming update thread will be more severely enforced. No big deal, 1 week bans to members posting off topic - first offense. It will not matter if you have been a member of this board for 3 years and have a good record. OFF TOPIC IS OFF TOPIC, no warnings.

The current update thread is locked because of all the OFF TOPIC postings.

Report OFF TOPIC POSTINGS when you see them. Moderators can't read every posting 24/7.

Thanks

YES! Can't wait for Friday. Thanks Mods.

[Fafnir_6]

LOL Adman & KG26 Alpha. You guys are hillarious .

WRT the moderation of update threads, I support Nearmiss' new direction which will hopefully calm things down a bit (I find the on-topic discussion in those threads very interesting). To all those that worry about the stifling of free speech and moderator power trips, I suppose we could revisit this after a couple of weeks' worth of doing things Nearmiss' way. My gut (and the poll) tells me that the majority of us will appreciate the changes.

Cheers,

Fafnir_6

[philip.ed]

Originally Posted by Fafnir_6

LOL Adman & KG26 Alpha. You guys are hillarious .

WRT the moderation of update threads, I support Nearmiss' new direction which will hopefully calm things down a bit (I find the on-topic discussion in those threads very interesting). To all those that worry about the stifling of free speech and moderator power trips, I suppose we could revisit this after a couple of weeks' worth of doing things Nearmiss' way. I gut (and the poll) tells me that the majority of us will appreciate the changes.

Cheers,

Fafnir_6

+1

[Triggaaar]

Originally Posted by nearmiss

Just remove postings...you say

Deletion of postings should not be required.

No, you're right, they shouldn't.

In tune with the requests on this thread. The coming update thread will be more severely enforced. No big deal, 1 week bans to members posting off topic - first offense. It will not matter if you have been a member of this board for 3 years and have a good record. OFF TOPIC IS OFF TOPIC, no warnings.

I absolutely love it, thank you! On the last couple of threads I have been one of the worst offenders of off-topic chat. This rule should mean there's no off topic chat to join in with.

[tagTaken2]

Originally Posted by nearmiss

The coming update thread will be more severely enforced. No big deal, 1 week bans to members posting off topic - first offense. It will not matter if you have been a member of this board for 3 years and have a good record. OFF TOPIC IS OFF TOPIC, no warnings.

Thanks, it won't hurt people to think for a moment before they post.

Hopefully this means Oleg and others will find it easier to pick out the questions from the comments/bickering.
Maybe people could tag direct questions with an *asterisk to make it easier?

[Gomer Pyle]

+1 on Yes! More moderation - less noise.


/Daniel

[Triggaaar]

Originally Posted by nearmiss

The coming update thread will be more severely enforced. No big deal, 1 week bans to members posting off topic - first offense. It will not matter if you have been a member of this board for 3 years and have a good record. OFF TOPIC IS OFF TOPIC, no warnings.

I've probably missed it, but can I check how this will be communicated to the forum? I'd suggest that admin start the Update thread, with a post about the new rule, telling no one to reply to the post until Oleg has posted (/made 2 posts).

It would be a shame if the thread is going well, then on the 4th page someone says how great it is that there's been no off topic chat, and they're suddenly banned for a week (because they haven't read this thread).

[Blackdog_kt]

Originally Posted by =PF=Coastie

This subject is really a double edged sword. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

A forum is a place where people trade thoughts, ideas, concerns and opinions. As long as these posts are not vulgar or blatently break forum rules, they are fine.

It may be a tough pill for some to swallow, but the easiest way is to simply ignore "that guy" that gets under your skin with every post.

Asking a moderator to choose what is a valid concern in a post and what is not is just ridiculously impossible. Ten different moderators could have ten different opinions on what is valid and what is not. Especially when you consider the vast diversity of people on this forum from all over the world.

My 2 cents!

Some of the best moderated forums i've ever frequented used the "split topic" method, with bans reserved for personal attacks and rude behaviour. Whenever people went off topic in a thread where it was critical to maintain on-topic-ness, a mod would just cut the offending posts or parts of a post and paste them into a new thread made for just that purpose, with an easy to identify name. In our case, this would be "xx-yy-2010 Friday update pruned and off-topic posting".

People can still ramble on about whatever they want if they can't contain themselves, but it's easy for those not interested to just side-step it and focus on the main theme.

In any case, this new rule is only for the update threads. In fact, it was very recently that it was announced the rest of the forum would be open to more off-topic discussions in an effort to keep a healthy exchange going at all times, so it's not like we're being stiffled here. After all, we are the ones asking for a tighter grip on the update threads.

I still wouldn't do it this way (outright bans) but then i'm not the one who has to spend time enforcing the new rules and since we have the rest of the forum open to a wide variety of other subjects, it's all good and fine by me.

However, i totally agree with you that this had to be communicated in a clear fashion. Just how much straying from the screenshot is going to be allowed is something everyone needs to be made aware of before they start reading and posting in the update thread.

For example, if someone posts references to back up their claim that a cockpit gauge needs a correction, is this on topic or not? Or what if someone posts historical references that pertain to tactics and employment of certain weapon systems (for example "this kind of flak gunner emplacement only had one gun of type X and not two")? Same for purely technical matters that pertain to the accuracy of 3d models, etc. Finally, posting the usual praise can pretty repetitive ("thanks for the update","awesome work, keep it up" etc), is this going to be off limits with the thread focusing exclusively on discussing the update's content, or not?

I'm all for imposing some limits on the update threads, it's just that they need to be clearly communicated so people know what to expect.