Forums that just don't get it

I hope that's a joke....we frown on pirating here. We're funny that way!

Its Twlight, if he wants to torture himself to death, he should be allowed to do it for free

It's a simple method of intercepting spammers.

They are [usually] unlikely to hang around long enough to qualify to post links.

Anyone who 'polices' a [popular] website will spend much of their time dealing with spam.

I know I do.

Ah the good old days ;)  Being a moderator on the Mensa International website I'm blessed with zero spam. As it is members only and a spammer has little chance of passing an IQ test...

The politics section gets a little heated from time to time, but other than that, there isn't a deal to do (and politics isn't my section anyway...)

Interestingly, despite being restricted membership, there isn't a big difference between the number of posts here and there

Don't you think it's analogous to DRM, a system that inconveniences and annoys the honest users while (possibly/questionably) deterring the dishonest?

I was a moderator on a forum, too, for a while, so I know how frustrating it can be.  But you have to consider how your policies affect the content and tone of the forum.  If your anti-spam feature requires a moderator to review every post, how is that more efficient than letting the spammers in and deleting their posts afterward (or, better, flagging them and pointing them out as spam before deleting them)?

Stardock doesn't use such a system, as they don't use DRM, so I would think they agree that such systems are counter-productive.

The forum I was on...I kept predicting their demise due to fascistic policies, and for a while I felt like my arguments were invalidated, as they kept getting new members; but eventually it did die.  Maybe these problems don't deter people to the extent that they annoy me.  Maybe forums rise and fall due to other, inexplicable, reasons; but my limited, first-person, experience has shown me that fascistic policies will eventually end in destruction.

On both moral and practical grounds, forum moderators should let the Internet be the Internet!  Let it all flood in, and the results will both stupefy and enlighten!  Viva la Castro!  Viva la Revolutione!

I understand why they do it.

It doesn't mean I like it.

There are many times I've been looking for something or just surfing around and finds a post somewhere that interests me. Usually, it's someone that wants help with something (believe it or not, I can actually be helpful sometimes) that I'm just qualified to help with. It can be anything.

And then it wants me to register. Fair enough. And then it wants to know my mother's maiden name, my telephone number, my home address, and then wants me to verify everything on my email, followed by moderator verification or moderated posts.

I understand why.

But I just can't be arsed.

...

In a word...no.

If you let all the shit in...what you will get is shit.

An idiot few may enjoy the smell....most will not.

Forum moderation has its place. Anarchy has its place, too....but it's not here...;)

spoken like a true telemarketer and in a word "themoststupidthingI'veeverheard"

“The Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had.Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.”Eric Schmidt

If restriction, amercement, and censor must exist; then at least show consistency such that violations are predictable and avoidable.   I get especially peeved by one site in particular.  It's the biggest fan site on the net, for what was once my most favored game.  So I have begrudgingly accepted the wildly erratic moderation.  At times the mods behave like lazy lunatic nazis.  They infract harmless postings, while ignoring purposeful trolling. You can get infracted simply by asking someone if they are trolling for an argument.  While the poster you directed the query towards, can continue making personally directed attacks while escaping even a warning.  Dropping the big bad T word is for some reason worse than calling someone stupid, paranoid, clueless, etc (not that those are all that bad, but aren't they worse than asking if someone is trolling?).  Those mods fail on an epic level if the point of their policing is to foster civility.  

One of a few recent infractions I have received, was for this image...

Terrorists Lose

Civ4's answer to Counter-Strikes "terrorists win"

The image was deleted and I received the highest level of infraction short of an immediate ban.

Any racial bias found in that screenshot image, comes from the mind of a viewer.  Meanwhile I read postings stating that civilian casualties of the war on terror don't equate as highly as coalition casualties.  Or that the sand n*****s deserve what they get cuz of this or that, and so on.  Clear and obvious racial hatred goes ignored.  While a cartoon like image portraying a combatant of war being detained is somehow racially insensitive!?!  Bah!  If your gonna censor discussion and creative expression towards the common good, at least show the community respect by being real about it! 

[/rant]

So far I like what I see at Stardocks forums :~) 

'Cept perhaps in regards to the recent "poet incident".  :~p

Some forums are stricter than others. I had one of my posts deleted from the BBC cricket forum because I said Johnson was a chucker. Yet others are allowed to say Murali was a chucker... f*** 'em...

you want to rant go here, they really let a lot go as long as you keep the cussing down to moderate level

http://pcqanda.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=4

Isn't it incredible how the internet has amplified the foul mouth, rude and disrespectful voices of the world.

~ Phoon 2010

I agree 100%.. I also like the forums that supply user tools that allow the user to filter some of what they see based on thread, user and other such methods.. not because it limits what others can say (because it does not) it allows me to separate what i find interesting from what i do not... but that's just my opinion.

* description based on point of view. YMMV 

For me, this all boils down to POV.  I don't want someone dictating to me what to say and how.  Nor do I want my access to other peoples thoughts, to be limited by some 3rd party.  Though I do respect community_agreed_upon standards.  And I do accept the house rules of my host.  But I rage against self righteous thought policing.  And am frustrated by enforcement inconsistencies.

And crap like this really pisses me off...

Decency group calls $#*! indecent too

The Parents Television Council ramped up its ongoing crusade against how human beings actually speak by condemning  the title of a new CBS TV Series: $#*! my dad says.

"The PTC will wage an unrelenting campaign against every network advertiser that chooses to support this program; and in this instance, we will wage an unrelenting campaign against every local advertiser sponsoring the program at the affiliate station level," Winter warns.

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2010/05/decency-group-calls-indecent-too.ars

Yes, because of the facelessness of it's nature.

I see that a lot, too.  This is where taboo topics come in.  Or "groupthink"--if you choose to call it that, though groupthink is a bigger taboo than the T-word.  Where bias is present in a forum, it's almost always enforced and encouraged by the moderators.  And forums usually have their resident trolls, people who post rude, disruptive, and off-topic comments in response to those who express unpopular opinions, and longtime members say, "Oh, he's harmless; he's our bad little monkey."

I've had the experience, many times, on political forums, of being dogpiled by vicious attack comments, only to be banned myself when I finally speak up about the flaming.  Or I'll be making a perfectly rational argument, providing good sources for my claims, and refuting the claims of others, meanwhile batting off flames and resident troll comments, only to be labeled a troll myself.  Why?  Because I'm promoting an unpopular opinion on a forum that doesn't want to hear it.  That's "trolling" to some people.

Community policing can be great, but it can also enforce an underlying bias.  Look at Digg, for example, where the moderation system is systematically abused, comments being flagged "spam" when they have nothing to do with products but merely express an unpopular (among Digg users) point of view.

I like that the Elemental forums don't have a thumbs down button.

I think that the highly focused nature of this forum--we're all playing the same build of a game that hasn't been released yet and offering feedback on it--insulates against some of the challenges more general purpose forums face.  So hardcore moderation just isn't as necessary.  When the retail build goes live, I hope the culture will stay the same.  I know how hard it is to resist the temptation to go in and moderate everything.

Uhh...someone has an ironic sense of humor, LOL.

Any idea how that "referral" got there, and can a moderator delete it?

Minor update:  It's been 24 hours now, and that forum has still not approved my post.  I bet you $500 they won't ever approve it, nor will they explain why.  They won't approve it--not because I'm a spammer or troll--but because I "mocked the mods" with my comment about how I need to post in 13 inane threads so I can post links.  Ego plays a huge role in moderation.

and in posting... and i am not specifically saying that of the op.. we all believe in what we post hence ego...

Oh yeah.  And there's a temptation to respond to contradictory comments, hence trolls have ways to play.

I have to agree there.. oh and btw while i am not against forums that proof posts (especially Pokemon ones and ii suspect one reason it does this because of the potential kids using their site as well as spam) If you post was along the lines you stated (and I have no reason to think otherwise) then if it never gets posted sounds to me like they don't want anyone but them making Pokemon stuff hence the filtering.. I am sure if you keep looking / promoting an idea you have passion about it may happen..