Anyone else getting these links on the forum?

[~>Dg<~]

Horrible addition to the forums. I know someone will be all like 'disable it in the options yo', but really.

One of the reasons why I like this forum so much is because it doesn't have spam like that.

this is exactly my feelings i understand the forums are for marketing but previously under older ownership shall we say some of the things that have happened recently probably wouldnt of happened

what makes this place a cool place is the not in your face buy it now buy it now crap . if this is what is coming then i can see the cool place becoming the none cool place and just a place for selling you pc hardware.

also if you look at what i just said the whole reason why ocuk is cool is because of how it was and that is why you are big now. deviating from this to a robotic like sales approach . i can see this forum if it carries on with these unthought out approaches just ending up like ******** and ****** . maybe this is what the head people want. i dont know.

so please have a rethink on some of the recent ideas that seem to being implemented . i dont know if its unwise admins doing it or shop people passing the word down.

 

[SheepBeast]

Being diplomatic with ocuk has never ever worked in the past, can you honestly tell me what rules have been changed due to being diplomatic?

Remember the 10% argument or the no link to any competitors rule that was changed, that was due to some pretty big arguments and tons of suspensions. ocuk will not listen unless people are up in arms over it. Look at the situation with that EVGA fiasco(not related to ocuk) diplomatic discussion nothing happened, members got angry started threatening, guy got a replacement graphics card.

What? When was the "no link to any competitors" rule changed? IIRC it's still a rule...?

Also I'm curious what the "10%" argument is - can someone explain?

 

[AHarvey]

Option says it's turned on, but not showing for me must be borked

 

[Dist]

There are many great things on these forums that even show up as top search results on google, when people outside of the OcUK community see the spamvertising they may think it's a silly community with advertising almost as bad as those sites that use popups when hovering over a link, or perhaps think less of us as posters because they think we are the ones advertising.

If I want to advertise OcUK (and I have by word of mouth to friends/family many times) then I will do it by choice, I don't want to be forced to advertise just for saying certain keywords.

I'm sure this seemed like a harmless idea on paper, but it's something the community really doesn't want (at least not in it's current form).

 

[KNiVES]

It doesn't bother me now that I know what it actually is - at first I thought it was a virus of some sort. You get used to it pretty quickly. I know it can be turned off now but I've grown attached to the links

 

[Neil79]

I personally have no problem with it, given that you can disable it. It's not exactly forced on members.

It is forced and it isn't disabled, it's just hidden from you

People really don't understand do they?

YES you can turn it off but every damn person that joins the forums, visits my links, checks out the latest games will get spammed with advertising links in the post to things that don't even related to the topic at hand!. Even if i have disabled it!

For example

If i was playing in DayZ and i said wow that was an awesome game i just had

Suddenly ocuk will take over and GAME will be come a link to all the games on ocuk and wow would become a link to any products related to wow on ocuk.

I DO NOT WANT IT, I DO NOT WANT ANYONE ELSE TO SEE IT IN MY POSTS, I don't want to go on other gaming sites or on my twitter talking about the latest games on ocuk and having them trawling through useless spam links.

You can knock me down all you want, underbosses give a good smile and wink as they sit back and know what they are doing. This is totaly wrong and nobody on this forum should be supporting it!. It's taking over your posts and advertising, you want to post to a friend on ocuk? have a laugh on ocuk? guess what your going to be advertising a product as well, how can you see that as fair?, how can you see that through no agreement someone is using you?

1) REMOVE IT FROM PC GAMES
2) MAKE IT REMOVABLE ( TURNED OFF ) IN CP AND REMOVABLE ( TURNED OFF ) FROM ANYONE ELSE VISITING MY POST OR ANYONE ELSES THAT HAS TURNED IT OFF IN OPTIONS.

Ocuk you seriously need to think sometimes instead of jumping the gun and just saying we can do we want as the members will suck it up.

I respect this forum and it's staff, but this is a huge disrespect to me and it's members

 

[D D Danneh]

While I can't say I agree with your... approach Neil, I do fully agree with what you're saying. I think the advertising should be limited to discussions in the Hardware and Software forum. I understand these forums are a free service, where the cost of the service is offset by members offering advice to new people which brings in sales and revenue, and if a link in a post can help keep that service free, I'm all for it, provided it's unobtrusive and purely helpful. But in other subforums there's no real need for it, and I do think it makes the forum come across as one of those with the popup advertisements that I, and I imagine many others, despise. I'm fine with them sticking around in hardware and software, but I think either they should be disabled in pc games (and, I guess, any other irrelevant forums), or a user should be allowed to choose in their control panel, or while constructing a post, whether to include auto-links to OcUK.

 

[Neil79]

but I think either they should be disabled in pc games (and, I guess, any other irrelevant forums), or a user should be allowed to choose in their control panel, or while constructing a post, whether to include auto-links to OcUK.

Thanks and agreed but also if i disable it in CP it should also be disabled for anyone else that views my post...

But please please staff disable it in PC GAMING and CONSOLE gaming, there is no need for it there.

 

[Caseh]

Neil, I think you seriously need to calm down. There is really no need to get so angry about such a small thing, and threatening to stop with posting the Indie Titles if they don't stop it? Pathetic really. I don't like the links, but threats and tantrums aren't the way to get things changed that you don't like, what's next? Stamping your feet and screaming?

 

[Neil79]

Neil, I think you seriously need to calm down. There is really no need to get so angry about such a small thing, and threatening to stop with posting the Indie Titles if they don't stop it? Pathetic really. I don't like the links, but threats and tantrums aren't the way to get things changed that you don't like, what's next? Stamping your feet and screaming?

Don't care really, i'm expect some backlash with my attitude on this but i'm holding firm

I've had to deal with it before on another forum this is not something new all it does is annoy people, it isn't pathetic... using forum members as advertising bait without consent is a pretty big deal.

This is no different than standing in big crowds and protesting, i'm annoyed and find this insulting. Why people like you can't see this new addition as an insult i don't know

 

[v0n]

I will.

A bit confusing though - you made it look like I said something dangerous that required censoring. What happened? It was innocent, very much on topic and completely within forum rules post. I'm not poking, not rolling eyes, just politely raising arm in a peace sign. Help me understand so I don't do it unknowingly again?

 

[Hastarius]

Intrusive and disrepectful.

I agree with Neil, I don't want other people coming in and seeing me advertising your products without my consent. I'm happy to lead people to this website and forums if they're looking for certain parts for their computer but that decision should be up to me whether I do that or not.

I've never considered clicking advertisement links even if I hover over the word and see that the URL is linked to a safe/trusted website. The internet over the years has molded my perception that they're links to viruses etc and I've never once clicked one.

Also anybody interested in the slightest, in parts for their computer who are looking to spend a fair bit of money will be the people who know how to use the internet and will just google around looking for the cheapest prices whether you are or not.

 

[Neil79]

Intrusive and disrepectful.

I agree with Neil, I don't want other people coming in and seeing me advertising your products without my consent. I'm happy to lead people to this website and forums if they're looking for certain parts for their computer but that decision should be up to me whether I do that or not.
.

Thanks bud and spot on to what i was getting at as well.

 

[Jokester]

I will.

A bit confusing though - you made it look like I said something dangerous that required censoring. What happened? It was innocent, very much on topic and completely within forum rules post. I'm not poking, not rolling eyes, just politely raising arm in a peace sign. Help me understand so I don't do it unknowingly again?

"Morally repugnant, deceiving and legally iffy"? Hardly innocent words - if you have a genuine concern, raise it with the admin.

 

[fiveub]

Neil, it is only manufacturer names and cases for new users to know what we sell. We could have gone all out and listed every single product on our website on this forum, but we didn't want the forum to look messy so it is discrete, but also effective at the same time.

Not really sure what the problem is, you complain saying that it is all wrong and it shouldn't exist and blah blah. Then you say that you only want it removed from the games and console section. I don't understand why you are moaning about it to be honest.

And for you to say you are giving us a week to "sort it out"... ... ... Do you realise what you are posting?

The T-Shirts we listened to you, and removed the ones with swear words.

Drinks with OcUK advertising... What has this got to do with anything? It is for events so we can give away freebies to people. Why is that a bad thing? We are giving away thousands of pounds worth of hardware as well.

Now this advertising we have in place, we listened again and gave the option for our forum users to turn it off as they/you are more than likely aware of our shop if you are registered here. You need to realise we have a lot of guests who visit this forum and it is a way of hinting that we sell these products in the hardware and games forum.

 

[KIA]

It's a tiny text link. I don't have an issue with it.

 

[moogle]

All these paranoid users talking about it modifying your posts, it doesn't do that. Your original post is left untouched and it runs after the board retrieves the page that turning the keywords into links to viewers who haven't turned it off.

I don't see the problem with it, it's their board and they can display it how they like to?

 

[Docaroo]

I think it's absolutely pointless and ruins the credibility of these forums, as Neil said - if i was joining OcUK right now and saw these links all over the place I'd just assume it's another **** spam advertising forum and I wouldn't even join.

Is it even required? Everyone on this forum knows how to search and buy something from OcUK anyway! Infact a large majority of people here (myself included) are OcUK customers and have spent thousands with the company.

We don't need to see every "Geforce" link come up with a search. If I want to buy a graphics card, I will do it myself not by being spammed right down my throat.

Very poor move imo and I hope it is removed before doing too much harm.

 

[atpbx]

Neil, it is only manufacturer names and cases for new users to know what we sell. We could have gone all out and listed every single product on our website on this forum, but we didn't want the forum to look messy so it is discrete, but also effective at the same time.

Not really sure what the problem is, you complain saying that it is all wrong and it shouldn't exist and blah blah. Then you say that you only want it removed from the games and console section. I don't understand why you are moaning about it to be honest.

And for you to say you are giving us a week to "sort it out"... ... ... Do you realise what you are posting?

The T-Shirts we listened to you, and removed the ones with swear words.

Drinks with OcUK advertising... What has this got to do with anything? It is for events so we can give away freebies to people. Why is that a bad thing? We are giving away thousands of pounds worth of hardware as well.

Now this advertising we have in place, we listened again and gave the option for our forum users to turn it off as they/you are more than likely aware of our shop if you are registered here. You need to realise we have a lot of guests who visit this forum and it is a way of hinting that we sell these products in the hardware and games forum.

I think people lose sight of the fact that this is a business and the business comes first.

If the little text links are a proven way of increasing revenue through the website then people have got accept that they are going to be used.

Advertising and gimmicks are fine so long as whoever in charge knows where to draw the line before it starts to cheapen the brand.
Know your customer.

 

[Craterloads]

Complete over reaction, hardly instrusive is it?

Heck this is the SHOPS forum, why wouldnt they want to advertise a little? Makes perfect sense for the project logs and hardware related sub forums.