Poll: Do you like GD the way it is?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bod
  • Start date Start date

Do you like GD the way it is?

  • Yes, it is fine, spot on, hunky dory.

    Votes: 85 43.8%

  • No, a change is required.

    Votes: 109 56.2%
  • Total voters
    194
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Originally posted by 2blue4u
It's a debate. A novel concept for GD ;) All worthy ideas that crop up in this thread will be considered and, who knows, may even be implemented.
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I asked this before once but it may have been overlooked - is it possible to check what % of a person's posts have been in a particular forum on vbulletin?
 
Originally posted by Rob "Hooah!" Offer
I asked this before once but it may have been overlooked - is it possible to check what % of a person's posts have been in a particular forum on vbulletin?
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Now that'd be interesting, I'll hazard that theres a few with 98-100%. Mind you, I reckon the majority of mine are in GD:o I'll defy anyone to find spam with my name on it though ;)

I agree with the post count trimming, anyone who reads GD see's the same people posting and replying to drivel, slash their pc I say. Its these people that keep the crap threads alive when they should be allowed to fade away.

Another thing, why do people create new threads for the latest 'teh funneh' they've been sent in email? Your only going to get a WTLW. There should be a thread for funny pics/sites (like the Joke Academy) otherwise you get threads with one funny pic and then 30 replies, 'ROFL', 'LOL', that's not discussion ffs!
 
Originally posted by afraser2k
Only in certain forums as a temporary measure to increase post quality, not altogether! :)
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I really believe that will just transfer ppl to other forums solely on the fact that they can increase PC.

PC or no-PC that is the question for all forums...it serves no purpose!
 
GD is fine as it is. There are lots of threads that do not appeal to me. I don;t think they should therefore be "abolished" to a sub-forum or be deleted out of hand. This is "General Discussion" - it's not a technical Forum. It *is* a computing board, but the computing stuff can go on outside of GD whilst the non-computing stuff can stay in GD (Or Lifestyle as a whole).

The issue of post counts has been raised again and again. To echo my thoughts in another thread - why stop post counts from counting. Let people increase their post count. It does no real harm. Other than posting non-sensical posts (EG: "Cheese elephants - do they exist"), who is to say what is spam and what isn't.

I remember a "Shaving tips" thread by Lopez - I didn't need them, no one *really* needed them - but it was a light hearted thread. Didn;t do any harm, but had no perceived value. btw: I am not picking out Lopez specifically - just one post that stuck in my mind.

The single word LOL replies - my view is that it is quite nice for someone who posts a joke to get a response. A full blown "this is what I think of that joke and it's meaining" response is sometimes not appropriate. So why not tell them it is appreciated by laughing?

GD is fine as it is - although I do agree that meaningful titles should be the norm. If a thread has "Mobile Phone" in it I won;t read it. I don;t think it should be deleted or moved to a sub-forum.

comedy threads are very subjective. The "Here's ny lunch" is pretty dire IMHO but might be appreciated by the younger members (Or the older members who have a better sense of humour than me). But I wouldn;t class them as spam. However, repeating myself, a thread title that stated "Here's my lunch" I would not view. If those members who didn;t like a thread actually kept out of the thread rather than posting "That's a great thread :rolleyes: " then the thread would die quicker.
 
While I enjoy reading the other forums here too, I will mainly post in GD why? Well it's a great way to get things off my chest, talk about what's happening in the world and 'Generally Discuss' things... however I agree with a lot of people here that topics like 'what's your favourite drink' et all have no need to be here and only serve to fill up and obsure some of the more interesting topics...

why not have a new voting system that allows you to vote a topic to be deleted?

The problem is if we start removing GD when will we stop? I've noticed the majority of other forums talk about a whole variety of things not just technical, do you want to cull those too?
 
Over at Talkaudio your postcount doesn't increase when you post in their GD area. The amount of members that join then go spam crazy to try to get their PC up to 100 so they can be allowed into the members area never fails to amuse me.

As a result, all of the members in the "members area" are regular, worthwhile contributors to the forum and not just blatent spammers.
 
Change is goood. :cool:
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Havent read all the replys here, so dont know if this idea has already been mentioned or not, but......

Why dont you make a sub-section to GD (Like the archive one) called something like 'General Drivel', or something similar. Disable post counts in there too, so the PC+1 brigade dont get success.

Then if any threads get posted in GD, which are classed as drivel/spam, move them to the sub section. Stuff i would class as drivel/spam, are threads like Mobile phone threads, general 'give me some info i cba to look for on google' threads and all other types of threads that generaly dont need a decent reply or the answer can be found on google or somewhere easy.

There may be a issure where people complain about there thread being moved, but the dons have the final word, so i think it would work.

Going even further, you could disable post counts in GD, but i only think that will get rid of the short replys, which in effect arnt as bad as creating new threads.


Just my idea anyway
 
Originally posted by Rich_L
Or maybe the creation of a Drivel Forum, any threads which are deemed so can be moved there, and your PC will not increase :) Thread can be moved back to GD pending a good explanation and a bribe... :D
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:eek:

Great minds... ;)

Though admittedly this was at the bottom of a fairly long rambling post by me :D
 
In my opinion it needs to be determined what is/isn't considered to be spam. The Dons need to be united on what they consider spam to be and ruthlessly deleted the moment it's encountered.

GD should be about discussion, not low level ICQ type chat and one word/line "reviews" about what's on TV. Surely we have the TV Times for that sort of thing? Wanna chat about TV? Take it to ICQ. I don't mind single Smileys in certain posts, but some posts should never be allowed inside GD due to their spammy content and encouragement to other spammers.

Good posters who contribute to GD with well thought out posts are being driven away as I've said so often in the past. The drivel needs to be sorted out, identified and deleted, not just closed. Anyone responding to a drivel post, even to complain, will then see his postcount depleted of those posts.
 
However, what is the likelihood in reality that the dons will really be 'united' on what exactly entails spam?

Obviously some things which are blatantly spam are easy, but what about the borderline topics?

To quote your example MYB, it would be simple to add a rule that banned 'Whats on TV' posts (pet hate perhaps...:))

However, you then run the risk of losing threads which point out something on TV that would otherwise be missed, and the potential discussion about it (for example a TV proggie on history or something like that). I for one have found some of the Whats On threads interesting, I dont get the TV Times here at Uni, plus not having a TV means that I dont tend to se adverts that are on either, so sometimes these threads mean I have seen an interesting program which I would otherwise have missed.
 
Personally I like GD the way it is.

I think that you have to be careful when considering “how it used to be” rose tinted spectacle have a tendency of being used far to often without people realising. Generally speaking when people look back at their past, to see how things used to be, they tend to only remember the good points. The really good threads that used to come around every now and again (Unimatrix’s personal feelings thread spring to mind as one of the best threads I have ever seen on a forum) however people tend to also forget all the stress and arguments that were around at the same time. I would say that at the moment GD is possibly the calmest it has ever been, this speaks volumes for the hard work of the dons and UB’s at the moment. It feels like there has not been a serious argument for a long time. Yes some of the war threads have got heated but nothing compared to the forum drama of the signature rule, or 5 dons leaving on one night.


I also think that posters evolve when they are on a forum. Their expectations change over time. When you are a new poster it can be interesting to find out the menial things about other people, such as their favourite colour or what they do on a weekend. I think it is often very beneficial; it helps create a community where people know the little things about each other. However once you have been there for a while and you have seen the same post for the 20th time it can get tiring. But does this make the thread have any more or less worth? Just because you have seen it so many times. No I don’t think it does it just means you have been there, done it and move on. That doesn’t mean it is any less of an interesting thread to the ‘newbies’

As far as post count goes I find my self agreeing with [TW]Fox. I have a feeling that if post count were removed then spamming would actually go up as a poster would feel that it is not so obvious because it is not reflected in their post count.

When it comes down to it GD is what we the posters make it. The dons and UB’s can only improve things so far by removing what is generally considered ‘Spam’ It is up to US to improve matters, I do not think that splitting up the forum or turning off post count will solve anything. They are just measures which skirt around the real problem, if there is one, and will never truly solve it. Only we can do that.

Just my opinion anyway :)
 
I've heard it mentioned more and more often that "It's just a forum". This is perfectly true. Now. I was here in the early days and the reason I stayed and contributed so much to the forums was because of the friendliness of the forums. Everything was Flower Power back then and everyone loved each other. As the membership grew the Trolls stepped in. Whenever I had occasion to deal with them, even before I was made a Don, I had backing and support from Joe Poster. How often do I gain support nowadays from insults, backbiting and disagreements?

The forums have developed from their distinctive friendly atmosphere to "just another forum" like millions of others on the internet. OcUK GD has lost it's distinctiveness, lost it's former glory. It's now "just a forum", like the many millions of others, which is sad in a way for long term members. OcUK GD was unique; we had our own avatar theme and distinctiveness. We, the posters voted to retain it. The friendliness attracted more and more members and the friendliness subsided. We are now left with a backbiting community.

Having done a rethink, the problem is not about spam, but of friendship. It needs to be nurtured and brought back to the GD forum. Backbiting/insults, no matter how low key, should be jumped on with a vengance. Those who don't like it can leave. Dons, too, need to curb their toungues in some instances, including my good self, and I will mention this in the DR.

Bring back the friendship which once existed on these forums. That, I think, is the answer to GD woes. Make GD to be distinctive on the net, as opposed to being "just a forum". It won't be easy, it'll take Dons to implement it stringently and posters to accept it. Rid ourselves of argumentative and backbiting posters with stringent suspensions/bans similar to MM. Take no prisoners.

GD was a Mighty Fine forum once upon a memory. It's now just a semblance of it's former glory. The magic has gone, the glory has gone, it's been invaded by posters who no longer see eye to eye. Those who were around at the time will know what I mean. It doesn't mean because you're a different age group that you should segregate yourself from the rest of the community. This is what seems to be happenening, though, with "cliques" of posters sprouting up all over the place.

GD should not be "just a forum". It should be unique and distinctive. If not, GD will continue to decay with more and more demoralised posters. It's a challenge we should accept to try and restore it back to it's former glory and show once again how OcUK supports the internet, not just contributes to it. It's all very well having millions of members and a fast response to posts, but not at the expense of friendship.
 
Originally posted by MindYerBeak

Having done a rethink, the problem is not about spam, but of friendship. It needs to be nurtured and brought back to the GD forum. Backbiting/insults, no matter how low key, should be jumped on with a vengance. Those who don't like it can leave. Dons, too, need to curb their toungues in some instances, including my good self, and I will mention this in the DR.
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i agree MYB

i do think, however, that the backbiting / insults are not confined to the normal members. i have seen it from UB's and MOHs
 
Originally posted by ToastedCheese
The main theme of this thread seems to be the abolishment of post counts.

Why not setup a poll so ppl can vote on whether thats a good idea?
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Becuase what difference will it make? Most people are utterly clueless as to the root cause of any problems and how to run a forum anyway. Half the people seem to think Post Counts are the root of all evil and encourage world+dog to spam, which is utter rubbish, so would you trust these people with a vote?

Somebody who knows what they are doing needs to make these decisions, not Mr Random. Oh, look at that, that's exactly what *ALREADY* happens.
 
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