Why Are You Guys Shy To Post?

[Phillyman]

Triverse and myself were having a discussion about posting habits around the forums. Are you guys generally uninterested in having discussions on here, are the topics boring? Are you worried that we will ban you? Just curious.....we like the activity around the forums.....just wish more people would join in

Anything we can do to make it better?

[DPsx7]

Ooh, free games for posting and high scores in the arcade! Heh.

Seriously this place is busier than a few other sites I visit. How much activity are you expecting to find? I can try to post more but to be honest I waste too much time online at you-know-where and I've been trying to focus on completing games at a better pace.

*Upon further thought, I think this is why. With all the forums I visit it feels redundant to talk about the same stuff at all of them. What did you buy, how about this game, that game, yadda yadda. I don't know who else visits all these places and although they're seperate forums it's like we're posting the same topic several times. Of course I like it here when we actually talk about classics. That doesn't happen elsewhere.

Another thing is by the time I'm done in the arcade I forget to check for new posts. Lol. I'm not saying get rid of it, this place has the best arcade I've used and probably the cleanest layout (no ads, a dark color scheme, everything is easy to find). Maybe it's time to slack off at those other places and give ya a hand here. As long as my peculiar methods don't chase off too many people.

[triverse]

It is more of a case of having so many members, over 3400, and so few that participate. We are just trying to figure out if it is a case of there just aren't interesting topics or is it a lack of interest in general in the forums and members are here for other things, which there is nothing wrong with that. Like DP there being here mainly for the arcade, that is cool, others may be here just for the downloads, which is fine too.

I came here because I was searching for Gamefan issues. Of course the issue I came here for has been taken down due to the rule change (and I didn't download it, thinking I will just get it later) but decided to stay because of the matureness and respect given to all members unlike certain other sites that I am a member of and slowly am dropping from my daily rotation.

[E-Day]

Triverse and myself were having a discussion about posting habits around the forums. Are you guys generally uninterested in having discussions on here, are the topics boring? Are you worried that we will ban you? Just curious.....we like the activity around the forums.....just wish more people would join in

Anything we can do to make it better?

Part uninterested, part boring topics. All the discussions seem to be about the same thing. This game, that game, this magazine, that magazine...you can only talk about that stuff so much. Maybe Off Topic could be it's own section, the way Site discussion and Game Discussion are. Have sub topics like TV, Movies, Music, Literature, General, Hobbies, Sports, etc. Maybe more diversity would help generate more posting. Yes, those could all be talked about in Off Topic now, but they are all lumped together, which is a bit messy. I rarely go into a topic like "Current Generation Video Gaming!" to see if there is more than one new post/topic other than the one that shows up on the main page. So if there are 6 new topics in that section, chances are I will only see the one with the most recent post.

[Kitsune]

To be honest, from my own perspective it isn't that I find topics boring or uninteresting. In fact, I have found some pretty interesting threads, but sometimes the information I could add has already been said, and I dun' like to repeat what others have said unless I can add some extra enlightenment. ^_^

Also, I am in college (less than a year and half away from my degree! Yay!), and I manage my eBay store and auctions at CTCW. And babysit, so I can get pretty busy. It's not that I don't want to post or don't find things interesting enough, it's just getting the time!

[Thor]

Nope sorry just no interwebs to post with. Right now I'm supposed to be going to get ice cream but I stopped at the coffee shop to hit up the boards real quick.

[E-Day]

To be honest, from my own perspective it isn't that I find topics boring or uninteresting. In fact, I have found some pretty interesting threads, but sometimes the information I could add has already been said, and I dun' like to repeat what others have said unless I can add some extra enlightenment. ^_^

This is another reason for me, though I forgot to mention it.

[Guest s1500]

Triverse and myself were having a discussion about posting habits around the forums. Are you guys generally uninterested in having discussions on here, are the topics boring? Are you worried that we will ban you? Just curious.....we like the activity around the forums.....just wish more people would join in

Anything we can do to make it better?

Don't take this the wrong way, but there's 2 reasons: 1. there is a lot of overlap in video game discussions all across the web, 2. I will choose "worried that we will ban you". I noticed that the moderation can be a bit strict around here, where sometimes individual topics are dictated "you may only say this or that", which scares off discussion.

[triverse]

Don't take this the wrong way, but there's 2 reasons: 1. there is a lot of overlap in video game discussions all across the web, 2. I will choose "worried that we will ban you". I noticed that the moderation can be a bit strict around here, where sometimes individual topics are dictated "you may only say this or that", which scares off discussion.

We have been a little strict on certain things that I know of, like ROM discussion, asking about where to get stuff after the cutoff date and torrents.  Here is why on all three:

ROM discussion- we are in a little bit of a grey area with the law here by offering copyrighted material like we are (that in itself is illegal).  Why is it a grey area?  If the copyright holder does not express their rights and pursues the situation, we are OK.   If we start allowing people to go around saying "I just modded my Xbox 360 to play backup's and downloaded 100 of them overnight OMG I am so 1337!" we are going to start catching google and other search engines for that stuff.  Why is that bad?  If we come off as supporting illegal downloads of games and such then we attract a different kind of publisher, a game publisher, who many have proven in the past, they are not scared of litigation (specifically Nintendo).  I have gotten many 'silent' OK's from various owners of some of the IP's we offer here due to our strict policing of the rules and keeping the forums "clean" of ROM talk.

Requesting stuff after the cutoff- Recently, in the last 3 months, we have had probably 10 or so 'newbies' come in and request stuff after the cutoff, it has been discussed in the moderators area with a split in feelings about how it was handled and hopefully will be dealt with a little more diplomatically the next time it happens.  As far as why it is not allowed, it is similar to the ROM discussion.  If we allow people to come in, request just a certain review or article from a recent publication then we are stepping into waters that will get us shut down, real quick.  Those reviews and those articles are the only reason that publishers have to get you to purchase the magazine, surely not enough people will purchase a magazine for the ads to make it profitable, if they would, magazines would be a lot different.  If you claim you intend to buy a car but goto a dealership and drive off in one without paying for it, it is still wrong.

Torrent discussion- this has been nixed pretty much because of the stigmata that Torrents have received as being the end all be all method of theft of intellectual properties.  Besides, 99% of the members using Torrents won't seed them so they are a waste of effort and bandwidth of the people that tried to help keep torrents seeded.  I have personally heard from various members of the magazine community from the time we deal with (and newer as some are still active) mention that Torrents are bad and well, when dealing with someone else's IP, you kind of have to take their comments to heart and abide by their requests, no matter how small.  Does this hurt our members?  I don't think so, rather than having dead torrent links in the download section we have always available RS, MU (more being added, just takes time) and direct download links.

None of these topics, and the effort to protect the project from possible ramifications by blocking them, were meant to cause members to feel they would be banned over discussing things, or even asking about them (we have tried to be fair in replying that certain things are not allowed here).

Now in the past, we had a certain member raise a stink (believe me, I run across him on other forums badmouthing me, another member of the staff and the whole project in general every once in awhile) and he was banned for his efforts.  Yes, we banned him.  He went above and beyond in his efforts to cause trouble, raise an uproar and just be generally destructive to the project, that is why he is no longer allowed to participate.  We also found out, shortly after his banning, that he was taking scans from other sites (World of Spectrum being only one of many) and passing them off as his own here (I check most of the downloads that get uploaded and have a pretty good grasp of what is available in some wild places and when something is uploaded here that has the exact same creases, same smudge marks and general fading as something on another site, it is usually a good give away that someone is not telling the truth).  He was not banned for having different ideas than the staff, or 99% of the memberbase here, he was banned twice, both times for the same reason, he was given a second chance and threw it away.  We would rather not ban anyone here, we want people to help out and enjoy the fruits of the labor being done.  But, Admin, Super Moderator, Moderator or no matter what your level here with the project, if you get out of hand and cause a lot of trouble, then yeah, something will have to be done, plain and simple.  Will simply coming in and asking about a ROM for a system that is 20 something years old do it?  No.  We will ask you to not talk about that stuff, bring up that it is against the rules and that will probably be that (if you notice, we don't go back and delete the posts either unless they are plain spamming or of an adult pornographic nature-we get those everyonce in awhile and yes, those members are banned-if you have one post and it is a post with naked women or telling how to have adult relations with minors, then you can pretty much expect that you wasted your time signing up here).

I hope that helps explain the situation a little better (probably more confusing than helpful though as most of my longer stuff is, lol ).

[E-Day]

Don't take this the wrong way, but there's 2 reasons: 1. there is a lot of overlap in video game discussions all across the web, 2. I will choose "worried that we will ban you". I noticed that the moderation can be a bit strict around here, where sometimes individual topics are dictated "you may only say this or that", which scares off discussion.

Yes, that is a good point. If you don't like something, and are the only one, and you actually say so, then you're being negative. That's another reason as to why I don't post more. I probably shouldn't even post this as it will be viewed as me being "negative", but whatever. The only way to avoid being seen as negative is to adhere to what the mods and admins like and agree, and to use tons of smiley faces when you are making dry or sarcastic comments that are meant to be jokes so people don't take them the wrong way.

Requesting stuff after the cutoff- Recently, in the last 3 months, we have had probably 10 or so 'newbies' come in and request stuff after the cutoff, it has been discussed in the moderators area with a split in feelings about how it was handled and hopefully will be dealt with a little more diplomatically the next time it happens. As far as why it is not allowed, it is similar to the ROM discussion. If we allow people to come in, request just a certain review or article from a recent publication then we are stepping into waters that will get us shut down, real quick. Those reviews and those articles are the only reason that publishers have to get you to purchase the magazine, surely not enough people will purchase a magazine for the ads to make it profitable, if they would, magazines would be a lot different. If you claim you intend to buy a car but goto a dealership and drive off in one without paying for it, it is still wrong.

you are going to get a lot of requests for stuff after the cutoff if you guys go ahead and make an exception for Dreamcast magazines because it was released 10 years ago, like you had been talking about. So if that plan goes ahead, be ready to deal with people saying "Yeah, well, the PSone isn't current anymore. You should allow those magazines on here too", etc.

[triverse]

Yes, that is a good point. If you don't like something, and are the only one, and you actually say so, then you're being negative. That's another reason as to why I don't post more. I probably shouldn't even post this as it will be viewed as me being "negative", but whatever. The only way to avoid being seen as negative is to adhere to what the mods and admins like and agree, and to use tons of smiley faces when you are making dry or sarcastic comments that are meant to be jokes so people don't take them the wrong way.              

I agree and disagree with you there E-Day.  First up, it is not that you have to agree with the views of those on the staff, that is just wrong, sorry you feel that way.  Second, I agree with you about maybe using a smiley or something to let people know when a joke is a joke (it is a downfall for text related comunique like this that 'intent' doesn't carry over very well and sense of humor is one such casualty of the uniform layout of forums).  If a member is constantly making dry or sarcastic comments, even to serious inquiries, then maybe that member needs to rethink their comments before clicking the 'add reply' button, I bet it would stop a lot of misunderstandings.  

[E-Day]

I agree and disagree with you there E-Day. First up, it is not that you have to agree with the views of those on the staff, that is just wrong, sorry you feel that way. Second, I agree with you about maybe using a smiley or something to let people know when a joke is a joke (it is a downfall for text related comunique like this that 'intent' doesn't carry over very well and sense of humor is one such casualty of the uniform layout of forums). If a member is constantly making dry or sarcastic comments, even to serious inquiries, then maybe that member needs to rethink their comments before clicking the 'add reply' button, I bet it would stop a lot of misunderstandings.

Am I going to get demoted again?

By the way, I edited my other post and added a reply to yours. I could only add three smileys to it though.

[meppi]

Yes, that is a good point. If you don't like something, and are the only one, and you actually say so, then you're being negative. That's another reason as to why I don't post more. I probably shouldn't even post this as it will be viewed as me being "negative", but whatever. The only way to avoid being seen as negative is to adhere to what the mods and admins like and agree, and to use tons of smiley faces when you are making dry or sarcastic comments that are meant to be jokes so people don't take them the wrong way.

There's a big difference between having a different opinion from others and having someone who, nearly every time he posts, you notice his name at the end of a thread and before you even enter it you know it'll be a snarky remark, derailment of a topic or discussion he doesn't like, argumentative BS, or just plain old trolling or having the exact opposite opinion of every single person in the thread even though they were not even agreeing among each other.

you are going to get a lot of requests for stuff after the cutoff if you guys go ahead and make an exception for Dreamcast magazines because it was released 10 years ago, like you had been talking about. So if that plan goes ahead, be ready to deal with people saying "Yeah, well, the PSone isn't current anymore. You should allow those magazines on here too", etc.

I'm sure you'll be the first one in line.

Now that the cat is out of the bag thanks to blabbermouth here, yes, we were planning this for the 10 year anniversary of the Dreamcast.

So let me hear all the people who would be opposed to us scanning and adding Dreamcast only magazines to the line-up?

Who knows, if we get enough people on here who vote against putting DC mags online, E-Day may get his wish and we might put it off for another 10 years or so.

[triverse]

Am I going to get demoted again?          

We were asked to keep that out of discussion and to keep it as low key as possible.  Glad you feel the same about keeping that out of the general discussion.  

[E-Day]

There's a big difference between having a different opinion from others and having someone who, nearly every time he posts, you notice his name at the end of a thread and before you even enter it you know it'll be a snarky remark, derailment of a topic or discussion he doesn't like, argumentative BS, or just plain old trolling or having the exact opposite opinion of every single person in the thread even though they were not even agreeing among each other.

So-------------------------------------------------------------------------I--------------------------------------if--------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------when------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------it---------------------------------------------------------------------------------the-------------------------------------------------------------------------.

Now that the cat is out of the bag thanks to blabbermouth here, yes, we were planning this for the 10 year anniversary of the Dreamcast.

I thought you guys would like that

We were asked to keep that out of discussion and to keep it as low key as possible. Glad you feel the same about keeping that out of the general discussion.

I was never asked such a thing, so how was I supposed to know that? Not that I would have agreed to go along. You know me, always having to "troll" or be snarky or argumentative

[meppi]

I was never asked such a thing, so how was I supposed to know that? Not that I would have agreed to go along. You know me, always having to "troll" or be snarky or argumentative

Don't forget confrontational.

Keep bringing up the same thing again and again until someone bites.

[triverse]

I was never asked such a thing, so how was I supposed to know that? Not that I would have agreed to go along. You know me, always having to "troll" or be snarky or argumentative      

It was a request by Philly to keep your demotion low key as far as a professional level goes, kind of out of respect for you but I see you have none of either so it doesn' matter.

[E-Day]

It was a request by Philly to keep your demotion low key as far as a professional level goes, kind of out of respect for you but I see you have none of either so it doesn' matter.

But he told me it wasn't a demotion, but a shift. I knew he was just trying to be nice!

As far as respect, it's hard for me to respect a request that I didn't know about. Silly person!

[meppi]

Allright back on topic. Enough derailment for one day.

[E-Day]

Well, it was on topic for a while. Hopefully other people reply as well. Unless htey are too shy even for that!