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After spending what seems to be way too much time on the rules and advice forums I feel that there is Flag option that is severely lacking: Flagging posts that are clearly (or not so clearly) just made to stir up arguments and rile people up.
There is a big difference in posting something that people can discuss and even debate the merits of, but posts soley to be annoying should have no place here.
An example of this is The continuation of the magic shop thread. While it may have been his intent to actually talk about magic shops if you read through the thread it is basically just an argument on whether or not the OP likes pathfinder or if he's spamming the boards with anti-magic threads.
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That's what 'breaks other guidelines' is for.
That's what 'breaks other guidelines' is for.
Well if thats the case then I am cool with that. Though stuff like that does not actually seem to be in, what little I could find, of forum guidelines.
What are the messageboard rules?
The most important rule: Don't be a jerk. We want our messageboards to be a fun and friendly place.
Users who participate in our message boards agree to not: post any content that infringes and/or violates any patent, trademark, copyright, or other proprietary right of any third party; use profanity or any type of vulgar speech; make any bigoted, hateful or racially offensive statements; defame, abuse, stalk, harass or threaten others; advocate illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them.
I like that the forum does not have a lot of rules, but seeing a handful of threads like that one makes certain boards seem really hostile.
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Please use the "Breaks other guidelines" flag if you do not see an appropriate flag.
I use Breaks Other Guidelines for this and jerkiness. And also too much snark.
The most important rule: Don't be a jerk. We want our messageboards to be a fun and friendly place.
NP. It's easier to remember when you keep in mind that this is the 'other guidline' that's being broken :)
Note to self.
I think you're underestimating the amount of snark I'm referring to.
I use Breaks Other Guidelines for this and jerkiness. And also too much snark.Only if the snark is of poor quality I hope. It always makes me sad when good snark is removed from a thread, even when it is directed at me.
Good smartass has a value!
I respect a man that can dish out some good quality snark.
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I think a new category "flamebaiting" should be included, I know some board avengers who could need a firm reminder that while someone can be critical of some Paizo products, that does not mean that s/he is an outlaw to be verbally abused at will.
I think it would also be interesting to have a minus sign to go witht he plus sign. Then a post could get "favorites" and "dislikes". Right now you can only praise the post or ignore it.
PostMonster General
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FYI, favoriting a post doesn't equate praising it.
I am still toying with the idea of the "educational / interesting / funny / agree / disagree / love" buttons but that's far enough down on the todo list that it looks like ants from here.
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Fegarding a "dislike" function: I can't help but hope that feature doesn't come to pass.
Believe me, there have certainly been posts that have made me wish there was a dislike feature, but that's part of the reason I hope it never happens. I can't help but worry that it would ultimately poison the tone of the boards.
Take the worries about "clique-ishnessness" and the favoriting feature and multiply that by the Internet's nasty habit of accentuating the negative, and it's easy to imagine certain posters or topics becoming magnets for dislike-bombing, which then leads to a more toxic atmosphere hanging over the forums. It just seems like it could too easily turn into another venue for dogpiling, except one where the pilers don't have to put the effort of putting that dislike into words that they'll then own.
Then again, the source of those worries are boards iwth similar features and much nastier communities. But I wouldn't be eager to see the Paizo community emulating those anyway...
(I think we could be trusted with image uploading before a dislike feature, and I don't think we can be trusted with image uploading all that much, on account of all the genitals)
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FYI, favoriting a post doesn't equate praising it.
I am still toying with the idea of the "educational / interesting / funny / agree / disagree / love" buttons but that's far enough down on the todo list that it looks like ants from here.
The word 'favorite' does imply that, perhaps. Changing the term to something more neutral like 'mark' or 'tag' might be one way of eliminating the notion that a 'favorited' post is necessarily one that is praiseworthy or beloved or something, and the, IMO, somewhat 'high school' notion that having a bunch of favorites is 'cool' or makes one's opinions more valuable or something.
I think a new category "flamebaiting" should be included, I know some board avengers who could need a firm reminder that while someone can be critical of some Paizo products, that does not mean that s/he is an outlaw to be verbally abused at will.
Ditto with what magnuskin said, if I'm understanding it correctly...
There are a few jackals who wait with sharpened knives for a Paizo employee to disagree with someone so that they can dash in and get some licks in under the pretense of agreeing with the Paizo employee. I may not agree with everything ravingdork says, for instance, or the occasionally confrontational and counter-productive way he chooses to phrase his opinions, but it seemed like Paizo-sanctioned open season on the dude for awhile there.
I think the last thing anyone wants is for Frank Trollman to have been right about this place. :)
Fegarding a "dislike" function: I can't help but hope that feature doesn't come to pass.Believe me, there have certainly been posts that have made me wish there was a dislike feature, but that's part of the reason I hope it never happens. I can't help but worry that it would ultimately poison the tone of the boards.
Take the worries about "clique-ishnessness" and the favoriting feature and multiply that by the Internet's nasty habit of accentuating the negative, and it's easy to imagine certain posters or topics becoming magnets for dislike-bombing, which then leads to a more toxic atmosphere hanging over the forums. It just seems like it could too easily turn into another venue for dogpiling, except one where the pilers don't have to put the effort of putting that dislike into words that they'll then own.
Then again, the source of those worries are boards iwth similar features and much nastier communities. But I wouldn't be eager to see the Paizo community emulating those anyway...
(I think we could be trusted with image uploading before a dislike feature, and I don't think we can be trusted with image uploading all that much, on account of all the genitals)
I agree. Part of the function of messageboards is to have people give their information / opinion / ideas. Whether you agree / disagree or like / dislike is not a measure of whether or not a post should be allowed. A "dislike" button is only going to stifle the, relatively, free expression on these boards. I think we have all read those hyper annoying posts / posters but I'd rather see them free to post than others feel not free to post. Besides we can flag the really annoying trolls and that is all that is needed in that regard...
I admire and support the relaxedness and professionality of Paizo staff handling irritating (to some!) situations coming up on these forums.
I do not support over-regulation stifling the exchange of ideas and opinions.
There is certainly more than one way becoming a jerk.
Ruyan.
Yeah, I also think a "dislike" button would be counterproductive, for the same reasons as Mikaze.
FYI, favoriting a post doesn't equate praising it.
I would be curious how many folks understand and use the "favorite" button that way. I know I did not see nor understand it to only be a bookmark.
As for the dislike suggestion: I will bow to those who have been hear much longer and have a better read of the maturity or "lack there of" that can be found among the membership.
FYI, favoriting a post doesn't equate praising it.
I am still toying with the idea of the "educational / interesting / funny / agree / disagree / love" buttons but that's far enough down on the todo list that it looks like ants from here.
I would love to see agree/disagree buttons personally, but I understand if it ain't gonna happen or not for a very long time.
"Favorite" does imply approval do a degree. And given we can also "list" a post we want to bookmark (although I also use favorites for quick bookmarking sometimes) it's not clear that's the purpose.
I also feel like having a "flamebaiting" and/or "derailing" option on the flags would be useful, just because sometimes I worry if I flag a post that an admin hasn't had time to grok the context of, they might not get why the post is being flagged, but I might need to have more faith in the admins. ;)
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Yeah, my faith in mods scanning the posts for the proper context is near to zero. I've had it happen way, and I mean way too often that someone was clearly flamebaiting, I fell for it, and then my post was deleted, while the flamebaiter ones stayed put.
Now, that obviously tells us all that I should build up better mental walls against flamebait, but I think that the admins miss a lot, because a certain number of the people here have caught on what tone is apparently acceptable to insult someone in an underhanded way and the mods read right over it.
And, hey, I understand that watching a giant messageboard on a daily basis doesn't leave much time for going into the details of why a thread escalated, but if the result is that the flamebaiters can game the system at their leisure, then something is wrong. A more refined flagging system would make it easier to understand why posts gets flagged and would curb the people skating under the system.
I have zero interest in implementing "dislike" or similar options.
Well that answers that. LOL