PlaneShift
Support => Forum and Website Discussions => Topic started by: bilbous on November 22, 2007, 08:18:08 pm
-
There is perfectly good messaging functionality with the forum. I do not see why people feel it is necessary to create a thread to offer best wishes, tearful goodbyes or overjoyed welcome backs. It seems a little narcissistic in that "everyone must see that I expressed these sentiments and know I am special." I am sure it is not really that way but that is how it looks and then other people feel they too must get on the bandwagon to show they, too, are in the clique.
Anyway if you have a problem with the policy to close such threads relatively quickly this would be the place to discuss it without reference to any particular thread but in general only.
I do not have a problem with the policy and it would not bother me overmuch if the policy was to lock or delete them immediately. I am not advocating that the policy change, either, though.
It would seem that an announcement would be sufficient so people know to send their PMs. In the case of Birthdays such an announcement is already on the main page and does not need its own thread, genreally speaking.
-
Too true. I agree completely, but in a much nastier and self-righteous tone.
-
Did I miss wishing you happy birthday? [heheheh]
-
Did I miss wishing you happy birthday? [heheheh]
Niiiice. Wish I'd come up with that...that's pretty much my thoughts on this thread. :P
-
Actually, I wasn't around last time I had a birthday. I don't really care for a heap of people saying 'happy birthday' over and over again and I don't see the need for it. Its the same as those three word story things.
-
Actually my birthday is not listed. I have other ways to feed my narcissistic tendencies such as posting a lot. Hopefully most of what I post is productive but I am positive that not 100% is.
I thought this thread might allow those of you in favor of such threads to show how much support there is for them and possibly get the rules relaxed somewhat. If people do not wish to do so then I hope I can expect to not hear any more complaints when the policy is followed as is. The moderator(s) does not need the grief. :)
-
Some like it. Some don't like it.
What is a community that gets forcefully reduced to on-topic threads. I wouldn't feel welcome in that case. The feeling of "being important enough to receive a personal thread", which makes you proud, can be a strong glue.
If you are afraid that those threads could litter the board ... I know board software (maybe "hacks") where threads in a specific forum are automatically deleted after a specific time. If not automatically, well - even manually would not be an issue. I'd vote for about one week of deadline. How about a subforum like "Public personal messages" in the offtopic group.
-
Is public personal not an oxymoron?
-
In contrast to "private" as "non-public", but still "personal" as "directed to one person".
-
Some like it. Some don't like it.
What is a community that gets forcefully reduced to on-topic threads. I wouldn't feel welcome in that case. The feeling of "being important enough to receive a personal thread", which makes you proud, can be a strong glue.
If you are afraid that those threads could litter the board ... I know board software (maybe "hacks") where threads in a specific forum are automatically deleted after a specific time. If not automatically, well - even manually would not be an issue. I'd vote for about one week of deadline. How about a subforum like "Public personal messages" in the offtopic group.
that would be neat...deleting birthday threads after a week of them being posted. this insures the well-wishes being done quickly, and not 6 months after teh date (which personally i find annoying..DUDE his birthday was 6 months ago! wait another 6 before you well-wish him!)
From what I can tell, this is an issue of introverts vs extroverts. Introverts would rather NOT have everyone congradulating them on growing older. Extroverts thrive off it, as they do with any social interaction. It's like why is there birthday cards for some people passed around at work/school, but not for other people? well because like LigH said, some like it and some don't. It's a community ppl...we all have to give some to get some.
-
I don't really see a reason to close them, to be honest. Besides to feed the little grinch in you.
Somebody is trying to do something nice for their friend's birthday is all. It's in the right section...
All the same, I don't decide the policy here for a reason (most of you would be banned :P )
-
Well we could just make a sticky thread "Happy Birthday To Those Born On This Date!" That way everyone would be able to look and see who wished them well on their birthday. Being pretty generic you might need to have a bot posting happy birthday every day so everyone would get at least one bday wish.
-
To be frank, I'd be more happy with a single email or PM, than an entire thread of happy birthday wishes. I mean, the latter is so impersonal. Are you wishing the happy birthday to someone in particular, or the entire community?
-
Come on... does it really bother you to see "Happy Birthday name" as a thread?
Are you that grinchy?
Maybe in a few years, if the community gets too big... but then just have birthday wish forum :P
-
In the video discussion board where I am super moderator, we even try to "recycle" birthday threads; we continue them in the following year if possible. ;)
-
Wow, I can't believe that people actually have an issue with others in the community banning together to wish another player happy birthday or otherwise! What a cold community it would be to pop onto the forums and see no love! People like to see their names in threads, and friends wishing them the best. What the hell is so wrong with that?
To all of those who psoted in my birthday thread last year I thank you, it made me feel special and made this place feel like home even more than it did before. If someone tried to take that from me I would be pretty upset. :/
Gag does have good idea. Recycling threads. Now there's a solution and everyone could be happy.
-
I honestly have no problem with individual birthday threads but, I still wouldn't mind seeing an "Officially Unofficial" birthday thread where someone can post a quick "Happy Birthday!" Virtually all the people that get their own happy birthday threads are pretty well known and established players in the PS community and I would hate to see someone make a nice birthday wishes post for someone not as well known and get zero replies... I mean,even worse than not getting your own happy birthday thread would be getting one... and having no one even care. :'(
As unfair as it may sound, I can imagine some people getting annoyed if people who don't have 1000+ forum posts and/or a few years playing PS started to make or get Happy Birthday posts that started to fill up the Hydlaa Plaza board... Basically if it's Karyuu, Zorbels, Talad etc. getting the nice birthday threads, no one is going to really complain but, if every other day a person with a grand total of 3 forum posts and two months in-game wants to wish their new guild-mate a happy birthday, I can imagine some people crying bloody murder and "spam." I think a thread where anyone can post a nice birthday wish would be a welcome addition (though not at the exclusion of individual threads) particularly so as not to exclude anyone needlessly. ...Either that or go with Waylander's idea of a Happy Birthday forum. :P
-
Pride is before a crash... Really I don't get it, Bilbous, I don't see why someone would post to inflate their pride. That just sounds, silly. I mean think about it, what does pride do? Well in my experience pride is a bad thing. I mean, I don't look upon people with huge post counts as being superior, or better then everyone else. They're no different then anyone else really. once you get ten posts you're just like everyone else. These +1 complaints neko runs around blurting about is just silly. If anything I say: Go for it.
Anything to encourage people to be active on the forums.
Spam is trying to irritate people, double posting, using huge font, and shout-typing vulgar words can be considered spam. But wishing someone happy birthday. Well get over it, if anything it helps bind us together as a community. Yeah its fine if you want to lock the threads and all.
But like lets say, proglin leaving IE:, that was a huge event I must say, it deserved its own thread. Because that way people in the future can run a search and find it. Threads are like artifacts, down the road one can dig them up, and see what was going on then.
But in all seriousness whats the deal: Oh noes! His post count increased by 1! How?.... Well he was wishing a friend of his happy birthday.... Oh..... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Really now, I think we can agree thats a little over the top now isn't it? Just relax, Ending those kinds of threads wont stop people from gaining SPE. The Mini Lords will not be defeated from a slight loss of resources.
For real...
-
It is not pride exactly so much as it is validation. "Here, I have left my mark," "Kilroy was here"
or whatever. I get a bit of a kick when I get home from work and post replies to several items when no-one else is around and then see that all 5 recent posts are from me. I do not go out of my way to make it happen. I like it when I get home and there are several replies to threads I have posted in, particularly when they reference my ideas. As I said it is not so much that I am proud of these things as I feel a certain satisfaction that I have communicated something with someone.
I feel the threads referred to in the topic title really serve little purpose that a personal message does not than to publicly identify your clique. Some people may belong to more than one clique and that becomes apparent too. The policy is in place and ought to be well known by now, any further complaint threads complaining about locks only serve to irritate the moderators and others and to say to your clique "hey I'm in too but I am too late, do not forget about me".
Sadly, I still see no real support for making the policy more lenient, just a few people saying we like these threads.
-
Hey, some people finally share one of my views. :P
You must be pretty lonely to be complaining about people getting wished a happy birthday...that's all I'm gonna say. =/
-
Well you see I'm not complaining about people getting wished happy birthday. This seems to be a common misconception. I must not be speaking clearly. I am complaining about people complaining about such threads being terminated according to forum policy and not caring enough to take the appropriate actions to try to get the policy changed. That is, if I am complaining at all. I thought I started this thread to give those people the opportunity to agitate for a more relaxed policy and all I am hearing is "You're a mean one, Mr Grinch!" directed at me. So be it.
All I can say is the next time I see a thread "Why'd you lock X's Greeting Thread" I am going to post about 500 lines of AH HAA Haa haahaagaagfaagaagaa. hehheehehheheeeheeheehe. Hoohoohoohhhohhohohooh! (well not really, but I'll be thinking it)
Silly wabbits.
-
Usually I look through a thread to see if what I have said has been said before and choose weather or not to post based on that. I don't really care if people have birthday threads or not. I'll just continue to not participate.
-
Well you see I'm not complaining about people getting wished happy birthday. This seems to be a common misconception. I must not be speaking clearly. I am complaining about people complaining about such threads being terminated according to forum policy and not caring enough to take the appropriate actions to try to get the policy changed.
::| Well ... no you weren't that clear in the first post. That was the post I was responding to.
Now that you have made your point clear, I completely agree. :sorcerer: Complaining about closed threads out in the public eye and not taking the appropriate action is getting rather tiresome. My solution, no one should even post in those threads other than to post a link to forum rules or send a PM explaining to them why their thread was closed (Which I think the mods are supposed to do). If others don't post in the thread, people will start to see making a thread like that is pointless. It is only going to have you look like a fool if you make a thread complaining about a locked thread.
-
There is perfectly good messaging functionality with the forum. I do not see why people feel it is necessary to create a thread to offer best wishes, tearful goodbyes or overjoyed welcome backs. It seems a little narcissistic in that "everyone must see that I expressed these sentiments and know I am special." I am sure it is not really that way but that is how it looks and then other people feel they too must get on the bandwagon to show they, too, are in the clique.
That paragraph right there is what throws everyone off.
-
:) /me nods "That's the paragraph that my first post was responding too. That's why I was completely surprized when Bilbous said we weren't getting his message clearly."
-
Anyway if you have a problem with the policy to close such threads relatively quickly this would be the place to discuss it without reference to any particular thread but in general only.
I do not have a problem with the policy and it would not bother me overmuch if the policy was to lock or delete them immediately. I am not advocating that the policy change, either, though.
The next two paragraphs seem pretty clear to me, but perhaps my prefatory comments were so incendiary as to obscure the meat of the post. Pardon my penchant for verbosity! :P I suppose I could have linked the posts that prompted this thread so as to leave clues for the budding :detective: Hehheheh.
Further bread crumbs appeared thus: I thought this thread might allow those of you in favor of such threads to show how much support there is for them and possibly get the rules relaxed somewhat. If people do not wish to do so then I hope I can expect to not hear any more complaints when the policy is followed as is. The moderator(s) does not need the grief. Smiley
from my first follow-up post. It was the sixth post of the thread.
If we are all in agreement now that this thread is to lobby for more relaxed rules, I'll leave it at that as I do not really support that position though I am not unduly against it either.
-
I quite like separate birthday threads.
-
Why doesn't someone make one of those... things... a sticky. Yeah, why doesn't someone make a birthday sticky, and people can post in it to congratulate someone on their birthday. It would stop the clutterinezz.
Edit:
Oh, nevermind. :whistling:
-
I like (separate) birthday wishes too, no matter how many or few post inside. It does give one a sense of "not being forgotten". Sending a PM is too personal however and I might miss that person's birthday altogether because I tend to forget some things very easily. I'm terrible with birthdays even with my best friends...
Anyway, what I'd like to say is that I received one from an old friend when I was just about "lurking" deep in the shadows of the forum and it made me quite happy. So I crawled from my usual forum guest status and gave people a big hug. I think it's nice and good the way it is right now.
-
What if we just started a whole new thread...Birthdays..then we could just have topics in there that consisted of "happy birthday *****" and then we could all wish so and so a happy birthday and I don't see why if we had such a thread the need to lock them after 24 or 48 hours whatever the rules was...anyways just an idea.
-
I like the separate birthday greetings, i figured i wouldnt get one but i woke up on my birthday and it was the best surprise ever :)
I thinks a separate birthday thread area would be nice though too ;)
-
A forum with 26596 users is NOT the place for a birthday thread for a single person. I am also in other forums. The one of my alliance (8 members, another RPG) is quite small and very personal (we know each other and meet each other outside the forum). We have a single birthday thread in there which gets new posts when there is one. Nobody has problems with feeling unimportant because we don't open a new thread.
I am well aware that a lot of persons in this forum are also friends (It doesn't really matter if you see each other in RL) and want to send gratulations, BUT if you are friends, then you might also have different means of communication (messenger, phone, a dove, ..., IGM) to send some greetings. The only reason to make a public thread is to remind others of the event, but since there already IS an automatic reminder and this is NOT a small community forum this is not really helpful.
Everything in its right place.
Birthday greeting threads are as appropriate in this forum as me selling a bike. Yes, I don't like a lot of other threads in "Hydlaa Plaza" as well, but this kind gets so redundant.. There are also appropriate threads, too. I think there are some good threads to get to know other players.
-
Well keep in mind that of the 26596 users, most are either long gone or are lurkers that have not made their presence known. So no, not all of those people are going to get their own thread. But given the size of the active community, I think a separate thread for each birthday is feasible. We've been at what, about 3 or 4 a week? Then they get locked and harmlessly float to oblivion.
-
added a poll to this thread. users have 30 days starting at the time of this posting to make their selection. after 30 days, the option most liked by the community will go forward as the standard guideline for happy bday threads.
until the poll is over the current thread: http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=31646.msg363979#msg363979 will remain in place to house any bday wishes any one mat have for anyone for now.
sooooo, get posting.
a point brought up in that thread made by Ligh that people should consider when making their choice:
I am happy that I am allowed to post here, as I missed the other one while it was open. ;)
users may change their vote at any time during the days the poll will be open.
edit: and not to disappoint, I added a joke option for those that want to throw their vote away. :)
-
You forced me to write that, neko! >:(
:surrender: :innocent:
-
PMs...
-
Humbug, I tells ya! Think I'll change my bday every month the day after it passes...or maybe every week.I can have 52 bdays a year or more!
-
if option 3 wins, that disallows you from doing that. :)
-
if option 3 wins, that disallows you from doing that. :)
What do you mean if?
-
Not really, it just limits me to one thread a year. I can still have as many bdays as I want. I'm not too likely to have that one thread, though. :P
-
I voted for the last one, because god knows I'm as cool as Neko so I'll quickly get my own birthday thread aswell :P
-
Just wondering .... does having our own birthday thread per year take up a noticeable amount of space or something? Is this why we are trying to make just one thread? Or is making one birthday thread to post in for everyone just to keep the forums neat? If that is the case I see no reason why last year birthday threads can't be deleted, so that the only birthday threads that are available are the current year. I personally would like to see everyone get their own birthday thread.
-
Many users have expressed their unhappiness that the first page of most recent replied to threads in the Plaza section of the forum are becoming flooded by all the Happy BDay threads, cluttering up all the other topics.
Deleting the old threads won't be done, as the bare minimum threads are removed as it liked to keep as much as possible for archiving/histories sake.
My personal view, would be that there simply be one sticked thread. Saves on the clutter, and people can post in it any time they wish.
But I'm trying to make as many people happy, so I made the poll with the three most common views on this subject and will go with the one most liked by the forum users. :)
-
neko,
I for one appreciate all your hard work and the extra mile you go to please forums readers of Planeshift.
I know that is not what this thread is for but saying thank you never hurts.
-
Can’t nobody say that Neko never did nothing for the peoples.
Your fairness in this issue and your respect for the opinions of others is deeply appreciated.
-
Many users have expressed their unhappiness that the first page of most recent replied to threads in the Plaza section of the forum are becoming flooded by all the Happy BDay threads, cluttering up all the other topics.
/me laughs
All I have to say to that is "Do you want me to call them a waaaaambulance?" Gesh the things people get upset about!
Anyway, great job Neko with the forums and being sensitive to peoples needs. :) Thanks for answering my questions, much appreciated!.
-
i voted for option 4 ;)
-
i voted for option 4 ;)
/me grins and yells "SUCK UP!" :P
/me runs before tanner can throw something at her head
-
i find it interesting how option four is nearly in second place. and I wonder if people realize, that by voting for the joke option, they are essentially saying to me, I'm cool with whatever neko decides to do about this issue." basically telling me, "take my vote, and apply it to the category you want to win".
:whistling:
-
I switched my vote to option 4... because neko IS awesome.
ahem and haha, tanner's dragons died....
-
I'd rather it be never (who needs people you've never met telling you happy birthday where other people who've never heard of you can read it, seriously?), but I'll apply my vote to something actually conceivable (#2)
Can’t nobody say that Neko never did nothing for the peoples.
Your fairness in this issue and your respect for the opinions of others is deeply appreciated.
Hold that thought until after he does something....
-
I'd rather it be never (who needs people you've never met telling you happy birthday where other people who've never heard of you can read it, seriously?), but I'll apply my vote to something actually conceivable (#2)
Can’t nobody say that Neko never did nothing for the peoples.
Your fairness in this issue and your respect for the opinions of others is deeply appreciated.
Hold that thought until after he does something....
like ban you... noob
ahem, on a more serious note, some of the people 'round here like the threads, but i've always felt that instead of making a public spectacle it would be nice just to keep it in pms...
Then again, an excuse to increase the forum posts... Oh god how could I pass that one up?
Heh... I don't see a big deal, I liked the idea neko also had about the single thread for all the B-day stuff... Its a legit complaint, I see good points in all of them, hence why I guess neko can take a stab at it... option #4.
-
*Tanner crys of the loss of her dragons* :'(
earl you meeny i voted for option 4 ;)
/me grins and yells "SUCK UP!" :P
/me runs before tanner can throw something at her head
*4 days later tanner throws his dead dragons grave stones at zorbels and wonders why it missed...*
dam you was too quick....this time...
*Tanner realises what his just lobed at Zorbels*
ahh!!
-
People enjoy making the birthday threads for others, that's why if I voted for anything it would be one per year, 48 hour close. But I genuinely don't like them (Keep in mind I really, really hate birthdays at all.).
I can understand that with a community where best "friends" (I wasn't sure whether to put the quotations around best or around friends :P ) live hundreds of miles apart if not more, having the option to post a thread on their birthday's is really nice. It's basically like passing a card around at work.
On the other hand, birthdays are fail :P
-
I voted for option three... it's a nice gesture and everything but if they never got closed, and every registered user had their own thread... :sweatdrop:
-
the poll is now closed. thanks for everyone that voted and voiced their opinion.
i'll now think over the results and get back to you.
-
okay, after crunching the data, and getting some time to make a proper reply, here's what we're going to do:
short answer is, we're going to continue to go with the one stickied thread for all happy bday wishings.
now you may notice from the poll above that that isn't the option that had the most votes. sooooo here's why I'm going with option 2 over option 3.
First off, the lack of forum user participation put me off. I know very well for a fact that there are more than 94 people who use the forums. And I know that more than 94 people care to voice there opinion on polls when they are given the opportunity to, as some of the polls Xillix has started, more than 200 users have voted on the subject at hand. So this tells me that the majority of forum users just don't care. This leads me to believe that the majority of forum users would rather just trust my judgment on this issue, and feel they are comfortable with whatever option I choose.
For the people that did vote, the same amount of people that voted for the joke "throw my vote away and do whatever you want with it" option, also voted for the first option, being to have no bday threads at all.
When I made the 4 categories for the poll, I broke it down as such: option one was for the people who dislike bday threads in general and don't think they should be on the forum. These people get most upset if option 3 wins, becuase they'll see happy bday threads all over the place. Option 3 was for people the exact opposite of option 1. They like lots of bday threads and get most upset at the thought of having no way to say happy bday publicly. Option 2 was for the inbetweeners, they think that just one thread for all bday wishes would be the best, as it's more than option 1, so they are able to say happy bday to someone if they want, but it isn't as bad as having an entire forum section filled with happy bday threads. Option 4 was for people who wanted to vote, but didn't care what happened, which shows me they are content with any option I choose.
So going by just the votes cast, and trying to maximize the amount of content forum users, I should add the votes from option 4 to option 2. And by doing so, option 2 has the most people happy with that decision, and while the people who voted for option one won't like it that there won't be any bday threads made, they won't be as upset as if option 3 were selected. And similar thinking can be said to the people who voted for option 3.
So, to maximize forum users happiness in regards to the bday issue, we're going with option 2, as option 2 came out ahead in either way that you look at it. feel free to take this issue up with the new global moderator when ever I step down, when ever that may be, but while I'm "in charge", seems we're going with option 2. :)