Caliber of the threads being put in General

[hardboiledcop]

Is it just me, or have other people noticed the huge amount of vs. / gun poll threads appearing in the general section? surely these sort of threads belong in the newbie discussion forum?

 

Could we have something similar to ASCUK, a little sentence in the general section's description in red lettering, reading something like 'this forum is not for asking advice on products or where to source them'

 

It's just I find the General section is way too busy, people post entirely done to death threads and straw polls asking 'which is better, the tm mp5a4 or the tm mp5a2?'.

It just really gets on my nerves, and it clogs up and ushers away any threads that might actually be useful or interesting, or at least on topic.

 

thanks.

[Sledge]

I'm going to have to ask you stop being so horrible to newbies. They have just as much right to post as you do.

[/private humour]

 

[hardboiledcop]

 

Oh, I have total respect for the 'validity' of their posts

[Stealthbomber]

Could we have something similar to ASCUK, a little sentence in the general section's description in red lettering, reading something like 'this forum is not for asking advice on products or where to source them'

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As with ASCUK, I'd always wonder where is the place to ask about products or where to source them?

 

Why shouldn't people be able to ask about products or where to source them in GD?

Why should there be arbitrary limits on what is viable in any forums?

 

leave it to the mod's to decide what's useful and what's not.

I'd much rather see the odd "versus" thread posted rather than seeing interesting threads crushed simply because the original question was asking about sourcing an item.

[Marlowe]

It is a tough one to have to police. If I had my way I'd close every 'what am' thread on sight, but I think it's important to balance this with not being too repressive on the content of the forums - after all, the last thing we want is to oppress discussion of airsoft so much that people take their bat home and go elsewhere. We prefer to just do thatthat to the abusive and obnoxious individuals within the Airsoft community, whose attitudes quickly make them unwelcome anyway.

 

I am aware that because of this there is at present there's a sentiment with a minority that we have some ulterior desire to encourage rubbish to spawn and engender here, whilst ruthlessly oppressing anyone with any knowledge of the hobby...

 

...Apart from keeping me amused on these long winter nights, I have to say that ultimately everyone is welcome so long as they remember that golden rule of keeping it friendly. Unfortunately there has been a rising number of members who seem to have lost sight of this, and instead believe that if they know a thing or two about airsofting, that this more than justifies their abysmal social skills and atriocious attitude towards others, and it is these who have have unfortunately required a rude awakening recently.

 

At the end of the day, the best thing I can advise is, if you find a thread you find to be pointless, report it to the staff, and we'll sort it as soon as we can. It's also fine if you want to point out to posters that the thread is a duplicate, or their query can be resolved using the review database (the usual response for 'what am' threads), but please remember the golden Arnies rule: keep it friendly.

 

As an important aside, if anyone finds that members are being out of order, please report them, even if it's another member of staff. In the latter case, please ensure that they're not being like that just because you've been trying to bait and antagonise them with that intention, however, as I'm sure it doesn't take a genius to know how we'll react. At the end of the day, if anyone is being needlessly abusive / aggressive / obnoxious, etc, it's important that we work together to stamp it out. I personally came to Arnies mainly as I find it so friendly, and I'd like to keep it that way. I'm sure that this is the same for the vast majority of you all out there.

 

Cheers.

[Marlowe]

Just as a quick update, I've just quickly gone through and moved a few to newbie discussion. If you find any more please report them and I'll try to sort them / delete them as appropriate when I'm finished wrapping presents.

[Chris North]

Something that I've noticed about the Newbie Section though, is that less people tend to check that out, and topics get far fewer answers than they could of in the General Section. There may be 6 members in general, while there may be as little as 2 in the newbie section. There also may be some confusion as to what is a newbie question and what is a general or technical matter. Maybe we need sort of guide as to what goes where in the rulebook? Not exactly rock solid, but something to give some direction as to where to post what. Just a suggestion.

[Basho]

Well, speaking personally, I only do a "View new posts" and a search for "Basho" as my regular visits.

 

If I find posts I think are old or perhaps puerile then I simply ignore them and expect them to drop off quick enough.

 

Surely the idea is that forums should be self policing? ###### threads should fall off quite quickly as no one replies.

[T.P.Evan]

Well, speaking personally, I only do a "View new posts" and a search for "Basho" as my regular visits.

 

If I find posts I think are old or perhaps puerile then I simply ignore them and expect them to drop off quick enough.

 

Surely the idea is that forums should be self policing?  ###### threads should fall off quite quickly as no one replies.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The problem is, there aren't that many people that do what you do. The polls and other "what am the bestest ________" threads get more responses than they should be getting by people who post one or two word answers, thus fueling the flames to keep the thread going. Why people do this is beyond me...could be to get their post count up, could be to bash noobs, could be to act cool and get cheap rep points...IDK

[Chris North]

If I'm asking a legitimate question and it falls below the top page, I just bump it until some one answers. "W0t am bestest gnu" threads aren't usually legit questions, but they are questions and should be answered. Isn't that what a forum is for? If you don't care, don't post, and certainly don't flame the topic starter.

 

Usually (usually) that type of thread is created by new members that don't get that a decision like that is theirs to make, and that most other members that have been here longer than they have are tired of seeing questions that ask what's better.

 

I don't quite understand why people ask that sort of question. I have the urge to ask a what' better question every time that I can't quite decide what I want. Like right now, I don't know which WA I want. I've done research, compared pros and cons, looked at what I want to do with it after I get it, I'm carrying around pictures even. Still, no clue.

[T.P.Evan]

Usually (usually) that type of thread is created by new members that don't get that a decision like that is theirs to make, and that most other members that have been here longer than they have are tired of seeing questions that ask what's better. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Could it be that we need some sort of reminder before everyone posts to use the site search function or at least link them to Google? Ninety-nine percent of the "W0t am" questions can be answered using the review database or performing a search using the search function that takes ~5 seconds. I'm assuming that new members aren't smart enough to figure that it can take a few seconds of their time to find the answer they are looking by searching instead of posting where it may take hours until someone susceptible posts in their "W0t am" thread?

[FarEast]

I'm going to have to ask you stop being so horrible to newbies. They have just as much right to post as you do.

[/private humour]

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

[The Waco Kid]

I tend to have the same approach as Basho and skip stuff I don't find relevent or feel I don't have useful input. Of course my opinion of my own knowledge is highly inflated.

 

I kind of always assumed that a lot of users checked the view new posts option regularly.

 

Browningman I don't have much confidence that a flashing neon logo fifteen metres high would encourage some people to use the search tool so.......

[Chris North]

Searching doesn't really take 5 seconds either, more like 30 minutes. It's still the best thing anyone can do before starting a topic, but I must admit that searching is quite a pain. Google searching is a different matter, where it does often take less time to find more information in one place, it's not always the same information you can find by forum searching or making a thread. A few hours of doing nothing or doing something better is better than a half hour of answering their own question is better to some people.

 

Some thing that may work is to make searching a little bit more user friendly by improving the search. I'm not sure what kind work that this would require but it's just something that's in my opinion. For one thing, I would really rather have the results to be sorted by relevancy, rather than date. Like if I was searching for "Christmas light", I wouldn't have to sift through the topic I already saw on the main page regarding "Christmas", or if I was searching in April, I wouldn't have to look through 12 pages of "G2 Surefire light" or "IR light not working". It's just something that I've noticed on all forums where everyone tells you to search.

Edited December 25, 2006 by ChrisNorthInGer

[Marlowe]

I don't have much confidence that a flashing neon logo fifteen metres high would encourage some people to use the search tool so.......

 

Me neither. Ultimately in modern society instant gratification is what most people desire, and this unfortunately means the vast majority of people (especially, I have noticed, American teenagers) will rather post a question asking for someone else to help them instead of trying to expand their own understanding of a subject first.

[hardboiledcop]

Me neither. Ultimately in modern society instant gratification is what most people desire, and this unfortunately means the vast majority of people (especially, I have noticed, American teenagers) will rather post a question asking for someone else to help them instead of trying to expand their own understanding of a subject first.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well put.

 

It seems even though the question is answered, people still feel the need to repeat and repeat this until we're all blue in the face, most people it seems just reply to the first post, ignoring all those that have come between.

 

The only motivation I can see is newbs trying to get their post count up.

[Marlowe]

In some cases, most probably, although these quickly become obvious in most cases, and then I go around removing the pointless comments out of pure malice...

 

Seriously though, I am just as tired of seeing these thread cluttering up General Discussion as the next person. As a result I'm moving all which I encounter to Newbie Discussion (which seems the most relevant section), and will lock any which seem to duplicate an existing question.

 

If anyone notices any more of these threads, please report them so that we may crush them ruthlessly / do the most appropriate thing with them.

 

Thanks.