TazG
Veteran
Aug 31, 2006, 10:54 PM
Post #1 of 126
(3249 views)
Shortcut
|
Read carefully to avoid getting banned.
|
|
|
This guide was posted in response to extremely poor quality of posts over a period of many months. Take these words to heart. This is meant to improve the overall entertainment value of the General Forum which has been lacking. As you can see from this month's log, over 70 threads have been deleted and 9 people were banned. Obviously some of you aren't doing a very good job of keeping these things in mind while you post. This isn't a joke--if you can't follow these simple steps to make this place more enjoyable for everyone, you WILL be banned. The length will depend on how likely you are to continue being non-contributive by posting in these ways. Your rank and how long you have been here doesn't matter. We won't be playing favorites. There will be no warnings given. THIS is your warning.
Listen, people. Whenever you post a thread, it fills a spot. There are only 25 spots for threads on a page (unless people change their display options, which they don't). So think. Does your thread have something to offer that the others on the page don't? Do those threads deserve to be pushed down the page so yours can be at the top?
The forum may be dropping in activity, as in number of posts, but that's not because you don't make enough threads. In fact, it seems to me that lately there are more threads per day than ever, but less posts in total. This is a bad thing. This means that in spite of the many threads, people don't have much to say about them. Because they're dull threads. So I'm saying that making less threads would be a good thing.
You don't have to post a thread every time you log in. Spur of the moment threads suffocate the ones that someone put some thought into... there are too many. Like I said, whenever a new thread is made, it gives 24 other threads less priority.
If you allow a good thread to have a higher priority, and stay that way, it will get more replies. Good replies. Good posts. A new bad thread with 5 replies is worse than an existing good thread with 10 new replies, but making that new thread gives it attention. The more (new) bad threads there are infesting the page, the less chance there is of that old thread getting new replies. So, a lesser amount of threads could actually mean more posts, and good posts. It's like survival of the fittest, but only if you ALLOW the "fittest" threads to survive, by NOT taking attention away from them and onto new, less interesting threads. If you do see a thread that you think should survive, keep it alive. If it's drowning in bad threads, if it's more than halfway down the page, reply to it. Think of something to say and say it, but actually think about it before you post it. Don't say something that sucks. If you can't think of anything to say that doesn't suck, it would probably be best to wait for someone else to reply. In fact it would be preferable to let a good thread die than to turn it into a crappy one. Like show some respect.
Speaking of crappy replies: when you post a reply, do you really care about the thread? If there's a dumb, boring thread over halfway down the page, don't reply to it. Don't even ask why it was posted. Leave it alone, because all you're really doing is putting it at the top of the page, drawing attention to it, and that is exactly what you don't want. And don't freaking reply to advertisements. Let them die. They'll be deleted, so why bother breathing life into them as long as they still live? People don't want to come into this forum and see a stupid advertisement as one of the top 5 threads with a "hot" icon beside it. And nobody wants to see any thread featuring a bunch of people talking about why it should or shouldn't have been posted. That's just LAME.
Another thing - if you think a thread should be locked, don't start conflict about it. Don't have some people posting in a thread talking about it being locked. If you want it locked and it's not locked, stay out. Sure, say it once, and say why, as long as you aren't bumping it just to say that. You know, you can PM a mod to lock a thread. It's more likely the mod will see it that way, and it avoids bumping a thread that, according to you, should not be posted in in the first place. If nobody posts in it, it's the same as if it were locked, right?
Don't post threads about what you and your friends did last night. Don't post things on the Internet that are "cool" or "funny" to you and "you'd have to be there" to really appreciate it. The Internet doesn't really care. For some of you it's like you sit around chatting with your buddies and whenever a new topic comes up you say "lol thats great i bet teh internets would love to talk about that." Well this isn't a chatroom. Yes, it's informal, yes, it's online friends having fun, but it's still a forum, not a chatroom - and posting topics that belong in chatrooms just bores everyone. People have little more to say in response to such things than "lol", "cool", and nothing with any interest factor or entertainment value. I hope you understand what I'm saying. The only way to get the Internet interested in things like that is if it's something like Xavier's Starbucks Adventure.
Seriously.
Don't post threads about avatars or signatures. If we want to comment on those things, we'd just do it. There doesn't need to be a thread about it.
Don't post something in the General Forum if there is already another forum meant for it, and say "posting this here to get more replies." We don't want to reply to that; we're looking for some good threads. And you're once again taking away their priority. The General Forum is supposed to be for talking about stuff, not seeing somebody asking for computer help. What you guys don't realize is that by posting it here for "more replies" will mean it's ignored by most people because it's usually not interesting, and it's quickly washed away and forgotten by the flood of new threads that happens here daily. So you would actually have a higher chance of your thread being viewed and replied to by just waiting for someone to see it in the proper but inactive forum. Go figure!
Don't make threads featuring MSN conversations. These are really annoying to read, and those of us who actually take the time to read through them may chuckle a bit, or whatever the intended response to it may be, but for the most part nobody will have anything of much interest to add.
Don't make a thread that has been made a hundred times already. Bump the old thread. Bring more life to a thread that already has life, instead of trying to make a new one from scratch. Or if there is nothing more to gain, don't bump it, and don't make a new one. Most people would have seen the old one, making the new one boring. Dull. Commonplace. Stale. Monotonous. Tiresome. BORING.
Don't make a thread that is based on another thread, especially if you're doing it because you're a whiny bitch, which happens a lot. For example, if you get in an argument with someone, don't make a new thread against that person. If someone makes you mad, don't make a thread saying "okay you win, I'm leaving this forum." Good grief, nobody gives a crap. In fact, most of the time nobody cares that you are supposedly "leaving" no matter what the reason is. Probably it has a lot to do with the fact that we all know that it's highly likely that you'll be back on here posting again anyways. But it's also because the majority of us either barely noticed you, or won't miss you. If you have certain friends on this forum who'd care, tell them you don't want to post anymore. It's usually not necessary to inform the whole community.
On a related note:
If you did something stupid and want to make up for it, don't make a thread about it. If you have a problem with a certain member, don't make a thread about it. If you experience a revelation that makes you think you have reached the next stage of evolution in forum life, don't make a freaking thread about it.
Oh, and don't post an announcement when you come "back", unless you're pretty sure that a good amount of us care, or at least know who the crap you are.
I think I'm about done with this. I'll probably be adding more stuff to it when I notice things, but I hope what I've written so far is enough to help at least some of you make this forum less boring/annoying.
I have one closing thought, though. A revelation that may shock many of you.
Are you ready?
Here it is:
Cheese is not funny.
Pie is not funny.
Penis is not funny.
Buttsecks is not funny.
Leeroy Jenkins is not funny.
"ur momma" is not funny.
The moronic reply to those six sentences that 80% of you are forming in your heads right now, is not funny. Don't post it. It's already been done. It's OLD.
I think Mr. Kasaki Nakasakau put it best when he said, "HI MY NAME IS GENERIC FGF USER LOL LLAMA GOAT CHEESE PUBES I AM RANDOM LOL INTERNET SERIOUS BUSINESS BUTTSECKS INTERNET LOL RUNESCAPE FAGOT SEMIN SMALL PENIS LOL".
Ahh, *gets teary-eyed* Kasaki, a man of such hidden insight. Bless you.
Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg Gg
(This post was edited by TazG on Nov 25, 2006, 12:29 AM)
|
FORUM
SEARCH
WHO'S 
LOG 
RULES / FAQ
1
