View Poll Results: What do you want for this forum?

Voters
23. You may not vote on this poll
  • Small, private community with only the people we've known for years

    2 8.70%
  • A diverse, growing community, with new people welcome

    19 82.61%
  • I don't care / LittleFuzzy

    2 8.70%
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 30 of 35

Thread: Where Do You Want To Go?

  1. #1

    Default Where Do You Want To Go?

    Quick poll to see what people want from this place, because I keep getting mixed messages from the community on this subject.

    Please think carefully before answering. Make sure the answer you choose is what you really want. The poll is anonymous.

    Would you prefer we stay a small community, for all practical purposes invite-only, or grow more rapidly? Know that growth most likely means more people you disagree with, no matter what viewpoint you actually take.

    If the growth choice wins, this will also likely mean stronger mod protection for new members than people here are generally used to - if we keep scaring away genuinely new people with our hostility, we'll never see real growth except for kinds we probably don't want. I'll probably ask for some cooperation from you guys on certain initiatives, and you're certainly free to come up with more & better ideas on how to accomplish these goals.

  2. #2
    if we keep scaring away genuinely new people with our hostility
    When has this actually happened here? (Genuine question: I've not been terribly active recently.)
    When the sky above us fell
    We descended into hell
    Into kingdom come

  3. #3
    Sheadunne (sp?) and some guy whose name escaped me from last year are the direct cases I remember. Draco when he first showed up here too wasn't exactly welcomed, but I'm not sure if he counts as new since he did infrequently visit the other place, and he stuck around through the hazing anyways.

  4. #4
    Hurm, well, ok. I suspect the main thing about attracting new posters is just plain old driving traffic to the site, rather than being nice to the very occasional new member who stumbles over our humble abode, though I concede it probably doesn't help.
    When the sky above us fell
    We descended into hell
    Into kingdom come

  5. #5
    It's a two part thing; grabbing their attention, then retaining it. Driving traffic here's the easy part.

  6. #6
    Maybe push them towards general chat and have very strict niceness rules there, de-emphasis D&D from the perspective of new visitors but let people speak more freely there as a compromise between being welcoming to new people but maintaining the quality level of discussion?
    When the sky above us fell
    We descended into hell
    Into kingdom come

  7. #7
    The problem I see with that is that we really have nothing to offer with GC. That's basically every forum on the internet. While it's important for community building, it's not something most people are going to seek out or join for. D&D is our better offering here. There's a lot of political forums around, but a forum with an international community and no set viewpoint or issue is a lot harder to find. Relative to the rest of the internet, we're a moderate forum. Extremists on both sides have plenty of places to go to, but moderates not so much. If people join, I think it's going to be for D&D.

    We don't need to be ultra-huggy & nice to new folks there, it's enough to just remain civil while deconstructing their viewpoints, and not jump straight to calling them morons and idiots or telling them to "fuck off". Most of the membership here treats most of the rest of the membership that way anyways.

  8. #8
    Perhaps something should happen to users who keep on telling others to "fuck off"? There is a total unwillingness by some users to seriously respond to opposing views. And some live in a world of their own, being totally unwilling (or quite possibly, unable) to engage in a conversation. With these kinds of attitudes, I really don't see how we can prevent any new member from going off to find some place better.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  9. #9
    On the other hand, some other users just plain need to be told to fuck off now and again. I'd be keen to see action against posters who just say fuck off, though, without any information on why the offending person needs to fuck off, (i.e a post with just insults, not addressing arguments, etc).
    When the sky above us fell
    We descended into hell
    Into kingdom come

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Steely Glint View Post
    On the other hand, some other users just plain need to be told to fuck off now and again. I'd be keen to see action against posters who just say fuck off, though, without any information on why the offending person needs to fuck off, (i.e a post with just insults, not addressing arguments, etc).
    Would my most recent reply to Lewk in the carbon emissions thread count? Because that entire thread is really just Lewk celebrating his ignorance in regards to a global problem getting worse, everyone else trying to explain how he's being an idiot, and Lewk just ignoring them or posting his opinion that they are wrong. And its in Debate and Discussion...
    . . .

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Steely Glint View Post
    On the other hand, some other users just plain need to be told to fuck off now and again. I'd be keen to see action against posters who just say fuck off, though, without any information on why the offending person needs to fuck off, (i.e a post with just insults, not addressing arguments, etc).
    I've never seen a "fuck off" post that was responding to someone who was just using insults. And I fail to see how that should be a tolerated response to anything else. If you don't like what someone is saying (or not saying), either don't respond to them or report them for trolling/posting in an inappropriate thread/forum.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Loki View Post
    I've never seen a "fuck off" post that was responding to someone who was just using insults. And I fail to see how that should be a tolerated response to anything else. If you don't like what someone is saying (or not saying), either don't respond to them or report them for trolling/posting in an inappropriate thread/forum.
    Perhaps we don't want to get them in trouble, but want them to stop acting like an idiot, and verbally informing them of their transgressions is the right amount of punishment, where-as warning points are excessive. I'd have to say the only times telling people to stuff it have failed would be with Tear and Silver, two people predisposed to antisocial/anti-forum behavior.
    . . .

  13. #13
    Perhaps it's not your job to do that.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Loki View Post
    Perhaps it's not your job to do that.
    Its not the job of the community to police its own actions? You're essentially stating it is, but that the only choices are ignoring them, or reporting them to moderators instead of just directly telling them that they're acting inappropriately. In addition you have in the past told people that they're being inappropriate, so I'm unsure of where the "It's not your job" part comes in. Its all of our jobs. Dread and Rand are there mainly to act as arbiters in what the community decides is wrong, and then hand out punishment.
    . . .

  15. #15
    We're getting a bit off track here, and I do want to see more on the original subject, so I'll say that saying "fuck off" or similar is not inherently unacceptable, because I can imagine cases where it might be called for, nor is it inherently acceptable, because I can more easily imagine cases where it's not called for. Nobody's ever going to get in trouble with the mods just for telling someone they're acting inappropriately, so that's not something that can be stopped. While that route is great if it corrects poor behavior, there have been cases where the attempt has just made things worse, so sometimes the report button is better, and it's almost always safer to report and move on. Lastly, mods have tools and tactics that do not give warning points, and those actually get way, way more use than the ones that do give warning points.

    So. New people. We like them and agree to play nice with them, at least until they prove they can't be played nice with and/or can handle the abuse? Or they learn to swim or die?
    Last edited by Wraith; 06-04-2011 at 10:52 PM.

  16. #16
    I like nice.
    We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Loki View Post
    And I fail to see how that should be a tolerated response to anything else.
    I don't think we should practice censorship by default, really. You may fail to see how it should be tolerated, I fail to see why it shouldn't be tolerated.

    If you don't like what someone is saying (or not saying), either don't respond to them or report them for trolling/posting in an inappropriate thread/forum.
    Or just tell them to fuck off! Not responding can be seen as an endorsement of offending behavior, and reporting to mods is not always helpful because, e.g. dishonestly, evasiveness, outright lying, deception, passive-aggressive behavior etc etc aren't actually against the rules (still not clear on what is against the rules, other than being a dick in excess e.g. Tear). And I'm not going to report someone for trolling (actual definition: intentionally posting inflammatory material in order to incite responses for your own personal amusement) if they aren't actually trolling, just being a dick because they're too invested in whatever the topic is.
    When the sky above us fell
    We descended into hell
    Into kingdom come

  18. #18
    Growth would be nice. A brief history of this community as well as a brief discussion of its culture including quirks and values (pointing out various characteristics such as the widespread disregard for capitalisation; the general appreciation for the will to discuss things honestly; willingness to share a community with the enemy) may make it easier for newcomers.

    I find it easier to adjust to new settings with new people and a new culture when I have some idea of what to expect. It's like getting a shortcut to integration. And I feel more safe during such transitions if I get the impression that the new group is aware of its quirks etc (as well as of the challenges of being a newcomer).

    Er. Ie. good introduction/preparation may be almost as helpful as being nicer in D&D.
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Aimless View Post
    (pointing out various characteristics such as the widespread disregard for capitalisation;
    I thought most people here did fairly well with grammar and sentence construction. I wouldn't want anything in an intro which would suggest we welcome either l33t or the now-widespread "texting" structure. We have a perfectly functional text editor. thers no ned 2 sggst we wuld welcom less. One of the appeals of this place, to my eyes, is that we are all fairly literate.
    Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"

  20. #20
    When did we get a widespread disregard for capitalization, also?
    We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.

  21. #21
    I'm all for growth, and I think one of the few warnings I've given here was for being needlessly hostile with new people.

  22. #22
    I think modest growth is a worthwhile goal. We can get tired hearing each other's viewpoints over and over again.

  23. #23
    Senior Member Flixy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    6,435
    Quote Originally Posted by wiggin View Post
    We can get tired hearing each other's viewpoints over and over again.
    Indeed.
    Keep on keepin' the beat alive!

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by LittleFuzzy View Post
    I thought most people here did fairly well with grammar and sentence construction.
    Quote Originally Posted by littlelolligagged View Post
    When did we get a widespread disregard for capitalization, also?
    You guys, I'm talking about me
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  25. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Aimless View Post
    Growth would be nice. A brief history of this community as well as a brief discussion of its culture including quirks and values (pointing out various characteristics such as the widespread disregard for capitalisation; the general appreciation for the will to discuss things honestly; willingness to share a community with the enemy) may make it easier for newcomers.
    I find it easier to adjust to new settings with new people and a new culture when I have some idea of what to expect. It's like getting a shortcut to integration. And I feel more safe during such transitions if I get the impression that the new group is aware of its quirks etc (as well as of the challenges of being a newcomer).
    Er. Ie. good introduction/preparation may be almost as helpful as being nicer in D&D.
    I can't see the harm in trying something like this. Thanks for volunteering to write it up for us!

  26. #26
    It'll take a couple of weeks, I'm preparing to work in a field we haven't had any courses in so my foruming is going to be limited to unstructured rants and cheap one-liners if someone could point the way to RB's history post it would be very appreciated. NB: i'm actually fairly clueless about this community's history!
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

  27. #27
    Have we given up on this (on getting members, not writing a history of Minx's lack of progress )? It seems that the number of posts has fallen recently, particularly in the last week.
    Hope is the denial of reality

  28. #28
    Sort of hard to approach. But I think things are pretty decent, and have been the same as they are for a while.

  29. #29
    I do not think private forum is the best. I like when new smart people come and bring some life, as long as they are not trolls.
    Freedom - When people learn to embrace criticism about politicians, since politicians are just employees like you and me.

  30. #30
    That's not a bad idea. We can find common ground with new members in fun things like games and tech and vacation photos
    "One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •