Category: Zone BBS Suggestions and Feedback
What do y'all think? The number of topics created and dragged up from the depths by certain users is getting a bit ridiculous. I'm starting to see more than one version of the same topic, and all this is making it difficult to get through the new posts in a reasonable time frame. So what about, say, a 20 or 30 limit per day?
Namaste,
Becky
I actually think this isn't a bad idea. While I have brought back up some older topics myself and think it's cool that others are coming up with things to talk about/say, there are some topics that are constantly staying at the top and I do also notice repeats of same topics that already exist but are being started up again in new discussions. I think a posting limit might give other topics (especially ones asking for help) a chance at being on the first page and therefore more of a chance of being read/responded to. I know of a site that only gives a 5-post-per-day limit, but I think a 20-post-per-day one might not be too bad for here.
How about just practicing self control?
i agree with post 3. i mean, come on. sure there are some people that over the top and post, post, post and post some more, so much so the first page of the boards is taken up, but it's there problem. clearly they have too much time on there hands
uh, ... I think this board was created because apparently, some people don't understand what self-control is and clearly thinks their opinions are majorly more important than everybody else. I'd totally go for the post limit thingy. Some people around here are really getting on my nerves with their over posting stuff.
I thought this was crazy when I first read it a few hours ago - surely those absolutely obsessed with posting and posting and posting have every right to do so. But now I've thought more about it, it's really not so bad, mainly because it would effect very few people, and those who it would effect - well they deserve it. For the good of mankind... lol
How about we just ban the people who don't have self control?
Stupid isn't an excuse, it's a punishable offense.
Wow, ban the offenders? You could argue against the reasonableness of that idea, but you can't deny it would be effective. lol
or, how about before someone goes to post a board, they look to see if one similar has already been created in said topic, and just add to that one? so the ariginal one might be a few years old, but at least it's saving space. it's only cause people just can't be bothered going through the countless pages in the board topic to see if one is already their in the first place, that we're getting multiple topics of the same things. i kno most of us have probablly done it ourselves without realizing, but if you really have nothing better to do then post and post and post, then save thoes of us who don't do that some room, in case we want to post to.
A limit is definitely in order. I've noticed huge numbers of topics created by the same individuals, and I wonder why? I mean, it is kind of amazing how many different things people can come up with to discuss under Grubb Garage for example, but when is enough enough?
Lou
The holarious part about all of this is, that the user u r all complaining about posts to every topic but this one. I wonder why? Hmmm. Banning? Well, I suppose it could technically be covered under the TOS that discusses being disruptive to the site. This part of the TOS, however, was not designed with this particular instance in mind. Since the users doing this are actually replying to the board topic, it's not considered spam, so I would say is't not a bannable thing. I agree, if this crap keeps up, a 15 posts pur day limit should be implimented.
i think if there was a posting limit, it should only be applied to those acounts, kind of like a warning system that other sites have. it would be unfair on some of us, thinking of the people who like to post through out the day, playing the games etc. why should we have to suffer just because someone can't control how much stuff they post
hmm, agree with Dan Time, but i think, we need to have a system out of this too. come on, a certain user, who posted over and over again just because of boredom, don't help themselves as well as others, and just, created more useless space on the server. now the system back up takes few minutes, who knows, with user like that, zone back up system could take up to hours?
20 post per day its a fair limit. if not, it should made like a premium fitures. want to post more? buy a premium, and not enough, pay for more for posting...
M's post is funny. lol Banning those who don't have self-control. While that is sort of a good idea, I don't think that'll happen. But anyway, I'm not sure if some people understand this, but there are over 200 pages of boards, so how in the world can people look for a topic similar to the one they want to suggest? Come on, people, let's get realistic here.
Ordinarily, I wouldn't have gone for this idea. But after what I've seen lately on the boards, I think it's a good one. but I do think it should only be implemented on certain people, the people who, for example, create 30 or 40 pointless, unnecessary topics per day.
how about this. some sites have a section where the site looks at the wording in a topic, and before you post, you can choose one of the previous topics. this would cut down on several posts i think.
I think I like the last idea: sort of an automated sensor. Hmmmm!
I used to consider myself a pretty prolific poster, but fifteen or twenty topics a day? Wow, that's a lot. So, I don't like restrictions, but if it were set high enough I could accept it.
One thing that might help would be if we could choose to view or not view certain boards in our profile. I would probably not view the game board and my latest topics would be easier to navigate.
Just Sunday afternoon musings.
Bob going off to create another topic.
I like Bob's idea. So I am going off to post another topic. But, before I go, I want to say this. What one deems pointless, is interesting to another. I am with those who say add a limit to the amount of creation of new topics, however not on the grounds that the topic is pointless.
Nem
i agree, but saying that i don't see how 20 or 30 topics from the same person can keep anyone interested. sure, there's a few topics that i've replied to myself, but seriously it's getting a bit of a joke. firstly because trauling through the latest topics has become a real chore (in that i usually know what to expect) and secondly, going back to a previous poster, multiple topics. i think so far this week i've seen at least 3 topics about twilight, 2 topics on the sound of music, 2 topics on cats and probably others, but those i what i remember. the sensor is a great idea, i like it.
as for bob's suggestion, i'm all for it. like him, i'd filter out the game topics, and probably also geeks arus and job hunt
I agree with poster 18. How do we define "Unnecessary" or "Pointless"? The automated approach might be a arbitrary, but it certainly eliminates our human subjectivity.
Lou
I like Bob's idea. I think that's been suggested before, but I don't remember if anything was said by either of the admins on the issue.
Personally I do like the idea of it bringing up a list of ones that might suit you before you post, but you should still have the option of saying "no, I still want to post mine."
yes, of course that would be an option. just a thought about the list of similar topics. hth.
how about A search box where the automated system looks at weather key words or looks at the first three posts or something like that. Sorry I don't feel like checking if this is already in place.
Filters for the boards are a drum that some of us have been banging vociferously for a couple of years now, to my knowledge there have been, ironically enough, at least two topics created asking for such filters to be put in place.
Sadly though we've never had even so much as a glimmer of an official response from the admins. I still like the idea though and wouldn't be at all sorry were it ever implemented. Say yes to board filters, say no to Rachel! Oops, sorry, of course I meant say no to things that make you think that vasectomies without the benefit of anesthetic a good thing rather than reading what's on offer...Obviously.
If there is a post limit, I think it should apply to everyone, not just the few who are now posting way too much. But I have a question. If a posting limit is implemented, would it apply to creating new topics only or would it include adding to topics already started? I mean, say if a certain person who thinks she is philosophical and friendly starts 15 new topics in one day, thereby reaching the limit, what's to stop her from also posting to 15 other topics already started by others? That would be a total of 30 posts for her. So, I think if there is a limit, it should apply to everyone and should include total posts, not just new topics.
But having said all that, I am also one who would like to see board filters so we can just avoid topics we don't ever read or post to, and then maybe posting limits wouldn't be necessary.
Why should Becky, or anybody else for that matter, be able to dictate to me, or any other Zone user how often we can post to the website? People should be free to post as often as they want, on the topics they wish to post on.
This proposed attack on the freedom of Zone users should be resisted. Even though some people don't wish to read a person's posts, that person should still have the right to make those posts as long as they're within the boundary of the law and the policies that govern this website.
Becky has made a U turn from complaining about or supporting those who complained about civil liberties being eroded during the Bush years, to now proposing that limits on the freedom to write board posts on the Zone be imposed. This isn't a personal attack on Becky. I don't know her. She has put forward this proposal. It is the proposal I am against, not the proposer.
I partly agree with Bob, on post 17. However I think that we should also have an opption to block indevitual posts instead of just a board. I say this because there are some posts I could care less about however they happen to be in a board that i like to visit. So maybe an opption to block boards and indevitual posts. And I also would like to say that maybe some of the posts on here should be deleted. Like the ones that aren't in use any more? If I had the option to go back and delete some of my post I have made in the past, I would do so.
It is easy for many people to quickly, within a day, rack up their number of new topics or replies to a topic. Implementing a posting limit might cut down on what some consider useless clutter, but might just as easily sensor others who just post a lot. Period. You can easily stack up dozens of posts in the game topics and replying to other questions or queries.
I do not use the ignore feature, but doesn't ignoring someone completely also block you from seeing their posts? If so, and If you do feel that the amount of posts by any individual user is over the top and ridiculous, you can ignore that person (and all their clutter) from showing up as you peruse the boards.
I'm against setting a limit to board topics and posts. Setting a number too low could hurt legitimate posts, while too high would negate the benefits altogether.
Brice
Ok, here is my take on this. I really think you guys are going too far with this whole board post thing. I personally enjoy coming onto the site to post, even though I haven't done it in a while. And as was stated before, what may be clutter to one could be interesting to others. I mean, don't we come here to waste time anyway? I mean, you guys, we don't all come on here for the same reasons, and I personally don't mind going through topics to find ones I would like to post to/read. So I'd say that if there should be any kind of thing emplemented, it should be Bob's idea of the search thing, or something to that matter, to cut down on the number of topics. i think that putting a limit on posts would just be another thing that would affect people's freedom on the site, and that doesn't seem very fair, especially for those of us who aren't constantly creating topics. While some people don't like playing games etc, there are still people who do enjoy that type of thing. Again, this is my opinion, take it as you will.
Brice, to answer your question about the ignore feature, yes you can choose to ignore all posts from a certain person. When you go to the ignore page, you can choose to ignore quicknotes, board posts, private mail, etc. by a particular person.
I also agree with bob's idea about having filters that we could activate in our profile settings to stop showing us boards. I'm against the posting limit, but definitly for the filtering.
i agree with posts 27 and 30. seriously guys, there arn't many people that post too much in a day and why should we all suffer just because someone thinks it's a good idea to fill up the boards with multiple topics and new pointless ones. as i said before, for people who like playing the games, it would be unfair if the limit was made for them
Looking at the other posts here have made me rethink my position on posting limits. I was originally in favor of limits thinking that the stated fifteen or so was a limit so high no one would ever reach it. However, I don't think limits per sé will ever happen because the admin's philosophy is pretty much against sensorship unless someone abuses it. The only way I can see abuse happening is if someone posted a topic called "topic1" then "topic2" etc. with the idea of just creating topics, and the cls already have a way of handling that, they have a delete topic feature. So, I'm against limits of any sort!
Come on cls, what do you folks think? Also, how about coding that board filter idea--we all want it!
Bob (off to start another revolution)
Well, I'd have to agree with Ashley and Bob on this. Posting limits would disrupt the freedom that we have on here, so I wouldn't implement it. While this really is a good idea, there are some disadvantages to this, and people would start having fights over it.
Yeah, I like the board filteringidea a lot better than posting limits. Just seems more fair that way.
So what if people like to post their ideas? And so what if they have a lot of them? I do, however, agree with the filtering idea, as there are often multiple topics posted about the same thing, and navigating gets a little annoying at that point.
And I definitely see how it gets annoying 'cuz someone just posted the exact same topic to two different boards. So irritating.
Tonight I have come round to the idea of a posting limit, not on posts, but on threads. Seven threads per week for premium users, five for everybody else. Nobody should be able to completely dominate the boards.
Giving people the freedom to post as many topics on the boards as they want to has the potential to have a negative impact on other people's enjoyment of the Zone.
I still stand by my original post. But a limit would be fine, too.
can't you just ignore people's bored posts if you don't want to see them?
i think zone should have a policy on how new topics can a user create as per day. i think 3 per day for premium, and 1 for non-premium will be a good idea. in eddition to that, we also should have the limit of replies that a user can post on the board. perhaps 5 for non premium, and 10 or unlimited for premium.
also, on top of that, we should limit the minimum caractors a post allow, let say 20 the least. this will at least keep those who only post as "agree" or "maybe" those people out of the way as they dont really contribute to the topic anyway.
if I recall I started one of the original threads asking for a filter.
I don't agree with a posting limit per se, having said that most websites have as part of their TOS that flooding of the boards (or quicknotes I suppose) will not be tolerated and could result in a ban.
So in reality it would possibly be helpful if the CL's could agree on what constitutes flooding of the boards and could perhaps act accordingly if this occurred. I am sure the ability must exist for a cl to remove a poster's ability to post, so this could perhaps be a consequence if it was considered someone was actually flooding the boards, rather than introducing a blanket policy of a limit.
The reality is that fifteen posts is seen as a lot because our boards are not very fast-moving. I go on another website that has thousands of posts a day, and I could easily post fifteen posts in just an hour and they would just blend in with all the rest, although admittedly I think it would be considered strange if I started fifteen separate topics.
But perhaps the answer is more to promote the message boards that more people post there, rather than limiting the posts of people already doing so.
I wouldn't go as far as cappuccino, especially with regard to how many replies a person could post, but I do think something should be done. I like the idea of filtering the posts and boards that we don't wish to see, though admittedly, we could always choose the categories that interest us from the drop down menu and forget about the rest. If there was to be a limit imposed, I think it should only be on how many board topics someone could create per day.
It's the amount of topics that are the problem. I don't mind people posting twenty times if they want to but I do object to people being able to post twenty separate topics.
well, i hardly know where to start.
firstly, i love the idea of the filter. what would be really awsome is only seeing the categories we've chosen in the combo list.
as far as the posting limit goes, here's my take on it.
1: just because 1 person posts 20 topics a day, why limit for all of us?. that's like restricting the freedom to people that arn't abusing it. it's stupid.
2: freedom of speech. i believe if the post makes sense, and it's not a duplicate, it should be allowed.
3: as for what should be done, i have no idea. maybe if there was a posting limit, it could be a certain amount of posts a day allowed in that category. at least it may encourage people to post to the other parts of the site.
Timekeeper let's say you post three topics a day and ten are allowed, how would the posting limit be limiting your freedom?
I have used several forums, and on none of them do people create that many topics per day, even though some of them are very active.
I can see why Becky proposed the posting limit and having limits is a good idea. Anybody who speaks to her on my behalf is asked to thank her for raising this issue on my behalf.
I know what you mean about people posting so much on here. Sorry, but most of us, including myself, probably have better things to do with our time than sit on here all day and post random stuff. Yes some is useful, but quite a bit is just pointless. I know no one's saying we have to read them, but we've got to tab past them to get to the other topics anyway.
Hmmm! Well, after yesterday, constantly coming across writers block, writers block, writers block and more writers block posts, all posted by 1 particular user, I think there should really be a limit imposed on some boards, particularly those like writers block, say, 3 topics per day, 3 posts per topic, 21 posts per week, Etc Etc, so we're not having to scroll through or tab round to something we actually do want to read, something we are actually interested in if you select the Latest Topics from the combo listbox at the top of The Boards, or, simply, introduce a filter system as previous posters have suggested, where I for example, would untick the boxes for Writers Block, Religeon Topics and Jam Session, about the only 3 boards on here I'm not really bothered about or interested in most of the time. Yesterday's visit to The Zone for me was like trawling through the in box and junk Email folders when checking my Email, because I had to tab past a load of crappola I didn't want to see, a load of Writers Block which I didn't want to see so I could find posts, topics and boards I did want to see. Not fun times and that's really, part and parcel of what The Zone's all about.
Jen.
I could understand the starting of up to three topics per day rule
Only as far as the number of posts per topic
to me that is of no concern...
Like if you're not interested in a particular topic
then simply do not open it and thus how many
posts are under that topic will be of a non concern
to you.
A writer when writing a story may very well have
a number of posts under a single topic as each
post at that time may be a chapter, as it were,
in a continuing story.
Well, as long as its a single topic and not a whole bloody page of different topics on different stories and/or poems by only one user like I had to trawl through yesterday, that's fine.
Jen.
as anoying as it may be, is it really a major deal? its not like your life its gonna end because of it. Just tab over it don't read it and move on with life.
Azzito - so many things would never change if we had that attitude.
thats exactly my point. if we let users post as many topic as they like in one category, that user will automaticly monopolise the space for the board in any given time.
yes, creativity is good, but i think, when overly creativity, or, when creativity not making any sense beside trying to clot the webspace, why not they go to have their own blog, instead of wasting zone space.
by creating limit, will provide the choice of priority, and also it is time to teach those people to use the space with respondsibility
I see your point but if this sight is user driven then who are we to really limmit that. I'm sure if it were a major deal the admins would have done something about such as like lets say the game board. All you have to do is skip it and that's that
It can be user-driven at the same time as limits are imposed on the amount of topics a user can create per day. The CLs could implement that in response to user feedback. It would be a user-driven change. This already happens on other websites.
The really ironic thing about the topic limit is that almost all the people in favor have huge numbers of posts.
agreed with post 3. how about not spamming and cutting down all the posts that add bugger all to a topic?
the amount of times i've seen a short sentence in a post that just adds nothing to the topic are insane, and some people are much more guilty of it than others.
so in short, if you've got nothing to add, don't add to the thread.