Setting Some Standards

Firstly I shall head this post with the following:
IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO READ THROUGH THIS RATHER LENGTHY POST IN ITS ENTIRETY OR MAKE AN EFFORT TO STAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE CONVERSATION THAT FOLLOWS THEN PLEASE DO NOT POST IN THIS TOPIC. THANK YOU.

I've been debating whether or not to make this thread since yesterday evening (it even kept me awake, goshdarnit), but based on promptings in another thread I've decided to make it. The rules for the forums have been set out, but over time rules grow stale, and as of this point there seems a great deal of confusion over what is appropriate and what isn't. SkyeWelse doesn't seem to be around either, so no real decisions can be made. Thus, I think now would be a good time for us all to have a think about what standards we want to see on the forums and how we should go about doing this.
What originally prompted me to want to create this thread are the ridiculous levels of spam that have occurred over the last couple of days, which is the worst I've ever seen outside of a full-on raid. The CS Tribute Site forums are now a total mess, with many threads locked and many others out of place, and there is a lot of debating and finger-pointing going on as to who is in the wrong and who isn't. But I do NOT want this thread to be about this event in particular, however it may play an important role in what decisions are made due to its magnitude. So I ask this of you, fellow members:
What so you, as a forum user, want to see on the CS Tribute/Mirai Gamer Forums?
I am sure a lot of you will have opinions on this and so I hope this thread will get somewhere. I was going to ask not to point out various users as being examples, however a forum is built on its users, especially a little one like this, so it will probably be necessary to give specific examples, although please keep a civil tongue in your head if doing so.

Some things I have seen, especially over the last couple of days, that I think I should change:
-SPAMMING. I should think that this is pretty obvious, since just about every forum in existence has a no-spam rule. However, on these forums in the past there has been quite a lot of good-natured spamming and bickering between various users (myself included), such that we've sort of come to accept it some of the time and may at some times spam subconsciously without even thinking about it. Thus, I would ask that we all take a step back and remember that there are other users on the forums who may not enjoy getting their threads spammed in all the time, even playfully. Now, there is plenty of good discussion too, so it is important to separate the what from the what-not. Here is what I myself think needs to be cut down on in the way of spam:
-REPLYING WITH ONE-LINERS TO EVERY OTHER POST FIVE SECONDS AFTER IT'S MADE, MAKING THE CONVERSATION MOVE FASTER THAN IT SHOULD AND ADDING NOTHING USEFUL WHILST MISSING IMPORTANT AND USEFUL POSTS THAT OTHERS MIGHT MAKE. Seriously, yesterday was full of nothing but three-way self-referencing conversations between MetaSeraphim, DragonBoots and Freezit4 (and occasionally some others, myself at times too), derailing the few remaining threads that weren't totally out of place. Making such posts adds nothing to any conversation and and only serves to buff one's post-count, which means nothing, especially on a little forum like this. I myself have been here for nearly two years, posting fairly consistently most of the time, and I barely have 200 posts. Haithm is the same and he doesn't even have 150, yet we are still both (I hope) well-known members and forum regulars. The only result this gives is a bunch of barely-known members dominating every other thread and giving totally the wrong impression to any newcomers.

Another thing that I personally do not like/would like to see go:
-COLOURED TEXT. Really guys, I know the forums have a bunch of lovely colour/font options, but all it does it make your posts more difficult to read for everybody else. I assure you you are quite capable of adding personality and emotion to what to what you write without resorting to silly colours. It was okay for a while but now a lot of people are starting to do it. Not to mention the utterly obnoxious colour-phasing text that showed up yesterday, at least have the decency to get rid of that. If you want to have some coloured text, then by all means put it in your signature, where it will still show up every time you post and I won't have to highlight what you say all the time to have a clue what you're talking about. There are plenty of other ways to be emotive.

That is all I can think of right off the top of my head and I want to get this posted so I will leave it at that. Fell free to argue with me if you want (although I would assume that "don't spam" is pretty universal), but at least bring up a couple of points of your own. Sorry if I've come off a bit condescending here but I really felt that something like this should be started after what's happened recently. I know I'm not a mod, I'm not even saying that I don't spam too sometimes, but we've only got one of them, so all I can do is post and rather than nag and complain I figured I would try and start something productive. So, I ask all of you: What standards of quality do you want to see on the forums? Are the current standards good enough? Should they be changed? Is another moderator needed to uphold them? (DO NOT DISCUSS WHO THIS SHOULD BE IN THIS THREAD, ONLY IF ONE IS NEEDED.) Obviously I cannot speak for everybody, but unless you make your opinion heard then nobody can do anything about it.

And to reiterate:
DO NOT POST IN THIS THREAD UNLESS YOU READ THIS FIRST POST, AND HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD DIRECTLY TO THE DISCUSSION AT HAND, AS THE ENTIRE POINT OF THIS THREAD IS TO COMBAT SPAM POSTING. THANK YOU.

 

Totally Agree.

~ Stickied ~

 

Yes your right DT, ill try to stop my spam posts as much as i can, no more colours, everyone should follow suit or seriously just leave, the Overload of spam has pissed me off alot too

 

I'm sorry but the colors are there for a reason for you to use them. And I dislike the color white.

 

It's great that both of you agree with me, really, I'm dead chuffed, but I ask both of you to please add your own opinions, or if you can't think of any, explain why you agree with me and why it would be beneficial to the forums. I know we all aren't wonderful at making big posts but I would really like you to try
Edit: That means MORE THAN ONE LINE TO A POST, PLEASE, AND A SPECIFIC REASON WHY YOU AGREE/DISAGREE. THANK YOU.

 

It's great that both of you agree with me, really, I'm dead chuffed, but I ask both of you to please add your own opinions, or if you can't think of any, explain why you agree with me and why it would be beneficial to the forums. I know we all aren't wonderful at making big posts but I would really like you to try
Edit: That means MORE THAN ONE LINE TO A POST, PLEASE, AND A SPECIFIC REASON WHY YOU AGREE/DISAGREE. THANK YOU.

You mean beating around the bush instead of getting right to the point? Because I can get to the point of what I am trying to say in 2 lines or less, I don't fill my posts with, well, fillers.

Anyway, I completely disagree with you, why?

Because you're just a regular member of this forum, just like every other member on this forum, even if you're a mod or even an admin.

But I still rather hear the thoughts of the only two responsible sensible people on this forum. SkyeWelse and Shirofan.

 

You mean neither of whom are here currently and one of whom I have never even seen post once?
I specifically stated in the opening post that if you have nothing to add or cannot be bothered to formulate a decent opinion to not post here. If you do not feel the need to add anything constructive and you do not want to hear what anybody has to say, then please, as I asked earlier, do not post in my thread.
Thank you.

 

You mean neither of whom are here currently and one of whom I have never even seen post once?
I specifically stated in the opening post that if you have nothing to add or cannot be bothered to formulate a decent opinion to not post here. If you do not feel the need to add anything constructive and you do not want to hear what anybody has to say, then please, as I asked earlier, do not post in my thread.
Thank you.

Excuse you? I did add something, you asked for opinions and I gave you one which is adding something to the topic. You don't decide what is decent or worthly of your super special thread. If I feel my post added something it did.

Don't get all high and mighty on me mister egotistical man.

And on the subject of spam. It never stops, it never goes away, it's not something you can stop, there will always be spam on forums no matter what.

I have been to some of the most mature forums, where everyone respected each other and there were no stupid, meaningless, idiotic fights over stupid shit, and there was still spam.

Threads will go off-topic, even if for just a little bit, but it's still spam.

What you said about just about every forum ever has a rule about not spamming, but along with this comes the understanding that threads go off-topic and you can't stop it. Then comes the question of what is spam and what isn't spam, and the answer is that it's in the eye of the beholder.

Everyone has a different opinion of what is spam, and while it is okay to tell someone your opinion on what spam is you shouldn't try and force it on them because no matter what they will still have the same opinion of spam afterwards.

 

Oh boy... Stop spamming plox or just GTFO.

This is not a all happy spamming forum, this is a serious discussion forum, a forum about hacking, work and other things. Not a forum about shitchat and other so-called things.

This is the internet. This is serious business.

And I think DT is right. All you saying is:
"I don't care about what you're saying just STFU."

You seem kinda a troll.

I mean spamming is okay in a way but not 30 posts a day. Also when a mod is telling you to stop you shouldn't say: "LOLOLOL I WON'T. YOURSELF IS SPAMMING." In other forums you might get banned for this.

I'm a moderator here and when I tell you to stop, you will stop. If you need to complain about this then contact the admin, but still you need to stop. If you won't I will contact the admin and then you're pwn3d.

You can't do whatever you want.

 

So you are telling me that this thread is futile and nobody should make any attempt to uphold the standard of quality on this forum? Here's a thought, if you think that everybody on the forums is stupid except for you and a couple of admins, then it would seem obvious that you simply don't enjoy being here. Perhaps you should leave? Also... you are aware that SkyeWelse was the one who gave SP admin powers, yes? You did manage to pick up on that, am I right? If you really respect SkyeWelse then why don't you respect his decisions?
And as I have stated, I have asked for at least this thread to remain on topic and free of spam. If you feel so strongly about it then make your own thread. This is the third time you have blatantly ignored what it was I asked, and I am only going to ask you politely one more time: If there is nothing I did not specify, that you can think of, that you would like to see discussed, then please do not post in my thread. Thank you.
SP, as the maker of this thread, I request if she posts again after this point without attempting to forward the discussion please delete her posts.

...Does anybody else have anything to say? Please?

 

You two totally took what I said out of line.

I was pretty much saying that spam is different to everyone, so it's really hard to judge what is spam and what isn't.

Things like "lol thats funny" is clearly spam, but what if something off-topic leads to an intelligent discussion about something, is that spam also?

 

SP, as the maker of this thread, I request if she posts again after this point without attempting to forward the discussion please delete her posts.

In other words: Delete offtopic posts.

AYE SIR! FOR RUSSIA!

...Does anybody else have anything to say? Please?

Yes:

I have been to some of the most mature forums, where everyone respected each other and there were no stupid, meaningless, idiotic fights over stupid shit, and there was still spam.

I guess that was 4chan lulz.

 

MS raises a good point, and I should hope to raise two more:

Fristly, the whole colour thing - If that is how someone (ie. myself) wishes to express their personal flair, rather than typing countless words that will never be read, then I say power to them

Secondly, along the lines of what MS was saying, spam is not something to be so ridgidly defined; after all, many spam posts lead to further intelegent discussion and to furtherment of the community. However, the way I see this, spam is part virus, part social complex: it is a virus in that it spreads by infecting, terminating, and then re-infecting, and it is a social complex in that it is like a bandwagon - it is human nature (for all but a few lucky persons) to wish to part of something bigger than themselves; and so psychologically, nearly every person who came onto the forums has spammed at least once, and mostly just to be a part of the topic at hand. I would propose a penalty for spamming (such as losing 10% from your post count if you get caught spamming or trolling) or a greater limit to the number of posts you can make in one topic in one session (I mean, 30 seconds can stop flooding, but not spam. Make it at least 2 minutes.) This is my take on this, peace.

 

The thing is, this forum shouldn't be flooded with spam. MS floods it.
This Forum is about Cave Story and not about spam or offtopic!

 

And on the subject of spam. It never stops, it never goes away, it's not something you can stop, there will always be spam on forums no matter what.

I have been to some of the most mature forums, where everyone respected each other and there were no stupid, meaningless, idiotic fights over stupid shit, and there was still spam.

Threads will go off-topic, even if for just a little bit, but it's still spam.

What you said about just about every forum ever has a rule about not spamming, but along with this comes the understanding that threads go off-topic and you can't stop it. Then comes the question of what is spam and what isn't spam, and the answer is that it's in the eye of the beholder.

Everyone has a different opinion of what is spam, and while it is okay to tell someone your opinion on what spam is you shouldn't try and force it on them because no matter what they will still have the same opinion of spam afterwards.

1. You must know that every nice guy doesn't think that he himself is perfect. Have a little feeling of guilt when you do your self-proclaimed not-spam posts. Think before you post
   
2. When in Rome, do as the guts of Rome. Or in Malay translated, when you enter a sheep pen, bleat. When you enter a cattle pen, moo. Like they care if you do it different from others from another forum, you just shouldn't do it here. We could say that you shouldn't force us to accept what you do here. What a redirection. The fact is, if you don't like it, don't be here. But I assume(and this is regarding feelings so it's ok), you want to be here. I don't mind you being here.(in fact, i confessed several times but that's not the point) Even the others who're annoyed by your behaviour, still doesn't have the heart of suggesting a ban on you. They're giving you a chance(and no adverb there) and that's why, you should use that chance wisely. honestly, stop this. You influence others(including me, the mod and DT and DB and JC and Jake and Metal) by what you do. It's not like they never have acted that way before, but you just worsen it. They're trying to be more mature and you should be helping them, instead. And I can help you on this too.
   Lastly, just stop being a kid(forget whatever I said last time about nice being a kid). We don't want that, and you too don't want that. Seriously, I love you.
   
3. I love you. you can QFT this 9,000 times or place it in your sig
   
4. We love you. everybody QFT this 9,000 times and place it in your sig

And there is my most optimistic remark ever.

@DT One comment, colours ain't the point at all in here. unless the rules forbids it, we may colour. Only you dislike it, sry.

@Naruagain SP-san likes to assume, and probably you don't like it, but it's no big matter.

@SP-san stop doing assumptions and implyings and stuff. We ain't all studying literature or what that we can see your point in every word you say

@self you're a dumb and patheticly losing noob. @others and that's the pessimistic attitude you should be practising. Don't hope for yourself. But always hope for others' good-being or what.

And there's not a single sarcasm in there as far as I can see. Somebody point the wrong if it exists, thanks in advance.

 

SP-san stop doing assumptions and implyings and stuff. We ain't all studying literature or what that we can see your point in every word you say

Alot of what I'm saying is dumb joking and sarcasm.

 

@DB/Freezit: Since the only people so far who have disagreed with me on using colours are the ones who use them, I think we should wait until somebody else who DOESN'T use them gives an opinion. It's entire possible I was being a bit selfish but nobody else neutral has had their say (aside from XristosX who seems to agree with me very much).
@DB: That's great and all but this thread is not about philosophy or proposing ideas, it's about finding out what we all agree is spam and why we don't want to see it. I agree that spam is not defined, that's why I'm trying to define it.
@Freezit: This is another thing I don't like. How about you formulate your own opinions and post them rather than telling other users whether they are right or not?
Edit @ SP: Erm, so I don't look like a hypocrite, please if you wouldn't post really short posts and just ignore MS if she doesn't post on topic? Although I disagree with Freezit, I think you've made a lot of sense so far in this thread.

 

That's what I'm saying, you should lessen it a bit, you scare others as if those jokes are real sincere as you do it quite frequently. In serious arguments especially, avoid doing it.
And you may use [sarcasm][/sarcasm] fake code if you want or that smiley (note this is an example, not real sarcasm)
Now DT, please request lock this thread.

I don't want to hate anyone, really.

@DT they all have been making me do this too much, and that's an IMO. But what else could I do to stop this? What's law there for?

If we stop all these at once, we can have a nice, peaceful thread, ain't that rite? And if they're still not satisfied, use the PM. please. then discuss whether you should include others in your arguments.(Ok I'm kind of assuming there, but.......)

 

That's what I'm saying, you should lessen it a bit, you scare others as if those jokes are real sincere as you do it quite frequently. In serious arguments especially, avoid doing it.
And you may use [sarcasm][/sarcasm] fake code if you want or that smiley (note this is an example, not real sarcasm)
Now DT, please request lock this thread.

How about no, eh? I'd like to see what some of the other members who haven't been making a mess of the forums over the last couple of days would like to say about this. This is a serious discussion topic so if you can't be serious that is your problem and not mine. Some of the spam may have been "not serious" but it's certainly gone way beyond that stage now. This is another good point to make: just because something isn't meant to be serious doesn't mean it won't have serious results.
Oh, and look! It's over half way through the second page and I am STILL the only one who specifically has posted what they want to see changed! Thanks for thinking about other people, guys, I really appreciate it.

 

In serious arguments especially, avoid doing it.

<_<
Thats my personality. I won't change it.

Now DT, please request lock this thread.

Fine, open a "And the spam continues..." thread, after that.
And maybe a "SP-San leaves the forum" thread too, because if there is too much spam I don't see a point of being in the forums anymore.