New General NBA Forum Policy Questions Thread

[sportjames23]

Lots of people have run into trouble with the new rules, it's not really something appropriate for discussion with other posters, though.

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LOL, the man ain't joking, right tsherkin?

Wish I would have paid attention to this thread earlier.

[sportjames23]

i don't have a problem with rules on a website.

but i always found realgm policies to be on the stricter side. Some of the mods can get power hungry very easily and quickly. Why is that?

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/abso ... utely.html

*runs out the thread*

[BrotherDave]

The Forum rules read like the Obamacare Bill. I think it would behoove the board greatly if it was much more concise and less vague. For example, a clear and objective definition of "derailment" would be great b/c mods seem all over the place with what is a derailing post/gif.

Like in terms of gifs, you say you want to put a stop to the "U Mad and the others" but "the others" is pretty open to interpretation.

For example,
I got warned once for posting a gif of Tracy Morgan passionately saying "no" repeatedly. I could have just posted "no, a thousand times no" but I felt like Mr Morgan summed up my opinion better than words could have and much more comically. The mod I quoted (which was really my first mistake b/c you have to really tread softly around mods I have thusly learned) thought I was baiting him and derailing the thread when all I was trying to do was express my disagreement of his opinion in a humorous and accurate fashion.

I honestly couldn't understand the plethora of "violations" he cited me for b/c the rules were so cluttered, vague, and open for interpretation.

[putyouonthegame]

this forum has become a joke seriously..

topics getting locked for no reason...trolling on every single post.

and every week, more rules are being enforced..

damn right a joke.

[tsherkin]

Topics do not get locked without reason. The #1 reason a thread gets locked is that it was posted in the wrong forum, usually belonging to the PC Board and rather obviously at that.

Beyond incorrect forum location, the next big one I see is an obvious bait of a fanbase, which is a ne ne on the forums. The GB has a lot of low-quality posters, many of whom are outright trolls there to do nothing but cause trouble, so it should hardly come as a surprise that the rules there are more strict. It is unfortunate that we have to be so aggressive in our approach as mods, since there are plenty of other boards on RealGM where this is not the case, but it is necessary.

Meantime, in response to the Tracy Morgan post, one-off responses like that aren't just breaking GIF policy, they are essentially post pads that do not contribute meaningfully to the conversation. You want to open up with "no, a thousand times no," then that's great, but unless you back it up with substance, you're likely to run into some trouble, at least on the GB.

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[BrotherDave]

contribute meaningfully to the conversation.

This is what I'm talking about though. "Meaningfully" (or contribute, for that matter) is extremely subjective in nature. Unless care is taken to delineate what constitutes as meaningful and what is not than you're only going to invite inconsistency because what is a meaningful post to one person isn't meaningful to another. I could go through every other post and report them as non meaningful.

I wholeheartedly applaud an effort to moderate the GB better but I'm concerned that you're wasting your efforts by just building a foundation upon mud.

[tsherkin]

This is what I'm talking about though. "Meaningfully" (or contribute, for that matter) is extremely subjective in nature. Unless care is taken to delineate what constitutes as meaningful and what is not than you're only going to invite inconsistency because what is a meaningful post to one person isn't meaningful to another. I could go through every other post and report them as non meaningful.

You're not wrong, there is intentional wiggle room for the moderators so that we can have our policy evolve as necessary. We discuss actions and interpretations regularly, however, so I'd worry more about maintaining decorum than any kind of moderator issues. The GB has become a festering wellspring of foolishness and that is what necessitated this harsh policy. It's not designed to be flowery and pleasant.

Having said that, you also need to understand that if once every now and again you make a one-word post that isn't profane or baiting or whatever, we're not slavering at the end of the leash to get you and it won't lead to Read-Only Access. Unless the poster establishes a habit of chronic derailing and lack of contribution. We're looking to sift problem posters, not casual folks who don't write books with each post.


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[oaklandwarriors]

Instead of locking a thread that's posted in the wrong section why not move it to the other forum and inform the OP that he needs to post it in the correct section. If he does it again (for example making another PC thread on the GB) then you can take further action. I think that would make more sense than just locking threads because they are in the wrong section.

[tsherkin]

We tried, for years, just moving the threads. We're tired of it, since it did nothing to raise awareness. If people are complaining about it, then they are noticing it, which means we will continue locking threads posted to the incorrect forum.

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[Jase]

I think the idea, in theory, is very good. Cleaning up the boards has been years in the making, though I realize also that the Mods have worked hard in that time trying to maintain order and balance. I don't expect these changes to really kick in consistently right away, as most posters have spent years used to the way RealGM "was" run. The biggest problem I see, currently, especially last night (opening night and all) is trolling, and I don't really know how much can be done about that. There is a clear and apparent lack of objectivity ("my fan base is always right, and better than yours, etc.") that opens the door to harsh and volatile responses.

Still, I think the forums are clearly better just by lacking in the "U Mad"-type posts/pics.

[BadMofoPimp]

There will always be trolling of some form. It dies down after a few warnings. I remember when similar threads were moved all the time instead of locked. That is much more work and confusing. It is easier for the mods to put in a last post on the thread stating why it is being locked because of a redundant thread so people know why it has happened than to see their thread disappear to another forum or merged with another thread which really confused the heck out of finding my old posts. Mods are doing fine with their resources. If only they could bring back the Search function from our old posts like they had back in the olden days. It was awesome to pull stuff back up to talk trash about years later.

[Mats272-GOAT]

What's the stance on 'blank quoting' to agree with a post? Also, 'lol' posts or just smiley replies?

There still seems to be plenty of these cluttering threads, I thought that was the reason for the introduction of 'and 1'

[tsherkin]

Smiley-only posts should be getting an informal PM reminder, then an official warning, then a 12-hr on repeat offense (and depending on poster history, progression towards longer suspensions/bans for derailing).

We'll have to discuss blank-quoting, but that'd be basically a +1 post-pad, and is frowned upon, in theory.

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[Cool_Dude]

Smiley-only posts should be getting an informal PM reminder, then an official warning, then a 12-hr on repeat offense (and depending on poster history, progression towards longer suspensions/bans for derailing).

We'll have to discuss blank-quoting, but that'd be basically a +1 post-pad, and is frowned upon, in theory.

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Wait, so you can't reply with a " " to a funny post, even in good fun on your own team's board?

[tsherkin]

Wait, so you can't reply with a " " to a funny post, even in good fun on your own team's board?

What? What you do on your own board is between you and the mods local to that board; this thread is about the GenBoard's policy.

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