Why we should never have the spam event ever again

• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-04-22 02:12
  Alright, let me make the counterargument to what everyone thought was a good idea.
  
  First of all, the spam event. Once a month, at the 20th? Please, lets not. We can do it again next year for 4/20 if you all really want. But first of all, there was nothing relaxing about having 50 threads with no coherence at all.
  
  There are multiple problems posed by this event besides just simple annoyance. Its hard to ignore it when it actually starts to get in your way.
  
  1. Browsing: Many (most) of us browse via "New Posts" function, which will bring up every thread that has a new post in it in chronological order (newest to oldest). This tool serves to make zooming through new posts in the forum simpler, but in this specific case, we had over 10 pages of threads to go through. It actually flips its purpose around and turns it against you.
  
  2. Spam board: Ma/b/inogi doesn't exist just so we can literally make a thread where OP says "..." and the responses following are "wut" and "first". The good threads in Ma/b/inogi are forum games, sharing of images/videos that are too off topic to post in the general section, and simple discussions that just don't fit in the Everything else section. Unfortunately, the flood of spam made this place seem otherwise. We lost a few good threads in the wave of spam.
  
  3. It really says a lot to the new visitors and lurkers. We're not here to be a bunch of /b/tards, thats what /b/ is for and thats where we'll go if we wanna be stupid. I can bet you more than a dime that most visitors will be discouraged to join if they see that we managed to get 8 pages worth of spam thread listings and about 2 pages of regular topic based threads in a matter of a few hours. I understand that this was another way of letting out some of the stress we've built up from the whole Guru Migration (we should make a history book), but thats about as far as its acceptable. I just don't see why we should do it once a month at the 20th.
  
  4. With the incredibly large amount of posts coming in, there is more need for moderation. It becomes much easier to sneak in something inappropriate and not be discovered for far longer than usual. One extra eye burned at the awful content of the darker depths of the internet is one too much.
  
  ~~~~
  
  Second problem to address: ZUFALL
  
  Its an awesome site. I agree. And a lot of things on there are really cool and shareable.
  DON'T POST A NEW THREAD FOR EVERY ZUFALL, SRSLY.
  
  Thats hardcore annoying.
  
  I know I've done my share of posting a thread with a video or a picture to share in the past, but you might as well keep it all under one thread, or hold it back in your favorites somewhere to post it when MOST APPROPRIATE.
  
  I have a large database of images saved on my photobucket that I'd love to share, but I have not yet because it'd be even more epic to post it when its actually on topic or follows well with the discussion at hand.
  
  ~~~~
  
  The RP events.
  
  I know exactly how fun this event is, and how it can improve our community. But there are also a few things that make this event terribly wrong, and I'll explain now.
  
  1. User Recognition. Most forumers recognize each other usually not by their name, but by their avatars and signatures. There are actually two reasons why this event makes recognition difficult. Not only are we looking at a changed avatar/signature, but we're also looking at a changed personality. It becomes harder, especially for lurkers or new users, to navigate and make friends.
  
  2. Forced content on post. In a desperate attempt to fit the role of their character, a user sometimes completely goes out of their way to try to post whatever incoherent nonsense possible while trying to not go off topic. It also takes away from the poster's personality and turns it into information no one really cares about. Example: "Discussion, Which weapon in mabi is your favorite?", Answer from a person RP'ing Fighter: "Swords. I like Swords".
  
  We know Fighter likes swords. What about YOU?
  
  3. Having this event every once in a while is just excellent and really makes this place fun. Doing it biweekly with a new theme, it'll be incredibly forced and users will become less and less original or effortful, and the entire idea becomes bland. We also return to issue number 1, where a CONSTANT change of avatar and signature can really hurt the process of making new friends.
  
  I love this event as much as the next person, and if I had a little more time I would've participated in it myself (well, I played the Pumpkin role pretty well). But setting a new theme and doing it multiple times in a row? I see difficulties ahead.
  
  4. I had more opinions, but I forgot it at work. Poo.
  
  ~~~~
  
  The idea is not "stop what you're doing". But rather this:
  
  

  [Image: http://shii.org/yukkuri/yukkuri]

  
  
  Calm down a bit, lets stop scaring away every visitor, and take it easy~~!
• Lan wrote on 2010-04-22 02:13
  Long but true ^_^
• Bakuryu wrote on 2010-04-22 02:15
  ok, **** your font color. Won't read all of that while my eyes cry for help. my eyes are already screwed up as it is, don't even feel like pasting it somewhere else.
  But the spam day idea was a joke, that people took to seriously <- that's what I just wanted to say.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-04-22 02:17

  Quote from Bakuryu;14654:

  ok, **** your font color.

  
  
  B> A darker color of orange plz.
  
  And also Bakuryu, this thread is about more than just the spam event.
• Kazuni wrote on 2010-04-22 02:19
  The truth.
• Bakuryu wrote on 2010-04-22 02:20
  Yes I was aware of that º3º, but I just felt like sharing my opinion about that part of the discussion.
  
  But :
  The RP idea is good imo, but only with the following (if it is going to happen) Mabi NPC thing, since it's actually MABINOGI related.
  I wasn't around when the RP event was going on, so I can't say much about it. /edit, actually, is it still on? because I haven't been bothered by it, and haven't seen many people RPing / causing trouble about it.
  Either way, I don't think the RP event is as troublesome as you make it look - At least for me.
  I do agree with one point though, doing it too often just doesn't seem like a good idea.
  
  _
  
  The spam thing did annoy me too, since I use the new post function and having 200 threads about nothing at all was annoying. But it was just a one day thing.
• Lan wrote on 2010-04-22 02:21
  We were setting a bad example and giving a bad first impression of Mabination which would turn away new members and guests?
• Falsetto wrote on 2010-04-22 02:23
  Firstly, you make a ton of good points. And I am not in disagreement with pretty much any of them. But I do have something to say myself dealing with at least two things.
  
  The spam thread is just that, to be honest, forum games and actual meaningful threads are normally addressed to the regular Misc. section on just about every other forum. It's sometimes unusual to have a section dedicated to spam itself, but it's not entirely our fault it is misplaced.
  
  And secondly, to do with the RP event. Essentially I was not expecting such booming activity, and I am so very happy that everyone is enjoying it as is. However, the activity will fall off, and people will go back to posting like normal more so with the upcoming events where not every is familiar/ or want to participate seriously with said titles. It may seem like a forced thing when people are gaining badges and such, and people are acting a certain way than usual. But who are we to restrict? Regardless, I do see your point with it seeming a bit overwhelming as an ongoing thing, but as I haven't posted the official announcement for the next portion; you wouldn't know that I was hoping to deviate the RP to more focused threads and sections.
  
  Also, dealing with a quick change around with AVs. That is a menial point unfortunately, people need to honestly pay more attention to usernames. It may be unusual for such a large round of AVs being changed around, but again, not ours to restrict.
  
  EDIT: For the ongoing portion of the RP event, I find it wouldn't be a bad idea to take good breaks between each event. Allow me to take some time to write up the new announcement dealing with that.
• Zephyri wrote on 2010-04-22 02:48
  I agree with you completely on the spam event and the zufall stuff. It was most definitely getting out of hand.
  
  The RP event.. eh. I'm okay with it going on often until folks get tired of it, I think it's a lot of fun. I've never been one to identify people by their sigs and avatars though I can see where you're coming from on that issue. I think if anything they could/should be more spaced out.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-04-22 02:50

  Quote from Falsetto;14670:

  Also, dealing with a quick change around with AVs. That is a menial point unfortunately, people need to honestly pay more attention to usernames. It may be unusual for such a large round of AVs being changed around, but again, not ours to restrict.

  
  
  This is something most forumers do naturally. We can't tell them to not do it.
  Sometimes the people running things have to accommodate for the subconscious choices users make.
  
  This was seen when nx forums removed avatars.
  
  Recognition became much harder for users. This is based on not just my opinion alone but of many who vouched in complaints.
  
  Again, I'm just trying to make counter arguments not only for the possibility that it might be good for the site, but also because debating is fun :C
• Lan wrote on 2010-04-22 02:52
  I can understand the part about Avatars somewhat wWhen Starpaw used the avatar that Zackeh used to use people were a bit confused, same with Mop using Itchy's, well maybe that was just me...
• Arsik wrote on 2010-04-22 02:58

  Quote from kitaek27;14646:

  Alright, let me make the counterargument to what everyone thought was a good idea.
  
  First of all, the spam event. Once a month, at the 20th? Please, lets not. We can do it again next year for 4/20 if you all really want. But first of all, there was nothing relaxing about having 50 threads with no coherence at all.

  
  
  In case you missed my point the first time: The spam event isn't official. It was made as a joke to a joke about what happened yesterday with the spam explosion. If you notice, the person who posted it doesn't even have power over the Spam section, so that alone should have been a clue that it's not official.
  
  

  Quote from kitaek27;14646:

  1. Browsing: Many (most) of us browse via "New Posts" function, which will bring up every thread that has a new post in it in chronological order (newest to oldest). This tool serves to make zooming through new posts in the forum simpler, but in this specific case, we had over 10 pages of threads to go through. It actually flips its purpose around and turns it against you.

  
  
  True, but then again, if you paid a little attention to the new posts, you would see where that post is, so it's easy to avoid topics that you don't want to go to because people are bored and being idiots. All it takes is maybe two more seconds of your time.
  
  

  Quote from kitaek27;14646:

  2. Spam board: Ma/b/inogi doesn't exist just so we can literally make a thread where OP says "..." and the responses following are "wut" and "first". The good threads in Ma/b/inogi are forum games, sharing of images/videos that are too off topic to post in the general section, and simple discussions that just don't fit in the Everything else section. Unfortunately, the flood of spam made this place seem otherwise. We lost a few good threads in the wave of spam.

  
  
  It is also someplace for people to vent out and get things out of them. As you said later, a good bit of it is probably just the stress from the migration from Guru, so if they want to take their minds off of it by making a thread that only says "...", then let them. It's not hurting anybody, unless a person has an allergy to ellipses or something.
  
  

  Quote from kitaek27;14646:

  3. It really says a lot to the new visitors and lurkers. We're not here to be a bunch of /b/tards, thats what /b/ is for and thats where we'll go if we wanna be stupid. I can bet you more than a dime that most visitors will be discouraged to join if they see that we managed to get 8 pages worth of spam thread listings and about 2 pages of regular topic based threads in a matter of a few hours.

  
  
  Yes and no. Sure, people who came here for a pure Mabinogi fansite would have been turned off from all of the spamming in one section, and RPing in a different thread, but the thing is, those people are also the kind that comes to ask a question, and then disappear from the face of the planet because they don't need help anymore. As Zeph said in the other thread, it also shows that this place has a great community, since everyone is able to get along really well and have a good time regardless. Isn't that the point of joining a fansite, to be part of a community with similar interests as you and will be willing to have fun with you?
  
  

  Quote from kitaek27;14646:

  4. With the incredibly large amount of posts coming in, there is more need for moderation. It becomes much easier to sneak in something inappropriate and not be discovered for far longer than usual. One extra eye burned at the awful content of the darker depths of the internet is one too much.

  
  
  Again, yes and no. It's true that a potential troll can see it as an opportunity to come in and cause problems and get away with it, since there's so much going on to mask it, but at the same time, if you looked at the spam section, you would see that most of the threads that were made yesterday have gotten at least a page worth of posts in it. So that means some person is bound to see a problem when it happens. And then again, people here are also mature enough not to cause problems in the first place.
  
  

  Quote from kitaek27;14646:

  Second problem to address: ZUFALL
  
  Its an awesome site. I agree. And a lot of things on there are really cool and shareable.
  DON'T POST A NEW THREAD FOR EVERY ZUFALL, SRSLY.
  
  Thats hardcore annoying.
  
  I know I've done my share of posting a thread with a video or a picture to share in the past, but you might as well keep it all under one thread, or hold it back in your favorites somewhere to post it when MOST APPROPRIATE.
  
  I have a large database of images saved on my photobucket that I'd love to share, but I have not yet because it'd be even more epic to post it when its actually on topic or follows well with the discussion at hand.

  
  
  Eh, agree with you on this, but then again, it's the spam section, it's still fairly anything goes within reason.
  
  

  Quote from kitaek27;14646:

  1. User Recognition. Most forumers recognize each other usually not by their name, but by their avatars and signatures. There are actually two reasons why this event makes recognition difficult. Not only are we looking at a changed avatar/signature, but we're also looking at a changed personality. It becomes harder, especially for lurkers or new users, to navigate and make friends.

  
  
  Not true. You seem to forget that on Guru, before I settled down with my Cirno avatar, I changed my avatar and signature at least once a week, and people still knew who I was. Though yes, it's easier for people to recognize things by pictures and images than with words. Can't really argue against the change in personality, could seriously feel my IQ draining away by having to talk like Fighter for a day.
  
  

  Quote from kitaek27;14646:

  2. Forced content on post. In a desperate attempt to fit the role of their character, a user sometimes completely goes out of their way to try to post whatever incoherent nonsense possible while trying to not go off topic. It also takes away from the poster's personality and turns it into information no one really cares about. Example: "Discussion, Which weapon in mabi is your favorite?", Answer from a person RP'ing Fighter: "Swords. I like Swords".
  
  We know Fighter likes swords. What about YOU?

  
  
  Not sure why you used me as an example, since when I did the RP outside of the RP thread and the Spam section, me RPing always came after the serious discussion of the topic, except for when Fighter and my own thoughts were one in the same, in which case I just dumbed down my own way of saying what I was going to say. While yes, some people have taken the RPing way too seriously and brought it with them in everyday discussions without breaking out of character, not everyone has gone overboard with it.
  
  Yea... my thoughts on your counterargument.
• Moppy wrote on 2010-04-22 02:58

  Quote from Lan;14697:

  I can understand the part about Avatars somewhat wWhen Starpaw used the avatar that Zackeh used to use people were a bit confused, same with Mop using Itchy's, well maybe that was just me...

  
  
  Who's Itchy?
  
  Is he some sort of internet dictator/slave driver?
• Lan wrote on 2010-04-22 03:02

  Quote from Moppy;14707:

  Who's Itchy?
  
  Is he some sort of internet dictator/slave driver?

  
  
  The bribing greedy hell spawn of that place faraway.
• Yogurticecream wrote on 2010-04-22 03:10

  Quote from kitaek27;14646:

  1. Browsing: Many (most) of us browse via "New Posts" function, which will bring up every thread that has a new post in it in chronological order (newest to oldest). This tool serves to make zooming through new posts in the forum simpler, but in this specific case, we had over 10 pages of threads to go through. It actually flips its purpose around and turns it against you.

  
  I agree with kitaek on this part in particular, because I'm a user of New Posts. I missed a couple of good discussions because of the floor of spam.
  
  A one day thing is fine, but every month? I also agree it should be at most two-times yearly or a yearly thing.
  
  I'm ok with the RP event though.