Oh look, a shoe

[IdolEyes787]

The Chinese.Give them an inch and they take Hong Kong.

[megabyteme]

The Chinese.Give them an inch and they take Hong Kong.

The Chinese.Give them an inch and they are above average.

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As for the topic at hand:

I have honestly attempted to welcome in members who have shown the slightest bit of interest in actually being a regular member here. Ask a question with more than 5 words in it, and I will make an effort to help them; play in the word games section, and I welcome them personally; introduce yourself without sounding like a basic bitch, and I welcome them. Truth is, you are blaming your contributors for a collection of bad administrative decisions which have cost this board long-time, fun contributors.

[Artemis]

.

Regardless, this is how I see it: I don't know at what point this board "peaked" in activity, but at least since from when I had joined FST, it's pretty clear that recently the board has been declining in activity. I 100% wholeheartedly agree that censorship is counterproductive to the ideals of a forum (although I believe using the word censorship in this context is completely off base and a massive over dramatization of the situation, I am entertaining your thought process). In fact, that's the exact reason I joined the board in the first place when I discovered filesharing rather than some other cesspool of a place like TPS or torrentinvites or some other shit. I think I've pissed off my fair share of tracker staff since my stay here (some tool called fatcat comes to mind) and was never afraid to say whatever the fuck I want since I joined. That's why I joined this forum in the first place.

However, there's another piece of puzzle to a successful forum that you haven't mentioned. And that's actually having a lively discussion. You can't have a lively discussion when all there is is the same 4 regulars rehashing the same things over and over. Forums thrive off having a large base of members talk, debate, and throw ideas off eachother, not 4-5 people circlejerking each other in a thread. In my mind, you simply can't have a successful forum without an adequate userbase with which to circulate topics through. Non censorship is one part of the puzzle, having an adequate member base is the other part.

And that brings me back to where I mentioned the declining activity of the board. It's pretty obvious the activity on the board has been declining recently, and I think that's large in part due to the nature of the board, and that's what we're trying to change. The constant, unnecessary harshing of new members is not needed and only serves to steer away potential contributing members. Yes, a large majority of posters are probably idiots posting to spam their way up to access a certain forum. But that's what the report button is for. Report the spam and move on. The sheer amount of harshing on the forums only serves to scare away potential new members that might actually contribute useful content, as they are afraid that their posts will be met with the same fate (whether or not they actually will).

As a member of the 'circlejerk' as you so charmingly put it, a little bit more effort on your i.e. the staff's part to talk to the regular posters would probably have been a GREAT deal more conducive than a unilateral decision. I do remember in the past when certain members of this forum were included in the teamchat and were actually asked their thoughts and opinions on the board. I do realise this was before you were elevated to the lofty position of moderator here Rart, and is aimed more in general at the moderation team.

Make no mistake this is censorship, whether you believe it is for 'the good of the board' or not, and the way which it was enacted is high handed. While not being quite the drama queen that mj is, this will see even less participation from me since to be quite honest most of the moronic posts in the sub-forums which have been quoted before are boring as fuck, and are a deep insult to my intelligence. Even when there is an attempt to have an intelligent conversation it is drowned out by those who post based on the thread title, not the actual content of the thread. In other words most of the forum threads are turning into one line 'list(s)' of shit people like or do not like, it is honestly like being back in school or even pre-school.

It is actually this general dumbing down which is causing a lack of posting, there are only so many things you can say in reply to moronic posts, and in general I find it quite difficult to be supportive of morons since I do not suffer fools glady.

The majority of these posters only reply once in any given thread anyway, and are then off to cast pearls of wisdom when they see another thread title that they can post a one-line reply to, this has nothing to do with the circlejerk and having a conducive atmosphere for this activity will ensure that it continues, which in itself is a self fulfilling prophecy, since there will just be lists, no active debate, and therefore less responses.

I could carry on with further examples, but your measures will ensure less, not more posting on this board.


In conclusion, fuck you.

A member of the circlejerk.

[megabyteme]

As a member of the 'circlejerk' as you so charmingly put it

IKR. That's called 'appreciation'. The underlying message here is that the site would be better off without the only people who actually contribute here. That will make the once-thriving site whole again. Truth is that policies have been made NOT for the continued flourishing discussions, but to accommodate those who are willing to donate for the sole purpose of avoiding a 15 day waiting period to grab a NZB.

RealtY has repeatedly made decisions that have driven active members away. Now that there aren't enough of those interesting contributors to draw interest in the site, those of us who are contributing are getting the blame for these administrative fuckups monetizing efforts.

[Rart]

As a member of the 'circlejerk' as you so charmingly put it, a little bit more effort on your i.e. the staff's part to talk to the regular posters would probably have been a GREAT deal more conducive than a unilateral decision. I do remember in the past when certain members of this forum were included in the teamchat and were actually asked their thoughts and opinions on the board. I do realise this was before you were elevated to the lofty position of moderator here Rart, and is aimed more in general at the moderation team.

I sincerely apologize for the use of the word "circlejerk". I know it's hard to detect sincerity in online posts, but that came off completely different from what I meaning to convey and was a very poor choice of words. Perhaps a better term would've been "clique/social group/inner circle" or something like that. I meant to convey that there's a group of regulars that post consistently, often with references, terms and inside jokes that make navigating the site extremely difficult for newcomers. That is fine in it's own right, but when combined with the entire group harshing on every random idiot that posts something inane, it can look incredibly unwelcoming to anyone who isn't as familiar with the site as you or me. Is it really that hard to just report the post and move on?

Make no mistake this is censorship, whether you believe it is for 'the good of the board' or not, and the way which it was enacted is high handed.

Sure. It is censorship. It's censorship in the same way that we delete posts to copyrighted content, delete posts containing racism, delete posts of excessive hostility (which we have always done), etc. We delete posts if they are against the rules of the site. I never said it wasn't censorship, I said it was necessary to improve what I mentioned was the 2nd half of a successful forum.

to be quite honest most of the moronic posts in the sub-forums which have been quoted before are boring as fuck, and are a deep insult to my intelligence. Even when there is an attempt to have an intelligent conversation it is drowned out by those who post based on the thread title, not the actual content of the thread. In other words most of the forum threads are turning into one line 'list(s)' of shit people like or do not like, it is honestly like being back in school or even pre-school...and in general I find it quite difficult to be supportive of morons since I do not suffer fools glady....he majority of these posters only reply once in any given thread anyway, and are then off to cast pearls of wisdom when they see another thread title that they can post a one-line reply to.

Sure. I agree that it's a problem. But how does that explain/justify instantly harshing every member that does so? As I said, just report the post and move on. The mods will delete the post/infract accordingly.

having a conducive atmosphere for this activity will ensure that it continues

We're not trying to create a conducive atmosphere for this activity. We just don't think it's necessary for the regulars of the board to harsh on someone every time they make an inane post. I'm repeating myself again, but report the post and we'll delete it/infract the user accordingly.

The underlying message here is that the site would be better off without the only people who actually contribute here.

One thing I also don't understand is how a lot of members here seem that this is somehow a giant fuck you to the regulars of the board, and I don't think that is in any way the intent. We want on topic sections to stay on topic. You can continue using the lounge as usual, continue posting on filesharing threads if it tickles your fancy, etc. We just don't want you unnecessarily harshing every newbie that posts on (on topic) sections of the board. You guys are taking it like it's the apocalypse.

Also you guys are so keen on staff-member interaction, but given how much I'm trying to communicate with you guys here I'm the one getting all the flak. I love this board a lot and am trying to explain a policy that I think will be beneficial the board overall, but I'm the one getting all the fuck yous. Hopefully that's just cause you think I'm an asshole for using the term circlejerk and can hopefully accept from my apology that I meant no ill intent in that. But if that's your general attitude regardless of my poor choice of words, than I can start to understand the reluctance in the older staff members in engaging in conversations about these matters.

[megabyteme]

How else should we take a policy change aimed directly at the handful of us who regularly contribute?

[Rart]

As to what it is at face value. Calling it a message that "the site would be better off without the only people who actually contribute here" is an extreme over exaggeration.

[megabyteme]

As to what it is at face value. Calling it a message that "the site would be better off without the only people who actually contribute here" is an extreme over exaggeration.

It honestly feels like it. Yesterday, I did not post for most of the day, and I had strongly considered not doing so for an entire week. Mary would not have said his goodbye if he did not feel the same way. I'm here because of the interactions I have with "the circlejerks". Their numbers are dwindling, and making a policy against 'us' has already caused one more to leave.

I go out of my way to welcome anyone who seems like they are worth two digital keypresses. I don't see the mods contributing nearly as much as the "circlejerks". You want to make newcomers feel welcome, be welcoming to them. Join in. That's what Idol's Mods I Hate thread was about- getting you to actually join in, Rart.

[IdolEyes787]

Let me tell you a little story that you don't want to hear.
Everyone who starts out racing bicycles spends much of their initial experience getting dropped.

Those that care about what they are doing suffer but persevere until finally they aren't getting dropped anymore.Those that don't care simply give up.

Simple fact of racing.Simple fact of life.

[IdolEyes787]

That's what Idol's Mods I Hate thread was about- getting you to actually join in, Rart.

That and hating Rart.