Can we do something about posting for posts sake?

[D'Snowth]

That happens over time.

Looking back, MC now isn't the same as it was, say, at the turn of the decade... and even then, it wasn't the same as it was back from like 2005 to maybe 2008. And THEN, it was the same as it was back from day one to 2005.

The major consensus with many of the old timers who aren't here anymore is that MC has gotten to "high school" in recent years, in that there's far too much drama among the forum that kind of ruins the fun atmosphere of it.

From my own experiences, I can say that MC did seem a lot more carefree, laid back, and relaxed, but I think that's mostly due to the more active members at that time (myself included) were mostly teenagers who not only had more freetime, but also had little to no responsibility... now that group has grown up, are out in the real world, have responsibility and such, so they're pretty much gone now. At the same time, however, there was a period of time, I'd say maybe from 2009 to 2011 or so, there was a lot of "high school" drama on MC: people whining about nobody liking them, people complaining they feel MC was a popularity contest they were losing, so on and so forth. That's kind of calmed down in the last couple of years, but now we have this... if it's not one thing, it's another, and it didn't used to be this way.

EDIT: Daaaaang! I just got ziffeled FIVE TIMES!

In fact, just to touch on this a little more, from my ten years being here, I can pretty much classify each era of MC based on the atmosphere of the community.

2002-2004: Impersonal. I don't mean the people here were impersonal or anything, I just mean the forum was just a forum, it had no community atmosphere to it whatsoever... but then again, it was a much smaller crowd then.

2005-2008: That's when things really picked up. MC slowly started to grow, and more and more people started coming out their shells, they started bonding, forming friendships, developing a real community. I attribute a lot of it to That Announcer, he really coaxed people out of their comfort zones and stirred up interest in people.

2008-2009: The community continued to grow, but at the same time, things also started to get slightly cliquish around here. There was still a general peacefulness and relaxed feeling in the atmosphere, but it's like there was an unwritten need for people to fit in with one certain group of people or another (this was especially true of the fanfiction section).

2010-2011: As I mentioned earlier, this was when things really started to get like high school dramatics. Lots of whining about popularity contests, disputes and flame wars were becoming more commonplace, there was always something negative going on... at the same time, there were also whining about the negativity, so it was a double-edged sword: on the one hand, there were people who would always hold pity parties for themselves because they weren't popular or they felt like nobody liked them, but on the other hand, other people were complaining that the negativity was ruining the entire forum for everybody else. It's like a happy median couldn't be reached, nobody could be pleased with anything.

2012-present: Aside from current problem that this thread is discussing, the community is generally more settled down now, but still lacks the overall charm and personality it once had, but as I've said before, as long as it's been, and as long as MC has grown and evolved over the years, I doubt it'll ever be like it was again.

 

[Drtooth]

Well I can certainly be on-board with locking old threads. But MC is not unique to this problem. Perhaps though that instead of deleting posts or being offended by them we take the time to gently educate the poster. It may be basic internet etiquette to you or I but maybe it isn't to that poster. Maybe he's just inexperienced in forums.

For the most part, a good friendly reminder can work. And when it doesn't (certainly didn't with that member), then what? Not to mention we have forum rules. If we can add some forum suggestions that every new member should read, it can clear up some confusion.

It's not about punishing random members, it's about keeping the forum free of clutter posts and threads. Especially ones based on dormant projects. A new reply will always seem like some news (inside or otherwise), or at least a conversation. To open it up to find nonsense is welcoming disappointment.

 

[AquaGGR]

2012-present: Aside from current problem that this thread is discussing, the community is generally more settled down now, but still lacks the overall charm and personality it once had, but as I've said before, as long as it's been, and as long as MC has grown and evolved over the years, I doubt it'll ever be like it was again.

I've only been a member here for less than two months, but it seems a little too laid back here. It kinda lacks energy and overall forum activity. Sometimes a whole day goes by with me getting mostly one-word responses from spammers. I have yet to see actual muffining, or something really exciting.

If you ask me, posts made in the games section should not add to the post count. In almost every single forum I've been on, the games section never counts as posts.​

I really like this idea. You could boost your post count in minutes using the "One Word Story" thread. I also think that there should be some system where members have to have [x] number of posts, must be an active/well-known member, or somethin' like that to access the Games section, to prevent annoying one-word posts or off-topicness.

 

[MuppetsRule]

I really like this idea. You could boost your post count in minutes using the "One Word Story" thread. I also think that there should be some system where members have to have [x] number of posts, must be an active/well-known member, or somethin' like that to access the Games section, to prevent annoying one-word posts or off-topicness.

Can somebody explain the importance of post counts? Why are we so concerned about somebody's post count? Does it really matter if somebody has 100 posts or 1600 posts?

 

[AquaGGR]

I don't really mean post count, more like if what they've posted isn't just "LOL", "i dont", et cetera, so they can be sure that the user won't spam the Games section.

The actual number of posts someone has doesn't really matter.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Can somebody explain the importance of post counts? Why are we so concerned about somebody's post count? Does it really matter if somebody has 100 posts or 1600 posts?

Ok...you are starting to irritate me. You are being as hard headed as the people who CAN'T be educated that what they are doing is spam. You are criticizing a MOD for deleting posts. He can delete whatever post he feels like. On any other forum, attacking a mod and their decision to delete things would get you banned. You are the only one here that is continuing this argument.

You are also missing the point that post count does matter to some people. You seem to have completely missed the point that some members have admitted to posting one word replies just to get their post count up. In fact, the way you are getting so defensive over it, I might even say post count matters to you in that way.

No, I don't want to hear anything about me being top poster. That is moot and irrelevant but I can't help but think you would bring it up anyway.

 

[D'Snowth]

Okay, okay, let's stop the hostilities and just simplify things so we can get the point across.

A) Post counts don't really matter, especially since MC switched from vBulletine to XenForo, where we don't even really see post counts anymore.

2) Mods delete posts that serve no purpose, and we did kind of muffin this thread by doing exactly what we were complaining about.

D) There's absolutely nothing wrong with the same people posting, "Yeah", "Okay, "I agree", "Me too", "No" over and over and over and over again, we're all just old and cranky fuddy-duddies.

 

[dwayne1115]

(throws Muffins at old fuddy-duddies) speak for yourself Dude I'm as young as they come and can muffin with the best of them! Just kidding? here have a cupcake.

 

[MuppetsRule]

Ok...you are starting to irritate me. You are being as hard headed as the people who CAN'T be educated that what they are doing is spam. You are criticizing a MOD for deleting posts. He can delete whatever post he feels like. On any other forum, attacking a mod and their decision to delete things would get you banned. You are the only one here that is continuing this argument.

You are also missing the point that post count does matter to some people. You seem to have completely missed the point that some members have admitted to posting one word replies just to get their post count up. In fact, the way you are getting so defensive over it, I might even say post count matters to you in that way.

No, I don't want to hear anything about me being top poster. That is moot and irrelevant but I can't help but think you would bring it up anyway.

Well, I don't even know how to reply to this. I certainly didn't mean to attack anybody and if it came across that way, I apologize.

Can we set aside the whole discussion about post-count because I think my larger point is being missed? I guess I'm not making myself clear (and perhaps that's why I don't post here that much). I'm trying to understand what makes a post "worthy" to be kept or not. What are the criteria? My fear is that by deleting posts or threads, MC might come across as being less welcoming to new members or even "old" members like me. I know if I'm posting here and my posts are being deleted, I'm going to be less likely to post things on here. And that would make me feel unwelcome on here. That's not the message MC should be sending.

I'll give an example. A couple of weeks ago I started a thread on the new version of the television show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?". That thread was deleted almost immediately. I still don't know why. It was posted in the correct forum. There have been other threads started on other television shows. I know from other posts and conversations that there are fans of the show here. (D'Snowth and his crush on Kathy Greenwood comes to mind ) But the thread was deleted anyway. I'm not sure why. Now look at it from my perspective. I started a thread on a show that I thought people here might be interested in. That thread was deleted without explanation. Is that going to make me feel welcome here? Is that going to make me more or less likely to want to contribute here with threads or posts?

I guess my larger point (which seems to be getting lost in the whole post count discussion) is that by going happy with the deletions you run the risk of alienating people. I know it is an annoyance when people bump old threads or post for posting sake but to me that's the inconvenience you put up with. I'd rather err on the side of being open and welcoming as a community than on the side of alienating people.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

I'll give an example. A couple of weeks ago I started a thread on the new version of the television show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?". That thread was deleted almost immediately. I still don't know why. It was posted in the correct forum. But the thread was deleted anyway. I'm not sure why. Now look at it from my perspective. I started a thread on a show that I thought people here might be interested in. That thread was deleted without explanation. Is that going to make me feel welcome here? Is that going to make me more or less likely to want to contribute here with threads or posts?

That usually happens when there are two threads of the same topic. (Which is exactly the case here.) The thread is usually either deleted, or combined with an existing thread.

Muppetboy had a thread on it a while back. I'll find it for you.

EDIT: http://www.muppetcentral.com/forum/threads/the-return-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway.54219/

http://www.muppetcentral.com/forum/threads/whose-line-is-it-anyway.54694/