Post Flags: New feature

[Chase]

We've introduced a post flagging system to help sort out posts the community doesn't like.

Right now you're able to flag a post if you're Rank 3 (Cro-Magnon Man) or up. Different ranks' votes carry different weights.

We may / likely will modify who can flag and how much each rank's flag votes are worth, as we're just setting this up.

At present, we have five (5) flag categories:

• Keyboard Jockey: someone giving speculative hypothetical advice he hasn't actually tested in the field (e.g., a guy posting something he obviously hasn't ever actually tried, like "Here's something I think would work really well: walk up to a group of girls and ask them 'Which one of you is tonight's lucky lady?' You'll have to be really ballsy to pull this off though")
  
  
• Troll: you know what this is. Someone who is here to have fun at the expense of other forum members, either by saying ridiculous things or by mocking people
  
  
• Flame War: when a guy is just dishing out insults, attacks, condescension, and other assorted rude remarks to a member he has a bone to pick with
  
  
• Spam: if someone is just pushing the same repetitive topic to an annoying degree, he is spamming the Boards with it. If a post is REAL spam, please use the "Report" function and we'll moderate it out. However, if someone is spamming the Boards with annoying stuff that is not commercial or promotional (e.g., like some of our perpetual race or age thread posters posting this stuff again and again, etc.), use the spam flag to call it out
  
  
• Askhole: a guy who asks questions then never follows the advice / always has an excuse why advice will not work for him. Usually a guy should have a pattern of this behavior before you start flagging him for it

The mods will keep an eye on flags.

Please ONLY flag posts where you see a specific behavior.

If a guy is an "askhole", for instance, that does not mean you flag every post he makes as "askhole."

No personal vendettas please.

Only flag a post as "askhole" if he exhibits askhole behavior IN that post.

All right, that's it for now.

Hopefully this helps discourage some of the bad behavior we've seen certain members get up to... and in a way that will be FUN for the rest of us (you're going to like these little icons we picked out for this)

Chase

 

[Chase]

Couple more flags we've added:

• Derailing: posts that cause a thread to veer off the stated or clearly intended subject of the thread (this is uncool; if you want to talk about something else, start a new thread, don't hijack someone else's)
  
  
• Whining: don't abuse this please. Don't hit new guys for this or legitimate tough situations. Probably you should save this for repeat whiners.
  
  
• looksmoneystatus: we've had a million debates about "It's all looks" "It's all money" "It's all status" over the years. At this point anyone who is debating "It's all X" (even if X is "It's all pickup skills, nothing else matters!") we have to assume is a troll... or totally clueless. "looksmoneystatus" is an easy way of pointing out these posts, which are sort of gray area for marking as a "troll"

We might revise the list more and make a few more tweaks as we go.

Chase

 

[Bacchus]

Just a suggestion here.

Perhaps it would be more pragmatic. . . to have an automatic, or temporary ban after amassing a certain number of flags. Because while it can be very enjoyable to label useless posts. Or to poke at the egos of these posters. . . I don't really think that on its own is enough of a deterrent.

I know this may seem like a harsh suggestion to some guys reading this. I won't even bother arguing with anyone who holds that opinion.

On the other hand, we already lost @Razorjack, to what seems to me. . . was a lack of adequate discouragement. Seeing as this is the last forum and bastion of our empirical community. It would be real a shame to lose more skilled seducers. . . due to the compulsive behaviors of some troublemakers.

 

[Mike Silvertree]

We want to be fair to people, and really do discuss punitive action before we do it. If it was automatic, someone with a beef against you could get a few of his buddies to join in and have you suspended before we could deliberate and decide. It takes a while for us to come to a resolution because the Moderators are literally all over the world, and in very different time zones, and on different schedules, so any one discussion takes several days.

We are trying our best to improve this place, and taking care of senior posters is one of my pet projects. The flagging system would work better if more people used it. We need feedback from the community. Thanks for yours. We will discuss your point.

I know that all forums attract jerks and trolls. I have been posting on forums since 1996, and on some of them I have been a top poster and expert, and I know what it is like to put a lot of work into a major post and have idiots disagree for stupid reasons, even citing concepts I debunked in that very post. It is just part of the territory, and you have to realize that while those idiots are annoying, a thousand other people will be helped by your post, and take satisfaction in that.

 

[Gunwitch]

Couple more flags we've added:

• looksmoneystatus: we've had a million debates about "It's all looks" "It's all money" "It's all status" over the years. At this point anyone who is debating "It's all X" (even if X is "It's all pickup skills, nothing else matters!") we have to assume is a troll... or totally clueless. "looksmoneystatus" is an easy way of pointing out these posts, which are sort of gray area for marking as a "troll"

Thats gotten WAY worse lately.

Unless someone is ridiculing that, they need to go away. IT'S A PUA FORUM! Put me in coach, make me a mod and ill go Draconian on that particular one. THATS 5th column annoying troll thing in current community.

Gun

 

[Bacchus]

We want to be fair to people, and really do discuss punitive action before we do it. If it was automatic, someone with a beef against you could get a few of his buddies to join in and have you suspended before we could deliberate and decide. It takes a while for us to come to a resolution because the Moderators are literally all over the world, and in very different time zones, and on different schedules, so any one discussion takes several days.

These are good points.

I don't know how to moderate an online forum and I won't pretend like I do. All I can do is provide feedback as a poster. . . based on what I see. And while I will make a conscious effort to use the flagging system here. . . more frequently. My main concern surrounds the time-frame regarding punishment, corrective action. . . or something similar. Even if there are only a few troublemakers, the longer they can make trouble, the worse things get around here.

I know that all forums attract jerks and trolls. I have been posting on forums since 1996, and on some of them I have been a top poster and expert, and I know what it is like to put a lot of work into a major post and have idiots disagree for stupid reasons, even citing concepts I debunked in that very post. It is just part of the territory, and you have to realize that while those idiots are annoying, a thousand other people will be helped by your post, and take satisfaction in that.

I agree its probably impossible to avoid such experiences while posting on internet forums.

Sometimes I even end up reconstructing long forum posts as GC articles instead. It avoids just about all of the KJ responses, asinine disagreements, trolling and nonsensical conversation. However it also removes a lot of potential. . . for what I would call meaningful dialogue as well.

I believe the advanced sub-forum was created for these types of practical, cutting-edge and innovative discussions. What's more is due to the nature of some of these posts I'd like to share. . . I know they would function better with discussion. But in all honesty I think the posting rank there is far too low.

 

[Chase]

Unless someone is ridiculing that, they need to go away. IT'S A PUA FORUM! Put me in coach, make me a mod and ill go Draconian on that particular one. THATS 5th column annoying troll thing in current community.

You volunteering, Gun?

Or just kidding around?

My main concern surrounds the time-frame regarding punishment, corrective action. . . or something similar. Even if there are only a few troublemakers, the longer they can make trouble, the worse things get around here.

We've tried to speed it up recently. It's easier with more mods now.

I've banned a few users of late who got on and started targeting senior members right away, or otherwise causing instant trouble.

We also figured out a certain troll (to remain nameless... cough name includes 'mikey' cough) was making various accounts, posing alternately as a newbie, a pro, a black man, a white man, a Tinder expert, and so on. We've made some upgrades to how the forum handles that and seem to have put a stop to that for now.

So hopefully it is improving.

If we are still taking too long, feel free to prod us.

Trying to walk the line between keeping discussion open here, and having healthy debate, and allowing people to disagree, without having it descend into outright trolling or flame warring, etc.

I believe the advanced sub-forum was created for these types of practical, cutting-edge and innovative discussions. What's more is due to the nature of some of these posts I'd like to share. . . I know they would function better with discussion. But in all honesty I think the posting rank there is far too low.

At present, members must be Rank 3 (Cro-Magnon Man) to start a new thread, Rank 2 (Tool-Bearing Hominid) to post a reply to an existing thread.

Think we should change this up? Any suggestions for what it should be?

Chase

 

[Starboy]

We've tried to speed it up recently. It's easier with more mods now.

I've banned a few users of late who got on and started targeting senior members right away, or otherwise causing instant trouble.

We also figured out a certain troll (to remain nameless... cough name includes 'mikey' cough) was making various accounts, posing alternately as a newbie, a pro, a black man, a white man, a Tinder expert, and so on. We've made some upgrades to how the forum handles that and seem to have put a stop to that.

Chase

I thought you guys have ip bans to block out guys who will make multiple accounts. Or is that an extreme measure and one you try to avoid doing if unnecessary. Also how do you rank up from a space monkey? Do you need Lrs?

 

[Bacchus]

We've tried to speed it up recently. It's easier with more mods now.

I've banned a few users of late who got on and started targeting senior members right away, or otherwise causing instant trouble.

We also figured out a certain troll (to remain nameless... cough name includes 'mikey' cough) was making various accounts, posing alternately as a newbie, a pro, a black man, a white man, a Tinder expert, and so on. We've made some upgrades to how the forum handles that and seem to have put a stop to that for now.

So hopefully it is improving.

If we are still taking too long, feel free to prod us.

Trying to walk the line between keeping discussion open here, and having healthy debate, and allowing people to disagree, without having it descend into outright trolling or flame warring, etc.

Totally understandable.

Glad to hear the pace has been picked up. . . with the inclusion of more mods. I've personally been very impressed with the staff's thread-locking initiative of late. But yeah I'll do my part and report posts from those posters, that seem unable to resist. . . stinking things up on this forum.

At present, members must be Rank 3 (Cro-Magnon Man) to start a new thread, Rank 2 (Tool-Bearing Hominid) to post a reply to an existing thread.

Think we should change this up? Any suggestions for what it should be?

My suggestion is that moving forward, only the Tribal Elders would be allowed, to start new threads in Advanced. And the Modern Humans. . . should replace the Tool Bearing Hominid rank there. . . with the ability to reply and engage in the discussions inside existing threads.

 

[Skills]

You volunteering, Gun?

Or just kidding around?




We've tried to speed it up recently. It's easier with more mods now.

I've banned a few users of late who got on and started targeting senior members right away, or otherwise causing instant trouble.

We also figured out a certain troll (to remain nameless... cough name includes 'mikey' cough) was making various accounts, posing alternately as a newbie, a pro, a black man, a white man, a Tinder expert, and so on. We've made some upgrades to how the forum handles that and seem to have put a stop to that for now.

So hopefully it is improving.

If we are still taking too long, feel free to prod us.

Trying to walk the line between keeping discussion open here, and having healthy debate, and allowing people to disagree, without having it descend into outright trolling or flame warring, etc.



At present, members must be Rank 3 (Cro-Magnon Man) to start a new thread, Rank 2 (Tool-Bearing Hominid) to post a reply to an existing thread.

Think we should change this up? Any suggestions for what it should be?

Chase

We just need to be careful with labels including myself, cause they are posters that for whatever reason don't translate well in writing, or are in a flunk or whatever. For example natural Mike is similar to another poster in sedfast called Jack giant good looking guys that have different experiences due to being good looking. Mainly natural type that do not translate well, btw I bumped heads with natural Mike, Opry and Jack giant , and rolled my eyes to stuff they say but, are they kj or trolls. Those are guys that have met with members, they have pictures of girls etc... my point let's give people the benefit of the doubt even if we don't agree with them or find them annoying.that is natural Mike

 

[Gunwitch]

You volunteering, Gun?

Or just kidding around?

To run a forum it has to be a labor of love, willingness to put in the work, time and be a statesman on the subject.

To be an admin takes irritation with those flaunting the rules, and a desire to protect those who contribute the most from the people looking to undermine them. Harsher that situation gets the more people need to be reminded this is cyberspace not real life, they don't have a "right to exist" here, it's a privilege to learn the topic at hand.

Totally volunteer for sure.


Gun

 

[DarkKnight]

they don't have a "right to exist" here, it's a privilege to learn the topic at hand.

Well worded

 

[DarkKnight]

I find that there are a lot of clutter nonsensical posts which degrade the quality of the forum. For instance the legendary race whining... or overemotional posts which cry out desperation but lack coherence.. I can go on. Perhaps it is a good idea to actually let posts be approved first before they are published on the boards...

 

[Train]

Might be good to limit the amount of posts that a single person can make within a certain time period. Maybe just for the new guys. Forum was looking spammed with multiple threads by some guys.

 

[Chase]

@Bacchus,

My suggestion is that moving forward, only the Tribal Elders would be allowed, to start new threads in Advanced. And the Modern Humans. . . should replace the Tool Bearing Hominid rank there. . . with the ability to reply and engage in the discussions inside existing threads.

We discussed among the mods, liked the suggestion -- and it is done.

Assuming I got the permissions right on the first try, of course

Everyone can read, Modern Humans can reply, react, tag, and vote on polls, and Tribal Elders only can start new threads.


@Gunwitch,

Awesome.

I brought it up to the rest of the mods/admins, and they agree.

I'll get you inducted!


@DarkKnight,

I find that there are a lot of clutter nonsensical posts which degrade the quality of the forum. For instance the legendary race whining... or overemotional posts which cry out desperation but lack coherence.. I can go on. Perhaps it is a good idea to actually let posts be approved first before they are published on the boards...

The challenge here is if everything goes into a mod queue, and no mods hop on for 12 hours... well, this place gets dead pretty quick.

And first I thought "maybe we'd just do that for Space Monkeys and below."

But what's the first thing you want when you sign up for a forum? To post your thread, and get instant feedback... I suspect we'd lose a lot of guys if they post something, then have to wait hours for approval... they will just go and not come back to check the responses.

One possibility might be taking any known trouble makers and putting them into a time-out box, where these specific users require moderator permission to post a new thread.

Main thing here is avoiding overburdening the mods -- I'll make sure they see this proposal and see what they have to say.


@Train,

Looks like there is not a good way to do that in the forum at present.

I agree that might be helpful, especially for brand new members: "You just started a thread. Please wait a while." "You started 3 threads in the last 60 minutes. Please wait a while."

I'll check with Haseeb if there's an existing plugin that lets us do that.

Chase