Forums Guidelines.

mclemore

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From people's various public and private comments it is clear some understand the basic forum guidelines ('do not abuse others'), and others would like more clarification. Clearly due to the quantity and substance of the posts, a more elaborate written policy is in order.

There have been a few posts asking for that. I've posted information about this today, but apparently it hasn't been seen by all.

In short. We are working on said guidelines, and I'm hoping for a draft by next Wednesday (for now, see above: 'do not abuse others'). It's a lot of work. When the judgment about others behavior is always going to be subjective, making longer (rather than simple) guidelines isn't always the solution to the problem.

We are looking at policies on other sites and researching lessons learned elsewhere.

Guidelines isn't the only piece of the puzzle. And 'personal attacks and abuse' isn't the only issue. Another issue is what I'll call 'twitter/banter' and another piece of the puzzle is forum structure.

Another issue is what I might call the tryanny of those with a lot of free time. A lot of klov members have emailed me over the years saying they are either leaving the forums, or not joining because of the low signal to noise ratio here...that is, that there are constantly new junk posts in threads that make it tough for people with low inclination to this or little time.

Obviously trying to clamp down on what I like to call the banter wouldn't be appreciated by all, and isn't easily achieved through moderation.

The first attempt to address this second problem was the creation of what is currently called the Chat About Almost Anything forum. It clearly helped a lot, but not fully.

Possible choices now include:

(1) keep things the way they are, structure wise.
(2) create some new forum sections, ie:
(a) events, auctions, and shows annoucements; or
(b) maybe a Newsflash/Important topics section where important annoucements and newsworthy events could be posted but not in the same section as 'anyone have a photo of an gamename pcb?'.
(c) while on the topic of new sections, how about a 'New Member Welcome' section. I saw it work well on another board. New members could post: "i'm new, this is who I am, this is what I collect...etc.' and everyone else could welcome them...
(3) a chatroom. Adding a chatroom to the forums is a tough topic. It is inviting a free-for-all, though there are possible plusses
(a) the 'crap' wouldn't get indexed by Google
(b) it might remove some of the banter etc from the boards.... or then again, wars might start there that move to the regular forum sections.
(4) social groups. If the feature was turned on, members could create their own mini forum sections etc, and allow only those members they would want in. And back to the 'banter' problem it might help pull some out of the regular forums. Social groups seems to have extremely mixed success on other forums, which is why it isn't on here already.

The guidelines for behavior, and for mod action, wouldn't necessarily be the same for chat rooms and social groups.

As we look at how both work on other sites, it will become clearer if we should try chatrooms and/or social groups. Those answers effect the guidelines.

It's a reason it's going to take a few days. I'm running out of time for the forums for the next several hours, and possibly the rest of the night.

This is a good thread to give me any thoughts about guidelines, moderation, chat rooms, social groups, new forum sections, etc. If your views are controversial or overly critical, please pm them instead.

Please keep most of the off topic and joke responses out of this thread, lest it break the 100 response count sooner than necessary.
 
a private msg I just received brought up another point.

In addition to chat or social groups, other areas could be set up where abusive posts or banter could occur... in anothr forum section. Such a forum could be closed to new users and have to be explicity joined by any member. Then it would automatically be avoided by new members by default, and by Google...

I have mixed thoughts about this...but just mentioning it.

And it brings up another subject. The Chat About Almost Anything section. Right now those threads don't expire for over 5 years. Does anyone (or Google for that matter) really need an archive on those threads past a certain point?
 
The Trader Rating section was also added so users could see who was trusted, but also to try and pull some of the fights out of the forums.

Speaking of which...for all the complaints about 'user has not given my circuit boards back', etc. etc., as far as I have seen, no one has given anyone else a negative or neutral trader rating yet.
 
Is there any concept of allowing the original poster of a thread to moderate it? The for sale section really needs this. It would come in handy elsewhere when threads go awry. The OP usually has the most vested interest in keeping their thread on topic.
 
"Obviously trying to clamp down on what I like to call the banter wouldn't be appreciated by all, and isn't easily achieved through moderation."


Are you referring to "banter" in the threads or off topic threads?

I like the banter, rather than change the "general arcade discussion" section, how about a couple of more sterile sections. A "welcome" section as you suggested and maybe a "what is this/how much is it worth section". If you get rid of the banter I think the site will lose a lot of members. There are plenty of places to google manuals and help for arcade games, part of the fun here is interacting with other like minded people. Sometimes.... like in life people disagree, I don't think you can or should moderate that out.


One thing I have noticed though in other forums, is more sections fractures the user base and is counter productive sometimes.
 
I just spent a few minutes looking and the software doesn't do this. I looked at vbulletin support forums and a small number of admins have been asking for this feature at least as far back as 2005.

Nice idea though...


Is there any concept of allowing the original poster of a thread to moderate it? The for sale section really needs this. It would come in handy elsewhere when threads go awry. The OP usually has the most vested interest in keeping their thread on topic.
 
I'm extremely aware of that which is why it doesn't happen very often. If there were any new sections, there wouldn't be many of them.

One thing I have noticed though in other forums, is more sections fractures the user base and is counter productive sometimes.
 
its funny after all this time rules get brought in. It took me 3 months and some random person on another msg board to get my password on here after i pm'ed mods many times without ever getting a response. I would second the notion of adding a set of forums that you have to choose to enter and if you do there are no rules. problem solved.
 
I just spent a few minutes looking and the software doesn't do this. I looked at vbulletin support forums and a small number of admins have been asking for this feature at least as far back as 2005.

Nice idea though...
How about setting up some rules as was suggested before for the for sale area, an example would be what I posted in the chat about anything section in the price police thread, I'll copy them here (note these are stolen directly from the neo-geo forum rules):
6.1. The location field of a user's profile should CORRECTLY identify where the user is located.

6.2. Market forums are for buying, selling, and trading only. They are not for extraneous discussion. Please post outside discussions in the proper forum outside of the Market forums.

6.3. Within the Market forums, threads regarding good or bad experiences with a seller or buyer should be posted in the Feedback Forum.

6.4. Sales threads should not be "bumped" (posted in by the seller to move to the top of the forum) for 24 hours. This includes having someone else bump one's thread. The only exception is for update indicating that something is no longer for sale or available.

6.5. No user may have more than one current thread in each of the three sales-related Market forums (SNK Selling, SNK Wanted, Everything Else). If a user has multiple items for sale (or that they want to buy or trade), they should list them all in one thread.

6.6. If all items listed in a sales thread are sold (or that are wanted have been bought), please update that thread to let other users know.

6.7. There is to be no "poisoning" of other users sales threads, e.g.: if a seller is selling something for $100, posting that the same item is available eBay for $70 would be considered "poisoning" the thread. These forums operate under the view that it is each buyer's responsibility to research the fair market price for an item.

6.8. Do not disrupt another seller's thread unless the seller has been identified as a scammer.

6.9. Selling threads regarding auctions should be identified as such in the title.

6.10. The titles for all threads should clearly state what is for sale, wanted or trade. Vague and/or misleading titles are subject to action by Moderators and Administrators.

6.11. Only list items for sale that are actually in your possession. Do not list items that are for a friend or other third party unless the item is actually in your possession.
I know it would create extra work for the Mods in the FS forums, but I really think it would help, and motivate more people to actually sell their items here...
 
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(2) create some new forum sections, ie:
(a) events, auctions, and shows annoucements; or
(b) maybe a Newsflash/Important topics section where important annoucements and newsworthy events could be posted but not in the same section as 'anyone have a photo of an gamename pcb?'.
(c) while on the topic of new sections, how about a 'New Member Welcome' section. I saw it work well on another board. New members could post: "i'm new, this is who I am, this is what I collect...etc.' and everyone else could welcome them....

I think all of these are fantastic ideas. Maybe even make it a requirement for all new users to post first in the new member welcome section before they can post in the other forums...
 
People derailing for sale threads need to be dealt with. Positive comments are one thing like " nice game", but the price police comments need to go away imho.

Obviously personal attacks need to be dealt with. I still disagree with the rampant parting of nice games. I also wonder why someone like [admin edited user name out. After everything this week, people are still slinging personal attacks? ] isnt banned permanently. Can you explain that one for us ? People like him drive away the quality people. There are a LOT of antagonists that offer zero to the arcade community and are allowed to spam like crazy. Right now Klov is all quantity and very little quality.
 
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Come on Arc... we don't need yet another thread locked.

Admin & team, could we get a Monitor Repair section added and split off the monitor threads to that section. It would sure help clean up things in the repair area.

I'd even volunteer to temporarily have enough power to move the threads over to the monitor section if you needed the help.

RJ
 
Admin & team, could we get a Monitor Repair section added and split off the monitor threads to that section. It would sure help clean up things in the repair area.

I'd even volunteer to temporarily have enough power to move the threads over to the monitor section if you needed the help.

I think this is a great idea. Perhaps a "Repairs" category with multiple forums designed for specific types of repairs. This will need to be discussed in more detail, but I DO like the idea and have no idea why I hadn't thought of that already :p
 
People derailing for sale threads need to be dealt with. Positive comments are one thing like " nice game", but the price police comments need to go away imho.

Obviously personal attacks need to be dealt with. I still disagree with the rampant parting of nice games. I also wonder why someone like [name edited] isnt banned permanently. Can you explain that one for us ? People like him drive away the quality people. There are a LOT of antagonists that offer zero to the arcade community and are allowed to spam like crazy. Right now Klov is all quantity and very little quality.

And again proof who and what really needs dealt with around here. Also, my other game forums doesn't allow pollitical or religious posts at all, because it causes to much strife.
 
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Occasionally we have all allowed emotion to override logic.

Perhaps a little self examination of why we got involved in this hobby in the first place.
For myself it was all about having a good time and sharing that with others. I try to keep that in mind when dealing with others on this forum.

Don't get me wrong I'm far from a model citizen.

I try to keep communication pure and simple and not contaminate it with sarcasm, witticisms, or put downs. When you do that, people stop listening to what you say and get flooded with emotions and thoughts regarding how you are treating them.

I've avoided other forums that have been poisoned by negativity and would hate to see this one go the same route.

Although not a Mega poster by any means, nor do I have a large knowledge base for things coin-op related I do for the most part enjoy my time spent here.
 
a private msg I just received brought up another point.

In addition to chat or social groups, other areas could be set up where abusive posts or banter could occur... in anothr forum section. Such a forum could be closed to new users and have to be explicity joined by any member. Then it would automatically be avoided by new members by default, and by Google...

I would second the notion of adding a set of forums that you have to choose to enter and if you do there are no rules. problem solved.

Well, this is a bad idea cloaked in a good idea. While it seems that it would be a good way to get a lot of the crap out of the regular forums and into a private section (perhaps with members needing at least 100 posts before being allowed to join), think of the potential problems.

Let's say that I, the great and wonderful Modessitt, have no interest in joining the "private section", because I have no desire to read or participate in all the crap that is there. Now, let's also say that someone I don't get along with well - either a local who doesn't like me personally or another member who doesn't like my political views, etc - gets in there and starts bad-mouthing me every chance he/she gets. I'm sure there will be those who stick up for me - and will let me know via PM - but the usual culprits who get off on that type of stuff are usually irrational in the first place and may get taken in by the "mob mentality" or lack of rebuttal on my part (by being absent). New people join the forum, get past their "initiation period", join the "private" area to see what they're missing, and see a bunch of crap about me. Now all of a sudden I have a bad reputation with new members that may not be warranted.

While I hope this would never happen to me, I can easily see this happening to certain other members who are often being "flamed" here recently.

And besides, being the top poster here, everything should be designed around keeping ME happy first and foremost, right? ;)
 
And it brings up another subject. The Chat About Almost Anything section. Right now those threads don't expire for over 5 years. Does anyone (or Google for that matter) really need an archive on those threads past a certain point?

(3) a chatroom. Adding a chatroom to the forums is a tough topic. It is inviting a free-for-all, though there are possible plusses

Well, a chat room would eliminate a bunch of crap from the Chat About Almost Anything forum, I think. When Michael Jackson dies, a lot more people would have been there talking about it, rather than starting 6 or 7 different threads about it. I still think the CAAA forum will still be needed for those who want to talk about topics but can't hang around all day in a chat room to keep up with the responses. Personally, I don't think we need some of this stuff for 5 years, but I have been asked to help find a topic in that forum that was a year old, so maybe drop it down to 2 years? In fact, I think the only forum that needs a database of more than two years would probably be the Repair forum. I doubt things offered for sale a year ago and not posted again are probably no longer available.

I for one wouldn't mind a "private chat" feature where two (or more if invited) people could get together and talk about meetups, repair help, etc without sending 20 PMs. While I for one like having documented repair threads, sometimes you really need someone who can answer in realtime to answer those "dumb" questions for you RIGHT NOW....
 
Come on Arc... we don't need yet another thread locked.

Admin & team, could we get a Monitor Repair section added and split off the monitor threads to that section. It would sure help clean up things in the repair area.

I'd even volunteer to temporarily have enough power to move the threads over to the monitor section if you needed the help.

RJ

I really like this idea. If repair was broken down into smaller more focused categories, it might actually be easier to find things. I'm wondering if having one of the repair sub-forums being cabinet restoration questions would be good too. Right now you get them in repair or general and things just seem to get lost. It would be nice to have all the bondo, painting, artwork applying, etc. in one place. General Arcade discussion would be a better place for before and after type stuff to pimp your restored game. But all the details about how do you do it, is in the restoration forum.

I didn't put much time into the list below. It may be way too many subgroups, but I think it is pretty clean separation of items and a good place to start the discussion from. You could start in general if you don't know what is wrong with your game and start a separate thread if it is determined the monitor is hosed and your going to dig into that. Some things overlap like monitor repairs and kits / mods when you talk about an LV6100 mod for a WG6100. It is ok for it to be in either location as either location would be a reasonable forum to search for a monitor mod. Anyway, here are my suggested forums in bold followed by what content they might contain.

General Repair
Questions
Troubleshooting
PCB identification
OT Repairs

Monitor Repair
Chassis
tubes
rejuvenation
parts
tube swaps

Cabinet Restoration
Bondo
paint
artwork
control panels
hardware
etc.

Game Electronics Repair
PCB repair
Power supplies
coin door
marquee lights
control electronics
instrumentation

Kits and Modifications
High score saves
multi-game kits
Monitor mods
PCB switchers

Tool Shed
soldering irons
scopes
probes
rejuvenators
ROM burners
paint sprayers
security bits

-VJ
 
To me it seems that a lot of other forums use a lot more "sticky" posts... I'm a bit surprised there aren't more basic answers (Monitor Discharge/Cap Kit 101/jamma pinout etc) or an FAQ stuck at the top of the repair section...
 
To me it seems that a lot of other forums use a lot more "sticky" posts... I'm a bit surprised there aren't more basic answers (Monitor Discharge/Cap Kit 101/jamma pinout etc) or an FAQ stuck at the top of the repair section...

It would be nice to have a FAQ section in the repair forum. The FAQ feature on here might work really well if it can be customized for each forum section like Repair.
 
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