Arn wrote this a couple months ago: "There's been an ever greater rash of people posting just to correct people who have posted multiple threads or duplicate threads or if you think a thread is useless. There are a few options. 1. If it's a duplicate thread or similar, you can kindly add a link to the other thread. 2. If someone has already added a link to the other thread. Simply move on. Don't post "I agree" or prolong the discussion 3. If it's just a really bad post, just report it, but don't reply to it. These side conversations that emerge are cluttering things up as much as the off-topic or otherwise "bad" posts. thanks arn"
Thanks for the tip on the forum search feature Thanks for pointing me in the right direction here. Somehow I missed this. I guess I get too caught up reading about the games and skipped right over the link at the top. Now that I know about this I can avoid generating duplicate posts. A gentle redirection such as this was all that was required when I first posted. It is good because it helps generate a friendly tone to the forums and helps prevent the problem in the future by providing essential information.
Regarding the opening question - I've started to see the TA forums more as a resource of information about games (the most reliable information, that is), than as a community. Probably because of the amount of new members that I never got to know, but then again that's also because I haven't been purchasing enough games to be able to participate in the majority of the threads. Arn and the team set up some strict rules for the forums and if the users that DO know them report posts from people that DON'T know them, we can help the team out and contribute to forming a good community. And thanks to Arn to responding to these kinds of questions within minutes.
Arn is the best Also dont worry jbletsch I got jumped in my nooby days by FiflthyCanadian and a lot more people were more angrier than that to me and they actually cussed at me but it was censored so you got off lucky.
It's unfortunate that certain people seem to derive pleasure from treating newbies in such a hostile and demeaning way, and that it is allowed to continue unchecked. The two members who responded so negatively to your original post are "newbies" themselves--they have only been members of the forum for 4 months. In that short time, they have each managed to amass 1000-2000 posts. Clearly--because they spend so much time in the forums--Touch Arcade is a huge part of their lives. What they apparently fail to recognize, however, is that Touch Arcade is a privately-owned forum. People are permitted to post here at the discretion of the owner. People are banned at the discretion of the owner. No one has a right to post here. A forum should be a venue for discussion and debate; comments made for the sole purpose of making another person feel bad don't belong in the forum. I was the 149th person to join these forums. Since then, an additional 18,000 people have joined. Naturally, since the volume of posts and the number of posters have increase exponentially, it's much more difficult to moderate the forum now than it was in the past. All in all, I think the moderators do a good job. I do believe, however, that the moderators are aware of which posters troll the forums looking for opportunities to criticize others, and should be a bit more proactive in reigning them in. No member should be reluctant to post because they fear a barrage of negative responses from certain posters.
Did you read the thread? There wasn't even something terrible said. I'm not sure where your little newbie rant is coming from. I think that 9 posts a day is pretty average, if not below average when your talking about this forum, the fact that I choose to post more than once every couple of days means absolutely nothing, and has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of what you posted.
First of all, I totally agree with you about how pathetic it is how some people rack up hundreds of posts by bashing and flaming other members. That said, I'm sure that some of the moderators do a great job and make an effort to try to curtail the unnecessary sarcastic comments, but there is one that comes to mind that encourages this hostility. I'm not going to point fingers or say names but I'm sure that many people know who I'm talking about. There are also certain members that constantly flame newbies who I'm sure have never been spoken to. Maybe what we need is stricter rules that strike a balance between ending flaming and stopping useless posts while consequently creating a better environment for discussion. I'm sure this is very difficult to do but there can certainly be improvements. This has been brought up, but an automatic search that shows related threads before a new one is posted is a good solution. I don't care about "cluttering the boards" (because really, what does that mean anyway?) or double posts; I just hate seeing totally well-meaning people post their first threads and get thirty brutal responses saying that they did something terribly wrong. I really hope this gets reformed soon now that more attention is being given to the subject.
If you are such a mature and esteemed member of TA, why do you feel the need to obnoxiously, heckle most every new member who makes one small mistake and possibly drive away what could have been a good contributor to TA?
Again...while I agree that new members shouldn't be harassed....I also think that people should realize that this is an internet gaming forum. The target audience for these type of forums are generally not known for their sensitivity. Not that I should have to defend jchampl or FilthyCanadien, but at the very worst all they did was add spam to the thread since they didn't post a link or provide assistance in a more helpful manner. I'm going to assume that people that get this bent out of shape over some light sarcasm are a) older and more "mature" b) culturally different or c) lead a very sheltered life It's true, mean people suck....but come on. This is not the Disney forums. I'm not condoning what jchampl or FC did, but I also don't think that what they posted is anywhere near ban worthy.
And they weren't banned for it. But what if they (or others) do it again. And again. And again. At some point it's ban worthy, mostly for being unable to follow simple instructions. arn
i would have added a link to the thread if it wasn't three posts down, saying look 3 pots below "this" one, wasn't almost exactly like giving a link, as it was on the same page, links are more important when a post is made a page or so back and not sitting on the front page with around 18 posts in it already. and this isn't directed at your pharmx, i just wanted to respond to that as that seems to be something many people have said.
Oh and I honestly think you were lucky OP. It really didn't seem that bad (I've seen much worse). A bit impolite, but that's the ritual all new members go through People just really hate duplicate threads here. Go to steam forums and you'll see at least ten threads on a blog update for TF2, and nobody complains.
I understand. One of the reasons that I like this site is because we're usually able to express ourselves as long as we're not harassing anyone or being abusive. It just depends on where the line is drawn. In this situation a thread was made by mistake, a couple of people commented on the mistake (albeit with sarcasm), and the thread was locked. Nothing more, nothing less. I guess more than the situation itself, I'm just fascinated by how easily people get their feelings hurt. For what its worth Arn, I think you guys are doing a great job. It's a difficult job to please everyone, lol.
If it were just an isolated incident, this thread would have ended pages ago. The fact that people are continuing to discuss it reflects that it is an ongoing problem; this incident is merely the most recent example.
Well new members making mistakes now are treated even harsher after Lovelyman was here (good times). People have way less tolerance to new members, looking at them like idiots, when in most cases they aren't.
haha I go on here way to much considering I remember that. He racked up like 200 posts in 36 hours if I remember correctly. I think that is a newbie record. Just checked his posts of him telling Filthy Canadian not to be so mean and start a Canadian gang. They were good times.
I am perhaps more sensitive to sarcasm, etc because a) I am a little older than some gamers (i.e 40) and b) work in a profession that requires tact and diplomacy at all times. Specifically, I help lead a non-profit organization that requires the support and efforts of volunteers who do not respond well to sarcasm and unkind criticism. They also like being part of friendly "community" organized around common goals and interests. This does not mean that I lead a sheltered life. It only means I choose to work in and help create a different kind of work culture than some may have experienced. Consequently I may have transferred some of that to my expectation of the TA forums. While this is not the Disney forums (nor would I want them to be) being good natured and helpful towards fellow forum members (especially newbies) only makes sense. It encourages participation and helps new members learn the ropes faster. A newbie learns nothing when people only criticize their initial forays into the forum waters without helping point them in the right direction. I will say that I have learned a lot from these forums about the great games out there for the iDevice and have learned a great deal from this particular thread. Thanks to everyone for their input here.
