These forums

[Ched]

Originally posted by Michael Foster:

Miles spills some beans on the future of the forums...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">MILES: New forum software, new rules, more mods and a super mod, if all goes to plan. We will be trying to reclaim the main forums from the anti-social behaviour mess that they’ve become. Not everyone will like the new rules, but the forums have become a place where the SI team don’t like going any more, which completely defeats the point of having them.

http://fmlmod.blogspot.com/ </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Can't happen soon enough

[NepentheZ]

Originally posted by Ched:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Michael Foster:

Miles spills some beans on the future of the forums...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">MILES: New forum software, new rules, more mods and a super mod, if all goes to plan. We will be trying to reclaim the main forums from the anti-social behaviour mess that they’ve become. Not everyone will like the new rules, but the forums have become a place where the SI team don’t like going any more, which completely defeats the point of having them.

http://fmlmod.blogspot.com/ </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Can't happen soon enough </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Seconded.

[Ter]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Should help to make this place more friendly for everyone and hopefully get more input from more blue badgers

[Michael F]

It will be interesting to see which forum software you move to, i presume you won't loose all the members, posts, karma etc, although that depends on which you have decided to use.

Hopefully these changes will have a more positive impact on the community, but it looks as though SI are as excited as us about these changes going from Ter's post above.

[NepentheZ]

Whats with Kriss having a green name?

[NepentheZ]

Originally posted by NepentheZ:

Whats with Kriss having a green name?

Sorry, Rash's green name?

And why does Kris now have a blue name?

[aaberdeenn]

Suppose it's personal choice I think. I'm not aware of any special reason why it's like that although I may indeed be wrong.

[birdy123]

Originally posted by NepentheZ:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by NepentheZ:

Whats with Kriss having a green name?

Sorry, Rash's green name?

And why does Kris now have a blue name? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I assumed that they were personal choice, I might be wrong, though.

[Michael F]

Can threads either be stickied in 1 forum or as announcements (in all forums)

Can threads be kept in whatever forum they are meant to be in?

Something like

Announcements (all forums)

Miles talks about FML (as its new news)

AFC Wimbledon promoted (SI sponsor them)

Join the SI team (recruitment)

Plus any big SI news

Sticky in GQ/ All FM Forums if its possible

English & Scottish Research Vacencies

8.0.2 Patch

Having problems with Football Manager?

At least this would keep everything together and encourage people to visit the GQ forum for FM related things rather than having them in OTF where they can go direct to the thread without visiting GQ. Someone might look to visit GQ to find out the latest research vacencies for example, but whilst they are there, a thread might catch their eye so they might decide to post in it, this might help generate more discussion.

Possibly.

[KingKenny]

I'm coming quite late to this discussion and haven't read all 34 pages so sorry if anything I say has been mentioned before, but my tuppence worth is......

Abusive/Immature posts

I first joined this forum back in the CM3 days and I thought it was amazing. There were like-minded people all trying to help each other play the game, and help SI create a better game. Marc Vaughan used to regularly post and I was astounded that any company could care so much about providing such good customer service.

The forums have deteriorated, but in my view this is due to a much wider social change in the way people communicate, brought about by the internet. Go to any website where there are blogs or user comments and you will see that the level of abusive or immature comments is unbelievable. There's a generation of people who have grown up with the internet, and feel it is perfectly ok to hide behind a username and post utter drivel, yet they would never do the same to someone's face.

The only way round this is better policing, and it does look like positive steps are being taken in this direction.

Forums getting clogged up

This idea might well be too late (and perhaps not even feasible, or even very good!), but I think there should be an option for threads to be closed by the OP as well as the moderator.

Once threads are closed, and this is the key bit, they should transfer across to a sub- forum. My thinking behind this is that hopefully the sub-forums would then contain threads where the issue/question was resolved, leaving the regular forum for threads that are still ongoing.

So, if I had a question about how many commercial affiliates a club is allowed, instead of searching the main forum where there will be numerous threads about this, many which may not provide the answer, I can search the sub-forum in which there will be only be threads in which this question was resolved.

Does this sound like a good idea?

[-lewis-16-]

yes kingkenny i would like a sub forum

that sound good to me

[Purefun]

Anyboy knows when the changes are going to happen? I mean an exact date!! Maybe the first of June ...

[birdy123]

Nobody knows yet. There is no set date as far as i know.

[Purefun]

Originally posted by birdy123:

Nobody knows yet. There is no set date as far as i know.

Thx mate.

[Seagulls Forever]

Originally posted by KingKenny:

this is due to a much wider social change in the way people communicate, brought about by the internet. Go to any website where there are blogs or user comments and you will see that the level of abusive or immature comments is unbelievable. There's a generation of people who have grown up with the internet, and feel it is perfectly ok to hide behind a username and post utter drivel, yet they would never do the same to someone's face.

This is actually a very worthwhile point. I think part of it is to do with a change in WHO is using the internet, rather than a change in the personalities of those already on it.

In the early days of the internet it was primarily academics and nerds, who are generally inclined to post politely and make geek jokes. If you had the net at home you had to have money, both to get a suitable PC and modem, and to pay for the monthly subscription.

Now any idiot can get online, and you can see this looking around sites like faceparty, 4chan, etc where the chavs have taken over. Sadly what we have is a lack of selection, so the internet has lost some of its exclusivity, and as a result gone down the toilet as a communication medium.

Or to put it another way..

Internet users way back when:-

http://faler.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/nerd.jpg

Internet users now:-

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/8/8c/Chav.jpg

Point made I think.

[Abs_UK]

I really cant wait for the changes to take effect and it cant come soon enough..

The amount of people who are logging into the forums has gone down soo much which is understandable considering some users attitudes and respect towards other forum members..

These forums use to be so friendly and fun to be around, where there was very good topics and threads to read, people actually tried helping others out..

[Nomis07]

Originally posted by Abs_UK:

people actually tried helping others out..

There seems little point at the moment in helping other forum users, considering the abuse you get. I've lost count the amount of times someone has come on GQ asking about skins and all i've said is "your unlikely to get much help in here, the graphics forum would have more info and should be able to give you a definate answer", and get called a fanboy and told to get lost.

A lot gets lost in translation between what a user is trying to say and what is read, a lot of threads have ended up closed or full of abuse because people just don't like people disagreeing with them.

It's got to the point where if I disagree with someone I actually have to open my post explaining that i'm not being cheeky or rude. I did that last week and got told I was being rude and called all sorts

[canvey!!]

"your unlikely to get much help in here, the graphics forum would have more info and should be able to give you a definate answer", and get called a fanboy and told to get lost.

Agreed, I got that only yesterday.

[canvey!!]

Thought I'd just note: I was browsing the member directory (as you do ), and noticed 25 users with no name, i.e. leaving the username field blank, all registered between 08 June 2007 and 31 July 2007, with most of them registered on the 08 June. Struck me as very strange, and I suspect their the same person. Doesn't do much damage, though, as they have about 10/15 posts between them.

[Ched]

When the "New and Improved!" forums come into effect, will there be an option to limit the number of new threads that users create?

Something like one new thread every 3 days (i'd prefer one per week but i'm just getting tired of many nonesense threads, and may just be being bitter) - it would make people consider what they're producing, rather than just churning out garbage.

Why do i say this? If i read another Some guy... thread i may start weeping.

[Ter]

When the "New and Improved!" forums come into effect, will there be an option to limit the number of new threads that users create?

Something like one new thread every 3 days (i'd prefer one per week but i'm just getting tired of many nonesense threads, and may just be being bitter) - it would make people consider what they're producing, rather than just churning out garbage.

It may be possible but it depends if we change to new software and what it allows us to do. I don't really agree that limiting things like this is the best approach though.

[Nomis07]

Originally posted by Ched:

Why do i say this? If i read another Some guy... thread i may start weeping.

[canvey!!]

Originally posted by Ter:

I don't really agree that limiting things like this is the best approach though.

Me neither. I think what would be useful is an FAQ page where the most common questions (e.g. how do I manage a youth international team, why won't they expand my stadium, where is the 8.0.2 patch......) are answered to avoid people asking them every day. I also think it should be made clearer where to post enquiries about players and anything else that should be in a different topic.

I'm currently reading Mayor Guiliani's book, in a study of the effects of zero-tolerance, so hopefully I'll be able to post here in the near future about how a zero-tolerance policy would affect these forums. Although tbh, zero-tolerance on crime is different to zero-tolerance on forum posting .

[Ched]

Originally posted by canvey!!:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ter:

I don't really agree that limiting things like this is the best approach though.

Me neither. I think what would be useful is an FAQ page where the most common questions (e.g. how do I manage a youth international team, why won't they expand my stadium, where is the 8.0.2 patch......) are answered to avoid people asking them every day. I also think it should be made clearer where to post enquiries about players and anything else that should be in a different topic.

I'm currently reading Mayor Guiliani's book, in a study of the effects of zero-tolerance, so hopefully I'll be able to post here in the near future about how a zero-tolerance policy would affect these forums. Although tbh, zero-tolerance on crime is different to zero-tolerance on forum posting . </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I suspect that the sort of people who post topics without using the search are also the sort to ignore an FAQ section.

It can't do any harm, so gets my vote, but it will only deter a small number of moronic/repetative posts.

I'm not stating that limiting new threads is the perfect idea, just that people wouldn't produce garbage if they realiosed they couldn't start another thread for a week. I'm sure we'd see more well thought out threads.

[canvey!!]

After being abused when redirecting someone to the GPTG, I've been less inclined to redirect to the correct forums. I mean surely this thread belongs in the GPTG but I'm not going to say anything. I'd only say anything if I were answering the initial question as well.

[NepentheZ]

Ched - I don't think limiting the number of topics a person can have is a good idea. Firstly, people like yourself, Nomis, canvey, Jimbo, Turn it upto 11 and a few other regular GQ posters, this would seriously hinder you. Yourself Ched, when you first appeared to become a regular poster on these forums made quite a number of threads in your first few weeks. They were all detailed with examples and put across very professionally, (even if I did disagree with the morals of the posts). Now, if you were only allowed to post 3 of said topics, how would that have made you feel? I'm sure doing such a thing would only encourage multiple accounts.

Onto my next point, the forumite Some guy.... is doing my head in..!! but for me to rampage into his threads and tell him he's doing my head in would be seen as me being the idiot. Sure, his threads are pointless, and for the most part, postless, but he's not actually doing anything wrong. He's just starting a whole bunch of nothing topics. And yes, I like most are getting increasingly frustrated with it, especially as each Thread of his seems to be a spin off of someone else's, actually interesting topic, but what can you do about it?

canvey!! - I asked Dafuge a while ago about an F.A.Q topic, and he gave me the old "things will change when the new forums kick in" (or failing that, the next holocaust). I do think it would be a good idea, as threads with questions that are answered in the FAQ's could simply be replied with "Your question is answered here - link" or "your questions should be asked here - link" and immediately locked.

Originally posted by Abs_UK:

These forums use to be so friendly and fun to be around, where there was very good topics and threads to read,

As much as I'm a fan of the mods around here, this struck me with great interest. What you've said there is true, Abs, and it really did used to be a great place, but now it seems that anything we post gets scrutinized by the mods if its not in the correct section. There are so many sections now, that I still even get confused if I'm allowed to post things in GQ, or if I should go directly to a different, perhaps more relevant forum.

Just to come onto another point canvey!! made, about the thread CM/FM Legends - thats exactly what I'm saying here. It perhaps should be in GPTG, but its also a General Query. Where is the line that states something is a general query, or has to be in a specific forum? The mods should be a lot clearer of what they expect in each forum, and perhaps pass down to regular and seasoned forumites a set of ground rules that they could enforce.

I.E - The thread canvey!! has linked, I feel is fine in GQ, and so to my discretion, it can stay. But if I felt it was better suited in another part of the forums, I let a moderator know, and he can deal with it as he wishes.

BTW - Would live to be a mod here (as stated before). I know I have a yellow, but - who hasn't.

[Michael F]

Originally posted by Ter:

It may be possible but it depends if we change to new software and what it allows us to do. I don't really agree that limiting things like this is the best approach though.

I thought it was definate that the forum sotfware would be changing

Just realised this thread is nearly 9 months old now

[James07?]

given that this thread seems to be about the boards in general, rather than just GQ or the FM forums, wouldn't it be a good idea to have it as a universal sticky?

[Ched]

Originally posted by James07?:

given that this thread seems to be about the boards in general, rather than just GQ or the FM forums, wouldn't it be a good idea to have it as a universal sticky?

Because the other boards have dedicated mods and in general are nowhere near as bad as GQ.

The sooner GQ gets some mods the quicker this situation will be resolved - it surprises me quite a lot that after several months since the creation of this thread, the only mods i've noticed to have been added are dafuge and wwfan, who are for sub fora rather than here. No wonder things aren't getting better.

[Kriss]

Ched, I'd guess the time it's taken points to major changes, wouldn't you?

[Abs_UK]

I agree with a lot of things mentioned here already..

And there have been time when I felt that a particular thread was posted in the wrong forums, but I now generally don’t try to correct anyone as I have seen many times people start getting defensive about it and start calling names etc..

We need to have clear guidelines about different forums and what is SI and Mods expect from the users..

Having said that I can see why many posters start posting in the wrong forums as all other forums have started to dry up, and when people are posting for help in these forums they are not getting much help or advice on their threads hence they post in GQ...

I don’t normally post in GQ and I am more active in the graphics forum as I believe I can help and offer more advise to people regarding graphics related issues, and even the activities in the graphics forum has dried up, the most users I have seen there was 5 at one go, and not many mods visit that section....

What I believe might help is:

1) Under each sub forum we need to have clear guidelines or even a sticky thread which states clearly what type of topics are okay to post.

2) How users are expected to behave

3) Attitude of users towards people’s threads and replies.

4) I expect people to reply to threads in an constructive manner, and if people don’t agree with users opinions then they should reply in a polite and constructive manner, if they are unable to do that then don’t say anything.

5) The forum needs more active MODARATORS...

These are some of my thoughts..

[Ched]

Originally posted by Kriss:

Ched, I'd guess the time it's taken points to major changes, wouldn't you?

Obviously that is what i hope for. But i'm not sure what relevance this has to my point...

[Kriss]

It's relevant because I would read it to mean small changes were a bit pointless in view of the major changes coming.

How's that for veiled speech

[Ched]

Originally posted by Kriss:

It's relevant because I would read it to mean small changes were a bit pointless in view of the major changes coming.

How's that for veiled speech

That makes sense i guess. I (personally) would have considered short term measures to cover the several months that the major changes would have taken to come into effect, but i can understand why they might consider leaving everything until it can all be sorted.

[joeyt]

So when are these changes happenning?

They seem to have been mentioned for a couple of months now and surely the sooner they arrive the better?

[Kriss]

surely the sooner they arrive the better?

Nope, the sooner they arrive properly configured and tested the better.

[canvey!!]

House Rule - Appointment of Moderators

Existing Admins/Mods do the appointing of Moderators through a voting system.

Within the Moderators Discussion forum, Admins/Mods nominate users for debate. After debating a thread will be opened for a Yes or No vote.

Throughout this procedure, notification to or involvement of nominees is strictly not permitted. The only time anyone will hear about the outcome is when an email is sent to the winner with the offering of Modship

The offer of Modship will be for a one month trial covering one forum. Once the trial is finished, full Modship may be offered with the possibility of Mod'ing more forums.

So what do we look for in a Moderator?

A) Regular quality posts

B) Good CM/FM/EHM/OOTP game knowledge

C) Respect the House Rules and Guidelines.

D) Be a respected member of the message board.

E) Be able to post on the board throughout the week

F) Preferably have some form of instant messaging system, but not essential.

G) Someone who is mature, sensible, constructive and always willing to lend a hand to fellow board members.

Please note, with the exception of Sports Interactive everyone associated with this boards maintenance and upkeep is a voluntary worker and receives no financial benefits for their contribution.

Now, I'm not too sure about the activity levels of each moderator, and I don't want to point the finger or "stir" where stirring isn't welcome, but about point E), if a moderator isn't active on the forums and cannot effectively do his or her "job", then surely they should be removed and replaced with someone who has more time to access the forums? And as for point D), what constitutes respect? Respect from us people in this thread, who, to be honest, are bigging ourselves up as the forums elite , or respect from all forum users, because we all know that can be difficult to come across. Or is it respect from the moderators?

[Ter]

if a moderator isn't active on the forums and cannot effectively do his or her "job", then surely they should be removed and replaced with someone who has more time to access the forums?

A lot of the time mods won't be available due to work and personal commitments like holidays and stuff. Nothing wrong with that.

It will be better when we have more cover though

[NepentheZ]

Originally posted by Ter:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">if a moderator isn't active on the forums and cannot effectively do his or her "job", then surely they should be removed and replaced with someone who has more time to access the forums?

A lot of the time mods won't be available due to work and personal commitments like holidays and stuff. Nothing wrong with that.

It will be better when we have more cover though </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

With Exception of point E, I'd say I'm a prime candidate

Would love to, too, let it be known.

[Abs_UK]

Originally posted by NepentheZ:

With Exception of point E, I'd say I'm a prime candidate

Would love to, too, let it be known.

Mmm you never know mate, they may offer you a position once the yellow is cleared

[canvey!!]

Originally posted by NepentheZ:

With Exception of point E, I'd say I'm a prime candidate

Would love to, too, let it be known.

I think modesty is the best policy, Nep

[DaveRH]

I would assume that any changes will happen prior to announcements on FML and FM09.

After all - that's when the activity increases by orders of magnitude and trying to bed-in new forum software and moderators (and any other catchy things that the SI guys have planned) in the middle of a busy period would be a nightmare.

[Nomis07]

Originally posted by Ter:

A lot of the time mods won't be available due to work and personal commitments like holidays and stuff. Nothing wrong with that.

It will be better when we have more cover though

I "work" for local government so i'm usually here between 9 and 5 if you need someone then I do get about 3 faxes a year though so I might be unavailable for 5 minutes 3 times a year.

[LFC Lloydy]

Originally posted by Nomis07:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ter:

A lot of the time mods won't be available due to work and personal commitments like holidays and stuff. Nothing wrong with that.

It will be better when we have more cover though

I "work" for local government so i'm usually here between 9 and 5 if you need someone then I do get about 3 faxes a year though so I might be unavailable for 5 minutes 3 times a year. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Glad to see my tax not being wasted. It's amazing how little people actually when you look at it (including myself). I think the UK would be 10 times richer if we actually did the work we are supposed to do, I blame FM.

In regards to moderation there are plenty of people I can think of who could be mods, clearly the planned changes are going to be big (at least I hope they are considering the wait) but I don't see why the recruitment of moderators cannot be done right now and I think it would help, particularly for GQ.

[arsenal_2111]

Not really complaining, more of a request.

In the GPTG, there are 2 mods. Cleon and Goldy(IIRC).

However Goldy is never there and i am sure that he never has been before.

Cleon is more regular, but her ,last post was in this thread. That was what, 9 days ago?

It wouldnt be so bad, but she posted TODAY in the off topic forum in the tactics forum.

If at all possible, then please get an extra mod for the GPTG, even if it is only temporarily.

Thanks, and sorry to moan.

[joeyt]

I'm sure GPTG were looking for a new mod a few months ago and I thought something had already been sorted and ready for these new 'changes'

[Nomis07]

Originally posted by LFC Lloydy:

Glad to see my tax not being wasted.

Tell me about it. It's a bad situation when i'm disgusted that the tax I pay goes towards paying people like me

[Cleon]

Originally posted by arsenal_2111:

Not really complaining, more of a request.

In the GPTG, there are 2 mods. Cleon and Goldy(IIRC).

However Goldy is never there and i am sure that he never has been before.

Cleon is more regular, but her ,last post was in this thread. That was what, 9 days ago?

It wouldnt be so bad, but she posted TODAY in the off topic forum in the tactics forum.

If at all possible, then please get an extra mod for the GPTG, even if it is only temporarily.

Thanks, and sorry to moan.

Just because I may not be a regular poster doesnt mean I dont visit the GPTG forum. So basing your judgement on dates of posts proves nothing . Also ive said a thousand times, if there is an issue hit the report function its what its for. I've never been a regular poster in GPTG, but I visit several times a day.

I'm sure GPTG were looking for a new mod a few months ago and I thought something had already been sorted and ready for these new 'changes'

[LFC Lloydy]

Originally posted by Nomis07:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by LFC Lloydy:

Glad to see my tax not being wasted.

Tell me about it. It's a bad situation when i'm disgusted that the tax I pay goes towards paying people like me </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hold a prtotest and don't pay yourself, I'll keep hold of the money for you.

I was just wondering what people think about introducing a poll/voting system. So for example, if someone started a thread suggesting being able to buy a club then he/she would be able to add a few options at the bottom of his post (e.g. Yes, No, Maybe) and then anyone who is signed in is able to vote once and the results are automatically updated and displayed. I'm sure you know what I mean.

I think this as well as just being interesting would also be a good resource for future threads as well as cutting down on threads that turn into arguments as the popular opinion would be there in black or white (or any other colour ). It would also mean people are less tempted to post something which the OP doesn't like in order to get their point across.

It has probably been brought up before in this 35 page thread but I was thinking about it so thought I would give it a mention. BTW I've also just noticed that the thread is 9 months old today.

[canvey!!]

Originally posted by LFC Lloydy:

I was just wondering what people think about introducing a poll/voting system. So for example, if someone started a thread suggesting being able to buy a club then he/she would be able to add a few options at the bottom of his post (e.g. Yes, No, Maybe) and then anyone who is signed in is able to vote once and the results are automatically updated and displayed. I'm sure you know what I mean.

I think this as well as just being interesting would also be a good resource for future threads as well as cutting down on threads that turn into arguments as the popular opinion would be there in black or white (or any other colour ). It would also mean people are less tempted to post something which the OP doesn't like in order to get their point across.

It has probably been brought up before in this 35 page thread but I was thinking about it so thought I would give it a mention. BTW I've also just noticed that the thread is 9 months old today.

That's a good idea. Sometimes a lot of my queries could be adequately done in poll form. And I know that the board software supports it: it's just nobody has permissions to do such a thing.