These forums

[henry123]

maybe 2 carry on with the football manager theme in the forum. people should have a match rating that starts on 5, helpful comments and interesting threads can be rewarded by whoever they helped. insulted people can vote negatively and there match rating will go down according to how many negative or posotive votes they have recieved????

[Guest]

Originally posted by henry123:

maybe 2 carry on with the football manager theme in the forum. people should have a match rating that starts on 5, helpful comments and interesting threads can be rewarded by whoever they helped. insulted people can vote negatively and there match rating will go down according to how many negative or posotive votes they have recieved????

I suppose it could be open to abuse, but I actually think that's a very, very good idea mate.

[Antonin]

Originally posted by GillsMan_Returns:

I used to frequent these boards all the time (as GillsMan - I lost my login details when SI changed the log in process).

I stopped coming for the same reason as the SI guys - I found that too many people were too willing to be abusive. One thing I've found, especially among the prominent members, is that some people seem to try to be witty and put other users down.

I remember one post when I posted a suggestion that it might be fun to add "anti-cheat" measures into the game (e.g. if you do the old trick of taking over another team to buy their players on the cheap), the media speculation about the dodgy transfers could make your position untenable. Despite suggestion that this feature be optional and despite saying there was nothing wrong with cheating, I got absolutely flamed by all sorts of people for daring to make this suggestions - there were very few constructive comments.

Indicative of these forums, regrettably.

My experience here has been exactly the same as yours. I had to smile when you mentioned the insulting response to your idea for a new game option. Again, I have been there.

As I said--I have been a member of this forum since 2001. But I rarely post here.

Ironically, after I bought WWSM 2007 I found the CM forum to be a much more useful (and friendly) place to get advice on how to get more enjoyment out of WWSM.

[Seagulls Forever]

http://community.sigames.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/521102691/m/3022041353

An example of all that is wrong in the forum. On reflection some of my posts weren't perfect as they didn't express my ideas as well as they should, but the responses summed this place up. (by the way why do some people not understand that sometimes you leave the computer to go have a meal and come back to the thread later, I haven't 'bottled it')

Turtlebox:

*******yawn*********

Why bother posting that?

Ackter: Various including...

Whatever program you're on must be rather small and rather simple if you think it's that easy.

What do you work on, this oh-so-perfect program you keep talking about?

He just gets an awesome sense of self-satisfaction by posting about how better he is than SI tbh. He did exactly the same in the forum thread at the top of the page.

The forum he runs for his mystery product is apparently the best forum on the web and SI should do their utmost to copy him.

SonYouWantMeToSignYourShirt: paulsgruff's first line is some what of a SI D*** RIDING moment shut up honestly no 1 can defend this release of fm with so many notible problems even though the game is still playable

The usual anti-SI ******** which is just as bad as the pro-SI ********. Both equally bad. However, to top the lot..

Rashidi1 (moderator): Ackter was right to do what he did, he should have been more suave, but that's not in his nature.

So we have mods condoning extremely poor behaviour even while this sticky is present. If the mods aren't taking any notice, why should the users?

[Seagulls Forever]

A point I forgot to add.. yeah I know I always do this and it's annoying. Rashidi's comment highlighted in my previous post demonstrates that while all users are equal, some are more equal than others. Saying that something which might come under the "Stupid comments and insults" mentioned by Miles is something someone can't help cos it's "not in his nature" is a cop-out.

We can't have this thread dictating that we should all behave and then yellow-card newbies who break the rules and then have mods condone it when the person who does it is a long-time member.

For comparison..

MixitupMixitdictator: random time too bring this up!

Miles: Posted 22 September 2007 23:28 Hide PostReply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post

Mixitup - see, that's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. A destructive, completely pointless comment. Have a yellow card for your troubles.

Ackter: Whatever program you're on must be rather small and rather simple if you think it's that easy. (and many other pointless posts)

Rashidi1 (moderator): Ackter was right to do what he did, he should have been more suave, but that's not in his nature.

Has my point been made?

[Jimbokav1971]

Has my point been made?

No. If you have issues with Mods you should do it via email and not post in a public forum.

Ackter is far more sinned against than sinner and if we didn't have to put up with the garbage that often frequents this forum during the holiday periods then experienced users wouldn't get frustrated and occasionally fall foul of the rules.

Moderating is about common sense and a certain amount of discretion needs to be allowed.

Having just read that thread, the first negaitive post that I thought was innapropriate was by you.

Something I forgot to add. I don't think I ever suggested that you sit around doing nothing, but if you work hard, you certainly don't work smart. Laziness isn't just sitting around doing nothing, laziness is also not taking a look around and asking that one simple question "can this be done better?".

I don't think you're doing yourself any favours highlighting that thread. It makes you look a little silly.

[Seagulls Forever]

Originally posted by Jimbokav1971:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Has my point been made?

No. If you have issues with Mods you should do it via email and not post in a public forum.

Ackter is far more sinned against than sinner and if we didn't have to put up with the garbage that often frequents this forum during the holiday periods then experienced users wouldn't get frustrated and occasionally fall foul of the rules.

Moderating is about common sense and a certain amount of discretion needs to be allowed.

Having just read that thread, the first negaitive post that I thought was innapropriate was by you.

Something I forgot to add. I don't think I ever suggested that you sit around doing nothing, but if you work hard, you certainly don't work smart. Laziness isn't just sitting around doing nothing, laziness is also not taking a look around and asking that one simple question "can this be done better?".

I don't think you're doing yourself any favours highlighting that thread. It makes you look a little silly. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

To be honest I'm not overly concerned with how I look. If I step over the line I expect to be warned/banned appropriately, if not, it's no big deal, and certainly I'm not bothered if a few people online think I'm a dick.

Back to the original point, it doesn't matter if he's sinned against or whatever, the point is a breach of the rules is a breach of the rules, and yet the mods are specifically going against the policy set out by Miles here, which is surely something that needs addressing. I bring it up here because it is relevant to the topic of the thread and might well raise other people's similar concerns.

Not sure I get your point with my quote. It's a simple remark that working smart is better than blindly working hard, and that failing to look around for better ways to work is just as lazy as sitting on your backside doing nothing. Where's the problem?

At the end of the day this forum has many positive things. Kipfizh's thread for instance is a rivetting read, and some of the tactical threads from the likes of Cleon (or back in the day Noel Gallagher or Martin O'Neill if you want to go a loooooong way back). It also has things wrong with it which could be solved by a combination of software and social engineering but it requires the will, the time and the effort which I increasingly feel just isn't there. Time will tell.

[sum loving]

I appologise if this suggestion has already been made, but 14 pages is too much to read when you have a 3 year old son that also wants attention.

I saw a lot of people saying more moderators would help the situation, and my suggestion is similar to that, although instead of just more moderators, maybe the forums also need caretakers.

By caretakers, I don't mean people who enforce the rules, rather people that manage the forums and the posts. Caretakers would be responsible for stickying usefull threads, or possible consolidating multiple threads into handy guides.

An example of this would be a new player venturing into the Tactics and Training forum. This forum can seem like it's no longer about basic tactical help, it's in depth discussions based on deep routed game mechanics.

Don't get me wrong, thats a good thing, but

new players/members will get lost in seconds. Caretakers would be responsible for gleaning these posts and creating summaries, or simply maintaining a stickied thread containing a list of the main usefull threads in the forum.

This would hopefully eliminate the scenario of a new user asking where to find help with the 'Time Wasting' slider, only to be told to use the search, which can also be daunting to a new user (what do I search for exactly, and what do I do with this massive list of results i've got?)

That said, I also saw a rating system, where people could rate other peoples posts, (like match ratings). Users with low average ratings could be flagged to moderators.

I know this system would be abused by few, but with a community this size, if a regular, helpful member gets a few bad ratings from an immature idiot looking for trouble, the mods I'll spot the real situation in no time.

[dafuge]

I don't think the recent controversy over the 'ant-piracy bugs' has helped the forums at all. In the last few days I have been accused of 'being naughty' and 'letting the cat out of the bag' when reporting what I thought was a bug and discussing the fact that an 'anti-piracy bug' had happened with my perfectly legit copy of the game. This is the sort of thing that will cause immense friction between those in the know and those who are not, which is exactly the sort of problem that caused this thread to be started in the first place.

I think some guidance is needed for users on how to deal with users reporting bugs that are considered 'anti-piracy' measures, as people like me get very angry when accusations are made towards us despite owning a genuine copy of the game.

[FrazT]

Originally posted by dafuge:

I don't think the recent controversy over the 'ant-piracy bugs' has helped the forums at all. In the last few days I have been accused of 'being naughty' and 'letting the cat out of the bag' when reporting what I thought was a bug and discussing the fact that an 'anti-piracy bug' had happened with my perfectly legit copy of the game. This is the sort of thing that will cause immense friction between those in the know and those who are not, which is exactly the sort of problem that caused this thread to be started in the first place.

I think some guidance is needed for users on how to deal with users reporting bugs that are considered 'anti-piracy' measures, as people like me get very angry when accusations are made towards us despite owning a genuine copy of the game.

In part that was caused by SI themselves- they announced in an open thread that this was one of the anti-piracy measures that they had introduced and were not aware, at that point, that it could also happen in legit games or continued demo games. Some users may have wrongly jumped on this mis-information altho I agree that it is frustrating to be accused of something you havent done ( and in truth, not many posters would have thought this of you )

[Ackter]

None of my posts in that thread were pointless nor abusive in any way. Simply accurate comments based on the amount of info you were willing to provide.

[Dargone]

Originally posted by Miles Jacobson:

Matthew - and I blame posts like the one you've just made, for the bullying aspect. And both the bullying and the destructive pointless points have been going on for a couple of years now, getting worse and worse.

I really don't understand why people think making pithy, pointless comments is clever.

Indeed. I've been playing CM/FM since CM 4 and let me just say this. I am very reluctant to post here very much because of what is being talked about in this thread. These forums have a reputation for being very unfriendly to new users and just a very unfriendly place in general.

I actually learned of this game via Out of the Park and after the merger, the running joke around those forums, of which I've posted far more, was what a "hell hole" these forums can be. There have been many users over there who won't come near here, despite playing FM.

This has been the case for years and it's nice to see that maybe something will be done about. I know I would like to contribute here much more often.

[Antonin]

Originally posted by DaveC:

Yes, a lot of people ask the same questions, and yes it is frustrating for all you old hands, but the answer is simply not to reply to it .

Or to be constructive.

What a lot of the "old hands" don't seem to understand is that a forum is a living thing. New people arrive, old ones leave, a question gets asked, then drops off the first page a day later. Then, someone asks the same question.

Any forum such as this is a running conversation that people enter and leave all the time.

I've never understood the hostility to those "repeat" questions. The purpose of the forum is to discuss the game. A question may be answered by someone with a certain perspective or a certain type of insight.

A few days later, the same question may be asked by somemone different, and then the person who replies may have a completely new perspective. Both replies are useful, but in different ways.

It's as if some people here expect a topic to be discussed once and only once, and then that's it. They'll post an insulting message in a thread they hate, telling the OP to stop coming here and asking the same question that just got answered.

They thereby bump said thread, ensuring its continued life.

[Ackter]

a question gets asked, then drops off the first page a day later. Then, someone asks the same question.

More usually, someone asks a question that can easily be answered using the search function - and quite frequently they ask a question which is identical to a question that is clearly visible on the first page of the forum.

[Pangaea]

Originally posted by dafuge:

Cheers Kriss, that clears it up.

I still find it a little odd how that forum seems to have a completely different outlook on spam/postboosting compared to the others. Then again, I only look in there every now and again, maybe it's not always like that.

The thing about the LLM forum is that it's a community, not only a forum. I think it simply has to do with the fact we play the game a certain way. There are clear rules and guidelines we can point to if people break them, and so forth. Plus, there are very active mods with both a sense of humour and common sense. (Not ditching out at anybody, just saying.)

This works out great for llamas, but it's much harder to accomplish in GQ and so forth. Generally LLM players are a bit older, wiser and thick-skinned than younger people. That means we have played the game for many years and thus know the ins and outs of it. There are probably other fora like the LLM section too, where it all works out quite well. So the more newbie kind of threads are in GQ where people ask how to play the game etc etc. People who have been there a long time, over time gets annoyed by seeing the same topics over and over again, and fights start.

GQ will always be a container of such threads, it's the point of the forum. One idea is to write down the most common questions in a sticky, and add more content as you go along. Perhaps even close it so only mods can add stuff. When newbies or others ask stuff answered in them, they can be pointed in its direction with no fuzz.

Hopefully the new helper in FM08 has helped a fair bit. I haven't been to the fora for a while, so not sure what the situation is since it came out. But I'm guessing it's the same cry of calling every little thing a showstopper and generally being rather ****ed of at SI for everything between heaven and hell.

Another idea is to have "Good post" and "Bad post" icons so all users can rate posts. If a user gets enough bad posts, his posting rights could be restricted, or something along those lines.

I'm sure there are many good ideas in this thread, so I hope SI are still looking

Finally, a very good rule of thumb is that if you can't say anything constructive, don't say anything at all. No reason to yell at people just because they ask something you've answered a thousand times before. Just move on to the next thread.

[dafuge]

Originally posted by Pangaea:

The thing about the LLM forum is that it's a community, not only a forum. I think it simply has to do with the fact we play the game a certain way. There are clear rules and guidelines we can point to if people break them, and so forth. Plus, there are very active mods with both a sense of humour and common sense. (Not ditching out at anybody, just saying.)

I appreciate the way the LLM forum works, I lurk there every now and again (I don't post since I don't agree with all of the rules), I had just noticed that the quality of some posts was rather lacking recently. The reason I brought it up was because I think this forum could benefit from a group of specified mods in the way the LLM forum has, as you can see the mods over there have taken actions already to make sure that things don't get out of hand in terms of the problems I mentioned.

[Ranger]

More usually, someone asks a question that can easily be answered using the search function - and quite frequently they ask a question which is identical to a question that is clearly visible on the first page of the forum.

Some might be new to the forums, some might not be that good in mastering the english language. Maybe a kinda newbie to the forum/game section should be present?.

[Ranger]

first of all...i wanna say the game is great(although it doeshave a few bugs)

anyway...i just want to know if anyone has a problem with the star rating cuz mine is weird

i used arsenal and after winning the league my players star ratings drop alot...for example my fabregas who was at the start of the game rated 6 to 7 stars.but after my league winning first season his rating dropped to 3 to 4 stars.

i know they rate the player according to club standards but tat is too much rite

trekman

Part-timer

Location: Lost somewhere in the Neutral Zone.

Registered: 01 September 2006 Posted 28 October 2007 11:09 You'd get a much better, helfpful response if you posted in english and not this txt type speech which is against the rules.

Like so

[FrazT]

Ranger and kieranmcgrath

Your points are relevant but not to this particular thread and are not going to get read here. Post them in the General Questions Forum where they will be seen by more people.

[AdZV]

Cracking Idea and its all in the best interest for the people who use these forums for the right reason.

[Antonin]

Originally posted by Ackter:

More usually, someone asks a question that can easily be answered using the search function - and quite frequently they ask a question which is identical to a question that is clearly visible on the first page of the forum.

Because this is a high-volume forum, topics drop off the first page *very* quickly, I have found. There *are* people who post the same question that is already asked three threads up, but very often I see questions repeated that are *not* on the first page, but on the second or third.

I use the search function, but have found it to be a less than useful way of finding the answers I need *right now*. Because of the nature of this forum and internet communication in general, search results yield a *lot* of junk.

But if a person repeats a recent question, why should that provoke two or three--or 12--sarcastic or insulting replies? If someone disapproves, they should just not post in that thread. The question will very soon drop off the front page.

As I said, sometimes a repeated question will generate a reply that offers new insight into the problem or issue.

The way I see it, the purpose of this forum is to discuss the game. People come in to the discussion and leave it all the time. It's just not practical to say an idea or a question should be mentioned once and only once.

What I see as a problem is those billions of threads with a "subject" that makes no sense (Example: "What tha...??!!?") and then some little cryptic "message" (Example: "This game is &%@3*!!! Sort it, SI!!!!).

Those threads take up space. I deal with them by not posting in them.

But getting back to the topic of this thread, I will say that the problem of rudeness and hostility is SI's fault because they have allowed it to develop and get out of control.

To deal with it and make this forum a place where people can have civil and fun discussions about one of their favorite games, SI will have to start issuing temporary bans.

Not just against those people with the all-caps "This game is $#%&(!!!" messages. But also against the "if you don't like it then go away and don't post here" crowd.

[Pangaea]

Originally posted by dafuge:

I appreciate the way the LLM forum works, I lurk there every now and again (I don't post since I don't agree with all of the rules), I had just noticed that the quality of some posts was rather lacking recently. The reason I brought it up was because I think this forum could benefit from a group of specified mods in the way the LLM forum has, as you can see the mods over there have taken actions already to make sure that things don't get out of hand in terms of the problems I mentioned.

Generally quite a few topics over there go offtopic rather quickly. As I said earlier though, that has to do with it not only being a forum but a community of like-minded people who, I think, know each other much better than the average GQers. So we joke around with various inside jokes and so forth.

All fora should have a nice amount of active moderators. I'm not sure how the situation is here as I don't frequent GQ much. Naturally as there is a lot more content here than the LLM forum, it needs more mods, and someone should ideally be here all the time.

Being harsher with the people throwing out remarks at newcomers and others is also needed, of course.

I think an introduction topic that answers many of the usual questions would be a good thing. This is also something we do in the LLM forum. If someone don't understand something about our guidelines, where to find Frank etc, we either quickly tell them what they want to know, or stear them in the direction of the sticky. It works quite well.

[Dappen]

It seems to me this thread and vigilant mods are starting to have the desired affect.

Were starting to se helpful threads like here with Amaroq, isuckatfm and amack1n proving to be there usual helpful selves.

Also constructive debates such as here (with the exception of a minority of posts). And it's good to see posts like these near the top of the first page.

Hopefully any introduction will further improve the situation without stifling debate and we can get back to good ol' days

[kieranmcgrath]

Originally posted by Ackter:

None of my posts in that thread were pointless nor abusive in any way. Simply accurate comments based on the amount of info you were willing to provide.

WAT U SAYING TO ME? seriously dude pog mo thom as gaelige mar ta tu homoganaiseacht slan abhaile agus bi curamach mar ni thatain tu liom.bye from poblocht na eireann

[kieranmcgrath]

Originally posted by FrazT:

Ranger and kieranmcgrath

Your points are relevant but not to this particular thread and are not going to get read here. Post them in the General Questions Forum where they will be seen by more people.

thanks!

[Ackter]

Possibly reading this thread, some house rules etc before posting badly-written insults would do you a favour.

[Wizard]

Originally posted by Ackter:

Possibly reading this thread, some house rules etc before posting badly-written insults would do you a favour.

I just have one question for you Ackter...who died and made you police chief in these forums?

Mate, you have to learn to take it easy...if you don't like someone's posts, just leave it alone and don't reply.

Of course you don't feel you're being abusive, but let me assure you that it feels rather different on the receiving end of some of your curt, sarcastic replies.

Not everyone is as perfect as you and I'll be the first to admit to it. I don't always use the search function because after going through hundreds of returns, I sometimes forgot what I was trying to ask in the first place.

It's a forum, let USERS ask whatever they want to ask. If you don't like it, just don't add to the thread.

Many people also forget that many posters are not native English speakers. Live and let live.

Perhaps SI can change the forum into Chinese and see how many of you and your like get abuse for not understanding precisely the forum rules which are posted in Chinese.

As long as SI allows some people to be rude, then they lost the moral high ground to ban others for similar behaviour.

We either enforce the rules across the board or we should be told specifically who have the privilege to abuse.

As for noobs posting in text speak or in other manner breaking the house rules, a quick attachment of said rules as a reply should do more than sharp words in correcting that behaviour.

[Jimbokav1971]

I thought Ackter's comment was pretty reasonable.

If you're going to comment on his curt, sarcastic replies, that make people feel like they are being abused, perhaps you should quote some of them, rather than a quite reasonable response to an unreasonable post that breaks a number of rules.

One thing that has already suggested by many in this thread, is that they want experienced users to do exactly what Ackter has done.

I honestly don't get all this anti-Ackter stuff.

Wizard. You made a point of criticising Ackter for..... I'm honestly not sure why you mentioned him, but don't you see that you yourself are doing exactly what you accused him of.

You ask Ackter......

who died and made you police chief in these forums?

Well who died and made you the police of the people that think they are the police if that is the case. You are gulity of exactly what you are accusing him of.

This whole forum is a mish-mash between a community and an advertising tool, and as such, experienced users should be encouraged to direct traffic in a polite and helpful way. In my opinion the previous post, (and a number of others posted at the same time in other threads by the same user), are so ridiculous as to warrant far more a few words of friendly and polite advice.

I for instance saw his posts and was not inclined to be as friendly as Ackter so I added him to my list. In my opinion, because of his blatand disregard for so many forum rules he didn't warrant a polite response so I didn't give him one. Ackter does, and is criticised for it .

[Ackter]

To be fair, I used to be a complete ass.

[Ackter]

...for a given value of 'used to be'.

[Antonin]

Originally posted by Ackter:

To be fair, I used to be a complete ass.

As someone who has been coming to this forum for years, and reading far more than posting, let me just say "all is forgiven."

Seriously, though, you (and many others) have a great deal of experience and useful information that could help so many of us get more enjoyment out of our game purchase.

More civility is a good thing. A friendly atmosphere means new players (and veterans) who are having difficulty are more likely to come here to share experiences and get their questions answered.

Such people are more likely to buy the next new version of the game.

We play this game to have fun, right? Let's help each other get more out of the game we enjoy so much.

[Loversleaper]

Funny, Miles started "these forums" to open a dialog on how to get rid of bullying in the forums. What do people do? Start bullying about bullying...

I was thinking, and since this has become a long post and don't know if it has been mentioned before, wouldn't it be an easier task for the Mods if the people who do open constructive posts be able to "erase" some of the abnoxious postings in their own thread? And of course send a notification on the perpetrator + proof?

[ookie]

Originally posted by Seagulls Forever:

http://community.sigames.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/521102691/m/3022041353

An example of all that is wrong in the forum

you said it, you make yourself look a bit silly in that thread mate.

honestly, i can't believe the ungratefulness and know-it-all-ness of some of the forum members here. i'm glad i don't have the patience like Ackter does to contribute and answer peoples useless rants.

[Wizard]

Originally posted by Jimbokav1971:

I thought Ackter's comment was pretty reasonable.

If you're going to comment on his curt, sarcastic replies, that make people feel like they are being abused, perhaps you should quote some of them, rather than a quite reasonable response to an unreasonable post that breaks a number of rules.

One thing that has already suggested by many in this thread, is that they want experienced users to do exactly what Ackter has done.

I honestly don't get all this anti-Ackter stuff.

Wizard. You made a point of criticising Ackter for..... I'm honestly not sure why you mentioned him, but don't you see that you yourself are doing exactly what you accused him of.

You ask Ackter......

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">who died and made you police chief in these forums?

Well who died and made you the police of the people that think they are the police if that is the case. You are gulity of exactly what you are accusing him of.

This whole forum is a mish-mash between a community and an advertising tool, and as such, experienced users should be encouraged to direct traffic in a polite and helpful way. In my opinion the previous post, (and a number of others posted at the same time in other threads by the same user), are so ridiculous as to warrant far more a few words of friendly and polite advice.

I for instance saw his posts and was not inclined to be as friendly as Ackter so I added him to my list. In my opinion, because of his blatand disregard for so many forum rules he didn't warrant a polite response so I didn't give him one. Ackter does, and is criticised for it . </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Fair enough mate...all I was asking him to do is to take it easy. I rather he followed your way of NOT replying because you felt it didn't warrant a reply.

What I was saying is if people would just leave threads they dislike or disagree with alone, those threads will simply fall out of the page and not be seen again.

Not every comment requires a reply or comment; Rude or otherwise.

With all his experience (based on number of posts) of being in forums, surely he should be able to live and let live.

I can understand how frustrating and annoying it is to see the same questions repeated over and over...but by adding to them, he and others like him is not doing anyone any favours.

This is a forum, and that means everyone can have their own opinion and own way to express it. There is no need to 'teach' others how to behave based on our own code of values alone.

Seriously, how hard is it? If you don't have something nice to say, just don't say anything.

I am not against Ackter per se...but it is in the fact that SI defends him as 'just being him' that made me use his name (sorry mate, didn't mean to offend)...I don't believe that is acceptable. Please understand that it is not Ackter's behaviour I feel is unacceptable, it is SI's defending a poster against another poster (who is also only being himself...)

To sum it up, SI either allow everyone to have a fair go at each other, or they should handle everyone similarly. They cannot say someone being sarcastic is fine while another person being sarcastic deserves a yellow card.

A pointless post gets a yellow card in one instance while a "whs" only post can be added to almost every thread without trouble. The only way to become more pointless than 'WHS' is maybe to add just a smiley face.

Miles and SI should look at themselves and what they want before deciding on how they wish to achieve it.

As to everyone else who is using these forums, all I can hope is that we try to accept that anyone can have a bad day. If a comment or post is not worth replying to, then just ignore it and move on. Adding fuel to the fire is how we ended up having to discuss why there's a fairly large fire in the first place.

Peace...

[Ackter]

Where do SI defend me? When I've stepped out of line they've called me up on it.

To be honest, I'm not sure anything you've said there can actually be applied to my posting style these days. If you check the guy's past posts (the one I replied to) you'll see what brought on that rather badly-typed mini-tirade.

You'll find I rarely post much on here any more.

[Wizard]

Originally posted by Ackter:

Where do SI defend me? When I've stepped out of line they've called me up on it.

To be honest, I'm not sure anything you've said there can actually be applied to my posting style these days. If you check the guy's past posts (the one I replied to) you'll see what brought on that rather badly-typed mini-tirade.

You'll find I rarely post much on here any more.

Mate, I accept that you post a lot less than before. And this post is the perfect example of a willingness to discuss an issue instead of the style I was talking about.

My point was that yes, while I'm sure SI has called you on your less desirable style of posting on occasions, others with less clout has gotten yellow cards and/or bans for similar "abuse".

Mate, I'd rather not pursue using you as further example less it looks like an arguement on what's right and wrong with you.

SI (Miles) asked for how to prevent these forums from getting worse and I was merely trying to make a point on how they might have caused some of the problems themselves. And also my point on non-English speakers (like myslef) using these forums, which are bound to open us up to misunderstandings. The only way to move forward is to NOT comment when we have nothing positive to add and maybe those posters might figure out that they had better post nicely or they will be ignored.

[Ched]

Just had a spectacular case of mods doing their job...

A poster came out with a comment that was basically "his nicknames chinese, therefore he's a pirate" (or words tom that affect) flagged this and the mods have done....not a thing.

I have gathered that the "more strict" forums idea hasn't been implemented yet, but if Miles or anyone from SI are reading this thread still then here is a perfect example of what's going wrong in these forums.

Granted they can't read every post, but i was under the impression that flagging a post for blatant racism would be noticed....i despair.

[Ackter]

It will, but it's late and Mods are not everpresent.

[Ched]

Originally posted by Ackter:

It will, but it's late and Mods are not everpresent.

NB: I Flagged it over 12 hours ago....

Don't get me wrong, i don't expect them to stop everything immediately, but 12 hours?

It's just left me feeling "why bother with this thread at all"

[Guest PW]

Maybe an option is to allow users to report abusive users to you direct. This way you can then look at the threads and see whether the abusive user needs to be warned about their conduct. Might be a bit labour intensive but best thing I could think of if you want to keep the forums vibrant. Another thing to consider is that recently I have noticed ALOT of pro SI users being completely out of order to users who feel that FM08 isn't as good a game as it could have been. I feel that SI need to look into this as well as like you say constructive criticism should always be allowed and these people are trying to force their opinions on others.

[Jimbokav1971]

That's what the yellow triangle in the top right hand corner of every post is for.

[Spanky]

To deal with it and make this forum a place where people can have civil and fun discussions about one of their favorite games, SI will have to start issuing temporary bans.

Not just against those people with the all-caps "This game is $#%&(!!!" messages. But also against the "if you don't like it then go away and don't post here" crowd.

What he said.

I'd like to extend that to "If you don't like the tactics, then go play FM Handheld / CM / nothing". I've seen this from mods, regulars (far more rudely that I said it there) and occasionally from SI staff (curtly).

It's a polite way of telling someone where to go, sometimes thinly veiled with a defendable ("What? I told him he might enjoy FMH more!) suggestion to play something else - in essence though, it is saying to get lost and play something that the implied simple brain of the original poster can deal with.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by kieranmcgrath:

bye from poblocht na eireann

A few people might not like you Ackter, but I can assure you, this guy does not speak for all the people of Ireland!

[Ackter]

Don't worry Spanky, if I ever took insults seriously I'd have left here long ago. What he said, even with it's awful spelling and grammar, is not even close to the worst thing that's been thrown at me in my time here.

[Boskovic]

i belive the implementation of a very strict martial law type forum for a month or so until order is regained. Issueing small bans for all offences until people eventually get the message that things are not to be tolerated. The more consistant an offender the lenthier the ban. And once martial law is lifted if things return to unlawful ways then permanent bans should be implemented on the ring leaders to make examples of them.

There should be a sticky at the top with the list of banned personel with the reason for their banning and the lenth of their bans for all to see. This naming and shaming along with a strict regime may embarrase the badly behaved citizens into behaving in a friendly manner.

[Spanky]

Name and shame - I love it!

[Alurny]

Originally posted by Boskovic:

i belive the implementation of a very strict martial law type forum for a month or so until order is regained. Issueing small bans for all offences until people eventually get the message that things are not to be tolerated. The more consistant an offender the lenthier the ban. And once martial law is lifted if things return to unlawful ways then permanent bans should be implemented on the ring leaders to make examples of them.

There should be a sticky at the top with the list of banned personel with the reason for their banning and the lenth of their bans for all to see. This naming and shaming along with a strict regime may embarrase the badly behaved citizens into behaving in a friendly manner.

This works on my Football forum I visit.

I just think the Mods need to be stricter on the rules. I have blocked several people who just continue to abuse them.

I hopes things can be turned around but for ow the only place to hide is in the Challenges forum.

I have lost all motivation to help in GQ, mainly due to peoples attitudes and the general repeated posts/questions which could be fixed by a general FAQ stickied at the top of the forum.

[mt-mckinlay33]

i think if a new user makes a mistkae then a small majority of the forums jump on your back and you have countles

"read the rules before you post thread"

i think that a beginners subforum would be quite a good idea as it would mean that the amateurs can ask questions like this without getting abused

[Ackter]

Originally posted by mt-mckinlay33:

i think if a new user makes a mistkae then a small majority of the forums jump on your back and you have countles

"read the rules before you post thread"

i think that a beginners subforum would be quite a good idea as it would mean that the amateurs can ask questions like this without getting abused

Then you'd just get slightly less amateur amateurs jumping on the new amamteur's backs.

A new forum wouldn't fix it, it would just be somewhere else to do it that the currently over-stratched mod team would have to deal with.

[Jonfun1980]

I know we are not allowed to text talk on here, so are the following allowed?

10 million, 2 million etc.

CM, GK, STR.

Thats what I do at the moment.

Just checking its ok.