Rants, Forums, Lighthouse
By
0zymandous,
Posted on: 2006-12-13 19:34 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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As it is now, there's no sign telling us what the speed limit is, but we can tell it's a two lane highway in the country, so we can assume it's 55. Suddenly, out of nowhere we hit a speed trap and get ticketed without any warning. I'd like some clearer road signs and stricter enforcement, personally.
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You can sit there and tell me that you don't know if what you write will or will not get mod-smacked.
boggle
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As it is now, there's no sign telling us what the speed limit is, but we can tell it's a two lane highway in the country, so we can assume it's 55. Suddenly, out of nowhere we hit a speed trap and get ticketed without any warning. I'd like some clearer road signs and stricter enforcement, personally.
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You can sit there and tell me that you don't know if what you write will or will not get mod-smacked.
boggle
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Actually, he's right.
I've seen posts that were obvious attacks on other posters go off scott-free and others that contained nothing more than a reference to underwear get delted entirely.
It's not necessarily anarchy, but to a fairly significant degree nobody really knows for sure where the line is.
And i'm sayin this as someone who likes to skirt the line... I don't actually know where it is.
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Fight my brute!
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As you can tell, I have rarely posted on the forums. That being said, I do read through select ones nearly every day. Lately I have noticed a disturbing trend regarding rants and the forums and Lighthouse.
More and more discussions/rants are being closed down by Lighthouse. I realize he is the Community Relations go-to person, but in trying to establish his unique presence in that role, I feel he has gone a bit too far at times, more than not.
I cringe everytime I see his name in a discussion. Maybe I am not very sensitive to people's feelings but Lighthouse seems to be politically correct to the extreme. Someone could use the word "butthead" in a post and he will close it down. Have we become such a community that we cannot tolerate even minor rants and dissenting responses?
I wonder how many respones this will generate before Lighthouse closes this thread down.
What I would like to see is a bit more balance from Lighthouse, more leeway being given to rants. Maybe it is me, but the rants lately have been generating some good discussions, some good feedback with only a few poor posters using inappropriate language.
Rather than merely closing down the rants, Lighthouse could close them and then open up a new discussion forum where he has distilled the rant's thoughts/points and then invite feedback. Would that mean some more work for Lighthouse? Yes, but he is the Community Rep. Wouldn't his job be to not only monitor but also direct and redirect discussions in a more positive vein?
I know that this post will divide many on the issue of Rants in general and I know some will take sides over Lighthouse. I do not dislike Lighthouse - I have seen some quality respones from him. MY OPINION is that he could back off a bit on his politically correct stick and allow us to work out our rants on our own or step in only when really neccesary.
A final suggestion - a forum dedicated to rants only? A free for all rant forum where users would have to agree that what is said in the forum stays in the forum?
Thanks for listening. This has just been something that has bugged me from day one of Lighthouse being here....
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He's still not closing down enough topics. Either that or one sub discussion forum needs to be made that is for pissing and moaning, as there is a great of excess of it to make most of the forums useful, outside of being a screaming 5 year old in a supermarket.
I'm being excessivly harsh there.
What my point is since we have a suggestions and improvements forum we need one flat out made for complaints that way they're focused and more likely to build the support many the users intend to garner, rather then having 100,000 "OMG I GOT NERFED TODAY" posts, consolidate it into one giga-normous one that at least gives a population sense of how many people are pissed.
I tend to see 100,000 of the same target it skipp. But if i want a population of how many people are pissed at the recent patch and they're consolidated into one then you have a better sense of how many users who are willing to take time to post are actually "pissed" annoyed or whatnot at something.
ANd yes if such a forum were to exist I would support an offical stickeyed omg Red Names are Nazis because...topic where those who feel a need to do so can post essay long topics on how lighthouse, States, Posi, etc are Satan incarnate, that and it makes it easier for me to pass over them when I dont feel like reading htem.
Although given the nature of a video game forum. The Piss and Moan forum would infact probably be the one with the highest amounts of posts.
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So imagine going one mile over the limit and getting pulled over and getting a ticket. Tell me, would you thank the officer and say "Rules are rules. I will pay the ticket first thing tomorrow"? OR would you try to reason with officer, maybe get him to give you a warning?
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No. You take the ticket, then contest it, and freaking win. If you have an analog speedometer, there's no way a 1 mile or km per hour can actually be seen.
If you think Lighthouse is being unreasonable, you take it up with NCSoft, as per the rule posted earlier in the thread. You don't reason with the policeman. You don't reason with Lighthouse. It's that simple.
Well that is what I decided to do. I am PM'ing Statesman about Lightbright 
and hopefully he will either lay off the delete button a little, or hopefully actually apply it fairly and with some reasons given. I know this post will likely be deleted by morning. He has a personal hate-on for me so I think his beeper goes off everytime I post so he can delete them. Think CuppaJo will come back and replace him?
And if you really are nice, you will quote this so it will live on after his perfecttommy purge in the morning!
Bitter? nah, just figure why should I be polite to someone that won't even give me the courtesy of telling me what I did wrong
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Wow someone is really touchy! ALL my posts on this have been deleted. I guess criticism of Lighthouse is also forbidden. I would love to know what I keep saying that they don't like, I would PM lighthouse again, but I don't feel like sending a message that will just be ignored anyway
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Maybe stop with the name calling? It's not just the name calling but the twisting of his moniker that reeks of a deep passive agressiveness. Whatever you're so angry about, calling someone the name of a childs toy or an alcoholic beverage isn't going to win you any favors.
Your right it won't. But I have decided since I had MULTIPLE posts deleted without an actual explanation, and was not able to defend myself against flame posts, or EVEN DELETE the post that caused the flames, I figure I can change his moniker in a fun fashion. I have had my ID lampooned, I didn't sulk about it. And I don't want any favours. I want even handed and judicial use of the modsmack. If he nails me for crossing a line. Fine. No prob. But nail EVERYONE that crosses that line, and for Mod's sake (like that joke?, little play on the ol' power trip) TELL PEOPLE WHAT THEY DID WRONG!!! I don't mean some namby pamby BS answer, I mean an honest one.
So yeah LIGHTBEER can expect to not get a Christmas card from me.
IBTL then.
Wow.... IBTL +1.
You must realize how insulting that reads, with all your caps and stuff? I mean yes, you have points. However.... you really ought to take a few minutes break before posting any more. Or a night. Sit in front of the TV and watch Grey's Anatomy. It'll give you time to cool off and stop namecalling.
Lighthouse is doing his job - as are other moderators. And seriously, your posting like this is making their job much harder because they've gotta sort through whether its flaming or accidentally going over the top.
Good luck to the mods, and like I said... .IBTL.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
Sorry, I was just trying to help. You said you didn't know why your posts went bye bye and I thought I could help.
Terribly sorry dear. I'll try not to do that anymore.
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I never said that everyone who chooses to break rules they don't like is always a hero and all of society should back them up every time. It's even possible that someone who objects to a given law may be wrong to do so! I still don't think that means we should accept bad, stupid, or unjust rules.
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True, but there are ways of protesting that don't involve 'protesting' or angry rants. You could probably say just about anything to anyone depending on how you say it.
Then again, my personal goal is to be able to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip, even so far as spending all their frequent flyer miles.
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I gave up on such a goal when I came to terms with the fact that if I did that, my intended target would miss the point.
Elsegame: Champions Online: @BellaStrega ||| Battle.net: Ashleigh#1834 ||| Bioware Social Network: BellaStrega ||| EA Origin: Bella_Strega ||| Steam: BellaStrega ||| The first Guild Wars: Kali Magdalene ||| The Secret World: BelleStarr (Arcadia)
okay noob alert! what the heck is IBTL? I am going to cool down an stop posting for at least the night.
I have no problem with mods doing there job. I really don't. I just am really annoyed when it is not consistent.
Sorry if i have gotten anyone ticked. I really do enjoy the forums and find them really helpful in my enjoyment of the game. It just leaves a bad taste. Thanks for letting me at least blow off steam
*Throws a bag of popcorn into the thread and watches it pop*
The package says it has extra butter..
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I never said that everyone who chooses to break rules they don't like is always a hero and all of society should back them up every time. It's even possible that someone who objects to a given law may be wrong to do so! I still don't think that means we should accept bad, stupid, or unjust rules.
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True, but there are ways of protesting that don't involve 'protesting' or angry rants. You could probably say just about anything to anyone depending on how you say it.
Then again, my personal goal is to be able to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip, even so far as spending all their frequent flyer miles.
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I gave up on such a goal when I came to terms with the fact that if I did that, my intended target would miss the point.
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I like it when it's subtle enough to go over their head now but hits them later on, a few hours later.
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okay noob alert! what the heck is IBTL? I am going to cool down an stop posting for at least the night.
I have no problem with mods doing there job. I really don't. I just am really annoyed when it is not consistent.
Sorry if i have gotten anyone ticked. I really do enjoy the forums and find them really helpful in my enjoyment of the game. It just leaves a bad taste. Thanks for letting me at least blow off steam
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IBTL/D
In Before The Lock/Delete
Generally, the poster feels the thread in question will go away, quickly.
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okay noob alert! what the heck is IBTL? I am going to cool down an stop posting for at least the night.
I have no problem with mods doing there job. I really don't. I just am really annoyed when it is not consistent.
Sorry if i have gotten anyone ticked. I really do enjoy the forums and find them really helpful in my enjoyment of the game. It just leaves a bad taste. Thanks for letting me at least blow off steam
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IBTL means "In Before The Lock". Meaning that the person who says it expects the thread to be locked.
I think this exchange more or less illustrates why rants are against the messageboard rules.
Current main:
Schrodinger's Gun, Dual Pistols/Mental Blaster, Virtue
Avatar: Becky Miyamoto from Pani Poni Dash. Roulette roulette~
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As it is now, there's no sign telling us what the speed limit is, but we can tell it's a two lane highway in the country, so we can assume it's 55. Suddenly, out of nowhere we hit a speed trap and get ticketed without any warning. I'd like some clearer road signs and stricter enforcement, personally.
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You can sit there and tell me that you don't know if what you write will or will not get mod-smacked.
boggle
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Actually, he's right.
I've seen posts that were obvious attacks on other posters go off scott-free and others that contained nothing more than a reference to underwear get delted entirely.
It's not necessarily anarchy, but to a fairly significant degree nobody really knows for sure where the line is.
And i'm sayin this as someone who likes to skirt the line... I don't actually know where it is.
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Repeated for correctness.
There's no standard; threads get locked and deleted, subthreads get axed...no idea why. There's not always an obvious reason as to why thread A got axed but thread B did not. I've seen polite discussions about mechanics (and some wish lists about mechanical changes) get sent howling into oblivion while the umpteenth thread in a single week about how tankers who don't take taunt actually cause puppies to die from puppy-killing rays continues unabated.
Elsegame: Champions Online: @BellaStrega ||| Battle.net: Ashleigh#1834 ||| Bioware Social Network: BellaStrega ||| EA Origin: Bella_Strega ||| Steam: BellaStrega ||| The first Guild Wars: Kali Magdalene ||| The Secret World: BelleStarr (Arcadia)
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get sent howling into oblivion
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Hehe.. I don't know why, but this makes me giggle.
I think it would help if people started using the notify moderator button. It really does work. I've seen it in action personally. For those that don't know where the notify moderator button is.. refer to this helpful chart I made for one of our forum posters!
Clicky ME! OBEY!
It is easily missed, but there it is. The mods WILL investigate a notified post. Can't expect the mods to know where to go on their own. It isn't as if any of them have a mod sense.. except Lighthouse of course. 
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For the love of jelly beans.
It's a freakin internet message forum.
Get over yourselves.
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It's an internet message forum where we try to socialize, discuss the game, and have some fun. When that socializing, discussion, and fun is disrupted because we simply cannot tell what standards are being used to determine which threads have to go, it's well within reason to get annoyed or frustrated and ask why this is happening.
Trying to shut down an argument by exclaiming how irrelevant the topic strikes me as something that must be formally defined as a logical fallacy somewhere. Maybe you should reconsider that gambit, if you want to convince us that we have no business criticizing the recent moderation activities. This forum is not irrelevant or unimportant or we wouldn't be here discussing anything. It is true that this forum might not be of paramount importance in our lives, or relate to critical matters of national security. However, this forum is here for discussion of City of Heroes and tangents related to that. If you're unwilling to acknowledge that this forum is important and relevant in that particular regard, maybe you should find someplace a bit more important to post.
Elsegame: Champions Online: @BellaStrega ||| Battle.net: Ashleigh#1834 ||| Bioware Social Network: BellaStrega ||| EA Origin: Bella_Strega ||| Steam: BellaStrega ||| The first Guild Wars: Kali Magdalene ||| The Secret World: BelleStarr (Arcadia)
After ironically having my pro-Lighthouse post deleted because I attached it to another post that got squished, I'll start at the top.
To reiterate - Lighthouse is doing a better job than CuppaJo. Yes, stealth-mods and stealth-deletions still occur, but when Lighthouse acts he tells us why. CuppaJo occasionally did, but usually she just threw a black bag over the head of the offending thread and had it dragged into an awaiting van.
I didn't (and still don't) get the fandom that surrounded Cuppa. She was nice enough for a voice on the wire, sure, but nothing special. But that's all she was for 99% of the forums - a voice on the wire.
But then I don't actually want the mods to be my friends. I don't want them to be friends with players because I think it creates the chance that they will let too much slide from certain people. I want the mods to be efficient, to be open about what they are doing / why they locked a thread and to show a steady hand. Lighthouse is doing all of this.
I don't agree that Lighthouse needs to show more "personality" - he's doing fine. He's been civil, efficient and open. That's good enough. I don't need to know his favourite colour or about the time he tried to beat the world skipping champion. It's irrelevant to the task at hand.
Oh, and I'll link this for ironic timeliness.
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After ironically having my pro-Lighthouse post deleted because I attached it to another post that got squished, I'll start at the top.
To reiterate - Lighthouse is doing a better job than CuppaJo. Yes, stealth-mods and stealth-deletions still occur, but when Lighthouse acts he tells us why. CuppaJo occasionally did, but usually she just threw a black bag over the head of the offending thread and had it dragged into an awaiting van.
I didn't (and still don't) get the fandom that surrounded Cuppa. She was nice enough for a voice on the wire, sure, but nothing special. But that's all she was for 99% of the forums - a voice on the wire.
But then I don't actually want the mods to be my friends. I don't want them to be friends with players because I think it creates the chance that they will let too much slide from certain people. I want the mods to be efficient, to be open about what they are doing / why they locked a thread and to show a steady hand. Lighthouse is doing all of this.
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I disagree with pretty much everything you say here.
Elsegame: Champions Online: @BellaStrega ||| Battle.net: Ashleigh#1834 ||| Bioware Social Network: BellaStrega ||| EA Origin: Bella_Strega ||| Steam: BellaStrega ||| The first Guild Wars: Kali Magdalene ||| The Secret World: BelleStarr (Arcadia)
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I have a question for the people saying that they see apparantly unofffensive threads getting deleted, while other clearly rules violating posts stick around.
Do you guys actually report the offensive threads that aren't deleted? Or PM Lighthouse or Cricket about them?
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I have a question for the people saying that they see apparantly unofffensive threads getting deleted, while other clearly rules violating posts stick around.
Do you guys actually report the offensive threads that aren't deleted? Or PM Lighthouse or Cricket about them?
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I have reported threads that clearly violate the forum rules - sometimes they get deleted, sometimes not.
Elsegame: Champions Online: @BellaStrega ||| Battle.net: Ashleigh#1834 ||| Bioware Social Network: BellaStrega ||| EA Origin: Bella_Strega ||| Steam: BellaStrega ||| The first Guild Wars: Kali Magdalene ||| The Secret World: BelleStarr (Arcadia)
On the subject of post deletion, I'm strongly against it. The other forum I belong to has a much more strict set of guidelines and threads are often locked because of it. Many people get banned as well, but the only posts that are EVER deleted, are the ones that are 100% advertising spam, or if the post is something like a racially motivated tirade right from the start. If a topic (such as this one) turns into an all out brawl that results in several people getting banned, the offensive posts may be edited, the people banned, and the thread locked, but all posts will remain there for all to see. This is the way it should be as far as I'm concerned. I feel that way for two reasons.
1. It eliminates the selective judgment of the person who finds it.
2. It keeps a public record of why threads were closed and why people were banned. It will also force the mods to be more honest in dealing with such things if everything they do is open to public view. If a person is given a modsmack for saying something, then complains about it, but the thread is still there for all to see, it can be judged by the other mods, and members. If it turns out that the post was smacked without cause, there is a record of it. Doing it all in private to avoid complaints sort of implies a lack of confidence in the process. If the person was modded fairly, they can complain, but the majority of the community will probably side with the mods in that case.
I completely agree that we are in NCSoft's house and have to live by their rules, but those rules need to be public. They need to be publicly enforced. And the enforcement needs to be be open to public scrutiny.
My first short story (detective fiction) came out in Jan-2012. Other stories and books to follow, I hope. Because of "real writing". COH was a big part of that happening.
Wow someone is really touchy! ALL my posts on this have been deleted. I guess criticism of Lighthouse is also forbidden. I would love to know what I keep saying that they don't like, I would PM lighthouse again, but I don't feel like sending a message that will just be ignored anyway