Or, that we have a different standard than the other thread posters, and when something changes in that standard, we SEE it more clearly. That is what I said earlier. The flames that go on in other forum areas are much, much hotter than here. That says to me that we either: don't do it as much, or simply don't like seeing what little there is when it happens.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
GG, I went and did a "bad."
I posted using QR instead of actually replying to one of the posts I was referring to. The problem was that there were several of them to choose from, and I just didn't feel like picking a specific one out, so I simply responded to the thread in general.
You and Lance, while I don't fully agree with what you have said, were making your opinions about the subject known. Other people (more than one, and from a couple of places I didn't expect to see them come from) decided to veil insults to the two of you.
THAT is how the flamefests begin. And if I am not mistaken, it is the flaming that often gets reported to the mods.
Case in point: I don't think Beka was upset with how the "Fact:!" thread was going until someone else decided to say "You guys can't do that in here" and then complained to her when other people didn't follow their suggestions. It was the flaming that resulted from trying to dictate what other people were allowed to post that was upsetting to her, and which caused her to ask for the thread to be closed down.
If I am wrong then so be it. If Beka comes on and says "No, those silly Facts that people were just making up on the spot were what was upsetting me" then I will gladly apologize and move on. However, at no point in any place I have seen did Beka ever comment on the "Facts" that were being posted. She commented on how the last few pages were upsetting to her and not what she intended the thread to become.
I would like everyone to realize that this part of the Forum is where we, as the Protector Server Community, come to spend "in-game" time with each other when we cannot be "in-game." This is pretty much a glorified chatroom, here for our community to interact when we cannot be in-game to interact.
Yes, some threads rightfully deserve to not be led off-topic. But those threads tend to get Stickied so that they are "flagged" as being important. Anything else is, and really should be, pretty much "fair game."
[ QUOTE ]
Or, that we have a different standard than the other thread posters, and when something changes in that standard, we SEE it more clearly.
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Don't assume too much 
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The flames that go on in other forum areas are much, much hotter than here. That says to me that we either: don't do it as much, or simply don't like seeing what little there is when it happens.
[/ QUOTE ]
Or the thrid option - toughen up a bit.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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I still see a pile of concerns though and no headway towards solutionville.
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My solution is just to "Live and Let Live."
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agreed. frankly the more this thread goes on, the more I boggle. Go read some of the server forums and come back.
(edit - this is not meant as a slam, before someone looks for a reason to wig out - I mean clearly - people here care, and communicate way freakin better than other server forums.)
This is entirely, utterly, inanely ridiculous. This whole 'crisis'.
We don't need a damn thing. Tell the mods to do here what they do in the other forums - ignore the Flags.
really
really really
really [censored] really
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I still see a pile of concerns though and no headway towards solutionville.
[/ QUOTE ]
My solution is just to "Live and Let Live."
[/ QUOTE ]
agreed. frankly the more this thread goes on, the more I boggle. Go read some of the server forums and come back.
This is entirely, utterly, inanely ridiculous. This whole 'crisis'.
We don't need a damn thing. Tell the mods to do here what they do in the other forums - ignore the Flags.
really
really really
really [censored] really
[/ QUOTE ]
It technically breaks the rules but:
QFT!
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I still see a pile of concerns though and no headway towards solutionville.
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My solution is just to "Live and Let Live."
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agreed. frankly the more this thread goes on, the more I boggle. Go read some of the server forums and come back.
This is entirely, utterly, inanely ridiculous. This whole 'crisis'.
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Yeah, it is rather weird - I've been on quite a few message boards, and I've never seen anything quite like this before...
EDIT: Dammit, I missed the chance to make an "Infinite Crisis" joke 
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
[ QUOTE ]
I don't know half of you half as well as I should like and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
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... you stole that line from Bilbo!! 
Seriously though, my home has always been and always will be Protector. Because I play with a lot of the wierdos that post on the forum. I continue to play on this server because of the people who post on the forums and who play in the game. We're a large, crazy disfunctional family, damnit. And if you all can't agree to disagree then I'm gonna have to take you all out back and give ya a whoopin'.
... Okay, I can't be serious for any length of time. Anyone who has spent any amount of time talking with me or reading my posts knows that. I don't post half as often as I should, and most of the time when I post in any other forum then this I am ignored. This little collection of bytes is my internet home, where I feel comfortable around a bunch of people and wierd and as moody and messed up as I am.
As Ex (although it may not have been how it was ment) said, we ARE Protector, each and every one of us. And this IS the little server that could.
The end of one story always marks the beginning of another...
and Ex, to clarify, I don't mean this as any insult to your efforts, since now dozens of people are walking on eggshells, ( being a red named post, people from all other server forums are reading this). People who know me clearly know I don't brown nose - but I think you have tried amazingly well here with your intent.
But when I see how much effort you have personally expended in your carefully written posts, and how carefully worded and how much drama and attention exists here *for nothing really* it makes me frankly sad.
- it really shouldn't matter this much
- I come back to again so many more places (that I also frequent) could use this kind of attention.
All of us - Go do volunteer work somewhere or just level an alt or read a book, or walk your critter, or ANY FREAKIN THING. In the big scheme of things this is silly. and even in the small contrived gaming universe, this is really....well...silly. I spend my time mixed across multiple server forums (branching out really isn't evil, blasphemy as that is to some) as well as a lot on the AT forums.....if anything, we should have a gold star, not now TWO neon lit red named threads.
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Or, that we have a different standard than the other thread posters, and when something changes in that standard, we SEE it more clearly.
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Don't assume too much
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I don't know that you presume to speak for the rest of Protector. Doesn't make me wrong in my observation. Please kindly do not make light of how I observe this situation, as it deepens the problem.
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Or the thrid option - toughen up a bit.
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Which proves my point that some people need to watch what they say. The point isn't that some people need to toughen up. I DO NOT COME HERE TO BE TOUGH. I'm positive that numerous others are in a similar situation.
I come here to freaking get help from friends. I come here to have fun. I shouldn't have to be 'tough' to do that.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
[ QUOTE ]
The point isn't that some people need to toughen up. I DO NOT COME HERE TO BE TOUGH. I'm positive that numerous others are in a similar situation.
I come here to freaking get help from friends. I come here to have fun. I shouldn't have to be 'tough' to do that.
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Internet video game forum = a little bit of toughness required
It's only words - words on your computer screen.
No ones threatening you, no one's beating you up, no one's robbing you, no one's spray-painting witty queries about your sexual orientation in 15 foot aquamarine letters on on the glass-fronted entrance of the nearest downtown mall.
Just words on a computer screen...
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
I will ask one more time.
This is really all I ask.
Its this simple:
If someone asks that a particular thread NOT be jacked, can we all agree to leave that one alone?
I don't think anyone really sets out to threadjack - it just happens.
With so many differnet posters with different ideas and tastes and so on, it's inevitable that the longer a thread goes on, the more likely it is to stray off topic from time to time.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
GG
I agree with you on this last statement. That threads the longer they last the more they will stray off topic.
I do not agree with some of the Toughen up statements you are making. Meh this is my opinion, you are intitled to yours.
The Gods know you have made it clear over and over and over again.
I do not think it is a matter of toughening up to solve this. I do like the boards the way they are. I like to go and see the humorous comments posted. I try and I say TRY to be nice to everyone. I see some blantant remarks made towards people in some of the threads. Most of time I shrug it off.
I think all of this will blow over as most of the DRAMA does...
Gah I feel like I am in highschool again...
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I will ask one more time.
This is really all I ask.
Its this simple:
If someone asks that a particular thread NOT be jacked, can we all agree to leave that one alone?
[/ QUOTE ]
I think the best we can do for the most part is give it a shot at not thread jacking. But, really, where does that line start? How far off topic do you go before it becomes a thread jack and not just a tangent?
I will admit now before I go any further that I haven't read this whole thread. 8 pages in 2 days on this topic brings to mind far more drama than I want to wade through in a sitting. But I read the beginning, and I read the end (just like Great Expectations 
) so I am going to pipe in and pretty much fully agree with Aerones. I am one of those people he mentioned who used to post here all the time, multiple posts daily. Now, I am lucky if I even bother to look at the Protector section. Why is that? Not because posts are being threadjacked. That has happened as long as I have been here. It is because of the reactions that people are having to them.
There seem to be two camps. Both camps jack threads as much as the other, both have their inside jokes, private laughs etc. And if a person from camp 1 jacks a thread from camp 1, no reaction. Things go on as per usual. If a person from camp 1 jacks a thread of camp 2, then all the camp 2 people pipe up and complain about the threadjacking.
I submit that this isn't an issue about staying on topic. This has very little to do with whether or not a thread has any relevant information to be delved from it. It is just that some people don't meld well and those people are big posters. Is there a solution that you or I can instill to make things better? No, there isn't. Each person has to do it themselves.
So, the best advice I can offer to everyone is to look at what you post before you post it. Type it out, wait 15 seconds, if it still seems relevant, post it. You will be amazed at how many times you just hit the back button instead. And then, while reading the forums, if something comes off as snarky, or offensive, or just irritating . . . ignore it. Life is too short to spend it pissing and moaning about how a thread like "True facts of Protector", which was nonsense from the start, has become a different form of nonsense and therefor no good.
So, to quote my new favorite forum poster.
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My solution is just to "Live and Let Live."
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Aerones,
Brings up some good points. Cliques. A very natural occurrence.
In some ways I blame the inflexibility of the forums themselves as I personally would love to create a safe place to play for everyone.
What about creating several (safe) threads and see how they can go about in taking shape and form?
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This is the nail (the bolded part).
This forum software is very inflexible.
The forums and bbs that I have run and partaken of have had group controls.
Group controls can allow different permissions to be applied to different area of the boards.
It is a management headache, but in my time of being on boards/forums/bbs and managing boards/forums/bbs I find in most cases that having the controls makes the user more responsive to quality feedback.
We had to register for the boards, only after creating an account that accesses CoH/CoV. But once that forum account was made, any and all (except Administrator Only Areas and recent closed Beta sections) areas are open for any and all to post to.
My time on these boards is usually reserved to checking the "Dev Digest" or "Community Digest", responding to threads I started or have replied to (via My Favorites) or when I hear something in game chat that makes me want to respond in the thread.
The "Protector Forum Goers -- Have Fun Here" thread to me is the one where anything said in there is to be taken with a very small grain of salt.
But, since I'm not the only one that follows the "Dev Digest" or "Community Digest" I know others that use this entire board will come to see what Ex Libris has said in here, especially after seeing several "Community Digest" posts pointing here.
This is where the lack of group control will really rear it's head, as has been shown...some people on the boards just like to poke sharp objects into threads.
Is there a quick solution? No...not without destroying the sense of community.
It appears that the solution will be as life is: a learning process.
With no reset button.
Sometimes, I impress my boss. Sometimes, I impress myself. The rest of the time, I scare people. I can live with that.
[ QUOTE ]
I will ask one more time.
This is really all I ask.
Its this simple:
If someone asks that a particular thread NOT be jacked, can we all agree to leave that one alone?
[/ QUOTE ]
ask one more time, or hundred. Thats usually a direct target for more TJ. The one time I asked that I got ridicule back. (from one of the main whiners, oddly nuff) Ignore it and it usually goes away.
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My solution is just to "Live and Let Live."
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my vote as well
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I will ask one more time.
This is really all I ask.
Its this simple:
If someone asks that a particular thread NOT be jacked, can we all agree to leave that one alone?
[/ QUOTE ]
ask one more time, or hundred. Thats usually a direct target for more TJ. The one time I asked that I got ridicule back. (from one of the main whiners, oddly nuff) Ignore it and it usually goes away.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, at least some responded, even if no one has yet answered.
Wolfen, I'm really not aware of the incident you've referred to here. If you genuinely made a sincere respectful request that a particular thread not get jacked and got a negative response to that request, I'm sorry. I know how it made me feel to have my first request ignored and my second request (which was admittedly an angrier request) responded to negatively.
It doesn't help to dismiss the concerns of people who you don't like and disagree agree with, however. Wolfen, I am not whining, I am trying very hard to have a civil, reasonable discussion. And in that effort, I've now put not one but two people on my forum ignore list, for the first time EVER since I started posting. Dismissing an issue that is important to some people, and obviously to you as well, or you wouldn't keep coming back here, by adding it to your signature, is also not helpful and only serves to inflame the problem.
But, I'm going to try to get back to the core here. ..for clarity sake, the following is a response to everyone, not just to Wolfen...
1. Obviously, it IS a problem. We've got not one, but two posts started by EX attempting to address the problem. Whether everyone agrees that it is a problem Ex obviously thinks it is, and she has asked us to try to resolve it. So, can we please try to address a solution, instead of just dismissing it?
2. The problem has multiple roots.
- we threadjack alot on Protector, in fact, we're rather oddly proud of it.
- we have 'cliques.' My blood pressure goes up even using the word, but we do. We do NOT have one, we have several. So, attempting to place blame on a clique is really not helpful.
- there are some pretty strong feelings, and some past history. This situation will be better resolved by trying very hard to leave those feelings out of this discussion.
3. no one is demanding that thread jacking stop. No one is claiming that they don't do it. We all do it.What some of us are asking is that we find a way to be more respectful of each other. Keep thread-jacking, I know I will. But, I will definitely be more aware of what threads I joke around in from now on, and try to be more considerate of the rest of my community. Which is what I'm asking of everyone else.
4. no one is comparing the thread-jacking that goes on here to the rampant flaming and absurd behavior on some of the other forums. That's reason I rarely venture off Protector anymore, life is too short to tolerate that behavior.
5. the amount of importance I put on the forums, this forum, or a particular thread, vs the importance you put on the forums, vs the important she/he puts on the forums is really not the issue. If its not important to you, that's great. If it is important to me, that's not a character flaw, just like it is not a character flaw if it doesn't matter at all to you. It is not a character flaw if I'm more sensitive about it, just like it is not a character flaw if you are really tough-skinned about it.
And.. finally
6. I really don't want the mods coming in here and making the decision of how to resolve this for us. I don't think any of us want that. I'm begging now. Whether you are in my *chokes* clique, his clique, or her clique, whether you agree with me or not, whether you like me, whether you like those that agree with me, can we please just discuss this reasonably without resorting to insults, veiled or otherwise, and dismissing each other?
Thank you.
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The problem has multiple roots.
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That doesn't explain why it's only the Protector forum that sees this hysterical reaction to what is normal for the rest of the server forums.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
/em fun threadjack on
If we really have cliques, can someone tell me which one I'm in? I need to know who to hate...
/em fun threadjack off
Badstorm,
You can be in my clique anytime : )
I just need to know which clique I am in....
I think I am in my own one midget clique.
But you are more then welcome to join!
[ QUOTE ]
/em fun threadjack on
If we really have cliques, can someone tell me which one I'm in? I need to know who to hate...
/em fun threadjack off
[/ QUOTE ]
/threadjack on
C"mon, you can be in mine!
/threadjack off
Cliques are there to be ignored, or laughed at, whichever you prefer - I hear there's a Clique Buster badge you can earn too
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
*The above threadjacking is a classic example of what Protector does best. No small, furry woodland animals were harmed in the making of this threadjack*
We now return you to your regularly scheduled "serious topic".
Or just that we've had more notify moderator requests recently then normal, that doesn't remove the fact that all people here have an equal right to start a thread and have it go how they want and not be insulted.
More on topic I was thinking about the suggestion with choosing in the title area whether you care or not about the thread you are starting being jacked or not, this would further give guidance to the moderators when a thread is mod notified as to whether the OP would want a moderators intervention in that thread. So I further support the idea and somehow noting if a thread is to be not jacked, ok for some thread jacking, or have fun doing whatever.