The death of PG'ers - Forum Update

fly

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Oct 1, 2004
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So...

After watching the newb threads closer lately, I knew things had to change. They inevitably veer offtopic as people run out of witty things to say to the newb. Then I end up deleting posts and closing the thread. Rinse and repeat. That said, I also recently got some feedback on the whole PG process. The comment was basically that it can be quite daunting and require a good deal of effort on the newb's part - for fucks sake this is USELESS forums.

There was also the spammer problem. They would sign up for the forums, never post in their newb thread, and it would go offtopic or get voted closed. All of these things seem overdone and cumbersome.

Additionally, <5% of people who register seem to become somewhat regular posters here. Being such a small forum, we need to put as few restrictions on new users as possible in hopes that these new people will return and give us additional people to make fun of.

Ya so here's the deal, if you couldn't guess it. We're going to try running without newb threads and see how that works out. New users will now be just like you and me, only they probably smell less. So expect to see newbs that you haven't heard of posting in random threads. Any posts like "Who the fuck are you" will result in vacations.

Now it's your turn. Comments?
 
So...

After watching the newb threads closer lately, I knew things had to change. They inevitably veer offtopic as people run out of witty things to say to the newb. Then I end up deleting posts and closing the thread. Rinse and repeat. That said, I also recently got some feedback on the whole PG process. The comment was basically that it can be quite daunting and require a good deal of effort on the newb's part - for fucks sake this is USELESS forums.

There was also the spammer problem. They would sign up for the forums, never post in their newb thread, and it would go offtopic or get voted closed. All of these things seem overdone and cumbersome.

Additionally, <5% of people who register seem to become somewhat regular posters here. Being such a small forum, we need to put as few restrictions on new users as possible in hopes that these new people will return and give us additional people to make fun of.

Ya so here's the deal, if you couldn't guess it. We're going to try running without newb threads and see how that works out. New users will now be just like you and me, only they probably smell less. So expect to see newbs that you haven't heard of posting in random threads. Any posts like "Who the fuck are you" will result in vacations.

Now it's your turn. Comments?

Can we ask who the frick they are?
 
So...

Now it's your turn. Comments?
Translation : I'm lazy and taking the path of least work. Forcing people to post a little bit about themselves let everyone get to know them. Allowing immediate posting after registering is just going to lead to equally annoying spam from bots, people masquerading with multiple accounts, and other nonsense as the offtopicness you claim to be a pain.
 
how about off topic newbie threads so we still get to meet the newbies?

just dont put any restrictions on any of it... or on the newbies... still a good way to break the ice and get the newbies involved.
 
Translation : I'm lazy and taking the path of least work. Forcing people to post a little bit about themselves let everyone get to know them. Allowing immediate posting after registering is just going to lead to equally annoying spam from bots, people masquerading with multiple accounts, and other nonsense as the offtopicness you claim to be a pain.

How many members have we retained since the introduction of PG hello threads?

It's stupid, bloated and now redundant. I hope and trust the new method works well, and if we're allowing ourselves to cower before the odd spambot we're not worthy of the .com suffix.
 
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I for one welcome the new idea and trial period. I will try my best to introduce a few more people to our fine forums. Does this mean automatic thread creation is now switched off as of this threads creation?
 
Do we have any charts or graphs on the activity level of the forums over the years and possibly compare them to this new upcoming trend?

I can see how it will work; we are a bit too elitist around here and it is rare that newbs stay around longer for a day. I liked the idea of newb threads so that way they are introduced to the community, but not voting them closed or putting restrictions on them would be more inviting.

Spammers/bots/trash gets deleted as they are identified, no biggie. :)
 
Still boring. Galen's boring friends will continue not to post in a boring fashion, and life will go on as usual.