Should we ban quit threads

[Auro]

I'm an attention whore.

Also, I can't be on 24-7 to wait for people I don't see much anymore to tell them I quit, unfortunately.

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by SYMM

Comparing PA, a community-based game, to a face-less international mega-firm, really shows that the PA-way of customer service is still alive, even with those retired

I'm not comparing PA to McDonalds, I'm drawing an analogy to a similar situation.

If i were the member of a community group, lets say a Church, or a social-club, then if i were to leave, it would most probably be recognised.

Would you expect to have posters in the Vatican, with an announcement by the Pope himself to go with perhaps? Your Church would be the equivalent of your alliance forums -> the local place where everyone knows you.

Between last round and this one, we've lost about 5k players. What would your opinion on quit threads be if all 5000 people came and posted one on PD?

[Mushroom]

Remove the "delete account" button and ban quit threads!

Welcome to Planetarion! - You'll NEVER leave!

[Parthos]

Originally Posted by n4m3l355

as far as i know everyone is allowed to give what kinda opinion they have. and in a game like this opinions matter a lot.

No they don't. If it's someone I know, they will tell me in person. If it's someone influential that I don't know, they can post a quit thread. As for all the mongs, no one outside their little mong circle cares.

Make a Self-Aggrandizement Forum so people can post all the quit and "look at me" threads they like. This has the added bonus of ghettoizing the wankers so I don't have to go to the second page of PD to find a thread that isn't "Nobody knows me and I've never done anything but I want everyone to know I'm leaving."

Delete Spinners quit thread.

[SYMM]

Originally Posted by Leshy

I'm not comparing PA to McDonalds, I'm drawing an analogy to a similar situation.
Would you expect to have posters in the Vatican, with an announcement by the Pope himself to go with perhaps? Your Church would be the equivalent of your alliance forums -> the local place where everyone knows you.

Between last round and this one, we've lost about 5k players. What would your opinion on quit threads be if all 5000 people came and posted one on PD?

There are communities that exist outside of alliances.
I'd want to say goodbye to all the people who chat/idle in #strategy with me, i guess people from AD are the same- they communicate (argue? ) with people from other alliances, who they wish to say goodbye to, ...I guess there's other channels that are the same.

And there aren't 5k people (or anywhere close to that) posting quit threads, so theoreticising about it is pointless.

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by SYMM

There are communities that exist outside of alliances.
I'd want to say goodbye to all the people who chat/idle in #strategy with me, i guess people from AD are the same- they communicate (argue? ) with people from other alliances, who they wish to say goodbye to, ...I guess there's other channels that are the same.

So now you have to post on a forum about Planetarion to say goodbye to people you talk to on an IRC channel regularly?

Pray tell, why don't you post a goodbye thread on Strategy or Alliance Discussions, if you want to say goodbye to the people there?

[Aryn]

leshy.. cause the AD/strat mods would move it here cause they don't belong there :\
vicious cycle etc

parra. this poll wasn't posted for the reasons you've stated
i hope you noticed in my first post that i stated it's for my own curiosity.
now if the poll results showed a landslide of 70% of the people wanting us to ban the quit threads.. well then there's something to think about.. but the poll is so close that there's no way we could do it.

[Darf]

to be frank i really dont care if people stop playing...just stop and naff off...

[isildurx]

Get em away


Only losers write em anyhow :P

Need to showoff that 'got so many friends' by writing a long ass thread.


Pfft ban em

[Idler]

shut up you STUPID AMERICAN

[furball]

Originally Posted by Idler

shut up you STUPID AMERICAN

we're trying to get a reasoned argument here



I think we can all see that there's no easy place for quit threads. However, making a special forum for quit threads would defeat the point of them - to say goodbye to friends who they don't see anymore and to give a few views on the game. No-one would ever go to this forum, and I'd pity the mod who was expected to moderate.

The best forum for quit threads, is, without a doubt, PD.

[Castigated]

Originally Posted by Nonentity

The best forum for quit threads, is, without a doubt, PD.

If there ever was a "best (or even good) forum for quit threads".... Shouldn't be anywhere in my opinion, though..

[wakey]

Originally Posted by ParraCida

The only reason quit threads are up for 'moderation' is because they look bad. Yes, it looks bad that if you go on this board and you see 10 different quitting threads. Well tough, if you want to fix that then fix the game, not pretend the consequenses of a faulty game are not here.
Hell, if you are going to do this, then next step is to ban all negative comments about pa so that everyone that comes here will think this is a happy place where everybody loves eachother. That's what I mean with censorship leshy babe, censoring things because they are negativly towards you, not because they are disruptive of the forums.

You keep bringing up this argument that they should fix the cause and not the result. Now it may just be me but what exactly is the point in tackling the route causes if the results that are just making the problems worse arent also tackled. We are unable to directly deal with the route causes as thats MrBrick and co's job but we can deal with the Quit threads that are just compounding the problem and disrupting and stifling proper discussions about the game.

As for negative threads here, they are generally nothing like Quit threads. Such threads while critical of aspects of the game are normally constructive and allow for discussions. Yes at times some of these threads are as much mindless drivel as a quit thread, mainly when the poster doesnt have the interlect to post a thread about a problem without getting abusive or when a person is a 'celeb' and they start to believe they are more important than everyone else so go out of their way to belittle anyone who doesnt agree with them. If people have a problem with the game they are free to do so here, or even better think of a way of how to fix the problem you have with the game and post it on suggestions BUT they shouldnt come here get abusive for no reason or talking down to people (and I'm looking at you here with your extreamly poor attempt to belittle me, I may not be in a top alliance, I may not have ended a round in the top 150 since r1 or been in a top 100 galaxy since r5 but that doesnt make you better than me. I have just as much knowledge and certainly more experiance than you in this game and really dont take kindly to attempts to belittle me by a jumped up idiot little yourself. Its not big and its not clever so either post in a manner that gives all the other posters the respect they deserve or STFU)

Originally Posted by n4m3l355

ignoring those who quit only shows that the people are blind for whats actually happening that planetarion is dying. you can ignore it yet you will find it out somehow anyways.
further as far as i know everyone is allowed to give what kinda opinion they have. and in a game like this opinions matter a lot.

Removing quit threads from PD isnt ignoring the problem. Its quite clear theres a problem with people quitting but Quit threads arent helping the situation. They look bad and in no way try and help the game. We would much rather have a negative thread posted by these people highlighting the problems they feel there is which can then be discussed on the thread, then investigated and attempts to fix the issues be made.

Originally Posted by Auro

I'm an attention whore.

Also, I can't be on 24-7 to wait for people I don't see much anymore to tell them I quit, unfortunately.

Lets see the forums have this very useful feature on them. Its called "Private Messages". You can PM any user on the forum with a message which they can read and reply to. Catch who you can on IRC, those you can locate their board accounts and PM them.

Originally Posted by SYMM

There are communities that exist outside of alliances.
I'd want to say goodbye to all the people who chat/idle in #strategy with me, i guess people from AD are the same- they communicate (argue? ) with people from other alliances, who they wish to say goodbye to, ...I guess there's other channels that are the same.

And there aren't 5k people (or anywhere close to that) posting quit threads, so theoreticising about it is pointless.

So let me get this right, those people who hang around on AD and whom you claim were so bothered about quit threads on their forum should be allowed to come to this one and post Quit threads even though you keep claiming AD posters hate them. Why is it alright for them to post them here and not there where people might actually know them and miss them?

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by Aryn

leshy.. cause the AD/strat mods would move it here cause they don't belong there :\

Exactly. And how does it belong here, seeing as it has nothing to do with the game?

Originally Posted by Nonentity

However, making a special forum for quit threads would defeat the point of them - to say goodbye to friends who they don't see anymore and to give a few views on the game. No-one would ever go to this forum

So you're admitting that no one gives a flying fk about quit threads, and doesn't want to see them?

[ParraCida]

Originally Posted by Leshy

Flawed logic. By the same reasoning, Quit threads don't belong here, or they'd be widely accepted and we wouldn't be having this dicussion.

Wrong, we are having this discussion because the establishment wants the quit threads gone because they look bad. Two and two equals four, four does not necessarily mean two plus two.

They can be quite disruptive, as they are topics having nothing to do with Planetarion in the same way spam and flames don't. In addition they break the rule that threads on here are discussions about Planetarion. Note that 'Quit threads' have been given a special permission to stay so far; they are tolerated, not allowed.

Wrong again. They may not be directly related to planetarion the game but they have everything to do with planetarion the community. Also, while you could say that they are as related to planetarion (the game) as spam and flames they are not equally disruptive.

And pray tell, where's the discussion value in that? Where's the topic of Planetarion?

Like I said, there is the is planetarion the game and planetarion the community. Just because it is not discussing something directly related doesn't mean it isn't relevant discussion. Actually, I'm 100% this is the case, just look at the sticky about the woofage event. Not exactly planetarion related either is it?

You're failing to make the distinction between the game and the forums and their respective 'leaders'.

You say it as if they are two completely seperate non-related entities. The forums and the game are closely intertwined, you can't say ********** on these forums, people discuss events from in the game on these forums etc etc. Especially these days when everyone in the PA Team has 8 different titles and responsabilities.

There is nothing wrong with negative comments about PA, because they are about Planetarion, exactly what this forum is for.

Which is completely fine with me because that was absolutely not my point. I was using it as an example to illustrate that this ban of quit threads is being considered from the viewpoint of a cover-up, not a clean-up.

Then let them tell their friends who care, not the masses who don't. If you work for McDonald's for 5 years and then quit, do you reckon they should put up posters in every store, and put you on the international McDonald's website, so you can say goodbye to all the employees you've ever worked with?

Interesting notion to think that one could know who cares and who doesn't. In any case, I'm sure that McDonalds would allow that, if you worked with all the employees together in 1 great big hall during insane hours, through good and bad times, if you met your wife through working in that great big hall, if you had a few private chats with the CEO of McDonalds about the Mcdonalds in general or just your position there then I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem at all.

Originally posted by Wakey
You keep bringing up this argument that they should fix the cause and not the result. Now it may just be me but what exactly is the point in tackling the route causes if the results that are just making the problems worse arent also tackled. We are unable to directly deal with the route causes as thats MrBrick and co's job but we can deal with the Quit threads that are just compounding the problem and disrupting and stifling proper discussions about the game.

I didn't know quit threads made paX an even worse playable game? Do they diminish the roidcap or something? Or do people post their quit threads inside other threads that are about game discussions? The only 'problem' quit threads are causing is that they look bad, actually, let me rephrase that. They look bad when you have more quit threads than normal discussion threads. Now, there can't hardly be MORE people quitting since it's not as if there are heaps of them left, so maybe it is then 'someones' job to fix the game situation so that we can have more normal threads.
Quit threads are not a 'problem', they only look bad because there is a different problem.

(and I'm looking at you here with your extreamly poor attempt to belittle me, I may not be in a top alliance, I may not have ended a round in the top 150 since r1 or been in a top 100 galaxy since r5 but that doesnt make you better than me. I have just as much knowledge and certainly more experiance than you in this game and really dont take kindly to attempts to belittle me by a jumped up idiot little yourself. Its not big and its not clever so either post in a manner that gives all the other posters the respect they deserve or STFU)

Now now, mind your language you certainly don't want to look hypocritical now, we are here to wage constructive discussion aren't we.
I wasn't really implying anything of the sorts in any case, I was on about something completely different since I actually had no idea of your 'ingame accomplishments', which incidentally having read your above statement makes quite some sense. Besides, if you had been more active on your own forums you'd have known comparing e-penises is not a game I play, it only takes away from ones point. Though you might have an inferiority complex or two there, I would recommend seeing a doctor, but I certainly don't want to belittle you or anything.

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by ParraCida

Wrong, we are having this discussion because the establishment wants the quit threads gone because they look bad.

Sorry to say, but you are talking from your cavity-where-the-sun-don't-shine. The idea of banning quit threads is not some new recent action from 'the management', back when I was a mod and quit threads started appearing we've had many heated debates over them. Although none of the mods at that point liked them, it was decided by 'the management' that they should be tolerated. With the introduction of new forums, several things have been revised, so now would be a good time to have another look at whether or not to allow them.

It'd make this discussion so much better if you weren't simply assuming things and had some actual knowledge of what was going on.

Actually, I'm 100% this is the case, just look at the sticky about the woofage event. Not exactly planetarion related either is it?

That addresses the entire community, unlike a quit thread which addresses only a small portion. Had we still had an Announcements forum, I'm pretty sure it would've been on there instead.

You say it as if they are two completely seperate non-related entities.

The people taking care of them are. Really, you of all people should know this.

I was using it as an example to illustrate that this ban of quit threads is being considered from the viewpoint of a cover-up, not a clean-up.

Whatever you say, Mulder

I'm sure that McDonalds would allow that, if you worked with all the employees together

Unfortunately almost none of the people who quit have actively worked with the entire community and/or are even known to a majority, let alone everyone.

Now now, mind your language you certainly don't want to look hypocritical now, we are here to wage constructive discussion aren't we.

No, you're here to accuse 'the management' of working on some kind of conspiracy in an attempt to cover up people quitting.

[laputa]

I am pretty sure that this discussion simply arose out of the lack of interesting non-quit threads. But since there are none and some of the mods seem to be kinda bored they now turn on the quitting-threads. Simply because there is nothing else to moderate. You might wanna consider enjoying your free time instead of bothering about those quit-threads. They don't hurt you.
As for attention-seeking, I think making up a stupid poll and stickying it is far more 'Hey-look-at-me'ish than posting a quit thread.

[JonnyBGood]

Just to address some of the stranger concerns expressed here the issue was brought up in relation to the detrimental effect on constructive posting (or the potential there of) on PD. We are, of course, also concerned with the forums as the face of the community and the game. Clearly a plethora of quit threads (regardless of whether this represents the true sentiments of the community or not) is not the best way to achieve this. However we do recognise what people want and we will be taking this into consideration before deciding on an appropriate course of action.


PS Of course we're going to oppose things that make the game and the forums look bad. There's a reason we don't have a "post your racist comments and slag off the game" section.

[furball]

To be honest, both sides are running out of things to say.

Leshy and a few other people have made mainly constructive points in favour of the banning of quit threads, as have ParraCida and myself for the 'non-banning of quit threads' side.

Also - good post by JonnyBGood above.

Let's all remember that Aryn started this discussion just to put feelers out to the community to see what people thought: I can guess that behind the scenes, there's been a fair bit of chat about this, but looking at the current standings (48-46), it's simply not feasible to consider banning them outright.

Perhaps it would be a nice idea to 'moderate' quit threads: a quit thread could be seen as 'useful' for two possible reasons (might need expanding upon)

1) major figures - Spinner, Leshy, ParraCida who have worked for the game and become relatively well known to the community.

2) people like myself, who have played for a long time and become well known in certain aspects of the game, whether through strategy (again referring to myself) or alliances (these sorts are far more likely).

just some thoughts

furball

[Ado]

Perhaps mods should have their job title changed to "information minister".....

"no no nobody is quitting PA.. the game is in a healthy state"

grow up people.. as parracida said, address the cause and not the symptoms.

And wakey your self glorification thread regarding your "experience" etc... what is it exactly you have done ? I didnt even know you were mod/admin until I had it brought to my attention with your drivel.

[furball]

Originally Posted by Ado

And wakey your self glorification thread regarding your "experience" etc... what is it exactly you have done ? I didnt even know you were mod/admin until I had it brought to my attention with your drivel.

Oi! Don't diss wakey

wakey's one of the longest running players, he's run F-Crew since r1 (no idea if they're still going)

*gives wakey a *

usually i agree with the guy, just not here

[Ado]

Originally Posted by Nonentity

Oi! Don't diss wakey

wakey's one of the longest running players, he's run F-Crew since r1 (no idea if they're still going)

*gives wakey a *

usually i agree with the guy, just not here

YEAH YEAH ive played since round1 and done absolution nothing of menton so where is my t-shirt ?

My point is... if he has "lots of experience" and played since round 1 why does nobody know what he actually does ?

odd ey............

[WipeOut]

It is no secret I am an advocate of banning these attention-seeking and extremely redundant threads.

To sum it up:

Originally Posted by Leshy

Quit threads always have, and always will suck, and the sooner they go, the better.

[Ado]

The issue of if they should be banned is not the reason for me posting, rather that I believe 100% that the forum mods are attempting to control the negatve publicity of PA. It was fine while there was a healthy ratio of negative 'v' posative, but now the leave threads are rising in numbers they need to tone down the negative effects.

This whole exercise as I believe parracida stated is an attempt to gain partial community approval for the act, thus the mods can say "everyone wanted quit threads banned" when infact its a 50/50 split.

It seems obvious to me they will be banned.. but for the wrong reasons.

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by Ado

rather that I believe 100% that the forum mods are attempting to control the negatve publicity of PA.

And here's Scully too!

[JonnyBGood]

Originally Posted by Ado

Perhaps mods should have their job title changed to "information minister".....

"no no nobody is quitting PA.. the game is in a healthy state"

grow up people.. as parracida said, address the cause and not the symptoms.

Clearly. Because we're constantly denying that the numbers playing Planetarion have fallen since r4. As a matter of fact I remember we issued a statement just last week in which we announced that the number of customers has risen tenfold since the Americans invaded. OH MY GOD THEY'RE TRYING TO PORTRAY THE GAME AND THE FORUMS IN A POSITIVE LIGHT, LYING SCUM WORSE THAN HITLER!

Originally Posted by Ado

The issue of if they should be banned is not the reason for me posting, rather that I believe 100% that the forum mods are attempting to control the negatve publicity of PA. It was fine while there was a healthy ratio of negative 'v' posative, but now the leave threads are rising in numbers they need to tone down the negative effects.

This whole exercise as I believe parracida stated is an attempt to gain partial community approval for the act, thus the mods can say "everyone wanted quit threads banned" when infact its a 50/50 split.

It seems obvious to me they will be banned.. but for the wrong reasons.

This is fantastic stuff. 1) There has been no decision taken yet. 2) That's not even what we're leaning towards. 3) There is no history of mods doing anything along these lines 4) Community approval is not what decides what happens on the boards. 5) You're actually freaking mental. 6) Do you think we spend our spare time plotting to restrict free speech on an online forum for a browser based game? 7) Nobody has yet claimed everyone wanted quit threads banned. 8) What seems obvious to you is about as far away from reality as that herd of giant pink cows I saw flying around me last weekend.



Jesus H Christ people but is this not a slight over-reaction?

[Merlin]

I read the quit threads to see what retard is quiting now that will be spamming again in 3 days. Put quit threads in it own little place away from the rest of the forums. That way the losers that are quiting can find themselves and thier friends that quit and keep the dead part of the community away from the part thats alive and playing. Frankly if you quit then go the f*** away and stop annoying those of us that are actually playing the damned game. Why would I want to hear from you ex pa players? Your out of the game and out of the loop. And you ARE driving away new players. Your a piss poor excuse for a community. Go setup your own spam forums on some other servers. This one exists to further the game and that fact you quit means your no longer a part of the game...SO QUIT for christs sake. Don't hang about to annoy the rest of us.

OFC none of you retards will get it. SO flame away but remember you quit.....not the rest of us.

[Qdeathstar]

I dont care if you quit. Good for you.

If anyone wants to read this mindless garbage.. how bout an Obit thread where all the dead ones can sit and weep..

FS! ;-)

[Qdeathstar]

Oh. Anotherthing whilst i began to read the threads (posted before i read (i know)) Anyway, /me ponders. Ahh...

Controlling Negative Publicity. Some people think that is evil..

"The issue of if they should be banned is not the reason for me posting, rather that I believe 100% that the forum mods are attempting to control the negatve publicity of PA."

Well, i should hope to God that the PA ppl are smart enough to control negative publicity. All succesful businesses are. I cant think of one succesfull "noun" that hasnt controlled its negative publicity and made it.

Eww and another thing PA could do. Instead of having to PA for pa, they could make it free, with a manditory donation of 15 bucks.. O.o Thats how VAbeach gets ure money. Manditory Donations.. FS.

Gawd.

[wakey]

Originally Posted by Ado

And wakey your self glorification thread regarding your "experience" etc... what is it exactly you have done ? I didnt even know you were mod/admin until I had it brought to my attention with your drivel.

tbh I dont see how my post was 'self glorification', if id wanted to do that dont you think i'd have talked up my acheivements a little more. All I did was pick two contrasting 'acheivements' to ParraCida's ones in an attempt to get the point over to ParraCida that just because hes acheived things in recent rounds doesnt give him the right to act likes hes above everyone else. Others may not have had the same acheivements in recent rounds but their experiance and knowledge is just as good and just as important as that of the likes of ParraCida. Sadly ParraCida isnt the only forum user with this attitude and they really need to learn that anything they experiance at the top half of game in a round is only half the picture and as such those in the lower half have to be listened to to get an idea of the full picture and as such these people shouldnt go out of their way to belittle the smaller players.

Originally Posted by Ado

My point is... if he has "lots of experience" and played since round 1 why does nobody know what he actually does ?

tbh Ado I think your probally find your in the minority here, most forum users do know who I am and what I do, after all I am the longest serving mod on these forums so and hence at one point ive edited, deleted or replied to a post by most users (my sig clearly states on line 2 'Forum Moderator') Yes realtive newcomers to the forum are perhaps less aware of me, I'm not like a GD mod who will join in alot of the convo's no matter how strange as unlike GD the forums I've modded dont require such a modding style. The forums ive been mod of only require direct input when you have something to say and with Quit posts taking over PD this has become something that is required less frequently. As such i've been less visable as time has gone on as the jobs become more about tidying things up, keeping control ect and less about offering views, feedback ect to move the discussion along.

Perhaps mods should have their job title changed to "information minister".....

"no no nobody is quitting PA.. the game is in a healthy state"

grow up people.. as parracida said, address the cause and not the symptoms

As has basically already been said we arent trying to hide that people are quitting as its fairly obvious that this is happening. We would all be fairly happy with a comprimise like its own forum where it would be perfectly ok for it to take over the forum or restricting it to those who deserve one and have a valid reason why it should be done via such a thread. Its just we dont want them sitting on a forum where they disrupt the discussions they were intended for as they have been doing over the past few rounds.

Originally Posted by Ado

The issue of if they should be banned is not the reason for me posting, rather that I believe 100% that the forum mods are attempting to control the negatve publicity of PA. It was fine while there was a healthy ratio of negative 'v' posative, but now the leave threads are rising in numbers they need to tone down the negative effects.

This whole exercise as I believe parracida stated is an attempt to gain partial community approval for the act, thus the mods can say "everyone wanted quit threads banned" when infact its a 50/50 split.

It seems obvious to me they will be banned.. but for the wrong reasons.

actually
they just want to ban the threads because they are shit boring to look at.

also, I was Admin on these forums in its glory days (right, assistant admin..)

nonetheless, you're plain wrong you turd

[Hurragutten]

Why ban them?
I think it's good to know when the big people leave.

Not every tread is as interesting, but I guess all are interesting for some. Keep them here.

[furball]

Originally Posted by wakey

We would all be fairly happy with a comprimise like its own forum where it would be perfectly ok for it to take over the forum or restricting it to those who deserve one and have a valid reason why it should be done via such a thread. Its just we dont want them sitting on a forum where they disrupt the discussions they were intended for as they have been doing over the past few rounds.

Finally.

Originally Posted by furball

Perhaps it would be a nice idea to 'moderate' quit threads: a quit thread could be seen as 'useful' for two possible reasons (might need expanding upon)

1) major figures - Spinner, Leshy, ParraCida who have worked for the game and become relatively well known to the community.

2) people like myself, who have played for a long time and become well known in certain aspects of the game, whether through strategy (again referring to myself) or alliances (these sorts are far more likely).

just some thoughts

furball

Perhaps the above would be appropriate? I agree that there are too many worthless quit threads around, but you can't farm people off to a forum that would never be read.

[wakey]

Originally Posted by Nonentity

Finally.

No finally about it really, this isnt something we have just started discussing. Discussions have been going on for a good few rounds on this matter and pretty much every idea discussed here has already been raised

Oh and for anyone whos still in favour of Quit threads, please take a look at the top two quit threads in this forum by {unimatrix} and Declan. They didnt even have an account until they decided to quit yet felt the need to announce to the forum community which they hadnt bothered about in the past that they were leaving

[JC]

Originally Posted by Nonentity

Perhaps the above would be appropriate? I agree that there are too many worthless quit threads around, but you can't farm people off to a forum that would never be read.

Thats not going to work. How do we decide who is 'famous' enough to have a thread and who isnt? We would get a multitued of complaints from people who we told werent allowed one, they would list a load of people that know them, and how they have done this and that, blah blah blah etc etc etc.

Personally i'ld be quite happy to just tag all quit threads with [quit] or something like that so people can avoid it if they so wish. However, that doesnt really solve the problem of having a load of quit forums on PD, and having [quit] on every 3rd thread is hardly going to look good.

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by Nonentity

you can't farm people off to a forum that would never be read.

And why do you think people won't bother to read a forum dedicated to Quitting threads? After all, they have a place here on PD because they're really interesting and everyone wants to read them, right?

Exactly.

It's amusing to see how people claim that Quit threads should have a place on Planetarion Discussions, because they're somehow important, or interesting to read, and at the same time acknowledge that a dedicated forum would not be read by people. What does that mean? That Quit threads have absolutely no interest rate, and that they're purely placed on PD for the attention that they'll get. And do you know what off-topic forum posts are that are purely posted in a certain location to receive maximum attention?

Exactly.

[wakey]

Originally Posted by JC

Thats not going to work. How do we decide who is 'famous' enough to have a thread and who isnt? We would get a multitued of complaints from people who we told werent allowed one, they would list a load of people that know them, and how they have done this and that, blah blah blah etc etc etc.

Personally i'ld be quite happy to just tag all quit threads with [quit] or something like that so people can avoid it if they so wish. However, that doesnt really solve the problem of having a load of quit forums on PD, and having [quit] on every 3rd thread is hardly going to look good.

Personally I think it depends how far you take it, if you restrict it to those who have helped 'build' the various aspects of the game/community it would be fairly easy. By this i mean people who are or have been Creators/PACrew/PATeam/Mods/ect, although having said that you then have the problem of the few people who were sacked, do they deserve a quit thread or not.


Does get more difficult if you take it further though

1) Major Alliance leaders - What is the deciding factor of a major alliance. Do they still have to be playing Like FAnG or do old disabdned alliances liek Fury count. If they are still playing do they have to have been a top alliance now like Elysium or do they just have had to be a top alliance of the past like F-Crew. Then is it just the main Figurehead, for example in Furys case Sid or would any HC be entitled (so the likes of Hicks, Cryptic ect)

2)Important members of the community - How do we decide whos important enoughto the community to decide who requires one. Dont we all have a case for arguing that we are imporant to the community in our own little way.

3)Long standing players - This is probally the most difficult. For example Nonentity you suggest that this is where youd fall in but do you really. Your forum signup date is sometime in 2002 (cant see exact sate from here) which is the only guide we really have , so while admittedly that means youve been around a bout a year which i suppose is a fair amount of time but its still 2 years AFTER the game started so is it really long enough to be considered long standing or do we need people signed up in 2001 to count as this or even 2000

Where do we make the cut off on these things, if the cut off is too open, the number of quit threads doesnt really change, too low and your still all be complaining about the ban

[KoeN]

banning quit-threads doesn't make any sense imo.
most people here have played this game for years now, it has become part of their lives. now when they decide to leave the community, they should be able to say goodbye.
if it annoys you so much aryn then don't read them.
and if you think it shouldn't happen on PD, then why don't we create a ' goodbye-forum' ? wouldn't be such a bad idea i think, now pa is dying anyway...

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by KoeN

then why don't we create a ' goodbye-forum' ? wouldn't be such a bad idea i think, now pa is dying anyway...

No no, because then people won't read it, and the attention-whoring doesn't work!

[Qdeathstar]

Hey, Koen. Why didnt you quote my suggestion, hehe. I had suggested that b4 ;-)

Goodtimes tho... good times... :-)

[laputa]

Originally Posted by wakey

Oh and for anyone whos still in favour of Quit threads, please take a look at the top two quit threads in this forum by {unimatrix} and Declan. They didnt even have an account until they decided to quit yet felt the need to announce to the forum community which they hadnt bothered about in the past that they were leaving

If you took a look you would have noticed that declan did not write a quit thread but a thread about the state Planetarion is in at the moment. I didn't read Unimatrix's thread. I don't know him, hence I don't care. As a mod you have to read it which is indeed too bad - but since it was your own choice to become a mod I don't pity you at all.

Originally Posted by wakey

tbh Ado I think your probally find your in the minority here, most forum users do know who I am and what I do, after all I am the longest serving mod on these forums so and hence at one point ive edited, deleted or replied to a post by most users (my sig clearly states on line 2 'Forum Moderator') Yes realtive newcomers to the forum are perhaps less aware of me, I'm not like a GD mod who will join in alot of the convo's no matter how strange as unlike GD the forums I've modded dont require such a modding style. The forums ive been mod of only require direct input when you have something to say and with Quit posts taking over PD this has become something that is required less frequently. As such i've been less visable as time has gone on as the jobs become more about tidying things up, keeping control ect and less about offering views, feedback ect to move the discussion along.

I know your nick but tbh I didn't know you were a mod either. Which is a good thing, at least imo. It just shows that you are not of the annoying 'oh-i-have-some-power-and-exert-it-now-over-users-by-editing-posts-and-replying-to-them-directly-lo-Leshy-and-Jester'-type

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by laputa

'oh-i-have-some-power-and-exert-it-now-over-users-by-editing-posts-and-replying-to-them-directly-lo-Leshy-and-Jester'-type

Hey, I'm exerting my power and replying to your post directly!

[furball]

Originally Posted by wakey

Personally I think it depends how far you take it, if you restrict it to those who have helped 'build' the various aspects of the game/community it would be fairly easy. By this i mean people who are or have been Creators/PACrew/PATeam/Mods/ect, although having said that you then have the problem of the few people who were sacked, do they deserve a quit thread or not.


Does get more difficult if you take it further though

1) Major Alliance leaders - What is the deciding factor of a major alliance. Do they still have to be playing Like FAnG or do old disabdned alliances liek Fury count. If they are still playing do they have to have been a top alliance now like Elysium or do they just have had to be a top alliance of the past like F-Crew. Then is it just the main Figurehead, for example in Furys case Sid or would any HC be entitled (so the likes of Hicks, Cryptic ect)

2)Important members of the community - How do we decide whos important enoughto the community to decide who requires one. Dont we all have a case for arguing that we are imporant to the community in our own little way.

3)Long standing players - This is probally the most difficult. For example Nonentity you suggest that this is where youd fall in but do you really. Your forum signup date is sometime in 2002 (cant see exact sate from here) which is the only guide we really have , so while admittedly that means youve been around a bout a year which i suppose is a fair amount of time but its still 2 years AFTER the game started so is it really long enough to be considered long standing or do we need people signed up in 2001 to count as this or even 2000

Where do we make the cut off on these things, if the cut off is too open, the number of quit threads doesnt really change, too low and your still all be complaining about the ban

Personally, I joined near the end of round 3, and i'll admit that I was inactive rounds 3 & 4. I then got more into the game and became a lot more active on the forums from round 5 onwards.

I don't think it'd work to do it from which round people started - instea, allow people quit threads for contributing towards Planetarion, whether through in-game success, alliance work (whether Fury, Fang or F-Crew) or prominance in some other area - for myself, strategy.

I feel that restricting quit threads to those who have been part of 'the Establishment' (not that I have anything against them) is too prohibitive, although there is a need for moderation.

So: a Third Way

Allow quit threads to remain on PD, but give the mods a lot more power over them: quit threads must justify in them why they deserve to have the fact that they are leaving recognised. I'll describe how this could work if you think it might work . See above for what could qualify.

A quit thread forum would never be visited, and real quit threads aren't attention-whoring ones. Why wouldn't a quit thread forum be visited? Because you aren't automatically attracted to visit it. However, some people do deserve the opportunity to have people post on their thread - thus they would need some level of prominence.


do these disjointed mumblings make any sense?
furball

[Aryn]

there is absolutely no way i'd agree to the comprimise of allowing certain people quit threads.
either everyone gets them, or no one gets them.
the mods aren't here to judge who's 'worthy' or not. it'd be ridiculus. also everyone thinks they're well known. it'd cause way more troubles than it's worth.

ok seriously guys.. if we wanted to ban quit threads we would have done it already. WITHOUT your approval. saying i created this thread to see if we could feasably do it with community approval is a load of horse poop. we are genuinely interested in what the community thinks on this matter.

now then a new idea has come up where we could put quit threads in another forum. i saw the argument 'but no one would read them' well most people have spammed their quit thread url all over irc enough to get people to reply.. i'm sure they could do the same thing again.
also how about to make the other forum more interesting.. we have other threads in there. call it 'pa relationships' or something.. it'd be neat to see engagement/wedding announcements.. new baby announcements.. birthdays... and even pameet threads all in one area.

it's an idea anyway

[Declan]

Originally Posted by wakey

No finally about it really, this isnt something we have just started discussing. Discussions have been going on for a good few rounds on this matter and pretty much every idea discussed here has already been raised

Oh and for anyone whos still in favour of Quit threads, please take a look at the top two quit threads in this forum by {unimatrix} and Declan. They didnt even have an account until they decided to quit yet felt the need to announce to the forum community which they hadnt bothered about in the past that they were leaving

Actually.... mr Declan had a fancy acct.. since y2k.. used to hang alot in AD and GD.. like an year ago.. im afraid that after being away for the past eyar.. my acct were deleted.

And tomake clear.. that aint a quitin thread... its more like.. " should i get back? "

and to stand my position ( that im sure that no one cares ) the forum aint having a big load as everyone can see.. if u dont like the quit threads.. just dont post .. dont read it.. but sounds a lil reasonable to let ppl say goodbye to everyone they meet in this commmunity ( if we can call this thing as community now. )

[]s

[furball]

Originally Posted by Aryn

now then a new idea has come up where we could put quit threads in another forum. i saw the argument 'but no one would read them' well most people have spammed their quit thread url all over irc enough to get people to reply.. i'm sure they could do the same thing again.
also how about to make the other forum more interesting.. we have other threads in there. call it 'pa relationships' or something.. it'd be neat to see engagement/wedding announcements.. new baby announcements.. birthdays... and even pameet threads all in one area.

it's an idea anyway

Not bad, perhaps Community Discussions seriously, don't name it that! It sounds awful.

A single forum for quit threads wouldn't have worked, but your idea is good - make PD the home for all 'Planetarion the Game' discussions and this new forum the home for 'Planetarion the Community'.


This marks the end of my mumblings.

furball

[Aryn]

you're right
pa relationships sounds gay
but community discussions has a nice ring to it

[furball]

I wasn't keen on Community Discussions at the time but it's grown on me...let's go for it!

keep us updated with any decisions made please...

[Gerbie]

Not all, but we should try to reduce the amount of quit threads. You can for instance ban quit threads from people who have made less then 100 posts.