Admins: Look here

[Sam Raven]

Censoring by use of asterisks **** (wtf is he saying? I can't read teh asterisks)

Well being the admin, I am sure its high time that you disable the use of asterisks (****) to censor these words. I find some of the words that are censored hardly the kind that are used to insult people, such as "d4mn". If your purpose is to stop people insulting each other, you basically make sure no flame forums are created here.

Forum Error 404 - Creating a Flame Forum

Most forums fall into the trap of putting up off topic forums or forums that encourage insulting one another. Reasons are often because of the need to boost activity of the forum. They way I see it, its no different from someone having the need to take crack to feel good. Once the flaming goes down, they feel the forum is inactive and want to create more flaming.

When the flaming goes down, the forum has gotten used to it, depends on it. As a result, some forums even go as far as to keep trolls online maybe because they have become so addicted to flame based activity, like an addict needing more crack, they basically destroy the forum faster by unbanning him, even if he has been unbanned before for doing something serious such as inviting myg0ts to attack this hypothetical forum.

Well its a big mistake. For one thing, even though some might see it as fun, majority doesn't look at it that way. The feelings of ill-will does boil over to other forums especially if the guy feels he has lost the flame and wants revenge. Sounds childish, but many people you see on the internet are teenagers who still retain some of their childish characteristics. And basically the admin will have a lot harder time, which he could have easily avoided, just to maintain the site and enforce the laws.
All by encouraging something of which 99% - 100% are not true such as someone's mother being a wh0re(<--this is another asterisked one, wtf?), or the member's father having a vagina and hence indicating diminished intellectual capacity on the flamer.

I say again: if your purpose is to avoid people insulting each other, keep this a flame free community. Don't censor words with asterisks.

Where are the Links?

Another issue that needs to be addressed is why the links are of the same colour as the other text, and people need to mouse over, which only barely highlights the lettering in a slighter shade of grey. This needs to be changed. For those who came here via the " Guess Who's Bashing Who? Microsoft Gets an Earful from Retailers" thread, you will see that I had to underline the link to make sure people knew it was a link and not just a two worded spam post.

[John Clabo]

Wow Nice write up man...

[Sam Raven]

What job? This is the Site Feedback so I was just using it. And you are the admin, I am curious to know why the asterisk and the same-colour-link-cannot-see issue is still there even though it has been sounded out before.

[John Clabo]

Well those issues will be fixed....I'll make sure. With the new site on the way and a few other important task going on its been hard to keep track of every problem....we'll take care of the above issues :)

[Sam Raven]

Well those issues will be fixed....I'll make sure. With the new site on the way and a few other important task going on its been hard to keep track of every problem....we'll take care of the above issues :)A new site on the way huh? Man this place is d4mn happening man.

Well good to hear you will be doing something about it. Especially the asterisks, they are starting to piss me off.

[Quasar]

Well good to hear you will be doing something about it. Especially the asterisks, they are starting to piss me off.

I thought the asterisks were a good laugh and pretty amusing. I don't really mind them as it seems that almost everybody on GN is pretty respectful of each other anyway. But I do agree about not having a flame forum. Nothin poisons a site more quickly than flamers. I have seen sites actually go down because of this activity. Not pretty. Not pretty at all.

-frank

[John Clabo]

Links will be easier to fix. *'s wont because we have a censoring program on.

[noobman]

Censoring by use of asterisks **** (wtf is he saying? I can't read teh asterisks)

Well being the admin, I am sure its high time that you disable the use of asterisks (****) to censor these words. I find some of the words that are censored hardly the kind that are used to insult people, such as "d4mn". If your purpose is to stop people insulting each other, you basically make sure no flame forums are created here.

Forum Error 404 - Creating a Flame Forum

Most forums fall into the trap of putting up off topic forums or forums that encourage insulting one another. Reasons are often because of the need to boost activity of the forum. They way I see it, its no different from someone having the need to take crack to feel good. Once the flaming goes down, they feel the forum is inactive and want to create more flaming.

When the flaming goes down, the forum has gotten used to it, depends on it. As a result, some forums even go as far as to keep trolls online maybe because they have become so addicted to flame based activity, like an addict needing more crack, they basically destroy the forum faster by unbanning him, even if he has been unbanned before for doing something serious such as inviting myg0ts to attack this hypothetical forum.

Well its a big mistake. For one thing, even though some might see it as fun, majority doesn't look at it that way. The feelings of ill-will does boil over to other forums especially if the guy feels he has lost the flame and wants revenge. Sounds childish, but many people you see on the internet are teenagers who still retain some of their childish characteristics. And basically the admin will have a lot harder time, which he could have easily avoided, just to maintain the site and enforce the laws.
All by encouraging something of which 99% - 100% are not true such as someone's mother being a wh0re(<--this is another asterisked one, wtf?), or the member's father having a vagina and hence indicating diminished intellectual capacity on the flamer.

I say again: if your purpose is to avoid people insulting each other, keep this a flame free community. Don't censor words with asterisks.

Where are the Links?

Another issue that needs to be addressed is why the links are of the same colour as the other text, and people need to mouse over, which only barely highlights the lettering in a slighter shade of grey. This needs to be changed. For those who came here via the " Guess Who's Bashing Who? Microsoft Gets an Earful from Retailers" thread, you will see that I had to underline the link to make sure people knew it was a link and not just a two worded spam post.
Well in response....


1) Censorship can be annoying at time... but hey remember gamers are all ages. If we remove censorship we need to put an age restriction.

2) Is there a flame forum?? I don't see it. An off-topic forum with a "no-flame" policy works pretty well.... but making a forum that basically says "Put all your flames in here" doesn't work. Besides, our community is good. Thanks to everyone for making my job a whole lot easier.

3) The links need to be looked at.

[SaladFork]

The censorship has been shortened a bit, removing some words that really aren't found offensive. It is still quite long though, and asterisks will probably be seen occassionally.

Flames directed at a specific source (a person, a company, a game), will most likely be removed immediately. Flames directed at a generic target that probably won't insult anyone will probably be left alone, but it really depends on the circumstances.

Regarding the links, that's CSS, and I believe Iain is the one you need to talk to about that.

~Salad

[Sam Raven]

I thought the asterisks were a good laugh and pretty amusing. I don't really mind them as it seems that almost everybody on GN is pretty respectful of each other anyway. But I do agree about not having a flame forum. Nothin poisons a site more quickly than flamers. I have seen sites actually go down because of this activity. Not pretty. Not pretty at all.

-frankPrecisely why I called it 404. If you have seen sites that have gone down because of flaming, Betrayed forums could be next in the near future. I didn't want it to happen, but the flame culture is so entrenched in the former HLS community I said nothing about it.

As for replying to noobman, I am aware there is none. I said it to remind the GamerNode forums to keep it that way. By the way noobman, remember my PM?

[drunkymonkey]

Heh, a flame froum is alright as long as it is a not main forum. Keep it at the bottom of the forum list and wahey, everyone's a winner.

[Sam Raven]

Heh, a flame froum is alright as long as it is a not main forum. Keep it at the bottom of the forum list and wahey, everyone's a winner.Look dude, you know what is happening to Betrayed? Flaming has pretty much been the only thing that is running Betrayed, and its causing the forum to haemorrhage of members, some of them respected and being around the HLS community for a lot longer than you. The whole thing is just going down the ***|<ing drain, not noticeable, but its happening. Raptrojo is now saying he wants punitive sigs for those whose sigs are too big to have naked girls in them to get more guests. For what? So that they will hopefully sign on. When a sig meant to embarass the rule breaker becomes an advertising billboard to get people to see the forum, you know its really that bad.

I already have mentioned before the negative effects of flaming. It breeds a culture of hatred, unwittingly, silently, without our knowledge, and we members fall into it without knowledge, because of the blinding effect of anger.

Quasar himself would agree with me that he has seen forums that depended on flames like a drug addict, and in the long term just go down, actually not really long term, just less than 2 years.
So even a flame forum at the bottom is still dangerous. This forum already is thriving without having a flame forum to begin with, with the members all helpful to one another, making the idea of a flame forum totally unnecessary.

And you got to admit, even your flames, they totally lack any sign of intellect that is normally associated with you, DM. That is why I regret every moment I spend flaming. Its just stupid crap that has no meaning and only makes people angry.

[drunkymonkey]

Look dude, you know what is happening to Betrayed? Flaming has pretty much been the only thing that is running Betrayed, and its causing the forum to haemorrhage of members, some of them respected and being around the HLS community for a lot longer than you. The whole thing is just going down the ***|<ing drain, not noticeable, but its happening. Raptrojo is now saying he wants punitive sigs for those whose sigs are too big to have naked girls in them to get more guests. For what? So that they will hopefully sign on. When a sig meant to embarass the rule breaker becomes an advertising billboard to get people to see the forum, you know its really that bad.

I already have mentioned before the negative effects of flaming. It breeds a culture of hatred, unwittingly, silently, without our knowledge, and we members fall into it without knowledge, because of the blinding effect of anger.

Quasar himself would agree with me that he has seen forums that depended on flames like a drug addict, and in the long term just go down, actually not really long term, just less than 2 years.
So even a flame forum at the bottom is still dangerous. This forum already is thriving without having a flame forum to begin with, with the members all helpful to one another, making the idea of a flame forum totally unnecessary.

And you got to admit, even your flames, they totally lack any sign of intellect that is normally associated with you, DM. That is why I regret every moment I spend flaming. Its just stupid crap that has no meaning and only makes people angry.

As long as flaming is not done in a hateful away. For example, I've flamed Robby, Fadz, Noobster, Ketch, even Humanoid, and yet we don't have any hate between us, it's just a bit of fun. I mean, I was having a war with Stanhead yesterday, and it was great fun, it's a chance to argue about bugger all. Yes, with idiots like Frenchy and Uberbluk, when I flamed them I meant it, but they were bad members, and that is why they are both banned.

[Sam Raven]

As long as flaming is not done in a hateful away. For example, I've flamed Robby, Fadz, Noobster, Ketch, even Humanoid, and yet we don't have any hate between us, it's just a bit of fun. I mean, I was having a war with Stanhead yesterday, and it was great fun, it's a chance to argue about bugger all. Yes, with idiots like Frenchy and Uberbluk, when I flamed them I meant it, but they were bad members, and that is why they are both banned.Your argument is already weak from the first statement. How can you ensure its not done in a hateful way?
This is the internet. It is always emphasised in Effective Communications classes that even smileys can be misleading. Everything you say can be misleading, whether consciously or subconsciously on a medium where the subtle means of communication by means of facial expressions are missing, and can never be replicated by smileys or other images.

The only way to avoid that is to be direct. And your idea of fun flaming is something that risks misinterpretation. I hate to say this, but a lot of criticism has come out against you before, but I won't bother to elaborate as you know yourself. It was in one of those investigative threads where they let their feelings about you be known.

As for the "idiots" like J'Aiuncanard or Uberbluk, you are at fault as well for being part of the flaming. I never flamed them, and they virtually ignored me. Compared to the lot of you guys and other respectable members, I had a pretty easy time even with the bad boys.

Anyway, its high time we have a forum that does not have a flame forum. Frankly I am tired of the idiocy and stupidity of flames. I can say that even your flames are just full of bullshi7. Imagine bullsh1t coming out of the mouth of a smart guy like you when it is supposed to come out of your @ss. You know better than to engage in activities only immature kids who want to preserve their ego, fun or otherwise, or intellectually challenged adult people.

Remember, postcount here doesn't mean anything. We ask genuine tech questions and other things that are only to do with gaming and related stuff. Even the part that has to do with anger involves letting it out especially after having a bad day at gaming. I would suggest postcount be disabled to prevent any intention of spam as well.

If you really depend on flaming like a crack addict, keep it in the Betrayed forums.

[noobman]

The closest thing you're going to get to a flame forum is the gamer's purgatory, where you can rant about things in gaming that annoy you. IE: Console kiddies.

Everything Sam's said is all true. Flaming wears thin really quickly, and all it really does is endorse spam, racism, sexism, nationalism, ect. If you knew HLS during the summer of 04, you'd know about the "flaming" the "HLS vets" keep talking about. Not even close to what you young guns do today. You needed three things: a good topic, a strong opinion, and facts to back it up. With TB, GS, HLS post-September, and what I like to call the "L33t Masta era" (he was around since May but he left for a long while and came back after HL2 came out) all you need is cursing, ignorance and the word "pwned".

See back then flaming acutally accomplished something... subject matter was important. It wasn't "you suck, you're a n00b, I beat you at CS lololololol".

But hey, one thing I always liked about that post-L33t-Masta era (sorry for the bad name on you guys) is your sense of community. Never really had that back when I was a n00b =P

Sorry Sam, I didn't save that pic when I formatted =P

[Sam Raven]

The closest thing you're going to get to a flame forum is the gamer's purgatory, where you can rant about things in gaming that annoy you. IE: Console kiddies.

Everything Sam's said is all true. Flaming wears thin really quickly, and all it really does is endorse spam, racism, sexism, nationalism, ect. If you knew HLS during the summer of 04, you'd know about the "flaming" the "HLS vets" keep talking about. Not even close to what you young guns do today. You needed three things: a good topic, a strong opinion, and facts to back it up. With TB, GS, HLS post-September, and what I like to call the "L33t Masta era" (he was around since May but he left for a long while and came back after HL2 came out) all you need is cursing, ignorance and the word "pwned".

See back then flaming acutally accomplished something... subject matter was important. It wasn't "you suck, you're a n00b, I beat you at CS lololololol".

But hey, one thing I always liked about that post-L33t-Masta era (sorry for the bad name on you guys) is your sense of community. Never really had that back when I was a n00b =P

Sorry Sam, I didn't save that pic when I formatted =PHey thanks for backing me up dude. Yeah I remember those days too man. Those flame posts were as big as the ones above. Heck I remember during this period the need to write large posts in a shorter time made me learn typing without looking at the keyboard real fast. Forum posting suceeded where touch typing programs for years that I went through failed.

As you said the time went on and flames got cheap. We don't want that no more. And you would know what it was like at the recieving end of negative rep comments. Just made to make you angry.

Sorry to hear that. I was hoping for some devistatowned pwnage out of this one.

[Kevin Watford]

Well since almost all valid negs of flaming have been posted I guess I'll just chime in that, I agree flaming should not even be considered a topic in the GN fourms. Thoughtful discussion is whats really needed...

[Stanhead]

I was having a war with Stanhead yesterday, and it was great fun, it's a chance to argue about bugger all :mastah0le

That was a good war. Shame it ended with my Dad yelling at me for being up at 11pm..

[drunkymonkey]

:mastah0le

That was a good war. Shame it ended with my Dad yelling at me for being up at 11pm..

Yeah, I'm going to remember that war, it was good.

[Sam Raven]

Well since almost all valid negs of flaming have been posted I guess I'll just chime in that, I agree flaming should not even be considered a topic in the GN fourms. Thoughtful discussion is whats really needed...Exactly, a flame free forum. For those who are still wanting a flame forum here, I tell you, go to Betrayed and do it there, that forum has gotten hooked on it and needs more. This forum will be an experiment in zero tolerance for flaming, and see how well it goes. I am confident this experiment will succeed if you look ahead in the long term.

[John Clabo]

Well these forums are'nt conducting any experiments......flaming just wont happen. Constuctive arguements are cool....but just straight up flaming isnt helping our forums in any way. Now tB is fun to be on but eventually it CAN get somewhat old...due to the serious ammount of flaming. The guys at tB are cool people that have been supporting us quite a bit. I just dont agree with all their rules. :P

[Sam Raven]

Well these forums are'nt conducting any experiments......flaming just wont happen. Constuctive arguements are cool....but just straight up flaming isnt helping our forums in any way. Now tB is fun to be on but eventually it CAN get somewhat old...due to the serious ammount of flaming. The guys at tB are cool people that have been supporting us quite a bit. I just dont agree with all their rules. :PYou got to admit, being able to post nude anime or real life chicks is a bonus of the Betrayed. Flaming's just something I don't want.

[John Clabo]

yea its nice but if I wanted that I'd go to a porn site.....

[Kevin Watford]

Ya lets not add the female sigs either. The few girl gamers out there don't need to be driven away.

[drunkymonkey]

Agreed with that too.
Meh, I don't think flaming would work here anyway, it's far too relaxed a site.

Oh, and before this post ends, do the admins of the lounges get to decided whether flaming is alright there?

[D3TON8R]

Being a part of GamerNode i'd say no.....same rules should apply on all GN sites......IMO :)

[Sam Raven]

Flaming has no intellectual value in it, no facts to back up. Its just stuff aimed to make you angry. Consider insulting someone's mother. Makes no sense since she had nothing to do with anything.

[John Clabo]

The man speaks the truth :D

[Sam Raven]

Thanks. And speaking of truth, what happened to the army ranks next to the user names? I remember the admins had ranks of the oak leaves of Major and Lieutenant Colonel and I had the chevron ranks of Sergeant.

[drunkymonkey]

They got lost somewhere in Kentucky.

[Sam Raven]

They got lost somewhere in Kentucky.Very funny.

On another topic, any way we can listen to this forum's radio, if it is up already? If there is a radio already set up, what software do we need to listen to it, and where is the link to it?

[John Clabo]

Ok well unlike some sites, I wont give names, we wanted to work HARD on this new website... Once we have our site completed we have Louis Cyphier lined up to talk with Fear Factory....I cant wait for that. The thing is we held the show off until our site was Golden. Another site, which again I wont mention, put all their chips into their show...which was a flop, and then ripped off www.tv.com 's website.... we want to offer you guys the best, most unique viewing expierience possible. This "GamerNode 2.0" Should be complete in no more than two weeks from today. Then expect the GNradio about....I'd say no more than 3 weeks afterwards. We WILL come through with our promise of a good show. We just put certain things over others...I think in the end you'll all be happy with our decision.

[drunkymonkey]

Ok well unlike some sites, I wont give names, we wanted to work HARD on this new website... Once we have our site completed we have Louis Cyphier lined up to talk with Fear Factory....I cant wait for that. The thing is we held the show off until our site was Golden. Another site, which again I wont mention, put all their chips into their show...which was a flop, and then ripped off www.tv.com (http://www.tv.com) 's website.... we want to offer you guys the best, most unique viewing expierience possible. This "GamerNode 2.0" Should be complete in no more than two weeks from today. Then expect the GNradio about....I'd say no more than 3 weeks afterwards. We WILL come through with our promise of a good show. We just put certain things over others...I think in the end you'll all be happy with our decision.

Was that site called something like Gay Yell or something?

[John Clabo]

hahaha

[Sam Raven]

Ok well unlike some sites, I wont give names, we wanted to work HARD on this new website... Once we have our site completed we have Louis Cyphier lined up to talk with Fear Factory....I cant wait for that. The thing is we held the show off until our site was Golden. Another site, which again I wont mention, put all their chips into their show...which was a flop, and then ripped off www.tv.com 's website.... we want to offer you guys the best, most unique viewing expierience possible. This "GamerNode 2.0" Should be complete in no more than two weeks from today. Then expect the GNradio about....I'd say no more than 3 weeks afterwards. We WILL come through with our promise of a good show. We just put certain things over others...I think in the end you'll all be happy with our decision.Do what you have to do, if it means waiting for the sake of a radio that won't go down like "Gay Yell", then we better wait then. This community has been a clean one so far, now doing it right to show Gameshout the door is our top priority and also to be a premier gaming community.

You guys already have interviewed people who are starting good games, and when they mention the company boss's interview, they will mention us. Sure, let the internet know we are here, but don't rush or we will fall off the cliff. I sure as hell don't want to see this go down the drain. I have been through it once, and that memory remains fresh.

[Kevin Watford]

Well said, brovo.

[Sam Raven]

Well said, brovo.Your Chocobo brings back memories of me playing Final Fantasy 9. Feels like a long time although I played it middle of this year.

Look here by the way. (http://forums.gamernode.com/showthread.php?p=8434#post8434)

[John Clabo]

Well Sam its people like you that keep us going. Thanks for the support.

[Sam Raven]

No worries. Let's get this thing together then.

[Kevin Watford]

FF8 was my first RPG :).

[noobman]

FF8 was my first RPG :).
You missed out on FF7.... which was apparantly far better.

I wouldn't know... RPG's are for nerds and fat people
:rofl:

(just kidding)

[Sam Raven]

You missed out on FF7.... which was apparantly far better.

I wouldn't know... RPG's are for nerds and fat people
:rofl:

(just kidding)I cannot comment on FF7 as I didn't get the game CDs, even FF9 was difficult to get even though it came later. It took me more than 5 months from the time I first heard of it to actually getting the game CDs, and even then there was borrowing the console.

[Kevin Watford]

I've actually played all of them... <.< >.>. And while yes they are hard to find, its even harder to finish. I still like them tho, alot.

[Sam Raven]

I've actually played all of them... <.< >.>. And while yes they are hard to find, its even harder to finish. I still like them tho, alot.Sure? All of them means the original FF1 you know, that didn't make it to become the US version until FF5, not until recently that is.

FF5 I think was the one that was the first to be made into the US version, and was then misnamed FF3 or something like that. Because of that I regard FF1 to FF4 as not really that critical to know if you are new to knowing Final Fantasy in general except maybe just for history's sake.

I remember a discussion on which was the best FF edition on Betrayed or former HLS forums in a thread started by a certain Northern49. You would think I would have posted in it, but heck I only voted.

Man the thread became one huge flame war when this northern guy kept insisting on his idea of which FF edition was the best and he said it was FF6 because of the emotion level especially when the lady character by the name of Celeste or something like that, who wanted to kill herself after her boyfriend died or something like that.

Then Raidea said it was FF7 that was the best and the northern guy insisted otherwise and said something about not following the "true" original series and a whole load of other stuff....... and boy it turned downright ugly, the thread grew to about 17 pages with other partyboys joining in not for genuine discussion of really which was the best FF game in the series, but to join in the bullsh1t that was flaming against or for Northern49. I never even did one post in that thread, man. The whole thread lacked in even a hint of intelligence to warrant a reply.

Anyway there are other things this site needs to improve on. For one thing we can only tell who is online by being on the main forum page. This is the first forum I have visited that does not tell you who is viewing with you the same thread at the moment.

[drunkymonkey]

There's lots of forums like that.

[Sam Raven]

Yeah but unlike HLS and Betrayed I can't see that you were viewing this thread before you posted.

[D3TON8R]

has to do with vbulletin i think....

[Quasar]

Right now, I've played and finished FF 1,6,7,8,9,FFX, and FFX-2.
I really think SquareEnix is really cool because they always try to make each FF game different in some way. Heck, I even thought FFX-2 was good. Definitely not he best one of the series, but it was pretty innovative in the menu system. My goal, is finish the whole Final Fantasy series one day. My favorite has to be FF7 because that was the game that started me down the road of being a RPGer.

[claypidgeon]

Right now, I've played and finished FF 1,6,7,8,9,FFX, and FFX-2.
I really think SquareEnix is really cool because they always try to make each FF game different in some way. Heck, I even thought FFX-2 was good. Definitely not he best one of the series, but it was pretty innovative in the menu system. My goal, is finish the whole Final Fantasy series one day. My favorite has to be FF7 because that was the game that started me down the road of being a RPGer.

Tanks sent me down that road! But I'm pretty sure that isn't what you meant!

:rl:

[John Clabo]

Yeah but unlike HLS and Betrayed I can't see that you were viewing this thread before you posted.


yea....if you have any clue on how to do that please PM me....until then im looking for a solution...hehe

[OWNAGE TIME]

Links will be easier to fix. *'s wont because we have a censoring program on.

Censoring?? You custom built this forum??

[John Clabo]

Nope...its Vbulletin. It has a censor program built in it :)

[Sam Raven]

I see that each thread finally allows us to know how many are viewing this thread. That way we know if this thread is a hot topic at the moment.