The Republic of Kai ...

[Champion of the Force]

http://www.swforums.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12093

I've had a look at their boards. Initial impressions indicate that it looks to be a sort of spin-off RP group created by some TGC/TRF roleplayers for SWFans.

This will probably explain the sudden prescence of all these TGC/TRF posters - most likely feeling out the place.

I just hope this isn't an attempt to insert a new faction here to disrupt things further down the track. :|

[Q]

If it is.... I break out the Holy Hammer of Smiting. >D

[TheHolo.Net]

I know there have been several uprisings at TGC where their members splintered off into other groups. It could be that this is yet another part of such a thing. My eyes are open and I am watching.

So far their questions have all been on a level of intelect that I appreciate and their attitudes nothing less than comendable, so no problems as of yet as I see it.

[Champion of the Force]

They've been behaving themselves, though I do admite that Frank Harrigan has been doing a LOT of posting since he registered - mostly just quick comments in all manner of threads in OOC. I don't know whether he is involved with this new group or not yet.

[TheHolo.Net]

I believe that some of us know that person under another name...Sith Anhk or something like that. Can't say I have ever seen them post anything of intelligence.

[Champion of the Force]

I think it was Sith Anhk - he's still a mod at TGC if I recall correctly.

[TheHolo.Net]

Yep, I just did an IP check at the Loners Place, it is Sith Ahnk. I'm not all too surprised to hear he/it is a mod at TGC considering that Darkestsith6 was also a mod there and that person doesn't possess much in the way of intelect either from what I have seen of him/it.

[ReaperFett]

Ahnk's alright

[Charley]

I disagree with that assessment, but he hasn't done anything wrong yet.

[ReaperFett]

being as alright is inbetween good and bad, how is what I said different? :)

[Charley]

Because I think he isn't alright. Tolerable, but far from alright.

[TheHolo.Net]

A proposal/question I'd like to put forth with the direction this thread is going;

It may be possible that if we remove the post count display within each person’s post in all the styles that some of the completely meaningless posts that a few are guilty of will decline.

The almost nothing but posts of total uselessness from some users, (like Anhk) may only be a method they employ to boost their post count, and if its not so readily visible, maybe they will only post when they have something at least semi meaningful to say.

What does everyone think?

I know I am already sick of seeing Anhk's sig in so many OOC threads (and he hasn't had it for 24 hours yet even). The posts he uses it in are usually no more than a few words and are typically offensive to me or at the least completely pointless. It seems to me like he is spamming the link to his board which his sig links to, and I would prefer to see it curbed somehow, but don't want to neccessarily single anyone out publically.

[TheHolo.Net]

I just had an idea, though it may not be completely applicable in this case.

I could create a new Usergroup ie: "Signature abuser” and not allow them access to modify their profile. People who repeatedly abuse signature limits and or etiquette can be put on probation and be placed in said usergroup, while at the same time having their signature forcibly removed from their profile by an Admin. Might help with some of the repeat offenders we have that ignore the limits set forth in the FAQ if they loose access to their profile.

It would also save (at least) me time spent editing user’s profiles multiple times because I have to remove a huge or improper sig from their profile so that it will not display in all the posts they have ever made with it turned on. Creating a usergroup with a vexing title indicating their offence would probably curb such a thing even more so.

And maybe its just me but I think it should be deemed as inappropriate to post signatures in the OOC forum.

[Charley]

Nah, I think that you should have that option. Some people have OOC incarnations (such as myself, people from other parts of the forum, etc) and their sig may have some amount of relevance. But other than that, I'm all for that user sub-group.

One question though...how does a user go about getting out of that grouping, if they change their sig-spamming ways?

[TheHolo.Net]

Maybe a two week suspension time and a single announcemnt thread for user's who make that group, that gets bumped TTT by a new post when someone gets the honor?

[Champion of the Force]

1. Removal of post totals from posts.

I'm all for it. The Basic styles already have it removed (I always consdered it needless space wasting) and so I wouldn't care if the other styles lost it as well. A user can easily check their profile to see their post total.

On another note, is it possible that the stars we have in place are perhaps encouraging lots of posting as well? Marcus plus one or 2 other posters warned about it when we first implemented them, and I know TFN had to remove its star ranks when the spam got too much.

2. Subgroup for sig abusers etc.

Again I'm all for it. Better than repeatedly warning them and then having to ban them IMHO. However it should only be done with repeat offenders - not used the instant someone creates a new sig over 30kb since not everyone double checks their size before uploading. A warning should be given first I think.

I don't agree with removing sigs in OOC though - I may be mistaken but didn't we have that debate early last year and we decided to allow them? Maybe it was Storytelling ... :huh But anyway some people like to show of their sigs and that in OOC so I think it would cause more problems than it's worth if we disallowed them.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Get rid of the post count and stars. There has been so much nonsensical OOC activity lately by a few users that perhaps it will curb it.

I am for the sub group as well. I am for one sick of always having to edit the same thread over and over again when people don't get the hint :p Of course, that is only for repeat offenders :)

As for the OOC forum and sigs. Nothing wrong with having them there but every post? eh ... a little overboard dont you think? Most sigs for the RPing forums are just that RPing... not OOC stuff. I see no reason why an RP sig needs to be posted with more then once.

[TheHolo.Net]

Removing stars sounds reasonable to me. I know I am finding it difficult to sift through some of the plethora of useless posts in OOC lately. I’m not saying I want our post count at the board to go down overall. I would just prefer to see more posts that actually require some thought before they are submitted.

[Champion of the Force]

I have sigs disabled so I'm not 100% certain, but aren't sigs supposed to only display once per thread, after which a user must manually select the sig box to display it in subsequent posts?

The problem as I see it if we disable sigs in OOC is that they are allowed everywhere else. IMHO it would look a bit strange if some forums have sigs allowed but others don't, and may lead to inevitable 'Why doesn't my sig show up here???' type threads.

As for stars, I would hope we can keep them since they serve as a good indicator of how much a person has posted on the site. Perhaps we should just remove the post toals first and see how it goes, and if it's still a problem look at removing the stars at a later date?

(if we did remove stars I would assume the staff would lose theirs as well)

[TheHolo.Net]

Alrighty, post counts displayed in threads have been nixed from all the style sets and a new usergroup, “Signature Abusers” has been created with the default user title of “Signature Probation” in bold text. I will test out the usergroup and make corresponding announcements concerning it in the BO and OOC topics where signature limits we recently announced as being revised by our hero our man the Champ. :p....some time later today.

Goes to try and get some sleep :zzz

[Ogre]

Couldn't sleep yet, so I am testing the usergroup now.

I am unable to edit either preferences or options in my control panel with this name. I get no permission errors. I am however able to access the Avatar and everything else in the Control Panel. Now to see if the custom title works.

*post*

[TheHolo.Net]

Alright that all looks to work and I added the word "On" to the custom title because it seemed wrong to see it without. Now to try to sleep again.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

I wasn't saying to ban sigs in OOC... I was just saying that people should keep to the post the sig only once thing ;)

Ogre! You're on probation! lol

[Q]

Removal of posts and stars sounds good. I'm used to it being like that at TTLG, and it seems to have worked to decrease their spam there.

I like the option of having a signature in the OOC, because not everyone abuses it. I have a sig for this account, but I hardly ever use it unless starting a new thread.

Likewise, my sig for the Nupraptor account is hardly an IC one. Also, it has no images, so it loads virtually instantly.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I would hate to lose the stars because of what Champion said, hopefully by removing the number of posts this will decrease the problem they are having in OOC.

[TheHolo.Net]

Okay, I’m going to work on the signature probation announcement in the sig size threads that the Champ started.

Only a little time will tell if removing the post count works for its intended purpose. I like the stars too. :)

[TheHolo.Net]

I have added the updated policy information to the two threads. I have also made announcements in the OOC forum and RP forum directing people to look at the new policy changes. I did these two forums because that is where the majority of the signature problems originate.

[JMK]

I actually just finished shaving 10K off my sig, I noticed that it was 30800 bytes, or 31k :D

Carr, if if yours is too big, I could resend you a smaller one.

[TheHolo.Net]

To be precise 30720 bytes = 30 KB, so you were only over by a small margin. And to be honest I will allow people to slide by 2 to 4 KB. :)

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well you should happy JMK if not you would have been busy for a week fixing all those sigs you passed out (I know you gave out at least 5 or 6). Just wondering has there been any violaters on the boxoffice forum? I am just curious I haven't noticed any and I think most of the sigs are JMK's and they are all okay I am guessing.

[JMK]

I don't know the size of all of the ones I made off hand, but I'll take it upon myself to check them and email them out to those who may need them. But if we're getting 2-4 mercy k's as what I like to call them, then I think I should be ok.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Thats probably a good idea, and wouldn't hurt to just be on the safe side.

[Champion of the Force]

And to be honest I will allow people to slide by 2 to 4 KB.
That's cool, so long as you don't go around openly advertising the fact. :)

[TheHolo.Net]

Originally posted by Champion of the Force

That's cool, so long as you don't go around openly advertising the fact. :) Nope, I don't and won't, except to fellow staffers. :)

[Champion of the Force]

Regarding the 'Signature Probation' position - has any mention been put into the FAQ about it yet?

[TheHolo.Net]

No, but it does need to be added though my wording skills at such things are more often than not, greek to the casual reader.

[Champion of the Force]

I'll put it in then a bit later. :)

[TheHolo.Net]

Thankyas mucho. BTW: I removed the hack, and moved the threads since they looked like crud. Lets see what the general poster consensus is and maybe I'll re-add it.

[Champion of the Force]

I've updated the FAQ. here it is (the updated part is the 'Note' at the end):


Q: What are avatars and signatures?
A: These are options that vBulletin has that a poster may use when posting:

* An avatar is a picture with a maximum size of 150x150 that, when enabled, is displayed underneath your name when you post. It can be added in the Control Panel, which can be found by following the link button near the top of the forum page. Currently you may only add an avatar if it's file size is equal to or less that 15kb.

* A personal signature is an option where, when enabled, you can have text and/or pictures to appear below any posts that you make. They can serve to inform others of who you are, what you do and so on. Currently signatures are to be limited to 30kb or less.

Be aware that if your signature becomes too large it can become distracting for other members. It is therefore recommended that you either keep your signatures short, or else avoid posting your signature more than once per thread so other members don't have to keep seeing it all the time.

Note: Should a person continually abuse the rules set in regards to signatures they may be placed on what is called 'Signature Probation' which is displayed under their username and prevents them for using any signature at all. The person will be allowed off the probation only after they agree to abide by the rules set.
I didn't put in the 2 week limit or anything since this probation period is going to depend on whether or not the user wants to follow thr rules or not. I think it should be determined on a case by case basis.

[TheHolo.Net]

/me approves. :D

^ still applies after edit.