Moderation

[Zell]

I agree that there is a lot of retardation present at the moment, but I think locking threads, especially ones created by Hylis himself (with the purpose of eliciting spam of a fun nature), probably goes against the point of having this forum in the first place.

As time wears on, the initial burst of spammy excitement will die down... Then people will have space to make constructive posts.
But as Arubiano <3 has said, it's pointless making any speculation or suggestions, since we have no real information yet... So if we only want "constructive" posts here, the forum will be literally dead..

Let the kids play, and let the TM-related spamming flow... I think that was the reason for opening this forum so early?

So yeah, tl;dr: stop being a hardass moderator DD

[Knutselmaaster]

I think it's kinda hard to attack the moderators like that.
We are eager to hear all that everybody has to say.
Still a forum needs structure and order.
There are going to be hundreds of thousands of posts here, and people that come in here must find their way as soon as possible.
A forum contains info, lots of info.
But it doesn't serve a lot when that info is hard to find.
So we need to have topics where discussions are about one thing all the time (an off topic now and then is no problem, but it needs to get back ontopic.)
Also Good titles are important, that way it's easy to keep the readability on par

[Zooz]

I agree with Zell completely...

Worst example: http://forum.maniaplanet.com/viewtopic. ... &start=100

I think it's fine to give some additional rules like "different threads for different suggestions", maybe in a sticky thread and in threads where you think it's relevant, but not to close existing threads that have natural, unique conversation about ManiaPlanet that are readable for others just to make a point about a new rule.

Threads made after the introduction of that rule could then be closed (before discussion takes place).

I know all the new mods must be enthusiastic about their new job but I think the relaxed mod style on previous Trackmania forums worked well for the tm community and these thread closings only seem to annoy people, as evidenced by the existence of this thread. And people say I'm strict...

Calm down on the modding please, and allow us to talk a bit

[mikepurdy1234]

games that are not complete would be better if the community could tell the devs what they want in it.

there is always a little bit of input needed from customers for the items they want.

people that play these type of games (Drive/Shoot/Quest) know what is lacking from those games.



THE GENRE
player-created games (TM2/SM/QM)

THE TOPICS
what tools do you think would be good for this game?
what have you always wanted in a shooter or quest game?
what type of building blocks would be good?


it is up to the devs to ignore (and even lock) some posts... but they are reading and listening... that means they care about our ideas.

[Knutselmaaster]

We understand the need for all this speculation, don't worry.
There are lot's of good discussions going on at the moment and it's certainly true that a forum needs time to let the info find it's way.
But don't forget that at the moment a lot of new people are coming in here because the forum only has recently been opened, and people that are posting here a lot already exactly know where to find certain posts, but all these new arrivals need to be able to join in easily.
Better than modding is the way of the wise user if we all try to keep topics clean than modding is not necessary (a lot)

[Zooz]

But don't forget that at the moment a lot of new people are coming in here because the forum only has recently been opened, and people that are posting here a lot already exactly know where to find certain posts, but all these new arrivals need to be able to join in easily.

Yes, but there are better ways to do this than closing threads. For example, making new ones about various subjects that are being discussed in a "combination thread" that should be closed and letting it die of inactivity naturally. I agree that with the level of activity this place is getting, it's better to move to more specific threads, but forcing ends to conversations by closing them is frustrating for the participants.

[Zell]

Also the Trackmania community is way more mature and chilled than the Counter Strike community for example.
You don't need to take draconian measures to keep order in here... Things were under control as it was already.

Take a hint from people who've been admins in the Trackmania community for a long time and know what works.. at the very least listen to Zooz who was seen as the dragon among dragons in forum enforcement for years (until now....).
Moderators should only be here to delete spam/pornography/etc imo, not to be a police force who control every single thing. Let the community police itself.... It's enough for a couple people to say "shut up, that's retarded. go home". But let the people decide what's retarded.

[Bramble]

Things will certainly settle down by themselves over the next week or so. As Zell said, there was always going to be the initial rush of excitement where people post the first things that come into their heads. Save up any mod rage until then and go to town with it

[w1lla]

also important topics should be marked with an ! tag.

Its just annoying for players to see no important topics.