I read this thread, and mulled over it while I was in my first class of the day.
Way back when we had the forums in Tse's journal, there were only a few people that posted there (or was even aware that it existed). I myself happened to find my way there a couple months before the offical server forums were started, because I was bored enough one day to read through several old pages of the main FFXI forum, and stumble across the "offical unoffical server forum list".
Of the people here, the ones from that time that come to mind are Tse, Ele, Lunaria, Fi, Byaina, serimhunter, myself. If I forgot anyone, I am sorry. It HAS been a while after all.
While it was true we had only a little drama (the DWP incident comes to mind), we never really had anyone come in and join except for the random oddball.
The forum there was created out of necessity. We needed a place for us Bizzy people to talk, and so we had it.
Then, when Alla in all of his wisdom (and more than one request from FFXI players) came up with the offical server forums, a lot more people came in. Garan, Merodi, Wintaru, Nata, Chops, and many more. A lot of them high quality people, and I challenge you to prove to me how any of them are a curse on the Bismarckian community.
The forum did change from being a close-knit family, into something more extended. We got fresh blood in, and the feel of the forum changed.
But because the forum was in sight of everyone, we got our share of idiots also. Can anyone name of them? Anyone at all?
I don't think so.
Why?
Because they fade away with the time. They either get rated below the filter (and thus out of existance), or people stop feeding them lines and paying them attention.
Currently, we are in a third wave of new people coming in, including Qinnydar, Chidalia, and a few others. Just like before, we have our idiots (I can think of a couple instantly), but just like before, the idiots will fade away, leaving the best behind.
The taste of the forum is changing once more, but into what, I have yet to know.
I have made friends from back when the forum was in Tse's journal, from the second wave at the beginning of the offical forum, and even now during the third wave.
But how can WE control the idiots and spam on the forums?
Easy.
Don't like a thread? Rate it down. Or don't reply to it, and thus let it fall off the page faster.
With rating down a post, if it drops below 1.50, it goes below the filter, and thus is unseeable by anyone that has default filter settings turned on. A person's individual karma is the average of his or her post's karma. So if the posts are all below filter, that person is then below filter.
In extreme cases, like the original Bad Player's Tread, or the Stolen Kraken Club thread, the thread can be locked by an admin/nuked out of oblivion by an admin.
You want a better forum?
Start rating.
And to quote Illia: "Don't fu[br] [/br]cking feed the trolls."
You feed them, and they will stay around.
Edited, Mon Apr 25 11:44:36 2005 by Nightsintdreams
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