Forum Etiquitte

[Killfiend]

I want to know how the Pbase and the Imms feel about this. Seriously. Just as @Trick has said in a previous post. This forum is just ridiculous. You know, just like everyone else here, I have spent countless amounts of my time playing this game for several years now. I do it because it is fun and incredibly enjoyable. But god damn if this stupid shit and bickering, whining, and crying on this very forum is making it worth it. I am damn near ready to just stop wasting my time using the forum. 7 out of 10 threads turn into a fight of who has the bigger dick. Most of us are grown adults here. Start acting like it for the love of god. Because if the PBase as a whole doesn't, this place is going to Die. End of story.

Just my ranting 2 cents.

Solution? My Idea =

Post a Divine Mandate stating the penalty of this crap and start giving 1 warning, then 1 day banning people that can't adhere to it. If they continue, 1 week ban. And if it still happenes perma ban

Just one more thing the staff may have to start mediating. I personally think they have more than enough on their plate just keeping this place up and running. They shouldn't have to be bothering with this immature shit.

[FatMike]

I wouldn't want to see the place die, he'll I just came back. 

It is a shame that threads devolve into hate and pissing matches. Maybe the ban hammer does need to drop. 

[Celerity]

I think it is an over exaggeration to call this community toxic. It really isn't that bad.

I also think that even though there are some problems, the staff cracking down isn't going to help things at all. Good communities aren't made or broke through threats and punishments, and I think the staff here understands that. The last thing you want to do is bring out the banhammer --> that just signals a failure.

The best thing the staff can do is to get involved in thread topics personally, not as some distant staff member. I never understood why staff discuss changes and anything else that isn't player-problem specific in their own forum. Especially in terms of changes, with the threads being discussed openly, balance would be a lot more successful. Plus, it generates excitement and on-topic conversations. Just look at the current threads that involve potential changes...they are probably the best threads on the forum.

While it is the players that cause most of the problems, I don't think that asking people to change their attitude is effective or reasonable. As in all communities, all you can do is shape the environment as staff and the community flows from there. Trying to directly change the playerbase (through threats or appeals) is pretty much a waste of effort.

There are several things that the staff could do to encourage a more active, on-topic community. Quick examples off the top of my head:

1. Encourage players to write why they choose who they choose in polls. This is probably the best and easiest way to get people to compliment each other. It is so much more meaningful, for both the recipient and the writer. Even better if the staff participate: I feel no strong of suspected favoritism through complimenting players openly.

2. Keep up with posting change logs (and more preferably, discussions). This proves the staff to be active and engaged which is a prime component of community resilience.

3. The staff has to lead by example in their posts. They should never post sarcastically and should be very careful to not give the appearance of arrogance or a smug attitude. Most importantly, they should always be on topic (except when giving warnings for bad behavior). Staff should NOT be posting memes or other derailments.

4. The staff should also actively encourage players to do the same and steer conversations back on topic.

5. When staff post in topics, those topics become important. Therefore, it is very important that staff post often, especially in topics that are of high-value. There is nothing improper about having an opinion, even a controversial one, as a staff member. The staff should worry about attitude and presence.

6. There are many forum tools that are under-utilized for us. I miss the games and the chat personally. Little things such as more meaningful reputation markers (staff watching marker, various kinds of kudos or opinions as clickables), or interesting forum ranks/achievements for players for instance).

7. The forum (and game) could use a serious rewrite of the rules. Rules should not be stated in absolute terms with looming punishments. The key is to be fair and consistent, not threatening and powerful. A few simple rules are better than many complex ones. Punishments don't even need to be mentioned in rulesets as they are implied. Since we have an arbitrary system of enforcement anyways, pre-detailing a punishment means you look inconsistent at best and biased at worst.

8. Any kind of player recognition mechanism. Remember, the game is about the players, so they should be rewarded and given recognition as much as possible. It could be that the staff creates a regular staff-posted 'best of' thread or attributes source ideas in the change log. Little things like choosing a PK log every month for formal attention - anything that is positive and shows engagement. Everything is about player engagement.

9. Staff-led initiatives. Start typo hunts or bug bounties. Elicit balance knowledge from players publicly (such as asking Pali for info in his retirement thread). Analyze a particular stat, weapon class, race, and so forth once and awhile publicly. Encourage players to generate ideas and you'll be rewarded with both skill and content greater than the staff can do on their own. Plus this promotes engagement through on-topic, positive activity on the forum naturally.