Regarding the Off Topic forum or lack thereof...

C

cleverpetey

Guest
I've not visited the site much recently, seeing as the editing sections are mostly uninteresting to me nowadays. When I do come on to see what's going down the first thing I visit is always the Off-Topic section. It's bloody brilliant. Much funnier that the equivalent over at PESFan, where I'm a regular. Many a time I've found myself cackling over the stuff people post in there. People like Gunnerglory, Cal-Neva and grim, for instance.

So now I found out you've removed the off topic section. I found out by reading about it in the archives, which isn't the most obvious place, but that's a side note.

I just want to offer my opinion on the matter, which is that this is an incredibly stupid move. And your reasoning seems completely broken to me as well, I've got to say. If the Off-Topic section wasn't living up to everybody's demands for it then there's only one thing to do about that, and that is to moderate it into the right direction. Simply removing it won't fix anything, and to the ones that didn't visit the place because thay didn't like it it won't change a thing either. To people like myself, though, the place was pretty much the only interesting thing about this site. You're going to lose people this way.

And it's not like moderating the place was impossible. You've got plenty of people offering their support, so that's not the problem. And instad of deleting threads, which you should never do, you could just close them down if they're bs. Deleting threads will always cause suspicion in the user base, because you can't see what's happened. Frequenting a forum where threads and posts get deleted is like living under a Stalin-esque dictator, I've always felt.

I'm sorry about making this thread, but I just wanted to submit my opinion, and allow other to, since you can't post in the archive, and I didn't find any other threads about this in the Site Comments/Help forum.
 
cleverpetey said:
I've not visited the site much recently, seeing as the editing sections are mostly uninteresting to me nowadays. When I do come on to see what's going down the first thing I visit is always the Off-Topic section. It's bloody brilliant. Much funnier that the equivalent over at PESFan, where I'm a regular. Many a time I've found myself cackling over the stuff people post in there. People like Gunnerglory, Cal-Neva and grim, for instance.
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It was mildly amusing most of the time but recently it had become the bane of the site, a few reasonable questions were never answered and then turned into flaming.

So now I found out you've removed the off topic section. I found out by reading about it in the archives, which isn't the most obvious place, but that's a side note.
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Its the best place for it and a place where people can relive the alleged hilarity that once was.

I just want to offer my opinion on the matter, which is that this is an incredibly stupid move.
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You are entitled to your opinion.

And your reasoning seems completely broken to me as well, I've got to say. If the Off-Topic section wasn't living up to everybody's demands for it then there's only one thing to do about that, and that is to moderate it into the right direction. Simply removing it won't fix anything, and to the ones that didn't visit the place because thay didn't like it it won't change a thing either. To people like myself, though, the place was pretty much the only interesting thing about this site. You're going to lose people this way.

And it's not like moderating the place was impossible. You've got plenty of people offering their support, so that's not the problem. And instad of deleting threads, which you should never do, you could just close them down if they're bs. Deleting threads will always cause suspicion in the user base, because you can't see what's happened. Frequenting a forum where threads and posts get deleted is like living under a Stalin-esque dictator, I've always felt.
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It was an impossible place to moderate as there were no real rules on what could be posted and therefore 99% of topics went to shit.

I'm sorry about making this thread, but I just wanted to submit my opinion, and allow other to, since you can't post in the archive, and I didn't find any other threads about this in the Site Comments/Help forum.
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There wasnt really a thread on it because we have all moved on and accepted it.

The Admin and Mods of the site appreciate all comments on the matter but we felt that closing OT was in the best interests of the site
 
Generally the only reason a thread is deleted is because the content of it is totally unacceptable or mindless trolling. There's no point in keeping it. If it's the case and people ask then we'll tell them why.

If it was moderated as heavily as say PESFan, do you think it would still be as funny? We've tried heavy moderating before, it doesn't work properly. User A posts something 'risqué', admins warn, more stuff posted, admins ban, rest of Users complain and demand banned user is allowed back, eventually banned User is back.

From my own point of view, it's been a much better place since the new forums were added.

(oops, bossman already posted ;))
 
I wish you guys would take the time to answer my questions like that. I feel like I'm being ignored at times.

Cleverpetey, I totally agree, but this won't change things. My only criticism is the fact people like Danwin and Cal-Neva get banned all of a sudden. I know Kezz loves to express his power status, but that's just ridiculous.
Anyway, the forums are pretty nice at the moment, it's more organised and better to control, I agree.
 
joostebrood said:
I wish you guys would take the time to answer my questions like that. I feel like I'm being ignored at times.

Cleverpetey, I totally agree, but this won't change things. My only criticism is the fact people like Danwin and Cal-Neva get banned all of a sudden. I know Kezz loves to express his power status, but that's just ridiculous.
Anyway, the forums are pretty nice at the moment, it's more organised and better to control, I agree.
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Jesus Christ, get a grip. It's not me to decide who gets banned and who doesn't, just because I'm the one creating and updating the banned users thread.
 
DANWIN IS BANNED?! Why?! Fuck me!! Everyone with a sense of humour has to live in fear in this fucking place!! "Spamlord", what the hell? Neither him nor Smango spammed as far as doing a "View All Posts" can see!!! And why was Smango banned, for making a fake topic that took in some rather stupid people including a mod or two (and don't you dare ban me for that when CW was the first to add that afterwards)?? Can the mods not take being made fools of??
 
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Hahahahahhahhahahahaha, I find the whole situation hilarious.
I got IP banned the other night, next morning and i'm back in! Make your minds up lads!
 
Me and you are the next out the door, you can see it coming. I wonder what label we'll get...

BANNED
Starsky - International Terrorist
Chris Davies - Werewolf

Look lads, in all seriousness, why aren't we getting better reasons for people being banned? I was demodded "for flaming" - and I don't. Fair enough, I'm not too bothered and I wouldn't fit in to this new Evo-Web. However, why have Danwin and Smango been banned for "spamming" when they haven't been spamming?

You're banning people because you don't like them, not because they've done anything wrong. Danwin and Smango were regular contributors to topics. They weren't spamming. They were adding their opinions and trying to be funny. Please will you prove me wrong and tell us (or show us) exactly why they've been banned?
 
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I've wanted a banning for ages. I made about 10 topics in off-topic just quoting each fucking line from Bohemian Rhapsody for fucks sake. Granted "hutch" (RIP, son) got banned for that, but it definetly warranted an IP banning. I then came back as about another 7 people including "HiChris", not to mention my long running Borat and Thierry Henry accounts. I helped "Bully" ThomasGOAL away from the s(h)ite I've been IP banned twice and let off the hook. Yet, still I come back and make annoying posts like this.
I'll do a KingKeane on them if they don't kill me off soon.
 
Oh! I made this....

zicobin2bq.gif


I didn't post it as I had nowhere to put it now OT's gone. Hopefully it will help speed up my dismissal.
 
Well I don't want to be banned, but seeing as I'm pointing out people getting banned for no valid reason I'm sure they'll shut me up sooner rather than later.

Edit: HAHA! Hutch that is CLASS :D
 
CWright said:
It was mildly amusing most of the time but recently it had become the bane of the site, a few reasonable questions were never answered and then turned into flaming.
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If off-topic was amusing or not, is a matter of oppinion; the oppinion of the readers and posters of off-topic. The majority of evo-web visited off-topic, as you can see based on that section's views.




CWright said:
It was an impossible place to moderate as there were no real rules on what could be posted and therefore 99% of topics went to shit.
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That's where the mods come in, to set those rules! So we could prevent 99% of the topics to go to shit.


CWright said:
There wasnt really a thread on it because we have all moved on and accepted it.

The Admin and Mods of the site appreciate all comments on the matter but we felt that closing OT was in the best interests of the site
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I think it's quite of obvious it hasn't been accepted by a large part of the forum yet.


My only plea is to simply hear out the members of this forum! If off-topic is really as popular as I think, I feel we should not prevent it's return.
 
I think it's quite of obvious it hasn't been accepted by a large part of the forum yet.
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Define a large part of the forum. In the announcement thread there were far far more people who wanted it gone, than those who wanted it to stay. Infact it was only about 10 or so members who wanted it to stay, that is hardly a majority.

The change was also to make the majority of people more comfortable with the forum setup. It was to promote more cross board discussion, so that instead of having seperate islands where the same people post, there would be a better spread of posters across all boards. Time will tell whether that is successful or not.
 
It's not a large part of the users, and the majoirty of users didn't visit or post in OT. The number of views is not indicative of the number of different members. It was a very small (vocal) minority. And even then some of those took the time to post there agreed.

Look at this thread for example, started with a perfectly reasnoable, well worded opinion and answered in the same manner. Since then it's mostly rants, off-topic nonsense and aggro.

(well worded reactor, kind of what I was trying to say)
 
Because I have a different style of writing doesn't mean it's any less true, and apart from Hutch's picture there's nothing off-topic here. Babs, you're the only mod I feel you get a decent response out of. Tell me why Danwin and Smango were banned. SHOW me that they were spamming. I mean, for God's sake, Smango posted three posts within 3 minutes and then went to BED. If that's spamming the whole board is a board of spammers, including the guys that run it!!

I don't want to start saying "it's all lies" and getting threats over MSN again. But they have NOT been spamming. I'd love to know who banned them, and who gave the reason for their banning if they were both different people. Something should then be said\done to the mods\admin responsible, but it won't be. As Gunplay said, it's like a secret club and if you don't like it (or worse, they don't like you), you get banned. It's become so PC and governmental - i.e. corrupt. And being Joe Bloggs there's nothing any of us can do but sit and wait for the chop.

Danwin's been banned because one of the admin don't like him. I mean, look at the evidence - he starts a thread in the entertainment forum (the Asian Cinema one). It's not against forum rules and it becomes a reasonably popular thread. A lot of respected members and mods reply to it. And then suddenly he's banned.

As for the viewing figures stuff - there were "5 viewing" Site Comments just then, all five of which were viewing this thread. In the other forums the most was "3 viewing" for one forum (bar editing that had "13 viewing" but then by some of the admin's logic here that would mean removing all of the forums bar editing). I agree with Don Domencio (but then I would). However, I am also resigned to losing off-topic. Not members who have done nothing wrong though, who are just disliked.
 
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oops, had a nice big post but clicked something else and lost it. At the rate you're editing that post I dare say my reply would be obsolete in a few minutes any how ;)
 
ReActor said:
The change was also to make the majority of people more comfortable with the forum setup. It was to promote more cross board discussion, so that instead of having seperate islands where the same people post, there would be a better spread of posters across all boards. Time will tell whether that is successful or not.
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hahahahaha!!!! this is the greatest load of donkeys bollocks I have ever read in my life. You Mods should write a good long book, possible titles include "Hands Across Evo-Web" or "The Joining of the Editors and the Assclowns - A Peaceful Evo". What the hell is this supposed to mean? "Oh we are a PES site so members should only talk about PES". Cross board discussion my ass, why would a bunch of people in their 20's and 30's want to mix with a bunch of little 13 year olds whos mission in life is to have the accurate testicle size of each premiership player on their PES game. The fact of the matter here is that in recent times their has been a bunch of pure horseshit posted in off-topic and the Mods can't moderate or tolerate it. This comes with the territory and eventually it will die out and OT would become somewhat good again. Chris Wright is a happy man now because he doesn't have to deal with it but its also not fair of him to completely ignore the ones that really care about Off-Topic. Something needs to be done and I for one am willing to compromise a great deal to find some kind of peaceful solution.
 
babs said:
oops, had a nice big post but clicked something else and lost it. At the rate you're editing that post I dare say my reply would be obsolete in a few minutes any how ;)
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I thought we were trying to cut out the petty jibes, post in a professional manner and avoid agro ;) just a thought, a yin to a yang as it were ;) ;)
 
It was done to do exactly that, whether you think it's rubbish or not. Games discussion for example has been renamed and moved, so that people who would visit the site and not even scroll down will see something different, and it's working, more people are participating already. That's what's meant by cross-board.

We now have an entertainment forum, there's no need to wade through the crap and talk about every film in one thread. Other movie threads had to be locked in the past, it's now encouraged. If you don't want to mix with PES enthused people, don't visit a PES forum. It's not tricky.

But once again, someone (unsurprisingly a mod) posts something and immediately gets flamed.

What a surprise.

And Edmundo, it wasn't a petty jibe. I've always got on well with chris (in my mind) and added a smiley.
 
I think Danwin should be allowed back.
He does not spam, in any of his posts they have all been clean and fresh.
He was a perfect member I could even say a better member than me.
Please mods and Admins let him back.
 
babs said:
We now have an entertainment forum, there's no need to wade through the crap and talk about every film in one thread. Other movie threads had to be locked in the past, it's now encouraged. If you don't want to mix with PES enthused people, don't visit a PES forum. It's not tricky.

But once again, someone (unsurprisingly a mod) posts something and immediately gets flamed.

What a surprise.
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I wasn't flaming anyone. I think the statement is ridiculous. It doesn't make any sense. It should be my choice whether or not i want to mix with PES enthused people or not. I like the games, i have them all, it doesn't mean I have to go around here looking for PES/W11 discussions with 13 year old fanatics and kit makers. Its not like I dont browse those sections anyways. I do every day, I just don't have anything to add there but i still like reading some of the stuff. I laways participate in the Football and Games sections. Every forum should have an Off-topic section, Evo just happens to have a pretty special one. What the hell is wrong with you Mods and Admins? Life is too short, lighten up for Gods sake. All this is so pathetic. "lets shut down off-topic, its in the best interests of the site" - my arse it is.
 
Are we going to be given another reason as to why Danwin and Smango really got banned (i.e. are you going to own up to lying to get rid of members you don't like or are you going to show us where they did any spamming, at all, bearing in mind this is pretty hard - in-fact impossible - seeing as there are threads started by both people that were\are enjoyed and are still getting replies to, Danwin's "Asian Cinema" thread especially)?

Or is everything I've just written going to be ignored and get me banned, or flamed on MSN by certain mods AND admin like last time?

I'm not flaming, I'm not being an arsehole. I just want to know the real reason why they were banned when they CLEARLY, VERY CLEARLY, have done nothing wrong.
 
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As a very experienced member I have to say the idea of having different sports, entertainment, newsforums is quite good, but I just don't see the point in closing OT. The stupid threads that were created lately were useless, I agree, but there have also been threads like Ever Wondered, Hutch Drawings, Praise Jesus, GG Interviews (+ many other GG threads), great threads by Cal-Neva, the Poetry thread etc. etc. etc. I think the forums deserve a place for that and if you just give it a little time, we will all understand the signal you guys have given right now and the OT will again be a funny, relaxing place for a not too big group of people. I don't see what's wrong with that.
 
A shame the banning threads are locked, otherwise I'd have asked it there. Can Danwin be reinstated again please? There was no need to ban him, I was there.
 
joostebrood said:
A shame the banning threads are locked, otherwise I'd have asked it there. Can Danwin be reinstated again please? There was no need to ban him, I was there.
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Danwin and smango have been unbanned, there earlier bannings where harsh and have been reconsidered
 
Good man. Thanks CW.

Edit: I've just been told he's been given an apology as well. It takes a really big man to do that. That's really made me smile, thank you guys.
 
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