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Im not happy about the way the For Sale Board is being moderated....!

  • 23-06-2003 1:04pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭



    By The Muppet

    Thank You Tomnoc
    Thanks for the pm regarding the correct type of ram to use in my G4.

    Its A pity that you were banned for trying to be be helpful to me.

    Is Every one who sends a pm to a user here going to be banned and if so why have the feature enabled at all.

    All seems very childish to me seems like the mod has Power overload?.

    Reply from Vexorg

    If you read the rules you would understand why people get banned.. its not for trying to be helpful.... its because the mods have nothing better to do.

    Sadly when one is made a mod of these forums their physic powers, which previously would have allowed them to know the contents of the helpful pm (probably less than .01%) and the off thread dealing (probably 99.9% of pms and emails) which we are trying to stop.

    If either of you had bothered to read the rules a) the pm would not have been mentioned on thread, and b) you would have warned him that pms were not allowed or c) the intelligent thing would have been to say pm sent about mac ram - not dealing off forum....

    however, you were relying on the mod super powers to figure that one out, and sadly its one of the few super powers that we would dearly like, but to gain it we would lose the power to ban, and Im sure you can see the dilemma.

    Good point about turning off the pm feature... oh dear why didnt we think of that one..... gosh in the five years we've been running boards.ie and we never tought of that.... (reminder to self, sarcasmism super power is nearly blunt, get sharpened - Id send myself a pm only i might get banned oh no please dont ban me).

    So muppet if you feel this guy was treated harshly, why didnt you send me a pm saying so.... why have your little snipe at the mod powers here?...


    Rgds....



    Vex.

    reply from Static
    Watch out Vexorg! There's a quite a drop if you were to fall from that pedestal.

    Seriously, you could have just warned him, there's no need to rush into bannings. Some would claim a little ego trip.

    *expects thread to be closed/moved*


    reply from Kali
    Err how are people supposed to make arrangements for meeting?

    Otherwise threads will be full of:

    "Hi The Muppet. I will give you 80 for the ram. my telephone number is 0876764534, meet me at the bottom of grafton street at 6pm on tuesday. I will be wearing the red hat."

    I've bought dozens of items off the boards.. and I for one aint posting mine or anyone elses details on any thread
    Post edited by Shield on


«134

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,006 ✭✭✭✭The Muppet


    Ayou can see from other opinions here some of us regard the rule as unfair and unnecessary and the last time i checked i lived in a democracy so that entitles me to my opinion. I

    I also find your attitude contadictive i must have hit a nerve with my post on the for sale board but why ask that i pm my complaint to you would that not be breaking your Precious rules
    { after all that is waht you banned tomnoc for.} or are you excluded from the open and above board approach you demand the rest of us to use.

    Finally If you are on some kind of power trip thats your problem but i am not impressed by your actions.

    At least you could be have the decency to admit your mistake and revoke your petty ban.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭Vexorg


    The muppet...

    There is no off thread dealing allowed anymore... the usually meaning of pm sent is I have made an offer off thread... there is no way of knowing what the contents of the pm were... Its unfortunate that in this instance the contents were not oof thread dealing, its easy to put a note as other poeople have done saying this is not an offer... etc...

    Its not possible to switch off the pm feature

    The reason for the banning is its the only way to get peoples attention. if we temp ban the offenders they will read the rules the next time, it takes many time longer to reply to someone asking them to stop, to send a pm etc and have the next muppet so exactely the same thing. Its only a few clicks to ban them for not reading the rules, so it saves hours of work everyweek.

    Static

    Years of warnings and moderation made no difference, if banning offenders is the only way to get your attention, then banning it will be. If you spent a lot of time asking people nicely to stop breaking the rules and it continued for months, what would you do? Do yu have nay experience moderating forums to even hazard a guess at the amount of time it can take? No one gets paid or makes money here, its all voluntary.... why should we make work for ourselves when a small percenatge of people make life hard for us? Just ban them and let them do the running and the explaining.... Many banned individuals have been unbanned.

    Whats the problem with insisting that the rules to reduce the workload of the mods is adhered to?

    Kali

    The no pm/no email rule is for off thread dealing only... not for giving conatct details.... its obvious that if someone has made an offer and its been accepted that personal details are not to be put on a public forum... its obvious that a pm in this instance if no off thread dealing..... However a pm immediately after someone posts on a thread is likely to be an off thread offer and a bannable offence.

    Some people do not like the rules and thats fine, their function is two fold, to make all transactions transparent and fair and to reduce the workload of the mods.


    Im open to suggestions on how to improve the forum, however the level of muppety had diminished to the level that most peoples are now people not reading the rules, there is no easy way to force people to read the rules apart from the actions we are now taking. And lets be honest... its not trake big a part of peoples lives if they cant read the classified section is it?

    Is there a better way to do it?.. remember it must not increase the workload.. that will reduce the liklihodd of it not happening again.

    The forums cannot be made to not have pm or email on the classified section, not can it be hacked to force people to read the rules before they post... remember we have been trying this for a long time now.


    Vex.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 4,669 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hyzepher


    I have to say that I am with Vex on this one. I see no need for anyone to conduct the bargaining of an item outside the thread. As Vex has said - you can close the sale (address/phone) via PM but no offers etc.

    The issue lies with grey areas - if you relate to a PM in your thread without explaining the contents (i.e. non sale related) then the mods, in an attempt to control the boards, must assume that the PM was breaking the rules.

    Hyzepher


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 347 ✭✭Static


    Hmm..

    Look, it's understandable that the for sale forum does see some high traffic, but bans shouldn't be dished out so quickly, unless it's some *blatant* rule breaking, ie, commercial selling, which anybody with clue would kinda think about before posting.

    If you're tired giving warnings about the rules to different people the whole time, then perhaps the way things are done should be changed, or perhaps you should stop modding.

    A suggestion (involves a code change to vBulleting), would be a setting each forum could have, in a list (*VERY* short) of basic rules should be displayed right above the main text field.. Adds to the clutter, but it's a suggestion. Trusting people to read that seperate rules discussion isn't going to work.

    static.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 4,669 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hyzepher


    Static

    I think if you were given a week of modding the For Sale forum you would quickly chnage your tune.

    You assume that Vex etc al have the time to treat each case individually - they dont. If you cant be bothered to read the rules then you should be prepared to take the consequences.

    Hyzepher


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,894 ✭✭✭Mr. Fancypants


    I dont belive the mods are stopping PMS being sent after the close of a deal to get contact details etc. They just want to stop dealings been taken off the boards to allow everyone have a fair deal. It would also stop the ridiculous "PM Sent" or "Your PM box is full" messages.

    That all sounds understandable to me, it will take a few weeks of pain before its sorts itself out tho', i imagine. Personally, i think Vexorg and the other For Sale mods have done a huge amount of good work on that board.

    One suggestion i would make is to make the PM rule a little clearer, especially as its a one strike and your banned for a week. Maybe have a warning in the template so that a message warning against PM's appears at the end of every starting message? Not a huge change, but i think it would help stop the increasing amount of bannings.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭Vexorg


    The muppet....

    What ever gave you the idea that boards.ie was a democracy, you have absolutely no rights here what-so-ever. You are free to say what you want to say within reason, but its never been a democracy to the best of my knowledge, in fact its owed by a group of 5 or 6 nerds who have paid for the upkeep for the last 5 or 6 years.

    Would you please stop misquoting the pm rule.... pms are allowed, what is not allowed is off thread dealing. Read the rules.

    Your feelings about the rules does not interest me, if you dont like them go elsewhere, one of their functions is to reduce the workload of the mods, what I am interested in is constructive critisism, useful feedback that does not increase the mods workload and still makes the for sale forum transactions transparent.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭Vexorg


    Template change on the way... i like the way you think Mbroaders.

    There will be a rules clean up shortly, in the meantime... any constructive suggestions are welcome....

    By constructive, dont post..... I dont like the no pm rule give reasons why and why alternative there are.....


    Even tho its not a democracy here, just a few power hungry mods looking for kicks, you can shape the way the forums are run
    with some good arguements......


    Vex.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 347 ✭✭Static


    Originally posted by Hyzepher
    Static

    I think if you were given a week of modding the For Sale forum you would quickly chnage your tune.

    You assume that Vex etc al have the time to treat each case individually - they dont. If you cant be bothered to read the rules then you should be prepared to take the consequences.

    Hyzepher


    Alright, I'll bow out of this conversation. Last thing I want to be doing is debating with Vexorg groupies.

    Vex, point taken.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,524 ✭✭✭✭Gordon


    Yeah that Vex has a growing following of flunkies too, whenever he goes to the toilet a myriad of nubile young ladies warm the seat, throw rose petals on the floor and hand towels warmed by the underneath of their pert young breasts to him.

    Quite a lucky chappy.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭Vexorg


    If you're tired giving warnings about the rules to different people the whole time, then perhaps the way things are done should be changed, or perhaps you should stop modding.

    Since we changed the way things were done from polite conversation resulting in lots of extra work, to nice and easy banning, the level of work has dropped dramatically... and so will continue until the forum becomes self policing... when someone breaks a rule, the other members point it out = reduced modding and very few bans hopefully, .. it will take a while but it will be worth the wait.

    You seem to think that the forums are new and that we have not tried different things why is that?

    Regarding stop modding.... tee hee hee with the groupies and the flunkies and the immense sense of self importance and teh very high and shaky pedestal, we'd be mad to stop.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭Vexorg


    A thought just struck me...

    I could not understand why banning someone was stirring up peoples emotions.

    The bans that people recieve in the for sale section are in the main temperory (a week, they need to come back and ask to be let back in - again offenders do the running) and they are only banned from the classified forums... all 7 or 8 forums... there are 250 other forums that they can still use!.

    Maybe this was obvious.. maybe not.....


    Vex.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,601 ✭✭✭Kali


    Ok.. a few points.. if these can be cleared up .. cool.

    a) Why do offers have to be moderated? A sale is between two people... what the buyer chooses to pay and what the seller choose to accept is not up to anyone else... and especially not the moderator, nor does an offer between two parties explicitly have to be public knowledge.

    b) Whats the problem with a rule for the seller that simply says "When the sale has been completed post to that effect"... obviously to avoid one of the pitfalls of PMs, that being the contining of posts and offers for an already arranged sale.

    c) Rules. Have two threads. One for buying one for selling. Forcing people to read through crap that doesn't affect them is pointless.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 491 ✭✭flav0rflav


    The more rules there are, the more rule enforcing there has to be. The more enforcing, the more moding? Who wanted to reduce the workload?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭Vexorg


    Kali in an attempt to answer your questions

    a) the for sale forum has evolved to where it is now over a number years... As it is a public forum by posting an item for sale and posting offers in public is what happens on 90% of threads, why should we not insist that all thread do it that way. This way the dealing are transparent, less likely to be a scam, all questions can be seen by everyone so one person does not ask a question by pm and another posts the same question on forum etc etc.


    The most important things to me about the board are its fair to everyone and doesnt add to my workload or the other mods, I cant see why people feel the need to make offers by pm or email. I personally dont like to see a number of people making offers and the seller comes back with, I have an offer of X by pm or email, maybe he does, but its fairer when its all on thread.

    I not sure where you are coming from with "what the buyer chooses to pay and what the seller choose to accept is not up to anyone else... and especially not the moderator, nor does an offer between two parties explicitly have to be public knowledge"

    Are you saying that people should post what they like and no need for mods in the for sale forum?

    B) I dont really understand your point b) and there is a rule that says please post when an item is sold.....

    C) The problem is not the rules per se, its the fact the the rules are not read, wheter the rules are crap or not is not the problem it the fact that they are not read... hence taking action that bring the rules to people attention.

    Vex.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭Vexorg


    Flavorflav,

    just jumping on the bandwagon i see... :)

    The workload has reduced dramatically since we started enforcing the rules with temp bans from classified and making those banned come ask why..... as opposed to asking them not to break the rules again, editing posts and getting into long drawn out pm argurments over power hungry mods to you suk and so on.


    The rules... funnily enough have come from the forums users asking things like cant you stop the silly offers, whats the point in having a forum when people accept offers by pm or claim to ... where were you when we were drawing up the rules and asked for feedback.

    As I said before these sorts of comments are useless without something constructive... if there is a problem, dont just say there is a problem, give us a solution, in the main the rules describe what there are there to protect against, why not read them and suggest a better way to enforce them and obviously one that has not been tried before.....


  • Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 32,387 Mod ✭✭✭✭DeVore


    See! SEE!! And you all call me the evil one!

    From my pov, we have never really been happy with the for sale board and we're trying a few things out.

    We need to get a handle on how its running itself and how we want to manage it.

    All change is pain, this is change and we have to settle things down to a non-painful state.

    DeV.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 491 ✭✭flav0rflav


    Can I also get on the Free Market Economics bandwagon, to try and raise the tone of the debate?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭Vexorg


    You may...

    as long as the solution is obvious!.....


    If your bandwagon is going thru town, any chance of a lift?


    V.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,006 ✭✭✭✭The Muppet


    "you have absolutely no rights here what-so-ever"


    vexorg

    Sorry to contradict you but tis is a public forum and as such i do have rights.

    I suggest you get off your high horse and jus mod the group properly instead of acting like a dictator. If Your are incapable of that maybe a change of Hobby for you may be in order.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,524 ✭✭✭✭Gordon


    Heh


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    Originally posted by The Muppet
    "you have absolutely no rights here what-so-ever"


    vexorg

    Sorry to contradict you but tis is a public forum and as such i do have rights.

    I suggest you get off your high horse and jus mod the group properly instead of acting like a dictator. If Your are incapable of that maybe a change of Hobby for you may be in order.

    lol

    tbh


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 10,501 Mod ✭✭✭✭ecksor


    Originally posted by The Muppet
    Sorry to contradict you but tis is a public forum and as such i do have rights.

    You have the right to remain silent. Shut the **** up.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 489 ✭✭ironbrew


    Ah, im not trying to interupt but this conversation is great advertising. Im sure the For Sale board will be getting a little more traffic now. I sure am gonna give it a visit.:D

    P.S- Thanks for the 15 mniutes of enlightment!:)


  • Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 32,387 Mod ✭✭✭✭DeVore


    Originally posted by The Muppet
    "you have absolutely no rights here what-so-ever"


    vexorg

    Sorry to contradict you but tis is a public forum and as such i do have rights.

    I suggest you get off your high horse and jus mod the group properly instead of acting like a dictator. If Your are incapable of that maybe a change of Hobby for you may be in order.

    You have certain civil and human rights that are inalienable (like the right to life etc) but I'm curious which other rights you are refering to on a privately-owned website?

    Exactly what is your complaint as well? Were you not aware of that rule? Do you have a suggestion for a better way to mod beyond just disagreeing with Vex?

    DeV.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 668 ✭✭✭jabaroon


    Just throwing my support into the mix.....

    I too believe that the Classified boards are not being moderated correctly. Vexorg -- you are creating work for yourself and then complaining that you are too busy.

    You are banning people first, then justifying later. Logic dictates it should be the other way around. This is the way society functions and more importantly -- has evolved to function.

    Most importantly -- the policy of ticking the ban flag and then sitting back to relax and forget has GOT to be creating exponential amounts of work for you. People keep asking the same questions:

    - Why am I banned
    - Can I get un-banned
    - When do I get un-banned
    - Why didn't you also ban....

    Answers such as:
    - Coz you are - read the rule
    - We'll see
    - Whenever

    Are not exactly helpfull, informative or calming -- they are inflamitory.

    I have no idea about your personal background, what you do in the real world or how effective you are at doing it. Suffice to say, that you are no doubt aware that "bad communication" is continuously cited in modern society as one of the leading disablers. The mechanism, methods and policies through which the classifieds forums are administered and moderated are VERY clearly symptomatic of inadequate and poor communication.

    It is not sufficient to say that you are not paid to perform your duties and therefore feel justified in underperforming at them. If you want to do it, then do. If you do it, then do it well. If you cant do it well, then dont do it. If you dont do it, rest asured that there will be a long queue of power hungry individuals who will be more than happy to fill your shoes.

    - Stop banning people for trivial things
    - Adopt a more friendly and helpfull attitude
    - Analyse, understand -- THEN react, not the other way around
    - Communicate your intentions, implications, criteria etc...
    - Seek help if you cannot cope.

    Vexorg, I challenge you to undertake the above actions and watch your workload decrease -- but more imporantly -- the satisfaction of your customers INCREASE.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 668 ✭✭✭jabaroon


    Vexorg, regardless of the accuracy of the statement:

    "What ever gave you the idea that boards.ie was a democracy, you have absolutely no rights here what-so-ever"

    What point were you trying to make through stating it? Did you feel that making such a statement was going to make people think "ohh...well in that case, my apologies, sorry about that, bye bye". Surely you thought locically about publishing such a statement; what positive outcomes did you feel would be achieved through stating it in a forum where the mood was quite obviously tense? How would you feel if you were to call your PC supplier to complain that it was defective and were told that you had "absolutely no rights ... what-so-ever" (for whatever reason)? Such a response would clearly make you:

    A) Happy, content, satisfied, empowered, motivated
    B) Upset, angry, belittled, disabled

    People do have one right that can never be 'banned'. That is the right to choose. How many services (and web sites) do you know of that have spawned through dissatisfaction with a compeditor? Just a thought.


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 10,501 Mod ✭✭✭✭ecksor


    We're not here to piss people off (well, most people, we take pleasure in pissing some people off but I digress), but we're not here to pander to the 'customer' as you put it either. We're a bit weird like that I guess. We would like to achieve world domination (or at least I'd like us to be the centre for community related internet services in Ireland), but we're basically just doing our thing and people seem to like it in general.

    Anyway, we're not actually afraid of competition. Why would we be? I don't think anyone can set out to copy us and succeed, but that's not the point, we have no reason to not want other websites to succeed. The For Sale forums have been getting a lot of silly behaviour lately and I guess the inevitable result of that is an increase of bans and perhaps the threshold for receiving a ban is lower than it would have been otherwise. In any case, it's good to get a thread like this where things are brought out into the open, suggestions are made, things are clarified etc. In general we do listen to our users and if we like a suggestion then we'll take it on board.

    Offering advice on how to do it better reads a bit odd when you seem to view us as some sort of dot-com. Also, using words such as 'inadequate' and 'underperforming' seems to contradict the approach of not using inflammatory language that you advocate.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 668 ✭✭✭jabaroon


    The following is a cut&paste from another post of mine. I am pasting it here as there seems to be some indication that I may not have fully read or understood the entire content of the thread -- I have and do !!

    ---- snip

    I have and did read the entire set of post before submitting my view. The fact that you have this concern suggests that I have not made my point too well. I would like to address (what I believe) to be your two concerns:

    I am not suggesting that a nicely nicely approach to moderation is in order. I am suggesting that an approach that focuses on polite and informative communication is likely to yield better results.

    For example, consider the current approach:

    "You have been temporairly banned. Read the rules".

    Now consider the alternative sent both as a PM to the user and in the normal way:

    "You have been temporairly banned for failing to adhere to the rules. Specifically, you broke rule XXX by doing YYY. As a result, you have recieved a 1 week ban. This ban will be lifted on DD/MM. We apologise if you are offended by recieving this ban, but we are rigid on the rules. Our aim is to make the boards a self policing society and to do so, we have to take a hard line."

    The alternative -- above -- contains all of the information that a banned user need to understand and justify their ban.

    - The point is made clearly and concisely
    - Where the ban is justified, the user has all of the relevant information
    - If justified, the moderator should not need to partake in any further communication with the user (and vice versa)

    It is not valid to say that it takes too long or too much effort to explain "why" to each user. It will certainly take less time for the admin to explain when enforcing the ban than when recieving a request for explanation at a later date, and being then required to look historically for justification.

    I believe the above also explains my point around being required to send a PM to Vexorg to get an un-ban. Its not necessary if communication is concise and informative up-front. By removing redundancy, workload is reduced.


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  • Subscribers Posts: 9,716 ✭✭✭CuLT


    What I think ecksor is basically saying is (correct me if i'm wrong):
    We will produce the highest quality products, using empowered team dynamics in a new Total Quality paradigm until we become the industry leader

    maybe if you use phrases like:

    "Streamlining processes for mazimising propensities"
    "Enable full contrivances of empowerment"
    "Eliminate occurrences of prolifirate randomness"
    "Managerially balance data compilation with process ownership"

    you might get the point across better :rolleyes: .


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,750 ✭✭✭jd


    "You have been temporairly banned for failing to adhere to the rules. Specifically, you broke rule XXX by doing YYY. As a result, you have recieved a 1 week ban. This ban will be lifted on DD/MM. We apologise if you are offended by recieving this ban, but we are rigid on the rules. Our aim is to make the boards a self policing society and to do so, we have to take a hard line."


    Sure, it would be great to get a reply like that.

    The admins have jobs..
    boards <life-jobs.

    If a particular board is getting out of order, a heavy hand may be needed to sort it out.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,750 ✭✭✭jd


    Originally posted by jabaroon
    It is not valid to say that it takes too long or too much effort to explain "why" to each user. It will certainly take less time for the admin to explain when enforcing the ban than when recieving a request for explanation at a later date, and being then required to look historically for justification.

    I believe the above also explains my point around being required to send a PM to Vexorg to get an un-ban. Its not necessary if communication is concise and informative up-front. By removing redundancy, workload is reduced. [/B]

    Are you in pr , marketing or sales?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 668 ✭✭✭jabaroon


    I know that your not here to piss people off, but it seems like that is what is happening -- particularly around the classifieds forum. So lets try to fix it.

    My point about competition is nothing more than -- thats what happens in general. Im not suggesting that it will or can, but the greater the level of dissatisfaction, the greater the appetite.

    I dont view boards as some sort of dot com (its a dot IE !!). But Im not sure of the relevance or point. How are the suggestions that I am making negated or devalued?

    I agree that the words inadequate or underperforming may be strong, but are no less powerfull than the counterparts that they intended to address. Using them is a demonstration of frustration on my behalf. However, my admittance of frustration should not detract from the point.

    Ecksor, you comments are well thought out, informed and neutral. They are balanced and probing. I appreciate that, but you have not commented on the meat of the suggestions, only their delivery.

    In reading this thread, I have not yet seen a firm resolve to deal with the issues -- moreover to just talk about them and argue about the language.

    Can I be so bold as to say:
    1) Can we admit that there is a problem
    2) Can we resolve to correct it
    3) Can we close this thread and start a new one that solicits positive solutions


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,750 ✭✭✭jd


    Jabaroon,
    i did a quick search on your username-the vast majority of your posts are in the for sale boards.
    Have you any interest in boards besides (perhaps commercially?) selling goods?


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 10,501 Mod ✭✭✭✭ecksor


    Originally posted by jabaroon
    I know that your not here to piss people off, but it seems like that is what is happening -- particularly around the classifieds forum. So lets try to fix it.

    Sure. However pissing some people off is an unfortunate side effect that is unavoidable as far as I can see with the current way boards is run. We'll try to minimise that number of occasions where people get pissed off, but we're not really interested in changing how things work too much at this stage.
    My point about competition is nothing more than -- thats what happens in general. Im not suggesting that it will or can, but the greater the level of dissatisfaction, the greater the appetite.

    Yeah, I'm just trying to explain to you that we don't give a rats. We'll try to sort out complaints and offer a good service, but we don't have investors or a share price to worry about.
    Ecksor, you comments are well thought out, informed and neutral. They are balanced and probing. I appreciate that, but you have not commented on the meat of the suggestions, only their delivery.

    Vexorg is dealing with the meat of the issue here. I'm inclined to leave it to him and the For Sale mods. Your suggestions are appreciated I'm sure and you will no doubt get a response in the morning.
    3) Can we close this thread and start a new one that solicits positive solutions

    This thread is fine. We've asked for positive solutions on a few occasions on this thread and a few have been made.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,524 ✭✭✭✭Gordon


    jabaroon - I really think that you should start thinking out of the box to be honest.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭Vexorg


    Jaberoon

    Thanks for the feedback however my weak communication skills have meant you missed a point I have been trying to make time and time again
    I too believe that the Classified boards are not being moderated correctly. Vexorg -- you are creating work for yourself and then complaining that you are too busy.

    Quite the opposite in fact, for the last couple of year the approach has been softly softly... request that people stop and send a pm explaining what the problem is, and getting into long arguements while the offending post and or behavior continues.

    This changed to : altering the post and explaining why and getting into long discussions with people yet they continued to...

    This changed to banning and explaining why and getting into long discussions with people and yet they still continued to...

    to where we are today, a couple of years down the line, a no explanation ban, no discussions, just read the rules.. short sweet and to the point... a lot less work.

    The function of this approach is to bring it to everyone attention that there is now a zero tolerance for want of a better word approach in the for sale forums, the ultimate aim is to have the forum self policing, where the users prompt other users as to what the rules are and so no need for moderation....

    So... how can reverting to an earlier method of moderating the forums result in a change in behavior, we know it doesnt work, we know this method seems to work but annoys a few people.

    If I could ask you to re read the rules and the posts your thoughts again, I think you may be mis quoting a number of points to suit your final outcome... in doing so please realise that the work load has decreased radically as a result of the "ban" methodology in last couple of months, this was brought about to a) reduce the workload, and b) to bring attention to the rules.

    The Muppet

    This is a private web site and while it is open to the public, you do not have the same rights as a citizen of a country. Yes you can say what you like .... but the mods and admins and edit, delete and or ban if they feel it is needed...


    Do you have anything constructive to say? Jaberoon is making an effort, even though he has not around long enough to see how the board was moderated over the last couple of years.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 491 ✭✭flav0rflav


    zero tolerance ... to have the forum self policing

    Here we see the birth of a new political dogma!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,006 ✭✭✭✭The Muppet


    Devore Quote
    "You have certain civil and human rights that are inalienable (like the right to life etc) but I'm curious which other rights you are refering to on a privately-owned website?"
    Devore Where did i refer to Other Rights? Vexorg told me "I had absoloutly no rights here" as you point out above I do have rights. I work on a privately owned Radio Station that does not mean I can do and say as I like.


    "Exactly what is your complaint as well? Were you not aware of that rule? Do you have a suggestion for a better way to mod beyond just disagreeing with Vex?"
    If you have followed this thread from Its inception on the for sale board you should see my complaint but I will point it out to anyway.

    A user of the for sale forum was banned for being helpful to me. He/She was banned for the for sending me a PM and VeX accused him of off board trading. When I pointed out openly on the forum that it was not off board trading insted of the ban being revoked by Vexorg I got a sarcastic reply telling us user that "we have absolutely no rights".
    Just because you say it does not make it fact or correct. Users of this forum and any other public forum do indeed have rights weather the mods like it or not.

    The solution you seek is simple , Do not to invoke stupid rules that in reality are unfair and uninforcable.

    I also find it very wrong to accuse someone of "Jumping on the bandwagon" just because they expressed a differen opinion to the MODS and yet no criticism or action taken about the "shut the F**k Up Post above" .It says a lot about the quality of the Mods in this thread when a user is banned for sending a pm yet Ecksor can post Offensive Language with impunity.

    As some one else has said why complain about the work load of modding the board. I Presume its a hooby so if the mods dont want to do it properly Ddnt do it at all. I,m Sure There are plenty of people here who would like to do it instead and do a better job at it.


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 10,501 Mod ✭✭✭✭ecksor


    I was explaining your rights to you. What rights exactly are you talking about?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭Vexorg


    I feel that you are climbing onto the high moral ground here..

    This is my position...

    Someone on your thread posted "pm sent"... the rules clearly state that there is no off forum trading, and also that rules breaches will be met with a ban...

    So "pm sent" gets a temporary ban, just like almost every other pm sent, pm me, email me @ phone me @ gets a ban, your pm person was treated like everyone else.

    I even posted saying why the guy was banned.

    You then posted saying it was unfair as he was being helpful, and "you are correct", however on a for sale forum you might that 99% of pm are bids the other 1% being excahnge of contact details at the end of a sale. Its would be highly unusual in my opinion for someone to send a pm about what sort of ram to buy on a for sale thread.....

    howver the rules are clear, the rules were broken the guy was banned

    You however added a few comments about my application of the rules, as if I banned the person knowing full well that the pm was not off topic trading, as opposed to banning him for the rule breach.

    Regarding the rules... they also clearly state that of you dont like them, fell free to use other sales outlets.... so no apology is made for them... if you think they are stupid, fine... but they are there for a purpose...

    Yet again you misquote... please understand since the rules are being strictly enforced, the workload has dramatically reduced... it has not increased... i repeat it has not increased, the rules enforcement has reduced the workload.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,143 ✭✭✭spongebob


    soc.culture.irish is democratic.

    go there instead.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,006 ✭✭✭✭The Muppet


    Vexorg
    I understand your position

    I am not trying to take the high moral ground over the ecksor post in fact i found it humorous but it does break the board rules and if we are to have Zero Tolerance as the mods claim well then it is only fair that you are consistant in your action so i await your action against ecksor.

    your stock answer to my criticism seems to be if i dont like it go somewhere else and my reply to that is that people react to situations in different ways. some people would have just accepted your initial action others would indeed have just gone elsewhere and then the ones like me will stand up and be counted thats just human nature.

    I do accept that you thought there was off post trading which is a breach of the rules and as such deserves a ban but when i posted the facts about the pm you could have just revoked the ban insted of posting your sarcastic rant and saved us all this bother. I Now that you have appear accepted that the ban was unfair have you revoked it?

    The rule about pms is flawed and uninforceable and shoule be revoked in my opinion.

    finally i want to address you comment about your workload. If The government were to ban driving it would cut down the workload of a lot of people but would it be right and would we accept it for those reasons. If The mods dont have the time to mod properly then they should seek assistance or step down and let someone with more time on thier hands take over


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,722 ✭✭✭Thorbar


    Jesus someone should really introduce jabaroon and The Muppet to Radox they'd fit right in there with all this PR ****e.

    jabaroon you're command of the English language is impressive and I'm sure when you stick in all fancy superlatives you turn a few heads in the board room but from the content of your posts its painfully obvious you have little understanding of how boards works. I suggest you take a step back for a while and see what the story is before you start talking from a high on how things can be improved.

    Basically what it comes down to lads is that the admins of boards are going to run this community in a particular way which they think is best. They aren't going to fall over themselves trying change how the place is run if someone walks in here and starts sprouting opinions just because someone stood on his toes. So as has been said several times you can either lump it or leave it.

    One of the reasons I've been coming back to this site for two and a half years is because the admins are brave enough to do things the way they know is best.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,965 ✭✭✭Vexorg


    The Muppet..

    Im sorry but you seem to have lost me somewhere...

    What do you think i need to talk to ecksor about? I dont remember him ever posting in the for sale forum... have I missed something?

    Feel free to misquote me anytime you fancy btw.... stock answers and all...

    The ban has not been lifted, I have already tried to contact the banned individual to confirm.. i await their response....

    Please explain how the pm rule is flawed and have alook in the sin bin and tell me how that it has been unenforcable....

    I honestly believe you have no idea what you are talking about... you misquote me endlessy.. are you new to bulletin boards and the way they are run? please feel free to correct me....

    Thx

    Vex.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,722 ✭✭✭Thorbar


    Originally posted by The Muppet
    Vexorg
    I understand your position

    I am not trying to take the high moral ground over the ecksor post in fact i found it humorous but it does break the board rules and if we are to have Zero Tolerance as the mods claim well then it is only fair that you are consistant in your action so i await your action against ecksor.


    There's a zero Tolerance policy on the For Sale board, there isn't one in affect on this board. I suggest you start reading the forum rules which can be found on the top of most forums.
    your stock answer to my criticism seems to be if i dont like it go somewhere else and my reply to that is that people react to situations in different ways. some people would have just accepted your initial action others would indeed have just gone elsewhere and then the ones like me will stand up and be counted thats just human nature.

    Nothing wrong with pointing out if you think something is wrong with the way boards is being run. But I'm pretty sure the lads have already said a few times that they don't have the time to address every individual issue. One thing that really pisses me off is when people who come onto this site and complain about not getting enough attention from the admins/mods. Do you have any idea of the time and money this people have put into this community of the years and have expected nothing in return.
    I do accept that you thought there was off post trading which is a breach of the rules and as such deserves a ban but when i posted the facts about the pm you could have just revoked the ban insted of posting your sarcastic rant and saved us all this bother. I Now that you have appear accepted that the ban was unfair have you revoked it?

    What's the point in having a zero tolerance policy if you're going to revoke it. You're not allowed to send pms, someone sent you a pm and got banned where's the problem here?
    The rule about pms is flawed and uninforceable and shoule be revoked in my opinion.

    How is it flawed? It makes sure that everyone has a fair chance of taking part in any deals made on the board and it also makes the whole process transparent so that if someone is ****ing about (ie claiming they got a certain offer in pm to push up the price) they will get called on it. I think vex has already proven that he is more then able to inforce this rule.
    finally i want to address you comment about your workload. If The government were to ban driving it would cut down the workload of a lot of people but would it be right and would we accept it for those reasons. If The mods dont have the time to mod properly then they should seek assistance or step down and let someone with more time on thier hands take over [/B]

    This would be a valid point if boards actually charged for its service and in turn paid its mods.


  • Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 32,387 Mod ✭✭✭✭DeVore


    Wooooaahh! Go Thorbar! Nail. Hammer. *thump*.


    I have nothing more useful to add to this thread at this time but I am enjoying it thoroughly.

    DeV (the slightly tipsie).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,524 ✭✭✭✭Gordon


    The thing about boards is the fact that it is a community. The Muppet (unfortunately chosen name btw) seems to see this place as a way of increasing sales and furthering the holy grail of Free Trade to one and all. Such paybacks to a community in this sphere would lead to a heightened growth in the size of the community.

    The unfortunate thing is that in the past the For Sale board has been a hive for serious chugnuts that fall through on their promise of meeting people after an agreement is made. In fact there has been at least one chugnut that has handed over illegal tender to pay for goods. This pisses me off as I'm sure it pisses off the Admins (who pay for this community).

    To have a community that is happy to have goods traded at cheap prices is a great thing but what about the chugnuts that illegally trade stolen/bloated priced goods? Well they should be tracked shouldn't they? Don't you want to be protected in a sale? I see these new rules as a heavy handed approach to protecting the buyer and the seller from spurious offers/sales. It may be harsh but any information spoken in a pm is not trackable afaik. If anyone that is complaining about these rules ever got arsed over by some gimp with a dodgy bankers draft - was pm'd the details of the person with the bankers draft and promptly deleted the pm - what can you do? Nothing.

    To be all marketingy about this issue - it is for your security.

    Can I just say again - the Admins pay for this site. You do not.


    /edit - didn't see Thorbars response


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 10,501 Mod ✭✭✭✭ecksor


    Originally posted by The Muppet
    I am not trying to take the high moral ground over the ecksor post in fact i found it humorous but it does break the board rules and if we are to have Zero Tolerance as the mods claim well then it is only fair that you are consistant in your action so i await your action against ecksor.

    What rule did I break? What's an appropriate course of action? Why do you care?

    You still haven't answered my question, what rights are you talking about? My post was phrased in a way that attempted to be humourous, but the basic message was genuine. Learn a bit about how boards works and then offer your advice on how to do things.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 15,552 ✭✭✭✭GuanYin


    Guys don't discourage him.

    This is internet entertainment at its best.....


    <eats popcorn>
    Munch, munch, munch
    </eats popcorn>


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