Horning in on a comment made passingly two pages ago...
I'm enjoying "Face Off" too. I'd love if it pulled high enough ratings for a season two. It's the only show I make a point of watching in real time right now. (Though I'm watching old seasons of So You Think You Can Dance.)
I think the last show I watched real time, was probably Stargate Atlantis. And even that was probably a re-run....Im so out of touch with TV. All I do is watch one of the hundreds of DVDs, or anime I own....mind you, I need to finish Battlestar Gallactica. Have all of it on DVD.
yeah, I don't mind So you think you can dance...but mostly for the costumes. XD
I really hope they do, but knowing my tastes it won't. :(
I think the talent is really amazing to watch. And I find a lot of wonderful new songs to enjoy that way. Some of my favorite songs were introduced to me via SYTYCD. xD I'm currently watching season one of the Australian version of the show. I tend to enjoy it more because there's less hyperbole on the part of the judges. And no screeching Mary Murphy. (Yet. A comment from an Aussie friend of mine suggests she may make an appearance from time to time. :cry: I actually like Mary Murphy when she's talking dance in a technical sense. When she goes all catch-phrase-y she's beyond annoying.)
But I'm a thwarted dancer at heart. Haha. xD Maybe in my next life I'll be one. ;)
Yeah. Some of these smaller-budget reality tv series live and die in one season. I hope SyFy gets enough of a ratings boost to increase their budget and do another season, because it's really wonderful to see the talent and creativity and process of it all. I wish they wouldn't have so much contrived drama, but I suppose that's just to get people talking.
The rules used to be a lot more firm, now they are not.
And, they tend to pick and choose a lot more.
There are like 7 threads (I'm exaggerating) on the same topic in the GD...I reported them suggesting they be merged a week ago when the repeate topic was made, and one of the threads only JUST got merged with another last night. (I'm not sure why it wasn't merged a week ago, and I KNOW mene doesn't take that long to file through reports, the mods are way too quick on the draw!)
And then there are threads I've made, that other people have remade with less than a few weeks since my thread was made...in the past they would have been locked and merged for any less than I think it was 60 days...but now they are not and it's irking me. I never know when I should report anything anymore.
And it makes me feel bad if I'm reporting the wrong shit, but I can't ask for updates on the rules every day, because that's how often it seems they change.
XP So people don't have to see my ranting/rambling if they don't want to.
Last edited by monstahh`; 03-09-2011 at 02:53 PM..
I think you just have a similar understanding of the greatness of the color purple XD
lol uuuh kinda like that one more like the one that's like 11 rows down from the top and the first one in the row. The red and gold one with the hammer and the fire cracker? It was almost just like that one but instead of the fire cracker you had the tomb of nightmares and the head with a explosion fire type background. >.<
lol now that I've said it though do you see what I'm saying? I think it's the way the "legs" are shaped ... it does look like it's about to pounce off and eat something o.O
That's alot of layers, I believe it though, with the way people layer there hair pieces and shoes and what not. The best would be if we could pick are own layering, like Gaia's dream avi thing but the coding for that has got to be insane o.O It's sad that after the tek-tek thing was released for gaia I had more fun make dream avi's there then actually going to the site.
Uh-guh :drool:
I was planning on replying to this, but i'm running late for school and have to get off the computer. ><;; I shall come back to it later and reply, though, okay? o 3o
Quote:
Originally Posted by Estrella
She's not a hussy.
She's a heifer. Sheesh.
Don't they teach you kids anything about insulting people cows these days!? :illgetu:
lol :lol:
This totally just made my morning. xP;;
Quote:
Originally Posted by Precarious Fool
IT'S NOT GROSS, IT'S NATURAL~~! :gonk:
Quite unnatural :talk2hand:
Princesses dont polish crowns! *scoffs*
The rules used to be a lot more firm, now they are not.
And, they tend to pick and choose a lot more.
There are like 7 threads (I'm exaggerating) on the same topic in the GD...I reported them suggesting they be merged a week ago when the repeate topic was made, and one of the threads only JUST got merged with another last night. (I'm not sure why it wasn't merged a week ago, and I KNOW mene doesn't take that long to file through reports, the mods are way too quick on the draw!)
And then there are threads I've made, that other people have remade with less than a few weeks since my thread was made...in the past they would have been locked and merged for any less than I think it was 60 days...but now they are not and it's irking me. I never know when I should report anything anymore.
And it makes me feel bad if I'm reporting the wrong shit, but I can't ask for updates on the rules every day, because that's how often it seems they change.
I'll respond, since I do actually know how the moderators work behind the scenes!
To respond to your first line - yes. We used to be more firm. Insomniac felt that it created an unwelcoming environment and asked us to find ways to make peoples' experience (especially as a new user) to be more pleasant and less intimidating. As it's not only new users who benefit by us being less "firm", I'd say that overall, Menewsha users appreciate us being able to find the grey areas rather than seeing things in only black and white, as was policy under previous owners of the site.
Yes, the staff is by and large very on-the-ball and quick. And yet you notice that a week passes without us acting on your report. You have to know there's a reason why it took the staff some time, don't you?
I'll explain a bit of the process to you, since you obviously don't know what goes on.
A report is made. If a moderator is online and not busy with something else, they read the report and essentially claim it. (Or work quick enough it doesn't need to be 'claimed'.) Often, the report is something that needs nothing more than acting upon. Move a thread. Or delete a post. Or ban a spambot. They are taken care of generally within minutes. Hours if reported at a non-peak time when moderators are asleep. Sometimes, the moderator who claimed it wants to have another eye on the situation/opinion. Is this something that needs this action or that action? Does anyone know more about the two users in question? Can an AA run a check on the user's account?
In the cases you're speaking of, where someone reports a "duplicate topic", sometimes it's not as cut and dry. Just because two people make a topic on hamburgers doesn't mean that the focus of the discussion is the same. Maybe one person made a topic on what they like to eat on their hamburgers, while the other person made a topic about peoples' favorite place to eat hamburgers. Hamburgers are undeniably both the subject of the different topics, but the aim of discussion is entirely different. Someone looking to share how their dad makes the best hamburgers, so they don't like eating at chain restaurants is probably less interested in whether people eat pickles on them unless it pertains to the subject. Someone wanting to hear different ideas of what people put on their hamburgers probably only cares if one restaurant does it different from another in a tangentially related sort of way. So both topics about hamburgers are allowed to stay.
But let's for a moment imagine that two separate people made threads on what people liked to eat on their hamburgers. Well, in general, yes, the new one would either be merged with the old or locked and the posters directed to the pre-existing one (generally depending on how new the user is). But what if the new one has a better first post that made the topic more into a discussion than a simple "post and leave" topic? Well, that needs more discussion amongst the moderators, honestly. And sometimes it does take a few days for these discussions to be fully resolved. Especially as some moderators don't log on every single day.
I don't know where you get the impression that the "rules change every day" but since you're obviously frustrated at having your reports not always acted upon immediately, I can see where you feel like we're being "inconsistent".
I'll respond, since I do actually know how the moderators work behind the scenes!
To respond to your first line - yes. We used to be more firm. Insomniac felt that it created an unwelcoming environment and asked us to find ways to make peoples' experience (especially as a new user) to be more pleasant and less intimidating. As it's not only new users who benefit by us being less "firm", I'd say that overall, Menewsha users appreciate us being able to find the grey areas rather than seeing things in only black and white, as was policy under previous owners of the site.
Yes, the staff is by and large very on-the-ball and quick. And yet you notice that a week passes without us acting on your report. You have to know there's a reason why it took the staff some time, don't you?
I'll explain a bit of the process to you, since you obviously don't know what goes on.
A report is made. If a moderator is online and not busy with something else, they read the report and essentially claim it. (Or work quick enough it doesn't need to be 'claimed'.) Often, the report is something that needs nothing more than acting upon. Move a thread. Or delete a post. Or ban a spambot. They are taken care of generally within minutes. Hours if reported at a non-peak time when moderators are asleep. Sometimes, the moderator who claimed it wants to have another eye on the situation/opinion. Is this something that needs this action or that action? Does anyone know more about the two users in question? Can an AA run a check on the user's account?
In the cases you're speaking of, where someone reports a "duplicate topic", sometimes it's not as cut and dry. Just because two people make a topic on hamburgers doesn't mean that the focus of the discussion is the same. Maybe one person made a topic on what they like to eat on their hamburgers, while the other person made a topic about peoples' favorite place to eat hamburgers. Hamburgers are undeniably both the subject of the different topics, but the aim of discussion is entirely different. Someone looking to share how their dad makes the best hamburgers, so they don't like eating at chain restaurants is probably less interested in whether people eat pickles on them unless it pertains to the subject. Someone wanting to hear different ideas of what people put on their hamburgers probably only cares if one restaurant does it different from another in a tangentially related sort of way. So both topics about hamburgers are allowed to stay.
But let's for a moment imagine that two separate people made threads on what people liked to eat on their hamburgers. Well, in general, yes, the new one would either be merged with the old or locked and the posters directed to the pre-existing one (generally depending on how new the user is). But what if the new one has a better first post that made the topic more into a discussion than a simple "post and leave" topic? Well, that needs more discussion amongst the moderators, honestly. And sometimes it does take a few days for these discussions to be fully resolved. Especially as some moderators don't log on every single day.
I don't know where you get the impression that the "rules change every day" but since you're obviously frustrated at having your reports not always acted upon immediately, I can see where you feel like we're being "inconsistent".
It doesn't have to be immediately, but, when it takes more than a week, before anything is done, it's a little annoying. Most of these threads come and go very quickly. Especially if they really are extremely similar and there are like 5 other threads on the same topic . *coughDreamscough* and two were definitely too similar, at least in my opinion, and they did end up getting merged...And I guess that's all that matters.
So, what's the "time limit" for repeat topics--you didn't address that. I was once told it was 60 days or first page for some forums (primarily the slower forums like Music, Computers, or Media), and 30ish for the GD. Is that still accurate?
Also, my frustration comes more from something else, but it more pertains to the "time limit" or where reviving a thread ends, and necroing begins.
Last edited by monstahh`; 03-09-2011 at 03:39 PM..
I pretty much explained myself pretty well, I thought. It's nearly 10am and I haven't slept yet, so maybe I'll come back later and read and go, "well, you know, perhaps I could have explained things better here".
But essentially, don't get caught up too much in time. I repeat the following points:
Quote:
Insomniac felt that it created an unwelcoming environment and asked us to find ways to make peoples' experience (especially as a new user) to be more pleasant and less intimidating.
Quote:
But what if the new one has a better first post that made the topic more into a discussion than a simple "post and leave" topic? Well, that needs more discussion amongst the moderators, honestly.
Quote:
And sometimes it does take a few days for these discussions to be fully resolved. Especially as some moderators don't log on every single day.
I wouldn't run around going, "Well, I think that this topic that was posted today on frogs has a horrible introduction post. I'll make a new one with a better introduction and I'll have the new official topic on frogs." A lot of factors go into it (including when the original poster was last active, when the last posts to the original thread were, and if the moderators feel the topic has a different spin on it in the first place), which is why it can take some time for us to discuss the issue.
>___>;; A forum completely dominated by one user is REALLY intimidating.
I don't know of anyone who specifically targets new users, I certainly don't. :/
If someone's already made a topic about something, I wouldn't waste the time making another one, even if I thought I could do it better, it's when someone's already made a topic, that looked like it had lots of thought into it, and then someone else posts a new version of it, that looks like it took them 5 seconds that it irks me.
I don't think there's anything wrong with being frustrated with stuff sometimes, however perhaps inconsistent was the wrong word, but I can't think of a better one, so it will stay.
Edit: After considerable thought, inconsistent is the word I'm going to stick with because everything on menewsha is SO subjective. It's not necessarily a bad thing, and CK I believe you missed the start of this discussion (why I wouldn't want to be a moderator on gaia or menewsha), it's just not something I agree with or function well under. I find things that are SO subjective, when they should be cut and dry (like rules) frustrating and annoying. Well, I think that rules shouldn't be so subjective, at least.
Last edited by monstahh`; 03-09-2011 at 08:53 PM..
Thank you for the insight, CK. :P I understands how that goes. Often I had to consult a higher level than I, if I was mistaken or confused on where a topic should be moved to (that was a forum assistants job, to move misplaced threads from the forums they're assigned to). Sometimes, it took a long time to get feedback simply because the moderator I went to for the most part, was busy with school or on a different time frame.
And you definitely want to get things right the first time. A mistake can confuse users and is not a good thing. Especially a site as large as Gaia :sweat: I know I made a mistake, by mis-clicking where the topic should go, and it caused a lot of confusion and a lecture from a moderator, to me. So it's good to take the time to get feedback if you're confused.
But I do agree that if the reports aren't handled (which I do understand! because of getting feedback/etc) it confuses me for a little while. I see nothing has been done and I think "Did I report that wrong? Was I mistaken?" and then I get a little nervous about reporting again.
I'm still a little nervous about reporting, because I've been told that I should pay more attention to my reports. That I often report simple new user mistakes that really don't need any moderator action. I don't want to receive an infraction for over reporting. :sweat: I just thought that it should be reported, or that something was wrong with it.
CK said pretty much everything I would have said on the moderating/reports front. I will say though, that for the most part, the rules have been -greatly- relaxed from what they were. So nowadays, if you don't see a thread you reported merged, locked or taken care of within a week, your report is probably not something we're going to act on. :yes: While yes, sometimes it does take over a week of discussion for some things, for the most part, decisions are made within a few days.
So if you see a thread you reported still around/unacted on/etc., you should take that to mean we didn't feel it was necessary to do anything with that thread despite a report. :yes:
And now I'm going to make a double post (OMG BANHAMMER!) to announce our winner for this week.
and 
