What would you like to see less or more of around here?

[Drathnoxis]

I would like to see the weekly quizzes back they where a lot of fun. I also think an editorial theme for some weeks would be a good idea. You wouldn't need it every week but Experienced Points, Extra Punctuation, Good Old Games and Garwulfs Corner having different takes on the same topic once a month a so would interesting. In fact I would like to see more columns like Experienced Points and Garwulfs Corner.

This would be pretty interesting. It's kind of like that one short-lived feature where Yahtzee, Extra Credits, Jim Sterling, and Movie Bob would all have a discussion on some aspect of gaming. I thought that was interesting and was pretty disappointed that it was cancelled so quickly.

OT: I'd like it if people couldn't actually be banned for low content posts, get suspensions sure, but no perma-bans. It's like giving somebody a lifetime jail sentence for littering. I've seen way, way too many good users banned because they failed to put the required amount of sentences in one of their 10 000+ posts, or thought a funny image was actually worth a thousand words.

Also a way to 'like' posts would be pretty good. I wouldn't want to rank posts by likes or keep statistics on it or anything. It's just, sometimes you spend a lot of time writing a post, organizing your thoughts, maybe trying to fit a couple jokes in, and unless somebody quotes you (to tell you how wrong and dumb you are) it just kind of feels like nobody has actually read your post. It'd just be nice to have a way to give people recognition when you have nothing to add to the discussion (especially since quoting them to say "I agree" or "that was funny" is low content and will get you banned.)

Oh, and I'd like it if banned users didn't have their avatar swapped with the permaban avatar:

It was kind of funny at first, but it makes reading old threads such a pain when half the users have that avatar and I need to open each of their profiles to see if I recognize their real avatar.

 

[Barbas]

I kind of agree with this, but I don't think it should be apparent (to anyone) who has liked the post, as that promotes division and cliques. But sometimes someone has posted something that I've found particularly insightful or clever (or funny) and I've wanted to make a nod in that direction without going down the whole quote-you-to-say-I-agree-now-add-something-of-my-own route.

At the moment the CoC is being reworked[footnote]Unfucked.[/footnote], so you hopefully won't have to worry about tripping over the Low Content rule as much, especially because the acknowledgement of someone else's point isn't really derailing anything. The 'Like' button was suggested a few times in the past, but it's always been vetoed, IIRC due to the feeling that it'd negatively affect the forums by enticing people to post for the wrong reasons. Humans need some form of validation, acknowledgement and like-minded company, and it's nice (most of the time) to be quoted or responded to, but I think a small change like that would have the unintended effect of fuelling things like egos and rivalries. Those stifle growth.

Less cliquey shit. Everyone seems to be on teams of some kind, and most discussions seem to evolve into discussions of the moral fiber of each team. It's like watching a game of Capture The Nothing.

It makes parts of this site seem like a playground sometimes, but as it's being engaged in by adults, I can sometimes do little other than stare on in disbelief.

More moderator involvement in the community, casually.

This is difficult. I don't remember whether I originally promised myself or someone else (or just imagined it) that I wouldn't let moderation change my opinion of anyone, but in retrospect that was a silly thing to given that I had very little idea what my duties would entail. The first few days involved being treated to condescending lectures and attempts to garner my sympathy against one part of the community or another. It turns out that some of the people you used to respect will do surprising things if they think they can get away with it, and just taking into account the change it has on your perceptions, I think I can understand why so many have been burned out, become disillusioned by constant scrutiny and the feeling that they have to take extra care how they phrase things that might be taken as gospel or as the collective view of the whole mod team. It's sad to be witness to an atmosphere of dysfunction on a daily basis, of underhanded practices between people who increasingly look the same, and realise that the other mods you interact with have been doing the same for years. And I still think that this is a good website with a good community, as both those things go. It's a little alienating not to be able to tell people things that you think might fix something, because you know why it's necessary for some things to be kept unclear or ambiguous, so you have to accept that and move on. It is difficult to express your frustrations to anyone besides the mods or staff, because beyond them it's not clear who you can really trust to be discreet.

Basically, there are various unseen frustrations experienced by the mods that explain why they don't post as much in the forums as many would probably like. If you're not careful and you don't know your limits, it can make you rather cynical and can sometimes feel like it's you vs the posters. I care more about this site than is probably understandable, so I wish for that not to happen more than almost anything.

I know that other people who care about this place and have been confirmed residents for longer than me are disaffected or depressed by sudden changes in management or schisms in the community, but a wise man once said you should be the change you want to see. Find the reason to be happy, end on a good note. All that is required to foster a sense of community is to display some amount of decency and humanity, and realize that ultimately, you can't really expect someone else to take care of the whole thing.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

Also a way to 'like' posts would be pretty good. I wouldn't want to rank posts by likes or keep statistics on it or anything. It's just, sometimes you spend a lot of time writing a post, organizing your thoughts, maybe trying to fit a couple jokes in, and unless somebody quotes you (to tell you how wrong and dumb you are) it just kind of feels like nobody has actually read your post. It'd just be nice to have a way to give people recognition when you have nothing to add to the discussion (especially since quoting them to say "I agree" or "that was funny" is low content and will get you banned.)

I find one of the better things about this site in comparison to reddit or YouTube is the absence of any like system. It tends to just promote certain ideas. Apart from the first or last posters inevitably getting the most attention (which is genuinely difficult to cancel out) it's all pretty equal here.

OT: More content that isn't articles. You can get across a lot of information in a shorter time span with videos than you can with articles. I'd also like some people like MovieBob or Sterling around here. While they did cause problems, they were interesting and generated pageviews. Putting up viewing galleries that compose of 8 images and a few lines of text arbitrarily separated by page counters so the viewer is forced to see more ads is not by any means a replacement of their content.

I find myself unable to care about the content the Escapist generates. Even Zero Punctuation doesn't really get to me anymore. Given the traffic figures, I'm not alone in this. I'm here for the forums and even then I barely post in them.

I'd like the passive-aggressiveness to stop, though that's a community thing rather than a content thing. Maybe a stricter or alternative enforcement of "Don't be a jerk!" would fix that.

 

[Barbas]

(Snip).

I have to second the part about articles and videos that had opinions. So long as they were well-researched and backed up, I don't see why they shouldn't have a place on the site. I was a bit disappointed when MovieBob f-ed it, because his stuff was interesting, entertaining and sparked discussion. It's true that I'd personally like to see future contributors who talk about something other than gender politics, but like I said, MovieBob's stuff was something I watched regularly and I certainly didn't agree with a fair few of his sentiments. You can make almost anything engaging if you are well-spoken, you care about what you're talking about and you can present new knowledge and/or a fresh angle.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

(Snip).

I have to second the part about articles and videos that had opinions. So long as they were well-researched and backed up, I don't see why they shouldn't have a place on the site. I was a bit disappointed when MovieBob f-ed it, because his stuff was interesting, entertaining and sparked discussion. It's true that I'd personally like to see future contributors who talk about something other than gender politics, but like I said, MovieBob's stuff was something I watched regularly and I certainly didn't agree with a fair few of his sentiments. You can make almost anything engaging if you are well-spoken, you care about what you're talking about and you can present new knowledge and/or a fresh angle.

Speaking of which, here's MovieBob contributing to a video done by fellow Escapist escapees Extra Creditz

Spoiler

watch?v=JnP2boSC-FM

EDIT: Dammit! What am I doing wrong with the video link?

 

[Barbas]

Speaking of which, here's MovieBob contributing to a video done by fellow Escapist escapees Extra Creditz

Spoiler

EDIT: Dammit! What am I doing wrong with the video link?

Fixed it; you closed the square brackets early and also included more code than the stuff past the "=" symbol. Aerosteam made a stickied thread of posting commands at the head of the forum.

 

[runic knight]

Going to echo this one.

I'd like the flagging system to require that you enter an explanation for why you're flagging something. It would allow for quicker moderation, especially on things where the reason might not be immediately apparent (Necro). Also would allow lower priority/higher dismissal rate on "spite flagging", which is more likely not to have a good explanation attached.

Just seems a good add to functionality that probably should have been there already.

Beyond that, and related to moderation, rules and interaction between users and mods/staff, I'd like to see some uniformity between what the site wants and expects out of its users and what the rules say and are enforced accomplishes. It seems what the site says it wants and what the site actively encourages by way of rules and enforcement are at odd with each other and I'd like to see that figured out to make less grinding of gears when the two clash.

I'd like to see more honest discussion and less blatantly disingenuousness.

I'd like to see less posts that exist solely for sniping and negative commentary of other posters.

I'd like to see threads no longer be intentionally derailed and the people doing it to be disciplined for repeatedly doing so.

Less passive aggression in general and a lot less tolerance for it being used to intentionally disrupt and antagonize other posters.

I'd like a place like a dedicated thread or usergroup where users can go to discuss problems or concerns about the site or rules or moderation that is both not going to get them strikes for mentioning them and is actually looked at and participated in by staff and mods.

General improvements on transparency and accountability would be nice too.

I'd also suggest some sort of "like" system though I suspect given the issue the site has currently with banjumpers, I fear it would quickly be abused if there was any actual benefit to the likes.

In terms of content, I'll echo this one.

I want to see more:
1) More Lego articles

Legos deserve more attention for being awesome, and not just because of relation to star wars.

Some more quizzes would be nice too.

This might be just me, but as a tabletop and pen-and-paper RPG fan, one thing that always is enjoyable is hearing stories about the greatest bizarre accomplishments or total screw-ups that have happened with parties. Stories like that are always entertaining to me, so I wonder if there might be a way to have a sort of story-time article highlighting some of the funnier ones every so often.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Yeah not too complicated, just more gaming discussion really. And less about sexism/feminism and all that shit.

The exceptions of course is calling out on really shitty stuff. That needs to be done as much as possible, wherever possible, let the world know what shouldn't be stood for. Undue harassment, shoddy industry practices, severe double standard politics, that's fine and where discussion balances 2 sides without people going at each other's throats is great.

But I get the feeling that this line is so damn blurred these days, people are getting called out for all kinds of ridiculous things where there are much more serious problems at stake. Seems people are so confused about what they should be offended about, but they know they should somehow be very offended and go nuts. Lots of contradiction. Please guys, you actually *can* discuss something without having to pick a side, or even being on a side and just throw up points to think over without resorting to abuse.

But yeah. More talk about games please. Graphics, mechanics, characters, strategies, opinions and feedback, just general gaming discussion is great. I like reading threads about a game, even if I haven't played it.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I'd like to see more Grey Carter. See if he wants to do a column or something. He's like a nerdy Jeremy Clarkson.

Maybe a way to get the community more involved. We used to do like these community spotlights, I'd like to see more of those.

Oh and before I forget I WANT MORE COVERAGE OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING LIKE WWE, the site has bits on Cosplay and random science stuff, I think burly men fighting in tights would fit quite well into our little corner of nerdom, and there is PLENTY of content for it. Backstage gossip, editorials. Hell, I have a bachelors in English. I'll do it, I'll work cheap.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

(Snip).

I have to second the part about articles and videos that had opinions. So long as they were well-researched and backed up, I don't see why they shouldn't have a place on the site. I was a bit disappointed when MovieBob f-ed it, because his stuff was interesting, entertaining and sparked discussion. It's true that I'd personally like to see future contributors who talk about something other than gender politics, but like I said, MovieBob's stuff was something I watched regularly and I certainly didn't agree with a fair few of his sentiments. You can make almost anything engaging if you are well-spoken, you care about what you're talking about and you can present new knowledge and/or a fresh angle.

Yeah but they have to have the proper mindset if they hire someone do that sort of thing. MovieJerk got old real real fast with his whole "We nerds who were bullied for years, have finally come out into popularity, only to find WE ARE THE REAL MONSTERS WHO HATE WOMEN!"

Basically, I don't want them hiring anyone that calls us forum members "Sub-Human Scum"

 

[The Lunatic]

I'd just be happy with the forums featuring less SJWs passive aggressive berating people for "Wrongthink".

Generally, the forums would be improved if we actually did something about the members who've been 1-2 warnings away from getting banned for like a year and yet have never changed their attitude.

 

[Drathnoxis]

I'd just be happy with the forums featuring less SJWs passive aggressive berating people for "Wrongthink".

Generally, the forums would be improved if we actually did something about the members who've been 1-2 warnings away from getting banned for like a year and yet have never changed their attitude.

And what would that be? Ban them for not breaking the rules? Theoretically, even if they are deliberately planning it to make an infraction worthy post whenever they could without getting banned, that's only 1 every 6 months! If they aren't getting infractions for breaking the rules, that's a different matter and doesn't really have anything to do with how close to being banned they are. You can be a pretty unpleasant person to deal with and not have any warnings at all if you play your cards right.

OT: I'd like to see more in depth discussion about shows/games I like from 10+ years ago.

 

[SolidState]

You can be a pretty unpleasant person to deal with and not have any warnings at all if you play your cards right.

That right there is the reason why so many people have become disillusioned with this forum's moderation. What you've described here should not be allowed to happen, in an ideal situation.

 

[s0denone]

I'd just be happy with the forums featuring less SJWs passive aggressive berating people for "Wrongthink".

I think the more interesting side of that coin is the fact that these same people seem to think that because you do not agree with them, you must necessarily be some kind of right-wing conservative nut-job who likely likes guns and is probably a racist, sexist and otherwise oppressive.

The crux is that they deluded themselves into thinking even the large-silent majority is on their side and when one otherwise-silent partner speaks up in opposition, he is immediately disowned and ostrasized.

Personally I actually think reading some of the responses are extremely interesting, though some users are absolutely more engaging than others.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

I'd like to see more use of the word 'fewer' and fewer uses of the word 'less'.

Also, one poster earlier in this thread asked for more video content over written content - I'm the other way, I prefer written content and will rarely watch videos. Can't please everyone!

I am the same way, I never watch Videos and prefer to read. Of course they could make a video that accompanies a written article like most news sites do these days. THAT pleases everyone ( but is also double work). I will not watch videos at all.. Unless it is of kittens of course.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

So, I really can't think of anything constructive I'd like to see more or less of, but maybe get some of the Escapists staff and/or community members to play some tabletop or card games, record it and show it off on the forums, perhaps. Give some games, other than video games, some other people might not have heard of some recognition, something like that. Might be neat if it can be accomplished.

Just some more cheerfulness and, perhaps some wackiness around the forums, in general. However, I'm going to make a thread here very soon to address that...

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

I'd just be happy with the forums featuring less SJWs passive aggressive berating people for "Wrongthink".

Generally, the forums would be improved if we actually did something about the members who've been 1-2 warnings away from getting banned for like a year and yet have never changed their attitude.

I would rather just see racist, sexist or bigoted statements moderated so that people wouldn't have to say something. If you allow people to just say racist, sexist or bigoted statements all over your forums, your forums ARE racists, sexist and bigoted and unwelcoming to those who those statements are bigoted against. When you allow such things to run rampant, you are telling people they are not welcome here. On these forums, I have been told rape victims should not talk about rape, that women should allow themselves to be raped and not worry about it, that passed out women are okay to have sex with because they don't know it is happening, women are manipulative whores, that Native Americans should have assimilated a long time ago, that it doesn't matter if they are poisoning and killing Native Americans because they really do not matter, That Blacks are either college graduates or drug dealers, Blacks are criminals, among many other things that never were moderated.

Often the problem with "wrongthink" is that when a site gets filled up with it, it makes that site represent it. It makes the " wrongthink" welcome and fosters an environment hostile to those they " wrongthink" about. Something is seriously not right if someone can say something ignorant about "anime fans " and have it moderated, but then they can say ignorant things about women and blacks all day long and it is not.
(and no I do not mean they should be ban happy, they have banned quite a few members over the years that should not have been, I can count the number of posts I have reported in the history of ever on my fingers..) I do not think they should ban people for it, instead they should let them know that is not how you talk to people or about people .. You should not , however, expect those having ignorant things said about them to just sit there and take being insulted without speaking up and correct the spread of ignorance about them.