Make the forums relevant

[RB_Hammer 0]

In reference to the Open Fourms thread in the Bonfire, I had an idea that may help get the forums relevant again. I know that I can not be the only one that hates having to wade through the one line responses and inside jokes to find information.
How about a limit to the number of posts a person can make in a 24 hour period? You could limit it to, say 20, or some other reasonable number. If someone wants to subscribe with a premeier membership, give them more. That would help eliminate the number of totally worthless posts, one liners and lots of other bullshit.
Some of the people that post do so simply to get a big number on their profile.
Just a thought. Nomex underwear now on, FLAME AWAY!

"I'm not lost. I don't know where I'm going, but there's no sense in being late."
Mathew Quigley

[slotperfect 7]

That idea actually has merit - it works well in other online forums. The same idea has been discussed among the Moderators and Sangiro. It will be interesting to see 1) how many of the folks you are talking about poke their head this thread and make a comment, and 2) what the overall opinion is among members about this potential feature.

Arrive Safely

John

[RB_Hammer 0]

I did consider posting this in the Bonfire, but I thought the point of the post really made it suggestion material. Certainly, many more would see it in the Bonfire, but I am not one of the 'chosen' so it probably would not get much traction there.
Another thought I had was to suggest that if users would like to engage in 'inside' talk, the Pub would be ideal for this. Not going to work if the poster is really looking for an audience though.

"I'm not lost. I don't know where I'm going, but there's no sense in being late."
Mathew Quigley

[PhreeZone 15]

I personally like the idea, it makes people think through their availble postings to make sure the content they are posting is worthwhile. It would be nice if the amount of posts were scaleable based on the community/topical forums.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Bolas 5]

Would this only apply in the Bonfire or all forums?

Would those unused posts rollover? Ie: you don't use your all or any of your 20, can you use them along with your normal 20 the next day? How many could you be allowed to cache up?

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[slotperfect 7]

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Would this only apply in the Bonfire or all forums?

Only specified forums (e.g. Bonfire & Speakers Corner) at the site owner's discretion.

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Would those unused posts rollover?

Nope. Once you reach your daily limit, no soup for you!

Arrive Safely

John

[PhreeZone 15]

My thought is to have a total counter of say 20 Community posts and then a higher number of say 30 topical posts. If there is a bleed through of people needing to get their one liner fix by posting into the topical then they could lose their posting privilages in total.

This is one way of increaseing the signal and lowering the noise for all the forums. Its downside is that its really easy to burn up your posts if you get into a speakers corner arguement but the flip side to that is if someone wants to use up their posts saying "Democrats are stupid" then that is their choice.

I am not in favor of saying Premiere members would get more posts simply because then you are allowing people to buy their way into becoming louder voices in the community. I would be more in favor of a system that would allow a higher number to be given to people that demonstrate that they are contributing to the conversations and furthering the development of the community and not just posting to have their voice heard.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[RB_Hammer 0]

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I am not in favor of saying Premiere members would get more posts simply because then you are allowing people to buy their way into becoming louder voices in the community. I would be more in favor of a system that would allow a higher number to be given to people that demonstrate that they are contributing to the conversations and furthering the development of the community and not just posting to have their voice heard.

I did think of this. My, unsupported by facts, conclusion is that those that are simply posting a lot to run up their post numbers or post a lot of one liners would probably not think it worth the money. On the other hand, paying for a premier membership to get more post per day would show a commitment to the site and demonstrate that they are willing to 'put their money where their mouth is'.
I would guess that allowing unlimited posts for free is what gets all of the noise and the noise makers would not feel it was worth the cash. Having said that, I am sure the reality would be there will be some noisy posters that have more money than brains and will pay to propagate the noise.
Again, this is all IMHO, without real facts.

"I'm not lost. I don't know where I'm going, but there's no sense in being late."
Mathew Quigley

[BGill 0]

Great idea. It would be great to reduce the noise and increase the signal. Someone mentioned a higher limit to posts in topical forums, but I feel like that might increase the noise in those forums (wingsuit forum chitchat comes to mind).

[labrys 0]

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My thought is to have a total counter of say 20 Community posts and then a higher number of say 30 topical posts.

Limiting posts sounds like it could be a good idea, but would such a high number help? Seems like even most of the really prolific postwhores around don't average 20 a day.

Owned by Remi #?

[BIGUN 1,053]

In support of a community forum posting threshold.

Aye.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[PhreeZone 15]

I through 20 out as a random number, it could be 5 or or more likely 8-10 would be better. 5 is just enough to start a thread make a reply or two and be locked out for the day.

The Topical could have a similar but much higher limit imposed. That way you can can talk about what is the better RW suit in one area and what is your favorite plane in another. An issue I see is that there would be a small percent of the posters that would see this as a chance to start threads in the wrong area and post to them to use their total limit until a mod moves their thread around.

Would you as readers support the moderators if action like this resulted in having posters banned for a time peroid?

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[RB_Hammer 0]

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An issue I see is that there would be a small percent of the posters that would see this as a chance to start threads in the wrong area and post to them to use their total limit until a mod moves their thread around.

Would you as readers support the moderators if action like this resulted in having posters banned for a time peroid?

A resounding YES from this reader.

"I'm not lost. I don't know where I'm going, but there's no sense in being late."
Mathew Quigley

[slotperfect 7]

The number needs to be carefully chosen for each forum this limit is applied to. While a lower number might help the forum overall by keeping the noise down, it would also render that forum ineffective when more relevant conversations are teeming with participants after a significant event, e.g. the four Florida hurricanes a couple of years ago. There were people in the know who were posting updates, answering questions about people's status, etc. that would have easily reached any of the numbers mentioned here very quickly.

Arrive Safely

John

[labrys 0]

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I through 20 out as a random number, it could be 5 or or more likely 8-10 would be better. 5 is just enough to start a thread make a reply or two and be locked out for the day.

That seems totally reasonable.

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The number needs to be carefully chosen for each forum this limit is applied to. While a lower number might help the forum overall by keeping the noise down, it would also render that forum ineffective when more relevant conversations are teeming with participants after a significant event, e.g. the four Florida hurricanes a couple of years ago. There were people in the know who were posting updates, answering questions about people's status, etc. that would have easily reached any of the numbers mentioned here very quickly.

That's a good point, but if the forums support the ability to limits posts "per forum", couldn't there be a forum set aside for those types of situations?

Owned by Remi #?

[Bolas 5]

I thought I'd already posted in here my view. But I guess I didn't.

Limiting posts changes a forum. Part of the Bonfire's charm is the vast variety and types of topics and posters in it. Some you might agree with, some you might relate to, others you would find disgusting. Kinda just like skydivers.
One thing to think is how this site is advertised. Is the total number of posts and users used when negotiating or is it strictly number of hits? Even so, if there were less things to read, people might not visit as often.

I would not like to see post limits per day.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[NWFlyer 2]

Looking at my numbers, I'm probably not the person you'd expect to say it, but I like the idea.

Then again, my per day numbers have gone steadily down in the past year as I've noticed the signal-to-noise ratio change. I don't foresee any issue staying within a reasonable post-per-day limit most days.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Erroll 49]

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How about a limit to the number of posts a person can make in a 24 hour period? ...

That would help eliminate the number of totally worthless posts, one liners and lots of other rubbish

Excellent idea.

Now if only someone can come up with a way of limiting the number of 'levels' a poster can quote. It is really frustrating to have to wade through 10 indentations of quotes, repeated by the responding poster, who then adds a one-liner (usually an insult of some kind).

[JohnRich 4]

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I would not like to see post limits per day.

I agree.

I've learned who the people are, over time, that post endless streams of meaningless messages. I just ignore their threads. How hard is that?

When you limit everyone, you also are limiting the good stuff that many people post.

And what some people consider "noise", other people see as their "meat and potatoes". So let each choose in their own way. Freedom - isn't that what skydiving is about?

I vote "no" to posting limits.

[skybytch 259]

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It would be nice if the amount of posts were scaleable based on the community/topical forums.

I like the idea too, but especially with that addition.

But I'd give the community forums a higher daily limit, since that's where the noise is supposed to go. Putting a lower limit on the topical forums might help reduce the current noise levels, which might make them useful again...

[bigway 4]

I also like the idea, however i believ e that it should not be applied to the skydiving forums such as gear and rigging as you can have some conversations with people asking for help that may go well over 20 posts.

Or you could have ultiple threads you are helping someone in.

There is one users threads that i have counted and he makes around 100 posts a day in the bonfire. I think if the bonfire was capped then it would not be so much dribble.

There will always be nonsense and rubbish talk in the bonfire but capping the posts would get rid of the dribble

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[CSpenceFLY 1]

From the most part all of the forum are useful and relevant except the bonfire and speakers corner. For the most part I can not see anyone looking for valuable information in either place. I guess if this change were to happen they could change the name of SC to "Can you win this arguement in 20 posts"

Sorry, I think this is an un-needed change.

[RB_Hammer 0]

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From the most part all of the forum are useful and relevant except the bonfire and speakers corner.

As you say, for the most part. Trying to get useful information, not data, from the topical forums is a matter of wading through the one-liners, inside jokes and off topic posts. My suggestion was simply that, a suggestion. I know I cannot be the only one that sees no value in the above mentioned useless drivel.
Would be nice to find a way to weed that stuff out, at least from the topical forums, don't you think?
Being part of the inside joke, or someone that likes posting one-liners, would certainly make the user posting these much more likely to want to keep them there.
Please understand that I am NOT saying you are one of those users.

"I'm not lost. I don't know where I'm going, but there's no sense in being late."
Mathew Quigley

[diablopilot 2]

I could support a post limit for the "community" forums, but then I'm not that interested in them.

As for the topical forums, I think it would be a mistake, as it could serve to stifle conversation, education, and sharing of concepts.

Or the current moderation could be sufficient. The recent post in the Bonfire seems to have had a positive effect, and signal to noise in the topicals seems to be at an acceptable level to me.


How does one qualify "signal to noise" in the Bonfire anyway? It's all "noise".

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[skybytch 259]

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As for the topical forums, I think it would be a mistake, as it could serve to stifle conversation, education, and sharing of concepts.

I disagree. What having a limit in the topical forums could do is stifle many of the multiple page arguments between two or three people saying the same thing they said in their last post over and over and over, becoming more angry with each post. It could also make people think before they post one liners in the topical forums. Both of these possible results could reduce the noise levels in the topical forums without the need for additional moderators.

When finding the information that I'm looking for requires scrolling through pages of crap, I'm gonna go elsewhere to find information. It seems that in most cases once a thread reaches over 50 posts it's become so full of noise as to be essentially useless. Imagine how useful a thread like that might be without twenty or thirty posts from a few people "arguing" with each other.

I'm just as guilty of being one of those two or three people going on and on and on as anybody else. If there were a daily limit on my posts, I know I'd think twice before getting involved in another of those "debates."