Years of Moderation

@Ghast Of course there's something that can be done, it would be insane if there wasn't. Re-format the pardon system so every pardon gets the proper attention, because from the replies and responses an average pardon gets right now you can see that the system being used is broken. However I'm not talking about the pardon system, I was just using that as an example. It's crazy that for every example someone gives of staff misconduct it automatically gets isolated into one incident and then an excuse is made up. Darkest Dream LITERALLY just said he got an infraction for stating his opinion about a staff member via PM, and there's constantly threads coming up of people complaining about the choices staff make. There's a lot of staff that are doing great, but in my opinion some of the moderators picked here I wouldn't in 100 years choose them to moderate a forum.

The community is what makes a forum active, but the people in charge decide what way it heads. If the people in charge aren't responsible, make poor judgment, can't accept being wrong, have an inability to listen, ect. the list goes on, then obviously forum activity is going to be affected in one way or another. I never said it's the main source of decreased activity but it definitely contributes to it.


@BLUESKITTLE - Good find. Just because someone is a staff member doesn't mean they don't make mistakes. Staff not having to explain their decisions and being allowed to just make choices is just asking for poor decisions and abuse of power.


Another example of irresponsibility by the staff - http://www.sythe.org/account-recovery/index2.html - there's thread from two months ago that have never received a response. You can say good bye to those people. Also this - http://www.sythe.org/account-recovery/1777696-dil-srb-recovery.html - this guy wants to be active in the community, yet he's had to wait a month and he still isn't unbanned. Most of the requests here could be people that want to actively contribute to the community. There has to be someone that can deal with these because there's a lot of moderators, but this is just another example that the way the forum is being moderated plays a destructive role in the increase in activity.

Just an explanation on the Dil situation no email is being sent by the servers or something along those lines and it's nothing lower admins or global moderators can do to improve the situation unfortunately. There was some confusion regarding pardon procedure that has been cleared up. Any other suggestions that can actually be thought over by staff while were at it? Note: "Stop sucking" isn't exactly a suggestion we can use at the moment.

 

[TradeFortress]

Just an explanation on the Dil situation no email is being sent by the servers or something along those lines and it's nothing lower admins or global moderators can do to improve the situation unfortunately. There was some confusion regarding pardon procedure that has been cleared up. Any other suggestions that can actually be thought over by staff while were at it? Note: "Stop sucking" isn't exactly a suggestion we can use at the moment.

There's probably four or five suggestions you can think over in this thread right now from multiple people, I don't think staff as a group will be able handle a lot more than that at the moment or else nothing will get done.

Another issue with the site seems to be that new users will try to build post count in order to appear more trustworthy. The by-product of this is that they post a ton of really shitty content which contributes nothing. Perhaps moving away from post count and instead towards a Reddit-style karma or "likes" counter, where users can like another user's post anonymously if it's good. This may encourage new users to actually post good content.

Yeah I agree with this. It doesn't help that users are bumping their threads up every 8 hours when their thread is still on the first page. Seems like something else that needs to be dealt with.

 

Move on slowly from runescape to esports games such as League of Legends, CS:GO, Starcraft 2 and DotA 2, have people donate for tournament prizes in return for advertisement on stream, set up livestreams, have people register to participate, job done. You can also post the League of Legends tournaments on their website, a lot of people check and we can get a few to register from there as well and that way I can also invite people from Kosovo to join (we have a group with 1k people and I'm an admin on it). Riot also offers prizes in RP and sythe could offer a bit extra or nothing at all, Riot prizes are good enough on their own to bring people over. I made this complex sorry if you have any questions reply.

I mean, yes those are big games, but there are plenty of forums which are already incredibly popular. I fail to see how it makes sense to transition Sythe over to these markets. They are bigger markets, but there is incredible competition, and little to differentiate Sythe from the rest.

If Sythe wanted to pursue a forum dedicated to these games, it would make a lot more sense to create a new forum from scratch. Not abandon its current userbase.

 

While I do agree with a transition from post count to a different but relative system, I highly doubt Sythe would change the fundamentals of this site.

 

[Dave]

While I do agree with a transition from post count to a different but relative system, I highly doubt Sythe would change the fundamentals of this site.

Unfortunate but I have to agree with this post. I think a lot of the suggestions that come out from the community are incredible and staff are more than willing to give each suggestion a try, but what the community fails to remember often times is that staff members (general admins such as Roary, FireZ, and sometimes even Govind included) don't have the power to make some of the changes that even we deem necessary.

Not saying that the system isn't flawed, but felt it was just worth noting

 

Unfortunate but I have to agree with this post. I think a lot of the suggestions that come out from the community are incredible and staff are more than willing to give each suggestion a try, but what the community fails to remember often times is that staff members (general admins such as Roary, FireZ, and sometimes even Govind included) don't have the power to make some of the changes that even we deem necessary.

Not saying that the system isn't flawed, but felt it was just worth noting

I never understood the transition from global to administrator. Even if you have technical knowledge that can benefit the site, it's still uncertain that you would be able to utilize that knowledge. Richard has every right to keep portions of the site under quarantine for him and Matthew only to access, but in doing so you leave grief for other administrators. It completely undermines the position. There should be a rank above global that isn't an admin that has the current perms of an admin like Roary or FireZ.

 

[Add My Msn]

I mean, yes those are big games, but there are plenty of forums which are already incredibly popular. I fail to see how it makes sense to transition Sythe over to these markets. They are bigger markets, but there is incredible competition, and little to differentiate Sythe from the rest.

If Sythe wanted to pursue a forum dedicated to these games, it would make a lot more sense to create a new forum from scratch. Not abandon its current userbase.

All of runescape players either quit or join one of these games, I think its a 50/50 rate on that. We can keep half of them here, + the runescape people + bring new because of runescape/esports games. I would be happy to host a league of legends tournament here on sythe and bring people over to join, doesn't even have to be sponsored by sythe members since Riot already gives about 50EUR in prizes, just gotta make sure they don't go to the home page and see the market, for which case I'll just make a level 1 account and name it as the tournament host and they'll ban that. Of course, it's just a suggestion and there are probably better ways to improve activity on sythe out there, that's just what I can offer for the site.

 

All of runescape players either quit or join one of these games, I think its a 50/50 rate on that. We can keep half of them here, + the runescape people + bring new because of runescape/esports games. I would be happy to host a league of legends tournament here on sythe and bring people over to join, doesn't even have to be sponsored by sythe members since Riot already gives about 50EUR in prizes, just gotta make sure they don't go to the home page and see the market, for which case I'll just make a level 1 account and name it as the tournament host and they'll ban that. Of course, it's just a suggestion and there are probably better ways to improve activity on sythe out there, that's just what I can offer for the site.

I think there is some value in it, but it should not require the site to be shifted completely towards LoL to be successful. There is already a decent LoL community on Sythe, and if you ran a tournament it would certainly grow. There is no reason that the site can not be popular for multiple games.

 

[Add My Msn]

I think there is some value in it, but it should not require the site to be shifted completely towards LoL to be successful. There is already a decent LoL community on Sythe, and if you ran a tournament it would certainly grow. There is no reason that the site can not be popular for multiple games.

I said head towards esports, not league. I said I can help with league, but I think esports should start replacing runescape on Sythe since the game is dying.

Some esport games: League of Legends, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, DotA 2, Starcraft 2, Hearthstone etc.

Maybe also put WoW somewhere up there seeing that they got a huge number of players back but that probably won't last for long, just the hype of the new update. Anyways, what I meant by posting here is that I can help with league and that we should start moving towards esports.

 

[Donald Duck]

I mean, yes those are big games, but there are plenty of forums which are already incredibly popular. I fail to see how it makes sense to transition Sythe over to these markets. They are bigger markets, but there is incredible competition, and little to differentiate Sythe from the rest.

If Sythe wanted to pursue a forum dedicated to these games, it would make a lot more sense to create a new forum from scratch. Not abandon its current userbase.

League Of Legands has been a popular addition to this site since it has been introduced, even though there are other sites.

 

[S]

People suggesting a Riot sponsored tourny/streamers/LoL stuff etc, it's not going to happen. Why? We're a black market forum, and it's against Riots TOS to sell accounts, boost, etc, and we thrive off that. Also, no streamer will want to associate themselves with a black market forum, in fear of Riots banhammer.

 

[Add My Msn]

People suggesting a Riot sponsored tourny/streamers/LoL stuff etc, it's not going to happen. Why? We're a black market forum, and it's against Riots TOS to sell accounts, boost, etc, and we thrive off that. Also, no streamer will want to associate themselves with a black market forum, in fear of Riots banhammer.

I suggested that we make a level 1 account as the tournament host and hope that riot doesnt look at the home page. Worst that can happen is for that level 1 account to be banned, no?

Edit: Maybe if they get the usernames of the registered members they can just ban them all, this doesn't sound like a good idea now lol, even though they only ask the winner's names after confirming the tournament, there's still the risk that they will check the home page after the winner's names are sent.

 

[SuF]

I never understood the transition from global to administrator. Even if you have technical knowledge that can benefit the site, it's still uncertain that you would be able to utilize that knowledge. Richard has every right to keep portions of the site under quarantine for him and Matthew only to access, but in doing so you leave grief for other administrators. It completely undermines the position. There should be a rank above global that isn't an admin that has the current perms of an admin like Roary or FireZ.

It lost a lot of meaning when the numbers increased. Finn used to basically run the site and the staff team in a kind of dictatorial / manipulative / compromising way which was looked down on even though it did get a lot done. Less power distributed over more people makes them less effective but also prevents one person from dominating everything, which could be a benefit but also a detriment.

 

[TradeFortress]

@Entrr make a rule so people can't bump their thread when it's still on the first page. There's no reason to besides spamming for post count. Check the gift card market out and any other semi-active markets and you'll see 90% of the active threads being bumped when they're 5 or 6 spots from being the first post.


Edit: There's a difference between replying to someone on your thread or posting on it if it's towards the bottom and there hasn't been a reply for a couple days, but I'm seeing people bump their thread all the time with one or two words when there's no reason to and it's obvious to me people are just spamming to increase post count. I don't think there's any way to enforce the rule but it can at least be infractable if it's obvious they're doing it.

 

[Tyler]

@Entrr make a rule so people can't bump their thread when it's still on the first page. There's no reason to besides spamming for post count. Check the gift card market out and any other semi-active markets and you'll see 90% of the active threads being bumped when they're 5 or 6 spots from being the first post.


Edit: There's a difference between replying to someone on your thread or posting on it if it's towards the bottom and there hasn't been a reply for a couple days, but I'm seeing people bump their thread all the time with one or two words when there's no reason to and it's obvious to me people are just spamming to increase post count. I don't think there's any way to enforce the rule but it can at least be infractable if it's obvious they're doing it.

But you cant moderate that because how do we know it was on the second page when he bumped? :\

 

[TradeFortress]

But you cant moderate that because how do we know it was on the second page when he bumped? :\

Yeah that's why I said it couldn't really be moderated but we could at least make it infractable when it's obvious they're doing it, it would discourage people from spamming for post count. For example in a few sub forums where a thread will stay on the first page for almost a whole week, and users are bumping there thread up every eight hours.

 

[SuF]

Oh lord please don't talk about the bumping rule. It's been the source of the most debates and discussions and bitch fests for years.

 

[FireZ]

Bump rule wont be changed or even discussed. It is set in stone, hopefully forever.

 

[rebirth2316]

Just brainstorming...

Any newly released game with a medium amount of popularity would have people interested in the black market of that game. Sythe does advertise itself as the Craig's list of virtual goods. I'm sure the board actually wants a diverse gaming community to visit the site. This explains the multiple gaming forum sections.

Simply because Sythe has primarily been linked to Runescape does not conclude that it has to die with the game. If you want to keep your community alive, welcome the diversity. Advertise gold sales via Sythe in other games. I'm not sure about the other black market sites solely related to WoW or LoL, but Sythe could easily become a centerpiece with it's history, activity, and dedicated community.

I see the decline as related to a lack of effort to expand and advertise to the gaming community as a whole, instead of being 90% dedicated to Runescape, as is reinforced by the previous posts throughout this thread.

 

[SuF]

Bump rule wont be changed or even discussed. It is set in stone, hopefully forever.

+9000