yeah i mean that's totally fair if they are concerned about actual pageviews and such. like i said, if it's not viable, i think staff should perhaps look at what's appealing about discord to people then and try to implement it in some form on site instead.

that brings to me to why i feel that forums are stressful for real time convo, in that i already don't know whether i've gotten too "off topic" from the op of this board lol ; ᴥ ; i think if people have to constantly check themselves on whether they're off topic or not, when conversation naturally often shifts, it is kind of anxiety inducing if one is already anxious about socializing publicly to begin with.

and oh same. i actually hide the shoutbox 99% of the time because it stresses me out, however if it were revamped or perhaps expanded and were a bit less chaotic, i would likely consider using it.

Yeahhh, I def agree with the part about constantly having to check yourself to stay on topic too. :'| We did go kinda off-topic from discussing forums and forum points, but I still think a shoutbox revamp at the very least is a good idea for encouraging more on-site user interaction, and it warrants a suggestion topic and a bigger discussion over in the suggestion forum.

Like... If the shoutbox was revamped to be more user-friendly, more monitored, it was more easy to report skeevy shit & it was available even when the site was down? That'd be pretty dang sweet.

Are we sure the change that was made a year was actually pushed/implemented on site a year ago?

Maybe my memory is way off, but I could have sworn I got forum points from posts in a forum group within the last six months, let alone the last year.

Actual opinion on the board though.. I'm a bit disappointed in the change and don't agree with it, but I also don't think all forum groups exist solely for the purpose of getting forum points. It's a nice perk, but generally not the entire point, so I feel like they'll be fine/won't die.

If the main issue was small, private groups being farmed by brand-new accounts, aren't there ways around that besides disabling for the whole system? For example, the suggestions made throughout that forum groups have to have a minimum number of members before being eligible for potential forum points. Or a minimum account age for forum group posts to be eligible for forum point potential (note that I'm only suggesting this apply to forum groups, not main forums).

It just feels like we can be more targeted/focused in stopping the actual issue rather than a blanket fix that punishes the many for the actions of a few?

I was thinking the same thing. I'm almost positive that I have gotten them recently.

me three...but I can't be certain because I've always posted in both private forum groups and the main Subeta forums.

I have to agree with everyone else that cutting out forum games and "What Did You Get From _" topics would destroy the ability for a lot of people to receive FP. I'm one of those people, actually. I have EXTREME social anxiety and don't like to contribute to most "chatty" topics so I almost exclusively post on forum games in hopes of FP because nobody really reads them and it's not a conversation.

Maybe it would be better to implement something like, if you're double posting in a private forum, there's a 1 hour mandatory wait time?

I'm also pretty certain that I've received FP within the past year from private forums.

The section created by your forum group (named in the bottom of the Forums page) is affected and not giving forum points.

If your forum group has threads in sections accessible to the public (for example Chit-Chat, Forum Groups, General Chat), they should be still giving forum points. (If you don't understand, don't worry neither do I)

I'm wondering: Can the API run in the private forum group section? Or is getting FPs in private forum groups a thing of the past?

My forum group has one thread in the main forums, under the forum group to advertise it. None of us post there except me when someone new comes along. Its not a place we have conversations.

Some interesting points raised when I was away for the UK night.

1. Should Subeta move with the times and have a new communication system? I've never been anywhere near a Discord group, I don't use the Shoutbox and I never use any sort of real time group chat. I have arthritis in the neck so can't keep up with anything like that. With a forum post I can take my time and even lie down for a rest in the middle of writing it if I need to.

I think it's the forum rules that need to move with the times.

2. Are we going off topic? I think the discussion in this thread has followed a logical progression. It covers why forum points were introduced, the reason for game threads, Keith's idea about some kind of API that can judge the worth of a post and all the reasons why the forums are dead even with the lure of getting forum points. Should there be a different communication system? I think that's a valid point to raise when the forum issue is really about players communicating with each other.

3. More thoughts about going off topic and the Necro rule. In a discussion like this we'd definitely be going off topic if we ended up talking about Doctor Who, the weather or anything completely unrelated. In Social Scene threads it shouldn't matter because conversations can progress from one thing to another - Doctor Who fans could start by discussing Doctor Who then move on to other sci-fi shows they like etc etc.

The Necro rule is valid when it comes to threads about site issues but why have it in Social Scene? Does it matter if a new user adds something to a thread which hasn't had a post for over three months? Their contribution could inspire others to add more so the topic gets going again.

Back to my own topic about The HU. Does it really matter if a new user who likes this band doesn't turn up for another six months or more? What am I supposed to do if the topic passes its use by date? Start another one even though the original will still be on Page 1 at the rate the forums move? (What I'll actually do if nobody posts for 3 months- I'll add a note on the lines of "This topic is now out of date and will be locked if anyone posts in it. New users who are fans of The HU can send me an sMail if they want to chat." This will save a new user from thinking they've found something they can post in only to have a mod swoop in and tell them off. )

I believe the thing Keith is saying that was pushed live a year ago was switching "Forum Points" which were just non-transferable points into the "Forum Tickets" which when made transferable became the "Raffle Tickets" which people still call "Forum Points" because of the event text still saying "You got a forum point while making a post! Check out the shop here!"

As for the topic at hand, being that I have severe social anxiety I'm pretty much never going to use the main forums (outside of "Claim!" event forum threads which are temporary) and stick to just one ping group thread and one group forum, both of which I still don't post that much in. I feel like the abuse/cheating of some is resulting in the punishment of everyone. Yeah, there's the old saying a few rotten apples will spoil the bunch, but I don't think that should apply to everything, especially not for some "special" site currency that isn't even gotten with real cash.

If people were exploiting something for CSC, or if people somehow managed to exploit a glitch or something to create multiple tickets, that'd definitely be something to shut down, but turning off an entire accessibility option for a whole chunk of the Subeta population because some people created fake accounts to grind for forum tickets? Mmm, going to have to express my disappointment here in losing accessibility to those chances that others won't simply because, as I said, I'm not able to comfortably just 'join in' conversations on the main forums. I, and others like me, are now only able to rely on [read: hope for] the Bathhouse as a non-main forum source of forum tickets.

It's taken me an embarrassing amount of time to psych myself up to make this post, but there's my thoughts for what they're worth.

After reading through all the posts I think that it's now up to Keith to -

1. Decide what he wants from the forums.

2. Tell us what he wants and ask for our feedback and suggestions about how this can be achieved. (A brainstorming topic.)

3. An API which judges the worth of a post will work according to Keith's definition of worthy. We need to know what his definition is before we can make worthy posts.

I just wanted to thank you for saying the things you did on pages 3, 4 and 5. You're so right about those of us that don't really talk on the main forums would probably not contribute in here.
I remember early on when I tried to participate in some "main" forums and express my opinion on something and felt like I was attacked, which gave me such extreme anxiety that I nearly quit. People don't know when to stop when you want to say, "ok I agree to disagree and I don't want to be pinged anymore". So I opted to just post in areas that I didn't have to worry about participating in any given conversation. I mean hell, this is giving me anxiety just typing this out.

So whatever the hell they want to do, I'm just not even going to worry about FP anymore. I think it's all BS, considering many of the reasons people have spoken about on this thread and it's just not worth it to me.

I feel like I started a fire... 😳

walking into this thread like:

LOL to be fair, any topic about the forums will turn into how they're dead and the rules - even ones like adjusting the necro and seeing what works - don't change, so the same topic will probs happen next month.

It's ironic that some of the most active forum topics are ones complaining about the forums. :)

Also ironic. I spent a lot of time and thought on Post in this topic but didn't get a forum point for it. I did get a point, though, when I reported what I got from the Galley. This isn't the way to encourage people to make posts requiring time and thought. :)

tbh neither is running an API that determines the "worth" of a post, but that's my two cents.

Quantity =/= quality. I'm not saying this in reference to your long post, but I mean it in general.

APIs, algorithms and computers in general can't determine "quality" or "worth" because they don't understand context, or all the little nuances of conversation. They can gauge it based on the number of characters used, but again... if that kind of system is implemented, I can just quote everything you've said, add "oh yes I agree completely, that's very well said!" and I would have an equal, or slightly bigger chance of getting a forum point than you because I added a bit of extra text onto your long post. But meanwhile, I haven't actually contributed to the discussion with that kind of post and my post could either be seen as harmless support, or as me farming for forum points.

Do I like this change? No. Do I think it was handled improperly from a communications standpoint? Abso-fucking-lutely. Do I understand why this change was made? [B]Yes.[/b] Spam is against the rules. There are entire forum groups (with plenty more than 10 members) [I]dedicated[/I] to spamming.

I think there's probably a better solution than just straight up cutting off points for private groups. If staff is open to the conversation, I definitely think some compromise could be found.

But the entitlement and rudeness toward staff displayed on this board is mind boggling. If you don't battle, you're not entitled to battle shop points. If you don't buy CSC with $, you're not entitled to loyalty points. If you don't participate in the forums, you are not entitled to forum points. In this case, participating is not simply counting up numbers on a private forum. It's participating on the public forums, where there are plenty of places to interact that don't have negative repercussions. (See, the games forums.) Staff didn't kill the private forums or something drastic like that. They just made it official that the forum points are a reward for posting in the public forums.

To reiterate, I don't personally like this change. It could've been handled much better. I just am accepting the fact that some bad apples have successfully ruined something for the rest of us. Everyone can still interact as they choose on the forums, but if they [I]choose[/I] to interact on the private nexis, with little oversight, then they are now choosing to be excluded from this reward.

[Edit] [I]You got a forum point while making a post! Check out the shop here![/I] Lol

Post in this topic - Keith's Comment

If forum games posts no longer qualify for forum points there will be people who hardly ever get forum points. A number of users in this topic (and the other topic about forums) say very little in the public forums because doing so results in anxiety.

Yep. I'm well aware of what Keith said. Including the part about the flagrant abuse and the giant glaring loophole that is the private forums. Rather than speculating over the potential rules of a mythical new API, I'm responding to the critisms of the forum points being removed from private forums.

(In addition to the games forums, there's also everything in the creative corner and social scene that constitutes friendly forums. Also the HA and Battle forums.)

It gives me anxiety just READING this thread. Some of the posts in here definitely feel like personal attacks to me, and I can't deal with conflict on a site I come to in order to relax. I guess if they take away the games forum as a source of points, then I will just stop posting all together and earn a measly few from the bathhouse.