What happened??

Dave35k

Dave35k

H4ck3r
When i first joined this forum 2 years or so back it seemed like a real friendly community of ppl who wanted to help other people despise of there knowledge, however afta being away for a month or to upon returning it just seems to have gone slightly down hill. This is a stab at all the uses as im sure the majority of them are fine and im sure this is just a misunderstanding but it just seems so different. Dave
 
Well I guess people get a little wrapped up in the whole helpful points thing.
 
I'm going to turn this on you! could you explain what has happened? give us more details as to what you think has changed and why you don't like the changes.
 
01bolandn said:
Well I guess people get a little wrapped up in the whole helpful points thing.
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True it has changed. I think that without the mods and admins (no offense to anyone) being as active as they were, and with the helpful posts thing turning into competition instead of just a statistic there are more needless and off topic posts.
Sometimes threads are answered with posts which aren't relevant to the problem of the user/slightly incorrect and maybe thats the problem? The problem could be that it is becoming more of a general chat forum instead of a computer hardware forum. Just my opinion.
 
Lol ok i did only join nine monthes back :confused: lol seems longer but al the same within that time its just as seemed to changed its basically what addis as put what i think
 
well i've been a member for a couple of months now and i have really like this forum, i've never been a part of a forum before and this forum and the people involved in it have been really helpful with problems i have had.
I may not have been a member long enough to see any major changes but from my experience of it this is a great forum with helpful, friendlt cool people in it.
 
Well we've looked at the direction things have gone and have decided to crack down on posts that aren't relevant to the topic, and by that it's specifically posts that are entirely irrelevant, not just a part of one.

While the traffic may be seen as dropping, compared to what we had back in 2001, there's a huge difference. Having a new user actually make a post was exciting. We'd go for a good 2-3 weeks without someone not on staff post something (myself, Sniper, Syngod).
 
I've only been a member since 2003, but I haven't noticed a major change in the atmosphere of the forums one way or the other. If anything, some posts get pushed aside as our traffic increases, but we have this to help mitigate that somewhat. Can you point out anything specific? Otherwise, what changed may in fact be you. After all, the only constant with people is change itself. ;)

-AT
 
I'll admit there seems to be more off topic posts these days then when I first joined but it's not horrible. The mods and admins do a great job and it's just now and then that we get into a little rant about something unrelated, these things are unfortunately inevitable with so many different types of people on one site. But if you were to compair HWF's to pretty much any other forum you'd be surprised how well it would stack up. Most any non news post gets responded to within a day and all the regulars are friendly, polite, and willing to help in my opinion.
 
I'm only new but i think this is one of the best run boards I am on (and i'm on alot)

You provide helpful advice to people you dont even know. I'm mainly post OT but i wont do it on the forums here because i think it ill ruin the place.

I think you staff run a great ship (and the arcade is taking over my life)
 
with the helpful posts thing turning into competition
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Well...that's to be expected...every forum that uses a point system runs the risk that it's going to cause conflicts and abuses...never seen a forum where it didn't.
Even posts counts cause conflicts and competition...I was accused of being a post whore...and I didn't even come close to the totals some here have.
The only way to avoid this is to have nothing...get rid of post counts and point systems and base it on the factory plan...seniority...the date you joined.
But even that has it's own range of issues...then you have to contend with someone who joined first but has only posted once...vs the person who posts a year later but actively contributes.

Eg ;)
 
Right on Eg, I totally agree, I'm guilty of getting way too hyped up over post count, posts per day, and helpfuls, but I know I'm not alone. As you said you can't enstate something like posts per day without it flowing into a competitive battle of sorts. But this sort of thing isn't all bad, so long as users post on topic and have useful info to share they can post all they want. I see no down side to the helpful point system myself as to me it seems like it's brought out the best in everyone more or less, users now make an effort to be as helpful as possible to gain a point and personal satasfaction.
 
Hi Exfoliate,
I see no down side to the helpful point system myself as to me it seems like it's brought out the best in everyone more or less, users now make an effort to be as helpful as possible to gain a point and personal satasfaction.
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If that were the case I would agree...unfortunately we both know that's not true...I'd be willing to wager as much as 85% of some people's ' helpful posts ' weren't helpful at all...friends hitting each other up ...or getting hit up for other reasons...
I have 11 helpful hits and half of them I didn't deserve...I am a senior member and have 5000 points at another site and half of them I didn't deserve either...
I'm not saying that I have a solution to these problems...but...there must be a more equitable and reasonable way to do things that would eliminate these abuses of the system...
because without an equitable system in place that is fair to everyone these point systems/post counts are worthless...so why bother? They remind me of the story " the Emperor had no Clothes "...just a mirage.

Eg ;)
 
I have very few helpful posts, probably because the only thing counted as being helpful in my case is writing a review, which you can kind of see being realistic, but otherwise it's overrated and too easy to give helpful points. I've seen threads where a question has been asked and every reply there got a helpful point.
 
Any posts which I see can't being helpful but have a helpful point I remove. I can see how you might not find a post helpful, but the person thanking might have, so that’s why I am careful as to which points should be removed, and I have removed many points from users.

The helpful points was setup so you can keep track of the times your were helpful, it was never meant to be a contest. But as on any forum, competitions arises between users, whether good or bad.
 
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