mazoboom wrote:

The ratio of posts to topics in Shaved Ice is absolutely amazing.

It single handedly destroys every other subforum, with less than 75 topics, hahaha!

We do like our forum junk food, hm?

I'm of the opinion that MY RP threads (Faceless Masses, Shinobi Dreams) should be locked due to extreme inactivity from anybody but me (FM officially ended over a year ago, and SD was a case of "everybody lost time and/or interest"). I'd rather not have anybody post in them, and the only surefire way to ensure that is to lock 'em down.

But I'm really territorial about threads I make, and I tend to see them as my intellectual properties to include the posts of others, and I don't really like to admit that once I've made it, the only way I can control content is to delete the thread entirely.

BioKraze wrote:

I'm of the opinion that MY RP threads (Faceless Masses, Shinobi Dreams) should be locked due to extreme inactivity from anybody but me (FM officially ended over a year ago, and SD was a case of "everybody lost time and/or interest"). I'd rather not have anybody post in them, and the only surefire way to ensure that is to lock 'em down.

Will do.  I think after this length of time, anyone who needed to speak their piece about those RPs has had their chance, and they should be allowed to fade away in peace.  That said, FM in particular was a fantastic RP, and I miss reading it!

mazoboom wrote:

The ratio of posts to topics in Shaved Ice is absolutely amazing.

I knew that would happen, but the extent of it is pretty astonishing

Giovanna wrote:

Yeah I'd say a thread has to be a pretty obvious one liner thread to not be in SKU if it's about SKU. Like super guilty.

You say "guilty" like it's a bad thing   But the Caption Contest is definitely a one-liner thread, so into SIL it goes!

BioKraze wrote:

But I'm really territorial about threads I make, and I tend to see them as my intellectual properties to include the posts of others, and I don't really like to admit that once I've made it, the only way I can control content is to delete the thread entirely.

I hate to delurk for something like this, but I just felt compelled to say it...

The thread may indeed have been yours, but my posts in it are mine (and everyone else's posts are their own as well), and I sure wouldn't have wanted them deleted without my consent.  I worked hard on those posts and would not have wanted them to be vaporized into the internet ether. We all chose to participate and contribute; nobody forced us to.

That said, I'm glad to see that the thread was locked so that I don't have to worry about that situation arising.  FM was a great thread while it lasted, and I'd much rather see it saved for posterity as it has been than deleted.

I may hardly post anymore, but I do still check on the forums every day and chime in when I feel inspired to. Just because I'm not around as much doesn't mean that my posts are for others to do with as they please.

Incidentally, I almost forgot that I had started that Pop-tarts thread a couple of years ago. Nice to see it's still serving a purpose!

satyreyes wrote:

Yeah, that's about right!  I like the acronym for SIL   The rules for IFD will probably be changing a little to reflect the fact that we now have a better place to conduct mock flame wars and trade meaningless innuendo.  (Meaningful innuendo is a different matter entirely.  )

I am glad you like my acronym.  It looks like that the main side effect of this change is that some long dead threads have been resurrected.

I suspect that 9 out of 10 posts I will make will be in the Shaved Ice Lounge from now on.

satyreyes wrote:

That said, I thought members couldn't delete topics once others had replied to them, but I see now that you can.  While I'm mucking around backstage, would anyone mind if I turned off this feature?  When you create a thread you run the risk that people might want to post there; you shouldn't get to delete their thoughts or ideas just because you don't like where the thread has gone or where it might go.  I've temporarily disabled deleting your own topics, but I'm listening if anyone wants to tell me why it's important to have that ability.

If no one has replied to a thread, and I deem it then useless, I would like VERY much to be able to erase it from the forum. Maybe I've changed my mind, whatever. As long as other people haven't posted, it should be deletable. If other people have posted, then it has to stick around and stay.

Or is this exactly what we're talking about here?

The forum doesn't currently have a way (that I can find) to discriminate between topics with replies and topics without them as far as deleting privileges are concerned; either you can delete your own topics or you can't.  Creating a new functionality would require Gio mucking around with the code, and so I'll leave it to her whether the effort justifies the payoff.

I feel sorry that you think I lack trust for the forum, Lady Chani.  I wouldn't be moderating it if I felt that way.  Occasionally it's quite a lot of work, and sometimes it's emotionally difficult as well.  It's not something I would do for a community I didn't trust as well as love.

But I'm not going to give every one of us a power that could be egregiously abused -- the power to delete whole conversations, precious memories maybe for some of their participants, on an angry whim -- unless there's a good reason to.  Why exactly is it so important to be able to delete your own threads?  Is this something you've done, and if so, why?

If there were a setting on the forum that would allow users to delete threads they've started that have had no responses, I would enable it.  That's the same as deleting a post, which is okay with me because it represents only your writing (though I hope people use even this option sparingly).  So it sounds like both of us agree, Chani, that the best thing would be for people to be able to delete their own empty threads, but not their own replied-to threads.  Unfortunately, that's not technologically possible at this time, and we disagree about what the second-best thing is.  I prioritize not removing other people's writing without their consent, even if that limits your control over your own; you prioritize the ability to remove your own writing, even if that puts other people's writing at risk.

You're right, of course, that no one as far as I know has abused this ability yet -- though it has been threatened at least once; Yasha once locked a user's account to forestall their threat that they would delete the threads they started.  That was the incident that prompted my promotion to mod, come to think of it, so you'll forgive me if I'm a little cautious.  But the potential for abuse is there, and if it ever did happen -- and it could; even trustworthy people do foolish things when they're angry, myself included -- then I believe there would be no way to fix it short of restoring the entire forum from Gio's last backup, losing who knows how many posts in the process.  By contrast, if it's so important that your photo editing advice thread should be deleted, just get in touch with me and I'll delete it.  I know that's not very democratic, and I'd rather give you the ability to do it yourself, but I can't do that without giving every thread starter the ability to hurt the people who post in their threads.  So...

There's no need for sarcasm.  I'm doing the best I can.

Listen, is this a widespread sentiment?  Which do you guys want more: the ability to delete your own un-replied-to posts, or the knowledge that your own replies to other people's posts won't vanish overnight?

I really do believe he is doing his best (a top notch moderator and I've seen a lot of mods through the years, so I'm grateful when I see a good one because otherwise the forum experience tends to suck).  Satyr is consistent in being quick to reply to PMs and such so I don't think there could be too many complications with this system.  The way the forum is set up, it's clear that there needs to be some compromise on this to be fair to those in either situation.

edit:  And I'm not trying to kiss ass, either, since I hate that, but I'm striving to promote fairness myself for the individuals involved as well as the situation.

Last edited by spoon-san (09-05-2009 05:28:34 PM)