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It's 2016, and I have questions about NeoGAF

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besada said:
Many of the moderators converse with each other regularly, via a chat room. We also have a moderator-only forum where we have discussions. Conversation runs from policy initiatives, discussion of particular users, and current forum trends to TIS-100, how old Kabouter really is, and Y2kev's dog(which is cute).

Some junior members have been tagged, but it's more rare.
Click to expand...

I see. Also, if anyone is still reading this, in the case of a junior being tagged, does that automatically mean they're now full-fledged members?
 
kavanf1 said:
Also, some of my favourite forums have moved from vBulletin to Xenforo over the last couple of years, seems to be much preferred by many web devs who got sick of how bloated vB software became, and how badly managed they ended up. Wonder if the admin would ever consider a move? Xenforo seems to address a lot of the issues people had with vB. Took me some getting used to but I prefer it now.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone is fundamentally opposed to software changes, but it's important to note how much technical investment we have in the current platform. All of our purposely-chosen mechanical policies that impact culture (junior members, member tags, etc.) are built in vB. All our moderation tools rely on vB functionality. Our mobile site is tightly tied to vB. Our search engine is custom-integrated into vB, since the default can't get close to scaling to our size. And so on.

Xenforo is neat, sure, but is there anything it can do that'd be worth the cost of changing over, of reimplementing all this stuff (or of sacrificing functionality we like because it's too difficult to bring over)? I'm going to say no.
 
alundra311 said:
I see. Also, if anyone is still reading this, in the case of a junior being tagged, does that automatically mean they're now full-fledged members?
Click to expand...
No connection between the two. We have active members with Banned tags, Juniors without junior tags, full members with junior tags, etc. Tags are unconnected to the junior/Member divide.
 
besada said:
No connection between the two. We have active members with Banned tags, Juniors without junior tags, full members with junior tags, etc. Tags are unconnected to the junior/Member divide.
Click to expand...
The next step is a member with a moderator tag that's not a moderator.
 
opticalmace said:
Do you ever cross-reference IPs of posters to look for duplicate accounts? Or just on an as-needed basis?
Click to expand...

It's a bit more sophisticated then that. We have provisions for serial alt-makers to detect them before their accounts are activated, we have tools to detect them after their accounts are activated, and we have the ability to compare individual accounts to look for potential duplicate relationships.

If the question is "do we spend our time worrying about someone who got banned 5 years ago for something minor and reregistered and has been a good poster since", no obviously we don't. We have better things to do.
 
Has there ever been an attempt to count or keep track of the number of industry insiders/devs/people on gaf before? It'd be interesting to know how many are around
 
I have a question. Not sure if this was asked already, but what are the primary sources that take up bandwidth?
 
Fiction said:
300 posts and 3 months, as the person above me said. It's a way to make sure new members aren't just trolls that will spam the forum with weird topics.

(Not that we don't have weird topics anyhow, but I digress...:p )
Click to expand...

I like to think that the weird topics we still get, besides those that get too quickly locked or banned, have been cultured in a lot of neogaf history and what makes us special. They are weird, but they're our weird.
 
Fiction said:
Hey I actually have a question!

Is there any plans to implement a 'view your posts' feature for mobile? I love it on desktop, and disable mobile sometimes to use it on mobile, but it'd be awesome to have just there on mobile.

Sorry if it's been asked already >.<
Click to expand...
You can still search your own posts from mobile if you hit the top square button. Make sure it says "Sort Results As Posts" before hitting search. Not as simple, but same results.

http://i.imgur.com/rIO6J6m.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QGa0fcV.jpg

Edit: Removed due to massive dimensions.

Same if you wanna search replies/quotes, except you put your username under keyword instead of user name. You
 
Stumpokapow said:
It's a bit more sophisticated then that. We have provisions for serial alt-makers to detect them before their accounts are activated, we have tools to detect them after their accounts are activated, and we have the ability to compare individual accounts to look for potential duplicate relationships.

If the question is "do we spend our time worrying about someone who got banned 5 years ago for something minor and reregistered and has been a good poster since", no obviously we don't. We have better things to do.
Click to expand...

I see, thanks for the reply.
 
MogCakes said:
Has there ever been a perma'd member who managed to convince the admins to unban them?
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Yes, several.
NumberThree said:
Are small site improvement suggestions welcome and if yes who should I direct them to?
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Support@neogaf.com. I can't speak to how welcome they are, but that would be the only real venue, as none of the mods have any control over that sort of thing.
Ryaaan14 said:
Someone accidentally permed me once.

I think it was an accident............................
Click to expand...
Sorry:)
 
Is there a way to offer explanation towards the mod's staff from the member's part if he or she gets banned? I mean a ban is immediate right, and the member cannot tell his or her side of the story. I mean, I know GAF mods team are by large have been doing a great job so far policing GAF, but mistakes can do happen and in that case, what avenue can a banned member can use to at least contest the decision of his/her banning? Especially in the case of a perma ban.
 
Laughing Banana said:
Is there a way to offer explanation towards the mod's staff from the member's part if he or she gets banned? I mean a ban is immediate right, and the member cannot tell his or her side of the story. I mean, I know GAF mods team are by large have been doing a great job so far policing GAF, but mistakes can do happen and in that case, what avenue can a banned member can use to at least contest the decision of his/her banning? Especially in the case of a perma ban.
Click to expand...

No. Take the L and accept your week or two off. Perm bans are rare.
 
Will Neogaf exist in the year 3000? Will y2kev have to change his username to y3kev?
 
btrboyev said:
No. Take the L and accept your week or two off. Perm bans are rare.
Click to expand...

I seem to remember an explanation, IIRC by Stump, that you *can* contact the staff to make a case for your ban.

besada said:
It's Dresden. Cue, "Who?"
Click to expand...

This is such a surprising bit of info. The MangaGAF resident mod is the mod that gives the most amount of ban, even eclipsing you? Hah.... really unexpected.

Edit: or huh, maybe he's the for the least? That's much more believable.
 
Laughing Banana said:
Is there a way to offer explanation towards the mod's staff from the member's part if he or she gets banned? I mean a ban is immediate right, and the member cannot tell his or her side of the story. I mean, I know GAF mods team are by large have been doing a great job so far policing GAF, but mistakes can do happen and in that case, what avenue can a banned member can use to at least contest the decision of his/her banning? Especially in the case of a perma ban.
Click to expand...

Temporary bans are the warning.
 
charlequin said:
I don't think anyone is fundamentally opposed to software changes, but it's important to note how much technical investment we have in the current platform. All of our purposely-chosen mechanical policies that impact culture (junior members, member tags, etc.) are built in vB. All our moderation tools rely on vB functionality. Our mobile site is tightly tied to vB. Our search engine is custom-integrated into vB, since the default can't get close to scaling to our size. And so on.

Xenforo is neat, sure, but is there anything it can do that'd be worth the cost of changing over, of reimplementing all this stuff (or of sacrificing functionality we like because it's too difficult to bring over)? I'm going to say no.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the detailed response, that makes sense. It doesn't matter to me too much so don't want to seem like I'm harping on about it, but AFAIK most if not all of the stuff you describe in your first paragraph is also available in Xenforo. Another site I go on a lot, avforums.com, went through a major upgrade from vB to Xenforo primarily because it actually offered additional functionality and better scaling to them. Membership of that site is around the 300k mark I think, though content wise it doesn't move anywhere near as fast as here.

Anyway, I have no horse in the race, I'm perfectly happy with the site as is, just thought I'd make the suggestion after I saw Evilore's concern about forums becoming kind of obsolete. The cost vs benefit thing is always the biggest driver so I can totally see why there wouldn't be an appetite for it unless it was properly justified. Cheers.
 
While this thread is open:

How to change my username?
I mean generally I know how to, but I wrote PMs to many mods and admins, I asked in thread like these, I wrote a mail to support...
I never get an answer.

Maybe I'm just a one off, but I'm wondering.
 
weird said:
While this thread is open:

How to change my username?
I mean generally I know how to, but I wrote PMs to many mods and admins, I asked in thread like these, I wrote a mail to support...
I never get an answer.

Maybe I'm just a one off, but I'm wondering.
Click to expand...

Can I ask who you asked, when, what you wanted your username changed to, etc?
 
Also,

If EviLore were to resign some day, would the mods handle this situation like cardinals electing a new pope, or fight it out like the heirs of an Ottoman sultan?
 
Biforce Of Power said:
I always thought it was written warning for a first offence, temp ban for a second, and a perma for repeated offences. Or, at least, it should be as opposed to banning someone without giving them a chance to defend themselves.
Click to expand...

there are a lot of people that got a temp ban for more than one time afaik.

Roboleon said:
Also,

If EviLore were to resign some day, would the mods handle this situation like cardinals electing a new pope, or fight it out like the heirs of an Ottoman sultan?
Click to expand...

hunger games style. or battle royale.
 
Laughing Banana said:
Is there a way to offer explanation towards the mod's staff from the member's part if he or she gets banned? I mean a ban is immediate right, and the member cannot tell his or her side of the story. I mean, I know GAF mods team are by large have been doing a great job so far policing GAF, but mistakes can do happen and in that case, what avenue can a banned member can use to at least contest the decision of his/her banning? Especially in the case of a perma ban.
Click to expand...

First line: Email support@neogaf.com
Second line: Contact a moderator on Steam, Twiter, XBL, PSN, etc.
Comments will be read, but you won't necessarily get a reply. It's not necessarily ideal.

Note: If the appeal consists of any of the following, it will be totally ignored:
a) "The rules are bad so they shouldn't apply to me"
b) "Someone I don't like did something like what you banned me for and they didn't get banned so I shouldn't be banned"
c) "Mods are biased"
d) "I know I got banned for a two word post telling another member to fuck off, but here's a multi-paragraph clear explanation of the point I actually wanted to make and as you can see my point makes sense so why did you ban me?"
e) "I think my ban should be shorter because in my head bans should be shorter"
f) "Explain my ban only use more words than you did in the ban message"
g) "I demand to know which mod banned me and when they will be resigning"

I just mention this because these are like 95% of the appeals we get and it's really not the kind of behaviour you'd expect from, like, adults in the real world.

Biforce Of Power said:
I always thought it was written warning for a first offence, temp ban for a second, and a perma for repeated offences.
Click to expand...

This is not correct; it depends on the offence and the context. Sometimes warnings are appropriate, sometimes bans are appropriate, and there's no fixed number of times you have to do something wrong, we're flexible. Something like spamming porn pictures would be an instant permanent ban. Something like low level trolling would not typically be. Newly registered members normally only get one shot since it's probationary. Full members get more chances. We've had people get to 20+ bans without being permanently banned, although that's pretty rare.
 
Stumpokapow said:
First line: Email support@neogaf.com
Second line: Contact a moderator on Steam, Twiter, XBL, PSN, etc.
Comments will be read, but you won't necessarily get a reply. It's not necessarily ideal.

Note: If the appeal consists of any of the following, it will be totally ignored:
a) "The rules are bad so they shouldn't apply to me"
b) "Someone I don't like did something like what you banned me for and they didn't get banned so I shouldn't be banned"
c) "Mods are biased"
d) "I know I got banned for a two word post telling another member to fuck off, but here's a multi-paragraph clear explanation of the point I actually wanted to make and as you can see my point makes sense so why did you ban me?"
e) "I think my ban should be shorter because in my head bans should be shorter"
f) "Explain my ban only use more words than you did in the ban message"
g) "I demand to know which mod banned me and when they will be resigning"

I just mention this because these are like 95% of the appeals we get and it's really not the kind of behaviour you'd expect from, like, adults in the real world.
Click to expand...

I see, thanks. I mean, yea I suppose it can get pretty annoying but in my honest opinion the avenue for contesting a ban should be made available because hey, for many of us GAF is basically the Internet, hahah, and well, sometimes even mods can make a mistake, so it would be nice if members can get a chance to explain his/her side of the story for considerations.
 
This thread has been very informative, thanks for your hard work oh Great Ones!

While I'm here, can mods read the hidden messages on email tags without having to quote a post? And also has there ever been a user that has abused the power the email tag bring, like hiding ugly messages for the people who might reply to them?
 
Stumpokapow said:
First line: Email support@neogaf.com
Second line: Contact a moderator on Steam, Twiter, XBL, PSN, etc.
Comments will be read, but you won't necessarily get a reply. It's not necessarily ideal.

Note: If the appeal consists of any of the following, it will be totally ignored:
a) "The rules are bad so they shouldn't apply to me"
b) "Someone I don't like did something like what you banned me for and they didn't get banned so I shouldn't be banned"
c) "Mods are biased"
d) "I know I got banned for a two word post telling another member to fuck off, but here's a multi-paragraph clear explanation of the point I actually wanted to make and as you can see my point makes sense so why did you ban me?"
e) "I think my ban should be shorter because in my head bans should be shorter"
f) "Explain my ban only use more words than you did in the ban message"
g) "I demand to know which mod banned me and when they will be resigning"

I just mention this because these are like 95% of the appeals we get and it's really not the kind of behaviour you'd expect from, like, adults in the real world.
Click to expand...

Last time I got banned it was during a stressful time of Christmas preparation and anxiety got the better of me and I remember sending off an email or two. In situations like that it would be nice to get a reply. Felt pretty in the dark.

I remember at the time I'd made a joke and used a sexually explicit word (I got plenty of similar joke responses), but I was confused because it came a whopping 4 days after I made the post. The thread was an extremely popular active thread at the time (bunch of Steam leaks from mid December) so I didn't understand why it took 4 days for anyone to find a problem with it. By 4 days later the thread was no longer active. Unless there's some flagged for moderation queue or something like that, it felt like someone going back through the thread just to do... I don't know what. It wasn't a first page or latest page reply so they would have needed to sift through pages upon pages, unless it was flagged. I would have understood more if I'd been alerted to it on the day but getting a ban half a week later felt weird. What's up in situations like that, why take so long?
 
Ayumi said:
I'm assuming since like you said, the thread was very active, it took some time for mods to read through/review?
Click to expand...

Four days seems like a lot of days though for doing that. Cos while it was pages upon pages into the thread, we're only talking maybe 13 pages.
 
dity said:
Last time I got banned it was during a stressful time of Christmas preparation and anxiety got the better of me and I remember sending off an email or two. In situations like that it would be nice to get a reply. Felt pretty in the dark.
Click to expand...

You got banned for a fairly detailed post talking about how you were cumming while jerking off to Steam leaks. The ban message linked the post and said "restrain yourself". The ban was short. I don't mean to be rude, but do you think following up on this is a good use of your time or ours?

The thread was an extremely popular active thread at the time (bunch of Steam leaks from mid December) so I didn't understand why it took 4 days for anyone to find a problem with it. By 4 days later the thread was no longer active. Unless there's some flagged for moderation queue or something like that, it felt like someone going back through the thread just to do... I don't know what. It wasn't a first page or latest page reply so they would have needed to sift through pages upon pages, unless it was flagged. I would have understood more if I'd been alerted to it on the day but getting a ban half a week later felt weird. What's up in situations like that, why take so long?
Click to expand...

I'm seeing the ban as taking place three days after your post. There is not a moderation queue. I presume the moderator in question either hadn't read the thread at that point or was specifically alerted to the post. It's a bit weird that your takeaway was confusion over how people were able to find your post. Is it extremely important that I contact the moderator who banned you to get an exact answer of why they happened to read your post 3 days later and not the day of? I can do this for you, but just remember that the more time I spend responding to stuff like that, the less likely I am to respond to peoples' future questions.

SalvaPot said:
While I'm here, can mods read the hidden messages on email tags without having to quote a post? And also has there ever been a user that has abused the power the email tag bring, like hiding ugly messages for the people who might reply to them?
Click to expand...

We see email tags the same way you guys do, quotes only.

People occasionally abuse this. That's a pretty stupid gamble since if they get caught we're obviously going to move to a much more heavy-handed punishment. I remember one user getting tagged with a tag that automatically erased their posts because they did it.
 
Damn near made it five years without a single ban. Caught a week long ban for posting a screenshot of Duckhunt. Though it was pretty inappropriate, i suppose.
 
SalvaPot said:
This thread has been very informative, thanks for your hard work oh Great Ones!

While I'm here, can mods read the hidden messages on email tags without having to quote a post? And also has there ever been a user that has abused the power the email tag bring, like hiding ugly messages for the people who might reply to them?
Click to expand...

I think in certain cases email tags even show up in the source of the page.

Not sure if they fixed that though. Might be a thing of the past.
 
Curious. I don't really want to know the exact number, but who among the current mods have the highest amount of bans during their time as a regular member? :)
 
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