Feedback please?

So kids, been awhile since I last blogged or even made a topic on the forums (other than stickies, or "anchors" as they sometimes get called). Seems a lot of my time has been in the IRC or moderating the boards as of late. I failed at my goal to try and reach 5000 points by the end of 2008 which sucks. So I have set a new goal for myself, reach 5000 points by the end of January this year! we'll see how it goes, I don't think I'm that far off but considering my level of procrastination its still a tough goal to achieve.

But now that I've got you reading I guess I should be honest and reveal the real purpose of this blog to you all. As some, I'd hope most, of you may know we have two FAQ guides posted on the site to provide users some information on the Forum and Wiki here at GiantBomb. They've been up for awhile now and users can find the links to them in the 'Defusing the Bomb' sticky [LINK] which is visible in the 'Newest Topics" area of the forums.

However theres not been a lot of feedback on the Forum FAQ itself and I was hoping the community could perhaps take some time to read it and then report back with any feedback on the guide. Is there anything you would like added? Anything that you think needs editing so its easier to understand etc. Just some general constructive feedback on the Forum FAQ would be good. Especially now that we have a large number of new users and the fact it will be getting an edit later on today from me to include information about the new features to the forum.

So roll out GiantBomb, read the Forum FAQ and get back to me with some feedback and either reply here or send it to my inbox!

Hamz

So kids, been awhile since I last blogged or even made a topic on the forums (other than stickies, or "anchors" as they sometimes get called). Seems a lot of my time has been in the IRC or moderating the boards as of late. I failed at my goal to try and reach 5000 points by the end of 2008 which sucks. So I have set a new goal for myself, reach 5000 points by the end of January this year! we'll see how it goes, I don't think I'm that far off but considering my level of procrastination its still a tough goal to achieve.

But now that I've got you reading I guess I should be honest and reveal the real purpose of this blog to you all. As some, I'd hope most, of you may know we have two FAQ guides posted on the site to provide users some information on the Forum and Wiki here at GiantBomb. They've been up for awhile now and users can find the links to them in the 'Defusing the Bomb' sticky [LINK] which is visible in the 'Newest Topics" area of the forums.

However theres not been a lot of feedback on the Forum FAQ itself and I was hoping the community could perhaps take some time to read it and then report back with any feedback on the guide. Is there anything you would like added? Anything that you think needs editing so its easier to understand etc. Just some general constructive feedback on the Forum FAQ would be good. Especially now that we have a large number of new users and the fact it will be getting an edit later on today from me to include information about the new features to the forum.

So roll out GiantBomb, read the Forum FAQ and get back to me with some feedback and either reply here or send it to my inbox!

Hamz

Great to see your bloggin again their HamZ :)

Well iv only got two beefs with the FAQs, everything else is great.

• No explicit discussions about sex, illegal drugs or other illegal activities such as downloading warez or illegal music or movies.  This includes discussion about cracks or other means to bypass copy protection.This includes posting links to torrents aswell.

• No spamming, double or triple posting.  This includes cross-posting threads in order to gain exposure.  Posts with links to news articles, videos, or images without commentary of your own will be treated as spam.

If you're going to shoot for 5000 points by the end of January...I think I'll have to shoot for 10,000 point by the end of January!

1. You should update the moderators thought of the week. It hasn't been updated since the when the thread was started.
2. The "how do i turn off blog posts and off topic" section of the forum guide should be updated to include articles and the other forums you can now turn off using the preferences feature.
3. The introduction to the forum FAQ should link to the terms and conditions, wiki FAQ and the general FAQ in the same way that the wiki FAQ does.
4. The multiple accounts section of the forum should have advice on what to do if you had an alternate account in the past (which I guess would be to just ignore it and forget about it).
5. The Plagiarism part of the "what do they deny?" section should perhaps mention that even if the user wrote the article but they submitted it somewhere else (e.g. wikipedia) they still shouldn't submit it to GB because you want everything to be unique.


But really, all of these points are nitpicky. You guys have done a great job on the FAQs.

I haven't even reached 1,000 points! How much does that suck? But good luck, Hamz!

• No explicit discussions about sex, illegal drugs or other illegal activities such as downloading warez or illegal music or movies.  This includes discussion about cracks or other means to bypass copy protection.This includes posting links to torrents aswell.

"explicit" isnt good enough. We need a clear definition. As in "should marijuana be legalized" vs "what did you do on new years" if someone answered i blazed with a few friends and hit up a party. I dont seem the problem in talking about drugs, to a low or political extent. The staff should really polish that rule.

• No spamming, double or triple posting.  This includes cross-posting threads in order to gain exposure.  Posts with links to news articles, videos, or images without commentary of your own will be treated as spam.

this one is alot less serious than the other one i named, and means alot less, but, no double posting? seriously? Iv seen you mods double post...., whats the big deal?"

"1. You should update the moderators thought of the week. It hasn't been updated since the when the thread was started.
2. The "how do i turn off blog posts and off topic" section of the forum guide should be updated to include articles and the other forums you can now turn off using the preferences feature.
3. The introduction to the forum FAQ should link to the terms and conditions, wiki FAQ and the general FAQ in the same way that the wiki FAQ does.
4. The multiple accounts section of the forum should have advice on what to do if you had an alternate account in the past (which I guess would be to just ignore it and forget about it).
5. The Plagiarism part of the "what do they deny?" section should perhaps mention that even if the user wrote the article but they submitted it somewhere else (e.g. wikipedia) they still shouldn't submit it to GB because you want everything to be unique.


But really, all of these points are nitpicky. You guys have done a great job on the FAQs."

Hey Hamz, I looked over this FAQ before and I think something that needs to be added would be the issue of users bumping really old threads, specifically threads that have the original poster asking a question and has had it  answered already.

Really good FAQ though. :)

I am unhappy about the drugs thing also. I think members should have the freedom to discuss drugs openly here, I know I myself and many others have in relevant threads. Serious discussion is a good thing, I think it's backward not to be able to discuss it.

"If you're going to shoot for 5000 points by the end of January...I think I'll have to shoot for 10,000 point by the end of January!"

Best way to gain points fast is to play the game while editing. That's the way i do it anyway. It the reason why some game pages i have around a 1000 points. (yeah imagine figure skater is the game i have the most points... lot to say about that game, pretty complex).

By doing it this way you can easily get around 2K a day.

5000 points! You're a madman Hamz, it can't be done!

Ahh, got it, thanks for the answers.

you already fixed the bit i took issue with :P

My goal is to get at least 1 point, only thing is I don't know how to get them.

"Same goes for the topic of sex, I wouldn't necessarily moderate someone for saying something like "went to a party, invited this girl back to mine, she stayed for breakfast ;)". But to tell everyone what position and surfaces you did the act on isn't needed at all."

Forum FAQ is updated with the feedback provided as best I could.

Any more suggestions then continue to post here or send it to my inbox!

link

Your boobs could be a bit more perky.

Also, you should tell people how to post blogs without making them post to the forums, because a lot of people make "spam topics" and have them locked because they don't know that they can navigate away.