Close the doors to new members

I wasn't sure I should bother posting this in case it looked like I was stirring shit up, but i actually feel that this is a valid suggestion - to make ng.com a closed shop -

i.e no more new members.

There are numerous benefits to this suggestion.

Firstly it would prevent known trolls creating new accounts to spam the forums up. Rolling IP's wouldn't matter as there would be no way of signing up a new identity.

Scammers attempting the same trick would also be affected, thus preserving us from further accounts created by Japhei, or whatever the fuck he wants to be known as (he's got a severe personality disorder).

Trouble makers could be rooted out straight away and there would be less need for a constant mod presence. In fact I think Bobak is the only active mod there is at present.
I've seen nothing of Bio or Mouse_Master for ages, and little of Dolphin Lord and Ryo Geo.
Wizard Wasabi and Tip are around a lot but they've not got global powers (afaik).

Look at all the dumb topics and repeat topics we get from n00bs oh_no
If they bothered to use the 'search' function (kindly reinstated by Keith in the last UBB update), there would be less crap floating around in 'N&R' and 'GenDisc'.

All the goddamn CTHD threads we've had and n00bs are still posting new threads loco

Another upshot is it would make the site cheaper for Shawn to run - less members = less bandwidth
I would be most suprised if there are more than 1,000 active accounts and yet over 6,000 people have registered to the site. There's a lot of memory to be freed up there wink

If people post there email address in sales threads then non-members can still benefit from the sale forum, and closed membership would have no effect on the Neo Store.

I think it's fair to say that those hardcore and diehard neo fans out there have already signed up to this site (even if they no longer post), and thus it would be beneficial to take stock of what we have already and improve on it, instead of dillouting the membership with people who don't know there mvs from there aes.

There are plenty of other sites that these n00bs can join (snk-capcom.com for example) where there is less call for a hardcore approach to the Neo.

Generally I think it's time we got together to focus on quality instead of quantity. Maybe then some of the members who have left because of the influx of worthless n00bs will return (Blaine, GregN et al).

There are other benefits to this suggestion, and i'm sure other members will be keen to extol them.

If there's enough support could we put it to the vote? spock

What about genuine new members?

What about them? This seems a little excessive.

Perhaps an aplication process, but that would make too much hastle for mods.

Oh well.

Wow, that is the most elitist thing I have ever heard.

I agree to filter out the trolls, 100%.

However to shut down new members, that's not a good idea.

For every few assholes that will come here, we may have a good contributor.

I mean honestly, if you guys already did this and I wanted to be a member, I would be distraught and insulted that I couldn't join up. I mean I was totally elated to find this site when I did. I grew up loving NEO GEO and if I were shut out because of some reverse discrimination, I'd be really upset.

Filter out the trolls and rare posters. Kill off anyone that hasn't posted in a year or whatever. But don't seal up the tomb and leave other potential good guys out in the cold.

Average Joe:
Wow, that is the most elitist thing I have ever heard.

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Do you have a better suggestion?

Shawn won't appoint new mods, and stricter policing is the only way to ensure overall forum quality... but we've been over this particular issue before.

All we got last time was 5 minutes of the mods cleaning up and the appointment of two new mods who are forum restricted in their respective powers. In fact the most powerful thing I think Wizard and Tip can do is post polls!!

The overall situation needs keeping on top of.

Last year it was Bio, now it's Bobak - what the fuck is going on? A damn mod tag team?

Anyway, moderation is not the issue here, so apologies for my digression.

No new members would mean there would be no call for the appointment of new mods anyway.

Maybe run limited time registrations? Like every couple months open it up for maybe 30 days and then close new accounts down for another 3 or 4 months.

I have seen other message forums do this with moderate success.

Shapermc:
What about genuine new members?

What about them? This seems a little excessive.

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The few always ruin things for the many. A sad fact of life. frown

If this happened, I bet some people would sell their Member ID on Ebay or something. I think we do need to tighten down, but I think this may be a bit extreme. But, I have no other suggestion myself. Credit Card registration for sellers/traders would be cool, but probably too much of a hassle and I bet it would stop some, not all, the trolls!

Shapermc:
Perhaps an aplication process

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make signing up for a new account as long and tedious as possible. cuz there are a lot of sites out there that i tried to sign up for but just got turned off cuz i had to fill up long forms. for sites that i really really want to join then i dont mind filling up a long form.

besides with a slightly longer sign up system it should weed out some of the more dumber noobs trying to setup an account. like say a random password generator where they need to wait for the site to send them the password to their email address (also helps to confirm the address). they can change to their own passwords later. this is how some email lists work.

another forum i'm signed up with (since it's a smaller forum), the owner will actually list out people who haven't posted a single thing. basically making sure there aren't a whole bunch of dead accounts.

dullbuoy:

Shapermc:
Perhaps an aplication process

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make signing up for a new account as long and tedious as possible. cuz there are a lot of sites out there that i tried to sign up for but just got turned off cuz i had to fill up long forms. for sites that i really really want to join then i dont mind filling up a long form.

besides with a slightly longer sign up system it should weed out some of the more dumber noobs trying to setup an account. like say a random password generator where they need to wait for the site to send them the password to their email address (also helps to confirm the address). they can change to their own passwords later. this is how some email lists work.

another forum i'm signed up with (since it's a smaller forum), the owner will actually list out people who haven't posted a single thing. basically making sure there aren't a whole bunch of dead accounts.

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That's not a bad idea... but still, does it have enough authority to prevent dumbass's signing up? I.e unintentional trolls

I think there are plenty of dead accounts.

6,000+ active posters? My arse.

Tarma:

Average Joe:
Wow, that is the most elitist thing I have ever heard.

Click to expand...

Do you have a better suggestion?

Shawn won't appoint new mods, and stricter policing is the only way to ensure overall forum quality... but we've been over this particular issue before.

All we got last time was 5 minutes of the mods cleaning up and the appointment of two new mods who are forum restricted in their respective powers. In fact the most powerful thing I think Wizard and Tip can do is post polls!!

The overall situation needs keeping on top of.

Last year it was Bio, now it's Bobak - what the fuck is going on? A damn mod tag team?

Anyway, moderation is not the issue here, so apologies for my digression.

No new members would mean there would be no call for the appointment of new mods anyway.

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Hey, I like my forums as tidy and troll free as the next regular poster, but despite lack'o'moderation and constant troll attacks, shutting the forum down to new members is just (for lack of a less insulting word) asinine.

The only valid point I see coming from your suggestion is to getting a pre-emptive strike on scammers trying to sneak back in.

But really, how hard is it to tell when Japhei creates a new account?

He gets found out in a matter of moments, not a major problem.

And so what if n00bs come in and post the same topics over and over?

And so what if someone posts an obscene pic or posts a thread in the wrong forum?

If those things really bother you that much, I'd say you need to straighten up your priorities. Because as much as I like this place and enjoy coming here, none of the stuff you mentioned is a big deal.

<small>[ July 22, 2003, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: Average Joe ]</small>

I do believe Big Bear suggested this not long ago, halfheartedly.

I can't agree with it, though. It would be nice, but I just can't agree. The weight of a new quality member outweighs the load of crap we get in here. Tsukaesugi comes to mind. Cool cat as far as I know. Maybe he's just cool because he's a white guy living in japan. Hmpf. wink

I believe most of the people who want to weed out people have actually weeded out themselves and use other services to talk to the friends they've met on the boards. Occassionally I'll PM, AIM or whathaveyou to talk to talk to guys. Damn. Been a while since I was on AIM. I probably still have Jigen listed as a buddy. Strange... it's the little things...

Actually, I've been talking to guys on the phone more often recently than I've been online. I guess there are other reasons for that, though.

If there are people who want to solidify with a certain group of guys they can always make another site and send out invites. As far as I see it right now, this site is meant as a gathering for the Neo Geo community. You have to keep in mind that the Neo Store is locked in with this site as well. I know the boards came before the store but it's attached in a much different way. The popularity of this site keeps new releases coming. The bottom line is that Shawn is the one who attends business meetings with SNK Playmore. Not any one of us. He does all of this for the community - and that's probably the way he's going to keep it.

We need to step up moderation. That's all. Closed membership happened in Dolphinlords club and it was pretty much death - although at the time it was started, it seemed like a good idea.

Is it really THAT big of a deal? I mean, I think we've had some new members sign up recently that have been good. So what if the same topic is posted a couple times, the world's not going to end.

If we cut off new signups it will feel just like grade school where all the kids got punished because of something 1 or 2 bad kids did.

I personally am more concerned with the Marketplace forums than just a general spammer or idiot that doesn't understand the search term.


Head over to the Neo Selling forum and see the <a href="http://www.neo-geo.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=012008" target="_blank">Has anyone dealt with Aaronlewis</a> thread. Thats a hella clusterfuck in the making. All the markings of a scammer laying it down thick.

I can understand your complaints, but, respectfully, no.

I really agree with the random password deelie. Then when they check their email to get the pass (or click a link that activates their account) their account actually shows up here as a new member's account. Give them 5 days before their account can't be activated. This sound like a good idea? Do you think the no-posters will go through all that hassle just to have 0 posts? I don't think so.

BTW a friend of a friend of mine might sign up soon because he's looking to get a NeoGeo cabinet, I recommended this place to him because it has the best tech support forum for the Neo and arcade machines. If he couldn't post his questions for Briggs, ttooddddyy, candycab, etc to answer, he'd be stuck (well if I couldn't help him). And yeah I say delete all the no-posters too, actually I say delete everyone who has less than 5 posts and hasn't posted in, say, 9 months or more, except my brother's account cause he needs it for the art gallery .

Oh, what happened to the stats for the forum? Avg posts/member and whatnot? Am I just stupid and can't find them or is it gone?

<small>[ July 22, 2003, 03:48 PM: Message edited by: DanAdamKOF ]</small>

maybe a probationary period. like if their first fifty posts are all bullshit then they go

striderpunk:
maybe a probationary period. like if their first fifty posts are all bullshit then they go

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Well, we already kind of do that on a case-by-case basis. Although in certain cases we sat through 1000s of posts before we finally give the heave-ho

WizardWasabi:
We need to step up moderation. That's all. Closed membership happened in Dolphinlords club and it was pretty much death - although at the time it was started, it seemed like a good idea.

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I'm not saying that I'd definitly like to see the forums become closed, but it is a suggestion as a means to an end.

Moderation will never get stepped up on a permanent basis. Period.

You know it. I know it.

Hell, I haven't seen Shawn post for over a month.

I'm not going to trawl through all the arguments again, because i've done it before, and besides you and Tip getting a forum each, nothing really changed.
We had a month, maybe two, where things were kept fairly tight, then complacency slid in again.

And is the right action being taken anyway?

I'd say no.

case in point - Japhei.

He returns under yet another alias, it's spotted and he's given a custom rank as a warning as to who he is.
Regardless, he posts sales ads in the sales forums and deliberatly flammable topics in other forums.
Is he banned?
No.
The line seemed to be 'we're letting him stick around so people can take the piss out of him'
WTF?
That neotokyobikerkid a/c should have been locked and deleted as soon as it was verified who it was registered to. Who knows who else got ripped off because someone thought it would be more constructive to keep him on as flame bait...

Is it no wonder these forums begin to lack credibility with the old school and long time hardcore Neo fans?

So, yes, greater moderation is again the most constructive and feasible way forward.
It's unlikely to happen in the long term, so I am merely suggesting an alternative that is "ng.com mod friendly"

Your forum has aimproved drastically since you took it Wizard. Why can't the rest of the site be like that? spock

I don't agree to close the doors like that. A pre-registration form? So what, you have to show how much money you've spent on Neo goods? You need to buy something in the Neostore?

I agree with Tarma that we need more mods. Bobak is almost the only active one, and all this is just too much for him. Bio is nowhere to be seen, and the rest only appear from time to time.

The idea of having board-specific mods was good, then why not one for general discussion, one for news&rumors, etc.? And specially somebody to control a bit more the market forums. And another to control sigs til we have some way to disable them. Come on, there's quite a lot of people that have been here for a long time, are regular posters and are reliable. Choose between them or make a democratic poll to appoint new mods. And if they don't work well or get mad with the power, just revoke their status.

Amano Jacu:
I don't agree to close the doors like that. A pre-registration form? So what, you have to show how much money you've spent on Neo goods? You need to buy something in the Neostore?

I agree with Tarma that we need more mods. Bobak is almost the only active one, and all this is just too much for him. Bio is nowhere to be seen, and the rest only appear from time to time.

The idea of having board-specific mods was good, then why not one for general discussion, one for news&rumors, etc.? And specially somebody to control a bit more the market forums. And another to control sigs til we have some way to disable them. Come on, there's quite a lot of people that have been here for a long time, are regular posters and are reliable. Choose between them or make a democratic poll to appoint new mods. And if they don't work well or get mad with the power, just revoke their status.

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Yeah, the market place DEFINITLY needs a dedicated mod. I've just been reading through all the bullshit involving that aaronlewis guy...

New members should NOT be allowed to post items for sale if there's nobody actively policing that forum. Other forums do their best to protect the genuine members - why can't ng.com?

During the "regular semester" last year, we hardly saw Bobak, but Biomotor was busy here doing a lot of work. Now the side have flipped. Anyhow, I'd like to see more Dolphinlord and Ryo Geo here. DL has been around, but not much. So, come on dudes. Let's clean up here.

Tarma:
Yeah, the market place DEFINITLY needs a dedicated mod. I've just been reading through all the bullshit involving that aaronlewis guy...

New members should NOT be allowed to post items for sale if there's nobody actively policing that forum. Other forums do their best to protect the genuine members - why can't ng.com?

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I agree 100% with this. Something needs to be done about the scammers situation. Seems this bbs has more than its fair share of them, and management hasn't made any real attempts to fix it.

Anyone with less than a couple hundred posts and at least a few months under their belt is automatically suspect and that just sucks.

broken:

Tarma:
Yeah, the market place DEFINITLY needs a dedicated mod. I've just been reading through all the bullshit involving that aaronlewis guy...

New members should NOT be allowed to post items for sale if there's nobody actively policing that forum. Other forums do their best to protect the genuine members - why can't ng.com?

Click to expand...

I agree 100% with this. Something needs to be done about the scammers situation. Seems this bbs has more than its fair share of them, and management hasn't made any real attempts to fix it.

Anyone with less than a couple hundred posts and at least a few months under their belt is automatically suspect and that just sucks.

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What has neo-geo.com turned into? shame

Dont you hate an elitist prick...?


I guess we should just trust people dude, and a simple automatic criteria of "after 100 posts you are automatically trustworthy sounds really stupid... drool_2

Just trust people dudes, there are a lot of good dudes out there...

The newbie honests shall not pay for the scammers... eye eye