Author Topic: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??  (Read 44138 times)

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Offline Chelsea

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #15 on: December 09, 2012, 12:32:29 AM »
If you're under 13 we're not putting up with your s***. If you're over 13 act like it.

I'm addressing this one immediately: When you register for this site, you're required to enter a date of birth. If the date of birth entered is under the age of 13, registration is automatically rejected - as required by current US law.  Is it possible some users lie about their age? Sure. And If anyone has concrete proof (such as a direct admission of age), by all means let me know as I'd rather the site not be running afoul of federal legal requirements.

Offline GameShowFan1987

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #16 on: December 09, 2012, 12:35:19 AM »
I've come to accept the way things are here as normal.  That's why I stay.  I like normal.

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Offline TheTechSGT

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #17 on: December 09, 2012, 12:37:04 AM »
Also, here's a suggestion from another site that I frequent.  Not sure how practical this is with the software we have, but it's worth considering:

If you go to Bolt.cd or FFShrine.org, they have strict rules (like software-driven rules) in place regarding who can post what, and where.  I'm not sure what the exact stats are, but you have to have a certain number of posts in a specific part of the forums before you can post in others.  You also have to have a certain number of global posts before you can use the PM system.

Around here, I really think we need something like that in place--no restrictions on the PM system, but maybe something like "Upon joining you may read all sections but may only post in The Talk is Right, Make Your Mark, and First Run; when you reach 15 posts in The Talk is Right and the First Run sections, you may post in Out in Left Field."  Then after that, "After 25 posts on all of GRN you may start your own topics."  It can be frustrating for new registrants, but in my experience it's a terrific way for new users to learn the ropes.

Offline vadernader

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #18 on: December 09, 2012, 12:39:22 AM »
Also, here's a suggestion from another site that I frequent.  Not sure how practical this is with the software we have, but it's worth considering:

If you go to Bolt.cd or FFShrine.org, they have strict rules (like software-driven rules) in place regarding who can post what, and where.  I'm not sure what the exact stats are, but you have to have a certain number of posts in a specific part of the forums before you can post in others.  You also have to have a certain number of global posts before you can use the PM system.

Around here, I really think we need something like that in place--no restrictions on the PM system, but maybe something like "Upon joining you may read all sections but may only post in The Talk is Right, Make Your Mark, and First Run; when you reach 15 posts in The Talk is Right and the First Run sections, you may post in Out in Left Field."  Then after that, "After 25 posts on all of GRN you may start your own topics."  It can be frustrating for new registrants, but in my experience it's a terrific way for new users to learn the ropes.

That's a good idea! Have a chain of sub-forums where you need to "earn" access to.
"Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better." - Sydney J. Harris

“For the premiere of season 30, CBS wanted to do a special primetime show. However, they asked that we also add a gimmick or a twist to make it truly special. I came up with the suggestion of taking the show on the road for the first time in its history." - Roger Dobkowitz

Offline GameShowFan1987

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #19 on: December 09, 2012, 12:41:12 AM »
That's a terrible idea and I'll tell you why.  You'll get newbs spamming The Talk is Right with garbage posts and Seth will get bombarded with PMs "WHY CANT I ACCESS OUT IN LEFT FIELDS??????" and we'll end up with nothing but a sea of trolls.

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Offline vadernader

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #20 on: December 09, 2012, 12:43:06 AM »
That's a terrible idea and I'll tell you why.  You'll get newbs spamming The Talk is Right with garbage posts and Seth will get bombarded with PMs "WHY CANT I ACCESS OUT IN LEFT FIELDS??????" and we'll end up with nothing but a sea of trolls.

It would have to be clearly defined in the rules that everyone agrees to abide by when signing up.
"Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better." - Sydney J. Harris

“For the premiere of season 30, CBS wanted to do a special primetime show. However, they asked that we also add a gimmick or a twist to make it truly special. I came up with the suggestion of taking the show on the road for the first time in its history." - Roger Dobkowitz

Offline GameShowFan1987

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #21 on: December 09, 2012, 12:44:20 AM »
We already have a clearly defined set of rules and they still get broken.

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Offline Chelsea

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #22 on: December 09, 2012, 12:46:51 AM »
I'm genuinely against the idea of minimum post-for-access thresholds, and here's why: I am a FIRM believer in quality over quantity.  A user with seven or eight quality posts contributes more positively to discussion of the site than someone with 2,000 posts that are all substantively worthless. (Being general here, I do NOT have anyone in mind, before anyone starts to wander. I'm just generalizing for argument purposes.), and I don't believe for one second someone contributing sporadic quality discussion should be more restricted than someone frequently posting derp.

Offline TheTechSGT

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #23 on: December 09, 2012, 12:49:02 AM »
That's a terrible idea and I'll tell you why.  You'll get newbs spamming The Talk is Right with garbage posts and Seth will get bombarded with PMs "WHY CANT I ACCESS OUT IN LEFT FIELDS??????" and we'll end up with nothing but a sea of trolls.

There's a risk of that, certainly, but maybe that's an argument in favor of having a very visible rules thread and a post requirement for using the PM system.  I'm part of another site, 3DGladiators.com, that requires a certain number of posts before users are allowed access to the Downloads area.  So you do have some users making posts that are off-the-wall in order to meet the requirement and gain access.

I would counter, however, that this is a much better idea than, say, allowing Duffnation to keep coming back time after time after time and posting the same drivel every time.

EDIT:  Seth's reply popped up while I was typing, I get what you're saying (Nanny, KenCrane, RBDP all spring to mind as infrequent posters that should have no restrictions at all), I'm just proposing what I see working on other sites.

Offline vadernader

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #24 on: December 09, 2012, 12:49:26 AM »
I'm genuinely against the idea of minimum post-for-access thresholds, and here's why: I am a FIRM believer in quality over quantity.  A user with seven or eight quality posts contributes more positively to discussion of the site than someone with 2,000 posts that are all substantively worthless. (Being general here, I do NOT have anyone in mind, before anyone starts to wander. I'm just generalizing for argument purposes.), and I don't believe for one second someone contributing sporadic quality discussion should be more restricted than someone frequently posting derp.

Well, yeah, that's a great point. Maybe there could be a member-by-member thing, so like. If a new member wants to gain access to a certain board, they send a PM to someone and apply, and if the person thinks they've "earned" access, they get it.

Then again, there's also the option of just going by post count to make it easier. Then, however, if a member gets out of line and starts spamming everywhere with nonsense or low-quality posts to raise their post count, the other members here would be more than willing to report their post as such I'm sure and then they could be dealt with.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2012, 12:51:27 AM by vadernader »
"Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better." - Sydney J. Harris

“For the premiere of season 30, CBS wanted to do a special primetime show. However, they asked that we also add a gimmick or a twist to make it truly special. I came up with the suggestion of taking the show on the road for the first time in its history." - Roger Dobkowitz

Offline GameShowFan1987

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #25 on: December 09, 2012, 12:53:04 AM »
For what it's worth, I don't think anything needs to be changed about this site.  What needs to be changed is the behavior of the individual members who feel the need to flame and belittle others.  I can include myself in that because I've been guilty of that in the past.  I've tried to take a more rational approach when dealing with those who I disagree with.  It doesn't always work but I try.  Recently I had a couple of debates with another member of the site.  I don't hate him, it just seems we have strongly differing opinions and handle things differently and I fully acknowledge that.  I've taken issues to private discussion with him and we've reached understandings.  That's what people need to do.  When things start to get ugly, take it off the boards.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2012, 01:04:38 AM by gameshowfan1987 »

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Offline TheTechSGT

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #26 on: December 09, 2012, 12:59:05 AM »
We already have a clearly defined set of rules and they still get broken.

Therein lies the Catch-22.  We have a good moderating staff here, no one questions that.  But even the best of us only has so much time to devote to this site, and so not every breach of the rules can get addressed the same way.  The big stuff usually gets handled quickly and efficiently, but the more minor stuff by necessity tends to get less attention.  (That's in no way a slam against anyone, it's just a recognition that we're all human and we all have lives away from GRN.)  To ensure the rules are properly observed, we'd need a much larger moderation staff than we have--but then you run the risk of coming across the wrong way to new members when they see a lot of mods for every forum.

So there's no easy answer to this one.  I of all people despise "one size fits all" answers in favor of dealing with things on a case-by-case basis, but at some point you have to recognize the limitations in time and manpower you have available.

Offline Chelsea

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #27 on: December 09, 2012, 01:05:04 AM »
Lots of the old members here do not care for the new direction the show has taken and therefore have also not cared for posting on this site as much. Another big thing is that Marc & John had more of an insider aspect to the show and knew Roger and visited the show and took pictures and gave everyone knowledge they would have never gotten before from the show. Since Mike and Drew and the rest of the new regime took over it seems like neither Marc & John or Drew & Mike want to extend any olive branch and that's fine and also expected, but that also takes away from one of the great qualities the site used to have and also made some members stop frequenting as much.

Just my two cents.

You're hitting on something I think has genuine merit as a discussion point. I can, at least from where I sit, pinpoint the removal  of Roger Dobkowitz as *the* day that I think this site really started to have issues with discussions going over the cliff.  While a lot of people were very vocal about Bob's departure (occasionally to the point of overwrought hyperbole), in general, the site accepted it and moved on. Because it was ultimately Bob's choice, I assume.

Roger is a different case altogether.  Because of Roger's clearly very evident love for the show, and his connection with the site, a lot of people reacted very, VERY strongly to his departure from the show what were far from ideal circumstances.  Roger gave Golden-Road.net a level of access to the production of the show that's actually relatively rare in the business, and it speaks very highly of the kind of person Roger is.  That connection, however, served to poison the well when he departed. The goodwill and personal investment that people had made in Roger-produced Price guaranteed a bad reaction when Roger's departure occurred.  A lot of people were VERY angry, and hurt, and when people are angry and hurt they get vocal about it - and they also get hyper-critical of whoever replaces the person they had made an emotional investment in.

Meanwhile, you had folks who thought at least some of the vitriol being thrown Mike's way was undeserved.  While Mike has made decisions of a questionable nature while producing the show, so did Roger, whether anyone wants to admit it or not. But an awful lot of people were SO vocally anti-Richards and anti-Drew (Any willingness to cut Drew slack went right out the window when Roger departed) that mountains of criticism emerged. And those who thought some of that criticism was undeserved began arguing with those who were critical. 

It's been constant arguments ever since among the fandom.  It started with the passionate pro/anti-Mike Richards arguments, and that passion has spread to virtually every other discussable facet since.  Because there was such an emotional attachment in the original arguments, there was a stronger-than-usual need among those arguing to be right.  And that obsession with proving one's own side of an argument has persisted to this day. Adding to the problem, new members see the "I need to be right at all costs" debate style, think that's how they need to behave, and join the fray themselves.

« Last Edit: December 09, 2012, 01:16:46 AM by Seth »

Offline GameShowFan1987

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #28 on: December 09, 2012, 01:11:22 AM »
My stance on Mike is this:  I think he's genuinely trying to bring us a great show.  He falls flat on many things but he's also brought us some good.  He also responds to our complaints.  I think that says a lot.  Love him or hate him, he's not some evil force trying to ruin the show.  He's doing things his way.  He didn't fire Roger.   He wasn't even in the picture yet when that happened.  I miss Roger just as much as anybody, and I've had my fair share of complaints, but in the end, I watch the show because I like it.  If I still like it, then somebody is doing something right.

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Offline TheTechSGT

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Re: What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??
« Reply #29 on: December 09, 2012, 01:16:20 AM »
My stance on Mike is this:  I think he's genuinely trying to bring us a great show.  He falls flat on many things but he's also brought us some good.  He also responds to our complaints.  I think that says a lot.  Love him or hate him, he's not some evil force trying to ruin the show.  He's doing things his way.  He didn't fire Roger.   He wasn't even in the picture yet when that happened.  I miss Roger just as much as anybody, and I've had my fair share of complaints, but in the end, I watch the show because I like it.  If I still like it, then somebody is doing something right.

With all due respect, I think this should be split off into its own thread so we don't lose focus here.  This is a discussion we should have, certainly, but I don't think this is quite the place.