What's Going On @ Golden-Road.Net??

[GameShowFan1987]

I think you're right.

[Marc]

I actually got a phone call about this thread...and not many members have my phone number anymore...so I figured I should have a look and throw in my 2 cents.

Look folks, I make no secret about the fact that this site is no longer as big a part of my life as it used to be.  This is for a couple of reasons that should be obvious to those that know me:  my life has changed personally, and my fondness for the "new direction" just ain't there.  That said though, I have always maintained that I keep this site's lights on because of you guys, because of the friends that this show has brought me over the years, and because of what this show had meant to me in the past.

I don't read the site every day, and I also make no secret about the fact the levels of moderation service provided by John and me are not at the levels they used to be.  I do not see this changing.  Seth stepped up a couple of years ago, and he has been doing an awesome job.  Our other moderators of the main boards are long-standing friends of the site, and their continued work is appreciated.  The same is true with the folks who have done work on their own specific area of the site.  Thank you all.

There is a great deal discussed in this thread.  The one point I want to address is that of belittlement.  It has never had a place on this site, and it appears that many feel it has gotten out of hand.  I can neither confirm or deny...I'm simply not around enough.  But what I can tell you is that I won't tolerate it on a site where we are to discuss game shows.  Here's what's going to happen:

If any of you feel that an existing member has exhibited a pattern on belittling others, send me a PM (not an email) with the member's name, and at least 5 direct links to different offending posts.  If I am in agreement, I will deactivate said users account for 180 days.  I will commit to reviewing each of these submissions received through this new week.  I do reserve the right to consult with the folks I trust (ie Seth or Gavazzi) before making any final decision.

I will also be taking applications for two new day-to-day moderators of our main boards.  Our existing mods all have lives outside this site, and it sounds like we are at the point where additional help would be beneficial.  If you believe in the long standing rule set that we have established and are interested in playing your role in enforcing these rules, send me a PM.  I don't know many of our members who may have joined us post season 36, but all are welcome to apply.  I will consult with John and the previously mentioned members before making a decision...but my primary decision will be made on post quality and post tone.

One all this is done, my lurker & financier caps go back on.  Also, I have no intention of removing sections of this site.  If you don't like the games or the off topic stuff...just stay out of those areas.  If somebody would like to sticky this thread for greater visibility...feel free.

Goodnight,
Marc

[William]

I think we have too many kids (13 and under specifically, but I'd go up to 16 or even 18) on here who don't understand the repercussions of posting random garbage on the Internet. When I was 13 and I joined my first board I thought I was haughty taughty hot s***. I learned that mistake FAST. Just far too many people think they can trample all over something that a lot of people here hold to be very sacred.

I agree with this a lot. I was 14 when I registered here and I did NOT read the rules when I signed up. I'm assuming that they were automatically displayed on the registration screen like they are now, but I don't remember ever even seeing them. I only wanted to register then to be able to access the Golden Gallery. I really had no desire to post.

Then I discovered the magic of posting and how it makes you part of the group (or so it seemed), and I constantly posted. My post quality then was at most a C+. 80% was me running my autistic mouth.

Since I didn't read the rules offhand, I broke rule #10 about a month after registering... got banned for 60 days... and thought it was the end of the world.

The DAY that my ban was lifted I posted some bull**** story about having unaired master tapes from 1972 (which I thought I would never bring up again hoping that those who saw that forgot about it). I didn't know that Steve had all of the early episode records and knew that I was lying. I thought I would get a permenant ban, but Steve simply told me to act more mature...

...and I did. It was really from then on did I only post when it was necessary. Something I still do today, and I haven't had one incident since.

Bottom line, it just goes to show that when people follow these guidelines:

Does this need to be said?
Does this need to be said by me?
Does this need to be said by me, now?

Nothing can go wrong. In 5 1/2 years, only one person has ever "ignored" me. Seth said it the best: quality over quantity.

[Chelsea]

If somebody would like to sticky this thread for greater visibility...feel free.

I've moved the thread to the Front Office to ensure it's at the top of the site, for maximum visibility, and the thread has been stickied. 

As a reminder, especially if you're seeing this post first, open discussion is welcome. Please read Marc's post a few posts earlier, and scan the rest of the thread.  Comments are welcome.

[SteveGavazzi]

The DAY that my ban was lifted I posted some bull**** story about having unaired master tapes from 1972 (which I thought I would never bring up again hoping that those who saw that forgot about it). I didn't know that Steve had all of the early episode records and knew that I was lying. I thought I would get a permenant ban, but Steve simply told me to act more mature...

...and I did. It was really from then on did I only post when it was necessary. Something I still do today, and I haven't had one incident since.

And I have only the very vaguest memories of this, so I would have to say you're doing something right.

[thepriceis_J]

My, my, I seemed to have missed a lot while I was at work.

I have to agree that some of the discussions between others have gotten a bit too face to face, but I think this site still has meaningful discussions.

I agreed with most of what Prizes said and I think this site still has a future. To be honest, I've grown disinterested in most of the back-and-forth that goes on. I still like to post, but I, at times, don't feel the need to inject in some arguments. I believe that Golden Road has maintained the same level of meaningfulness that Invision has. Just like this site, Invision went through the same rough patch of discussion from Season 37-38, but I think that since I've joined, most of the ruckus has calmed down. There have been flare ups at times, but I still think this site has seen its worst days and passed them. As the show has found stable ground again, so has this site.

When it comes to the three recent obits (Jovan Belcher, Rick Majerus, and Dave Brubeck), I don't think it is fair to use those as a point that the obits in OILF are pointless (I know no one has used that word. It's my own). One was a news story that should've just been placed in the NFL thread, one was a highly respected college basketball coach, and one was a legend in jazz. It is pointless to say that the person given an obit is one you've never heard of because there is probably more than one person who has never heard of one person or another. Just because you or I haven't heard of them doesn't mean someone hasn't. Granted that just opens the flood gates for my friend's grandmother's cat to get an obit, but I think for most obits they're rightly warranted. As for the OILF games, I agree with Marc. They're a nice distraction for some folks and while wadding through them is certainly a chore, it doesn't bother me that much. Heck, I've participated in some of them (granted, it has been a while though).

When it comes to posting restrictions, I don't agree with getting access to certain sections of the site by posting, but I don't fully disagree with restrictions. I didn't mind the way they did at Invision when I joined. A new member's posts are moderated for a certain amount of time and when they prove to the moderators that they'll be fine on their own, they have their moderated status lifted.

I think Vader kind of hit the head on why some of the membership left. The show changed, so the site changed. Roger's involvement was huge for this site and gave it a unique draw. With Roger's departure and the somewhat stale animosity between this site and the show, be it through the site's fault or the show's, the site changed drastically in that regard. I think that while it was partly site rhetoric that drove some away, it was more the tone of the site and the show as they both moved on post-Roger.

Again, this site has a future and I think that we're still going forward towards it. What's going on @ Golden-Road.net? Progress. Like physically growing when you're a baby or a teenager, there is pain. I see the pain here as still trying to have civil discussion and I think it is moving forward. I have the patience to work through this, and I hope others have it too.

[TheGRVOfLightning]

Well, In the case of moderation since Steve seems to be doing such a good job on this site and posts many quality posts. Maybe he should be a mod.

[joeyboy]

Well, I certainly have missed quite a bit since I've sort of disappeared.

I will admit, I don't frequent the site as much as I've used to. Partly because for a while, I'd lost my passion for the show. I still do watch it every day, but the passion of the "old days" just isn't there. The show, as well as this site, has taken a back seat to life these days.

When I see a meaningful discussion with healthy debate, I may post; I may not post. When I look in OILF and I see meaningful posts, I may post; I may just read them. When I see interesting games, I don't really play them for the reasons stated above, but I follow them.

But when I see pointless games that were created for, as some users before me stated: "Just to get their post count up", or just random stupid crap (my personal opinion), I just ignore it. That's just a waste of my time. I don't call people out on it because it's their right to post it, and I respect that. I just ignore it. Same goes for belittlement of other members. I would never do that because as Seth eloquently stated, there is a person with real feelings behind each post.

I just follow the same basic guidelines that others have either posted, or quoted. I shall do the same:

It's also three things you should ask yourself before hitting that "Post" button:
 
Does this need to be said?
Does this need to be said by me?
Does this need to be said by me, now?

Anything else just clutters forums and takes up bandwidth.

[GSNSmashFan3]

I'm finding this thread to be quite entertaining, so I might as well toss in my two cents.

When I first joined the board, I wasn't making the most relevant posts. I always participated in those "stupid games," but it was simply for the joy of posting. This has gradually changed over time, and now, I hardly post at all unless I give information or an opinion that I would consider useful. That being said, I have noticed a large new wave of users who either contribute nothing helpful or endlessly start flaming other users. Given these problems, I do not know what should be the right future for the site, but there's bound to be some way to resolve the issues. Flebert said it better than I could:

It's also three things you should ask yourself before hitting that "Post" button:
 
Does this need to be said?
Does this need to be said by me?
Does this need to be said by me, now?

Anything else just clutters forums and takes up bandwidth.

Proofreading is also an essential implement, in my opinion.

[DarkShockBro]

Wow. Didn't know my thread would get so popular! I'm rather happy that my concerns are shared in this site, and I hope that this thread can be used to gain some ideas that will make it so that the war can end.

Now, let me make one thing clear. I'm 16. I joined this site when I was 14, and didn't start commenting until I was around 15. However, after I started commenting, I slowly noticed that there was some elitism in the site which slowly started to get on my nerves. I became more of a contributor, and attempted to stop some of these fights before they led to bans. I couldn't.

Still, I continued to play in the forum games, and I enjoyed myself again. But...then we got to the Torgo situation. Allow me to personally say I don't think Torgo should have been banned, because I feel like he was provoked to say something, and lashed at when he finally did say something. Anyway, I checked out the thread, and even initially defended sideshow, but after Torgo responded, I could somewhat understand his points. And what did he get in response? Hate and a ban. But, in the results page for the FPG, when Torgo was STILL insulted, I couldn't take it anymore, and this thread was created.

So, as you can see, I've been holding this in for a long time, and I'm glad this is getting discussed. Hopefully we can develop a good plan of action, and this site can go back to being awesome. Until then, I ask everyone to stop the madness.

[goldroadfanatic]

I've been a part of these forums for seven years now and a lot has changed in my life.  I started here when I was a sophomore in high school, and now I'm a prospective graduate student.  I've been through this site when it had relaunches in 2006 and 2007, live shows in chat, and when one could still post comments in the Golden Gallery.

Like others have stated, because of our personal lives, and as the show evolves, the spark of passion isn't in me anymore.  I still watch every day and have fun in chat, play Chatroom Showcase Showoff, but seldom do I post in a recap thread unless I really like the episode I watched and have things to say about it.  vader is absolutely right in saying that when Roger was dismissed from the show, that is when a divide between the membership was formed.  I don't post unless I have information to provide, and I try not to get into big squabbles with members.

Nevertheless, I still enjoy coming here to discuss things about the show I've watched for nearly 20 years now, hosting games in the Host Your Own! section, and watching old episodes and clips on YouTube.

A good chunk of my site activity is in the Video Vault, and I'm surprised that it doesn't get more traffic than it currently does-it's an outlet to view and discuss episodes from when Bob was still host, Roger was still the producer and we notice things from a hindsight perspective that we otherwise would not have noticed when seeing them first-run.

In the times I've seen any offensive post or a topic was unnecessary bumped, I used the "Report to Moderator" function on the bottom of each post and let Seth or one of the moderators take care of things.  I had scant participation in the Out in Left Field games, but I understand they serve a purpose for those who want a change of pace from normal TPIR discussion, but I do agree with others who said that because this is a website devoted to The Price is Right, discussion of that show should be paramount for all members on here.

I think another stumbling block here is that after we've found out when a certain set change occurred, when certain contestants appeared, what else is there to discuss?  It becomes a point when the most frequent questions about what happened on the show are answered and one wonders what the next path is to fuel more healthy and interesting discussion.

[123123123]

Is anyone wondering why there aren't many contributing members on this site? I'll tell you why, because no one wants to get yelled at by people on the internet for their opinions or statements.

Very, very true. I admit, I am a very curious person. I'm that kid in the back of the class who will ask questions like there's no tommorow if I don't know something. And it is no different when I'm here.

I know for a fact that most of the members on this site know more about the show than I do. I also know that a question I might ask will seem obvious and stupid to others and the possibility of ridicule stop me from asking my questions 9 out of 10 times.

Just thought I'd put that in

[Hag]

I have always liked coming here in the almost 9 years I've been a member, in my opinion the changes at TPIR, for good or bad, just make for healthy debate, which is the point of any discussion board, as long as it remains civilized and respectful.

I'd also just like to say that I think our moderators have done and are doing a good job, and I have confidence that when trolls come around, or discussions go off the rails, they will take care of things in due time.

[PatrickRox80]

I didn't want to offer my opinion until it was safe to do so but I think the mood around here has always encouraged letting off steam, even while Bob and the Dob were still with the show. While I don't catch the The Price is Right anymore due to a busy work schedule, I still come here out of habit, mainly the OiLF section. I know I and many others have berated people for speaking out what's on their minds when a lot of the time we don't really mean anything we say. My perspective of the show has changed a lot through YouTube virtually letting me catch at least one episode from every season in existence. I was able to follow along with the changes, most of it at the time necessary. I find that because the show is still on the air, it's still proclaiming itself to be an American icon. While I don't agree 100% with the way things are run, it's still been a part of my life all these years and this site just lets me be a part of it to share with many others. I'm thankful that this site is in existence and the mods have done a great job keeping it alive all these years.

[kassilynn]

One of my biggest regrets since being here at Golden-Road.net is when I commented on a thread entitled "Was Drew Spiting Roger in Season 37" and that way I sounded, it made a ton of people here very angry and I found myself in hot water.  I even went as far as to caliing Drew an idiot but believe me when I say this, there have been tons of people who called Drew FAR worser names than idiot.

I remember one member even went as far as to ask how to put people on their "Ignore" list and I know that it was probably directed at me and I really didn't care that much because I don't really care who likes me and who dosen't but I have to say I felt really bad for the way I commented on that particular thread but I later commented saying I was sorry for the way I responsed the first time.
I let my anger get the better of me and I should not have done that.
Not one of my best moments.

Another thing I want to comment on is I know that a few members (myself included) have created threads announcing their Birthdays.
I personally see nothing wrong w/ that, SAW nothing wrong w/ that when I did it.  I'll admit that some members were nice enough to come foward to wish me a happy b-day while others were not so nice, the very first reply on that thread was "How Vain" and I was very insulted by that reply and then came a couple more not-so-nice replies and it felt like some sort of an attack on me and I kinda drifted away from the site for several months, I did the B-Day thread on myself that one time but I just won't do it anymore.
B-Day's are always special because it's a celebration of the day you were born.

The only I can do is be myself and not care about what others around me may say or think because I don't care what people think about me, that's always been my motto and always will be my motto.