Character/Actor Appreciation

[Jody]

I'm one of the people who doesn't particularly like the new system. I honestly feel while it ended up making a small bunch of people feel more welcoming it ended making a lot more people who used to actually post frequently unwelcoming. The thing that bugs me is that people complained about not feeling comfortable posting in the Adelle thread that they felt the need to complain yet where are all these people now that they have a more 'welcoming enviroment' to post in. Most only posted once or twice about stating whether they like them or not then finished with the thread. I miss coming on after an Adelle episode to see everyone discussing the episode not just one or two post that are still going on with the tiresome Adelle is a good couple/ Adelle is a bad couple debate. There used to be a time when straight after an Adelle ep there used to be 40 something people reading (and there where people who didn't post but just enjoyed reading it)the Adelle thread alone now you'll be surprised to find atleast 5 people at time in the whole Character discussion area even right after an episode.

I truly sympathise with the mods about having to deal with all this. I do believe a change was needed. And I'm glad that all the old threads were closed and that we got to start fresh. But I feel it would been better if you'll kept the anti/appreciation threads(make one for each pairing/character like now) but made a specific rule about people sticking to the right threads. I know alot of sites that suspend your posting writes for a few days if you break the rules. I'm sure doing something like that would make people think twice about breaking the rules like spamming, attacking other members, and all the others better then simple warnings.

The mod approval thing is another thing that annoys me. Not so much that you'll chose to approve posts but the lenght of time it takes to do it. And it's not because of others posting because everytime I posted there was only one time where someone else had a post come up around the same time. I posted recently and it took just over 5 hours before my post came up then another one took about 3. And both times I posted there were mods online. I think only once did I post and it didn't take much time.

Once again I do sympathise with the mods and completely understand why you'll had too do something. But I merely think that the way you'll chose just doesn't work. I think the lack of members posting and even reading there (because theres barely anyone reading those threads as well)makes that obvious. I'm glad to know that this isn't set in stone(as one of the mods said) and hope that more changes will be made that will make the majority of members feel more welcome rather then just the handful who used to complain about the old threads. Because this new section isn't doing that.

I was very wary about posting this because it would seem like I don't appreciate what the mods have do deal with to run this site. It's certainly not that. Just an opinion.

[Lise]

I might be in the minority but I like the new forum. It's nice to be able to go in there and know that I'm going to go into a thread and not read post after post of spam.

Thanks to all the mods, you do a great job!

[Cerise]

I'm one of the people who doesn't particularly like the new system. I honestly feel while it ended up making a small bunch of people feel more welcoming it ended making a lot more people who used to actually post frequently unwelcoming. We appreciate that some people may find the new section a bit intimidating, particularly the ones who used to use teh section for chit chat. But they shouldn't feel uncomfortable as long as they post posts that abide with the rules, thats not too hard, is it? One post in itself generally isn't Spam, so they don't have to fear that as long as tehy make an attempt to talk about a certain character/couple. And as long as they don't abuse another member and don't delieberately use txtsp3ak and make an effort to make tehir post seem tidy they shouldbe fine. The thing that bugs me is that people complained about not feeling comfortable posting in the Adelle thread that they felt the need to complain yet where are all these people now that they have a more 'welcoming enviroment' to post in. A lot of new people are posting in the 'Adelle' thread and stating their opinions which they felt they couldnt do before. The section may seem dead now and we realize this but considering Home and Away is off and the system is fairly new it's not worrying to us. Most only posted once or twice about stating whether they like them or not then finished with the thread. That happens when you start brand new threads and it's up to members to discuss their views and points. I miss coming on after an Adelle episode to see everyone discussing the episode not just one or two post that are still going on with the tiresome Adelle is a good couple/ Adelle is a bad couple debate. Well, then of course you can comment and discuss on the episode! Nobody's stopping anyone, obviously people may feel intimidated but you can discuss how Adelle were in a particular episode, of course you can. There used to be a time when straight after an Adelle ep there used to be 40 something people reading (and there where people who didn't post but just enjoyed reading it)the Adelle thread alone now you'll be surprised to find atleast 5 people at time in the whole Character discussion area even right after an episode. And those 40 people would probably be posting a load of crap hardly to do with the episode, I'm sorry if that sounds harsh but those people would have been spamming and reading the spam, there was barely any discussion most of the time. And episode discussion should really be done in it's respective threads.

I truly sympathise with the mods about having to deal with all this. I do believe a change was needed. And I'm glad that all the old threads were closed and that we got to start fresh. But I feel it would been better if you'll kept the anti/appreciation threads(make one for each pairing/character like now) but made a specific rule about people sticking to the right threads.But we did have this rule, and it didn't work. And apart from a few incidents that was hardly the problem. And we dont want to confine people to one thread based on what people do and dont like, we want them to DISCUSS the characters and couples with everyone and that's the correctw ay to do it, if a fan went into an anti thread to say something the anti people would backlash and vice versa so this is the best way to handle it. As long as you dont abuse other members. I know alot of sites that suspend your posting writes for a few days if you break the rules. I'm sure doing something like that would make people think twice about breaking the rules like spamming, attacking other members, and all the others better then simple warnings. We have done this, but some people didn't stop. We only use it in extreme cases, usually after two warnings and IMO we have been very lenient.

The mod approval thing is another thing that annoys me. Not so much that you'll chose to approve posts but the lenght of time it takes to do it. And it's not because of others posting because everytime I posted there was only one time where someone else had a post come up around the same time. I posted recently and it took just over 5 hours before my post came up then another one took about 3. And both times I posted there were mods online. I think only once did I post and it didn't take much time. We don't spend all of our time refreshing the discussion section to see if there are any new posts - and a feature that we have that shows the unapproved posts on the main view isn't working so it might take us a while to notice. MP wont be coming off for good any time soon so I'm afraid you'll have to put up with it until we find another solution

Once again I do sympathise with the mods and completely understand why you'll had too do something. But I merely think that the way you'll chose just doesn't work. I think the lack of members posting and even reading there (because theres barely anyone reading those threads as well)makes that obvious. I'm glad to know that this isn't set in stone(as one of the mods said) and hope that more changes will be made that will make the majority of members feel more welcome rather then just the handful who used to complain about the old threads. Because this new section isn't doing that.

I was very wary about posting this because it would seem like I don't appreciate what the mods have do deal with to run this site. It's certainly not that. Just an opinion.

I have made an effort to respond to every query of yours and please also be aware we are constantly taking these things on board and discussing it and debating different changes. This is a kind of hard time for us behind the scenes so I hope you understand, and I'm sure after the enw year we will be ALL SYSTEMS GO in capital letters Thnaks very much for your feedback

[Jody]

I can't imagine how hard it must be to run a board with this many members. So I can understand how hard it must be.

And those 40 people were probably posting a load of crap hardly to do with the episode - Yes, that was harsh. To say there was barely any discussion at all is ridiculous. You may have kept track of that thread once in a while but I read every page. I'm not going to say there wasn't spam because there was, alot of it. But there were quite a few who actually followed the rules and didn't spam and posted only about Adelle. So it would be nice if you didn't call all our(those of us who actually followed the rules) posts crap. I find it amusing that just hours ago, in the spoiler thread, you were upset for a while because you thought I was generalising everyone yet look at that first line of yours that I wrote down and tell me if you didn't just do exactly that to a whole bunch of people. You know you'll are constantly asking Adelle fans to show the anti ones some respect maybe you could do the courtesy of showing some of that respect right back. I'd atleast expect a staff member to be unbiased and treat all fans with respect . I found that comment to be very rude. And as someone who used to contribute with strictly Adelle talk I find it very disrespectful.

You know I actually read that bottom part of your post first and came to say thank you for taking the time to read it and answer. And that it was that bottom comment that made me feel better about posting my comment. But then I got that line I quoted and I was really sorry that I did so. You might think I'm overreacting but that line just showed how little respect you have for every Adelle fan on this board. You didn't say some of them you used the whole amount of people I told you used to be on the thread. Therefore implying that all of us that posted just posted crap and nothing worth reading. I actually had a decent reply thought out about the stuff you pointed out but then after reading that line I couldn't be bothered to continue and deleted it.

Sorry if I sounded harsh...........must be the thought of Monday.

[Cerise]

Yes, okay, that may have been out of line and stuff. I'm probably not doing myself any favours in replying here, but I realise how my post probably came off as completely rude, obnoxious and stuck up. I was generalising by saying that, but I had been keeping track of taht thread every day even though it grew by about 400% a week, and about two thirds of the thread WAS spam and a lot of it was about pancakes or wanting Aden or something. I know I was wrong to say that and one of my deepest flaws is taht I'm very defensive and take everything to heart and I get very annoyed when people break simple rules. Anyway. I'm really sorry I said taht.

I think I might let other people handle this thread from now on... I can't actually seem to express myself without coming across as rude anymore.

[Jody]

and about two thirds of the thread

Yes and the other third are those who talked strictly Adelle. I just didn't like way you lumped everybody together and just assumed that none of us posted anything that was worth reading. And the generalising thing made you seem pretty hypocritical.

But you admitted it was out of line so everythings good. As you can see I tend to get pretty defensive to at times. So I can understand that.

Well I think thats enough from me on this topic. I ranted enough.

[Zetti]

I think we all need to relax and its partly my fault as I brought up the fact the thread was dead. I never meant to cause friction between you all having said that though I do kind of agree with Jody on the things she brought up.

[solaris]

Yes, okay, that may have been out of line and stuff. I'm probably not doing myself any favours in replying here, but I realise how my post probably came off as completely rude, obnoxious and stuck up. I was generalising by saying that, but I had been keeping track of taht thread every day even though it grew by about 400% a week, and about two thirds of the thread WAS spam and a lot of it was about pancakes or wanting Aden or something. I know I was wrong to say that and one of my deepest flaws is taht I'm very defensive and take everything to heart and I get very annoyed when people break simple rules. Anyway. I'm really sorry I said taht.

I think I might let other people handle this thread from now on... I can't actually seem to express myself without coming across as rude anymore.

Whatever about the way you came over in the post (the issue of frustration taking over I well understand) but the point jody seems to be getting at (open to correction if wrong) is that a lot of the 'discussion' aspect is now missing - a 3-5 hour turnaround doesn't lend its-self to discussing anything!

I'm one of the 40+ people who used to in there regulaly and that I know of was never guilty of spamming (no offence taken at the generalisation) but I've posted exactly once since the mod approval thing was put in place. I don't find it intimidating, I find it patronising - again there's no offence intended but it is how I feel.

[jenlee]

I still like the new system. I love not having pages of spam to go through each day. I love being able to read both sides of an opinion.

I am one of the 40+ people who used to visit the Adelle thread and not (as far as I'm aware) post spam, so I do see Jody's point about generalisation. However I also see where Cerise is coming from about the Adelle thread, its contents and how fast it grew. There were often posts of actual Adelle discussion going on in there, however, (and this is coming from and Adelle fan who used to visit the thread more than a few times a day but also stopped seeing the point in posting in there) they tended to be swollowed by all the spam surrounding it.

Anyway, I think you staff members do a great job with what you have. Sure there may be a better solution to dealing with the Apprection thread but that doesn't mean it's going to work on this board and even if it did I doubt that would make everyone happy either. One not entirely liked thread, on a board this size and this popular, shouldn't cause everyone so much stress

[emmasi]

Just responding to the rate of approving posts. I don't know about everyone else, but I check the character forum when I come online, and if there are any posts waiting I approve them. However, we're still not able to see queued posts from the main page, so if we happen to get distracted by other threads, or if we leave the computer to do something else, our names might still appear online at the bottom of the forum but that's not to say that we're actually seeing every new post the minute it's made. It's tricky, and I agree it does disrupt the flow of conversation, such as it is. It's not an ideal system by any means, but I just wanted to let people know that we're not intentionally ignoring posts.

EDIT: Of course, if your posts aren't appropriate (telling people to stop criticising characters, for example) they won't be approved no matter when we see them.