Off topic forum only visible for members

[Zuilu]

Well after seeing all this unroll, I made up my mind..yeah, I agree with Azu. I realized that I, too, joined this forum based on the community I saw, not just because of it being a hunter site.

While all of you are entitled to your own opinions, wants and needs, calling Azu out by saying "She's obviously only upset over this because Lurker is her friend" is completely uncalled for. Let's keep this beneficial to the community, no need to take personal jabs at it. Many other people hold her opinion without knowing this lurker person.

[Atalanta]

It wasn't a personal jab at all. It's obvious she's defending her friend, which is totally understandable. I'd do the same thing. But I'm trying to get people to look at this from a safety perspective, not just about what happened with the drop thread.

[Zuilu]

I'm looking at it from both angles and it seems uneeded to me, still. On the 'safety' issue, nothing you post on the internet is going to be safe. If you're not comfortable with people possibly finding it, you shouldn't post it on such a large forum. On the DC incident, I can't really comment much about it since I wasn't there for the mishap, but it seems like a total over reaction. As far as I know, he didn't do it intentionally, apologized, and returned the egg. So yes, we could hide the forums to prevent such incidents from happening in the future, but...I'm not sure how much work that would be for Mania. If it's going to take her time and effort to do it, we need a bigger reason than those two things.

[Nili]

I've ran my own forums before, and trust me, it's not that much work. There's hardly any effort going in the forum admin board and clicking a few check boxes.

[Gumballs]

However, my main concern was that people would come here to just have a snoop around in the picture thread or through anything else somewhat personal that members have posted. (Seen quite a lot of self help topics...)

Please tell me what's informative and sharing about personal things in off topic for those interested in joining the forum? They should be joining for the interest in Hunters and pets.

I posted this request with the safety of members in mind. As I already stated on the first page, every single forum I'm a part of (and it's way over 20) has their member and other discussions topics hidden from those not a part of the community. I can't really see why people don't mind it staying open. I know it's the internet and everyone is a stranger, but it kinda doesn't feel like we're Petopians. I feel extremely exposed when I post anything in off topic now, knowing that anyone can just be looking there.

Like I said earlier, if people are concerned with privacy and internet safety then they shouldn't be posting such personal things in off topic knowing the number of people who can see them. If people were so concerned with that they would be discussing things over PMs and other non-forum programs to keep their topics private.

And I'm starting to think that it WOULD be a good idea to hide off topic, seeing as how often people on this forum fight with one another. Maybe it will encourage more people to join if they don't see all the bickering. -_-

[Zuilu]

And I'm starting to think that it WOULD be a good idea to hide off topic, seeing as how often people on this forum fight with one another. Maybe it will encourage more people to join if they don't see all the bickering. -_-

...Yeeeeah >.> I would probably vote for that sooner than the privacy or DC issue..

[Lisaara]

I'm looking at it from both angles and it seems uneeded to me, still. On the 'safety' issue, nothing you post on the internet is going to be safe. If you're not comfortable with people possibly finding it, you shouldn't post it on such a large forum. On the DC incident, I can't really comment much about it since I wasn't there for the mishap, but it seems like a total over reaction. As far as I know, he didn't do it intentionally, apologized, and returned the egg. So yes, we could hide the forums to prevent such incidents from happening in the future, but...I'm not sure how much work that would be for Mania. If it's going to take her time and effort to do it, we need a bigger reason than those two things.

I think the point is to PREVENT that from happening. Not everyone is gonna be like Azu's friend. I've come across plenty who would be like "Yeah? Well so what? I caught it. It's mine!".

[Zuilu]

I'm looking at it from both angles and it seems uneeded to me, still. On the 'safety' issue, nothing you post on the internet is going to be safe. If you're not comfortable with people possibly finding it, you shouldn't post it on such a large forum. On the DC incident, I can't really comment much about it since I wasn't there for the mishap, but it seems like a total over reaction. As far as I know, he didn't do it intentionally, apologized, and returned the egg. So yes, we could hide the forums to prevent such incidents from happening in the future, but...I'm not sure how much work that would be for Mania. If it's going to take her time and effort to do it, we need a bigger reason than those two things.

I think the point is to PREVENT that from happening. Not everyone is gonna be like Azu's friend. I've come across plenty who would be like "Yeah? Well so what? I caught it. It's mine!".

Did you read my post?

So yes, we could hide the forums to prevent such incidents from happening in the future...

No need to repeat what I've said I already see that point.

[cowmuflage]

I posted this request with the safety of members in mind. As I already stated on the first page, every single forum I'm a part of (and it's way over 20) has their member and other discussions topics hidden from those not a part of the community. I can't really see why people don't mind it staying open. I know it's the internet and everyone is a stranger, but it kinda doesn't feel like we're Petopians. I feel extremely exposed when I post anything in off topic now, knowing that anyone can just be looking there. And it's not requesting to 'HIDE EVERYTHING!!!!' because of one small incident. It's considering a move which will avoid future screw ups like that one.

Sigh, didn't want it to end up like this. It's the admins call, anyway. Please don't argue anymore guys, I don't want this to be closed and the problem unsolved. ><

If your worried about "safety" then don't post things on the internet. Simple as that and your telling PETOPIANS to STOP fighting? Have you seen this place? Really? When don't we fight?

[Chimera]

To defend my long winded post on the other page, no it doesnt sound silly to me that this site would give the impression that its a WOW site with most of it focusing on hunters because of the Petopia pet guide, if you read the other WoW boards here that are not Show & Tell and Pet Discussion it's quite plain to see that we arent focusing only on hunters and that only hunters can join. Plus in previous posts and my last post on page 2, i mentioned that its not hard to move topics from the Off-Topic thread so that the RP and Fan Art can remain open. I also feel that this is not so much anymore a privacy issue since we know the risks that come along with posting personal information on the open web and that what Lurker did was by accident since they misread the rules of the game and corrected it without fuss. I did put stress on the words 'hunter' and 'community' but you dont need to single out those two specific words and toss the rest of the logic and speech into the trash as if you were cutting the crust off bread.

Page 1 of this thread.

If we hide these topics, guests who havent lurked here before wont know they exist. They wont join the forums to have small chat with the community but rather because they wish to become part of the community in a productive and -hopefully- fun way by either joining to speak about WoW or to join the RP threads or to share their artistic creativeness with us.

In my earlier posts i wasnt trying to say that we should only let WoW players or enthusiasts in (no ones spoken up about my responses in this thread but as this conversation grows i would like to address my lack of properly explained thoughts ^^ i feel i came on too strong amd making it sound to myself like im implying 'oh only fellow crazy hunter players can join' which isnt the case.) but rather, have the people join because we have common interests. If someone wants to join an RP, let them. Its not all WoW related, and its a great way to get to know members of the community. Same as the fan art, we dont always draw WoW related stuff but we praise eachothers work when someone posts some whether it be simple sketches or a masterpiece with digital editing and enhancing throughout the whole picture.

Just that.. the off topic stuff that isnt geared towards bringing the community together or having the community grow should be members only.. its not doing anything for the greater good and it wont harm anyone to have it hidden. Guests coming here for the first time, if the change was implimented, would have no idea that we have threads like our Happy/Rant thread, or Dragon Cave thread, or Magistream thread. :3 If they make an account just to see the off-topic threads (but they shouldnt be able to tell that such a board even exists.. i think you can hide boards entirely from guest view but i dont know, i never tried it on my forums), then so be it. We tried right? We cant stop it all together but stemming the flow is better then just sitting by and letting it flood.

Again, just because i seem to put stress on the words 'hunter' and 'community' dont single those two words out and ignore the rest of the argument.

[Vephriel]

Scratching my head at how everything manages to become an argument here.

In any case, I can't say I know anything about these Dragon Cave issues, however my agreement with the topic was based on past experience from other forums that did something similar. I feel like it's a valid point to bring up, many forums have parts of their boards that are not available unless you are registered with an account. It simply tucks some of the off-topic chat away so that casual browsers can more easily peruse information they're looking for (if they're on these forums without an account it's safe to say they're probably looking for WoW or pet information). This also encourages signing up and joining the community if they really want to come in and get to know everyone outside of the World of Warcraft topics.

Privacy is certainly not a factor in this to me. It's the internet, if you post something it's going to be seen regardless. If I truly don't want something known or seen I won't post it, haha.

So that's where my vote lies. I can't say I feel strongly enough about this to defend it nor argue against it. I simply think it makes sense based on previous experience in other forums and hey, it might be worth looking into here. *shrug*

[Atalanta]

Yeah, every time someone disagrees with someone I can almost hear, "OMFG AN ONLINE FIGHT! MUST TAKE PART!" -_-

[Zuilu]

Well, I apologize if my posts came off as wanting to partake in an internet fight, I was simply offering my input as an unbiased account as I don't really care whether it happens, doesn't happen, or why or why not it should/shouldn't happen. :V

[Chimera]

for my retaliation, it wasnt at all towards you Zui, you took a neutral stance

[Azunara]

Please tell me what's informative and sharing about personal things in off topic for those interested in joining the forum? They should be joining for the interest in Hunters and pets.

I posted this request with the safety of members in mind. As I already stated on the first page, every single forum I'm a part of (and it's way over 20) has their member and other discussions topics hidden from those not a part of the community. I can't really see why people don't mind it staying open. I know it's the internet and everyone is a stranger, but it kinda doesn't feel like we're Petopians. I feel extremely exposed when I post anything in off topic now, knowing that anyone can just be looking there. And it's not requesting to 'HIDE EVERYTHING!!!!' because of one small incident. It's considering a move which will avoid future screw ups like that one.

Having that opens gives a much better feel for the community than closing it off, as I said. The Hunter related aspects are very stiff and informative, you don't know who the community is. As for why I don't mind it open...Easy. If I don't want people to read certain things, I don't post them. Again, you're proposing that random strangers go for the Hunter aspect. They make an account and suddenly they can see the Off Topic stuff. Your posts? No longer as protected. I don't see it having an effect, just adds another step for people to see your stuff. And the Bots already have "accounts", so they can still see your info, can't they?

Considering you have a colored name, most new members naturally look up to you and your comments on this forum. But here..damn girl I can literally see your sarcasm dripping. Reel it in and try to be a bit more respectful, yeah?

You might be right that I was a bit out of line, but I think you've crossed that line right with me. That wasn't called for. People said similar things while being far more respectful. Follow your own advice.

On the 'safety' issue, nothing you post on the internet is going to be safe. If you're not comfortable with people possibly finding it, you shouldn't post it on such a large forum.

Exactly. As like I said above, hiding it from lurkers won't prevent them from just making an account and then peeking at what you write anyways. Tons of users join daily, and a fair chunk of them don't post even once, just lurking the forum. Even hiding it won't do much to protect privacy. What Zuilu is saying I agree with completely. If you don't want people reading it, don't post it, because lots of people have an account and are still complete strangers.

If we hide these topics, guests who havent lurked here before wont know they exist. They wont join the forums to have small chat with the community but rather because they wish to become part of the community in a productive and -hopefully- fun way by either joining to speak about WoW or to join the RP threads or to share their artistic creativeness with us.

In my earlier posts i wasnt trying to say that we should only let WoW players or enthusiasts in (no ones spoken up about my responses in this thread but as this conversation grows i would like to address my lack of properly explained thoughts ^^ i feel i came on too strong amd making it sound to myself like im implying 'oh only fellow crazy hunter players can join' which isnt the case.) but rather, have the people join because we have common interests. If someone wants to join an RP, let them. Its not all WoW related, and its a great way to get to know members of the community. Same as the fan art, we dont always draw WoW related stuff but we praise eachothers work when someone posts some whether it be simple sketches or a masterpiece with digital editing and enhancing throughout the whole picture.

Just that.. the off topic stuff that isnt geared towards bringing the community together or having the community grow should be members only.. its not doing anything for the greater good and it wont harm anyone to have it hidden. Guests coming here for the first time, if the change was implimented, would have no idea that we have threads like our Happy/Rant thread, or Dragon Cave thread, or Magistream thread. :3 If they make an account just to see the off-topic threads (but they shouldnt be able to tell that such a board even exists.. i think you can hide boards entirely from guest view but i dont know, i never tried it on my forums), then so be it. We tried right? We cant stop it all together but stemming the flow is better then just sitting by and letting it flood.

Okay. Let's look at your first paragraph.

"If we hide these topics, guests who havent lurked here before wont know they exist. They wont join the forums to have small chat with the community but rather because they wish to become part of the community in a productive and -hopefully- fun way by either joining to speak about WoW or to join the RP threads or to share their artistic creativeness with us."

You're absolutely correct. People who have never been here won't know they're there. I don't see why people wanting to chat with the community is such a bad thing, honestly. Why are people so against it? That's all I do these days--participate in the game threads and talk. I have little real interest in WoW, and no one RPs anymore. I don't feel comfortable posting my art on the art threads. So I talk with people I've known for over a year. Had the forums been hidden, I never would've joined Petopia. Which, you know, may not matter at all to you, but since I've been with Petopia for over a year, it's odd to think how such a big part of the last year would have been different.

"In my earlier posts i wasnt trying to say that we should only let WoW players or enthusiasts in (no ones spoken up about my responses in this thread but as this conversation grows i would like to address my lack of properly explained thoughts ^^ i feel i came on too strong amd making it sound to myself like im implying 'oh only fellow crazy hunter players can join' which isnt the case.) but rather, have the people join because we have common interests. If someone wants to join an RP, let them. Its not all WoW related, and its a great way to get to know members of the community. Same as the fan art, we dont always draw WoW related stuff but we praise eachothers work when someone posts some whether it be simple sketches or a masterpiece with digital editing and enhancing throughout the whole picture."

Isn't talking to one another a common interest? What if I'm browsing the forums as a guest, I see the magistream thread, and am like, "Oh these guys like Magistream, I think I'll join so I can talk to them." Or maybe I see someone talking about teaching, which hypothetically I do. What if I want to add input there? Hide the forums and I would never know these people show interest in things I do or know about, and again, what if WoW is no longer as interesting and I can't draw? Again, it's not like the RP forum is doing much so in that aspect I wouldn't care.

"Just that.. the off topic stuff that isnt geared towards bringing the community together or having the community grow should be members only.. its not doing anything for the greater good and it wont harm anyone to have it hidden. Guests coming here for the first time, if the change was implimented, would have no idea that we have threads like our Happy/Rant thread, or Dragon Cave thread, or Magistream thread. :3 If they make an account just to see the off-topic threads (but they shouldnt be able to tell that such a board even exists.. i think you can hide boards entirely from guest view but i dont know, i never tried it on my forums), then so be it. We tried right? We cant stop it all together but stemming the flow is better then just sitting by and letting it flood."

Really? I don't know, the entirety of the off-topic threads seem like it brings the community together. See my above examples, what if someone was interested in joining a current discussion about something they know a lot about, so they join due to that.

Again, common interests show again in things like the DC thread or the MS thread. You'd hide those as well to prevent something that was an accident from happening again, yet if people share common interests in that, they're blocked off.

And you seem like these people coming and lurking is such a huge and horrible thing. I honestly don't see how. You had one mistake happen that yes, shut down a thread that reopened shortly after. Privacy issues has been covered extensively-If you don't want people to read it, don't post. Easy. The -only- logical reason I could see forums being hidden off is to prevent spam, but at that point you might as well hide everything which is even more counterproductive.

[GormanGhaste]

You've just shut out all the people who might have joined because they're nice, not because they're obsessed with hunters. I know if this board was just hunter stuff, I probably wouldn't join. I personally would've gone, "Oh...They seem to be a bit...boring and uninteresting." I mean, hell. I'm not really as interested in hunters or WoW as much.

^This is an excellent argument for restricting off-topic areas to members only. That way we won't attract people who find us boring and uninteresting.

[Lisaara]

I'm looking at it from both angles and it seems uneeded to me, still. On the 'safety' issue, nothing you post on the internet is going to be safe. If you're not comfortable with people possibly finding it, you shouldn't post it on such a large forum. On the DC incident, I can't really comment much about it since I wasn't there for the mishap, but it seems like a total over reaction. As far as I know, he didn't do it intentionally, apologized, and returned the egg. So yes, we could hide the forums to prevent such incidents from happening in the future, but...I'm not sure how much work that would be for Mania. If it's going to take her time and effort to do it, we need a bigger reason than those two things.

I think the point is to PREVENT that from happening. Not everyone is gonna be like Azu's friend. I've come across plenty who would be like "Yeah? Well so what? I caught it. It's mine!".

Did you read my post?

So yes, we could hide the forums to prevent such incidents from happening in the future...

No need to repeat what I've said I already see that point.

I read it. Read the rest you didn't bold. You mentioned Azu's friend so I mentioned it too, explaining not everyone is gonna be like 'Lurker'. You also said it's 'unneeded' so that was mostly where the response came from before at the end you switched do 'Well....we could but...'. You were giving two contradicting answers by saying 'yes we should' and 'it's not necessary' in the same paragraph. Wasn't meant to be hostile(I had also just woken up when I typed that so forgive me if it sounded harsh or blunt) or anything. If I misunderstood what you were aiming for(which I realize was more of a neutral standpoint), then I apologize.

[Nili]

You might be right that I was a bit out of line, but I think you've crossed that line right with me. That wasn't called for. People said similar things while being far more respectful. Follow your own advice.

I'm sorry, how was my comment disrespectful? And besides, I tend to follow the forum rules..for the most part

[Zuilu]

I read it. Read the rest you didn't bold. You mentioned Azu's friend so I mentioned it too, explaining not everyone is gonna be like 'Lurker'. You also said it's 'unneeded' so that was mostly where the response came from before at the end you switched do 'Well....we could but...'. You were giving two contradicting answers by saying 'yes we should' and 'it's not necessary' in the same paragraph. Wasn't meant to be hostile(I had also just woken up when I typed that so forgive me if it sounded harsh or blunt) or anything. If I misunderstood what you were aiming for(which I realize was more of a neutral standpoint), then I apologize.

Maaaan, I never said we should do it..please just don't respond if you're not going to read the post you're responding to.
could =/= should.
I've acknowledged the point, already gave my opinion on it prior to your response, that's that. Thread moves on.

[Azunara]

You might be right that I was a bit out of line, but I think you've crossed that line right with me. That wasn't called for. People said similar things while being far more respectful. Follow your own advice.

I'm sorry, how was my comment disrespectful? And besides, I tend to follow the forum rules..for the most part

The entire attitude behind it seemed snarky to me.

You've just shut out all the people who might have joined because they're nice, not because they're obsessed with hunters. I know if this board was just hunter stuff, I probably wouldn't join. I personally would've gone, "Oh...They seem to be a bit...boring and uninteresting." I mean, hell. I'm not really as interested in hunters or WoW as much.

^This is an excellent argument for restricting off-topic areas to members only. That way we won't attract people who find us boring and uninteresting.

That's not the point.

The point is people come to this forum and while some may be looking towards the hunter aspect, some may be looking for a friendly place to just chill and chat. I mean, there's not -that- many WoW sites out there that are relatively friendly. They may find the hunter part boring, but they might like the community here. Why shut them out by hiding part of the forum? Again, the whole point of Petopia's been to be an open community.