Off topic forum only visible for members

[Atalanta]

Good evening!

I'll just quote my post from the Dragon Cave thread first:

I have to say something... sorry if this seems a bit weird. As I said above, I was awake last night until early hours so I went and had a read through the DC drop thread (lovely idea Zed, btw!). I noticed come the end of the topic that a lurker (who actually registered with this name) had ruined the game for everyone else, even if it wasn't intentional.

Now, this morning I've had to reset my cache and of course, had to relog back into Petopia but I just noticed that the entire off topic forums are viewable by strangers. I've said a lot of personal things in off topic, and I'm sure a lot of you have as well. I've got no problem to share any of it with the Petopia community, as I feel even though with the creases sometimes we've got a pretty tight relationship between all of us. I have a problem with random people just casually browsing through the forum and reading our personal things... and the fact that this happened in the DC drop thread just kinda proves it's something which should only be viewable to members.

I'm not sure if I should approach the admin of this site about this. Every single forum I've ever been on has always had the off topic forums invisible to strangers, and only available to those who had registered. I'm sorry if I look like a moron here >< I'm just really concerned about peoples stories and feelings that are posted in this forum being 'on show' for everyone, and a lot of people who aren't even interested in WoW or pets. They may just feel like nosing.

Anyway, the main reason I brought this up was because I'd love for the DC drop thread to be open again. I would love to participate in this once I've got some decent eggs myself to start giving away. Maybe we could setup some kind of personal chat for all of us to do this again? It'd be totally up to Zed, as I'm not sure what the admin of this site will do about what I've mentioned. What do you guys think? Again, sorry if I seem lame. ><

Just to make things clear - The DC drop thread was made for Petopia users only, and was requested to be locked by a moderator as it was ruined by an outsider. The outsider registered as name 'Lurker' and came forward, admitting they ruined the game but still...

Myself and a couple of other people (Check the Dragon Cave topic I linked above) have expressed dislike that the off topic forum can be viewed by people who are not a part of our community. So with saying all of that, I'd like to request it be made viewable only to members. I hope it's not too much to ask.

[Nili]

Just putting my +1 here.
I think off topic threads have some very personal information on them, and while I'm aware it is our choice on whether to post them here or not, I feel having it closed to the public would help our community become more connected.

[Miyon]

I am with you on this.

[GormanGhaste]

I think it's a good idea to make the Off-topic forum member-only, not only because of egg issues , but just because it isn't of interest to the general public/first-time visitor. I would actually expand the request to include all the forums in the 'other' section, except Support of course.

However, the privacy argument just isn't valid. If you have a problem with random people casually reading a post you make, then it's probably something that should be limited to PMs. This forum community has plenty of random people--you might even be reading a random person's post Right Now!

[Chimera]

This forum, based on what ive learned during my little over a year of being here, had the intent of bringing people together who share the same interests and i feel that some people only join for the off topic threads and arent interested in the community itself. I would like to see the Other board be members only so that forum stalkers dont decide to join because of that particular board and rather because they want to voice their opinion about something WoW related, in which, then, they will stumble on the Other board after making their account for reasons that are WoW related. They joined to say something about WoW not to chat it up in off-topic matters. That part can be a bonus to the community members. For support reasons however, i would like Support to have its own board so that the Other board can be hidden to guests but Support will still show to the whole.

[Senna-Umbreon]

I.. Can't say I'm all for it, especially the notion of all the sub-forums in the "Other" section being member-only. What of the RP section? I have a friend who I'd LOVE to have read some of those RPs, but she's not into WoW in the least and I don't think it's fair that she'd have to join to read the RPs that have shaped so many of the characters she knows. Heck, the Fan Art section too. I have an old art thread there that I'd MUCH rather have open to non-members, even if it is full of old stuff.

And honestly? As much as I can sympathize with those who are worried about this.. I can't agree. Yes, there are some things people have posted in, let's say.. The Rant Thread that they might not want random people reading, but really.. Those random people can join if they want, and chances are, people like that are already members and would be able to read it anyway. I'm fairly sure there's already members here who would potentially have the same reaction to something posted than someone who ISN'T a member would have.

If this idea DID happen.. I'd definitely suggest that only the actual Off-Topic sub-forum be counted. And if possible, maybe have the Other Games section free of such a thing? I don't see it being too huge of a problem that it would warrant that. (Despite the thing mentioned earlier in this thread about a thread there... Still.)


Anyway... I just don't see the idea working. It might sound good in theory, but I just don't see a whole lot of reasons to back it up. *Shrugs* That's probably just me, though. (And again, I'd DEFINITELY say to leave out the RP section of this request, and not just for my reasons stated earlier in this post. Same goes for the Fan-Art section.)

[Chimera]

The fan art and rp part of the Other forum could be placed into different boards. I have hosted a forum before which i dumped cause i was far too lazy to complete it (i kept it hidden as a whole till i was ready to unveil it for people to join) and its not hard to create boards on a forum.

[GormanGhaste]

The purpose of this forum community is to discuss hunter pets. If someone wants to lurk here and read about something other than hunter pets, I don't think registering is too much of a hardship.

[Chimera]

^Agreed. If theres something you reeeally want to read, its not hard making an account and simply hiding your online status. But i admit that i hate having to do that since i have accounts all over the web for different things and remembering names and passwords for all of them can be a pain. But i do make one if i really want to join in or read/look at something thats going on then i will make one cause its worth it enough to me to take that 2 minutes it takes to sign up. But its also not hard to create boards and move entire topics with the threads within included.

[Lisaara]

I vote a yes on this. I don't mind the WoW sections being open to all but the Other stuff should be members only. That stuff is for people who actually wanna participate on the forums.

[Vephriel]

Sounds like a smart idea, I will put my agreement down as well.

[Finduilas]

I can agree with this. I think it would be totally ok to see all wow-related stuff as an outsider, like when you are looking for taming strategies, but the Off-topic would be great for members only.

[CandidHeartbeat]

My two cents, I agree with all of the above mentioned

[Samskeyti]

Never thought about this but, would like to see it hidden from non-members too. What they don't see, they don't know and if they aren't really interested in hunter pets, why register at all. if I get it right that is... like on our community raiding forum, the guild only stuff is locked to members of the guild, other people don't even know it exists, that's what I think. Unless people already know about the off-topic threads, then it doesn't mattter but for the future, would be a good thing to do. Art, sigs, all that can be open for everyone but some of the personal threads, let's get some curtains

[Nahale]

.

[meepitco]

I agree completely on this. But, some things like RP section, and Avatar/Fanart section, and ofcourse the WoW general and pet realted things to be open to the public.

Also, an option on the create forum page to be "Only registered viewers can see" would be nice to see.

[Azunara]

The concept is sound enough, though I do agree with splicing certain forums. The WoW related stuff can remain open, and I agree the art and RP sections should also be left alone. No personal info is -there-, and that seems to be the problem people have. Off-topic can be hidden if you want (Though really, it is up to you to think about what you want to post in the first place.) Other Games and Support I also feel should be left open.

So really I feel like only Off Topic and Real Life Pets should be hidden. That's where all the personal stuff is, anyways. I don't see why any art or things about games or roleplaying should be closed off anyways. None of that has "personal" things that desire privacy.

The only counterargument is what's to stop people from making accounts just to pry at your personal details anyways?

[Chimera]

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.

edit: found a punctuation error i corrected. Specially since i want to use that specific paragraph for a quote.

[Miyon]

I agree with Azu and Xak. It's what I would have wanted to express, if I ever had the patience to sit down and type. My head is just too flighty for me to actually manage.

[Golden]

I support this idea. *golden stamp of approval*