Discussion Point: Why Are the Forums So Thinly Populated?
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Smiley Sneerwell
Registered User
Join date: 6 Jun 2005
Posts: 210
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10-15-2005 22:34
From: Enabran Templar The reason is very simple.
As the boss of The Forum Mob™, I have access to usage stats for the forums. Whenever a new user begins regularly posting to the forum, I use an advanced algorithmic analysis tool to determine the FICRank of their posts. The tool, which uses many of the same libraries that form the foundation of the Spinnaker Automatic Contrary Discourse System, then recommends a course of action based upon the FICRank it has given to the post:
FICRank 1 - 3: Poster's ideas and opinions are harmful to the FICStatus Quo™. Recommend coercive action.
FICRank 4 - 6: Poster's ideas and opinions are mostly ignorant and harmless. Send nastygram to discourage further posts.
FICRank 7 - 10: Poster is very likely to support concepts and policies that enhance the FICStatus Quo™. Send private message praising poster.
Interestingly, the distribution of FICRank scores is oddly slanted toward scores 1 - 3, with very few posters scoring in the 7 - 10 range. The result is that most new posters get a visit from The Forum Mob™, which is usually sufficient to ensure an end to their disruptive chatter.
Sure, there are a few who manage to stick around despite prescribed coercive action, but The Forum Mob™ knows how to discredit where discredit is due.
I'm a little surprised this had to be asked publicly, but I guess I'm not doing a good job of spreading the info. Please let me know if I can further inform you about the machinations of The Forum Mob™. *Applause* |
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Seth Kanahoe
political fugue artist
Join date: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 1,220
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10-15-2005 22:54
So, Enabran, you are the chief mofo of the FoMo?
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Enabran Templar
Capitalist Pig
Join date: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 4,506
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10-15-2005 23:03
From: Seth Kanahoe So, Enabran, you are the chief mofo of the FoMo? Fo'sho.
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From: Hiro Pendragon Furthermore, as Second Life goes to the Metaverse, and this becomes an open platform, Linden Lab risks lawsuit in court and [attachment culling] will, I repeat WILL be reverse in court.
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Katt Kongo
M2 Publisher
Join date: 9 Jun 2005
Posts: 1,020
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10-15-2005 23:31
From: Enabran Templar
FICRank 4 - 6: Poster's ideas and opinions are mostly ignorant and harmless. Send nastygram to discourage further posts.
QUOTE]
So THAT'S why I got that e-mail...
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Satchmo Prototype
eSheep
Join date: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 1,323
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10-15-2005 23:39
From: Enabran Templar The reason is very simple.
As the boss of The Forum Mob™, I have access to usage stats for the forums. Whenever a new user begins regularly posting to the forum, I use an advanced algorithmic analysis tool to determine the FICRank of their posts. The tool, which uses many of the same libraries that form the foundation of the Spinnaker Automatic Contrary Discourse System, then recommends a course of action based upon the FICRank it has given to the post:
Enabran wins! You can all stop playing the forums now. |
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Enabran Templar
Capitalist Pig
Join date: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 4,506
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10-16-2005 00:42
From: Satchmo Prototype Enabran wins! You can all stop playing the forums now. Ulrika is the only one who has won the forums. I am merely her retainer -- she will reclaim her exalted position at a point she chooses.
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From: Hiro Pendragon Furthermore, as Second Life goes to the Metaverse, and this becomes an open platform, Linden Lab risks lawsuit in court and [attachment culling] will, I repeat WILL be reverse in court.
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Sitearm Madonna
Registered User
Join date: 6 Oct 2005
Posts: 535
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10-16-2005 03:25
Discussion Point: Why Are the Forums So Thinly Populated? Um... is this a quiz?... ok... is it because you have to be able to type? I mean, type a LOT, like whole sentences 'n' paragraphs 'n' stuff? Not just "Hi" etc.? (no wait, I wonder about it too, but sometimes it's more fun to make up stuff...) (putting serious on...) I agree with the other comments that forums are typically a small subset of total gaming, I mean worlding, population. But I also remember reading that it has been this way since the beginning. People who read but don't post provide a "listening" audience that adds to the aliveness of the forums. On the other hand, it DOES help to 1. enforce minimum standards of civility and good faith, and 2. "feed" the forum with a VARIETY of topics ranging from pertinent to humorous and back. As a newcomer to this forum I am blown away by the size and volume of posting. Fortunately I come from another (smaller) forum where my initial shyness to post was overcome. If you REALLY want more people to post here, there are "vays, dahling" to do this. But really, I think this is a great forum "as is"!  From: Jamie Bergman Its no secret that the forums are not representative of the population of SL, in general. As the population of SecondLife shoots ever higher, the forum population... well.... does not.
Most the poster on here are by now old hat... I recognize 75% of them from when I started visiting the forums on a regular basis.
My question is "Why?". Are we, the forum population too into SL for our own good? Do others simply not know the forums exist? Do they care?
To me, it is a baffling matter.
Anyone else care to comment?
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Seth Kanahoe
political fugue artist
Join date: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 1,220
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10-16-2005 05:52
lol nubs itz liek u keep typeng LFG LFG LFG LFG or WTS WTS WTS WTS an nbody ansers or everbody calls u fukin nub stop spaming so theres no smart diskushin arond here lol
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Katja Marlowe
Registered User
Join date: 15 Apr 2005
Posts: 421
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10-16-2005 10:31
From: Enabran Templar The reason is very simple.
As the boss of The Forum Mob™, I have access to usage stats for the forums. Whenever a new user begins regularly posting to the forum, I use an advanced algorithmic analysis tool to determine the FICRank of their posts. The tool, which uses many of the same libraries that form the foundation of the Spinnaker Automatic Contrary Discourse System, then recommends a course of action based upon the FICRank it has given to the post:
FICRank 1 - 3: Poster's ideas and opinions are harmful to the FICStatus Quo™. Recommend coercive action.
FICRank 4 - 6: Poster's ideas and opinions are mostly ignorant and harmless. Send nastygram to discourage further posts.
FICRank 7 - 10: Poster is very likely to support concepts and policies that enhance the FICStatus Quo™. Send private message praising poster.
Interestingly, the distribution of FICRank scores is oddly slanted toward scores 1 - 3, with very few posters scoring in the 7 - 10 range. The result is that most new posters get a visit from The Forum Mob™, which is usually sufficient to ensure an end to their disruptive chatter.
Sure, there are a few who manage to stick around despite prescribed coercive action, but The Forum Mob™ knows how to discredit where discredit is due.
I'm a little surprised this had to be asked publicly, but I guess I'm not doing a good job of spreading the info. Please let me know if I can further inform you about the machinations of The Forum Mob™. OMG! So that's why you all blasted me repeatedly out of a sim one day. It all makes sense now. Can you pass a notecard next time? thanks! Serious stuff now added: I know for me, I'm not always in here for a couple of reasons. 1) I'm too busy in the actual Second Life 2) Okay, not serious point, Enabran has snuck up on me and said boo a couple of times and I get too skerred to post. 3) Some days, when posts are flying everywhere, I don't have time to read and comment on them all. Now why for other people? Probably the first to some extent. Also some just don't want to wade through the pages and pages of posts on things that they find somewhat redundant. Some don't know it exists. Some don't care that it exists. I think that's probably pretty similiar to other environments too. I know it was in TSO. |
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Frans Charming
You only need one Frans
Join date: 28 Jan 2005
Posts: 1,847
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10-16-2005 10:51
One problem could be, that if you visit the forum only a couple of times a week, every thread with a good topic has run their course and are atleast 5 to 6 pages long. Its hard work to read that all. And most people aren't comfortable to post to a thread they haven't read completly. Such as i'm doing now, just to make a point.  . Be free to mock me, if i have said anything redundant. |
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Cristiano Midnight
Evil Snapshot Baron
Join date: 17 May 2003
Posts: 8,616
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10-16-2005 11:01
From: Frans Charming One problem could be, that if you visit the forum only a couple of times a week, every thread with a good topic has run their course and are atleast 5 to 6 pages long. Its hard work to read that all. And most people aren't comfortable to post to a thread they haven't read completly. Such as i'm doing now, just to make a point. . Be free to mock me, if i have said anything redundant. * harsh, expletive filled mocking *
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Cristiano Midnight
Evil Snapshot Baron
Join date: 17 May 2003
Posts: 8,616
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10-16-2005 11:09
From: Enabran Templar Ulrika is the only one who has won the forums.
I am merely her retainer -- she will reclaim her exalted position at a point she chooses. See, this is why we have to have you whacked, Enabran. Ulrika is not the only one to have won the forums,. I won the forums here, and Marilyn Murphy also won the forums way back in beta, where her reign went unchallenged for an impressive amount of time. She still has the title of Forum Master Emeritus. The circumstances surrounding Ulrika's supposed winning of the forums are quite murky and mired in controversy, much like her animation contest victory that she still lords over us all. I think the chicken hat was secretly made in Sri Lanka also.
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Cristiano ANOmations - huge selection of high quality, low priced animations all $100L or less. ~SLUniverse.com~ SL's oldest and largest community site, featuring Snapzilla image sharing, forums, and much more.
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Merwan Marker
Booring...
Join date: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 4,706
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10-16-2005 11:15
From: Jamie Bergman Its no secret that the forums are not representative of the population of SL, in general. As the population of SecondLife shoots ever higher, the forum population... well.... does not.
Most the poster on here are by now old hat... I recognize 75% of them from when I started visiting the forums on a regular basis.
My question is "Why?". Are we, the forum population too into SL for our own good? Do others simply not know the forums exist? Do they care?
To me, it is a baffling matter.
Anyone else care to comment? Possibly your behavior can shed some light. When posting your silliness about my leaving SL, though I found it very strange, others may find this type of bizarreness a negative deterrent and thus shy away from involvement herein. Ya wonder? 
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Jonquille Noir
Lemon Fresh
Join date: 17 Jan 2004
Posts: 4,025
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10-16-2005 11:27
Some people, whacky as they are, prefer to actually do things rather than to pontificate about doing things. (Obviously, I'm not one of those people, and I don't understand them at all.)
I do think people would benefit by checking the forums more, but just the helpful forums; Announcements, Hotline, Tech, Building, Scripting... etc etc.
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Enabran Templar
Capitalist Pig
Join date: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 4,506
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10-16-2005 11:34
From: Cristiano Midnight See, this is why we have to have you whacked, Enabran. Ulrika is not the only one to have won the forums,. I won the forums here, and Marilyn Murphy also won the forums way back in beta, where her reign went unchallenged for an impressive amount of time. She still has the title of Forum Master Emeritus. The circumstances surrounding Ulrika's supposed winning of the forums are quite murky and mired in controversy, much like her animation contest victory that she still lords over us all. I think the chicken hat was secretly made in Sri Lanka also. Careful, Anito, you don't want to be talking about having the boss whacked quite so publicly. The Forum Mob™ might not understand that you're a funny guy, given to jest and jocularity. Such a misunderstanding would be inconvenient for everyone involved.
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From: Hiro Pendragon Furthermore, as Second Life goes to the Metaverse, and this becomes an open platform, Linden Lab risks lawsuit in court and [attachment culling] will, I repeat WILL be reverse in court.
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Jamie Bergman
SL's Largest Distributor
Join date: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 1,752
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10-16-2005 12:09
From: Merwan Marker Possibly your behavior can shed some light. When posting your silliness about my leaving SL, though I found it very strange, others may find this type of bizarreness a negative deterrent and thus shy away from involvement herein. Ya wonder? I actually thought you were leaving. It wasn't an agenda or anything. |
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Cocoanut Koala
Coco's Cottages
Join date: 7 Feb 2005
Posts: 7,903
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10-16-2005 12:17
From: Cristiano Midnight See, this is why we have to have you whacked, Enabran. Ulrika is not the only one to have won the forums,. I won the forums here, and Marilyn Murphy also won the forums way back in beta, where her reign went unchallenged for an impressive amount of time. She still has the title of Forum Master Emeritus. The circumstances surrounding Ulrika's supposed winning of the forums are quite murky and mired in controversy, much like her animation contest victory that she still lords over us all. I think the chicken hat was secretly made in Sri Lanka also. Excuuuuuuuuuse me! *I* won the forums, and that was before I ever even got on them! You're supposed to already know that. coco |
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Lordfly Digeridoo
Prim Orchestrator
Join date: 21 Jul 2003
Posts: 3,628
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10-16-2005 12:31
The forums are thinly populated for three reasons:
1) It's generally considered wholly separate from SL as a whole; there is no direct connection between the forums and the client that we all use. If it were directly integrated into the forums you'd see more people in here.
2) It's insanely cliquish. Everyone has their own views and friends' views on how SL life is, and generally, damned be you who doesn't comply. On top of that, in-jokes run rampant, thread derailments are aplenty, and scathing (yet friendly) banter can be seen as incredibly hostile to the outsider.
3) People generally have thin skins. They don't like their ideas ripped to shreds in a public venue.
LF
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Enabran Templar
Capitalist Pig
Join date: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 4,506
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10-16-2005 12:53
From: Lordfly Digeridoo 3) People generally have thin skins. They don't like their ideas ripped to shreds in a public venue. This, I think, is the greatest culprit.
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From: Hiro Pendragon Furthermore, as Second Life goes to the Metaverse, and this becomes an open platform, Linden Lab risks lawsuit in court and [attachment culling] will, I repeat WILL be reverse in court.
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Satchmo Prototype
eSheep
Join date: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 1,323
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10-16-2005 12:57
From: Cristiano Midnight I think the chicken hat was secretly made in Sri Lanka also. Yea but they were unionized. |
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Candy Costello
Registered User
Join date: 10 May 2005
Posts: 25
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10-16-2005 15:20
There are many that VIEW the forums but simply chose not to REPLY, alot of people are not thrilled about cliques and pricks! haha
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Martin Magpie
Catherine Cotton
Join date: 13 Nov 2004
Posts: 1,826
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10-16-2005 15:21
From: Jamie Bergman Its no secret that the forums are not representative of the population of SL, in general. As the population of SecondLife shoots ever higher, the forum population... well.... does not.
Most the poster on here are by now old hat... I recognize 75% of them from when I started visiting the forums on a regular basis.
My question is "Why?". Are we, the forum population too into SL for our own good? Do others simply not know the forums exist? Do they care?
To me, it is a baffling matter.
Anyone else care to comment? Why? Because anyone who has a single thought of their own is usualy verbally beaten down but the forum regulars. My advice avoid the fourms at all costs. Trust me here it will save you a lot of heart ache in the end. Besides the individuals opinions don't matter, LL has had their own agenda all along and it doesn't mean a bit of difference what the ppl want. That is very apparent by their policies and policy changes in the last year. Fear not however its all just good business for LL, and isn't that realy all that matters. All hair king Phil  |
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Satchmo Prototype
eSheep
Join date: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 1,323
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10-16-2005 15:27
From: Martin Magpie My advice avoid the fourms at all costs. Trust me here it will save you a lot of heart ache in the end. Besides the individuals opinions don't matter, LL has had their own agenda all along and it doesn't mean a bit of difference what the ppl want.
I wouldn't recommend people avoiding forums at all cost. It's a great way to find scripting/building/texturing help and a good way to find other people interested on working on a project. Having negative opinions about the general/off topic discourse is fine, but it's not all bad here. From: Martin Magpie All hair king Phil He does have great hair! |
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Martin Magpie
Catherine Cotton
Join date: 13 Nov 2004
Posts: 1,826
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10-16-2005 15:42
From: Satchmo Prototype I wouldn't recommend people avoiding forums at all cost. It's a great way to find scripting/building/texturing help and a good way to find other people interested on working on a project. Having negative opinions about the general/off topic discourse is fine, but it's not all bad here.
He does have great hair! roflmao ok ok good point just avoid general and oops must have my mind on hair ah hum "all hail king P  " |
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Cocoanut Koala
Coco's Cottages
Join date: 7 Feb 2005
Posts: 7,903
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10-16-2005 16:25
He has bed head! In the SOP videos.
Somehow, that just makes him . . . all that much more attractive.
coco
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