What's your favorite SL-centric forum?

I've enjoyed being involved in both this forum and SLU. Both communities have immeasurably affected - and improved - my SL. Nearly all of my close relationships have been with people I met through one or the other. They've both been invaluable to me.

Both also have rich cultures, aspects of which I like and other aspects of which I don't like so much. That, unfortunately, is part of life on the internet. They also both include individuals whom I'd prefer not to interact with - another inevitable aspect of life on the internet. Happily I haven't had too much trouble staying out of forum drama or steering clear of people I find obnoxious for whatever reason.

I am not a member of SCII, but from what I've read there when I've peeked in occasionally, I think the same can be said for it that I've said for this and SLU. Each forum has its own personality, its own culture, its own pluses and minuses, and different people will respond to those factors differently. The best way to know which one(s) work for you is to test the waters and see where you have the most fun. That's been my approach, and it's why I've been able to benefit from being an active, and I hope well-liked, member of both this community and SLU.

(By the way, for those who don't know, I used to post here as Madhu Maruti.)

My registration was deleted in less than a week.

Don't take that personally. I run a forum that is non-SL related and have zero tolerance for spammers. You have to jump through a registration hurdle, an approval of registration hurdle and a first post approval hurdle before you actually get a post on my forum. Unless you run a forum yourself, you have no idea how many spammers come knocking on your door. I have a more lenient policy but I have total understanding for those who are less lenient than I am - until you are on the front lines, you have no idea how bad the spam problem is out there.

Don't hate on anyone who is more aggressive, when it comes to forum registrations. It is a jungle out there and way beyond what you could ever imagine.

It *really* is that bad.

I've run several forums, and though the problem *is* bad, it isn't insurmountable through technical means. It is easy enough to keep the vast majority of spammers out.

I disagree. It is so bad that I have to manually approve every registration and first post. I've tried to automate the process and failed. Granted, I don't delete registrations after a week of inactivity, but you'll not be doing anything on my forum with an approved first post. I delete after 1 year of membership without any posts, but I also don't run a forum that is highly attractive to alts and ne'er-do-wells. If you have a problem with the SC moderation rules you'll have a problem with the forum in general. It's their sandbox, play by their rules or go elsewhere.

*shrug* How you manage your forum makes no nevermind to me; I'm just saying it doesn't have to be that hard. One technique that works extremely well is placing a word or phrase in some location potentially not even on the forum site itself, but in a venue where you get the majority of your users, and then requiring people to type that word or phrase in during the signup phase. It stops ALL of the automated spam bots, and many of human spammers because it's enough of a hassle where they won't bother.



I never said I had a problem with SC moderation rules at all. I'm fully aware it is their so-called "sandbox", and that I am most able to "go elsewhere", but thank you for the kind reminder.

Could you try again?

http://www.secondcitizen.net/Forum/showthread.php?t=1490

No.

To be honest, I had (and still have) the same feeling about it. I registered then got an email that said: "Unfortunately your registration at Second Citizen MK II did not meet our membership requirements. Therefore your registration was deleted." Giving them the benefit of the doubt that it wasn't a "gee, Feline is not cool enough for us" issue, I responded with a polite email asking if there was some action on my part that I had failed to perform. That email was sent November 3, and there has been no response.

Considering that email as sent to the address that was supplied in the original activation email ("If you are still having problems signing up please contact a member of our support staff at EmailAddressRedacted", I would have expected that email box to be a monitored one.

So my conclusion was that either that the admins are willfully ignoring the points of contact they provide for problems during new user signup, or that maybe my benefit of the doubt was misplaced after all. (Ouch.)

So, constructively, perhaps instead of "you don't meet our membership requirements", some information about those membership requirements should be reiterated in the rejection email that's generated. The current setup isn't exactly one that fosters a lot of goodwill toward those who happened to miss jumping through some of the appropriate hoops.

Thanks for all the suggestions and kind words.

IMHO, it's best if there's one primary winner for most residents. Like others, I don't want to have to poll a number of different forums.

It sounds like this forum is still the winner overall. If they do shut it down as they say they will, I doubt most of us will be migrating to the blogs, and that'll be the last straw.

Meanwhile, I'll check out the alternatives.

Thanks again!

Or perhaps lack of diligence or competence. I'm confident that in general, these cause more issues than malice does.

Which is why I suggested the change in the rejection email. If I really thought it was malice, there would be no point in bothering. Overlooking something like a promised avenue of communication is easy to do... best to have a failsafe of last-minute "this is how you blew it" built in.

I just was, and am, still a bit off-put by the tone of the interaction. And I'm grumpy today, so I'm probably sounding less gracious than I should about the whole thing.

Odd. When I registered at SCII, I received a PM from the owner/moderator pretty shortly thereafter, welcoming me and explaining that I had to post on Ellis Island and add an avatar photo.

Maybe she's just been busy lately?

No one at SC is getting paid or making any money from it. It's all volunteer.

I feel very badly that SC is getting hit the way it is here now because it is a good place with good people.

To the people who had a difficult time signing up, I wish it hadn't happened. I'm sure it wasn't personal, and the fact that the rejection was impersonal added to the bad taste.

One thing that you might try, if you are thinking about SC, is to look around first before you sign up. Unlike some other forums, you don't need to register to read.

Certainly the rejection note ought to point out the requirement of posting to the Ellis Island thread.

They just enjoy shouting obscenities at newcomers who haven't found the hidden joining instructions.

Pep (I presume it's the equivalent of a hazing process; isn't that a tradition in late adolescent American communities?)

When you say "they" do you mean Munch? I don't think everyone was vulgar with you, but I couldn't find the thread to verify.

I'm not trying to argumentative SC is an usual animal and decidedly not for everyone. I never found a home there on the first go-round and the second incarnation feels....off. Maybe when Joshua eventually turns up and the inevitable nuclear explosion follows it will get its sea legs back. The alternative forums have significant quantities of "oldbies" who are still carrying on grudge matches that go back to beta. It can be hard to figure out the insider stuff without a program of the players, their alts and three-part mini series explaining the history. It can be daunting for newer people.

Oh, I am most definitely aware of the nature of SC, both the original one, and the newest incarnation. I've run and participated what amounts to flame/war boards all the way back to BBS days, WWIVNet, Byte Brothers, etc. Nothing there would bother me to any measurable extent; I just don't see the point in it with respect to SL, and I don't see any point in subjecting myself to "n00b abuse", because I would likely turn it around in spades and get myself quickly banned.

Let's not forget my forum:

http://secondlife.lefora.com/

It has the virtue of not being cluttered with excessive posts.

Second Citizen II is fun.

We need better trolls, though

They are NOT a charity. Hard work means compnsation. They get paid.
The hottest girls is one in which me and all th eforum girls are in. Dont be such a wanker. This place has teh best.

Oh Phil, stop crawling.Yes, I am in a bad mood today.

Let's meet and work out your issues. But I'm sure you're right about teh girls!

Methinks SC needs to look at its hosting provider

Hey, I've said a lot of good things about slapt.me too.