what do you think?

I don't think it's just the internet... trying to talk politics or religion, sports or almost anything else at a RL gathering can result in quite a few folks having hurt feelings and feeling personally afronted (sp) just because you disagree with them.

We do need a Chat board tho, I'd vote for one

LL took away the General Discussion forum (LL's action).

Resident Answers remained with a moderator who locked General Discussion threads.

The moderator left and was not replaced (LL's inaction).

Without moderation, some general discussion has creeped back in to this Forum because of human nature. And because there is no official place for general subjects worth talking about/celebrating/organizing.

This is only a bad thing if LL uses this as an excuse to close this forum.

But it won't be the fault of the birthday wishers or event organizers or general question askers if this forum is closed. It will be a direct result of LL's actions and inactions. Shame on them if they do it.

Beats me. I read the stickies; from what I gather it's general, rather than technical questions.

hmmmm wierd.

All the "fluff" made me loose interest in keeping up with the forums (from 2-3 times per day before to 2-3 times per week now if that).

Something I also noticed: the number of actual on-topic questions has decreased a lot, and the level of them has gone down quite a bit as well.

One solution could be to keep on answering questions, but also suggest one of the other forums (Current Version Feedback or Technical Issues) for future questions to keep them from becoming burried within hours or pulled off-topic. It's already too late to turn RA into something useful again, with or without active moderation.

It replaced General Discussion.


I kid, I kid.

I think it was for general questions instead of technical ones, but technical ones get asked here all the time and we answer them. Actually, building questions, texturing questions, etc. also get asked all the time. We seem to handle the overflow from those forums and we get a lot of pretty easy questions from new people that we answer that they might not be as comfortable asking in the expert threads.

You always seem to say the most with the least amount of words.

*sigh* I wish I was a little more like you...

I especially agree with the last part.

"Technical Issues" is stuff like graphics driver versions, debug menu settings, interpreting the sim statistics data, computer software conflicts, and all that jazz.

RA is for all the OTHER questions that come up in Second Life. How do I find a friend? How do I edit my hair/prim skirt/shoes/jewelry to fit? Where is a good spot to go dancing? How do I earn/buy/sell/exchange L$? What's a griefer, and what can be done about them?

You know, the non-technical stuff.

Being nontechnical, the content easily shades over into opinion, debate, and general banter. It's the nature of the subject.

And bonus, their questions get answered almost immediately, (as opposed to those on other parts of the forums).

http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?t=243302

It got answered within two hours of posting, but when I found it it was already edging towards the bottom of page 2 by all the other off-topic banter threads.

Yes, I saw that thread, too. Was about to go and bump it when you answered it. I'm not very techy, (not everyone in RA is) or I would have answered it myself. Should I have replied the instant that it was posted with a comment like "Sorry, can't help you..."? How much time should we wait before attempting a half-assed answer, (to let someone more knowledgeable answer have a go at it)? Not being a forum expert, I really would like to know. Are there set rules?
How much should we 'know' before being allowed to post here?

Phew - that was a close one! I almost had to eat my words. I can happily report that I still haven't seen a thread with a legitimate question where the question was not answered.

If the Providers wish this Forum to be the strictly regulated, business only place described, then THEY will have to come in and see to it, as well as keeping the accompanying tumbleweeds under control. Barring that, then yes, self moderation is going to be needed to keep it going. And just about every single one of us will need to do it as there are very few here who haven't taken a drink from the silly bottle at one time or another. Some of us just prefer pints to shots. I'll keep my pot clean if you will do the same with your kettle.

while i don't like the turn this place has taken, i do have to agree with that philosophy and summation.

I would be one of the first to leave too... as much as I like technical help, I LOVE silliness and humor, or humuor (depends on your geography)I have never seen a thread get moved or deleted because of humor, but I have seen them get locked because the question was answered and derailment was fully underway. Anyway...my two copper coins worth.

humor or humour? depends on your tolerance.

/me can tolerate no more and storms off in a huff. Or at least he would, but something shiny catches his eye and he stops to stare, then forgets what he was doing and wanders off to the kitchen for a snack.

I don't get where the claim comes in that all that is posted any more is nothing but fluff. Just looking at thread titles, 6 of the 25 I have displayed on my page are fluff, 20%. Not a big percentage. Yes, the top 3 are fluff, including this thread, but to say that the real posts are being driven off is a stretch.

Please limit your metaphors to one per paragraph.

Sincerely,

The Forum Moderator's sister's boyfriend's cousin's uncle

Maybe it IS a language thing-I also think "attack" is something else. More vicious.

And I somehow feel I have missed something important because RL is a right bugger at the moment and keeps me from participating in the forums.

What you missed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bit9YxtTamY

I wasn't even here.

Yeah! No fair! Ricardo didn't even get a chance to attack you!

GET BACK INTO THE KITCHEN!

Careful what you wish for.

Hey, me thought it was the least with the most amount of words, no? I'm confused.