Forums now open to NPF users?

It would appear that NPF users are now allowed to use the forums again - the login message no longer refers to requiring PF and the wiki page has been edited by a Linden explicitly to remove the statements about needing it.

Are they allowed to post, though? And what will the results be?

They are allowed to post now.

We're talking about humanity so it's a crap shoot on what will happen

there goes the neighborhood.

That's one way to ruin the forums ...

"We opened the forums to all residents."

Weeks later: "Due to rampant abuse the forums will be shut down permanently."

It's about time. That was an asinine policy. I for one welcome our new NPF Overlords.

*sigh* Well, I do hope they will have moderation in place, because for every good forum poster, there are at least two maybe three 'tards.

Or maybe they're hoping we won't tell the others that the official forums are open for everyone?

Most people I've come across don't even know the forum exists. I think the asshat ratio will remain the same. Maybe this does mean the moderation will become more apparant, and maybe a reworked forum is the next step. It is a bold step to give them posting rights, and knowing how LL jumps into things without proper planning, I can understand the trepidation, but maybe this will bring in some fresh air. I'm willing to put my elitist forum xenophobia on hold for a bit.

Npf?

No Payment Info on File.

Have any of you Alty types tried to get in here yet to see if it's true?

My alts shop

An old friend posted yesterday, and she's never had a paid account... so it's open

Can anyone say Forum Bots!

Thank you, Brenda! Well I for one think that anyone who has an account
on SL should be able to post here. I didn't realize there was that limitation.

In some ways these forums are invaluable to Second Life residents.

It's my main research tool for scripting, machinima, what's happening
at the resident-level on a day to day, actually moment to moment basis.

Just thinking of this now, if Second Life goes down, it's here where
we can complain and console each other. Where else is there? Sometimes
we can't login, we come here and see other people are having the same
problem...so it's great to know that!

Certainly changing the policy will mean a bit more noise, but it will
also allow people who will make good contributions to the forums who
are presently "NPF".

WOW! (O_O) I can post here! (O_O)

I think it's a good move. Job postings and classified ads may become useful, and helpful comments will actually be read by people who need them. A lot of the inside jokes could wither and die when the public at large doesn't find them funny, and a few people will become aware that they're not celebrities. Good times. I hope it's not just a glitch.

and the sky fell.

It's all downhill from here... Heh, and I thought running dual clients as twins was bad. (=_=)y

When NPF status first existed immediately after the floodgates opened 6/06/06 they were allowed on the forums like everyone else.

Then the alt abuse happened and it was messy.

Also consider that with NPF's able to post, a forums ban is meaningless.

I do not see how NPF's being able to post works in harmony with not having any Moderation, but I guess we will see.

Those who forget the past ...


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Still theres other ramifications.

Polls are now essentially meaningless as a couple of opinionated and frequent posters control small armys of Avatars from their traffic-farm efforts.

There will be alts created simply for trolling and insulting people.


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I did figure this was coming though. Since it sort of makes no sense to use Payment Info on file as a category when in-world we are supposedly moving to "Age and Identity verified"

I don’t post in here enough to get myself into too much of a tizzy, but it’s not like anyone had to be a Premium member to access these Forums in the first place. All that was required is that you have some sort of payment info on file to tie your accounts to your RL identity. All my alts have Payment Info Used and some post here. This goes to the heart of the ongoing debate on verification and alt abuse. I don’t see it being a big problem until there is some highly controversial issue that stirs everyone up (and like that never happens!). Now the Forums will be just like the Official Blog except without the 150 response cap.
/me imagines a 10,000 post flame war.
Hell the more I think about it the more I don’t like it. But I haven’t had my second cup of coffee yet.

Well, I'm no payment info on file and it seems I can post just fine. The only reason I'm NPF, is because while I put in payment info.. I never used it and the status has never changed on my in world profile.

So, unless that's borked, *shrugs* I guess the flood gates are open again.

To whoever is working behind the scenes: We know you're there. Can we get BBCode back? (o.o)

The only linden I have seen active in the forums lately is katt but not sure how good she is with php code.

It's actually check boxes iirc to enable and disable certain things in the forum control panels

Been awhile since I ran one.. and the PHP BB code and controls are likely better now though

how active is she?

She has a postcount of 2.

most of her work is edits into other people's posts from what i've seen.