34 replies to this topic

[badger]

Hello NerfHaven members, both old and new. I titled this topic "The Brink of Frustration" as it is where I sit right now, as I type on my computer. Before I begin, let me state this:

I am not a moderator or an administrator here at NerfHaven and this is not a form of backseat moderating, but I do have the blessings of Groove, one of the founders of Nerfhaven, when it comes in reference to this topic. I am not here to berate someone for disobeying the CoC or other guidelines of this forum, simply to point out everything that has been annoying me and many of the other members here.

Now on to my task at hand. In the past I have occasionally sent a PM to users that were getting out of hand to steer them in the right direction to further their time here at the Haven. If someone was still a problem, then I would notify an admin, usually Pineapple, to take care of things. I have now realized how time consuming that was and have reduced my efforts considerably. I did this moreso to avoid flaming someone in the forums, but things didn't change. Lately I have been bashing people right out in public, but it still seems to not be working, so now I am at the brink.

Things have gotten completely out of hand here with many of the new users. The admins have been busy with "real life" issues and the only one that has been online consistently has been ompa. I'm pretty sure that, save for 5-10 posts in the past few weeks, every post he has made has been to reprimand someone for doing something stupid. This is what has brought me to the brink. Now I am crossing that line.

If your name appears in this topic, it is because you are one of those people that has pissed me off in the past with your actions here and it needs to be shown that you are a problem. I joined these forums as originally a collector, with no regard for anything other than to expand my collection. Then found a love for nerfing, and later, modding. I am also a member of NHQ, but I consider the Haven my home. How would you all feel if someone was trashing your home, with no regard for how you wanted things to be? You'd be pretty fuckin' pissed of too!

Let's start with all of the concept threads that have been sprouting up all over forums. We have ty23's "Air and Spring Powered Longshot", Viper_Bravo's "Longshot Co2 Mod Concept", and dartmaster01's "Automatic Gun Idea", to name a few. I recall that Pineapple had posted in the News forum that concept threads will no longer be tolerated. If you aren't going to try it yourself and just pool us for info, with no intention of ever really going through with it, then stop wasting our fuckin' time! If the concept is possible, you won't find out unless you try it for yourself. That is how this hobby got started. If it isn't going to work, you will be the first to know.

Next up on my list of annoyances is not posting your topic in the right forum. Here we have nerfer125 "R There Any Nerfers In Conyers,ga? " in both General Nerf and Off-Topic (should be in Nerf Wars), "Automatic Gun Idea" in General Nerf (should be in Mods Forum), foo fighter's "Sonic Bazooka Air Leak" in General nerf (should be in Mods Forum), and many others. The forums are pretty easy to understand. If it is about a mod, whether completed or a problem with one, then it belongs in Modifications. If it is about where there might be some nerfers in your area or about an upcoming event, it goes in Nerf Wars. If it is about useless shit not related to Nerf, go to Off-Topic. General Nerf is for topics discussing new things you saw, product information, and other GENERAL topics. When the topic is more specific, it has a place to go. Not a hard concept.

My next pet peeve is the biggest one of them all for many people here, especially ompa. Those that most likely never read the Code of Conduct, the rules that govern how you will act here, and those that don't believe in using proper English skills. I'm not going to list everyone that is a problem with this as there are too many. If I wanted to work to decipher a message, I would have became a codebreaker when I was in the Air Force. I mean, how hard is it to type something coherent? If you have a problem with spelling, plug your posts into a program with a spell checker so that it is good for posting. If grammar is your problem, same thing applies. If you use AIM and L33t speak, then think about where you are. This is not an MMORPG or an instant messenger program. This is not the screen on your phone that you probably only use for text messaging. This is a fuckin' forum. A place where people with like minds trade information. No one should have to read your posts more than once to figure out what you are saying.

This next one was just atrocious. G-force is the annoying fuck for this one. There was an 11-year old suspended from the forums for obvious reasons. After the deed was done, G-force was happy and gloating about it. How the fuck old are you, since it seems that you aren't much older than Spyder? What was the point of that?

This one goes out to the post whores. Those people that have barely been here 6 months, yet have more posts than me. Do you really have to post on every thread? You just got into nerfing and you seem to have something to say about everything, yet most of your comments are the same. "WOW!" "That's cool!" "Great mod!" You do realize that more posts doesn't make you any less of a pathetic piece of shit? I logged in one day and clicked to look at the new posts since I was last on, and the same name was the last to comment on 10 threads! Instead of living on these forums and having a comment for everything you see, log out and either nerf or mod something.

This is all I can think of at 3 AM that has been pissing me the fuck off. I will post more as it happens and when I remember it. I am sick and fuckin' tired of people dragging my favorite place through the dirt with their childish bullshit and their disregard for how things run here. Piss me off again, I dare you!

Oh by the way, if you are one of the fuckers that is the problem here and you post in your wonderfully annoying style, I will tear you apart right here. I am fed up with the bullshit and not holding back any longer. You should all start praying for me to go back to the polite PM system.

Edited by badger, 04 May 2008 - 04:40 PM.

[ejrasmussen]

I totally agree with you even though some of my first posts werent that great. I really think people get so obsessed with the forums that they wait for a mod or a hommemade that they can do but are to lazy to get upand do it, and have to post concepts ideas or stupid stuff.

EJ

[ompa]

I will openly admit that I'm one of the more lenient of the admins here, as I give out a few chances. I also admit that I have seen a lot of improvement in general with the members I have had to reprimand (well, most of them anyways), but that's mainly going from absolutely atrocious posts to subpar posts.

However, you all must realize Badger has a point. The posting quality has indeed degraded somewhat, and I will say that I personally share some of the responsibility for being so lenient. However, I will give fair warning; as soon as my exams are up and the admins are able to let in the wave of summer validations, things will get much, much tougher around here, and Badger will probably be very pleased.

A good chunk of the admins are still working on school or other life issues, but the ones at school should be back in full-force over the summer, including myself. As such, I strongly suggest you all take note of Badger's comments; I haven't read one I disagree with as of his last edit.

As for the concept threads; I agree with that here. There is a line that people need to cross before actually posting an idea like that; it has to be actually built, and perhaps troubleshooting is in line. Or perhaps at least you have all the parts and just need some advice as to how to extend this or cut that, and even then, the majority of those issues can be taken over PM. Some of the recent concept threads have been far too vague and not well-developed enough to be worth reading.

As for posting in the right forum; I also agree with Badger. It's not that hard people. Given, I don't believe it's an offense worth suspending someone for, but keep in mind I do actually have a list of people (post-it on my computer) of offenders, and it will come back to bite you in the ass if you are one of those offenders. So fix it, as you don't have that many chances to begin with people.

As for the CoC; most people here know at least my rule, 3 violations and you're out. Given, it'd be great if people would just read the damn thing before posting, but I know it's generally too much to ask of young, generally impatient people.

As for the post whores; I cannot more wholeheartedly agree. There are ways to make sure your posts mean something, and there are ways where your posting habits just make you look like an idiot. I will openly admit that I had a very high post count my first few months here. However, I also did my best to make sure every post actually meant something; whether it was a suggestion or question. You're better off not posting than just posting "nice mod". There is nothing wrong with posting a lot, as long as your posts are actually useful.

I thank Badger for posting this, as I haven't personally had the time to come up with such a complete list of grievances. As such, Badger, thanks; the comprehensive listing of problems is much appreciated.

~ompa

[SHADOW HUNTER ALPHA]

Ok then...

I took a good hour, and I have a couple more things you might want to add to the list:

• People who post not only concept or useless threads, but also make them about something so impractical, idiotic, or inherently dangerous that they would have best been kept to themselves (throwing mousetraps at people to fling a dart when you are holding a gun that could safely do the same, whacking people with baseball bats covered in a layer of FBR with duct tape, etc.).
• People who post, but have absolutely no clue about what they are talking about. There are members who often type something as a "helpful" reponse to a question, but don't understand the topic material nearly well enough to be giving advice on it. If you don't know, don't post. This goes for speculations too, which are wastes of time both in being typed and being read, and are usually so idiotic or obvious that there was no need to post them at all, or so outlandish and baseless that they are beyond forgiveness for being posted.
• People who can't read a topic or post, yet continue to post. This is similar to #2. To use a popular example, it's like when OMC posted in his PETG thread all the specs of his merchandise, yet users still ask, many times in hideously-contrived posts, "how the fit on Angel's red FBR is" (when he still carried it), "how much shipping will cost" (usually an alright question, but not when OMC clearly posted a flat rate), and so on. Read the entire topic and UNDERSTAND IT before making a post. It saves everyone trouble.
• You sort of hit on this, but people who only ever post with a flame, speculation, or congratulations and never touch their keyboard to type a contributive post. I may seem hypocritical here, having 1100 posts myself, but I like to think that some, if not most of those were helpful in some regard. Also annoying are the people who feel the need to cry out "w00t 100th p05t!!1!11one", as if they deserve some kind of award for reaching a new high-water mark in their never-ending flood of useless bullshit. Or the people whose most active category is Off Topic, who had better have damn good "real" posts but never do.
• People posting and making comments that derail the entire thread. How users here can go from a legitimate focus of conversation to something so completely irrelevant that it had no business coming up in the first place is mind-boggling.
• You also hit on this one, but ejrasmussen decided to disregard it in his post while I was typing this. People here speak and write English as their first language, with the few notable exceptions like Jaffe and 3DBBQ. Therefore, you are assumed to be capable of typing English. If not then all you trolls and nerds who live on the computer must know of spellcheck, and we advise you to use it. This is in the CoC, and despite what Badger, ompa, and others have been warning, it continues to happen.
• Attention-whores and ass-kissers. These are the kind of people who fudge range claims and post falsified stats on anything just to earn some praise, as if we won't catch on to them and that they will live in eternal glory. There was also someone (I can't recall the username) who posted a response of nothing but an explanation of how VACC's cock dwarfed his own in a laughable attempt at recognition and mercy. Don't kiss ass. Nobody bends to it, and everyone will hammer you out for it. HoBoFiL recently sucked ice's dick in regards to the quality of the latter's YouTube videos, and I almost pissed myself laughing after I cringed at his murder of the written English language.
• People who can't take one minute out of their lives to search for the answer to a question that has been provided numerous times in this site's history. Or instead they post something that has already been known/discussed for a length of time thinking it was new. Oro? asking for a link to an RFR mod when FA_24 has so graciously provided the directory for us. PREDATOR posting about his discovery of the Vulcan when there was a 36-page, 535-reply speculation shitfest one or two pages away.

I would really like to see what would happen if Badger and/or a few select others (people who have respect and care about the community) was/were promoted to admin to join the returning team this summer.

Edited by SHADOW HUNTER ALPHA, 04 May 2008 - 02:29 PM.

[Ubermensch]

I have to vouch for Oro? as the mod he wanted was not in the directory and there was no way to search for it, as there were many possible titles for the thread, such as my problem with the extended LS clips.

[Killim-spree]

Hello NerfHaven members, both old and new. I titled this topic "The Brink of Frustration" as it is where I sit right now, as I type on my computer. Before I begin, let me state this:

I am not a moderator or an administrator here at NerfHaven and this is not a form of backseat moderating, but I do have the blessings of Groove, one of the founders of Nerfhaven, when it comes in reference to this topic. I am not here to berate someone for disobeying the CoC or other guidelines of this forum, simply to point out everything that has been annoying me and many of the other members here.

Now on to my task at hand. In the past I have occasionally sent a PM to users that were getting out of hand to steer them in the right direction to further their time here at the Haven. If someone was still a problem, then I would notify an admin, usually Pineapple, to take care of things. I have now realized how time consuming that was and have reduced my efforts considerably. I did this moreso to avoid flaming someone in the forums, but things didn't change. Lately I have been bashing people right out in public, but it still seems to not be working, so now I am at the brink.

Things have gotten completely out of hand here with many of the new users. The admins have been busy with "real life" issues and the only one that has been online consistently has been ompa. I'm pretty sure that, save for 5-10 posts in the past few weeks, every post he has made has been to reprimand someone for doing something stupid. This is what has brought me to the brink. Now I am crossing that line.

If your name appears in this topic, it is because you are one of those people that has pissed me off in the past with your actions here and it needs to be shown that you are a problem. I joined these forums as originally a collector, with no regard for anything other than to expand my collection. Then found a love for nerfing, and later, modding. I am also a member of NHQ, but I consider the Haven my home. How would you all feel if someone was trashing your home, with no regard for how you wanted things to be? You'd be pretty fuckin' pissed of too!

Let's start with all of the concept threads that have been sprouting up all over forums. We have ty23's "Air and Spring Powered Longshot", Viper_Bravo's "Longshot Co2 Mod Concept", and dartmaster01's "Automatic Gun Idea", to name a few. I recall that Pineapple had posted in the News forum that concept threads will no longer be tolerated. If you aren't going to try it yourself and just pool us for info, with no intention of ever really going through with it, then stop wasting our fuckin' time! If the concept is possible, you won't find out unless you try it for yourself. That is how this hobby got started. If it isn't going to work, you will be the first to know.

Next up on my list of annoyances is not posting your topic in the right forum. Here we have dartmaster01 "R There Any Nerfers In Conyers,ga? " in both General Nerf and Off-Topic (should be in Nerf Wars), "Automatic Gun Idea" in General Nerf (should be in Mods Forum), foo fighter's "Sonic Bazooka Air Leak" in General nerf (should be in Mods Forum), and many others. The forums are pretty easy to understand. If it is about a mod, whether completed or a problem with one, then it belongs in Modifications. If it is about where there might be some nerfers in your area or about an upcoming event, it goes in Nerf Wars. If it is about useless shit not related to Nerf, go to Off-Topic. General Nerf is for topics discussing new things you saw, product information, and other GENERAL topics. When the topic is more specific, it has a place to go. Not a hard concept.

My next pet peeve is the biggest one of them all for many people here, especially ompa. Those that most likely never read the Code of Conduct, the rules that govern how you will act here, and those that don't believe in using proper English skills. I'm not going to list everyone that is a problem with this as there are too many. If I wanted to work to decipher a message, I would have became a codebreaker when I was in the Air Force. I mean, how hard is it to type something coherent? If you have a problem with spelling, plug your posts into a program with a spell checker so that it is good for posting. If grammar is your problem, same thing applies. If you use AIM and L33t speak, then think about where you are. This is not an MMORPG or an instant messenger program. This is not the screen on your phone that you probably only use for text messaging. This is a fuckin' forum. A place where people with like minds trade information. No one should have to read your posts more than once to figure out what you are saying.

This next one was just atrocious. G-force is the annoying fuck for this one. There was an 11-year old suspended from the forums for obvious reasons. After the deed was done, G-force was happy and gloating about it. How the fuck old are you, since it seems that you aren't much older than Spyder? What was the point of that?

This one goes out to the post whores. Those people that have barely been here 6 months, yet have more posts than me. Do you really have to post on every thread? You just got into nerfing and you seem to have something to say about everything, yet most of your comments are the same. "WOW!" "That's cool!" "Great mod!" You do realize that more posts doesn't make you any less of a pathetic piece of shit? I logged in one day and clicked to look at the new posts since I was last on, and the same name was the last to comment on 10 threads! Instead of living on these forums and having a comment for everything you see, log out and either nerf or mod something.

This is all I can think of at 3 AM that has been pissing me the fuck off. I will post more as it happens and when I remember it. I am sick and fuckin' tired of people dragging my favorite place through the dirt with their childish bullshit and their disregard for how things run here. Piss me off again, I dare you!

Oh by the way, if you are one of the fuckers that is the problem here and you post in your wonderfully annoying style, I will tear you apart right here. I am fed up with the bullshit and not holding back any longer. You should all start praying for me to go back to the polite PM system.

As a new member I have recently read the Code of Conduct and I think it is a pity that other new members don't take the time to read it as it takes you less than a minute (It's not long and boring like most rule pages guys!).

[Langley]

Whoa, whoa, calm down. No need to get all internet tough guy on us. This dip in post quality, it's a cyclical thing. In two or three more weeks when these kids all get out of school, they'll divide into the kids who nerf and the kids who sit on dad's computer all day posting on the forums, and then it will be time to cut the wheat from the chaff. But while we've got a nice thread to air our frustrations, I guess I may as well bring up a couple of things.

1.)I'm taking a course on Technology and Policy this spring, and I've discovered something important about the minimum age requirement here at NerfHaven. It's there to keep us from having to comply with the Child Online Privacy and Protection Act, which dictates how websites like this store information about children under 13.
Child Online Privacy and Protection ActHow To Comply with COPPA
COPPA at Wikipedia
To sum up, it's not good enough that we suspend kids under 13 until their birthday, we have to delete their
accounts as well, so that we're no longer storing information about them. Additionally, if kids have their birthday in their profile and it clearly shows them to be under 13, CX and anyone else who's paying for the operation of NerfHaven (VACC?) can be held responsible for knowingly storing information about children under 13. Lastly, people like Parkway who we're making exceptions for are a problem, because we violate the law outright in those cases.

There are two ways to fix this. Option one is to write a script which reports all of the birthdays more recent than 13years ago in the user database, and delete--not ban or suspend--all of those accounts, as well as the accounts of anyone we know to be under 13.

Option two is to bring NerfHaven into compliance with COPPA buy writing a policy that explains how we store information about kids and what we do with that information, and requiring that kids we know are younger get permission from their parents before registering on the forums. This would still require us to do everything in option 1, but everyone under 13 could re-register, and someone would have to be responsible for collecting and confirming permission slips.


2.)People who get outraged at the behavior of members of a forum geared towards playing with kid's toys.
A pretty good chunk of the people on this forum are not adults. Those who are spend their free time playing with plastic toy guns. If you find yourself threatening these people or berating them for the poor quality of their posts, perhaps you should take a moment to reevaluate what's important in your life. If you've got an affection for toys that would, under other circumstances, seem pretty damn creepy, and if you find that the people you're becoming upset with are half your age, then you're probably spending too much time here and should take a little break.

3.)Internet Toughguy-ism
No, no one is going to kick anyone's ass. No matter how much rage you've got penned up in there, it's not going to really get you anywhere, and if you bring that attitude to a nerf war, then you're in for a world of pain. The point is, no one is going to quake with fear at the sound of your name, unless you're VACC, which brings me to.....

4.)VACC is not your master now.
Vacc shoots people with foam darts pretty damn well, and he does it with unbelievable style. If that's all that matters to you, then yeah, I guess he's a pretty awesome guy, but that's no reason to fear his punishment as you would fear your own death. The point is, if you're posting, "Uh-oh, vacc's gonna kick your ass now" then you've probably got to re-read points 2 and 3.

5.)Bitch Bitch Bitch Bitch Bitch Bitch Bitch.
If you rail on for paragraph after paragraph about how you think people should be spending their time on an internet forum, and you rarely contribute that much content otherwise, something has gone terribly wrong.


To wrap up points 2-5, if you've posted in this thread or are preparing to lay down a few numbered lists of your own, you might be wise to lurk more and keep your own posting relegated to the nerf wars forum. It's the only forum everyone really should be posting in, and I'll be heading back there myself in just a moment.

In any case, if the nerf forums are really getting you upset, then you need to chill the fuck out.

Edited by Langley, 04 May 2008 - 05:01 PM.

[Philote]

Well Badger, thats a mouth full. Its true that I am in NO position to be talking about being a noob, but it all comes down to one thing:
Common sense(which by coincidence is you sig): This goes to out to Nerf125's R Thare ANy Nerfers In Coyners, GA thread, If no one responded to your first one with anything constructive besides to say how painful it was to read your post, Why in the name of Charlie Sheen would you make another, with equally worse spelling and punct. errors?

And, I don't mean to be a grammar Nazi(which i have a history on B.Net for being), but R Thare? Come on.
Another thing: Speculations: are total bullshit, I don't CARE if you think the, oh i don't know, Vulcan can shoot 25 rounds per second and make a hot cup of espresso unless it actually can.
One last thing, Is it all of a sudden necessary for people to put an abbreviated version or full name after every post?

Those are my thoughts, By any chance has the above been banned yet???

[g-force]

Im sorry I don't mean to be annoying next time I am annoying just send me a pm. Most of the time when I am being annoying I don't know I am. I am sorry badger and I am sorry to any other nerfhaven members I have annoyed.

Edited by g-force, 04 May 2008 - 01:03 PM.

[ompa]

Langley, I think the posts isn't quite eliciting anger, but more annoyance. People in general want things done efficiently, and the most efficient way to get these things done is to get rid of all extraneous and pointless posts, as well as make the posts that are made legible.

Well, looks like the database will have to be cleansed... After finals I'll look into deleting all the accounts I can find for those under 13 (should be only one or two), and I'll make sure to delete accounts from here on end. Thanks for the heads up man, it's greatly appreciated.

Philote, I've been doing that since... I first came here. I have no idea why I do it, but I've been doing it for many, many years and at this point it's just become habit. Hell, I've caught myself doing it with my emails, signing with "~ompa". When I don't catch it, the sig can cause some interesting responses.

~ompa

[Quilan Fett]

I have to vouch for Oro? as the mod he wanted was not in the directory and there was no way to search for it, as there were many possible titles for the thread, such as my problem with the extended LS clips.

I searched nerfhaven for "shell catcher" and it was one of 3 results. How hard is that?

[Galaxy613]

4.)VACC is not your master now.
Vacc shoots people with foam darts pretty damn well, and he does it with unbelievable style. If that's all that matters to you, then yeah, I guess he's a pretty awesome guy, but that's no reason to fear his punishment as you would fear your own death. The point is, if you're posting, "Uh-oh, vacc's gonna kick your ass now" then you've probably got to re-read points 2 and 3.

Um, you seem to miss why people people fear him.... it's not because of his skills, it's because he's sort of, well, a ADMINISTRATOR?

[nerfer34]

4.)VACC is not your master now.
Vacc shoots people with foam darts pretty damn well, and he does it with unbelievable style. If that's all that matters to you, then yeah, I guess he's a pretty awesome guy, but that's no reason to fear his punishment as you would fear your own death. The point is, if you're posting, "Uh-oh, vacc's gonna kick your ass now" then you've probably got to re-read points 2 and 3.

Um, you seem to miss why people people fear him.... it's not because of his skills, it's because he's sort of, well, a ADMINISTRATOR?

...This is what Badger is talking about. Langley is a veteran member and is probably good friends with VACC.

I say we just directly call out members who need to shape up.

Here's my advice to you, think BEFORE you post. That should keep you around here a bit longer.

Edited by nerfer34, 04 May 2008 - 02:23 PM.

[Omega]

Killim-spree, you reminded me of another rule:

DON'T QUOTE THE ENTIRE FRIGGING POST. Don't quote images. You can edit what you're quoting, if you didn't know.

[penguin807]

I say we just directly call out members who need to shape up.

I say we don't. That will achieve nothing but pointless flames between people who can't take criticizing well.

In regards to the topic, I agree with Badger on all of this. I suggest to people who have only modded Nerf blasters or had an occasional war in a backyard to take a break from NerfHaven and actually Nerf. I did, and holy crap. You're really missing out if the only wars you've had are between you and a friend or two in your basement.

If more people were to do the above, we'd have less stupid posts, and more posts that have things to do with Nerfing. All the time people complain about how nobody Nerfs around your area. But they do not realise that the reason that is, is because they're lazy butts and want for other people to do all the work for them. I mean seriously, in a month or two I have gotten enough people into Nerf to form a clan.

[SHADOW HUNTER ALPHA]

The major problem with deleting accounts is that people can simply create another. The Admins would have to keep a list of IPs and how long accounts from that address need to be denied.

Galaxy, you don't seem to get it. Yes, VACC is an admin, but that's not what Langley was getting at. Users have begun to shake and quiver digitally whenever they read his name. Not that he is not important, far from it, but the idea is that you guys are beginning to fear being banned or punished here like you fear physical death; like your entire life is this forum. It's childish and idiotic. If I get banned, which may happen due to me being prone to flaming, etc., then I will find something else to occupy my time (although I will still Nerf, as being disconnected from the forum doesn't disconnect you from the hobby).

I'm not posting this because I live on the forums, or because I have nothing else to do, but because I care about the condition of this place. It is the only real place where people with similar interests in Nerf can discuss it, and I'd prefer to have it kept in great shape.

[Langley]

The major problem with deleting accounts is that people can simply create another. The Admins would have to keep a list of IPs and how long accounts from that address need to be denied.

That would be unfair to people who share an IP, and it wouldn't stop people who's service doesn't provide them with a static IP. I wrote up a proposal for NerfHaven as an assignment for the class, but because of the nature of the assignment the proposal is a little unrealistic for NerfHaven. In a week or two when the semester is over, I'll post it in the site feedback forum.

COPPA actually only pertains to sites which knowingly collect information about kids under 13, so it's a problem that we have people's birthdates on file and we're not taking that information into consideration, but if they outright lie about their age, then it's technically not our problem. It's the forum's responsibility to adhere to COPPA, but only if they've made a reasonable effort to determine someone's age.

Edit: Just to be clear, the reason kids under 13 aren't allowed here on NerfHaven is to avoid all of the COPPA guidelines. These guidelines require parental permission to record information about their kid, full disclosure of how the information is stored and what it's used for, and a method for parents to get in touch with the administrators and remove their children's information. The law doesn't say you can't have kids under 13 around, The NerfHaven minimum age policy just avoids all the hassle of COPPA regulations.

Edited by Langley, 04 May 2008 - 04:58 PM.

[ultra920]

4.)VACC is not your master now.
Vacc shoots people with foam darts pretty damn well, and he does it with unbelievable style. If that's all that matters to you, then yeah, I guess he's a pretty awesome guy, but that's no reason to fear his punishment as you would fear your own death. The point is, if you're posting, "Uh-oh, vacc's gonna kick your ass now" then you've probably got to re-read points 2 and 3.

Um, you seem to miss why people people fear him.... it's not because of his skills, it's because he's sort of, well, a ADMINISTRATOR?

If you really take it that seriously, you need to take a break. Its a website. Not an actual life.

[Galaxy613]

Ah, agreed.

[badger]

So should the administrators take it less seriously and take a break, allowing all that they have worked for to go to shit? Should ompa let up and let things fall apart? No, we care about NerfHaven. Both the admins, the founders, and many of us older members. We care about a place where we can express our ideas and the admins want it run a certain way. if you don't like it, too bad.

[Green Riptide]

At first I found the hard-assery around here to be a refreshing change from the sort of 12-year-old populated wastelands of the internet, but to be honest the novelty has worn off and now you look a little precocious. People waste more time and energy calling each other out on things already; I just kind of get the vibe that six people posting "wow, you really ought to be banned for this post" and then three more posting "you shouldn't post in a thread just to tell people they're about to be banned" isn't really how the place was intended to operate. The essential problem of NH is that the nature of the activity attracts a lot of kids who fit squarely into the prepubescent e-penis-concerned videogame-forum-flamewar stereotype, and I think that will continue to be the main struggle on this forum until the day it dies. I'm not even terribly sure how that could even be addressed; mandatory no-post periods of a month or two following account registration? That would ensure that people had a better idea of how this place operates and would kill some of the noob questions from potential members with little patience, but could maybe repulse actual wanted members. Raise the age limit to fifteen or sixteen (or beyond) maybe?

In short, I was rather off-put to see yet another one of these threads. The fact that it exists is probably in indicator we're doing something wrong; whether that means our expectations are too high or that new members aren't understanding (or any number of other problems) remains to be discovered.

[SHADOW HUNTER ALPHA]

The problem with your proposal, Riptide, is that there are immature idiots of all age levels, particularly on the Internet. Raising the age limit might stop some of them, but it would also turn away some good contributors just as the no-post period would have. The fact of it is that there really is no method of weeding out the immatures before they get here. The admins have to approve the members and then eliminate the ones that won't work in this society. That, of course, takes a great deal of work on their part, but it is the most effective way of ensuring the quality and content of this site.

Badger intended this to be a sign that something wasn't right. The "older" users can tell that over the past year, maybe two years, the content and quality of said content has degraded . I don't mean to imply that we have poor ideas, because Slug and Angel blow that accusation apart. It's that the newer and less "aware," for lack of a better word, users either disregard the rules the founders and admins set, or they just don't get how we run here. Thusly, they flood us with worthless posts and threads and sort of bring down the site as a whole.

Overall, there isn't a guarantee that forcing users not to post for the first week or month will raise their post quality. There is no way to be sure that they read the CoC. It is the applicant's responsibility to do that when they register for an account. It is their duty to adhere to our laws here. If they choose to break them or act out, then too bad. They don't have to have and account here, and they most likely won't soon after. There will always be these "noob" question threads and horrendous posts, but Badger, myself, and others see it as being better off terminated immediately. Let them post as soon as they get here, and if their content is not satisfactory and they refuse to improve at once, get rid of them.

[eddieoctane]

So should the administrators take it less seriously and take a break, allowing all that they have worked for to go to shit? Should ompa let up and let things fall apart? No, we care about NerfHaven. Both the admins, the founders, and many of us older members. We care about a place where we can express our ideas and the admins want it run a certain way. if you don't like it, too bad.

I know I'm new here, and some people seem to have this peculiar distaste of new members who have yet to pick up on all the nuances of NerfHaven. But still, I think I have to comment on that.

People who live in fear of VACC's retribution need to go outside, take a breath of fresh air, kiss the person they have a secret crush on, something. There is more to life than one's personal standing on this forum. No offense to any of the admins or mods here, but this place really isn't that significant in the grand scope of life.I am 19, and have quite a deal of living left to do. I don't intend on running around with children's toys in my hands forever. I go to college. I have friends. If I get banned, I will move on.

However, this doesn't mean the community here should have to tolerate the jackassery of an individual person. Someone who starts a flame war causes a general decrease in the quality of posts. People, as is their nature, will defend themselves from a perceived attack, even if it is some random prick typing mean words about you. If your time gets sucked up by defending yourself from flames and trying to decipher meaningless ramblings, you have less time to post your mods, organize wars, and do other Nerf related activities on the forum. The result is an overall decrease in the quality of the forum.

So the admins should make a serious effort to get rid of the jerks out there, because it makes this a better place for everyone. But every member, from those who registered today to the founders, need to remember that ultimately we are talking about playing with children's toys and shouldn't take ourselves too seriously. People who get all hot and bothered by what happens on an internet message board really need to re-evaluate their lives.

[Captain]

If anyone thinks that I post a bit too much, then I apologize. But usually when I post I like to add something other than just a comment like a joke or something funny that happened to me. Just to make it more exiting, you know?

I also feel bad because feel I need to contribute something to the community. I've been wanting to start a sale thread for some time (I have some unique stuff I want to get rid of) but I have so much work that I never have time.

So I could improve my habits, and I will make the effort. I think it's a good thing badger wrote all that to remind everybody of what's important.

[ompa]

Eddie, I understand where you're coming from, but you have to understand something about this place; after you've been here long enough, or you've been an admin long enough, having to deal with the constant little annoyances gets taxing. You say that "the admins should make a serious effort to get rid of the jerks out there, because it makes this a better place for everyone", but you need to realize that in doing so, day after day, year after year, it gets a little tiring, and your patience does whittle down little by little. Do I honestly get "hot and bothered" by all the violations that happen on a daily basis? No. However, you just need to realize that what you ask the admins to do does lead to many frustrating moments and times where you just want to start banning everybody.

I think a lot of you guys are taking Badger's words far too seriously. I highly doubt he's actually sitting there at his computer yelling and bitching at the screen. People can get annoyed and sound like they're genuinely pissed.

Speaking of taking people seriously, I will more than likely be bringing a blowgun to DCNO. Prepare to get owned.

...And anyone who honestly makes this forum a central part of their life definitely needs to re-evaluate their priorities. I'm just online all the time because I'm always by a computer, and every time I finish a section/chapter in my reading or homework I do a quick round on NH, Gmail, Digg, and Craigslist, hence why it seems that I'm always here. Why don't I go outside and do something you ask?

Well, first off, the amount of assaults/homicides/robberies kind of prohibits me from going anywhere outside a 2-block radius of campus any time in the late afternoon/night. I mean, I could if I was in a group, but generally people are too busy studying or getting trashed to want to go out. As for modding, you can only do so much with a dremel before all the RA's come after you, as well as the housing office. I'm already in trouble with the housing office for some of my homemades, so I kind of have to keep a low profile with my modding. I'm already in the school newspaper as "the undergrad gunman", much to my dismay, and against my wishes.

~ompa