Yet another thought from Al...

OK....there have been multiple complaints about the current state of AO and it's forums...specifically the post-whoring that occurs in GCC, Cosmos and Tech Humor that results in lamerz and kiddies gaining access to our beloved addicts forum. These forums are used to gain status in regard to post count as well as AP hoarding, which gives some people access to a forum that they in no way deserve. So why don't we restrict access to the forums which are the breeding grounds for trolls and postwhores? Make the newbies post in the SECURITY forums only until they have posted 100 security related (as detailed in our profiles) posts. Make GCC, Cosmos and Tech Humor EARNED benifits. If they try to circumvent this by posting useless one-liners (use google comes to mind) then let the community regulate this via AP assignments. For example, if joe blow posts a google link instead of a constructive answer, then the reciept of x negs would REMOVE his post from the forum and delete it from his total post count, therefore preserving the purity of the thread and promoting the standard that AO was founded on. Once the threshold of 100 "acceptable" posts has been reached, then give them access to the "lighter" side of AO (GCC, Cosmos and Tech Humor).

I know that this is 2 suggestions in 24 hours, but given the level of discourse amongst the members of the community, I feel it is my responsibility to provide as many alternative solutions to the problem as I can. Please feel free to share your thoughts regarding this potential solution.

Hrmm.... I like it but where am I supposed to put the posts that don't fit into any of the security forums and don't fit into Hardware, Web Devel or OS?

As for the receipt of X Negs to remove a bad post, we have to be careful and literally set it high since some seniors might be able to do that in one or two shots. I understand the need to deal with post whores but I have a feeling that the general APs will toast those out before they reach the intended post count (which if set a bit higher to say 150 or 175 might work). Few of those that are "deemed" unacceptable via APs last longer than 100 posts. It's extremely rare.

I think we have to be careful on how this is implemented (if implemented). Sometimes posting a link is an acceptable response to a question. If the question is, for example, "Where can I find the manual removal instructions for XZY virus." The response could be one or more links to the various Anti-Virus vendors. ;)

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers:

Perhaps we could add something to the AP thingy that would say "add points to GCC meter" and after a certain number of AP's did that, it would send it straight to GCC. I don't know how this would work with posts, but I think it wouldn't be too teribly hard with threads.

Oooooh, I do like this idea!

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but where am I supposed to put the posts that don't fit into any of the security forums and don't fit into Hardware, Web Devel or OS?

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Oh, but that's the beauty of it! They should stick to the topics at hand until they earn the right to do otherwise, else their thread goes buh-bye. ;)

Very "Nazi-ish". Let's do it! :D That would help with the AIM refugees that come in and seem to go straight past the security forums and right on into GCC.

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Perhaps we could add something to the AP thingy that would say "add points to GCC meter" and after a certain number of AP's did that, it would send it straight to GCC. I don't know how this would work with posts, but I think it wouldn't be too teribly hard with threads.

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The coding of it wouldn't be that hard I would think but that said, I don't know if that's a reasonable option. Some posts do have validity and GCC shouldn't become the dumping ground for bad posts either.

There are many forums with a "trash bin" where the **** goes. Make it and forget it. :)

Hmm, maybe a combination of mine and numbs idea... I think that would work well. Intmon could make a forum called trash bin or something to that effect. Then we could like AP vote them into that forum if the thread sucks.

There is a forum that exists that the mods use for trashing "garbage posts". The issue is what if it's a valid and good post but not specific to the areas that exist. Say a question about how to program a specific network socket or troubleshoot a ruleset for networks. Neither one of those are true security questions nor are they questions that fit in the existing categories. I have proposed to intmon the creation of forums that would fit these and would solve this problem.

I'd prefer to not use the Thread Trashcan like this. As it stands threads can go suicidal and there's nothing wrong with the mod moving it into the trash (assuming it's truly a trash thread -- some threads go suicidal for the wrong reasons and may have some validity to them so rather leave a mod to make the decision of what ends up in the trash).

Hey folks....the point I was trying to make is the GCC and Cosmos (and TH for that matter) should be "earned" benefits. I just figure if things are set up like that then troll-spotting will be easier and the overall quality would improve over time because new members would actually have to contribute or ask a helluvalot of questions to get to the AO "fluff".

The idea concerning APs being able to delete posts was just a courtesy towards our mods....we could always rely on the report button to get rid of the useless one-liners.