Pointless Posts

[Aviforma]

I know the PotterworldMC staff have been hard at work cleaning up our forums and removing any off-topic comments or those that do not contribute significantly to the discussion. Of course, we all appreciate the effort, but I believe there may be a better way to approach this.

Essentially, in my opinion, staff should stop removing posts for being "pointless." Here's an example of a "pointless" post, which I received a message for.

Yes, my post did not add anything to the discussion. However, is this truly something that anyone in the community wants to be policed? If the community wants to make jokes or have fun on the forums, I don't believe it should be removed, even if it isn't immediately adding to the discussion.

Cleanliness and professionalism are important, I won't argue with you there. But please, I *implore* you, don't do this. It's genuinely not contributing either to remove posts that staff don't think are immediately contributing to a discussion, and it's a bit of a waste of time too, with how many they likely have to remove. It's simply not fun for us, the players, who want to use your forums.

If anyone has a problem with messages for fun or jokes in suggestion threads, please explain your reasoning in the thread below. I don't expect many players to agree. Just in case, though, I've added a poll to see who thinks whether the forums should be so strict or not.

 

[Kаilen]

"This post is pointless. Get it off the site before I have you hunted down and thrown in a wood chipper."

 

[Kаilen]

 

[Ivan_]

Hmm. When it comes to "feedback and suggestions" I don't think that removing unnecessary comments is a bad thing, because that's the only place where players can leave their suggestions and it is supposed to be somewhat formal. But I agree with you that the forums feel really strict, there's no fun (i personally don't find counting and other things in rainbow road much exciting). That doesn't mean you should jump on people's suggestions and say random stuff.

 

[EdenLovesMommy]

View attachment 2459

That is nebula

 

[Yellow_Flower]

Yes! I find the forums to be quite boring at times. It’s the pointless posts that make you want to read more. Because sometimes I’m just in the mood to read through the suggestions, and sometimes reply!

 

[Aviforma]

Yes! I find the forums to be quite boring at times. It’s the pointless posts that make you want to read more. Because sometimes I’m just in the mood to read through the suggestions, and sometimes reply!

Exactly! It's what makes our forums feel like a community, not a Socratic seminar. As much as I love the philosophers, no thank you. I'd rather smile and laugh as I read through a thread!

 

[Somnambulist]

Would be on the fence about this because just typing "first" in a feedback thread doesn't really contribute much especially if it's related to Feedback where people would expect constructive replies. And looking at that thread that you were moderated on - Arena and its shortcomings - it seems like the OP wrote a long and serious post regarding the community and dueling. Imagine if you decided to write up a suggestion thread and a few replies to it were just single words and irrelevant to your post? I'd likely be annoyed if I saw tons of "first" and such replies in the feedback forums.

If the community wants to make jokes or have fun on the forums, I don't believe it should be removed, even if it isn't immediately adding to the discussion.

On the other hand, there are other forums apart from Feedback & Suggestions where I think "first" type of replies would be fine to use such as in Rainbow Road or stuff in News and Updates when something cool is announced. I think it's just a time and place sort of thing when saying "first" is fine.

Then again, when I initially saw that "Pointless Post" comment, I immediately thought of the counting threads in the Rainbow Road forums haha.

 

[Aviforma]

Would be on the fence about this because just typing "first" in a feedback thread doesn't really contribute much especially if it's related to Feedback where people would expect constructive replies. And looking at that thread that you were moderated on - Arena and its shortcomings - it seems like the OP wrote a long and serious post regarding the community and dueling. Imagine if you decided to write up a suggestion thread and a few replies to it were just single words and irrelevant to your post? I'd likely be annoyed if I saw tons of "first" and such replies in the feedback forums.


On the other hand, there are other forums apart from Feedback & Suggestions where I think "first" type of replies would be fine to use such as in Rainbow Road or stuff in News and Updates when something cool is announced. I think it's just a time and place sort of thing when saying "first" is fine.

Then again, when I initially saw that "Pointless Post" comment, I immediately thought of the counting threads in the Rainbow Road forums haha.

Eden and I are good friends, I assure you. We both were light-hearted about the comment, don't worry.

 

[Pankakes]

Yes, my post did not add anything to the discussion. However, is this truly something that anyone in the community wants to be policed?

I do want it "policed". I'm tired of getting notifications and seeing useless messages in feedback&suggestions threads.

There's nothing more annoying, than when you make a multi-chapter suggestion, take your time to edit it, spellcheck it, take pictures for it, hyperlink text in it and after all that effort to spark a healthy discussion / brainstorming session to improve the server for the future, you get a useless one-word reply.

For me, the unspoken Feedback&Suggestions reply rules are these:

• If you agree with something, press Like
• If you don't agree with something, state the reason why
• If you just want to make a joke, go for it but make sure enough people get it.

It's simply not fun for us, the players, who want to use your forums.

I fail to see where exactly does reading "first", "this!!!", "yesss" and "This plzzz" stop being useless and start to be fun. Same goes for inside jokes that only two people in the comments understand.

 

[Aviforma]

I appreciate everyone who's left their feedback. At the time of writing, the poll has 13 votes, 9 of which say they'd like this rule removed and the policing to end. That's not just a majority, that's a supermajority. Please take this as a sign of what your community wants, and listen to democracy.

 

[EdenLovesMommy]

Democracy!!!!

 

[TallBlondeDude]

Honestly, the rule makes sense in the feedback suggestion form. While I have had some form posts that others may have contrived of as jokes, I do get how its not productive. On the flip side, if its a high enough effort post its funny, there is a difference between posting "first" and writing a 3 page essay. Comedy reflects reality, and most high effort joke posts I see are made out of frusteration of not being heard and lashing out.

 

[Pankakes]

If the community wants to make jokes or have fun on the forums, I don't believe it should be removed, even if it isn't immediately adding to the discussion.

These are the most helpful suggestions on the forums. They're soooo funny too, such hilarious jokes. Makes me excited to get a notification and read it over and over again. I'm all against the rule to focus the Feedback and Suggestions forum, on Feedback and Suggestions, this is really good and I want to see more of it /s

 

[EdenLovesMommy]

These are the most helpful suggestions on the forums. They're soooo funny too, such hilarious jokes. Makes me excited to get a notification and read it over and over again. I'm all against the rule to focus the Feedback and Suggestions forum, on Feedback and Suggestions, this is really good and I want to see more of it /s
View attachment 2496

Sorry I’m not sure how this really contributed to the overall post

 

[Kаilen]

i agree

 

[Jada]

Hello @Aviforma!

Thank you for taking the time to come to us with this suggestion! From what we have gathered from this thread, we believe there has been a slight misunderstanding when it comes to comments that are moderated for being "pointless posts". For the most part, this rule is only in action for threads posted in the Feedback and Suggestions section for forum posts that have no substance or relation to the actual purpose of the thread. Wizencouncil members review such threads with organization and relevance in mind. If things were to go off-topic, it can impede on the work of Poltergeists- leading them to sort and go through posts unrelated to the suggestion at hand; ultimately this can create difficulty when it comes to figuring out and formulating the general consensus of player opinions on threads. As mentioned by others who have contributed their opinions to this thread, it can also be frustrating to feel like the purpose of your suggestion has been lost or devalued by "beside the point" comments as they can often come across as impertinent.
In all, it is fine to have conversations within threads, but when discussing important topics we want to keep everything on-topic. Therefore, we will be declining this suggestion for the time being. Thank you for your patience while waiting for a response! If you have any further questions please reach out to a Lead Prefect for clarification.

Best regards,
Prefect Leadership Team