META: Threshold to start an OP

Submitted by MGoGrendel on

We saw another knucklehead start an OP this morning, only to have his post quickly negged so his points are well below 0.  This happens all too often, IMHO. 

I’ve seen a new user get to 100 points after 24 hours and then start a stupid or inflammatory OP.  This is typically a troll who quickly creates another new “creative” username, gets to 100 points by the next day, and starts another worthless OP.  When new users and their “this is my first post, be gentle” ask some feelingsball question, it’s just nails on this chalkboard.

It’s too easy for trolls and inexperienced users to start an OP.  We have a great culture here and it takes a bit to understand the banter, adjust to the rhythm, and follow the insides jokes. As such, I would like to request that the Mods raise the level to start an OP.  I suggest the following thresholds:

  • Users must be registered for 6 months 90 days (?) 
  • Users must have 500 points

Justification: After this much time and comment participation, we can weed out the trolls and integrate the newbies.  Newbies can always “Thread jack, someone please post this (topic)”.  Trolls will be trolls, but we can at least hide their comments on the web.

So, let’s use this as a petition.  In the comments below, let the Mods know how your thoughts about this request.

 

edit: updated the time as 6 months appears harsh and could be bad for business.

M-Dog

January 3rd, 2017 at 10:11 AM ^

No it's not, it's fun.  

When we had that period of time where the points didn't work, it was still as active as ever.  Don't be such a grumpy pants.

Now I will grant you the "It's Tuesday and it's snowing!" Posbangs get a little excessive.

 

crg

January 3rd, 2017 at 11:34 AM ^

Maybe the points should have an expiration date - if you do not post/comment/participate in a while your points dwindle down, eventually to zero. This way, only users who continually contribute good (or at least not bad) content will have high enough point totals to meet an acceptable threshold (whatever that is deemed to be)

stephenrjking

January 3rd, 2017 at 2:14 PM ^

It doesn't, really. It's just a plain bad idea. What's wrong with someone who was inactive for a while coming back?

There were a handful of threads and posts asking what happened to Alum96. He had been a vital contributor, providing great content in 2015 both during the season and leading up to signing day. Must read stuff. He disappeared. People wondered where he went. When he came back, he returned... with a thread post. Do you want to keep him away?

"No, not someone who has only been gone for nine months," you might say. But what about BlueSeoul? His "Game Wraps with Pics" remain the best user-generated content in the history of the board, in my opinion. They were insightful, funny, big... must-read stuff during the RichRod era.

He has since changed his name (SFBayAreaBlue, presumably reflecting a change of residence) and disappeared for a long time. He still pops in every once in a while, but he has posted only a handful of times in the past few years.

Do you want to keep him out? What about Communist Football, who writes professionally in "real life" and basically disappeared during the Hoke era? What about old mods like profitgoblue?

A post by any one of these guys is a must-click. It doesn't make sense to me to shove them off because they had other things to do.

Hail-Storm

January 3rd, 2017 at 10:36 AM ^

I liked those back in the day.  Haven't been to many posbang threads. That would explain the explosion in points with many in the 5 digits. 

OP has reasonable request. I like the combination of time and points to help weed through trolls and fans that may not get the nuance of this board vs some other blogs. 

ppToilet

January 3rd, 2017 at 10:59 AM ^

You get a point for posting, so you break even if one person negs you (and the person negging loses a point). So, in a thread you should lose two points for each neg. For an OP, it should be four points lost for each neg. But, whatever, I generally avoid the threads that are troll inspired. I'm fine with OPs suggestions.

JimmyHardballs

January 3rd, 2017 at 10:37 AM ^

Although I am sure the celebration of internet points does in fact have its time and place, having them all the time kind of takes the "occasion" away.

And yes this was sent by a noob who could use some points. However even though it isn't a sole measure of a posters quality it does help sift through a mass of posts if there are some posters who have a ton of legit points. Having a bunch of people at 10k points is the same as having a bunch of people at 100 points.

I don't feel the need to start a thread, and the community is welcoming enough (just barely) that if there is something I really wanted to talk about I have no doubt there would be plenty of posters who would volunteer to create the thread for me.

You Only Live Twice

January 3rd, 2017 at 10:53 AM ^

Our top users have so many points that eliminating the weekly posbangs wouldn't hurt them, and if it takes the rest of us longer to get there, it's worth it to cut down on the troll activity.  I think the dedicated trolls have figured out the system.  

I'm in favor of anything that makes life easier for the Mods/Moms, and preserves the quality level of the blog.  I would also vote for extending the time for being able to upvote/downvote as the trolls probably reward one another.  

RDDGoblue

January 3rd, 2017 at 9:52 AM ^

And for those of us that have been here for years, read every day, but do not feel the need to participate in Posbangs in order to gain points artificially, perhaps dare I say the more selective posters that dont type posts unless we really feel that we have something of quality to add to a discussion, how does this work?

 

(edit: guess I am over 500 these days, but the point does still stand even if it does not apply to myself)

Frostbite

January 3rd, 2017 at 10:45 AM ^

First they came for those with no MGOpoints, and I did not speak out -

     Because I had some MGOpoints.

Then they came for those with 100 MGOpoints, and I did not speak out -

     Because I had more than 100 MGOpoints.

Then the came for those with less that 500 MGOpoints, and I did not speak out -

     But I did have to start posting in the Posbang threads.

1 percent

January 3rd, 2017 at 9:54 AM ^

There was nothing wrong with his post. The problem was with his username, tagline, avatar all of which he thought was cool and crrative.

Plus I don't really care. If a dude makes a dumb post I'm definitely gonna make fun of it. If a dude makes a good post I'm gonna find something to make fun of.

michiganprof

January 3rd, 2017 at 11:06 AM ^

There wasn't an indisputable-video-evidence problem with the specific post as such, but if you look at his posting history, he's clearly a concern troll masquerading as a Michigan fan. He joins up a week ago, plants a couple of of generic "Jim Harbaugh is the greatest" posts to throw people off the trail, and makes sure he adds generic "Yay team" posts along the way, but the only substantive posts subtly or not-so-subtly inject venom into a discussion and slag Michigan, Michigan players, and Michigan fans in a way that is evidently geared to leave a sour impression for anyone reading. Presumably he's already been banned enough times that he's gotten better at camouflage, but he's obviously a troll looking to spread poison.

"[I'm totally a Michigan fan but] Peppers sat this one out intentionally." [Repeatedly, including the accusation that Peppers' grimaces during warmup were faked.]

[During the FSU game]: "[I'm totally, 100% a Michigan fan, believe me why would I lie but] the senior leadership on this team is a disgrace."

"[I'm totally a Michigan fan but] Player x sucks. [repeatedly]"

"[I'm totally a Michigan fan but] Player y sucks. [repeatedly]"

'[I'm totally a Michigan fan but] the negging response to my obvious trolling makes me understand why everyone hates Michigan fans."

"[I'm totally a Michigan fan but] position group x is so awful that prospective recruit y will decide not to come here."

.

.

.

etc. Perhaps most of these individual posts might have been made by a genuine fan posting in a moment of frustration or passing bad temper, but taken together, the pattern is obvious.

Add to that the fact that his spelling and grammar are atrocious and his posting style reminds at least one regular poster of a previously banned troll. The use of the name of a prospective recruit in an offensive username and the disgusting, inappropriate avatar are just additional confirmation.