NationStates Jolt Archive

I don't know what the situation is on the other fora since I don't often roam outside the General area, but in the last couple of weeks, the huge number of "Bush is right/wrong about the war" or "Gays have the right to marry" has to be contributing to the server lag. Is there some way that mod could shut down or merge or lock any of these multiple threads, maybe inserting a notice into the main/first thread as to why it was done?

Good idea.

We'll call it "BBB": Banned for Being Boring.

Merging would be good, but the sheer work it would mean for the mods would just be too much, I would think.

Sadly, there is no merge tool. And merging well-developed threads would only make continuity and logic conflicts worse. The most I could really do is prevent an individual from starting too many threads on the same subject in a short space of time. If several distinct individuals wish to argue their point on the same issue in their own threads, I can't see anything I could do about that. Just one of those things, I guess.

Tactical Grace
Forum Moderator

Is there a way to create filters that would "disallow"* a topic?

*Disallow is not a good term here.

Let me give you an example. You set a filter to give a user a message when they start a thread with the word "gay" in the subject line if there are X numbers of threads containing the word "gay" in the subject line that have been active in Y number of hours, days, unit of time. If that condition is met, the user gets a message saying something to the effect of "There are numerous active threads containing the subject line "gay" in them already. If you have any thoughts, concerns, etc., etc., please post them in an already existing thread". And in addition, a very cleverly written bit of code could give links to the threads in question that have "gay" in the subject line.

There you have auto-merging and thread-starting (about the same subject) discouraging. This could also discourage flames.


And...something that could help out lag and such, why not create an option to disable images (such as the NS logo)? If you make it voluntary, you're not forcing it on people, and I bet enough people would do it that it could help lag out.

I agree that people should read other threads before beginning their own, but what you're suggesting actually is limiting people's speech further. (Yes, I know, no free speech on the server, but still.) Perhaps they have a different slant that would derail a topic completely, and don't wish to do so. Perhaps they cannot get along with someone already in the topic and, rather than argue, start fresh. Who knows? By saying "You can't start another gay topic" you may be preventing people from having an intelligent discussion about something that concerns them.

If you think a topic is boring, you do have the right not to click on it and answer.....

It's getting to be like cable TV: 99 channels all about the same 4 subjects.

The problem with filters is, they are a blunt and inaccurate instrument. People would just think of variations such as g4y to get around it. And I am sure you will agree, one thing worse than a dozen threads on homosexuality is a dozen threads on homosexuality conducted entirely in 1337.

Tactical Grace
Forum Moderator

I said "disallow" didn't describe it well.

How about this then:

Don't prevent people from creating new threads, but pop up the same message as I stated above with an added on something such as: "There are # threads on the topc [topic]. Are you sure you want to start another thread?"

Sure it won't solve all the problems, but it should take a dent out of them, because I think many people might start new topics because they can't find the current active ones, especially now that the search by subject keyword function has been diabled.

"Am I a Superpower" or "Who are the Superpowers" threads should be deleted as soon as they're created. Not that what I just said is realistic or anything....just what should happen....

Sadly, there is no merge tool. And merging well-developed threads would only make continuity and logic conflicts worse. The most I could really do is prevent an individual from starting too many threads on the same subject in a short space of time. If several distinct individuals wish to argue their point on the same issue in their own threads, I can't see anything I could do about that. Just one of those things, I guess.

Tactical Grace
Forum Moderator

I thought there was a merge tool, it may just be on the new version on phpBB.