Zie Sandbox.
So, there’s been some debate over here about the Sandbox. At one time (not too long ago), the same person complaining about it once praised it for having a rich culture. Either way, I’m not blaming anyone for changing their minds about the Sandbox. Sometimes, good things in excess can be a little too much for anyone.
I was joking around with Shane and I told him that the Sandbox should be hidden from public view for two weeks to see if overall post quality went up. This sort of got me thinking.. would post quality go up if that were the case? Users spend a lot of their time in the Sandbox and if it weren’t pruned, it’d no doubt be the largest subforum on RSBANDB.
What if we hid the Sandbox from view for a while? Would it make a difference, and if so, how? Should we consider it? I don’t know, honestly. I always like having a few laughs, but things in RSBANDB have lately been a little sluggish. I’d like to know what you all think.
Tags: RS Community |
November 11th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
November 12th, 2007 at 1:10 am
It *did* have a very rich culture. Did. Doesn’t anymore.
Because some people killed it.
The idea of removing it completely for two weeks, though, is something I like. Like a sandbox reincarnation.
Also, what Christopher said in the comments on my blog also counts towards the problem. The entire demographic of RSBandB has probably shifted down by a couple of years - older members leaving, younger, more immature morons joining. Before, we would all have intelligent conversations outside of the sandbox and slightly less intelligent ones within it. Now, people are being complete idiots within the sandbox - loads of one word posts, nothing interesting going on at all. And the intelligent discussions outside the sandbox are nowhere to be seen.
Getting rid of the sandbox for a couple of weeks could be a good experiment. Now to convince Mike or Shane…
November 12th, 2007 at 1:21 am
It would definitely help in my opinion if people were forced to use the other forums and think of things to post there.
Either that or Non-Runescape Discussion will get horribly spammed.
November 12th, 2007 at 1:54 am
This is a reprint of what I posted on MattVortex’s blog:
I don’t really post here. But the reason I think that rsbandb is suffering so much is the mean age of the site. A lot of the old members liquid, hello5k, Xbladez, etc… were around when I showed up and was a noob in 2k5 and the forums were awesome. Most of the topics were far above me and to be honest all the members were probably 15+. Now the forums are filled with 12-14 year olds, that don’t have any highbrow humor or at least more mature humor. I haven’t been posting lately because frankly there is nothing to post about and I have better things to do then look for 1 or 2 quality posts a day on the whole forum. We need people to try and make quality posts. I don’t like the sandbox because it only works as long as mature people are posting that can come up with a complete thought that is more or less complex. Now all you see are one word posts…in a forum that doesn’t even count towards your post total! The problem with the sandbox is it invites spamming and encourages younger posters to be less disciplined and learn less…they just show up and spam.
I don’t know what the answer is. Personally, I think RSB&B is suffering because the audience for Runescape is growing younger. As RS adds things like the assist feature and more verb X features, the game gets easier and the class of players gets younger. Sure it increases their bottom line, but it is more or less inflation. They are sacrificing the quality of the game for superficial gains…and payback is going to be a bitch.
I hope rsbandb can pull itself together, and I think one way to do that is to disband the sandbox altogether and reincarnate it later with more harsh penalties and control for one work posts and the 10m “I’m leaving” topics. We need some sifting to occur at RSB&B to get a better end product to grow from…otherwise the forums are going to dissolve and RSB&B will be just a memory. Hopefully, Shane and Mike or some of the admins or mods can curb this latest trend.
Christopher
November 12th, 2007 at 1:56 am
Sorry Matt…I was talking to someone and didn’t update the blog before I posted on MQ’s blog.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:29 am
… I’m actually lost for words after reading that idea. :\
I don’t know how to explain how I’m feeling about this blog post but you’re basically saying you want to remove something because you and/or a group of people don’t like what’s in it. I’m 100% sure I’ll get a reply saying “I’m wrong”, but that’s what that blog post says to me.
Selfish, is probably the best word for it.
I don’t like the majority of rsbandb’s sub forums right now, mainly because whatever is posted doesn’t interest me. But that’s more my responsibility, not the people posting. You can’t force interesting topics to be created. Stop trying.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:50 am
Okay, so basically you missed my whole point.
Let us say, a person walks up to you on the street and say “cheese” and walks away. Is that a quality statement…for anyone…or anything? Does it get anything accomplished? Does it enlighten you? Does it an anyway, semblance, or form appear as good? That is the sum of the topics in the sandbox right now and has been for some time. In my opinion…it is killing RSB&Bs community atmosphere. Why would someone say something if it doesn’t even apply to the topic? Why would someone start a topic that had no purpose or that by definition chooses not to be purposeful?
I’m confused how it makes me selfish if I desire to site back and read a topic that interests me. From what I gather that is the point of a forum. In fact that is what the forum was for discussion of common day issues. I fail to see how one word posts or repeating a topic that has been feigned 100 times previously adds any knowledge to the topic. I can stair at a wall and riddle off words and it would have the same effect as many of the topics. That is not, by definition the purpose of a forum. I fail to see how wanting to restore the forum to its original purpose is selfish. It is more selfish for the poster to have posted something in a forum that doesn’t belong there for the sake of gaining some sort of respect or admiration simply because they have the capability of posting. It is in itself pointless! More importantly it lowers the value of the forum to those who are there for the forums purpose. I.e. if those who have the ability to give respect and admiration leave then so will those who desire the respect and admiration and Shane and Mike, the hard working site creators are left with a dead community.
Hopefully, that elaborates my position more clearly for you.
fo·rum /ˈfɔrəm, ˈfoʊrəm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fawr-uhm, fohr-uhm] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural fo·rums, fo·ra /ˈfɔrə, ˈfoʊrə/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fawr-uh, fohr-uh] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation.
1. the marketplace or public square of an ancient Roman city, the center of judicial and business affairs and a place of assembly for the people.
2. a court or tribunal: the forum of public opinion.
3. an assembly, meeting place, television program, etc., for the discussion of questions of public interest.
4. the Forum, the forum in the ancient city of Rome.
[Origin: 1425–75; late ME < L: marketplace, public place, akin to forīs, forās outside, foris door]
“forum.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 12 Nov. 2007. .
Christopher
November 12th, 2007 at 4:52 am
There are a lot of typos in there…hmm…I should go to bed it is 4 AM in the morning here.
Christopher
November 12th, 2007 at 5:30 am
… I was posting in regards to MQs blog post.
Shitty attitudes on rsbandb are also what’s bringing it ‘down’. Though I don’t see much complaining over that; probably because it’s those people who’re complaining in the first place.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:28 am
We had a question related to this on the update. And as I stated there; I don’t think just removing the sandbox would make people post more meaningfully or post anywhere else, I think it would just make people post less.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:29 am
I don’t see how posting less is necessarily a bad thing. In fact I would hope that those who do post less consider the reason they are posting on RSB&B at all…If they are there for helpful, thoughtful posting then stick around, you still have plenty of forums to post in. If you are there to have a competition with your friend to see who can lay down the most one word posts per day, then maybe you should reconsider your posting habits and why you are at RSB&B.
Oh, and Anubis, I’m not sure shitty attitudes (to use your term) is the reason RSB&B is being brought down. When I think about people I vehemently disagree with, I think of The Haysta. Still I respect the guy because he is very forthright in his beliefs. I mean he was open about how he likes macros and bots and things that F2P are a bunch of bloody sucking maggots. I couldn’t disagree with him more. But at least he was passionate about something. There are so many people that really, do not every post anything new. They don’t add anything to the site. They try to get posts by repeating what someone else said or by one word posting “Good Job” or “nice” or “lol”…what does that do for any of us. Shitty attitudes can be annoying, but they also are a product of passionate belief in something (usually…not always) and that is something I think we need on the site, more as of late than before I think. Anyway, that is my opinion.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
O.o I never said that I wanted to delete the Sandbox, and I never said that I didn’t like the people in it. I’m saying that there is no way to know whether or not it’d positively affect overall post quality if we don’t try. How is that selfish?
November 12th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Aw, the sandbox is the #1 forum I check.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Take all you want, just leave my 10k post thread alone
On a more serious note, indeed the “Counted” forums’ posts would go way up or not at all if the Sandbox was removed. It would be a nice experiment to see it be gone for a while and see what people do.
Save Teh SpamBox people.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
IluMQ
November 13th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I remember when it was for testing signatures.
November 14th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Christopher, I like how to refer to all the spam and inconsiderance on RSBANDB to people aged 12-14. I’m 13, and I know many people on this forum around the same age. Many of them people are considerate about their aspect of posting, and how it will help people. I like to think myself mature, as I’m not going around making insolent stupid spamming posts, but I really shouldn’t judge that. Perhaps you should ask the other mature younger members of RSBANDB?
November 14th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Now Ryan, I don’t really need to prove myself here, but there is something you should know about society in general if you haven’t learned it already. It is not purely that the 12-14 year olds on the site don’t post solid topics, it is that they drag all conversations down to their level. There is nothing inherently wrong with the 12-14 year old population. The only thing is that that are of that age where everything is a fad…they are trying to fit in, etc…basically there is a general attitude or atmosphere that pervades that age group. That atmosphere rubs off on all other members. Thus the general atmosphere of the forum becomes more 12-14 year oldish and older members are forced either not to post or to lower their maturity level. A lot leave.
In this case you may be an exception, but from experience I know that none of us is immune to bad posting. What creates a good society of posters is a general atmosphere of a good posting and the accountability that goes with that. Plus you just always speak on par with someone’s age or the age that they put forth. For example talking to MQ about her friends marriage difficulties is very natural thing for two people of marrying age. Talking about life goals, and other deeper subjects is also very natural. Talking about random pointless topics, or what movie you saw this weekend, or how your 35th “girlfriend” this year broke up with you are examples of pointless annoying subjects IMO.
Oh, and an unofficial demographic for the boards. http://forums.rsbandb.com/about53308.html&highlight=age
Christopher