Site Discussion Thread

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:13 am

At least back when topics would only get locked the posters would actually send screenshots and a download link from time to time. I've handled a good dozen levels with this new system and have seen only one of the original posters go through the effort to repost their topic (and when they did it was formatted wrong and the screenshots and download link weren't even properly uploaded). Most of them get confused because the topic is gone and that's it. IMO it'd be much better if we just locked the topic and deleted it after 2 weeks of no response from the author.

Mable · Postby **Mable** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:21 am

^
Agreed + can i see a source of the rule that mentions the deletion of threads who don't have a working link or screen? I did see the Project rule one but it says nothing about deletion.

PixelPest · Postby **PixelPest** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:37 am

Tinkerbell wrote:^
Agreed + can i see a source of the rule that mentions the deletion of threads who don't have a working link or screen? I did see the Project rule one but it says nothing about deletion.

From a topic in the Level Judges' forum:

Joey wrote:1. Please don't lock topics upon request anymore. I will make a thread mentioning this for users as well, but yeah, topics rarely need to be locked so please don't do it just because the author requests it. Only lock topics if they violate rules (e.g. disrespect toward other users, lack of screenshots/download link, etc.).

2. If a user violates a rule such as not having a screenshot/download link, use the PM button on the post profile (which will populate the message form with their post data, an important thing to do so they have a copy of their post) and send them a message telling them what they did wrong. Delete the topic once this is done, except in cases where the topic has received replies, unless those replies are something along the lines of "cool", "awesome", or "you're missing screenshots/a download link", in which case they're useless and can be PM'd (with a reprimand, if applicable) and deleted as well.

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:40 am

The process takes 3x longer, is 10x more confusing, produces more threads with broken formatting and the "thread mentioning this for users" still doesn't exist as far as I know. The Best System™

PixelPest · Postby **PixelPest** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:43 am

Enjl wrote:The process takes 3x longer, is 10x more confusing, produces more threads with broken formatting and the "thread mentioning this for users" still doesn't exist as far as I know. The Best System™

Yes it takes longer, but it makes the forums look a little cleaner and prevents the build up of topics that'll never get unlocked. I don't think it really needed to be mentioned to regular users since it really shouldn't change posting habits or anything

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:48 am

The lack of transparency confuses them. Every time you write a pm because you deleted their topic you have to explain an unwritten rule to them which they couldn't have possibly known about. And the "wait two weeks" method gets rid of the other issues with the current system which I mentioned.

PixelPest · Postby **PixelPest** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:59 am

Enjl wrote:The lack of transparency confuses them. Every time you write a pm because you deleted their topic you have to explain an unwritten rule to them which they couldn't have possibly known about. And the "wait two weeks" method gets rid of the other issues with the current system which I mentioned.

What's there to explain? When I send I PM, it's just like, for example:

PixelPest wrote:
Enjl wrote:This is the topic for the next 2k16 episode. Sorry, but I don't have any screenshots yet.
You need to include screenshots with all Levels, Projects, and Episodes posts. Feel free to repost when you have some

Mable · Postby **Mable** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 10:04 am

The issue is really that nobody knows about this rule bc only the level judges can see it. Why hasn't it been posted into the public so everyone knows it?
Specially when you just joined and don't know about the rule bc you can't even find it how are you supposed to know that the topic gets deleted???

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 10:14 am

Been digging through my old pms. Most people don't reply at all, but in every other case I get a message like this. I refuse to believe the approach described in your previous post gets any different results.

Postby **Shadow Yoshi** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:17 pm

It's not a "rule" as in something that users have to follow. It's a rule for Level Judges when dealing with topics that break rules, which is why they were told about it. PMing somebody with a copy of their post creates a link to the post, which would show the user upon clicking that their post has been deleted. This system was put in place because it's much better than just locking threads and way more efficient than attempting to wait any amount of time before taking action.

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:21 pm

On first glance - yes. When you're actually dealing with it - no. Not at all. All that this system does is cause confusion and waste time for the sake of "a bit less clutter".

aero · Postby **aero** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:48 pm

What if we were to use a sort of common sense based system of sorts where we don't punish topics for menial bullshit? Sounds absurd to not follow the same SMBX formula instead of what works better for people to post their levels, I know, but perhaps if we were to have the outcomes of topics be determined by the community that posts in them, maybe these situations will work themselves out.

Also given the inefficiency and lack of transparency with this, I'd wager that this system is more actively enforced by the Level Judges than actual reviewing. That's just a hunch though.

Postby **Shadow Yoshi** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:49 pm

Enjl wrote:On first glance - yes. When you're actually dealing with it - no. Not at all. All that this system does is cause confusion and waste time for the sake of "a bit less clutter".

I've been doing this since before I had told anybody else to do it, and I don't think anyone has ever asked me where their thread was. I don't see how this wastes any time, besides the time it takes to click an "X" on a post.

Aero, I see most of what you're saying, but you're being too vague with "a common sense-based system" and "what works better for people to post their levels".

Mable · Postby **Mable** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:54 pm

I gladly support the idea of giving some time and not deleting the thread immediatly.

A new user would only see "Yeah if you dun have screen thread is locked" People don't know that their thread is getting deleted immediatly bc no topic exists that tells about it.

Also everyone makes mistakes and deserved a second chance. For new people it could be a letdown and they might be afraid of posting another thread.

aero · Postby **aero** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:59 pm

What I mean is that there should be some situational awareness of some sorts with handling levels that violate some of the trivial rules like having screenshots. In the forum rules it says the mods and admins basically enforce them at their own discretion which helps the staff from being too rigid about them, that's pretty much what I'm going for here. And there's more user-friendly ways of having a system where people can host their levels here without relying so much on third party hosts that new comers to SMBX or forums in general are unfamiliar with sites such as imgur for screenshots or mediafire for DL links; that can be open to discussion though because I have my own ideas, but someone else could have something better to offer but it should go in its own thread.

PixelPest · Postby **PixelPest** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 7:43 pm

Spoiler: show

I don't think I've ever gone to the home page on my phone until today and then I noticed how off it looks from a mobile device with the pipe and floating characters at the bottom

aero · Postby **aero** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 7:52 pm

That's just on your phone.

PixelPest · Postby **PixelPest** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 7:57 pm

AeroMatter wrote:That's just on your phone.

I'm aware of that. I don't get the issue on my desktop but it still looks bad

Postby **Shadow Yoshi** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 8:08 pm

Aero: Okay, that makes more sense. Thanks for clarifying. I think we definitely should specify somewhere at the very least that Mediafire and Imgur are the recommended hosting sites. What other services/methods do you have in mind?

Ace · Postby **Ace** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 8:21 pm

Joey wrote:Aero: Okay, that makes more sense. Thanks for clarifying. I think we definitely should specify somewhere at the very least that Mediafire and Imgur are the recommended hosting sites. What other services/methods do you have in mind?

I wouldn't recommend mediafire, it always redirects me to shady websites for downloads over 5MB, even with adblock, and I know it does this to a lot of other users as well. I would recommend dropbox instead.