Site Discussion Thread

[MacDuckBeat]

Something's wrong here. And the YT channel URL is supposed to be this.

[Shadow Yoshi]

Okay, I've now made it so that you have to put the entire URL in the field. This makes all current links no longer work.

[Snessy the duck]

Okay, I've now made it so that you have to put the entire URL in the field. This makes all current links no longer work.

Wouldn't it be better if you could support both? That way, we don't have to go and change all the links to be correct.

[Fuyu]

What I'm about to say shouldn't even be mentioned because it is stated in the forum rules. Please do not backseat moderate. I have seen countless posts of people posting "you need screenshots", or "you kinda need a download link". This also counts as backseat moderate and as such is not allowed. Saying stuff like "Not to backseat moderate, but ..." doesn't excuse it either. There is a report button anyone has access to in order to let the staff know that there's this user doing something wrong. Keep in mind that by saying "don't post" I'm not saying "you're in the way" or "you shouldn't help people out", as in contrary to what most people believe by reporting a message you're already helping that person.

[Cedur]

These instances aren't really harmful and the problem is still that many users (not only hit-and-runners who post stuff with zero progress and titles like "New Super Mario Bros X") don't get to notice that they must read some rules. I question the point of this locking habitus in general. It doesn't really scare the hit-and-runners away if there's gonna be a "PM screenshots if you want this unlocked" line from a staff member when it can be assumed that these screenshots, let alone a finished project, probably won't be delivered anyway. If someone's blatantly ignoring rules, their topic should be "deleted" (moved to a place in the staff forums where it can be reconstructed if needed). They can just be privately notified and asked to repost it if they want to do it in accordance with the rules.

The Permabanned group isn't in use anymore

So if a user is permabanned they don't get a brown name or any other indication that they're permabanned? The vast majority of boards at least uses some bit of indication. I would second removing the color and the dead Mario avatar completely, but the line "Banned" under the username should stay for transparency.

[Snessy the duck]

I also think that the "Banned" line should stay, and possibly make it so it shows up when the user is just regularily banned instead of permabanned.

[The Dwarven Digger]

What I'm about to say shouldn't even be mentioned because it is stated in the forum rules. Please do not backseat moderate. I have seen countless posts of people posting "you need screenshots", or "you kinda need a download link". This also counts as backseat moderate and as such is not allowed. Saying stuff like "Not to backseat moderate, but ..." doesn't excuse it either. There is a report button anyone has access to in order to let the staff know that there's this user doing something wrong. Keep in mind that by saying "don't post" I'm not saying "you're in the way" or "you shouldn't help people out", as in contrary to what most people believe by reporting a message you're already helping that person.

It's OK saying don't backseat moderate and everything...
But is there actually anything that clearly states the difference between 'being helpful' and 'backseat moderating'?
I haven't found anything, and it doesn't say in the forum rules. I have just checked, and it just says

Do not backseat moderate; the mods and the rest of the staff can do their jobs themselves. There is a "Report" button on the top left corner of each post for alerting moderators of something you think violates the rules.

I'm mainly saying this because I got told off by Intuition for 'backseat moderating', as I was unsure of what is and isn't acceptable. I wasn't intentionally doing this, just trying to be helpful. Hence why I put the words 'I'm not trying to backseat moderate,but...' I think this is also why Intuition made this post in the first place, partly because of my post but also other people who had done it in the past.
tl;dr: Is there anything saying what is and isn't classed as 'backseat moderating'? Because that would really help a lot of users like me who might occasionally do it even though they're only trying to help.

[Fuyu]

As I said, you are helping by reporting posts. Not only is it helpful towards the user who isn't following the forum rules, but also towards the staff. Whether you say anything or not the user will get warned by the staff, and the posts only contribute to one's twisted sense of responsability for helping others.

I repeat, you help by reporting posts, that is the correct way of doing it on the forums. That is the only thing you need to do.

[Cedur]

The "sense of responsibility" is definitely not twisted in cases like The Dwarven Digger's. You've given a reminder on how to handle it correctly, yet I feel you're a bit too harsh on the people who posted instead of reporting.

[The Dwarven Digger]

As I said, you are helping by reporting posts. Not only is it helpful towards the user who isn't following the forum rules, but also towards the staff. Whether you say anything or not the user will get warned by the staff, and the posts only contribute to one's twisted sense of responsability for helping others.

I repeat, you help by reporting posts, that is the correct way of doing it on the forums. That is the only thing you need to do.

So basically, you're saying that people shouldn't post anything at all, and just report it instead?

The "sense of responsibility" is definitely not twisted in cases like The Dwarven Digger's. You've given a reminder on how to handle it correctly, yet I feel you're a bit too harsh on the people who posted instead of reporting.

I agree, there's no 'twisted sense of responsibility' here, by posting what I thought would be OK I just thought it would be a good idea to let the user know what sort of things people don't like on the forums. (In my case, I was (or at least thought I was) letting the user know that they should edit their posts rather than double-posting).
Also, I think it needs to be made clearer in the forum rules, either saying "If you see something a user shouldn't be doing, don't try to backseat moderate, just report it and a staff member will sort it out", or making it clear what is and isn't counted as backseat moderating. Plus, in the "Quick notes about reporting", it basically tells you to only use the report button if necessary and not to over-use it. That is part of the reason why I thought it would be a good idea to let the user know what they're doing wrong, and not just report it.

Finally, a suggestion. Could the site be set up so a new user, once registered, is sent straight to the forum rules page? That would mean they are less likely to not bother reading them (and therefore not knowing what is and isn't allowed, minimising the amount of new users who are not following the rules and/or haven't seen them).

[PixelPest]

As I said, you are helping by reporting posts. Not only is it helpful towards the user who isn't following the forum rules, but also towards the staff. Whether you say anything or not the user will get warned by the staff, and the posts only contribute to one's twisted sense of responsability for helping others.

I repeat, you help by reporting posts, that is the correct way of doing it on the forums. That is the only thing you need to do.

So basically, you're saying that people shouldn't post anything at all, and just report it instead?

Exactly. That's the purpose of the report button. Let moderators moderate

[Fuyu]

The forum rules clearly state "don't backseat moderate", yet people still do this. And this isn't the case with new members, but the same selection of users. This is precisely why I felt the need to express how important it is to report posts. And yes, that "sense of responsibility" is in fact twisted, because you can be just as responsible for the act of reporting posts. The need of posting is just for mere satisfaction and to ensure the message gets through regardless of it not being allowed. I'm sorry if you take this as harsh, but then again, there is no other way to put it really.

Also, the quick notes about reports goes as follows:

• Please don't use the report button as a joke.
• Please don't backseat moderate in your reports.
• Please don't hesitate to report things to us via direct messaging on the SMBX Chat.

Nowhere does it say you shouldn't report too much. Sure, everything is bad when you abuse it, but we thank each and every report for it makes our job of handling the forums much easier.

[Emral]

if you're already using the report button to notify the moderators of a rule violation, adding a comment isn't really backseat moderating imo, unless it's something like "Hey you HAVE to deal with this". If a comment is appropriate, the moderator will act according to the rules, and if it's a comment that either misunderstood the rules or exaggerates on them, there's a misunderstanding that should probably be sorted out to prevent repitition of the situation.

[PixelPest]

I think the key is not to suggest action by the moderators in reports and instead alert them.

Example of a bad report: This project doesn't have enough screenshots. You guys need to lock it since it's against the rules.

Example of a good report: Not enough screenshots

[Snessy the duck]

I have a question that has really been bugging me. Why are the admins' rank Final Fantasy characters? It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, and it's not really SMBX, or even Mario themed, so why is that?

[RudeGuy]

the admins' ranks on redigit's forum were also final fantasy characters.

[Thehelmetguy1]

^^^
This forums try to get the essence of the original SMBX forums

[Snessy the duck]

the admins' ranks on redigit's forum were also final fantasy characters.

But it still doesn't make any sense. Why did Redigit chose FF characters?

[Shadow Yoshi]

Redigit likes FFIV and made Kain his rank on the original SMBX forums (no other admins had an FFIV rank, to my knowledge). I decided to bring that back for these forums, and saved the Kain rank for Redigit.

Okay, I've now made it so that you have to put the entire URL in the field. This makes all current links no longer work.

Wouldn't it be better if you could support both? That way, we don't have to go and change all the links to be correct.

Of course, but there's no good way for me to do that.

[MacDuckBeat]

the admins' ranks on redigit's forum were also final fantasy characters.

I always thought who are those characters tho, the admin's rank was actually looks interesting. I didn't know the admin's character rank is from Final Fantasy: IV. ^_^'