A letter to my fellow Smoothians

[MiniHorse]

Totally agree... Kamaliah says smart things xD

[Devilish]

Ooh x3 Very nice :3 Everytime I see a spam post on a thread, I think I may post this and ask the people to read this..That wouldn't be spam would it?

[June Bug]

If you include some conversation in the same post, it wouldn't count as spam X3

[Devilish]

If you include some conversation in the same post, it wouldn't count as spam X3

Okay^^ Thanks! I didn't want to spam more by posting the link to this XD

[shibe]

Everybody, get on your hands and knees and bow down to the mighty one that is KAM. *bows repeatedly*
I lovelovelove you for this Kamaliah, and I'm sososo adding that stamp to my sig.

[huskynerd]

Meh...I kind of agree with what mokapi and Jeweled said. I really don't get what's wrong with a little friendly discussion off to the side if you post something on topic as well. I guess I like the atmosphere that it creates, and it seems obvious to me when the chatting is "too much" (i.e. it takes up more than a page or so) - but maybe that's not the case for everyone. I feel awkward PMing someone if I don't know them that well, and I'd feel kind of presumptuous making a chat thread just to talk to people when the only thing we knowingly have in common is this site. Perhaps that's just my social awkwardness talking, though. ;

As for the bookmarking, while I do use the button - if I really want to have it under View my posts, I wait until I have something to contribute to the discussion.

The chatting is also a little confusing because mods do it, too. Maybe not as much anymore, but I think many of us remember where the Rainbow Smoothie came from. I can see why some users would be confused as to what the policies on "chatting" are. Sometimes it's tolerated, sometimes posts get deleted with no mention at all, sometimes we get reprimanded/warned, and sometimes the warning comes as the last post by a mod who's locking down the topic.

I know I was a little frustrated about the locking of the "Current most wanted pet" threads. Everyone was trying really hard to follow the rules, and I guess we didn't realize that hoards didn't count as "most wanted." I wish the first warning about that hadn't been the post that locked the thread.

I understand that mods are busy and I'm sure it gets frustrating enough that at the first sight of OTness they just want to shut it down, but... I really liked that thread. It facilitated a lot of generosity and goodwill between players looking for their dream pets; I know I made a couple friends there that I just wouldn't have made otherwise. And I still have nowhere to celebrate when I someday get that next dreampet. >_<

I guess I just think it's a hard line to draw when you value a community like this one. I read another forum where absolutely no crap is tolerated... each topic has a "focus" that pretty much every post has to adhere to, and any open thread first has to be approved by a mod. It makes for great reading and harbors great, entertaining, intelligent discussion - but I don't post there. I wouldn't feel comfortable. CS is really the first forum I've ever gotten involved in, and that's because of the friendliness of it's community and the lack of pressure and judgement over what you post.

Holy wall of text, Batman! XD Sorry everybody, I'm long-winded. ^^;

[BrightPink]

CS is really the first forum I've ever gotten involved in, and that's because of the friendliness of it's community and the lack of pressure and judgement over what you post.

Same here

Even if English is not my native language, I post here more than when I was playing a Polish site-game xD

[Jeweled]

Meh...I kind of agree with what mokapi and Jeweled said. I really don't get what's wrong with a little friendly discussion off to the side if you post something on topic as well. I guess I like the atmosphere that it creates, and it seems obvious to me when the chatting is "too much" (i.e. it takes up more than a page or so) - but maybe that's not the case for everyone. I feel awkward PMing someone if I don't know them that well, and I'd feel kind of presumptuous making a chat thread just to talk to people when the only thing we knowingly have in common is this site. Perhaps that's just my social awkwardness talking, though. ;

As for the bookmarking, while I do use the button - if I really want to have it under View my posts, I wait until I have something to contribute to the discussion.

The chatting is also a little confusing because mods do it, too. Maybe not as much anymore, but I think many of us remember where the Rainbow Smoothie came from. I can see why some users would be confused as to what the policies on "chatting" are. Sometimes it's tolerated, sometimes posts get deleted with no mention at all, sometimes we get reprimanded/warned, and sometimes the warning comes as the last post by a mod who's locking down the topic.

I know I was a little frustrated about the locking of the "Current most wanted pet" threads. Everyone was trying really hard to follow the rules, and I guess we didn't realize that hoards didn't count as "most wanted." I wish the first warning about that hadn't been the post that locked the thread.

I understand that mods are busy and I'm sure it gets frustrating enough that at the first sight of OTness they just want to shut it down, but... I really liked that thread. It facilitated a lot of generosity and goodwill between players looking for their dream pets; I know I made a couple friends there that I just wouldn't have made otherwise. And I still have nowhere to celebrate when I someday get that next dreampet. >_<

I guess I just think it's a hard line to draw when you value a community like this one. I read another forum where absolutely no crap is tolerated... each topic has a "focus" that pretty much every post has to adhere to, and any open thread first has to be approved by a mod. It makes for great reading and harbors great, entertaining, intelligent discussion - but I don't post there. I wouldn't feel comfortable. CS is really the first forum I've ever gotten involved in, and that's because of the friendliness of it's community and the lack of pressure and judgement over what you post.

Holy wall of text, Batman! XD Sorry everybody, I'm long-winded. ^^;

Exactly what deja said. You can't possibly know everyone on the forum well enough to PM them, so a little friendly chat here and there is harmless, but yet there are varying reactions to it each and every time. There have been topics that go so far off topic that I find it amazing they were never locked, and then others that get locked the instant they even show the slightest inclination to. There doesn't seem to be a very clear set of rules about how we should hold conversations on this forum -- it just seems to depend on what moderator is online at the time. Maybe, instead of completely trying to shut down chat, we should try and figure out what the rules pertaining to it are, first. ^^

[Nawee]

Good iniative, Kam. I agree with what you said, even though I know I spam from time to time. I think this is a usefull guide, I'll make sure to use it =3

[June Bug]

Meh...I kind of agree with what mokapi and Jeweled said. I really don't get what's wrong with a little friendly discussion off to the side if you post something on topic as well. I guess I like the atmosphere that it creates, and it seems obvious to me when the chatting is "too much" (i.e. it takes up more than a page or so) - but maybe that's not the case for everyone. I feel awkward PMing someone if I don't know them that well, and I'd feel kind of presumptuous making a chat thread just to talk to people when the only thing we knowingly have in common is this site. Perhaps that's just my social awkwardness talking, though. ;

As for the bookmarking, while I do use the button - if I really want to have it under View my posts, I wait until I have something to contribute to the discussion.

The chatting is also a little confusing because mods do it, too. Maybe not as much anymore, but I think many of us remember where the Rainbow Smoothie came from. I can see why some users would be confused as to what the policies on "chatting" are. Sometimes it's tolerated, sometimes posts get deleted with no mention at all, sometimes we get reprimanded/warned, and sometimes the warning comes as the last post by a mod who's locking down the topic.

I know I was a little frustrated about the locking of the "Current most wanted pet" threads. Everyone was trying really hard to follow the rules, and I guess we didn't realize that hoards didn't count as "most wanted." I wish the first warning about that hadn't been the post that locked the thread.

I understand that mods are busy and I'm sure it gets frustrating enough that at the first sight of OTness they just want to shut it down, but... I really liked that thread. It facilitated a lot of generosity and goodwill between players looking for their dream pets; I know I made a couple friends there that I just wouldn't have made otherwise. And I still have nowhere to celebrate when I someday get that next dreampet. >_<

I guess I just think it's a hard line to draw when you value a community like this one. I read another forum where absolutely no crap is tolerated... each topic has a "focus" that pretty much every post has to adhere to, and any open thread first has to be approved by a mod. It makes for great reading and harbors great, entertaining, intelligent discussion - but I don't post there. I wouldn't feel comfortable. CS is really the first forum I've ever gotten involved in, and that's because of the friendliness of it's community and the lack of pressure and judgement over what you post.

Holy wall of text, Batman! XD Sorry everybody, I'm long-winded. ^^;

Exactly what deja said. You can't possibly know everyone on the forum well enough to PM them, so a little friendly chat here and there is harmless, but yet there are varying reactions to it each and every time. There have been topics that go so far off topic that I find it amazing they were never locked, and then others that get locked the instant they even show the slightest inclination to. There doesn't seem to be a very clear set of rules about how we should hold conversations on this forum -- it just seems to depend on what moderator is online at the time. Maybe, instead of completely trying to shut down chat, we should try and figure out what the rules pertaining to it are, first. ^^

This is a forum, not a chat room so the mods are allowed to lock and warn for chat anytime they want. Threads that go off topic for long periods of time are just getting overlooked because no one is reporting it or calling attention to the spam levels. Creating a chat room specifically for the topic in which your friends hang out is really the best way to avoid spam. No one said you had to PM people to chat, you just can't do it on the boards.
I agree that a couple of comments that aren't entirely on topic are fine, but having a discussion about what you did last night, even for just a page is pointless and does not contribute to the topic.
The question of what is spam, should be directed toward what kind of comments, not how many. Like I said before, all off-topic posts are spam, the problem is knowing how far you can stray before getting to an unacceptable level of off-topic