talkmagic.co.uk

I thought I'd post this idea here just to see how badly flamed I'd get.

There's a thread in the Misc area bemoaning the lack of quality posts here on TM and the proliferation of n00bs seeking secrets. I was wondering whether it would be possible to block the newest members from all but the most basic areas of TM (say, how-tos and Support) and make the rest of the forums a semi-restricted area.

That is, once you have made, say, 15 decent posts in the open areas you can PM a mod asking for entrance to the rest of the forum. If it is considered that you are going to be a good member you can then be let into the semi-restricted areas - and this permission can easily be rescinded which will quickly and easily stop spammers as they can't sign back up again with a new account.

I don't know whether that would work but does anyone have any opinions?

Kati

On a forum I use to be involved in the running of there was a section for new members and new members could only post in that section during the first month of membership and more experienced members took turns at answering question although no experienced member was forced or even asked to help in this section it was up to them if they chose to. it worked well as it filtered out the members joining with different motives that what the forum was intended for. This was not a magic forum though.

Seems good. I don't know how practical it is but like the idea.

At the risk of raining on the parade again, I'd have to point out that such a selection/filtering process would have to be a manual one and therefore operated by the Moderators. The additional workload would be far too much to even contemplate and if you take into account that we often get nasty PM’s as a result of necessary actions, adding frustrated newcomers to that possible list would make life rather gloomy for us.

TM is essentially an open forum and we welcome all comers as worthy – until they prove themselves unworthy which, unfortunately, many do! We already have the Magicians Only Area and Mentalists Only Area so adding further restrictions might not be helpful. We were intending to introduce a restriction on posting in the For Sale and Wanted Section until 50 posts had been accumulated but, again, it would only come at an increased Moderator workload cost.

Ah well never mind but I can see your point about the work load. On the forum I was invloved with we use to get emails and PMs saying "I have been a member for over a month when can I be a full member"? This took up a heck of a lot of time and technical problems when we tried to date restrict it.

With a small or new forum it would be no problem but everyone who PM'd in that way would need to be checked out to see if the quantity was right, that the content of the posts were OK and not just a bunch of one-liners etc. We do this at the moment for the Magicians Only Area and it can be quite time consuming as unfortunately it’s not possible to set it up as an automatic process. When Mods are away on holiday or can't spend much time here due to work or family commitments, it can all get a bit more onerous for the ones who can log in so your indulgence and understanding is always appreciated!

I think it's too big of a hassle for the mods to oversee everything. As Mandrake pointed out, they'd have to monitor so many things to figure out whether someone has earned the status to move into the special area.

To be honest, I understand the problems people have - but at this stage of the game, it's unavoidable. TM has become popular and highly visible on the web. It will only continue to do so. Sure, we need to wade through the muck to find the gems from time to time, but what forum DOESN'T have that kind of thing?

My biggest problem with it, is it breeds a sense of superiority (something I see in MANY magic forums - thankfully not in TM). If people come in with a genuine interest in joining our community, only to learn they need 100+ posts or whatever the criteria is, just to see a section on Card magic - they'll move right along.

I know that sounds silly, but it's true. Don't think I don't cry myself to sleep some nights because I can't gain access to the Mentalism section (and I really want to learn, damn it!).

It's in my nature to want a few morons swimming around the boards. Simply because one of my favorite things to do is bring down the hammer on people who think they know it all. But that's just me.

I say stay on course. The decline is noticeable - but I still have a great time at Talk Magic. I don't want to pop on and learn I'm not good or experienced enough to hang with the rest of you (I know I'm not - I just don't need anyone to confirm it).

Thanks for your comments Demitri - TM is always evolving and seems to go from 'good' to 'not so good' and back again quite regularly but that's nothing new, over the last 3 years or so we've seen the same thing several times. There's a lot going on in the background which never sees light of day in the Public or even in the Restricted Areas so you can rest assured the Mods are usually beavering away most of the time!