Seamus Haley said:
How about the flipside? A few people have said that it doesn't seem to have any glaring flaws that broke it before it got going, couple minor points (like post dates) that are low impact and easily resolved but... Nobody except Rich has really addressed the success in fufilling purpose.
He wanted to be able to spend less time watching himself. Got it, good and done.
For everyone else, the warning system is really something that should function as a detterent to behavior that violates the rules (negative conduct that detracts from the board) and applies punative measures to violators. I read posts that have titles or visible posters that interest me, I do not read everything the way some people do. Has this system seemed to be effective in filling this role? Have inappropriate posts gone down or any repeat offenders been removed?
Not broken is a good thing. Still need an appropriate tool for a given job though; the best screwdriver in the world is useless if you're trying to saw a board. So I'm asking- I don't know and have no opinion of my own- is the system working, or is it just not broken?
Maybe my perspective of the warning system is a bit different from yours. I don't look at the warnings as being "punitive" as all. In other words, a member is not PUNISHED by getting warning points, those are corrective guidance efforts to inform the member that their behavior is not acceptable. The desire here is that the warnings will correct an offender into not making the same mistake in judgement again. Or at least not enough times to get the REAL punitive measure of being fined and suspended from the site.
As for the system "working" or "just not broken", well that is probably a subjective opinion that will differ with any number of people who attempt to answer it. What is or is not broken" Or WAS broken, as the case may be?
Perhaps the site was (or is) broken in the sense that some people here wanted me to (again) clean up this joint and I have indicated that I am not putting that kind of effort here. There just was no substantial incentive offered for me to do so, financial or otherwise, and I just can't see the point of working so hard for no real tangible PERSONAL reason. So maybe that left something broken here, and if such is the case, then yes, perhaps the enhanced warning system has helped to in fact fix that problem. So for me, yes, this has helped. It gets some people off my back about me DOING something here to make this site what THEY want, without me expending all that effort to do so. And, as such, the enhanced warning system puts that capability in the hands of anyone willing to tackle it if they have enough incentive to do so. If the incentive is not there, or does not REMAIN there over time, then so be it. Whatever may be heading towards being *fixed* right now, will probably simply become broken again.
No, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to find that over time, NOBODY wants to put up with the headaches of trying to manage the "wild indian faction" of members on this site. And I couldn't say I blame them one bit. There is little, if any, return on the investment of effort, and in many ways subjects anyone attempting to do so to quite a stress penalty in the process. Especially if even the non-combatants are covertly rooting for the failure so the entertainment value is more to their liking here.
So if YOU want this to succeed, then YOU have to help it succeed. YOU don't have to become a member level to use the warning points. All anyone and
everyone needs to do to help make this a better place is to make the warning system obsolete by acting in a manner to where it is no longer needed. THAT is really the goal here.
