The Nature and Purpose of Fiddlesticks

[loki redfern]

But why? The only reason that a post count is there is so you know how active someone has been over their lifetime on the site. Making it so that it only counts posts that have content is a waste, as there are still a ton of posts outside of fiddles that don't have content. For the people in fiddles its like and e-peen thing. For everyone else... basically none of them care. Let the fiddles people have the post count, we like it, and it does not negatively impact anything. Trying to have the post count only count 'posts with content' is as stupid an idea as I ever heard.

 

Barm, I was here when Fiddlesticks was created, it was created for spam, if you actually look at the definition of the board this is what it says. Spam spam spam spam. Lovely spam! Wonderful spam!

Now I understand your point but DM is one of the few sites I know that allows post costs to be raised by posting in a spam forum. Their theory is that if people really care about post counts they will post equally as much as they do in the spam forums and raise their post count. I think it works well and now that they have the ability to turn post counts off, which I am pretty sure is new with this board, I am sure they are going to keep it this way, as I am pretty sure that's what the staff always wanted anyway. LOL and I am just wondering why post counts matter so much, I mean I used to be #1 poster at some point and I could care less that I am not anymore.  :P

 

fiddlesticks isnt the same place, its changed, and evolved, and i see it as a different place now to what it was, granted i wasnt here right when it was made, but it was pretty soon after.  its not that we cant boost our post count, its the reasons that we cant that we dont like. what your saying is that we dont count. if we only were posting for post count then fiddles would be dead right now, however its still, active, believe it or not. we spam  to spam, for the most part i believe, not for post count. and as for the spam, yes there are one, two , and three word posts. however so do all the other boards, but we still have longer posts in good proportion, with 'content' than all you people give us credit for.

 

This is more my opinion than fact.... The fiddlesticks board was created to take the heat off other board for the 'Ultimate' spammers.  Spam is what I consider to be "junk". Just like spam in my mailbox. I see this board as an "outlet" for the otherwise serious working points grabber. The ones that come to our Tower threads to ask to work for points.  ;)  I can tell you now, that if they are posting one, two, three word posts I can bet you we won't be giving points for it.

 

I will adamantly say this too, that Fiddlesticks should never be eligible for Org status. Much like the general population threads, this too is just a place to blab. Not that we don't just "blab" on other point earning threads but, those threads are not ultimately "spam" threads and we do not invite spam, since that would defeat the purpose of this forum.

 

I didn't realize that the post count really made a difference in any place other than the offical Organizations. Other than seeing your own post count.. how does it make any difference?

 

I will say this again... this more my own opinion. 

 

that isnt how we define spam in fiddlesticks, its more being random and being able to say and do anything (within the pg 13 limits and as long as it doent widen the page ;) ), spam is ,to us, leting our imaginations roam loose across the plains of fiddlesticks, not 'blab' and 'junk'.

and as to the orgship..as i said before, i dont think fiddles would survive being a traditional org, however if there was a way to do it keeping the ramdominity and fluidity of fiddles and to still be open to all, then i dont see how much we really differ from the orgs in any other respects

 

and talya..wasent there talk of there being mafia boards on the old DM,i think it was supposed to be made but wasnt or something, ...having it as a child board in fiddles actually sounds pretty good,..i think in the old one it was only going to be viewable on the mafia accounts

 

..we have points..cool..coolness points right?

 

um im actually gonna start a new thread on all this so we stop hijacking this one from its proper purpose :-[

 

[Guest Barmacral]

Post Counts- In no way do they actually affect anything on DM. There are just there. Nothing wrong with this, its just how it goes. Why does a person want to attain the top post count? Because they can. Currently MsDanya is number 1, at some 13000 posts, and amonst the top ten are Loki Redfern, SboydW and Kadere. Why are they all up there? Because they want to be. They compete for the most posts (for a while there was a recyclable taking over loki thread by soy, and Loki created one back against soy). They compete because they enjoy it, its friendly, and it gives them something to do.

 

But now they can't do it. Why? Because fiddles doesn't have the option of increasing post counts. Not really fair to the fiddlers who are aiming for top post counts. If you look at the top 10 posters on the old forum, you will notice that most of them are fiddles people.

 

I agree about the Org thing. Fiddles has never been one, and should never be one. That's not really what I'm talking about at all.

 

Just my 2 copper's.

[Monty]

I liked the post counts mostly because they gave an idea of how active a user was, which gives an idea of how into the community they are, which makes them prime targets for pms.

 

ANYONE with 500 posts or higher, (even if 499 were in fiddlesticks), is more into the community than a postcount: 1 person, and so are liable to be PMed with questions, and are most likely able to answer them.

 

They also serve with a competitive aspect. Even I, with my laughable count, hope one day to aspire to at least 1000.

 

As for anyone who says spammers spam for post counts only, and that's dumb, well, take a trip to fiddlesticks. Read the first page of at least one, preferably 10 topics(not the stickies, unless it says its a game). Tell me, are they posting because they want to up their count? No, more often than not, people are unwinding in a friendly, very lax environment, that still poses light competition for the best, and the most, posts.

 

High quality spam isn't pointless, it is intellectually stimulating, yet relaxing, and laughable. Every good topic would most definitely need a *g* in there somewhere, or mention something that will at least have you smile, even if its not posted. That must count for something no?

[Silver]

ANYONE with 500 posts or higher, (even if 499 were in fiddlesticks), is more into the community than a postcount: 1 person, and so are liable to be PMed with questions, and are most likely able to answer them.

 

i really doubt that. usually people  just make a new thread/post :P

[Niamh Sedai]

I don't post in Fiddles so I don't really know, but if Fiddles is a place for "high quality spam" and is a place of relaxation and enjoyment, then why does the post count matter when you can have fun? Surely, the posting to have fun far outweighs the advantages of having a high post count. Afterall, it's only a number. If you contribute to this community, then people will recognise it whether or not you have a high post count.

[DPR]

How do you have a spam board and then frown on the spammers? You may not wish to join in, and that's fine, but why worry about what others are doing? Turning something like Fiddlesticks loose on a board is a call for creativity, post count competitiions, craziness that you would have to read all of the preceding posts to understand, and general lighthearted fun.  It's not an org per say, but more like the playground outside. I mostly post on the Illuminators board. I love the World Building Project, the Scribes and Artists projects, and regulary submit stories to the Thom Merrilin Society writing group. These are all things that require time and effort.  But I like to check out Fiddles as well, and I can tell you that a large amount of spontaneous creativity goes into many of those posts.  The question to me is, does this hurt anyone? If a post count overloads the server and makes the site crash, then I doubt anyone would really care about it. But it causes no harm, then is there really a problem? Interesting debate.

[Thorum]

Then why has it been tucked away?

[RobertAlexWillis]

Um ... two clicks to get there instead of one ... its not exactly hidden in the Cave of Caerbannog ....

[Guest Cadsuane]

It's not even 2 clicks. There is a link to it on the main page, listed in the box for General Discussion. A link for D&D also is there.

[Silver]

yeah, the only place that actually needs 2 clicks to get to (that i know of) are the ajah boards in tower org

[Alys Kinch]

Why are we worried? The message it sent to some of you isn't good, I'll admit that, but it doesn't much matter to us...

[loki redfern]

ajah boards are of the tower org though, the attractant , other than advertising in newbie threads is on the public thread in the orgs section. fiddles however , well the name visible from the index  it dont really tell you what we do, and were not really discussion per se, being 'hidden' on the child boards i feel that we're in the wrong place and that we will miss out on people who are just passing by and scanning down the index, and our community will become poorer for the lack of that . we want it to grow just as much as the orgs want theirs to grow, just as much as you  want DM to grow, and without fiddles i know i would not have been nearly as active on the rest of the boards, as i wouldnt be here even half as much. and then theres the fact that everyone seems to hate us because of their negative and preconceived preconceptions of what spam is.

 

oh and to the post count..if you go on your profile and the stats page, theres a posting break down ..and i think that still accurate for posts on fiddles..however when i added up all the all the posts in the break down, i get the same amount as i can view when searching for my posts..but the actual post count(it says) is 600 higher than these two say..strange.

 

and while i dont really agree with posting for post count, as there should be quality before quantity,  as long as the quality, which in most cases i believe it is, is there, then it is a game we play, or a competition, or what ever. and you try spaming a whole page. then try doing it a couple of times over...whilst other people are posting, you have to keep up with where the hell you are, have a vague idea of the recent past of that thread and then come up with something. it is nice to know that this is recognised in some way , say by post count.

[callandor]

yay verily.

[Guest Barmacral]

and you try spaming a whole page. then try doing it a couple of times over...whilst other people are posting, you have to keep up with where the hell you are, have a vague idea of the recent past of that thread and then come up with something. it is nice to know that this is recognised in some way , say by post count.

 

I did try it. I gave up. My browser can't keep up. *shakes fist at firefox*

[Monty]

ANYONE with 500 posts or higher, (even if 499 were in fiddlesticks), is more into the community than a postcount: 1 person, and so are liable to be PMed with questions, and are most likely able to answer them.

 

i really doubt that. usually people  just make a new thread/post :P

 

When i first joined a pmed about 3 different people. That was awhile ago though(on a past account), so i doubt they will remember.

 

Everyone in fiddlesticks who has posted here has been somewhere between " I could go either way with the post count" and begging for them. I dont understand why some people have trouble giving people what they generally want when it takes no effort on their part. It will take  a couple of administrative actions yes, but then its done, harms no one, and there are happy fiddlers.

 

Personally, I agree with Redffern on why Fiddles should have its own place, separate from general discussion. Why do fiddlers have to suffer lack of new blood because some people who are against spam dont like skipping over a forum? Maybe if the link was bolded or something, made more noticable to new members, then that would be fine, they would quickly and easily find a spot where the going is easy, and would entertain, at least temporarily, Fiddlers with their new opinions and ideas.

[Alys Kinch]

So the main bit gripe is that you don't have the board descriptions available from the index?

 

the view of the staff is that every person on the boards should probably view the general discussions topics just in case something important is posted there. I realise that this isn't heavily advertised and all, but if everyone were doing that then it wouldn't be such a split group of wandering souls asking the same questions hundreds of times... and then they'd see our description. *thinking out loud here*

[Monty]

Im more "griped" over the post counts, although the Fiddlesticks could be more visible, to attract new members.

[loki redfern]

i you want everybody to use GD more..i just still dont see why fiddles is here, were probabably already the people most likely to be visiting  here anyway, any way it was that any also i was trying to get what we actually do understood instead of what they think we do

[callandor]

i care more about the fact that fiddles has been classified as a "child" forum. it should be its own forum. it didnt spawn from GD and therfore should be a forum.

[Guest Egwene]

I have no problems with the nesting, I believe that most Newbies do click on links all over and luckily, a lot of the regular Fiddles crowd also bothers to say hello to new members and at the same time proudly talk about the place that they like.

 

Nowadays, I don't  post a great deal on Fiddles due to lack of time, however.... having been a regular there before, I totally agree with the artist formally known as Wes, that an aweful lot of posts there are anything but stupid. Many Fiddlers pride themselves in being able to put  out something that is both funny as well as witty in response to another post on a very regular basis and there is a lot of excellent wordsmithing  going on. I have read many a post, and at times entire threads, elsewhere... mainly on some of the Org boards that I personally would class as spam. And... bad spam at that. Some of it posted by people that often express pretty negative opinions about Fiddles. I find it actally quite funny to see people complain about spam and in the next moment post exactly that.

 

It is sad that the post count is turned off for Fiddles. It does send the message that they.... don't count. Literally.

 

If the post count does not matter to serious posters, than why take it away from Fiddles people that actually use it as part of the fun by having the odd race etc...? Also... there has been many a posting competition (= spam competiton) on Org boards... they distort the figures exactly the same.

 

 

[Monty]

I think we are starting to be ignored, anyone whos posting now are fiddlers or former fiddlers....

 

*wonders if this is going to be looked at by admin eventually*

[SBoydW]

I must admit that that was aprt of the fun of fiddles.... For a long time the big reason I went to fiddles was because I was in a race with loki to see who would reach the top 10 first, then the first to the top 5 ( I won both by the way 8) even though he leads now >:( ). Fiddles is really what kept me at Dragonmount.  If not for that I probably would have joined the ranks of the forgotten. Where as I now I'm highly active in 2 orgs, and semi active in a third, and once in a while go to D&D, I'm around the new members board alot, and even the WoT discussion boards occasionally.

 

I see fiddles as a place that tends to keep people around because they know that they can just go there and have fun and not have to really worry about any "restrictions".  If it really doesn't hurt anything (except maybe someones ego) then turn the post count back on. You appease all the fiddlers, and all the non fiddlers probably could care less what happens in fiddles... so it's a win all around....

[MsDanya]

well in my opinion, Fiddles is fun. thats why I go there and thats why I started to go there in the first place. but of course, different people have different senses of humour. thats just fine. but its too bad that some people feels like this puts strong lmits to what they think is fun and to what spam is. I have to say that Fiddes have had some great posting. we have even had long storylines, going over many threads, and alot of posts. but people who dont actually go there alot, would really notice these storylines at all. the regular people who are there are all great friends, even tho we have to smooth things out occationally. we have had challenges, thats not exactly easy and that did require some amount of actual thinking before posting. Fiddles is also a great place to come to as a new person to this forums. a place thats not formal, and that has very few rules, and people who are interested in getting to know the new person. it can make it easier for the newbie to dare moving further down to te ORgs and RP side of things.

 

so, well, my point I think is that there is a lot more to Fiddles than most of you who doesnt go there think.

[loki redfern]

:) at least there are still some people who care

[Monty]

I think we are starting to be ignored, anyone whos posting now are fiddlers or former fiddlers....

 

*wonders if this is going to be looked at by admin eventually*

 

*is glad of the replies but still agrees with this post...*