Keeping an air of positivity on the forums?

[MattWithoos]

I always cringe when I log in and see posts in "Thinking of quitting..." "Things that annoy you..." etcetera. I know a number of good, positive, friendly players who have now quit the forum - and even the game - because they find the forums to be toxic at times.

Just like we have a dedicated Staff Feedback forum, why not a "Cantr Complaints" forum or something similar - and we all agree to post our grievances and negative posts there?

"But why do I care about this?"

You're the face of the community. People - potential players and current players - no doubt make decisions (join the game, join the forum, post in the forum, etc) based on the general vibe of the community.

Saying the sky is falling in every third post is not helpful to getting more players. I'm sure the PR team would agree on this...

Anyway, what does everyone think? Could we move our complaints and negative posts to a place where anonymous users can't see them?

[Alutka]

Imho it's like putting icing on a shit: instead of solving problems you want to hide them and pretend they do not exist.

Besides I don't think that people really join the forum before they start playing. And to be honest I would feel fooled if I saw that complaints were hidden from my view. It would look suspicious and would only make things worse. Imagine: You read the forum as an unregistered user, then one day you create an account and shit hits the fan. People would definitely feel cheated.

[Crownless]

If the forum is toxic it's a reflection of the community. Hiding all that would give new players the wrong impression then, wouldn't it?

[MattWithoos]

Alutka, that does make a lot of sense... Hm. It's like if you murder puppies, and then when you have guests over you hide the puppies in the closet because you want to keep that aspect of yourself secret. Your guests won't be happy to find that out about you.

Not saying the forum folk murder puppies...

[Alladinsane]

When considering what to moderate, I personally try to strike a balance.

What will newer players think? Certainly its a factor, but if you put too much icing on the dung, it certainly creates an untrue picture (Thanks Alutka!) that is sterile and false. We don't want ourselves to look like a religious cult or something where everyone agree's with the "Prime Directive" or the CR. We are a diverse community of puppy kickers, killers, and huggers and that should show through in our correspondence.

What we do not want is to treat each other with disrespect where we belittle each other or accuse each other of things that were not overtly said. We can disagree all we want and it should be encouraged; but when behavior becomes hurtful or destructive to our community... believe that we are going to step in; you would expect it!

Can we keep it to the Marquess of Queensberry rules? Please remember the forum rules and we can all "not get along" civilly.
=====================================================================

Maybe we can start with a contest of the most amusing and original posts?
Here is the contest:

Complete the sentence: "I despise Ally because ____ ..."

Do not include references to his role in PD, or particular 4day violating rules; and do not violate forum rules or your entry will be removed from consideration. Profanity that is unreasonable will be disallowed, as will references to religion, politics, or puppies. All entries will be subject to the interpretation of the mods and general good taste. This contest is in no way associated with any members or tenets of the world wide puppy lovers inc or its subsidiaries. All entries become property of the Cantr Gods, subject to their interpretations, and may or may not be used for commercial or personal financial interests. This contest ends when community interest ends or a new and more timely topic arises on the forums.

[Joshuamonkey]

I agree with what Alladinsane has said. I've always appreciated Cantr forums as an open forum where we can talk about what we want, though the negativity does concern me as well. As long as complaints or negativity is respectful I think we can permit it in the normal parts of the forum for now. Your suggestion is a good one though Matt, except I worry that making a Cantr Complaints forum would encourage complaints.

[Rmak]

I have always found simply blaming players for negativity on a forum is too easy a choice. Trying to police a forum to make it look good is also a lazy option.

Lets face it, all forums and games have a life. The content dries up, the experience diminishes, players fall away for various reasons and forums grow quiet. This is what is happening to cantr, its also happening to a lot of games. Once I was finally able to join the forum, the only threads active where Word Association and Quitting. New players are good but its old players who keep most games going - if they are not talking or donating then its a sign.

As for negative content, its nothing new here. You can find similar threads and discussions going back a very long time, its just that there were other posts with them. Pretending they are not there does not solve anything.

So what else is there to talk about ? Well, when a community is in need it looks to its leaders for guidance and direction.

No offense, but Jos seems to do a drive by once a year - notices forum is quiet, asks for donations, spurs a little activity and then disappears. GAB have no forum presence apart from when Jos is around, day 5000 went by with a fizzle and the webzine looks like its stalled.

So instead of trying to hide things under the carpet - Why not make some posts on new Marketing campaigns, new development being considered, how many suggestions were accepted....anything to start some discussion. The only in-game messages appear to be about bug fixes so tell people what has occurred

[Alutka]

Complete the sentence: "I despise Ally because ____ ..."

Oh crap, I've made such a nice and long post, but as I was posting it I got an error 'your post is too long'. Apparently I have way too many reasons to despise you.

[Alladinsane]

Complete the sentence: "I despise Ally because ____ ..."

Oh crap, I've made such a nice and long post, but as I was posting it I got an error 'your post is too long'. Apparently I have way too many reasons to despise you.

Many people have had to make it several posts long. Of course, in order to promote "positivity" on the forums, I had to move those posts. I sometimes can't handle that much adulation.
-----------------------
...and Rmak. I wanted to thank you for your opinion. Your posts are always thought-provoking and incisive.

Be well.
------------------------

Does anyone else want to be on the "Alutka list"? :p

[Alutka]

Not being able to take compliments was one of the many many reasons why I despise you, Ally.
'the Alutka list'? Gosh, that was supposed to be our secret. Yet another reason to despise you. *shrugs*

[Alladinsane]

Not being able to take compliments was one of the many many reasons why I despise you, Ally.
'the Alutka list'? Gosh, that was supposed to be our secret. Yet another reason to despise you. *shrugs*

So now we are up to 3 posts to hold it all?
I feel special.

[Swingerzetta]

After reading through some of the more conflict-ridden threads in this forum, it appears to me that a big opportunity in regards to keeping the forums positive (As in, doing what we can to help people get along, and discouraging angry arguments) is to have more strictly-enforced structural rules on the forum, and the addition of a rule requesting posters to stay on-topic. Certain rules get breached often, such as the 'no accusations' rule, (whether they are fair accusations or unfair) which seems to always lead to arguments, and many times these arguments start as an off-topic post.

This is something I've noticed as a difference between this forum and forums I've been a part of in the past. In the other, more structured places, we couldn't always make people like each other, but we could often convince them to at least get along.

[Alladinsane]

I agree swingerzetta. I had hoped we could all be adult about it (like you!).

We will get it under control and we appreciate your patience and positive contributions.

[Rmak]

Also have a mod or two independant of staff.

[Alladinsane]

We are actually looking for a few new mods.
But they will be staff positions.

Thank you for your suggestion though. Its always nice to hear an alternative opinion.