Where are my threads?

[Dha'Vol]

I started two new threads and neither one showed up yet? Where did they go?

Edit: Apparently this is the new trend with EI. Agreement or silence.

[Vlisson]

and the rants forum is gone complete?

ok i posted several replies, made 2 new topics and it seems that they dont get approved.

i refuse to invest time and effort to tell my opinion on some discussion if nothing happens and my post are lost in the virtual nirvana

[Seranthor]

and the rants forum is gone complete?

must be, it would appear that they

are deemed contrary to the further developement and promotion of Horizons

and subsequently to that end it would be 'necessary' to remove them.

[Vidken]

I'm trying to figure out what was wrong with the forums to begin with.

... Seriously, aside from SWG, HZ is the most abused game I've ever seen.

[Foxfire]

As well as the Goodbyes forum?

Could we get some official guidelines on what's "likely to be moderated", and the purpose/philosophy behind the change?

And I would like to point out that the boards were being moderated before, Gopher - the type of moderation has simply changed in a rather dramatic way.

[Velea]

(don't moderate me... if what I said originally cannot be approved for some reason, I would rather say nothing at all)

[BKBanzai]

Good. Time for the hydrophobia to die down a bit and people to calm down and perhaps catch up and read the existing posts instead of posting panic post on top of panic post.

Vlisson, your posts will most likely show up. People do need time to get some sleep so it's more likely to see them appear when the moderators are up and about.

[BreeOge]

Since they are aproving post before you can post new topics here, if everyone wants they are free to use Horizons Stratics forums. If you would like to see a forum that we do not have on our list just tell us. :P The links are:

http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/h...reads.php?Cat=

and

http://hz.stratics.com

Hope to see you. Also we are looking for staff so if you would like to make the community better, just apply. :P

[Vlisson]

yes we should use other boards, but i fear this reply will never get approved

its frustrating to see this slow discussion when every post is delayed by several hours because the board dont have the manpower to do it faster

[Chaldor Itieles]

Well I dont know if I can say its good which step the now done with moderatin all....or if its not good.....both hast positive and negative sides.

But I fear if the community cannot communicate freely anymore, that will drive time over time the communication to another base....
ressurcetion of tazoon.com ?

[Dravatar]

Could we get some official guidelines on what's "likely to be moderated", and the purpose/philosohpy behind the change?

I can give you my opinion for the change and what I look for in a post.

I largely agree with the premise that only paying players should have the right to post at all. I think the argument that potential re-subs or new players might like to post a question is valid and, I believe, is being considered or worked on. I seem to remember DANU mentioning something about it in the latest IRC log posted. I don't think that posters, who are not players, have a right to make game suggestions with the same weight as players as is stated in the latest forum rules http://community.istaria.com/forum/s...506#post139506.

First and foremost, the forum rules at http://community.istaria.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=9582 are absolute, no variances. The forums are about the game. They are about helping to make the game better for all concerned. This does not mean that only posts who agree with the current status quo are allowed. It does, however, mean that how something is said or suggested is as important as what is being said. There is a right and wrong way to say something.

A post that wants something to change, in my opinion, should specifically state what change is desired, why it is desired, and it would be *very* helpful to suggest how. Any embellishments on other things like personal opinions of company practices or perceived intelligence of posters is meaningless. There have been some excellent posts in these forums that follow this model and, I believe, I have mentioned so in the appropriate threads.

The moderators are doing the absolute best they can with the time they have to get your posts on the boards. Please be patient. We are few to your many, but each of us are committed to the game and its future. If you post with the true intent of trying to help this game in a constructive manner, I don't think you have any reason to worry about a post not making it.

[BKBanzai]

Another game I've played for a long time has areas that can be browsed by all "visitors". Those that do not have accounts can post there. Subscribers have access to view/post in all areas.

[Khosadan]

Good. Time for the hydrophobia to die down a bit and people to calm down

Fear of water?

Good thing I posted my Goodbye before the forum got removed. :s

[BKBanzai]

Fear of water?

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hydrophobia may refer to one of the following.

• Hydrophobia, a set of symptoms of the later stages of a rabies infection, in which the victim has difficulty swallowing, shows panic when presented with liquids to drink, and cannot quench his or her thirst. "Hydrophobia" is also an old name for rabies itself.
• Hydrophobia, a layman's back-created name for aquaphobia, a phobia towards water, i.e., a morbid fear of water, or of swimming. It usually occurs in mild cases involving fear of deep water, and not as a general fear of the substance water. "

I am not referring to aquaphobia, but the foaming of the mouth that occurs with the latter stages of rabies .

[Daeanor]

I think Sigil has the right idea. Once Vanguard is released, they are shutting down the boards except for tech support, and leaving all game discusson for fan sites.

Really, the "********** and whine" ratio on these boards is extremely high. I can't blame EI for wanting to do damage control, though I don't think I would have chosen such a high-handed way to do it. Still, something needed to be done. The spurious, knee-jerk negativism was way, way out of line with the facts. People came into this predisposed to dislike EI, and every mistake they made was exaggerated and a dozen threads started about each one, all with their own particular prophecy of doom attached. Reasonable posts were few and far between. Personally, I think they would have been better served to make their own extensive posts explaining what is going on, and let the furor die down on it's own. But I didn't buy the game, so that's not my call ...

[Mearis]

Anytime when there is high stress involved. Such as the week after the purchase, then last week with billing there will be tension and frustration. This is understandable and I myself posted several times about the billing issues last week. The forums and IRC provide a common place for players to go to discuss any updates, game issues, or game questions. I certainly hope that some of the money for my three accounts go to preserving the boards as it was (with the Good Bye forum) and keeping the IRC server up. Without the forums the Horizons Community site will have extremely little traffic. What I hope is not happening is EI closing all forms of communication to the customer save the few announcements they make and unannounced visits in game. Instead of using staff to approve, disapprove or modify paying players posts to the forums, I would hope they would use that staff to open more communication methods to the customer so we are not quite so "in the dark" as to what is happening to our favorite game any more.

[Mearis]

Hmm I wonder if we will see our posts up as per normal 24x7, or do the moderators get a back log of all their paying customers posts yet to be approved, and post whenever they have logged on and clicked the approve button?

[Tantalyr]

While I certainly agree that this board needed a good scrubbing down after all the mindless bashing that went on for weeks after the sale announcement, I disagree with an "up-front" moderation of each and every post before it is permitted on the boards. Seems to me that such a system creates just a whole lot of unnecessary work for the moderators (having to go through each and every post first and then determine whether it will make it to the boards), and in turn results in much, much less traffic on these boards.

Rather, I suggest that moderators be permitted to moderate and/or delete posts after they hit the boards. I have no doubt that the fine staff of mods we have now will certainly be equal to the task. And while certainly some mindlessly ranty posts will slip through on occasion (i.e., when all the mods are asleep or busy with other things), I suspect those will be few and far between, and will only last a few hours.

Finally, I have no problem at all with heavy handed moderation on these boards. I look at it this way--EI is a business, just like any other business selling a product. If Ford sponsored official forums, would it permit folks to freely post "Ford cars suck!" on their forums? Would IBM allow folks to post "IBM's management is incompetent!" on their forums?

If you ran a business and sold a product, complete with website and official forums you owned and maintained, would you freely permit folks to trash you and your product?

Of course not. And neither should EI.

[Kulamata]

One forum (DIY audio) that I post to can put some members under moderation selectively. That would be one possibility.

I would like to see the goodbyes put back in. Typically, (with a few recent examples to the contrary) they were somber acknowledgements that a chapter was closed; and they served to let others know that they would not be ingame. It was part of the community spirit.

Since the forums are heavily moderated now, I cannot see any reason for removing the goodbyes.

[Mearis]

EI said they are working on a system to restrict all posts to subscribers only. How they will get the subscriber information for Unity players I do not know, but hope they are looking in to it.