Lolcats and other pictures in feedback

Daysha

Before I go on, can the pro-cat brigade PLEASE refrain from posting those stupid pictures in this topic? It's hard enough to have a rational discussion on feedback without some animal expressions staring at you in the face.

Ok, now could someone explain to me what relevance do they have here? There are plenty of different forums on boards that people can share pictures of a cat or a man smiling at a computer, surely here of all places should be immune to them?

I understand that many of you will say its a light-hearted way of finishing a pretty serious discussion over a mod or any other problem the OP has. But not everyone would consider the matter to be closed and they might still wish to voice their opinions. How can they be taken serious if his own topic is inundated with animal pictures every 2nd post?

I'm trying not to sound like a cranky old granny here or anything, I enjoy a laugh just like of you. But there's a time and a place.

I've seen plenty of other forums where the posting of these particular pictures are reported as off-topic, why is it different here?

If many of you are unhappy with the way feedback has been functioning recently, would a trial run of removing the ability to embed pictures in posts here be a step in the right direction? I mean, yesterday I saw a poster banned for inserting the :rolleyes: smiley at the end of someones quote. Yes it was pretty condescending and irrelevant, but surely the same can be said for lolcats, especially when we're in a situation where the OP didn't even consider the matter finished

If any of you wish the see an improved feedback (and I'm sure there's loads of you out there) please let me know if you honestly think these pics can have a positive influence on the running on this forum, or just say how things can be improved in general.

Thoughts anyone?

orestes

We did this a while ago I think

Edit: Here ya go

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055244951&highlight=lolcats

Wazdakka

orestes wrote: »

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055244951&highlight=lolcats

And The Lolcats win with a massive 74% majority

Wooo




*Cue catz*

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

Steve

I sacrifice cats mainly to please the boards gods

Apparently, they sometimes like it.

Rb

orestes wrote: »

We did this a while ago I think

Edit: Here ya go

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055244951&highlight=lolcats

What he said.

Those posting the pictures recognise when it is and isn't appropriate to do so anyway, and besides, there's always helpdesk if someone wants to discuss something with the smods/admins only.

Steve

deise59 wrote: »

I understand that many of you will say its a light-hearted way of finishing a pretty serious discussion over a mod or any other problem the OP has. But not everyone would consider the matter to be closed and they might still wish to voice their opinions. How can they be taken serious if his own topic is inundated with animal pictures every 2nd post?

Helpdesk is for serious stuff, feedback is for ridicule, sorry but that's the way it is, has always been (in my short time here) and forever will be with the grace of God.

Daysha

SteveC wrote: »

Helpdesk is for serious stuff, feedback is for ridicule, sorry but that's the way it is, has always been (in my short time here) and forever will be with the grace of God.

Then may I ask why posters with grievances are encouraged to post here and not the help desk in the first place?

dr.bollocko

That was an extremely well written and compelling argument OP.
I was all set to come on here and post an obscure lolcat just for the sake of it but I totally see your point.
However lolcats will live on for at least another 6 months.
Cant believe rickrolling got banned too.

orestes

SteveC wrote: »

Helpdesk is for serious stuff, feedback is for ridicule, sorry but that's the way it is, has always been (in my short time here) and forever will be with the grace of God.

I have seen threads in the helpdesk that have been absolute nonsense (Davey 180 anyone?) and threads in Feedback that have been resolved with no problems or mischief at all.

IMO a lot of it depends on the op of the thread and their attittude, how they state their case, etc..

deise59 wrote: »

Then may I ask why posters with grievances are encouraged to post here and not the help desk in the first place?

They aren't. This forum is for Feedback on the site. There is a sticky on the front page of feedback that says in the title for complaints, enquiries, etc. go to the helpdesk.

javaboy

orestes wrote: »

I have seen threads in the helpdesk that have been absolute nonsense (Davey 180 anyone?) and threads in Feedback that have been resolved with no problems or mischief at all.

Don't speak ill of the recently site-banned.

Daysha

Sorry if I'm mistaken here, but I had always thought the helpdesk was for actual technical questions about the site itself (aka is this sig ok, or is it possible to do such and such etc)

I'm still confused about how to differentiate the two, but the fact remains that if someone wishes to hear about other peoples opinions on a particular moderation, they are told to post here. And it is hear where most to all topics eventually lead the cat-fests.

If a more serious and mature response is possible to obtain on the helpdesk, then why are they still brought to here?

Rb

It's very, very simple really.

Those who appear and post "OMGZ I GOTS BANNED FCK YOU MOD UNBAN ME" will get abused and flooded with lolcats. Those who come with the obvious intention of a serious discussion get left alone.

It's all about peoples attitudes.

Steve

deise59 wrote: »

Then may I ask why posters with grievances are encouraged to post here and not the help desk in the first place?

I've often wondered that.

I believe in the case of genuine muppets / trolls then its justified to send them here for a jury by peers.
As boards is a 'community' then a posters actions should be judged by the 'community' in feedback and then overruled by the nazi overlords in accordance with article 20.4(b) of the boards free speech constitution.

Unfortunately the occasional genuine poster who made a newbie mistake and got banned gets sent here and, yes, in that case it can be unfair. In most cases it's justified though and blatant cat trolling is dealt with swiftly and severely - see article 48.3(a) /subsection 4.

Daysha

Rb wrote: »

It's very, very simple really.

Those who appear and post "OMGZ I GOTS BANNED FCK YOU MOD UNBAN ME" will get abused and flooded with lolcats. Those who come with the obvious intention of a serious discussion get left alone.

It's all about peoples attitudes.

Understandable, but there's still plenty of times where lolcats are posted after the poster thinks the serious discussion is finished. And in that case all we're left with is an extremely frustrated OP and the beginning of more and more pics before its inevitable closure.

And on the point of that link from a similar topic a few months ago. Whats inportant to note is that there's a far greater ratio of mods to non-mods here than compared to other forums. And in that case unfortunately (and most of you may not agree with me on this), I'd expect mods to be much more in favour of lolcats than your average poster, hence the victory in favour of lolcats in that poll.

This probably isn't possible but it would be extremely interesting to see what percentage of those who wanted to keep them were moderators.

However, I'd say 95% of grievances that are posted here are by posters who are not moderators. So from that it's easy to see why some many OP's can get frustrated by them

Sherifu

deise59 wrote: »

But there's a time and a place.

You've answered your own thread. You win an internets, etc.

311

Them cat pictures don't do boards any justice ,just like ciggarettes in the 1940's.

AlmightyCushion

deise59 wrote: »

And on the point of that link from a similar topic a few months ago. Whats inportant to note is that there's a far greater ratio of mods to non-mods here than compared to other forums. And in that case unfortunately (and most of you may not agree with me on this), I'd expect mods to be much more in favour of lolcats than your average poster, hence the victory in favour of lolcats in that poll.

This probably isn't possible but it would be extremely interesting to see what percentage of those who wanted to keep them were moderators.

Your first post has been thanked by 6 people (at the time of writing this post). 4 of those people who thanked you are mods. Given that sample (as small as it is) it would appear that more mods than users hate lol cats.

Overheal

deise59 wrote: »

If many of you are unhappy with the way feedback has been functioning recently, would a trial run of removing the ability to embed pictures in posts here be a step in the right direction? I mean, yesterday I saw a poster banned for inserting the :rolleyes: smiley at the end of someones quote. Yes it was pretty condescending and irrelevant, but surely the same can be said for lolcats, especially when we're in a situation where the OP didn't even consider the matter finished

I fought good and hard for Rolleyes to regain his freedom so id like to know this said thread where his rights have been repressed :eek:

Steve

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Your first post has been thanked by 6 people (at the time of writing this post). 4 of those people who thanked you are mods. Given that sample (as small as it is) it would appear that more mods than users hate lol cats.

'tis quality not quantity that counts as you well know AC

:pac:

Daysha

Said thread has been deleted. It was the one posted yesterday about someone complaining about being modded for allegedly discussing a certain organisation. Sully (I think) posted a fairly substantial argument saying why he deserved the ban and the poster (it wasnt the OP, just someone who was on his side) simply replied with a :rolleyes:. One of the mods then banned him. He did say he had already been on a knife-edge with some **** stirring but I still didn't agree with it at all. But thats for another day.

I did notice bout the thanked post actually, made me smile more than anything

I'm still quietly confident that the majority of lolcat posters are moderators and the like. Now I'm not complaining about the fact that it's mods in particular that seem to be doing to posting, I just don't like the fact that they're used in the first place. I was just using the mod argument for that poll in the other topic

Steve

deise59 wrote: »

and the poster (it wasnt the OP, just someone who was on his side) simply replied with a :rolleyes:. One of the mods then banned him. He did say he had already been on a knife-edge with some **** stirring but I still didn't agree with it at all. But thats for another day.

Said poster had been trolling feedback for 3 days straight and fully deserved the ban - he had no interest in the thread or the OP's reason for being in feedback.

Daysha

Well I had only seen his posts in that one topic, so I hadn't known it had been going on for 3 full days. If so, fair enough, but it was still harsh if it was based on that topic alone.

Anyway, like I said, not important at the moment.

Steve

deise59,

Can I ask you honestly - your thread has been taken seriously thus far and there have been no cats, has your question been answered? has any faith been restored?

Daysha

Honestly? Yes I am glad to see some serious discussion going on. That said, I'll be interested to read what kind of responses the thread gets when the place gets busy again. I'm sure there are people out there like me who feel the same about the situation so I'd like to hear them getting vocal about their opinions too. The thanks my OP is getting is pretty encouraging though.

I honestly don't know if anything will come of it all, but I just I had to let my feelings on it known.

(That said though, is it worthwhile me mentioning that as of 9.30am tomorrow morning, I'll be leaving the country and be internet-less for 3 weeks? :pac:)

randylonghorn

deise59 wrote: »

Understandable, but there's still plenty of times where lolcats are posted after the poster thinks the serious discussion is finished

... and represent that poster's vote / opinion that all that needs to be said has been said??

I personally believe that anyone who comes on here with an issue they want to raise, be it a complaint or not, and who does it in a courteous way deserves a courteous hearing. In my experience they normally get one.

Lolcats tend to come into play:
... when someone gones on a FITE TEH POWAH rant from the start
... when a subject has been thrashed out, and whether the OP is happy with the resolution or not, people know that it's not really going to change.
... occasionally, when a thread is getting more serious than it really merits, someone will post one in an effort to remind people to lighten up a bit. This last can work, but it can also go seriously pear-shaped, and should be attempted only with extreme caution.

That, in my experience, is the norm. Occasionally, the odd poster tends to be somewhat trigger-happy, and in such cases they tend to be fairly quickly encouraged to desist. Where necessary, the admins have been known to intervene ... at least one poster who suffered from the lolcat equivalent of Tourette's Syndrome received a fairly long ban from feedback from DeV a while back.

I said earlier that I believed that anyone who comes on here with an issue they want to raise, be it a complaint or not, and who does it in a courteous way deserves a courteous hearing. I do believe it. At the same time, there are times when I read threads here and I really want to post and say "hey, it's a website, for discussion, for information, etc. It's not actually some kind of Parliament where even the most minor decisions will seriously affect peoples lives. So would you ever lighten tf up a bit!"

Tbh, I'm kind of surprised that DeV doesn't have something like "FO, not actually the Ceann Comhairle!" in his sig.

Steve

deise59 wrote: »

Honestly? Yes I am glad to see some serious discussion going on. That said, I'll be interested to read what kind of responses the thread gets when the place gets busy again.

Thats the point - you got your answer: feedback can be serious, it all depends on how the original post is worded.

(That said though, is it worthwhile me mentioning that as of 9.30am tomorrow morning, I'll be leaving the country and be internet-less for 3 weeks? :pac:)

That's the point of no return - there will be cats at 09:30:01.:D

randylonghorn

deise59 wrote: »

The thanks my OP is getting is pretty encouraging though.

Hmmm ... one final thought ... interpret this with caution!

I was tempted to thank your OP, not because I agreed with your argument, but because you presented it well and courteously.

First rule of research: be sure your results mean what you think they mean, and always consider alternative explanations.

Xavi6

Hmmmm 29 posts and not a single cat. Bit disappointing tbh.

DeVore

Serious threads get serious replies. Usually from me.

Less-then-serious threads are generally left to their own fate and threads where the OP is a raving nut, clearly bonkers, in the wrong and not going to accept it or just too stupid to be talked too, then I just avoid the thread and save myself the bother.


Randy, I had to steal that line, thanks!

DeV.

Ruu_Old

deise59 wrote: »

Said thread has been deleted. It was the one posted yesterday about someone complaining about being modded for allegedly discussing a certain organisation. Sully (I think) posted a fairly substantial argument saying why he deserved the ban and the poster (it wasnt the OP, just someone who was on his side) simply replied with a :rolleyes:. One of the mods then banned him. He did say he had already been on a knife-edge with some **** stirring but I still didn't agree with it at all. But thats for another day.

I did notice bout the thanked post actually, made me smile more than anything

I'm still quietly confident that the majority of lolcat posters are moderators and the like. Now I'm not complaining about the fact that it's mods in particular that seem to be doing to posting, I just don't like the fact that they're used in the first place. I was just using the mod argument for that poll in the other topic

Read through the thread again. He fully deserved it and had no interest but to shoot down the moderator before he had a chance to reply, he has a history of doing so if you look at his posts on the site. I rarely take out my banstick on Feedback as it is for the most part, admin controlled as that is the way they want it.

On topic, good first post. I don't like lolcats and have no interest in them and it puts me off reading threads with them in it. As mentioned, it was snyper who was banned for excessive lolcats. Turn off