Can we have a thread here to discuss the current lounge rules?

Beatlebot said:
Reminder: We are talking about the lounge here, folks. What was the original intention of the lounge?
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That was my thought as well. It started as 'The Chillout Room' as it wasn't drug discussion and it wasn't event discussion. People generally chilled out and talked about general social stuff. Nowadays, the only people who like the forum are the ones who reign as king of the hill for a few weeks or months while their schtick is beat to death. The header for the forum even indicates
Lighthearted and social discussion. No drug topics. Post at your own risk!
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Now, tell me where lighthearted and social becomes a dangerzone such that people have to post at their own risk? A place where newer members get beat up for just showing up? The standard appears to have become "be heard" as opposed to "listen". Little concern is given for who makes a statment, or what that statement is, if they aren't part of the current postwhore pack. That pack is intent on stampeding discussions, abusing others 'for fun', and generally making the forum into more of an embarassment for the site than something serving a purpose for the majority of members (I see it's still serving a purpose for those few, but this site and that forum isn't about individuals). I can honestly say I've talked to admins about hiding that forum from lurkers and greenlighters, simply because it is not the basis we want for people forming opinions of our site. But this isn't to point at the mods and say 'you guys suck, you let it get *this bad*' because they can't make people post, they can only field what is put up in the forum and try to trim out the crap - as they are attempting to do with these rules and stronger enforcement. This also isn't to point out the current postwhore pack as being any better or worse than what the forum has suffered under for the past few years. The names change, but the operating parameters have remained the same. To conclude the current situation, and prevent the next generation, the mods are implementing these changes.


zephyr said:
I would suggest that people who don't bother contributing to the lounge themselves anymore yet still hover around to whinge about the quality stfu or actually show em how its done.
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This, I wholeheartedly agree with. Getting those posters to come back may be difficult. Probably harder than allowing the new members who come to the site and filter in there to offer their own 'lighthearted and social' discussions. However, to accomplish either of these, the forum needs to operate better. It needs to not abuse people, derail threads, or generally be made into The Assrape Forum for the personal enjoyment of a select few.
 
^Just out of curiosity, how long has it said "post at your own risk!" ?
It certainly can't be all that recent. I'm pretty new, but I think it was their when I joined up.
 
The "post at your own risk" warning has been there for some time, at least a couple years.
 
If that's the case, this recent surge in trolling has little to do with that warning.
TLB made it seem like the warning and the trolling were related.
I dunno, maybe there's been on and off trolling there for years:\ I don't go in the lounge much
 
Everything I post there gets closed or deleted. I guess nobody thinks I'm funny.

I may have to seek counseling 'cause my wittle feelings are hurt.=D
 
delta_9 said:
If that's the case, this recent surge in trolling has little to do with that warning.
TLB made it seem like the warning and the trolling were related.
I dunno, maybe there's been on and off trolling there for years:\ I don't go in the lounge much
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What do people define as trolling?
 
ClubbinGuido said:
What do people define as trolling?
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putting a line with a lure on end in the water while the boat is moving slowly to simulate the motions of real bait
 
if people ask nicely, can posting privileges be removed for a specific account from the lounge. if not, can the lounge simply be blocked from their account?
 
ClubbinGuido said:
What do people define as trolling?
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Well, I don't know what "people" define as trolling, but according to Bluelight, the website your currently a staff member of, a troll is "One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument."
 
Holy fuck! I never noticed that moderator title before!

"One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument."

If thats the case then the entire Lounge should be shit canned considering the provocative threads that are started and allowed to continue.
 
+1 to everything TLB said.

TheLoveBandit said:
zephyr said:
I would suggest that people who don't bother contributing to the lounge themselves anymore yet still hover around to whinge about the quality stfu or actually show em how its done.
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This, I wholeheartedly agree with. Getting those posters to come back may be difficult. Probably harder than allowing the new members who come to the site and filter in there to offer their own 'lighthearted and social' discussions. However, to accomplish either of these, the forum needs to operate better. It needs to not abuse people, derail threads, or generally be made into The Assrape Forum for the personal enjoyment of a select few.
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Indeed. I've often bitched from the sidelines about the lounge without doing anything about it, but the climate in there makes it difficult. And if a thick-skinned postwhore like me is put off, what must it be like for n00bs?

I just want the lounge to be a place where BLers from all over the world can have a decent (off-topic) conversation without it degenerating into... well, see the part highlighted in red above.

I don't see a problem with the occasional assraping of someone that really deserves it, but it shouldn't be the basis of an entire forum.

That is my 2 Great British Pence on the subject. :|
 
[Echoing TLB].

The point of the Lounge (and its predecessors) was to have a place for non-drug-related discussion; to enable (for example) the removal of chatty threads from Bluelight Discussion, so that forum could become Ecstasy Discussion and focus on the board's core purposes.

The needs which the Lounge met are now to some extent being met by the other social forums, whether SLR, sports, CE&P, or whatever.

Which leaves the Lounge as a place for chat about anything that isn't serious enough, or specific enough, to fit into one of the serious forums. What we get instead is the repetitive image crap (which can be OK) and the mindless raping of newbies and destruction of promising threads. This isn't what the Lounge should be. There's a place for actual, quality discussion in there. It isn't happening, thanks to the antics of a minority.
 
Uh... so what? Are you talking about changing the whole basis of the lounge in general? Because right now I see it as a place that has two purposes -

1. People who have nothing to contribute elsewhere can post there
2. It's a place to blow off steam, socialise, and not worry about HR for a while

Now are you going to be like Aus Social and limit the ways people are allowed to socialise with eachother? Because if that's the case you might as well fuse most of the social forums together because they'll all taste the same anyway.

If you want to make big changes you are going to need stronger leadership than you already have. Right now in the lounge we have mods that defend the rights of posters to start threads about burning kittens alive and implying other members are pedophiles, but post a simple pic in answer to a mod's question "Am I a fag?" and all of a sudden it's editing and time to make great big announcements about 'trolling in the lounge' 8)

Just doesn't make sense at all.
 
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felix said:
I just want the lounge to be a place where BLers from all over the world can have a decent (off-topic) conversation

I don't see a problem with the occasional assraping of someone that really deserves it, but it shouldn't be the basis of an entire forum.
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This pretty much sums it up for me.

I think it would be magic to be able to socialise with peeps from all over the world and maybe gain a little better understanding of what rocks there world.

lol, imagine if I tried to do that as it stands.......lol

Maybe there could be 2 lounges...............one for slightly more serious international convo with a poofteenth of lightheartedness and one for less serious convo with a poofteenth of seriousness.

That way there would be a place for everyone.
 
I think a large reason the lounge has suffered content-wise is due to the all the off shoot forums whose topics used to be covered to an extent in the Lounge. Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do about that particular problem.
 
delta, I'm sorry if I wasn't clear, but my pointing out that 'post at your own risk' warning was not that it led to the current situation. I meant more of what you said - trolling comes and goes, and those waves leading to general decline are what brought that warning about, not vice versa.

IJ is also correct, in that the needs that the LOUNGE have met has been redefined over the years as serious subjects got split out and given their own forum. Keep taking the quality out and eventually you are left with the least desirable, least productive threads all in one place and it *does* give the forum a worse image. This, I think, has been an unintentional effect of splitting out the other material. The effort at this point is to stop the hemmoraging of intellect, and start trying to push the content back into a friendlier and more stimulating place than it has become.

'The Lounge' - wouldn't you want to be comfortable there? Wouldn't a new member expect to make light social chatter and new friends? Wouldn't there be the expectation that it isn't a back alley brawl where nearly anything goes and the limits are constantly being pushed?

To relate to BBot's post, wouldn't the expectation be that the staff worked to keep the forum at a level to meet what I posted in the last paragraph, as opposed to participate in the brawls or mishandle their authority as the playground bullies? I believe that is what they are trying to do. They are 3, now 4, separate individuals with varying definitions of what is good or not. But by issuing the guidelines that they all agreed to, and working together to enforce them - doesn't that level the playing field for everyone? By working together to get consensus, based on varying backgrounds and levels of acceptance, wouldn't they represent the overall site's interest in determining what should be accepted and what isn't?

I'd prefer not to get into point by point debates, nor single out BBot's comments on specific instances, but ask if the overall concept of stemming the tide of troll binges makes sense? Defining that trolling, or unacceptable behaviour from a balance of 4 diverse perspectives, with additional input from Sr. Staff, in an effort to create consistency - wouldn't that be a good thing? Or is there a better answer? Stronger leadership is the key, something that *has* been lacking over time in a lot of respects, but as it is coming forth now - would any of you support it? Criticize it and offer better or at least alternative suggestions? Or quietly bitch on the sidelines as many have done during the 'declining years'?
 
Indeed. I've often bitched from the sidelines about the lounge without doing anything about it, but the climate in there makes it difficult. And if a thick-skinned postwhore like me is put off, what must it be like for n00bs?
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Felix- I know your join date is 2005 but did you lurk/ post under another name prior to this? The lounge was scary for noobs like me back then. Even Finder, who is a rather noob friendly person when need be was a meanie poo poo face at times.

It was great though (with 20:20 hindsight of course). For noobs going to any forum that has well established cliques amongst the senior members its like running a gauntlet. Its interesting to read and jump on in and post along with.

Noobs having a hard time in the lounge? That is what a noob is for in the lounge. I think pretty much every single noob would have copped a severe flaming which would have been hilarious for the established members. It was fun! Its what the lounge was kinda known for (where I lived anyway).

I guess the population was big enough back then to not have the hassle of having to attract new members.

I have no real suggestions or anything to resolve any issues (not necessary anyway) but there has been past cases of singling out individuals who are maybe crossing the line as far as posting style is concerned who then become trolls and end up fucking up the place even further as "revenge for being treated unfairly/ harshly" ie GL, AF etc etc. I dont think the rules as they are stated will fix the issue, it might make things worse.
 
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