Re: Taking a step back.

by **Juliana** on Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:34 am

Here's the scoop as I see it.

TR has always had its active and inactive times, and its active and inactive members. One of the things I love MOST about it is that nobody's account is ever deleted by the staff. This makes possible such stories as mine: I joined the second day of the clan, hung around for a short time despite feeling awkward and out of place, then essentially went inactive for a few months.

Then came Merry Maids of Pwnzor. Winnie insisted that I read it, then more or less coerced me into getting into the RP forum...

I have never yet regretted the fact that I got truly involved with The Regulars as a result.

I know that a lot of the greats we all know and love have done similarly--anyone remember when "CharonTheShadow" first came back after his long absence? Because of the non-deletion culture among the staff, this sort of thing is possible. Deleting inactive accounts will likely cost us in the long run, because there is always quite a chance that we can get those members back.

Also, y'know what? Activity on this site is going back UP. It does that, because as Wix pointed out we've always had our ups and downs. Remember when the reputation system first came out on AQW? For a solid week after that, almost nobody posted on TR because everyone was out there repping. I believe Peregrine's got a handle on how things really are.

One last thing: we started out as The Regulars, a little group of eccentric friends who regularly got together to have fun. That's what this place is really about at heart, and it's when we forget that that we're in for trouble.

by Caeel on Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:36 am

Juliana wrote:Here's the scoop as I see it.

TR has always had its active and inactive times, and its active and inactive members. One of the things I love MOST about it is that nobody's account is ever deleted by the staff. This makes possible such stories as mine: I joined the second day of the clan, hung around for a short time despite feeling awkward and out of place, then essentially went inactive for a few months.

Then came Merry Maids of Pwnzor. Winnie insisted that I read it, then more or less coerced me into getting into the RP forum...

I have never yet regretted the fact that I got truly involved with The Regulars as a result.

I know that a lot of the greats we all know and love have done similarly--anyone remember when "CharonTheShadow" first came back after his long absence? Because of the non-deletion culture among the staff, this sort of thing is possible. Deleting inactive accounts will likely cost us in the long run, because there is always quite a chance that we can get those members back.

Also, y'know what? Activity on this site is going back UP. It does that, because as Wix pointed out we've always had our ups and downs. Remember when the reputation system first came out on AQW? For a solid week after that, almost nobody posted on TR because everyone was out there repping. I believe Peregrine's got a handle on how things really are.

One last thing: we started out as The Regulars, a little group of eccentric friends who regularly got together to have fun. That's what this place is really about at heart, and it's when we forget that that we're in for trouble.

Thank you Juliana, I have a similar story. I have been on extended leave twice now and will probably end up doing it again at some point. Yet I have come back every time so far. And I haven't had to make a new account every time either.

by Snukems on Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:22 am

I like how you imply I'm saying that adequate warning would have guaranteed your deletion due to a deletion in the future if you didn't comply.

Besides, what are the real chances of something like that happening much anymore at this point? I mean really, you were an original TR member almost, so you had a very high chance of return. However, if I were to take anyone who joins TR for bragging about it, and who never posts, their chance of activity is near zero. Also, this is two years of bulk members who've done nothing, not nice stories like yours. Nearly zero for all of them. Aswell, Juliana, activity is only going back up due to the well-known among the admin community: The Return Effect, the Admin Effect, and the Crisis Tactic.

The Return Effect would simply be an overjoy that partially (~10-30%) canceled out the Admin Effect that started the inactivity but made a permanent dent in activity.

The Admin Effect would be part of the inactivity, and caused by lack of leadership. Aka Vamp was missing for something so everyone went kinda inactive.

However, the Return Effect is very minuscule compared to the power of the Crisis Tactic: What is it, you ask? To put it quite simply, a last-ditch effort by an admin of a dying and very large forum; he posts an inactivity announcement, everyone panics and becomes active for a period of time. For TR, this has been rather long, due to the large community of actives returning; however, this will not last forever. One must learn how to examine the traits of the forums and how the society thinks to understand the forums and how to figure out solutions. True, many times I will fall short on small forums (And I mean I fall short quite a bit...), but to understand these is to begin to understand the specific problems of a larger community such as TR is quite different, and actually much more principle-based.

Also Caeel, inactivity topic much.

by Caeel on Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:31 am

InvadersFromDeepSpace wrote:I like how you imply I'm saying that adequate warning would have guaranteed your deletion due to a deletion in the future if you didn't comply.

Besides, what are the real chances of something like that happening much anymore at this point? I mean really, you were an original TR member almost, so you had a very high chance of return. However, if I were to take anyone who joins TR for bragging about it, and who never posts, their chance of activity is near zero. Also, this is two years of bulk members who've done nothing, not nice stories like yours. Nearly zero for all of them. Aswell, Juliana, activity is only going back up due to the well-known among the admin community: The Return Effect, the Admin Effect, and the Crisis Tactic.

Ok, I really don't think many people join for bragging rights. I have gotten people to join and they make a few posts, then leave, and don't show up on AQW again. I don't tell them it's the biggest clan or anything like that, and I generally hang out with them anyways (I don't just invite random people to join) so I can see what they are talking to their friends about. And that is almost never about joining the clan. Once have I had that happen, and they were just informing their friends that they had joined TR and it would be cool if they all joined so they could be in he clan together. Most people just forget, don't want to be bothered by it, are just to lazy, or just joined to join.

by Mrsebi on Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:26 pm

Hmmm... I think that recently a lot of the more... should I say: ''Regular'' Regulars have been absent, and while we all contribute in out own way, I think that without our more key members, TR generally falls in appeal, this clan is mostly made of the key members, sometimes our new recruits enter that category, sometimes they dont, but if the key people fall in attendance, the clan begins to look empty, thus also begining to turn away potential new members.

by **Chamberino** on Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:38 pm

I was inactive for around a year! I'm all too grateful that there's no account deletion. I think it should stay that way, there's no saying if/when an inactive member can become active again.

by Snukems on Fri Sep 03, 2010 12:50 am

First, Chamb.

Chamb, you have not even read this whole debate. Please read it and then try posting. I do hope you realize your argument to be futile due to the fact that you never read any posts, and thus made an obvious fail by not even giving the basic details of my idea while you debate.

Second, Zerato has a point. We need to clear the inactives, who, once more, haven't posted much. I mean, I said people with under 5-30 posts should be warned that they may be deleted and to make a single post unless they wish to experience deletion. However, noone reads the posts, except Pere and a select few others. The good old key members will have a higher chance of returning from their quitting and inactivity (For the inactive ones) if the new members are deleted.

Third, Caeel.

Caeel, you're right. Most people who join don't join to brag. However, there are the fools who do. Besides, most of the people who are inactive joined for lulz or something along those lines (I.e., boredom)

by Guest on Fri Sep 03, 2010 12:55 am

Chamb gets the basic idea, and that grants him the right to post a response. Chamb can post whatever he wants regardless, because Chamb is god.

by Snukems on Fri Sep 03, 2010 2:55 am

I lol'd, but really. This is a debate. Though noone is denied posting, he should at least not look so terrible, especially as a mod, and post such an uninformed debate post. Moreover, he seemed to be behaving almost like a fool to be, until I realized he hadn't read our debate.

Thus he didn't take the time to read in making his post and doesn't even know what we're debating on since the idea is to:

1. Send a mass email to all inactive members below a certain amount of posts, warning them that if they do not make a single post before [insertdatehere], they will be deleted.
2. Delete all the spam, which has ~10-30K posts on TR, and thus is quite the overkill amount of "Examples" of spam and rule violation.
3. Make posts not count for the forum games area, reducing spam and thus making members who are peculiar about spam and low quality posts join TR.
4. After this, we wait until the deletion date, and then delete anyone who has not complied with the email (Who received it, of course.)

by V on Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:15 am

Chamb gets the basic idea, and that grants him the right to post a response. Chamb can post whatever he wants regardless, because Chamb is god.

by Jason on Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:18 am

Yeah.. No account deletion.. I change my mind.. I'm with Chamber. You never know when a inactive member could come back.

by Snukems on Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:24 am

If I remember a forum after I go inactive/leave it, it was either super important and I had to be there quite a bit, or it's so terrible that I'm not returning. And that would be why I'd remember TR if I were inactive. That definitely means that I would be inactive for an extended period of time, without making many posts at all during or before, and then return later for no apparent reason, yep.

by **Chamberino** on Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:41 am

I have been reading actually, Invaders. I was merely making my own point.

And thanks to Sticky and V for my promotion to god.

by 5secondchaos on Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:46 am

Your nut Godz. .-.

And I agree with Juliana. Also, account deletion isn't needed. But we really need to do something about those members who joined over a year ago and have no posts. They joined and will never even thought about TR afterwards. However I can see why you would wan't to vate for 'Account Deletion' .It would make the site feel cleaner and we would be up to date with our active members. Yes we have over 900 members, 30-40 are active.

by Arch Fiend on Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:49 am

ok, id like to address a few this again, because since i last did this topic has become a total quagmire. Past aside, feuds aside, this clan in my opinion is to great to allow itself to change in radical and dangerous ways. i joined this clan for the soul purpose of protecting the ppl inside it and helping its prosperity, and those vows run though me like my blood. this clan stands for the greater good of its members and there friendship to one another ad that ant be jeopardized by facts statistics and greed. its a positive place where only the positive should prosper and the negatives of the world eased into nothingness. you don’t understand the implications of a ppl who are willing to weed out there fellow man for success implies. its much like that of Nazism, we are not a militaristic community.

also if no one understands this clan i will describe why we an not remove members with factual information. in the beginning of this clan id have to imagine it was like most clans without many topics and barley a art board. most of the ppl who joined didint use the forums and only signed up SO THAT IT WAS RECONIZED THAY WERE ACTULY MEMBERS. ppl dont have to post to be a member, thay join the forum because thay cant signify thay are part of tr any other way. half those inactive accounts might just be ppl who dont care for the forum but wish to be in this clan because there buddys are or someone else and all thay do is hang out around them.

this clan is more then a forum it gos beyond this website every day and every min. if you want to improve activity find ppl who are inactive and encourage them. its not easy but the right thing to do isint always easy.