- paulmarv
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- Exalted Legendary Member
"Once Bungie takes over the world, The Marty Army will take over Bungie and then we'll really have some fun."
-Marty O'Donnell
"Condemnant quod non intellegunt."
Make Bungie.net More Enjoyable: Read & Follow
Posted by: x Foman123 x
Posted by: Ponkapoag
Posted by: Obi Wan Stevobi
@ Foman's Mega Comment
Re: The idea of a restricted forum based on Member Titles
I find the arguments against such an idea to be unpersuasive.
The one most important to me is that I have friends that I have met over a year ago on this site that are still just members. They are some of the cooler and smarter guys on the site. In most cases they've never been banned, but don't post much in public forums and tend to stay involved in private groups or other Bungie/Halo fan communities outside of Bungie.net.
My one and only argument against such a forum is that those guys couldn't participate. If they aren't welcome, I wouldn't feel like I was either.
I get what you are saying - but the fact is that there are still plenty of places to interact with them. Some of the people I really get along with on this site aren't in any private groups I am in, but that doesn't mean the private groups are worthless.
I mean, sometimes I try to post in the Halo 3 forum and I don't feel like I am welcome there...
If everyone could SEE this forum, but maybe not participate, there is the chance that those "observers" would take some of the (hopefully) interesting conversations haping in this restricted participation forum and actually bring them into the forums in which they CAN post, thus potentially bettering the forums they CAN participate in.
I don't know....I just don't think that it is an issue of "welcom" or "unwelcome." More like earned, or not yet earned. Yeah, Steve, I totally understand what you're saying too, and I think Ponk hits the nail right on the head.
First, I think it's important to note that a member who only posts once in a blue moon has not proven their trustworthiness -- they just haven't gotten in trouble in the course of their five- or six-post history. I know you, Steve, and so I'm sure that YOUR friends are pretty decent people who have no inclination to violate the forum's rules, but at the same time, there could be tons of people who fall on the wrong side of this line -- infrequent posters who, because of their lack of caring about this site, have no inclination to follow forum rules and for whom bans and warnings don't have any negative effect. There is no way to tell who is who, and so I have no problem with a forum that excludes these users from posting -- they can still READ the forum, they just can't post there until they have established a more active presence.
Second, there would still be plenty of places to interact with friends -- this forum would not be "all-in or all-out." Instead, think of it like the Optimatch Forum: viewable to all, but with a different requirement for interaction. That requirement is that you are established as a regular user of the site who doesn't get into trouble (along with whatever other factors go into trust rating, but we know that those are the major two).
I think that this idea has been unfairly painted as being an "elitist club." The title of this thread is not helpful to the notion either. I do not envision such a restricted-posting forum as being "super secret," "elitist," or "cliquey" at all. I merely see it as a place where anybody can find great conversations and threads, but in order to be able to actually post, you would need to be a member of the site who has proved that you are both a regular visitor to and participant in these forums as well as familiar with the forum rules.
As a result, I don't think you need to worry about feeling "welcome" or "unwelcome" :-)
I agree with you and your proposal, Foman, as well as 99% of everything you said in those big two posts on the last page, but how is it not elitism?
It's a group of people who have gained trust and a higher rank, and thus get to associate with other people of the sort. I don't have any problems with an elitist attitude, unless if you're a jerk about it, i. e, "I have Heroic and you don't, haha".
But people of that quality aren't normally going to be the ones posting constructive material, and will likely get banned for breaking the rules. (That is not to say that not giving valuable input will get you banned, but more so that the ones with poor character are the ones who are more likely to break the rules, because they don't care).
So with a minimum number of jerk elitists who will, over time, get filtered out anyway, you have an elitist environment. People ARE "welcome" or "unwelcome". You are unwelcome when you are a new user. That is not to say that they are a bad person, for instance, when you first joined this site you wouldn't be allowed access to this forum, although you would turn out to be a highly respected and contributory member. You were unwelcome for a period of time that lasted until you proved yourself.
I think a forum like this is a great idea, and a great environment for constructive discussion, but I wouldn't say it isn't elitist. It is elitist, and I have no problems with that because the elite ones are the same ones who are trusted members. Let spammers be with spammers. Let the elite be with the elite.
I would also go so far as to say that this is segregation. My political views on this are beyond the scope of this forum, and it's rules, so I can only express my view when it relates to segregation on this site, which I think is a good idea, or at least in the form that is being discussed.