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This topic has moved here: Subject: Has Bungie outgrown the Bungie.net forums?
  • Subject: Has Bungie outgrown the Bungie.net forums?
Subject: Has Bungie outgrown the Bungie.net forums?

I'll be on my own side.

Posted by: Vella
Posted by: Nedus
Posted by: Vella

Elitist PA fans am cry.


PA fans am cry? is that some kind of inside joke im not aware of?


Not really, it's just an internet joke. Like say, OMGWTFBBQ.


yeah you never see OMGWTFBBQ anywhere else. what does BBQ stand for anyway? or is it open to suggestions?

  • 08.18.2005 8:02 PM PDT

"It's like a cake filled with pies." -Pete "Mango" Parsons

Seventh Column Contests

haha true that chris. take a number. I got 7, what did u get.

  • 08.18.2005 8:11 PM PDT
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Posted by: CinderSkip
If the community is going to be user created, if you feel that you should take a hands off approach, then do. Come in only when it is spam or hate speach or pornographic or illegal. Let the rest of it take its toll. Let conversations wend their crazy way off topic allowing them to come back again. Allow the borderline topics. Move off topic to the flood.


As Achronos said, they provide a place for us to be a community, not for them to be the community themselves. They should, and are welcome to be a part of the community, but they don't have to be all of it.

Posted by: CinderSkip
I have watched countless of anti-american, anti-british, anti-everything threads fill up the forums and you can ignore it. I have seen wonderouly, humorous non-negative in any way threads get shut down because someone has decide to have a bump fest in them. I have seen threads locked with no explaination and then a week later watch an almost identical threads florish


So are you saying there should be more mods, or less mods? Or are you saying there should be less mods, but that's an impossibility because of the amount of spam? Well if it was the latter, then let me tell you, there is a way that the community can reduce the damage of spam. What we need, is to have every member informed of these methods.

Posted by: CinderSkip
I do realize that it is not a customer support site. I understand that you have no intent to make it one. I think that is perhaps a mistake. Many of the users who come here are looking for that and you offer it.. part way. And then get upset when people get upset that they aren't getting customer support.


Bungie is part of the force to fight cheating, and Bungie.net is partially a news site. It only makes sense that they report on what they are doing to stop cheating, and what they are doing to provide support. It only makes sense.

  • 08.18.2005 8:16 PM PDT

I'll be on my own side.

Posted by: ODST1125
haha true that chris. take a number. I got 7, what did u get.


i didnt get a number. my name is Chris.

  • 08.18.2005 8:37 PM PDT
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Well, yea, can't we all just get along?

[Edited on 8/18/2005]

  • 08.18.2005 8:49 PM PDT
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My name is Chris too, but that's offtopic, I wonder if Cinder will read my post.

  • 08.18.2005 8:52 PM PDT
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Oddly, my name is also Chris. Now it just gets creepy.

So many points, Exodus. The simple answer to all your points is that, because of thehuge work load involved at site, things are getting half done. Parts of the website are half finished. The new stories have picked up as of late but they laid fallow for quite a while. The forums are often allowed to run rampant, but then are sometimes slapped down arbitarily because it is variying from the norm.

I don't blaim anyone for this. It seems to be that the guideline ARE not clear... or at least not how they are enforced. More mods wouldn't really fix this. But do the mods actually work on a schedual? Perhaps a better system of reporting problems for quicker action so that any mod on duty can be called quicker. Somethng t othink about in the future, I suppose.

We can send personal emails to every account on Bungie.net, but it stilll won't make a difference. There are just to many people, too many entering everyday. And it just takes one spammer, one hate spewer, or whatever, coming on at a time when no mods are around to have things get out of control. It is about the size of the thing. I would be very curious as te numbers. How many B.net accounts. How many chapters. How many new threads a day. How many posts. It's huge.

And I agree that putting up news about there polcies on cheating, what they are working on, putting up news stories with interviews, etc. Is all great. None of that should change. I love the Weekly Update. I think it is perfect. Again, I say because of te previous small town nature of Bungie, there is a cultivated feeling amost people that THIS is a support forum and this leads to people getting angry when they don't get the support. I don't know how to fix that.

I really don't expect these things to be fixed tomorrow or that anything I've said is how anyone else feels. Just things to think about as Bungie grows.

Rock on, Bungie. I just hope I end up on the right side of the giant sling shot.

  • 08.18.2005 10:17 PM PDT

- Mike

Posted by: chris547
I found this to be kinda cute. [image]

lol, it is cute!

I think we need the soul.... ; ( Antihero am cry...

[Edited on 8/18/2005]

  • 08.18.2005 10:17 PM PDT
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My friend, you would not tell with ſuch high zeſt
To children ardent for ſome deſperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum eſt
Pro patria mori.

Exciting news from Sketch, a well needed grounding in reality from Achronos. Kudos! People say that B.net has gone to pot, but posts like this really prove otherwise. It'd be nice if we could draw more of the good posting from the chapters out to the main forums. New members learn by mimicry of older members - I can't think of a better method of encouraging decent conversation.

  • 08.19.2005 12:15 AM PDT
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Rehabilitation. We could have a re-hab group. Mods ban someone and send them to a re-hab group in teh 7th column. There is a big staff run by like septagon regs and the person must complete the "course" or soemthing before the ban gets lifted. The policy could be, "if your here, your here, and stuck til you earn you way out." you know? so people dont say "i didnt do anything"

This could help clear the forums a bit. Those who are blacklisted have to learn about what they did and whatnot. It could be a little more work on tehmods becuase they would have to PM the staff to say what that person did.

I dunno, it thought of this back on page 2 of this sucker. It jut sounds like an intereting idea. As chris would most likely say "its cute"...

  • 08.19.2005 12:22 AM PDT
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  • Elder Mythic Member

In my opinion, all this onslaught of new members etc, could have been averted by a very easy-to-do option.

That Stats for Halo 2 are contained on this site (www.bungie.net). It is in my opinion that if they had been stored on a seperate website (or this one under a different URL, maybe www.halo-2.com for example), then a lot of this mess wouldn't exist here. A different website or part of the site (under a different URL) could also have contained a huge forum to discuss Halo 2 Multiplayer. This in my opinion would have attracted all the jerks, trash-talkers and general idiots, therefore keeping this site clean and friendly. More mature people (both physically and mentally) would have still found this place, and been welcomed no doubt. And New Mombasa, Zanzibar and Optimatch would still exist, but imagine having an intelligent discussion in there! :(

So my idea is seperate the stats from the site, as in put them under a different URL or a completely independant site. Then add a forum for discussion of Halo 2 multiplayer, and one for Halo 2 Campaign. I believe had this have been carried out, Bungie's forums would not be the horrible, spammy, no braining mess they are today.

  • 08.19.2005 1:06 AM PDT

Discipline is my Sword,
Faith is my Shield,
Do not leap blindly into uncertainty,
And you may live to reap the rewards.

"The Important Thing Is To Never Stop Questioning,"

Posted by: CinderSkip

So many points, Exodus. The simple answer to all your points is that, because of the huge work load involved at site, things are getting half done. Parts of the website are half finished. The new stories have picked up as of late but they laid fallow for quite a while. The forums are often allowed to run rampant, but then are sometimes slapped down arbitarily because it is variying from the norm.


News can only be reported if there is anything to report. If the "Mob" is not pitching in, and submitting News for the Mods to accept, then that’s the "Mobs" fault, not that of Bungie's.

Posted by: CinderSkip

I don't blame anyone for this. It seems to be that the guideline ARE not clear... or at least not how they are enforced. More mods wouldn't really fix this. But do the mods actually work on a schedual? Perhaps a better system of reporting problems for quicker action so that any mod on duty can be called quicker. Somethng t othink about in the future, I suppose.


How are the guidelines not clear? They are laid down plain and simply in the Terms of Use and Code of Conduct. The only problem is that, being located at the bottom of the webpage, and being so small, most members do not take the time to read them. Moving them to a more noticeable position would help, but only slightly, because the majority of the "Mob" wouldn't take the time to read the anyways.

Posted by: CinderSkip

We can send personal emails to every account on Bungie.net, but it still won't make a difference. There are just too many people, too many entering everyday. And it just takes one spammer, one hate sewer, or whatever, coming on at a time when no Mods are around to have things get out of control. It is about the size of the thing. I would be very curious as the numbers. How many B.net accounts. How many chapters. How many new threads a day. How many posts. It's huge.


I agree, it does only take "One" to ruin it all, but there is in fact no way to prevent this. No matter what you change about Bunige.net, whether it is big or small, this will never cease. As stated by Sketch, in previous post, Bungie is doing their part, they are working to add new features to further the Community and the Website as a whole. Any other action must be taken by the community. Yes, there are few Mature/Good members, but it is these Members who must become the "Leaders" you speak of.

Posted by: CinderSkip

And I agree that putting up news about there policies on cheating, what they are working on, putting up news stories with interviews, etc. Is all great. None of that should change. I love the Weekly Update. I think it is perfect. Again, I say because of the previous small town nature of Bungie, there is a cultivated feeling amost people that THIS is a support forum and this leads to people getting angry when they don't get the support. I don't know how to fix that.


Oddly enough, I agree with you here. Most do come to Bungie.net expecting a Support site. But, this again, is not Bungie’s fault. It is stated clearly that this is a Community Site, if on anyone, the fault falls on the user him/herself for not reading. This I believe is one of the main Factors that determine the good members from the bad. Yes "reading." (0% of every question, problem, and/or event ever brought up by the "mob" has already been posted before, and is even still where they can see it. But then again 90% of the "Mob" does not read, they blindly post anything they see fit. This I'm afraid cannot be changed. The Mob is fickle, but it is how we manage the "Mob" that makes us the Community we are. The answer is not to get rid of them, but to try to Teach them, Guide them!

Posted by: CinderSkip

Rock on, Bungie. I just hope I end up on the right side of the giant sling shot.


The answer is not to "hope you end up on the right side of the Slingshot," but rather to “ensure you end up on the right side of the Slingshot." The community can only be made better by those who try. I see by this Thread that you care, I just fear you are going about it all wrong.


[Edited on 8/19/2005]

  • 08.19.2005 1:07 AM PDT

"FOR YOUR OWN PROTECTION: Ensure brain is engaged before putting keyboard into gear."
Need a ninja?
Got a cheater? [email]h2cheats@microsoft.com[/email]
Forum Rules.
FAQ.
I'm certifiable.

Posted by: CinderSkip
I do realize that it is not a customer support site. I understand that you have no intent to make it one. I think that is perhaps a mistake. Many of the users who come here are looking for that and you offer it.. part way. And then get upset when people get upset that they aren't getting customer support.

People come here asking for support all the time, yes, but it's the fans providing it, if at all, not Bungie. Anybody expecting more and disappointed by not getting it needs to be treated like the guy who pulls up at a self-serve pump and honks the horn (repeatedly) for the attendants to "fill 'er up."

Besides, the hard-core support is provided by Microsoft, not Bungie. Addsing dedicated support staff here would be APPALLINGLY expensive; to do so just to duplicate the efforts made elsewhere would be a spectacular waste. Don't just think of the hardware... think of the trained staff who'd have to run the thing.

YOU may be prepared to pay $80 USD for the next Bungie title, but I'm not.

It may be user created but what happens if what the users create is entire unpleasant?
Find better users. Reward those better users with recognition. Make the penalties for bad acts apparent, frequent, and prompt. And make it so that losing this privilege will mean something... right now logins are suffering the same ills suffered on Live that were caused by the surplus of "free trial" cards; if you don't mind changing identities every couple of months, there's little incentive to behave.

Achronos' long-talked-of "karma" system may remedy this. (Fingers crossed.) Turning this into a soulless corpo-board won't.

If the community is going to be user created, if you feel that you should take a hands off approach, then do. Come in only when it is spam or hate speach or pornographic or illegal. Let the rest of it take its toll. Let conversations wend their crazy way off topic allowing them to come back again. Allow the borderline topics. Move off topic to the flood.
The vast majority of the time, they do; at least in the Underground and here, where I spend most of my bungie.net time. I can't speak to the New Mombasa/Zanzibar/Optimatch situation very much, except to say that I personally thought there wasn't enough locking and deletion in those forums in their early life; if that's changed, then good for the moderators.

Yes, I am being overdramatic. It will not overly affect either Bungie's image or bottom line. But the amount of resources and energy and talent that are being put into it... I worry that the very scale of it will make it undoable.
That's where the automation and community participation has to come in; the start-up resources for Bungie.net are hefty, but the prize at the end should be low maintanance costs. (Otherwise it will turn into a drain on resources, and it'd be better to just shut it down.) I don't think that a massive ramp-up in costs and resources would help more than tweaking the participation a little and making the rules self-enforcing... and a community-built forum would be more in keeping with Bungie's past practice of building something for the fans and then stepping out of the way to let us use it as best we can.

-- Steve'd hate to lose the b.net forums, even as battered as they are. They're special in the game world, and worth keeping alive if we can summon that community spirit that flourishes elsewhere in Bungie fandom.

  • 08.19.2005 5:20 AM PDT
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Posted by: CinderSkip
Oddly, my name is also Chris. Now it just gets creepy.

So many points, Exodus. The simple answer to all your points is that, because of thehuge work load involved at site, things are getting half done. Parts of the website are half finished. The new stories have picked up as of late but they laid fallow for quite a while. The forums are often allowed to run rampant, but then are sometimes slapped down arbitarily because it is variying from the norm.

I don't blaim anyone for this. It seems to be that the guideline ARE not clear... or at least not how they are enforced. More mods wouldn't really fix this. But do the mods actually work on a schedual? Perhaps a better system of reporting problems for quicker action so that any mod on duty can be called quicker. Somethng t othink about in the future, I suppose.

We can send personal emails to every account on Bungie.net, but it stilll won't make a difference. There are just to many people, too many entering everyday. And it just takes one spammer, one hate spewer, or whatever, coming on at a time when no mods are around to have things get out of control. It is about the size of the thing. I would be very curious as te numbers. How many B.net accounts. How many chapters. How many new threads a day. How many posts. It's huge.

And I agree that putting up news about there polcies on cheating, what they are working on, putting up news stories with interviews, etc. Is all great. None of that should change. I love the Weekly Update. I think it is perfect. Again, I say because of te previous small town nature of Bungie, there is a cultivated feeling amost people that THIS is a support forum and this leads to people getting angry when they don't get the support. I don't know how to fix that.

I really don't expect these things to be fixed tomorrow or that anything I've said is how anyone else feels. Just things to think about as Bungie grows.

Rock on, Bungie. I just hope I end up on the right side of the giant sling shot.


I find it very very hard to validate those points coming from a guy who's only been a user for 3 days.

  • 08.19.2005 5:56 AM PDT

With B.B. gone, the passion of Bungie.net has lessened.

Being here for so long, I've had the displeasure of seeing the forums turn the way they have... Although I don't really like it, it's actually turned out to be a good thing for bungie.net.

As someone stated earlier, this place has become a fan-based customer support site. The users that are willing to answer questions (which are in more abundance than one might think) actually take a lot off of Bungie's back. Take a look at the Septagon... people come here with technical questions all the time, and are answered by intelligent users who don't flame them for appearing stupid (as they sometimes do). And since it is fan-based and not staff-based support, we get an actual community out of it. Each forum has it's own tone, or character. The Flood forum has become the Flood Family. A rather large set of regular members who bicker about anything and everything. The Underground and the Septagon have become more like FAQ and wish databases... And the other Forums... well, they've become something.

I do agree with you on many levels, however. I would also like to see the Flood disappear, simply because I don't think an off-topic forum on a website for specific videogames is necessary. But that's just me. And right now, getting rid of the Flood would cause more harm than good. The regulars there would be outraged, and might start spamming other forums in protest.

You seem to suggest that you want to do away with the community, but I'm unable to see exactly why. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you. Community at Bungie.net, even with all the Trolls and Spammers, is a good thing. It's similar to a hang-out place, like a mall. It would be sad to see Bungie.net become a Blizzard.com, where although they have their community contests (like Fan Art), it's only a support and info site.

Perhaps what you're looking for is a Bungie.net without public forums, but with the chapter system still intact? A site that would be much less community, but not completely sterile? It sounds ok, but I'm not sure if I myself would like that, even though I'm no longer a public forum regular. Since I've been here for so long, and I do wish that things could go back to the way they were before this New "Hawtness," a step like that would be sad. And, as we can see, Bungie is nowhere close to doing that.

And these forums aren't all that bad... With all the -blam!-s that we seem to get, it's still one of the better and most organized forum databases out there.

Your concerns are well-placed, and understandable. But what you suggest wouldn't work.

  • 08.19.2005 7:37 AM PDT

Add the email above to your MSN to contact me with emergencies on the forum.

FOR CARNAGE, APPLY WITHIN
Marathon, Myth, and MORE (Under construction)

NO U! A Webcomic.
Mob Of Angry Peasants Chat

I feel I've contributed to Cinders Argument but not intentionally.

I have not been on the main forums in some time now. I haven't had internet access from my house and time at work is limited at best, so I spend that time in the Group forums.

I don't want someone to get the idea that I do this for a need to escape the main forums, but with a limited amount of time I choose to spend the hour with a few people I know rather than a whole forum.

I think if a more 'established' member, or 'veteran' if you will intentionally avoids the newer members (within reason - I don't go to New Mombasa, but it's mostly because of the relatively established members there that choose to BarBeCue anyone they classify as "n00b" rather than explain things properly) then they are shirking their own responsibility to the community.

This is a place where people need to come together.

Cinder, you have some valid points, and maybe solutions that would work.

But the day Bungie's relationship with the fans turns into that sterile corparate non-entity, is the day Bungie loses the true heart of their fans. Neither Bungie nor the Fans want that.



<<edit>:Damn typos... </edit>>

[Edited on 8/19/2005]

  • 08.19.2005 7:51 AM PDT
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The United States of America-- STILL more rights than North Korea!
--New official U.S. motto.

Cronin's Law----The New Flood Drinking Game

Posted by: Vella
Really? That's actually pretty good. I really want a karma/mod point system get on Bnet. SketchFactor, please... make that happen.

-3, Troll

;)

  • 08.19.2005 8:43 AM PDT
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The United States of America-- STILL more rights than North Korea!
--New official U.S. motto.

Cronin's Law----The New Flood Drinking Game

Posted by: Shai Hulud
The Flood forum has become the Flood Family. A rather large set of regular members who bicker about anything and everything. The Underground and the Septagon have become more like FAQ and wish databases...

I disagree... The Flood is absoloutely ruled by petty spammers who are 'respected' because they spam more than everyone else. Remember Twitch? Remember what happened when he got a well-deserved permaban?
Yeah, that's what I mean.
Not at all the 'respected' members are bad... A few are interesting and intelligent, but their threads are always too long for the rest of the ADHD people there to read, so they sink with one or two replies... replies usually along the lines of "omg boobies".
The problem with the underground is precicely that it has become a FAQ board... A Halo2 FAQ board. There are three dedicated Halo2 forums, and people can't even be bothered to use one of those.

The problem seems to be the prevailing attitude of "I know the rules but don't give a damn". Ever try to correct someone posting a Halo topic in the Underground? People will say almost exactly that "I don't care where it's supposed to be go shoot yourself noob omg!"

  • 08.19.2005 9:05 AM PDT
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Posted by: GameJunkieJim
I don't want someone to get the idea that I do this for a need to escape the main forums, but with a limited amount of time I choose to spend the hour with a few people I know rather than a whole forum.



Ok, good. I was really noticing your absence, and I was wondering where you were.

And to Toji, somewhere (maybe the first post) Cinder stated that (s)he was an old time member masking his real personality behind this account. I sort of wonder who it is. Maybe Cinder will tell us at the end.

  • 08.19.2005 9:23 AM PDT
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Spam. It is the only thing that will be left over after nuclear war, and reports speculate that you can still find 'pristine' cans of U.N.S.C Spam on the ruins of instalation 04.

It's been on the internet for as long as there has been a .com. Why? Annomalitiy. People can do what they like and if they get banned it's no big deal, they move on. Thats why it will never be stoped. It doesn't cost them anything, it doesn't mena anything to them, it's just a message board.

Now on my many travels from board to board I have seen alot of things. I have seen spam. I have seen great topics. There's always gonig to be both.

To say that bungie.net is doomed under the strain of a huge community is a falsity and a deffinate assertion. There is not site you can compare to Bungie.net. It processes tons of information every second. Is it out grown?

Well this is indeed an interesting question. All of the things that Cinder has been saying seem to Point to "you'll never get rid of spam" and they're right. To say however that the whole communtiy will colapse under the pressure is taking it a bit far. In the end you don't need a spamless forum for a good community. Relivence comes down to the eye of the beholder. I could say that I hate when people Mod even in custom games and you might dissagree with my thread on that topic and then instead of posting about it you might just choose to call it spam and -blam!- about it.

This disscussion has been had before countless times. Quite frankly I'm getting board of it.

However there is a question that I think needs asking.

Cinder,

You are registered to have become a member on the 17th of August 2005. I was wondering why you deem it fit to say that bungie.net is going down the sink hole and suggest many things that is wrong with it when you have only been a member for 3 days?

Or is it more than that?

Could it be that you were once a spammer? The type of guy that you think is bringing bungie down? Did you get banned and then come back to talk about the 'problems you find with the site'. I'm a little curious as to what your history in this community is.

What ashes are you rising from.


- Toji Karume.



[Edited on 8/19/2005]

  • 08.19.2005 9:38 AM PDT
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Cinder, you talk about being on the right side of the sling shot, but how is bungie going to take over the world if they don't gather more and more fans. That's what's driving the step to world domination here.

One other thing I'd like to point out. "Good" members have moved out of Zanzibar because it's getting overcrowded with "bad" members. What will happen when "good" members move out of the flood for the same reason? Then they might move out of the Septagon and The Underground. So what can we do about this? We can move back into Zanzibar and make inteligent and worthwhile posts.

That, and other improvements that have been stated already.

  • 08.19.2005 9:42 AM PDT
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  • Exalted Mythic Member

Great discussion guys... At the very least it's reassuring to know that people do care. Seriously. : )

We will continue to work on ways to improve Bnet and we know we've got a ways to go. Unfortunately if it were just as easy as hiring 100 people we'd do that, but sometimes reality just doesn't allow that. As we continue to improve we simply ask for your patience and continued support and of course, your suggestions and ideas to keep making things better.

And in regards to The Flood, that was actually a pretty controversial topic when it was first proposed ages ago. However, I still personally feel like it has worked out to the benefit of most Bungie.net members. The intention was to create a home for the people who just hang out here and want to talk to other people but have no intention of getting into on-topic Halo related discussions. They're going to post their off topic comments anyways, which they were doing frequently before we had a spot for them. We figured by giving them their own space, we could really diminish the "garbage" they would otherwise post in the "real" forums. I think it's interesting that a whole "Flood Family" has spawned as a result of that, personally I never go near that forum. But if people have adopted that into a type of uber chapter, that's kind of cool. I don't imagine we'll get rid of it since it is being used as it was intended, but if it ends up getting out of hand, we'll certainly evaluate it.

I also tend to think that we can probably consolidate the existing Halo 2 forums into either 1 or 2 (MP / SP) total...

  • 08.19.2005 1:03 PM PDT
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Posted by: SketchFactor
We will continue to work on ways to improve Bnet and we know we've got a ways to go. Unfortunately if it were just as easy as hiring 100 people we'd do that, but sometimes reality just doesn't allow that. As we continue to improve we simply ask for your patience and continued support and of course, your suggestions and ideas to keep making things better.


Well, how about volunteers then. Just because we aren't employed doesn't mean we can't have structure.

  • 08.19.2005 1:12 PM PDT
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Posted by: Recon Number 54
What a great discussion!

If I may add my opinions and observations to the mix. Not that anyone can stop me... *grin*

I am under the impression that the original poster (who seems familiar, I suspect we have chatted) is looking not so much for a more "corporate" but rather a more "defined" and/or "structured" Bungie.Net. I can understand and appreciate that desire. Just one look at Zanzibar after a spam attack, (or even at it's more civil periods) can have someone wishing for someone who can "make the trains run on time".

I am assuming, (so please forgive me if I am wrong) that the original poster is looking for more of a Bungie.COM as opposed to Bungie.NET. Domain suffixes have come to mean little in the 'Net of today, but I think that astute observers will already be nodding their heads.

Even though "bungie.com" resolves out to this site, Bungie deliberately and specifically did NOT create a dot.com site. As Sketch said (or as I will paraphrase), this site isn't about the business, it's about the people. A Bungie.com would be about advertising the games, press releases, FAQ's, game manuals, online job applications, product support and not much else. Sure it would have structure, but so does a bank. No one goes to the bank to "hang out".

On the other end of the spectrum is bungie.org. A fan site made by, run by, and populated with fans. Non-profit, lovingly and professionally provided with no true ties to the company itself. It's a thing of beauty and Louis Wu is a monument in the community.

The dot.net site (which we are on) is an opportunity to have the best of both worlds. It's company provided, and has the possibility of being a place that a HUGE fan community can come to and benefit from. I will be the first to admit that a significant percentage of people (to varying degrees) use this site as an online "litterbox" for what comes out of their twisted minds, but they too are part of the community.

I wouldn't normally single out one user, but I want to make a point and I hope that he doesn't mind. A poster on the first page of this thread (who is approaching his one-year anniversary as a member) came into The Septagon nearly a year ago and was a good example of the "typical" new member. Loud, easy to flame, easy to anger and even to curse. Unaware of the rules, but interested in seeing what this site and these forums had to offer.

That member is now (at least that I see) a valuable, calm, rational and contributing member of this site and the community. What happened? Well, first of all, they were willing to listen, pay attention and to see that there was "a better way" to make a mark.

Secondly, there were some members who actually took the time to talk WITH that rash, loud and bold new member. We listened, we replied, and he listened. It was a conversation. It made an impression (I think) and it made a difference.

Any member of Bungie.Net is aware that they have the ability to make this place better. One member and one encounter at a time. Sometime the effort seems lost in the tide, it's easy to give up. All I need to do is think about one member who has a member name based on a young kids mispronunciation of an after school TV hero and to me, I know that the effort is worth it.

Well, time for me to step off of the soapbox. The fact is that we have a community and "they is us". We are part of it, we can enjoy it, take part in it, make it better and we all seem to want to. Bungie is cool enough to give us the place and the opportunity to do that.

Would I work at Bungie.Com? Nah, I have a real job and they likely couldn't afford me. Would I visit it? Probably not. Bruises, pimples, buck teeth and all, I kind of like Bungie.Net.

But that's just me.

Wow, good discussion and I'm not part of it. What's wrong with me?

Anyway, I wonder if I could summarize that, more for my understanding and less for anyone else. I may be stating the obvious, but...oh well.

So what you are saying is basically, everyone is different on B.net. No matter how many stickies with rules, there will always be new people who feel insecure. All we need to do is try and educate them all in manners. So basically, those who understand the place and the people, need to help those who don't. Right?

  • 08.19.2005 1:19 PM PDT