Closing Threads

Again though, locking these posts does not stop the next new member who joins from asking the same question. And if it is such a simple, over-asked question, it will die on its own anyway. There's no reason to lock them.

Just point them to the sticky posts or the search function in a polite manor, and hope they learn to check those features themselves. But then unlocking doesn't make a difference. Furthermore, if a member cannot even try searching for something, then we can do without them.

We are not here for quantity. The focus is on quality.

As for the actual Q&A forum - you ask a question, you get an answer. There are two reasons to lock - 1. If you want to ask a further question, make a new post and 2. More importantly, its to stop people chipping in with wrong answers. Too many time people do not know what they are saying and give people the wrong answer. Locking the thread makes sure that once the user has the correct answer, they won't get confused by further (and incorrect) clarifications.

PS. Sin was not 'banned' on our end. But just like Spooky gets his jollies kicking puppies, banning people feeds my fragile ego.

No, he had asked several times by PM for his account to be deleted, and then started making destructive threads (most of which were wiped out) which lead to his banning. He was, quite literally, 'asking for it.' When people put us in a position where we don't have any choice, what else is there to do?

We don't terminate people on the spot unless they do something really wrong... give us a little more credit, eh?
Hehe, I know Ive spent a little time in the "joint."

this is a good idea and is something that i hope to accomplish. quite a few things are in the works on this site and hopefully will make this job somewhat easier.


it would be nice to have a script to do that. unfortunately, it is not in my power to do so. as it stands, i think i would need to "babysit" each such thread for whatever given period of time. as i understand it, many of the preorder posts have been routed to discussions in pre-existing stickies. perhaps there is a better way to go about this?


i have been experimenting with this feature more today and have understood it as more appealing and less stand-offish than closing a thread. i will try to use this more, although i would need a decent thread to merge it into. many of those discussion stickies have become long and drawn out with people not bothering to read earlier posts in the thread, (including me ). i wonder if i should go through and prune out those threads so each post actually adds useful information.


tell me about it my schedule is insane right about now with finals next week, preliminary exams, and buying/closing/moving into a new house within the timespan of a month..


i appreciate everyone's help as it is. i would like to keep it so that educated members can answer questions accurately in Q&A and Tech, so i would not need to do so myself. (on the flipside, i would also like to be more active in discouaging members in spreading misinformation, as per the sig). i am always open to constructive opinions.. Ok, I understand the babysitting technique... that's why I suggested a script. Maybe have someone help you, I also have final exams, working full time etc... So I will be unavailable till summer. I know the merging could be stand-offish, especially without explanation... it was the ability for the user to continue discussion that appealed to me. And of course, some threads are insanely long and even myself only read the last 10 or so to get an update... so merging there would be impossible and expecting new users to read it by directing there is laughable. Here's a very good suggestion I think.

Make a mini-FAQ called the "10 MOST POPULAR QUESTIONS ASKED"
With all the answers, and limit it to a small number and not make it a long read, i.e. make a link to system requirements instead of listing them. People will more than likely go to something like this instead of reading through it all. Oh and close this thread after you post it, so it appears as a mini-faq and not an on-going one.

Lansing Kai Don

No, he had asked several times by PM for his account to be deleted, and then started making destructive threads (most of which were wiped out) which lead to his banning. He was, quite literally, 'asking for it.' When people put us in a position where we don't have any choice, what else is there to do?

We don't terminate people on the spot unless they do something really wrong... give us a little more credit, eh?
As I said, I didn't read it. Sorry Spooky, I have no opinion on it and I give noone credit. I just posted what he told me. I'd have to have both sides and the material in front of me to make a judgement. I did say he was emotional and I feared what he wrote. But I refuse to give credit until I know both sides of the story and I've only got one (the other one is in a trash can) .

Lansing Kai Don

Locking a thread is a last resort to stop an inappropriate thread from continuing, it is a disciplinary action. i understand your point of view, but as inde mentioned, it is a necessary evil regarding Q&A. unfortunately, if it is really putting people off, and even seeking other sources of aid, i am willing to try alternate methods, ie merging into an offcial specific question thread.

something has been brought up in a previous discussion where threads needed to be qualified in order to be able to be posted. perhaps if we reformed Q&A and Tech as such, where each thread was an official "How do I..." thread, people would be able to find answers more efficiently and these forums would reflect the "living FAQ" ideal that they were originally intended for..

But then unlocking doesn't make a difference. Furthermore, if a member cannot even try searching for something, then we can do without them.

We are not here for quantity. The focus is on quality.

As for the actual Q&A forum - you ask a question, you get an answer. There are two reasons to lock - 1. If you want to ask a further question, make a new post and 2. More importantly, its to stop people chipping in with wrong answers. Too many time people do not know what they are saying and give people the wrong answer. Locking the thread makes sure that once the user has the correct answer, they won't get confused by further (and incorrect) clarifications.

PS. Sin was not 'banned' on our end. But just like Spooky gets his jollies kicking puppies, banning people feeds my fragile ego. I bet since ArenaNet depends on their community site.. they'd disagree with you in terms of sales. They'd prefer you to appease everybody (especially with no monthly charge). And Nascent was right with sometimes other questions reveal themselves that leads to more questions... this is an exponential increase in threads instead of lessening. But what if the question wasn't as generic as it seems, now your quality argument is off... because you fed them some answer they didn't need and now you look horrible in quality. It's better to have 3 people agree on a solution than one generic answer that may not fit the solution (if you ever had to contact customer support you'd know this and why people come to forums). They're not necessarily looking for a generic answer they read off of the customer support site, they want USERS opinions.

Lansing Kai Don

i understand your point of view, but as inde mentioned, it is a necessary evil regarding Q&A. unfortunately, if it is really putting people off, and even seeking other sources of aid, i am willing to try alternate methods, ie merging into an offcial specific question thread.

something has been brought up in a previous discussion where threads needed to be qualified in order to be able to be posted. perhaps if we reformed Q&A and Tech as such, where each thread was an official "How do I..." thread, people would be able to find answers more efficiently and these forums would reflect the "living FAQ" ideal that they were originally intended for.. Yes subcategories (as the How do I....) would be a great item. But not necessarily suited for forums, as some people are looking for users opinions/answers not a generic one. That's why I thought the mini-FAQ of top 10 was a good idea. IF it's not a generic answer and they want users opinions let them have it... and if it is exactly the same as another post. Then work out a solution like Nascent posted (as deleting the post to remove clutter), merge the thread to a similar one again with another Nascent premade post, or the timer thing (which w/o a script would be hard to implement if you're going through the same things I am).

Lansing Kai Don

Q&A Forum - questions with black and white answers. Basic Questions.
Riverside - where other opinions matter.

Locking makes sense. You have a question, it is answered. Sure you might have a related question and you post again - fine. When people search [that is part of the endgoal] then it will be even easier to find the answer they are looking for. One topic deals with one question.

Our mission here is not to be a sales machine for ArenaNet [the other networks do an ample job of that]. Our job is to provide intelligent information, and like I said, the bigger problem is people chiming in with wrong answers. You get an answer to your question - ding. Next up. Sorry that I disagree with you Inde. Your own website says
"Do not be scared of asking for knowledge, for it is often the only difference between the townspeople and the village idiot"
How are they not going to be scared if they ask a question, get a generic answer that doesn't fit perfectly? They will. Period. Many will get upset and scared and leave. And are you saying that ANet should not have you as an elite fansite. The fansite to go to where members know what their talking about but you can't ask because your thread was closed after a generic response? And it is impossible to give intelligent information when you don't know the whole question which is rarely given in the initial post. I understand the methodology behind your reasoning, but I don't agree with it. If any business/fansite treated their customers like that... they'd be asking to run themselves out (short of restaraunts and queue type businesses).

Lansing Kai Don

P.S. I'm sorry, I got dragged into this. I merely wanted to post information and offer suggestions, not turn this into a defending/attacking position. Sorry Inde, I disagree with you, but this thread was for improvement not debating the current setup... as it is already evident your community doesn't like it.

I bet since ArenaNet depends on their community site.. they'd disagree with you in terms of sales. They'd prefer you to appease everybody (especially with no monthly charge). i do not think this website was formed with that ideal in mind. remember, most of the admins here came from such forums and wished to develop a deeper community in which the ideals differed from what everyone else believed, not unlike a particular upstart set of developers i will not name..

my problem with stickied faqs is that new posters tend to ignore them. perhaps a mini-FAQ that is a compilation of links to helpful threads? maybe that way, we could eliminate the stickies..

i do not think this website was formed with that ideal in mind. remember, most of the admins here came from such forums and wished to develop a deeper community in which the ideals differed from what everyone else believed, not unlike a particular upstart set of developers i will not name..

my problem with stickied faqs is that new posters tend to ignore them. perhaps a mini-FAQ that is a compilation of links to helpful threads? maybe that way, we could eliminate the stickies.. I agree, sorry for using sticky. I rarely post in stickies as I find them long and tedious to read (200+ posts). And I'll bet you my savings account ANet does care. I bet you couldn't imagine the risk they put in for this game. If it doesn't succeed... I wouldn't want to contemplate it. EVERY company cares about sales.... so they care about the community... this company relies on it. So I took a logical guess that they'd want the largest amount of people to be happy with their product than a sample few. They don't need 1000 of us to buy the game or even 10,000 they need it be a success. A big success, one to know off other companies and change the RPG industry to no montly fee etc... This is why they care. And why we need to care. If you believe in their positions, you have to care that even those intellectually challenged get something from this game... especially purchase it.

Lansing Kai Don

Lansing, the key word is 'basic' questions. To me, the fine-line between basic and non-basic is that basic has one definitive answer. Then I've never met one basic question in my entire life. Remember, there is even a proof to show that 2 added to 2 is not always 4.

Lansing Kai Don