(Topic ID: 58766)

The end of Pinside tags

By robin

10 years ago


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There are 109 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 3.
49
#1 10 years ago

A sad decision today, but due to severe abuse I have decided to disable the tags feature. So much crap has been inserted in tags in the past few days and I don't have the time nor the will to clean it all up. I don't want to bother the moderators with this either.

All people who have abused the tags system (yes everything gets logged) are looking at account blocks for, I don't know, at least a week. I'm pretty ticked off about some of the things I have seen put in the tag system. Not cool.

This is all part of a much larger problem that Pinside is facing at this moment: apparently a (small) group of people who really enjoy trolling, negativity, whatever you like to call it. They use this forum 20% for pinball and 80% for off topic bullshit. This is no longer playful banter between some members. It's infecting the whole forum, and putting a lot people off posting.

Frankly, I'm sick of it. I haven't been on the Pinside much the last couple of months due to more important stuff occupying my spare time but it seems like the negativity has taken a turn for the worse and it's getting progressively worse by the day. This has to stop. Most of you know me as a pretty easy-going and not easily upset, but I hate what I'm seeing happening here these past few weeks. This forum is not a free haven to do anything you please.

This is a site about Pinball - a generally positive hobby (well except for those friggin outlanes), so please take the negativity elsewhere. I have spend an awful lot of time building this site and community and I'm not gonna let a small bunch ruin it for the rest.

I'm not sure what's next for the Pinside (and for tags for that matter) but let this post serve as a heads up that I'm not happy with matters at all. To be continued.

#2 10 years ago

Damn shame as I used this a lot (as intended).

#3 10 years ago

Robin

Back around the time of the pinball lessons thread people started using the tag feature to add humor to a post. (maybe before then and I missed it) It seems as if it was used for that more than your intended purpose right from the start. I think the game link feature was enough for that intended purpose and people just found another way to use the tag feature.

I think a lot of the humor there was classic. Writing a good tag was almost an art form. Not sure anyone knew you were upset about this as no warnings or explanations were ever posted after this started. Almost seemed as if this were the intended use.

Maybe a better course of action would be to explain that you mean that to be a serious feature for people to help find a certain topic. Or, just get rid of them and pretend they never existed. I for one thought they were great as they were being used. I think a lot of people will be surprised that using tags that way upset you.

#4 10 years ago

The hard part about a rollback happens if the "problem" accounts have been around too long and influenced the behavior of the forum as a whole.. New guys think "problem" behavior is the norm and is acceptable. You go in and ban the problems, but problem groupies show up. So you have to ban them as well. It's a process.

It TOTALLY can be done though. You can reshape Pinside back to (insert date). Based on my moderation experience you will have to ban hundreds of accounts. And change the sign up process.

The boys here to flip and sell machines only - they should be gone. IMHO they don't add to a hobbyist forum, they take away. They post from a financially biased position which encourages opposite responses which causes conflict. Give them their own subforum for ads, charge them $$ to advertise, and let them know that bothering members in the regular forums will not be tolerated. Your moderators and the pinside population can sort through who is what very quickly. And who cares if some of them get offended? Tough nuggets. They account for almost all the negativity on this forum.

Thanks for this forum.

#5 10 years ago
Quoted from RustyLizard:

Back around the time of the pinball lessons thread people started using the tag feature to add humor to a post.

I have been scanning the tags table this morning and some of the stuff I found was definitely not my type of humor. Swearing, racism, name calling, all kinds of crazy stuff in there. I'm sorry but this really was the drop for me after admittedly already being more and more annoyed by a lot of the stuff I had seen from these same people over the past few weeks.

I'm sorry, it's time for a Pinside vacation for some of these guys. And sadly the tag feature is not coming back anytime soon because, like I said, I don't feel like cleaning that mess up (which has to happen manually).

#6 10 years ago
Quoted from rommy:

The hard part about a rollback happens if the "problem" accounts have been around too long and influenced the behavior of the forum as a whole.. New guys think "problem" behavior is the norm and is acceptable. You go in and ban the problems, but problem groupies show up. So you have to ban them as well. It's a process.

Well I hope I'm in time then because I'm not ready to see that happen to the Pinside. One of the other measures i have take to hopefully put a stop to the negativity around here is (as suggested by the moderator team) lower the number of ban votes needed for a ban from 3 to 2.

#7 10 years ago

I hope I'm not doing anything wrong because I'd be lost without PS. Do what ya gotta do, you know best.

#8 10 years ago
Quoted from MustangPaul:

Do what ya gotta do

Yeah, that's basically what I figured.

Quoted from rommy:

It TOTALLY can be done though. You can reshape Pinside back to (insert date). Based on my moderation experience you will have to ban hundreds of accounts. And change the sign up process.

Hundreds? Let's hope not! I'm fairly positive that a little bit of housekeeping should put an end to the problems we were seeing. I do hope so.

#9 10 years ago
Quoted from robin:

I have been scanning the tags table this morning and some of the stuff I found was definitely not my type of humor. Swearing, racism, name calling, all kinds of crazy stuff in there. I'm sorry but this really was the drop for me after admittedly already being more and more annoyed by a lot of the stuff I had seen from these same people over the past few weeks.
I'm sorry, it's time for a Pinside vacation for some of these guys. And sadly the tag feature is not coming back anytime soon because, like I said, I don't feel like cleaning that mess up (which has to happen manually).

I didn't see any racism or a lot of swearing but I only read the tags on certain topics. You are right, there is no place for some of that and I can see how it would be hard to monitor. Anyone who thought they could type anything there and not have it traced back to their account is a fool.

All part of the growing pains of a popular website. We appreciate all of the hard work you do to make this site what it is. Maybe a couple of the mods that have been around a long time need a break and you could find some new ones. Maybe even rotate them in and out to give them a break. We have seen them make some mistakes along the way too. Good luck, we know you have your hands full.

#10 10 years ago

Your right Robin! I'm sorry if I've been pulled into this same kind of idiocy, too. Including the last day or two. Time to reverse gears, and get back to pinball!

#11 10 years ago

Your site Robin, your rules. No place for racism or hate here, but I thought the majority of tags were pretty funny.

I agree about the trolls and flippers - those guys are here with an agenda and are no good for the hobby or your kick ass website. Thanks again for your work!

11
#12 10 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

Your right Robin! I'm sorry if I've been pulled into this same kind of idiocy, too. Including the last day or two. Time to reverse gears, and get back to pinball!

That's what I wanted to hear. And to the people who think trolling and drama is more fun: please go elsewhere because I've really had enough of it and I know a lot of the less prominent Pinsiders have too.

#13 10 years ago
Quoted from Mudflaps:

I agree about the trolls and flippers - those guys are here with an agenda and are no good for the hobby or your kick ass website. Thanks again for your work!

We are working on the trolls right now. The flippers is another story. I hope that my soon to be added "disclosure" titles (e.g. <Username>, <Stern distributor> or something like that) will help in this respect.

#14 10 years ago

Thanks for starting a clean up Robin, the negativity had become out of hand.
I've noticed many of the main offenders are now retired.
Hopefully when (if) they return, they will adopt a new attitude and leave the gibberish behind.

Pinside is my favourite spot on the web, and I look forward to seeing it return to form.
In a way, Pinside has become a victim of its own success with such huge growth.

I'm excited for the Pside to get back to basics: pinball, friendship, and FUN.

Cheers!

#15 10 years ago

Robin....major thumbs up on this!

Kind of funny to open up one of the shit-nado threads now and see how many of the posts are suddenly from "retired" people. I think the remaining 99% of the community thanks you!

#16 10 years ago

Agree, thanks robin for a great site. I personally feel like 1 ban and you're gone. How the heck do you end up getting banned? You probably know what you're doing and expecting it, or just trying to see what the limit is. What's the point? Hopefully the site turns back to normal after long overdue weeding of the garbage. I have a great sense of humor, but attacks or antagonizing an attack doesn't belong here.

#17 10 years ago
Quoted from robin:

It's infecting the whole forum, and putting a lot people off posting.

I am one of the less frequent posters these days.
Thank you Robin for taking action. I've been hesitant to make my first donation to pinside due to the "wild west" atmosphere of this forum since joining last year. I will show my support now, in the hopes that you & your deputies will clean up this town.

#18 10 years ago

Pinside is my favorite web site ever. I'm here all the time. Was reading posts every single day for months before I finally decided to open up an account. Yes I saw sometimes really bad behavior and attitude but in a very low percentage. I love good humour and funny stuff as much as learning about pinball and how to mod my machines the best way possible. Very difficult to draw a line between good and bad but I respect and appreciate what you do Robin. For some people it's in their nature to act like trolls. Some people also curse all the time but are nothing but cool, good and funny people. I understand it's very difficult to evaluate a sentence on a thread without the non verbal associate with it.

#19 10 years ago

I actually love this feature. I thought it was extremely useful. It would be great if it was a searchable parameter but like anything else, some folks need to cause problems.

I would imagine these bans will, without a doubt quell a large amount of noise.

#20 10 years ago
Quoted from robin:

I hope that my soon to be added "disclosure" titles

I have no problem with that. While I changed my location to reflect I'm a JJP Team Member. I'm also an OP. Most people probably know that, I've never hidden who I am.

Great site Robin. I hope your efforts get things rolling in a positive manner.

LTG : )

#21 10 years ago

Full disclosure, I tagged "these tags suck" once when i saw some pretty forked up stuff tagged.
Except for this single instance, I only used the tags to tag pin titles but mostly never used them at all.

Sorry if I was feeding the trolls.

PCE

#22 10 years ago
Quoted from NJGecko:

Robin....major thumbs up on this!

Kind of funny to open up one of the shit-nado threads now and see how many of the posts are suddenly from "retired" people. I think the remaining 99% of the community thanks you!

What HE said!

#23 10 years ago

It's funny to watch these people whine on other forums and point fingers, personally I'm quite glad they are gone. Now we can get back to discussing the whole point of this wonderful site: pinball.

#24 10 years ago
Quoted from Darth_Chris:

Pinside is my favorite web site ever. I'm here all the time.

Maybe time to get a heart next to your name then with a donation?

#25 10 years ago

It's funny to watch these people whine on other forums and point fingers, personally I'm quite glad they are gone. Now we can get back to discussing the whole point of this wonderful site: pinball.

I just checked it out, funny how someone can't see the trollish nature of their posts and blame it on the one post that finally broke the camel's back.
Was it the post that was posted to get a rise out of Ted?
Was it the post that was posted to get a rise out of the Banker?
He instigates a response then cries foul when he gets what he wanted.
Well he gets it and I don't like it anymore then you men.

Captain-Cool-Hand-Luke.pngCaptain-Cool-Hand-Luke.png

#26 10 years ago

Glad I'm still here. Thanks robin for working so hard to keep this place fun. I'm sure it will get harder and harder as the site grows but I really like your firm stance on things. I come here for tech support (giving and receiving) and a little pinball opinion now and then. I get discouraged sometimes at the amount of pissing matches going on between egos here. Too bad we all can't just have fun with this hobby.

#27 10 years ago
Quoted from Aurich:

Maybe time to get a heart next to your name then with a donation?

It is a good idea indeed, that site is now a part of my life but I was thinking waiting a bit more, I've only been a member for 5 months. Don't have many pinside friends yet (not a complain or a sad sally way) enjoy commenting here and there but how much you think it worth ? not very familiar with the donate side on pinside. How much you guys give ? I kinda envy some of you guys with conventions and BBQ and a lot of people seems to know each other very well. If there is a center point in the universe for pinball.....Montreal is.... well ....very far from it. A few pinsiders in Montreal already contacted me before, we are not many, and locations.....kinda rare.

#28 10 years ago
Quoted from Aurich:

Maybe time to get a heart next to your name then with a donation?

Don't know if he has or not but I donated and don't have a heart. I did something on the wrong order but the money came out of my pp account. No worries, without this site I likely wouldn't have a working pinball machine nor know what I do now. I'll donate again and hopefully do it right this time but I'm just saying no heart doesn't necessarily mean you haven't given.

#29 10 years ago

I'm sorry but this had nothing to do with Ted and the gifs. I find them hysterical and usually well timed. Never mean spirited either because that's not his nature.

#30 10 years ago
Quoted from Darth_Chris:

It is a good idea indeed, that site is now a part of my life but I was thinking waiting a bit more, I've only been a member for 5 months. Don't have many pinside friends yet (not a complain or a sad sally way) enjoy commenting here and there but how much you think it worth ? not very familiar with the donate side on pinside. How much you guys give ?

$20? $30? Whatever you can afford.

Doesn't have to be a fortune. Every little bit helps Robin with the costs of servers etc.

I'll be donating more this year as I have been using Pinside more this last year.

rd.

#31 10 years ago

Glad to hear it Robin. Would hate to see this place become what I've only heard about RGP, and it seems to have been going that way lately.

#32 10 years ago

Robin, thank goodness. Seemed like the moderators were getting overwhelmed. Although great job to Blondetall, for always trying to be firm yet supportive, and The Dude Abides for being firm when needed yet always reminded us he is a 'Dude' too. Both excersized a great sense of humor also.

I found myself being affected by the drama here too. Not pulled in too deep, just annoyed. VERY RGPish lately with same offenders it seems. I wont lie, I liked the drama, nothing wrong with some of it, but the offensive personal attacks and middle school attempts at bullying well...

No kissing buttock here either. I'm not invested in Pinside enough to live for it nor am I on a very personal level with anyone in pinball. So if my ban is ever coming, I am sure it will be deserved.

Rick.

#33 10 years ago
Quoted from Pinchroma:

I'm sorry but this had nothing to do with Ted and the gifs. I find them hysterical and usually well timed. Never mean spirited either because that's not his nature.

Aw thanks! I had a gif for you here...but I'm not using it!

17
#34 10 years ago

I see Centerflank got the axe. I hope it's temp. He's a good guy who is really all about the pinside community, who probably got the idea that comedic tagging was OK, since it had been going on for quite some time without any warnings being issues to stop doing it...

#35 10 years ago

Well before lifting bans robin, you can head to rgp to read the whiners posting. Should give you a good understanding on who to let back in, and who to keep out. Ultimately in the end it's your club, but I think you know what's right. And by the way, we all know its not just about the tags. Hopefully they also realize this.

#36 10 years ago
Quoted from BriGuy5:

Well before lifting bans robin, you can head to rgp to read the whiners posting.

Whiners Posting ...sounds like a possible rock group.

#37 10 years ago

Best news in a long time. I've reduced my time here because of the over the top crap in the last few months.

#38 10 years ago
Quoted from Atomicboy:

Best news in a long time. I've reduced my time here because of the over the top crap in the last few months.

It's better already!

#39 10 years ago

Its a shame the tags were abused, I really think they could have helped out the search feature on here. I only used them in Tech threads myself.

#40 10 years ago

Must have been asleep as no idea what these 'tags' are that keep being talked about....

#41 10 years ago

Have a set list of tags that relate soley to pinball, that way topics can still be tagged to help with searches but stops all off topic crap.

Regards

#42 10 years ago

You could also make it where only the OP and mods can add tags to a thread. Would probably be able to keep the tags more relevant to the thread that way.

#43 10 years ago
Quoted from BriGuy5:

Well before lifting bans robin, you can head to rgp to read the whiners posting. Should give you a good understanding on who to let back in, and who to keep out. Ultimately in the end it's your club, but I think you know what's right. And by the way, we all know its not just about the tags. Hopefully they also realize this.

Well deeming the site a "communistic" community would make that decision quite easy.

#44 10 years ago

I hope to see centerflank return as he is comedy gold and some good stuff. Not sure who else got the axe, but corey is a good guy with only positive intentions even if some were not interpreted as funny by all.

13
#45 10 years ago

There have been some bans today, and those were mostly in direct response to me being completely ticked of by what I found in the tags system. But that was only the final drop. The Pinside has been under a great deal of negativity lately and some of the people who got banned were already on my radar for their constant negativity, trolling, generally being really unfriendly. People I wouldn't invite in my home gameroom, to be honest. There are more members on that shortlist, but I'm done with the banning for today. Trust me, I don't like this job one bit, I'd much rather be working on new features (and the list of ideas is long). But I postponed this housekeeping for way too long and the site was really headed in a direction I don't want it to go.

I want the Pinside to be fun place. I want it to be generally positive. It doesn't have to be rainbows and butterflies all the time and sure there can be heated discussion which may or may not sometimes need "intervention" by a moderator if it gets too heated. We had this site about a year ago. But as the Pinside grew so did the problems. And when the same list of members shows up in every locked or deleted topic then it's clear that something needs to be done about those members first.

So I kind of applied a "shoot first, ask questions later" move by simply banning those people to see what would happen. Yes it was an unplanned action and yes, I went around the ban vote system. This was a solo move by me, the mods nor any site members have anything to do with this.

Feel free to disagree with my choice. Some people liked the drama. But in the end a decision had to be made, and so I did. As stated earlier, the bans are not necessarily permanent, it really depends on the reaction of those members. Can they participate here without the trolling, negativity and/or constant sarcasm?

Quoted from jarjarisgod:

You could also make it where only the OP and mods can add tags to a thread. Would probably be able to keep the tags more relevant to the thread that way.

That would be a great short term solution, thanks!

#46 10 years ago
Quoted from robin:

That would be a great short term solution, thanks!

No problem. I could tell you weren't happy about removing a feature you put a lot of work into. Hopefully this suggestion allows you to add it back in without a whole heck of a lot of additional effort.

#47 10 years ago
Quoted from Miknan:

Don't know if he has or not but I donated and don't have a heart. I did something on the wrong order but the money came out of my pp account. No worries, without this site I likely wouldn't have a working pinball machine nor know what I do now. I'll donate again and hopefully do it right this time but I'm just saying no heart doesn't necessarily mean you haven't given.

Please send Robin a PM and let him know. He will fix that.

#48 10 years ago

Robin, last time I checked ,this was still you sandbox. Do what you wish. Thanks or all the effort, Sorry you have to deal with the grief .
" after all it's only pinball"

#49 10 years ago

I feel for you Robin, I am a moderator of a small pinball club forum, and we've had to take action to reduce the negativity and try to get it back to being a fun place to talk about pinball. It's a no win proposition, no matter what you do people are mad at you, either you did too much or not enough.

#50 10 years ago

Robin why not only allow tagging of games that are in the pinside database. Nothing else can be tagged. Since those already exist and are proper the only possible abuse would be folks tagging games not present in the thread. Don't allow self created tags.

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