You are right Scotty...You need to wait for long time till ur post will be here...But in checkers it works straight away and everyone cos of that abuse each other ;) Gl

The approval system was working pretty well 2 or 3 weeks ago but lately it has been terribly inefficient and slow.

It actually makes the Dear Moderator section more ironic now that it has the approval system. Before, posts didn't need to be approved so when there was no reply from a moderator or OP we had to assume that they wern't actually reading the majority of posts. Now that the topics needs to be pre-approved they must have to be read by them (For this example we shall assume every moderator reads what they approve... even thought I don't agree that this is happening :p). Therefore there shouldn't really be any excuse for a moderator 

not

 replying to a perfectly reasonable question on here as they are approving the actual post themself.

I understand why the approval system is here, if done properly it can reduce unnecessary posts and abuse, however, too many times it has been applied incorrectly... is it time for a rethink FOD?

> I understand why they put it in because of Kobe etc but i just see it as lazy to be honest

I have to agree with you here Scotty. I get the impression FOD are almost taking this system for granted as an "easy" option.

I would actually be interested to know how many posts each day are 

declined

. If the reasoning behind the approval system is correct then surely there must be many abusive/rule breaking posts rejected each day - although some do slip through somehow?. Now I can't possibly know for sure but I would guess that there aren't that many posts being declined each day, but then again, my intuition isn't perfect :D

What i find amazing is, most posts take upto 12 hours to actually 'post', meanwhile abusive posts are even getting submitted... i thought these forums were moderated?

very true triggy.

Chris and Scotty i agree with your points. the approval system over the last few days has been awful. for example i looked in the morning and back on the night there were no new posts in the approval sections of the forum. i hate the system to be honest.

the ridiculous posts that are accepted is beyond me, and the decent ones which arent is ridiculous.

and about this section, i would agree it is probably the best, simply because of the no approval system.

I understand why they put it in because of Kobe etc but i just see it as lazy to be honest, there's loads of forums that dont have this approval system and they work.

to be honest,Kobe has grown up,unlike all the kids here posting topics about cheating..
and i agree,theres something wrong with approval system lately - my posts which contained not a single censored word,not even sarcasm,we not approved

I agree scotty, the approval system is a joke lately, I was pulled up about a reply to a post was negative. I see I'm not the only one who has negative views about certain things in FOD. I think all the people who have replied to this post so far are some of the many DECENT people on FOD who have a good point of view and their posts are the ones worth reading wheather it's a negative or positive one. 

If the forum is going downhill what do any of you think will make it better or improve it? 

I think the system should be taken away from all sections apart from this one (Dear Moderators). I'm actually quite surprised it took this long for this section to actually become moderator approved, as most days you'd just see the same old questions and complaints being asked about and then some people (myself included at times) start flaming the topic and going off on a tangent.

The approval system ceases to give this place any sort of forum feel at all. We wait for hours to see posts going through, killing off any realistic hope of decent forum discussion or debate.

As for the time it takes I agree it's a complete joke at times but at the end of the day moderators on here are not being paid to do their duties on here. Having said that though, they should still be doing what's required of them, if they weren't committed enough then why would they apply for the post in the first place.

>If the forum is going downhill what do any of you think will make it better or improve it? 

Firstly dedicated forum moderators. Some moderators don't have any interest in the forum at all yet it is required of them to approve and regulate posts. If we had people who are dedicated to posting on the forum moderating it, then we probably would have a better and more efficient system. I could quite easily name numerous people suitable for the role who look at the forum much more regularly than some moderators ;). 

Secondly, FOD needs to reconsider the current approval system. Any of us on here who are regular forum users could tell FOD the people who don't abuse on here and are a credit to the forum. If FOD had a system which removes the need for approval for those who post regularly and without breaking rules, then not only would moderators have a reduced workload but it would also encourage people to post in an acceptable manner.

Thirdly, although not as important in terms of other issues as it's purely aesthetic, an update to the forum as a whole. When you look at it, in my opinion, it seems terribly amateurish and something which anyone could reproduce. How about some user friendly features like a "Quote" button on a post so you don't have to copy and paste what someone says, an edit post button, a "sticky topic" feature that keeps important topics at the top of a page, signatures under your posts, avatars, a private message feature and a reputation system just to make the whole place a little more 

exciting

. :p

Fourth, and probably one that everyone would agree with, a little more feedback from those powers that be above us. A little update now and then would satisfy a lot of us on here and would probably reduce the crticism FOD receives and free up some strain on their databases... :)

I guess overall if some of these ideas were implemented then it may result in an increase in participation on the forum. It would be beneficial to FOD to have more players using the forum and giving their opinions on various issues relating to the website as they can get a "bigger" view on what the players are thinking. Currently we 

the forum users

 are just a little minority when it comes to the bigger picture of FOD... who knows, maybe this is why we tend to get ignored with some of the things that have been said over the past couple of years :D

Well i'd like too see more care taken into 'moderating' the forum.

>>When you look at it, in my opinion, it seems terribly amateurish and something which anyone could reproduce.


Chris, thats because we've had the same forum since Fod actually began, i dont think there's been a single update to the forum since they actually opened it other than adding different parts.

The part i love about this forum tho has got to be the Requests/Suggestions bit, i mean its amazing when they added it it got alot of weight off there shoulders because we all thought were in for some updates here! 

Its been there about 2 years now(rough guess) and vwala! we aint had a thing :p well for Billiards anyway and to be honest i dont think the Op's even replied to any of them post's, im not gonna go through them all but im quietly confident he hasn't replied to a single post there but ill stand to be corrected.

Im starting to bore myself now complaining on here about the same old stuff because the fact is we dont get listened to and when we do its normally a sarcastic reply, the Op actually replied to a complaint last week and what did he say? 'no need for the negative reply' or something like that, when actually there's much need for it Op!

Im sure he also said in the 'Points' topic last month that if we had any complaints we should make a post about it which has been done now so we'll just see what comes from this one. 

Totally agree Scotty

I posted a new topic on saturday to ask why I got a demerit on one of my nicks. It only said "unsportmanslike behaviour" but I cannot recall doing anything wrong. So I politely asked for an explanation so I can remember for the future.

Anyway, the topic has apperently not gone trough the approval system because I can still not see it here and I still don't know why I got the demerit.

Doesn't matter much anyway, demerit is already gone, but I bugs me I don't know why I got a demerit.

jeez as if they brought the approval into this section :|

A blast from the past........a couple of reply's from 

OP

http://forum.flyordie.com/thread.jsp?forum=4&thread=39149&message=346595&q=#346595

:|

im with u scotty in the four in the row i wanted to post a topic but it said it had to be a approved by a mod its now been over 24 hours and it still isnt on there i just want to throw the computer out of the window




U.B
P.R

.

fo·rum
Pronunciation: \ˈfor-əm\:

a public meeting place for open discussion,
a medium (as a newspaper or online service) 
of open discussion or expression of ideas.

Indeed,  
it does appear to directly contradict 
the mission of a fo-rum eh?

However, and worthy of note, all is not lost.. 
the forums and the games suffer from a constant artillery
barrage of bad behaviour when the straight
jackets are loostened on some of the members here,
all of you posting to this topic, and to the forums 
in general know this well... fgs half of ya got
apartments in the game lobbys...

With all that ^ being said..
the main reason for the delays in approvals of messages
is because the mods are volunteers throughout the
site and most have real life stuff to do as well..
(I say most in a very, very low voice)

I do have a suggestion though..
Perhaps interested parties, who wish to make a good
effort to the cause, 
can post a constructive message describing 
not only how good of a job you would be at monitoring the forums,  
but also in enhancing them in various ways...
it's pretty much a creative process really...

Beware though,
There is a lot more to moderating a open forum than
just approving or bouncing messages.. 
type in what you feel is a good, fair and balanced forum
 and engage in active, constructive discussion about it..  
instead of complaining..  
sounds logical..?  yes?

By the way..   how is everyone?

I see Peter up there.. piping in..
good to see a FoD elder still wandering
the halls without security following him.. 
..(heya Pete.. *waves)


Regards,

GHOST MP
FoD moderation
serving since '01

[img=

http://ghostriderxp.googlepages.com/US1onwhitetiny.PNG

]

Haven't seen you around for a while Ghost.. good to see you showing your face :p

In reply to some of your points:

>the forums and the games suffer from a constant artillery barrage of bad behaviour when the straight jackets are loostened on some of the members here

And I would agree with this 100%. However surely there is a case for "loosening the straight jackets" on those members that are shown to be able to put forward decent posts that don't break the rules. -Scotty-, Paralyzed, Baz Attack, Triggy, Massimiliano, Mr Ambitious, Eagle eye, Peter, Ocean, fstal, Audi S4, are just some of the people I can think of who contribute to the community in various ways and (I can only assume) they wouldn't break the rules if their posts did not need to be moderated. Of course these privileges could be reversed if, let's say, Baz Attack decided to spam the forum and abuse everyone at every opportunity (Although I don't see this happening :p)

>the main reason for the delays in approvals of messages is because the mods are volunteers throughout the site and most have real life stuff to do as well..

I think the majority understand and give a big thumbs up to the moderators for doing the role in their own free time. But, it's quite clear that not all moderators have an interest in the forum and I would hazard a guess that the majority do not participate in the approval system either. I get the impression that there are a handful of moderators that take control of the approval system which in my eyes is totally unfair on them. 

>Perhaps interested parties, who wish to make a good effort to the cause, can post a constructive message describing not only how good of a job you would be at monitoring the forums

Well, if FOD decided to implement dedicated forum moderators (i.e. their dut

Hmmm...
seems a part of your message was chopped off Chris..  
:s

I would like to read the rest..  if you can recall..

Cheers
G.
[img=

http://ghostriderxp.googlepages.com/US1onwhitetiny.PNG

]

You make a good point ghost, but the approval system contradicts itself when people are able to post abuse, abusive screenshot links and are able to post slander or abuse to and individual that has replied to a thread and which has nothing to do with the subject, while posts that arent abusive are rejected. 

How about just having Forum moderators, People like chris, paralysed, baz and few others whos posts are informative and without slander or abuse. Everyone understands the plight of a moderator, you do hard work in your free time and the decent gamers in FOD are grateful to you all.

Hey Ghost !! long time no see there, thanks for the reply...I know what you mean with Mod's having there own life's and all that but ive seen ALOT of new mod's recently and im sure when there on they could check the forum for new posts every half hour or so, i asked one of the new one's for some help last week about a perm ban i got for a quite pathetic reason to be honest and the guy couldn't give me an answer other than email 'moderator@flyordie.com' which doesn't even work anymore.

So it got me thinking how much do these new Mod's actually know? other than banning people i dont think much, do they know how to approve messages on here?

Also, after the moderator@flyordie.com email failed to work i then went onto the 'moderator contact form' were i could only send one screenshot and i couldn't even type in what i wanted because apparently the message was to large, confused me alot as i didnt even type that much in and once again im just seeing it as laziness on Fod's behalf.

I could personally name 2 or 3 people who would be great for a Forum Mod job the main one being Chris, i think he deserves it to be honest, he's helped out people on here alot more than the Mod's or the Op has and he's only been here a few year i think.

I cant see him coming on here begging to be made the a Forum Mod so i think that's out of the question but if we had a vote between out forum member's im pretty sure he'd get the vote!

I looked at the topic Peter pasted into here and seen the Op said nearly a year ago that there working on some kind of update, Well were still waiting Op, Surely not another year? :D

I agree there is a lot of spam and bad behaviour on the forum. I'm not questioning the system of approval.

However, when I see some posts on this "dear moderator" forum I seriously question the criteria of approval. I mean, apperently asking something politely is no criterium to get through the approval. Then I wonder what criteria are being applied...

Oh dear, not sure what happened to my post, looked fine when I previewed it :p Luckily I saved it in notepad so here it is again B-)
------------------------------
Haven't seen you around for a while Ghost.. good to see you showing your face :p

In reply to some of your points:

>the forums and the games suffer from a constant artillery barrage of bad behaviour when the straight jackets are loostened on some of the members here

And I would agree with this 100%. However surely there is a case for "loosening the straight jackets" on those members that are shown to be able to put forward decent posts that don't break the rules. -Scotty-, Paralyzed, Baz Attack, Triggy, Massimiliano, Mr Ambitious, Eagle eye, Peter, Ocean, fstal, Audi S4, are just some of the people I can think of who contribute to the community in various ways and (I can only assume) they wouldn't break the rules if their posts did not need to be moderated. Of course these privileges could be reversed if, let's say, Baz Attack decided to spam the forum and abuse everyone at every opportunity (Although I don't see this happening :p)

>the main reason for the delays in approvals of messages is because the mods are volunteers throughout the site and most have real life stuff to do as well..

I think the majority understand and give a big thumbs up to the moderators for doing the role in their own free time. But, it's quite clear that not all moderators have an interest in the forum and I would hazard a guess that the majority do not participate in the approval system either. I get the impression that there are a handful of moderators that take control of the approval system which in my eyes is totally unfair on them. 

>Perhaps interested parties, who wish to make a good effort to the cause, can post a constructive message describing not only how good of a job you would be at monitoring the forums

Well, if FOD decided to implement dedicated forum moderators (i.e. their duties go no further than the forum) then I would quite happily put myself forward. I check the forum numerous times a day and would actually read the post I'm accepting in a neutral manner (and reject those which are abusive which is not always the case with the current system). I also know a couple of people on here who would be great for the role, but it's not my position to put their name forward :). The problem is, forum moderators have been suggested for ages yet FOD do not respond with any feedback about the idea, let alone any recognition of it. Now, if they want to consider such an option I don't see why they can't get some feedback off us on what we would want from people doing such a role.

>but also in enhancing them in various ways

See my post above :p. But again the issue with this is that we very rarely get any feedback on the ideas we put forward. It's fine OP or someone else saying "we do look at the forums regularly and we do take your ideas into consideration", but, without any sort of personal response from OPERATOR it all gets a little repetitive and we begin to lose (or in my case, have lost) faith in FOD using this forum for anything productive on their part.

>type in what you feel is a good, fair and balanced forum and engage in active, constructive discussion about it instead of complaining.. 

The problem is Ghost, we've been putting forward some good constructive discussion for a couple of years (in my FOD lifetime anyway :p) and we've had nothing to show for it so, naturally, complaints have become an everyday occurence around here. 

>sounds logical..? yes?
Logical? yes, realistic? unfortunately not lol

>By the way.. how is everyone?

Ahhh not bad, and yourself? :D You've given me something to do for 20 minutes while I wait for my next lecture on 

contemporary industrial relations

.... typing a reply to you is far more interesting.. believe me :p

Oh and thanks for taking the time to reply to this post. We 

do

 criticise a lot on here but I think we often forget to praise when moderators like yourself take the time to address an issue ;)

I agree that the forum moderators should have no other powers other than approving and vetting posts in the forum. It would take the pressure off the moderators and the Operator. The Forum lately has become an extension of customer compaints or fly or die support. I think the lack or response to posts from moderators and the Operator in most posts makes people think their ideas arent being read, and they are wasting their time, which makes people think the forum is pointless. I know this is not the case and the mods and OP have other responsibilities.

One last thing i want to say is....

The average age of the OP and the moderators must be about 35, Chris, Paralysed, Scotty and baz and a few others are younger, I think this forum needs this younger input in the forum.

Whats all the fuss about ? Your topic's get posted in the end, So whats wrong ?, Give the boss's a break. Look at it this way.. How many people are playing on flyordie and are registered user's of this site ? Id say about 10,000 +, So what im trying to say is that Mods can't be around 5-6 people all the time.

Be happy that you topic's get posted. When i post a topic or a reply, Sometimes it never get's posted or some times it takes a long time for a reply to get an approval. Ive had one or two of my replies turned down. But i didn't complain or cry. Flyordie.com has a system to obide with so live it.

Im one who supports the approval system. Gentlemen the approval system is there to stop the imature ones from posting abusive things and swear word's, so lets live with it ? 

STOĪCHKOV ;-)

I must say which is funny... all messages up there were approved very quickly lol.. we are moving in the right direction.

Glad too see you Ghost, it has been a long time & im glad a moderator has taken the time (out of their real life (in a really low voice)) too try & help solve the matter.

Hey There! Its Eagle eye Here. Thank You for including me Scotty :p But I do..Break rules sometimes...I think everyone  do it sometimes it happens. And I think ur fully right in your points m8. 
 And also I would say sorry to some people who saw me on Sunday. I just had but news and got very drunk...I cant even remember what I did on that day...And next day mr.gimpish(Joel) said that I used bad language. I want to say sorry to everyone for that! That wont happen again! Good   Luck and Take Care ;)

Good to see a moderators honest opinion being placed forward into this discussion. It doesn't happen often which is why people moan about not getting updated on updates? 

We simply don't have enough information on what is making the clogs turn in the background of this place. For all we know our subscription money is paying for a google type building in Hungary for Operator to fly around all day.

(For those of you who don't know what google office is: 

http://blog.kimvallee.com/images/blog_kimvallee_com/WindowsLiveWriter/PartydecorideasfromtheZurichGoogleOffice_A057/zurich_google_office_6.jpg)

I'm not going to sit here and praise myself for the ability to moderate as I wouldn't get it. That's not to say I wouldn't want it!

Unfortunately my record on fod speaks for itself. Banned numerous times for different things, but you learn by mistakes don't you. :)

Like Chris and Scotty said there is a numerous amount of regulars who could run this forum with just OP directing them on the way the company want this forum run. Maybe than we would get a decent relationship between players, moderators and the actual staff at Solware, because I'm sure they actually do a lot of stuff behind the scenes.

I just hope they take your ideas into consideration. You don't create a portfolio of different quality games without experience, sometimes Flyordie don't show it which is a shame really.

A lot of us make good points but than there is times where we have said we quit for good, but than 1-3 months around the clock we all back and suddenly that 'quitting' was a rest. I know that doesn't count just for me neither, Martin? :p

Ahh a good post from me for once, I hope.
Liam :)

Unfortunately my record on fod speaks for itself. Banned numerous times for different things, but you learn by mistakes don't you.

Thats very true...People do learn from they mistakes(if they  try) You would look at me 1,2 years ago and look now...Very different man ;) Gl

Sorry for going offtopic a bit, but its always good to see an 

ELDER

Moderator

 in the form of Mr GHOST MP applying a bit of common sense , before it gets too hot in here.

Talking of hot things,if anybody else is going to Hawaii on Friday 14th Nov (you will all get a bit of peice and quiet for two weeks now) maybe we can discuss the forum situation, on Waikiki beach ?

;):D;)

> Id say about 10,000 +, So what im trying to say is that Mods can't be around 5-6 people all the time.

That's correct STOĪCHKOV, but that's exactly the reason why we need dedicated forum moderators. For the moderators who don't use the forum, I would rather they spent their time moderating the game lobbies rather than having to approve posts they may not particularly care about :p

>Be happy that you topic's get posted.

Well that isn't 

always

 the case. I've had numerous perfectly reasonable posts vanish for no particular reason at all. A week or so ago I made a post (about as long as the one I've done above so it took me a good 20 minutes to type it) and it wasn't even approved. That's the reason why I save larger posts to notepad from now on :D

>Flyordie.com has a system to obide with so live it.

Unfortunately when you have a system in which certain posts that break the rules are approved, and posts that don't are rejected, it makes the system a little difficult to abide by constantly. 

>Im one who supports the approval system. Gentlemen the approval system is there to stop the imature ones from posting abusive things and swear word's

It's refreshing to see someone supporting the 

other side

 for a change STOĪCHKOV :p When the approval system does work well it does exactly what you suggest, it filters out immature/rule breaking posts. Rather than removing the system altogether, I would rather see it being modified to reward those that use the forum for the reason it should be used.

>>Unfortunately my record on fod speaks for itself. Banned numerous times for different things, but you learn by mistakes don't you. 

If

 FOD ever considered it I think they should ignore past punishments to a certain degree (Unlike the regular moderation application). We know who on this forum is abusive and who isn't, as Scotty above said, a voting system would be a good idea as a "first step" in the application process (And yes Scotty, I wouldn't beg to be a forum moderator, I swear the past couple of years hasn't been meticulously planned by myself to get into such a position :p.... and for the record, you and Martin would get my vote :)). I've seen you post regularly on here Liam and you're level headed, mature and have some great points like many of the users on here, I agree with pretty much your whole post. ;)

I think there should be at least one designated forum moderator. There is of course one obvious choice, and seeing as he's already put his name forward, I'll name names - Chris.

However I still think there should not be an approval system, apart from the Dear Moderators section. But if there were a number of forum moderators who check the forum regularly (Chris has already said he does, personally I look at the forums quite a lot too) then the approval system may not be necessary anyway, even in Dear Mods.

I wouldn't mind the chance to be a forum moderator myself but there's no chance they would let me be one, not got the best history on this site although of course I have matured considerably, but that's a different matter.

If there ever was such a thing as a forum moderator it would be pretty much essential that that person would not be biased and publish, edit or delete posts and topics that aren't in favour with their own opinion. I believe the aforementioned Chris would be the perfect choice in that regard, although I'd like to think I'd be a decent candidate too, I don't agree with absolutely everything people say but I do take peoples opinion on board and am not afraid to give my opinion, even if it's not popular but not in an offensive way. As much as some people might disagree with that :p

There are of course one or two other people I'd recommend for the position.

That's enough trumpet blowing from me.

you bring up a good point para.

if there were forum mods who checked regularly, u wouldnt need an approval system. because they could quickly edit, delete posts, or ban people from the forum ect.

Thats very good idea :)

BRING ON THE TRUMPETS.

I'm sure I wrote more on my post, phone playing up again :|

The criteria would have to be different, we could be forgetting the regulars from the other parts of the forums. I'm sure the Hungarian part is moderated on a daily basis - looks as if it's done by OP as well.

One controller to each part of the forum seems the right way to go. When more people start to discover the forums and we are enabled to have a quick, decent discussion than 1 or 2 more could be added.

Baz, Para, Chris and Peter - these people are the best choices. 

I don't know who said it because I can't remember and I can't copy the parts. (I'm on a bus and apple forgot the copy function?) But they're young and will all have ideas on how to keep the forum running.

But than the criteria comes into it... Under 18, Past bans, demerits etc.
If they're wanting dedicated forum mods than these should be forgotten because in the end not many people stick around on the forums especially after the approval system that was put into place.

I could type for hours but it seems pointless because it's hard to get my head around fod doing something. Not to say I don't want this.

To Stoichkov, This is a forum mate, its open for discussion, Im not crying im simply opening another debate which looks good to me so far :p 

I personally think the Boss's have had a long enough holiday and its time to start putting things right, i emailed Fod this morning about them possibly adding a Forum Mod so we will see if it's there for the taking ;).

Let's wait and see what happens...

ok... i've been busy the last two days.  but i've followed this, and it's time for my input.

>type in what you feel is a good, fair and balanced forum

here are my thoughts... based on opinion, but also partly what i've heard from the masses in the past.  i recommend the following, and ask that any moderators (ghost, who has been here, and others who might read this) suggest what might be helpful from this thread (not just this post) to the upper levels, so it's not just normal members who are suggesting, but also moderators who are in support of the ideas.

in the ideal situation, i believe accounts should start out as being moderated on all forums, but after a given number of approved posts (say, 10 or 20), the account can then post freely without approval.  at that point, if they abuse the priviledge, a moderator (who still must watch forums from time to time) can remove the priviledge, and put the account back to permanently requiring approval.  from there, a form would be required for the person to fill out (similar to mod contact form) for a person to get their permissions to post without approval back.  this would be ideal, but i think there may be too much work involved for FOD to implement this in a short period of time.

alternatively, i think forum moderators are a good idea, however, they have been suggested (often with many suggestions to go along with it, to help implement the idea) too often in the past, and nothing has come of it.  what i recommend is a new way for a forum moderator to be approved.  a current (full-priviledge) moderator must recommend a person for forum-mod (i believe mods have ways of contacting OP or someone else who could put this into effect).  people could ask a mod to recommend them, but the mods would only recommend people they feel would do an appropriate job (and i think certain criteria should still be met... maybe still over 18, but possibly that could be an eliminated requirement... and having been on FOD for at least 6 months with the last 6 months being ban-free, or dem/ban-free... which i think is fair enough to say the person could do a good job forum-mod'ing if a moderator also recommends them).

anyway, please take these considerations... and like i said earlier, if mods also recommend them through appropriate channels, i think they are likely to fall on better ears than if we just post to a forum.

take and modify my 'alternative' option above... as i think it's something that could easily be implemented, would provide numerous people to help with moderating the forum, and would help speed up the approval of posts.

--jason (who would be asking a mod to recommend him if this system came into play)

I absolutely agree with most of that up there ^
everyone has a voice..  this is good..
Open and constructive discussion over issues
is a good thing I think... and it prevents most violent injuries...

authough... 
your mileage may vary..
:p

I think a "compartmentalized" moderation effort is the way to go..  in that chosen (perhaps even elected)  dedicated mods are responsible for monitoring selected areas of the forums, ie: Billiards, Tanx and so on..

This can also be used as a on the job training position for the actual games moderators..  a requirement even..
in other words.. to get to the position of site moderator... one has to put their time in the trench's..  so to speek..

Thanks for the kind words from those who mentioned them..   .. I do look in here from time to time..  
real life stuff (wsk) prevents me from spending a lot of time here but hopefully some visits with my partner more often sometime soon.

I encourage anyone who's interested in forums moderation,
and have say at least 10 months as a member 
(subbed or non-subbed) and a clear mod history 
(sorry, parolee's need not apply) 
to apply for the job..  

I also think any time now would be a good time for 

OP

 to take notice of this topic.. 
 
see'in as we about to spam his inbox with apps..

The online version can be found> 

http://www.flyordie.com/games/help/pre_modapp.html

*keeps an eye on this..

G.
[img=

http://ghostriderxp.googlepages.com/US1onwhitetiny.PNG

]

Jason your ideas are good. If these were implemented than maybe we could have a 'report post for review' which hides the post until it has been moderated. 

It would be nice if the topic creator had a function to hide spam or useless junk that being posted as well.

All fod really needs to do is upgrade to a newer version of this forum or a different type of forum. 

These things that we have all discussed should be available for option on the newer versions.

It's good to have these types of open discussions, they don't happen very often though. Seems like everybody is in the mood for a good brain storming session though, especially a long-serving mod. 

Suppose I'm out of the running to becoming a forum mod, but good luck to everybody who applies. 

Let's hope some of the good guys get the job! ;)

and a clear mod history

meh
why?
its just forum..they will not be mods in games anyway. 

I think Jason's idea (above) about the approval system is bang on. Some sort of system which is able to distinguish between those who need their posts approving and those 'newcomers' who may need to be moderated in case they are abusive etc. seems one of the best ways forward (And Jason's solution seems easy to implement and is entirely reasonable in my opinion).

I also like the idea of a current moderator having to recommend a user to be a forum moderator. The only problem I can see with this though is that only a handful of moderators "know" the forum in a way which would mean they could pass suitable judgement on a person. I wouldn't want any forum-using moderator to be spammed on a day to day basis with people asking for a recommendation (although currently with the limited number of forum users, this may not be a problem :p). 

And I forgot you in my "list" of suitable people in my previous posts Jason. I apologise :p You are one of the people on here who is easily suited to being a forum moderator, who would take an unbiased approach to the approval system and would be a credit to have in such a role ;)

>All fod really needs to do is upgrade to a newer version of this forum or a different type of forum. 

I couldn't agree more Liam.

>one has to put their time in the trench's

Now that analogy made me laugh Ghost :D

I was looking around the forums before and spotted the 'Powered by Jive Forums' in the footer of the forum. I clicked on the link and found myself to have navigated to this page:

http://www.jivesoftware.com/products/clearspace-community/whatsnew

After viewing the above update it shows how far a 'community' has developed over the past 7 years or so. On other gaming sites that have kept with the time you are able to:

Send Messages
Edit Posts
Hold Polls
Put a Post for Review
Better Text Editors - Colours, Bold, Emoticons, HTML, Quote Boxes, 
Quick Reply

Even an Invisionboard or Proboard would be better than the one we have. They're fully customisable and lets face it it's hardly a price that is going to make the company monies go spiralling out of control.



It was good to catch up with Chris in Pro Room 1 before, we had a good long discussion (I'll tell you later if I'm late for work...if i was it's down to you mate :p). It was good to speak to somebody who agreed on a  few things about the game and company as a whole. There wasn't a huge deal that we disagreed on - infact was there anything :|?

Some of the things we discussed would also mean changing most of the website at a huge chunk.

If we got a new forum that would mean the homepage and individual game pages would also have to be changed. 

Am I getting at something here?

 Is this why flyordie hasn't put the forums first?
It would mean more work for them and may risk old and existing members losing interest in the website as a whole. I know this happens quite alot when a website has a 'facelift'.
It has happened to facebook recently. The amount of articles in newspapers, myspace, bebo and in the facebook groups is astonishing. To think all this fuss over a layout?

> and want your visitors to stick to your website and spend more time there

Is this just one of the many reasons?

But the risk factor for the popularity of the game isn't very big. The developers could put a 

Beta

 out and see what the customers think of the new updated version. Feedback is essential after all. 

They would also be establishing a company-customer relationship which is a vital part of a business, afterall the customer is always right!

If you came to the forums as a new player having never realised they existed and you posted a Topic with no warning of an approval system and the looks of a dog with it's ast dosage of hair, would you bat an eyelid and stick around? I know I wouldn't. Chris said he wouldn't neither.

After looking at the forum updates Chris looked at the solware website which I decided to do as well and I noticed a few things:

The website looks like it's a blast from the past. You wouldn't think it's a website for an only gaming community MMORPG.
It's presented as if my Dad has dusted the old atari computer and had a go with Microsoft Publisher. (Atari didn't have publisher in them days - oh well)
None of the links even work on the Contact us page.

> We have been developing our games according to our special philosophy: besides the gaming experience we wanted to build a community around our games.

Oh now this is something. If they wanted to build a community around the games than they went completely the wrong way about it. It's crazy talk, if it works leave it until it breaks?

>  Soon, 3D Billiards became the most popular online game on the real.com website, and kept this position for many months. The collaboration with Real.com proved to be the keystone of building Solware’s international reputation. 

What did they do to attempt to keep existing members and try to attract new customers after the hype died down?

Most companies work on the policy of 'Attract new members and hope the old ones don't jumpship'. But this doesn't seem to have any way of bringing or keeping players. 
Maybe Solware got lucky by stumbling on a goldmine. At the time the internet was developing, pool, runescape and the rest of the games were a big market in 

some

 households. Now that most homes have a computer or mac with an internet connection the market is a huge amount. Especially among teenagers.

>And I forgot you in my "list" of suitable people in my previous posts Jason. I apologise
no worries chris.  i haven't been very active in the forum the last few weeks, so it'd be easy to forget me... hopefully only temporarily though!
--jason :p

Wow. I wrote a 

very

 long post last night.

It hasn't been approved. 
Luckily I saved it at home.

Good read tho All Stars ;) the thing is most companies  do things for there customers wereas Fod dont (anymore), they wont even admit they have any problems which sums it all up really.

And I just realised how tired I was whilst writing that junk! 

Why has half of my last post been deleted ? I had 3-4 paragraths in the post and most of its been removed...? lol nice one Fod ;)

Just remember to save the finished article mate! That was the first thing Chris said to me when I started writing my post.

Finally got to see your post Liam after the anticipation I had the other night!!! :p:p

You're spot on with everything you said. It's definately a time for a facelift around here, a few new features would spruce up the place a bit and get rid of the cobwebs.

> We have been developing our games according to our special philosophy: besides the gaming experience we wanted to build a community around our games.

I think this sums up the contradictory 'philosophy' of FOD. Their Solware website is full of business jargon and flowery language that makes them seem enthusiastic and motivated to improve (I assume this is to draw in the advertisers in order to bump up company profits ;)). What they say on their website, and what materialises in the 

real world

, seem to be two different things :)

But I guess the most important question is:

Was you late for work??

 B-)

I wasn't! B-)

I feel asleep on the bus but I set my alarm for 7:40 (5 minutes before I usually get off!)

Use the brain...use the brain :D

What about your uni work? Finish that ;)?