Topic: Are sarcastic/flippant posts considered off-topic by forum administrators? (Read 543 times)

fair enough, i know that the "trust" system is a built in feature in SMF and that you guys changed the word from "karma" I think to trust, adding a second system under that one would be a pain in the ass, but it would be interesting to add a "relevance" number there too that could only be affected by the admins and mods.  i will tinker a bit, i assume that simply making a copy of the feature from within SMF and renaming both the feature and the a few other parts of the code should spawn an apparent secondary feature, as long as the formatting isn't forced into the CSS, it should actually be pretty easy...i will look, the only problem would be the fact that it is a built-in system and that it may very well be illegal to modify the code



edit.....scratch that....i looked at the SMF code and the karma system, which is what i was talking about cloning is a pretty simple function, but built-in, which would make it illegal to modify.  on top of that, the PHP ends with an addition to the database, meaning that you not only would have to mess with the code, but also inject a new user data bite into the database and that is a pain in the ass, and may break the forum until a backup is pulled in, just a thought and one that is too much effort for the result

Well, they tally in the posts at the end of the day, and if the post was removed, it would not be tallied. I think the way it works, it's automated, and it would deduct the post from the next day.

i am not saying that it would happen, but it is possible that a post is deleted from a board/thread after that post has been counted toward the sig campaign for the user.  i know that your main thrust is to protect the board, but many of the highest ranking members here manage some of those campaigns and there is obviously an effort to protect them also, so if a post has been counted by the campaign, then the post gets deleted, isn't that a little unfair to the business that is paying to be advertised?  what about some kind of warning system that tells a member that some of their posts may not be up to snuff

Not a bias, but we pay more attention to such users as being incetivized to post makes them more prone to make low value posts.

Thank you for explaining, and thank you everybody else.


Of course, I only just realize that now.


Does this mean that being enrolled in a signature campaign puts a preconceived bias towards your posts as low-quality/off-topic?

And thank you Morantis for your input.

Just because a post is not off-topic does not mean that it is not appropriate for a moderator to delete said post.  Another very common reason for a post to get deleted is that it is a low/no value post.

I have noticed that both the development and technical support sections have had an increase in signature spam as of recently. I would say that the chances are high that if someone were to make a sarcastic post in either of these sections that they have no idea what is being discussed but they want to make a post anyway.

there is a difference between on-topic, off-topic and belligerent attacks

if the reply and/or post is sarcastic, but continues the thread in the manner that the forum is intended and it is relevant to the subject, then it should be fine....however, bear in mind that many threads start off as one topic and the topic flows into another.   if this is not true, i would not see posts pop up day after day about an exchange that failed three years ago.  not enough people close the threads when it is there time because the flow has turned to something else and is still going.  you can always open a new thread that follows the new points and close the previous thread with that last post being a link to the new one.

then there are outright attacks that are more person to person based than thread based.  a person is confronted or faced off against in one thread and decides to follow every post the other member makes and personally play devils advocate against that person, this may even be kept on-topic, but the fact that the attacks on against the person and only attached to the current thread to make it ok to post there is really bad.  that can mean that i come after you, attack you on a thread about "topic X" and oppose you, your views on topic x and any other topic you like.  topic X may have been something that was good, deserved my further attention versus my ill will and never got those because i was more interested in opposing the member and everything that do not oppose. 

i am not making myself out to be more important than i am, but i do have the member rank of senior and it is possible that a new service that deserves a good look could get hurt by someones seeing me attack the service.  if the service deserves attack, like peepcoin, then ok.  if not and i was basing the attack on the fact an enemy of mine is there and saying he likes it, then that is wrong.  I think people should look at their rank here as a responsibility, rather than a higher level of payment on the sig campaigns.  when a new person asks if he should send $1500 in Bitcoins to a site in the West Indies that promises to pay triple in three minutes, it is my responsibility to tell them no, that is what rank is all about, the fact that i have been there through the HYIP's, the Ponzi's and the full-fledged dead exchanges that were even licensed by the states and the fact that whether I get a couple bucks a week for my signature or not, I am here to help and not to hurt.

Sarcasm is just a tool used to convey. If the meaning you are trying to convey is on topic, its perfectly fine.

From your post, I have a couple of theories. First, if this was in the technical support section, theres probably a little less room for jokes than say in a regular discussion section. Tech Support is typically a bit more, Here is my problem: and the responses are asking for additional info or offering suggestions on how to help. That isn't to say sarcasm isn't allowed in the section, but due to the section's nature, I'd say its easier to have posts removed if they aren't constructive.

In addition to that, in order to help keep a thread readable and accessible for others having the same problem in the future, redundant posts are probably more likely to be deleted. So if someone gave a full comprehensive response before you, it wouldn't be surprising for posts without additional constructive information following to be removed.

Discussion sections are just that, a place for conversation about topics to take place. Technical Support is a bit less open and breezy. If someone is refreshing their browser every 10 seconds because their money is no longer in their control and not reaching the destination, sarcasm may not be the best call.

Most of the reply I gave you is assuming it was in the tech support section. If it wasn't, my best guess what I said about redundant posts, as that still applies. Having one post deleted isn't a big deal, you could have a post deleted every few days and never be at risk for a ban.

If sarcastic remarks are being deleted on this forum then my post would be deleted as well so let's wait and see. /s

On-topic: The last reply in that thread was two weeks ago. Your post was reported as it adds doesn't add nothing really new to the conversation in an already resolved thread and got deleted. Happens everyday, don't worry about it.

I generally try to stay out of trouble here on Bitcointalk.

However, there was this post somebody made about his transaction not being confirmed, where he admitted to having paid a fee of less than 0.0001 BTC

So I wrote: "There's your issue. Wait about a year or two, it will be confirmed eventually."

Obviously, I didn't literally mean "Wait a year", everybody can see that. So I was wondering if sarcasm could still be considered off-topic and give grounds for deleting a post, is it possible?

(This is not an appeal of the moderators' decision to remove the post, just a necessary precaution I'm taking to prevent this from happening in the future and better my understanding of the rules)