Sup folks,

so I was wondering what you all would think about a section where people are anonymous by default something like this (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=177694).

Two forums which I think that would fit well into this section would be:



A Counter-Culture forum for people to discuss things against the social norms like drug use.
An almost ruleless board where there are minimal rules and posts do not count. Rules that would be in place would be ones like:



no malice towards towards people based on things that happened outside of the almost ruleless forum.
no porn/shock images
no advertising/referral links

Mods & admins would be able to find out a poster but we'd only do it if you'd broken one of the forum rules. These would have to be 18+ boards obviously but enforcement of that is obviously tricky.

I haven't discussed this with Ches/the mods yet but I'm sure if the majority welcomed it, so would they. If there was a significant increase in workload then the team could be expanded but I think the rules would be obeyed.

I'll include an anonymous poll to get some some opinions... poll closes in 2 weeks so get voting :D

Edit: Start thinking of appropriate names for the 'almost ruleless' board in-case the idea is met with enthusiasm.

G'day Peter,

We've not 'met' before, despite my being a member for just over a year now. :)

Whilst this idea, and any others for improvement of this board, may be admirable, Peter, I would prefer to see some of the other issues dealt with first. For instance, there are threads in feedback which have not been replied to by an administrator. There are also many other suggestions and/or issues which members have discussed and which have not been addressed.

For the types of forums you're suggesting, and with the experience I have of administering several forums, I believe that you will need at least two mods per forum who can cover them regularly. At present all mods appear to be from the GMT time zone (give or take a couple of hours) and there is little, if any, mod coverage of the existing forums in US or Aus time. I'm also very surprised that you have not discussed your ideas with the people who are left with the burden of voluntary moderation in your seemingly frequent absences.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not 'downing' your idea, I just feel that priority should be given to other matters.

You have some excellent members here who are very loyal but perhaps that loyalty is tested at times due to the frustration of not having an administrator with the ability or knowledge to perform certain functions within, at the most, a couple of days of the requirement.

I do hope you will find time to give due consideration to my thoughts.

Cheers,
Proofy

I hope this doesn't come off rude but I'm going to break your post down into smaller quotes for clarity:


G'day Peter,

We've not 'met' before, despite my being a member for just over a year now. :)

Hey ProofReader, it's a pleasure to 'meet' you :) I am glad you've enjoying the forum :)

However...

Whilst this idea, and any others for improvement of this board, may be admirable, Peter, I would prefer to see some of the other issues dealt with first.

I just feel that priority should be given to other matters.

...I am somewhat insulted by the way you seem to think that I am only able to 'deal' with one issue at a time :P You see, although this is only the second change I have publicly discussed in the last 24 hours it does not mean that everything else will be put on hold until this one has been made (or not made as the case may be). In fact, suggesting such a thing is almost laughable as in the original post I did in fact state that the poll would run for two weeks - it's okay if you overlooked that though, we all make mistakes :)

There are also many other suggestions and/or issues which members have discussed and which have not been addressed.

I'm sorry I haven't combed through the feedback forum yet, I've only been 'back' a few hours and in that time I've been updating the forums and responding to PMs. I will be addressing the other issues in the coming days though :D

For the types of forums you're suggesting, and with the experience I have of administering several forums, I believe that you will need at least two mods per forum who can cover them regularly.

2 mods per forum you reckon? You could well be right but I'm not so sure... Pretty much all our members and, definitely all the regulars, are very responsible posters so I think to assign 'at least 2 per forum' would be a downright insult to them! I guess you could be right though, I'm no master of sociology so perhaps the pseudo-anonymity would create a unexplainable effect where our normally very respectful members decide to publicly put each other to shame.

At present all mods appear to be from the GMT time zone (give or take a couple of hours) and there is little, if any, mod coverage of the existing forums in US or Aus time.

Unfortunately you're almost right. You have only been a member a year though so here are some things you may not know:



We have always looked for people that serve different time zones.
One of our mods, the wonderful and amazing Sense/Net lives in North America (Canada)
Ches, although living in the UK works varying shift patterns (although I could be wrong if he has changed jobs) which means he's often working nights or early morning. Fortunately for us this can often accommodate for the fact that Australia is 10-12 hours a ahead of this.
It is also noteworthy that less than 10% of our user base is Australian (I don't even know if that percentage carries through to our registered/posting members).
Funnier still is that most of are members are from the UK, which luckily is where most of our moderators are based :D


I'm also very surprised that you have not discussed your ideas with the people who are left with the burden of voluntary moderation in your seemingly frequent absences.

I assure you, not as surprised as I am at my inability to explain myself:

I haven't discussed this with Ches/the mods yet but I'm sure if the majority welcomed it, so would they. If there was a significant increase in workload then the team could be expanded but I think the rules would be obeyed.

I will rephrase that because if you can't understand it, with all your experience of administering forums, I find it unthinkable that anyone else will be able to:

I'm a fan of democracy - I like to make changes to the forum based on what the majority of forum members want. I know Ches and the mod squad agree with me on this so they would also want it to go to a poll. Yes, that is a little presumptious of me but, to be honest, it is a two-week poll so I wanted to get it started as soon as possible and I know them well enough to say they won't be offended by the fact I didn't have a little pre-poll chat in the mod forum regarding this thread.
When I had said:

'I haven't discussed this with Ches/the mods yet -' that was pretty much addressing them and saying 'sorry I didn't discuss this in the mod forum first' and I thought that made it obvious that the next sentence in that paragraph was also addressed to them: 'If there was a significant increase in workload then the team could be expanded but I think the rules would be obeyed.' You see here I was being polite in saying that I acknowlege that may be a concern to them but it is not relevent at this time because we will not know what the workload will be until the proposed forums have been live for a week or two at least.

I couldn't help but notice you said 'voluntary moderation':

I am fully aware that the moderators are volunteers and so are they the last time I checked. Now by the use of the word 'voluntary' I can only conclude that you are implying because they are not under a contract of employment that I should show them the respect of informing them of my intentions to gather opinions from the members regarding significant forum changes before I go ahead and make the thread to gather those opinions. Well, if that is your point I have already explained my descision to not inform them before I made the thread. Now perhaps I should remind you that the reason they are not under a contract of employment is because I cannot afford to hire staff* to moderate the forum, incase you didn't notice upon sign-up you didn't have to pay a penny to establish yourself as a member here. Not that it's any of your business but there is no profit on advertising whatsoever on this forum. In fact, I would say I have lost almost $300US on this bored since beginning. While we're talking finances you might be interested to know I'm going to have to renew my webhosting contract in a couple of months - when I purchased the two years ago it cost me $160 which was £80 now due to the recession and the simply aweful value of the pound (sterling) I'll be paying over £100 for it.
*in British English 'staff' is not only a noun for a stick - it is also a collective noun for a group of workers. I.e. The staff would often forward each other amusing e-mail during working hours.


You have some excellent members here who are very loyal but perhaps that loyalty is tested at times due to the frustration of not having an administrator with the ability or knowledge to perform certain functions within, at the most, a couple of days of the requirement.

In reply to that quote and with regard to my 'seemingly frequent absences' which you mentioned in the quote before that:

I am willing to admit that I have been absent a lot. I do hate myself for it and even when I make an effort to come on a lot I still fail miserably. It's just a personality disorder I guess. What I can I can say though is this... smugly written posts which interlace compliments to the forum members with logically-flawed criticisms to the way I do things certainly do not make me want to spend more time here so you are only really making the problem worse. Perhaps that's not the tone you were aiming for in your post but maybe I'm spot on and you thought the attempt to get a rally going against me would go unnoticed. If I am just paranoid I apologise but that's certainly the way I have interpreted it and I'm not afraid to state it in public.

I do hope you will find time to give due consideration to my thoughts.

I hope you are enlightened by my reply.

Also I think by this point my opening sentence of "I hope this doesn't come off rude but I'm going to break your post down into smaller quotes for clarity:" has now paled into insignificance. So while I quite possibly have you insulted I would like to give you some of my thoughts that you may want to give consideration:

I think you may have a superiority complex; always posting in brown doesn't make you different from anyone else, although it may draw peoples attention towards your post your post is still just as important as everyone elses no matter how you format it. The first thing you did upon 'meeting' me was critisise me and my methods with concerns that bore little or no relevance to the topic in-hand, critisims that I believe most normal people would express concern for in PM (especially someone who has been an admin on multiple message boards). Oh yes, that is another indicator, you have established yourself in various positions of power on the internet because you feel inferior elsewhere in your life!

Hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr armchair psychology from Peter! I'm here all week folks, tell your friends. BTW, before you cry 'hypocrite!' for the last paragraph I already have valid counter-arguments to prove you otherwise so don't bother.

Now can we please get back to the topic in hand (although I'm not expecting anyone to go 'hurrrrrr, I like drugs and spamming/insulting people lets do it!').

Also cos I know how much you love me for answering you in such detail and helping you with the whole superiority thing you can TOTALLY thank me for this post super easily by clickying any part of this sentence. (http://www.isketchforum.net/post_thanks.php?do=post_thanks_add&p=159042)


______________


Edit: In case you weren't being mean, your tone was completely accidental and I therefore just made a d**k of myself you might wanna work on your approach when giving advice and your social etiquette - I mean that in the nicest possible way.

I'm not sure what advantages either board would bring.

Maybe I'm looking at it all the wrong way, but what benefits would the ability to post anonymously bring to the forum? I can't think of many issues where people can't express themselves with their regular name attached to the post.

I also think it would be extremely easy to troll as you could basically start a fight with yourself whilst using only one account. At which point would the mods get involved? This forum has been used in the past to exchange snide remarks that are very hard to pin down. Making them anonymous would make it even harder.

Also, because it's anonymous, the 18+ thing would be immaterial at best, counter-productive at worst. OK, so it serves as a warning to kids, but the anonymous aspect plus the age limit is just likely to make the board more tempting!

As for discussing drug use - Pete, I don't know. Is this really the direction you want the board to go in? What does that have to do with iSketch? OK, so there's a general discussion board which gets more attention than the iSketch stuff, but this is basically a game forum. Also, although this is an unofficial forum, have you considered Rob's views? A forum bearing his game's name where people come to talk about drugs and other things against the social norm. Well, maybe he'd sign up, lol - but maybe he wouldn't like it too much. I just... well, maybe I'm a total prude, but it just doesn't sit right with me.

If you are really dead-set on this idea - may I suggest that instead of having these new thread on the visible forum, that you make them application only, and have the boards hidden to all non-approved members? After they are approved, of course they would be anonymous and can do what they like. At least it wouldn't reflect on the forum as a whole to new or potential members! You could even have it moderated only by members, which wouldn't add any burden onto our current mods, unless they decided to sign up and go for modship.

So, yeah, I've voted 'bad idea' for now - but I would like to hear more info on how it would work.

Also - dudes - the previous discussion in this thread is not cool. Proofreader brought up a couple of decent points which I think she was not alone in thinking. It probably would have been better in a PM and with a less apparently sarcastic tone (apologies if I misinterpreted), although it has brought your answers out into the 'public' forum, which will probably set some other minds at rest, so it's done you a favour. Your answers are good, and you HAVE been busy in PM and probably everywhere else too - but come on - you are admin, you're going to come into flak, and you did choose to be admin here. The forum is great, the fact that it's free makes it even better - but just like criticism doesn't encourage you to visit here, replying to criticism with insults doesn't encourage members' confidence in you. I guess what I mean is, respect works both ways.

And after all that negativity - I gotta say - it's nice to see you, Pete. You know how to make an entrance, no denying that, lol.

I think counter culture would work. I don't really see the benefit of the other board, but as long as it was moderated well there's no reason for it not to go ahead.

edit: Vik makes good points, and maybe neither board is that responsible :P

Also, with anonymous posting would the anon posters have any identifier at all (numbers etc)? Just so you could see when the original poster was replying etc - it could be difficult to read a bunch of anonymous posts without knowing which posts were by the same person.

I think this is interesting.. though I'm not sure how successful it would be. So I'm kinda sitting on the fence about it. I'm a bit stupid, so I'm kinda one of those people that would need to see a trial of it, lol.

In regards to the comments made by Proofy.. I have to say that I'm with her on several comments. Although you said, Peter:

"...I am somewhat insulted by the way you seem to think that I am only able to 'deal' with one issue at a time :P You see, although this is only the second change I have publicly discussed in the last 24 hours it does not mean that everything else will be put on hold until this one has been made (or not made as the case may be). In fact, suggesting such a thing is almost laughable as in the original post I did in fact state that the poll would run for two weeks - it's okay if you overlooked that though, we all make mistakes :)"

I have to say I don't agree with your comments, because when you last sorted out the forum, the arcade went a bit funky, and we lost some of our favourite games. You said you were sorting it out.. and then you vanished for months and never came back, even though a lot of us posted in the complaints and ideas for the arcade thread (I know those who complained will also back me up in that!). When you did eventually come back again, you made this thread (http://www.isketchforum.net/jungian-myers-briggs-t2767.html?t=2767) rather than approaching our complaints and ideas about the arcade. So that was a disappointment, because then you vanished again, lol, came back a few more times, and nothing was done about the arcadel. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is anything wrong in you coming back to your forum to post things that aren't related to you being an admin. It's just.. we've been waiting aaaaages for the arcade to be fixed! :( And I know also that there have been other suggestions around the forum that require your attention. Though I can't remember them right now :S (Pregnancy brain! XD)

So yeah, I can totally see where Proofy is coming from in regards the fact that other issues should be addressed first. If it is possible, I'd love it (as would others) if the arcade could be fixed properly (broken games gone, new ones introduced, and the ones that got lost come back - such as pacman). I'm more for having that done before this new idea about the forums comes to life (if enough people agree to it) :)

No reason not to have it I guess... a couple of things though that may be a concern:

Will the admin team know who is posting even if the other members don't?

I hope so, I can't see how mods can action things without this information unless they just hit 'delete', if so, problem solved.


At the moment, if I post something, or Hints, or anyone else here, you know it's us. Vik makes a good point about previous posts: even under a user name posts have been used to dig etc... and have been designed to do this by flying under the radar by being non-specific, even though it's very clear to those involved who it's referring to. There's another fault in these posts which means, because they're open to interpretation, someone who's a bit paranoid may think it's about them when it's not. This leads to bad feeling where there needn't have been any and even though it can be argued that this is that member's problem, it's a bit of a headache for the mod team.

I can only see an increase in this kind of material under the anon guise. BUT...

Love it or hate it a bit of controversy increases forum traffic. Any publicity is good publicity and all that. Complainers do this forum the world of good at times because everyone hops on here to have a peek at what's happening, lol. As an example, the discussion between Peter and Proofreader above will probably be viewed more than a thread entitled 'I love my kitten, it's so fluffy'. So... an anonymous post proclaiming that someone has a dark secret will increase traffic... with much speculation about who posted it. In some cases, I worry people will be instantly recognisable anyway, especially if they have a specific style of writing or common grammar/spelling mistakes under their name on the forum.

I can see why Peter would want to encourage a more honest response from the posters. As members, do we not sometimes feel there's something we need to say but feel we can't, or that we'd be shot down or edited/deleted/banned? I think this is a noble wish. However, by making a poster anonymous I don't see how any offensive material could be attributed to the author rather than the forum owner, leaving Peter responsible for material in that section, that said, that's what disclaimers are for. :razz: But even disclaimers have their limits...

I'll be interested to see how it goes if it happens. If it were me I'd make it so the board is a privilege and those abusing it have that privilege revoked.

I was wondering what you all would think about a section where people are anonymous by default something like this (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=177694).

Two forums which I think that would fit well into this section would be:



A Counter-Culture forum for people to discuss things against the social norms like drug use.
An almost ruleless board where there are minimal rules and posts do not count. Rules that would be in place would be ones like:



no malice towards towards people based on things that happened outside of the almost ruleless forum.
no porn/shock images
no advertising/referral links

When I saw the post I thought "great stuff, would come in handy in the debates section" cos I know there have been a few serious matters there where people may have different opinions to the majority here and sometimes they're criticised for it. So by alllowing anonymous posts people might be more willing to express their views and opinions. Also, maybe in threads where people talk about personal experiences but they don't want to be openly named, might come in handy for that - although, mods will know who these anonymous people are because of ip etc which isn't a good idea if there are issues between members here and a certain mod (not saying there are, just an if and somethign which needs to be considered.. kinda)

However, the only thing I'm concerned about at this point is people breaking rules. Yes there will be some rules (the obvious ones you stated) but, like the humour and debates section, although it says "you don't have to read this because it contains material which could offend" (quote not exact), there are some people who have taken advantage of this rule and have used this section of the forum to post indirect, rude comments to other forum members. Whether or not the modding team and/or other members wish to admit it, there are a handful of regular users and some not so regular, who will say they have been the victim of such abuse. The bad thing about this is because of said rule/quote nothing can get done about it when people abuse this section in order to attack others.

If an anonymous section will have the same rules as the humour and debates section, then I don't see the point in it. It'll just be another place for rule breaking and getting away with it. Whilst I'm here and hopefully you will still be about Peter, could I please ask that the rules under the humour and debates section are added to by saying that section of the forum should not be used as a place to take advantage of rules by indirectly abusing other forum members?

By adding this, forum members who feel like they have been attacked on the sly can report posts and something can actually be done about it. Currently, squat all is done about it and members are just told "you could be offended by those posts, so you don't have to read that section".

As for the other two sections you mentioned. The counter culture one actually sounds like a good idea if the demand is there for it. Maybe for younger people so maybe a poll should be created to see how popular it would be. Also, what it would contain, what it could offer members who'd use it and maybe if there are any sort of social workers on the forum who could offer more to this section. Well, when I say social worker I just mean maybe someone who deals with this area irl or summat. Prolly not so important but seems like it could come in handy, assuming I've understood the counter-culture bit correctly.

It feels like this forum is at something of a crossroads. Do we carry on as we are, do we become more pure to our function (a game's forum) or do we become a social network first and foremost?

Right now there is certainly a bit of both the latter options within the forum, and it's unlikely that either element will disappear completely. Implementing these new threads would certainly give the social aspect an even bigger role than it currently has. As Buffers said, it's likely to increase traffic if it increases controversy.

I'd have reservations about that though. I like to see a good slanging match just as much as the next forumite, but just because ♥♥♥♥♥ fights increase traffic, does that mean they should be, well, basically endorsed by creating a section which will encourage them? Plenty of other things increase traffic too - for example, if it wasn't for certain quizzes, I probably wouldn't check the forum every day. Others love the arcade (FIX IT!!!!) and others still love the games section. It's nice that you trust that the members wouldn't abuse the anonymous section, but we all know what it's like when otherwise sweet and lovely members fall out.

I guess the question is - is that the direction we want the forum to head in? Larger, more anonymous, more controversy. A lot of us (me most definitely included) visit the forum more for the social (or quiz-based, lol) side than for the iSketch aspect. A couple of points that Buffers and AJ raised have made me realise that an anonymous section might have benefits in some circumstances.

I'd say I'm in favour of a test - but the problem is that when something is implemented as a test run, it usually ends up staying, good or bad.

On a totally personal level, I kind of don't understand the need for anonymity in an already anonymous atmosphere. I mean, aren't our usernames already anonymous? Sure, a few of us know others in real life, but apart from that, no-one has to tell anyone anything they don't want them to know.

Just a real quick reply to AJ about the social worker aspect - if you (as in you plural, not YOU AJ) have problems in real life that require a social worker - go see one. I don't mean this rudely at all, but the iSketch forum is not the best place to get professional help. Plus, I'm not sure a social worker would willingly give out advice to a person when they don't have their casefiles, in case something goes wrong and they are blamed for it.

Hmm, if someone felt strongly enough about something to want to make a public statement about it by posting, surely they wouldn't mind putting their name to their words... I sort of understand that if there were already a lot of posts, and the general consensus was already heavily inclined to one viewpoint, then some people of the opposing view might be discouraged from posting. There would also be cases where you might want anonymity because you're mentioning something personal, but I don't think that an anonymous forum would be the best place for it... you wouldn't know who was replying to your personal issues, and they wouldn't know to whom they were replying.

Oh, and as for the "Havoc" forum, if you really want to go somewhere where people don't obey rules regarding manners just come and visit my hometown. :)

I know that my comments are mainly against the idea, but I don't see why it would do that much harm either; nobody would be forced to go there.
Perhaps I'm being a bit optimistic, but I think that very few people on this forum have that great a lack of manners that they'd be happy to be unpleasant to others just because people wouldn't know that it was them, too.

I'd say I'm in favour of a test - but the problem is that when something is implemented as a test run, it usually ends up staying, good or bad.
Agreed. I can see a test run being a good idea. But just because the test run goes well it doesn't mean there won't be any future problems. There will be new members coming along and whether we like it or not people do change sometimes causing problems - happens anywhere and everywhere; not just here.

Just a real quick reply to AJ about the social worker aspect - if you (as in you plural, not YOU AJ) have problems in real life that require a social worker - go see one. I don't mean this rudely at all, but the iSketch forum is not the best place to get professional help. Plus, I'm not sure a social worker would willingly give out advice to a person when they don't have their casefiles, in case something goes wrong and they are blamed for it.
Yeah I know, that was a rather hasty reply cos I had to run so didn't get to explain what I meant properly - check out the typos for proof! :P
I went back and read Peter's original post and embarrassingly misread what he said about the counter-culture forum - big oops! :embarrassed:

I can see the anonymous stuff working there if topics like drugs and alcohol were a topic. Young people experiment, make mistakes and it can change their lives in a big way. Maybe one forumite's experiences can help another and it'd be a win-win because it'd all be anonymous. As for the whole social worker thing, it's kinda like free advice from someone who is either qualified to give advice or has been down that road. Someone/people who is/are just very socially aware or in the know on certain topics that would be discussed in this proposed forum - so it's not a total failure if it happens. It actually sounds quite interesting the more I think about it, assuming I'm thinking along the same lines as Peter otherwise what I think is useless waffle :p

I'm on board. I think we would benefit from a space where we can speak our minds in anonimity. Still, i would hope the no naming and shaming and the no trolling on the forum rules to apply.

If this comes true, i solemnly swear that i will maintain the privacy of those posting unless some extraordinary situation were to arise.

I think that I'm for a test run, I think see how it goes kinda thing then do another vote a month down the line or something? And I can see some posts that would go there, but I also can't see it being in as much use. I think the sharing of problems might be a good idea in some ways, just general sharing of social problems maybe.. that are too.. something that you may not want to stick your name to. I do also like the fact that you could discuss stuff and not be slated or stuck with a viewpoint and therefore be made to seem like you're always on that view point. If that makes sense (I apologise if what I end up typing doesn't make sense, isn't of good grammer as I don't learn english anymore ;) ) I think also sometimes if a debate gets heated then atleast they don't know who each other are.. so they can't end up being rude to the other person directly so could still interact outside the anonymous section in a kind manner. But.. this place could also be abused alot.. I think it would have to be monitored carefully, but.. as has been flagged up, the mods would be able to identify people by ip? If so, this could being up other issues.. kinda like confidentiality... as the mods would know who you are, unless they didn't? And would you get a number/reference or would the posts just be post one post 2... because it might be hard to identify who's talking as different people would be posting etc etc.

Overall I think it's a good idea but I can't see much use for it here. As this forum seems quite... calm I suppose in view points (Although I haven't been here long enough to judge I suppose) but everyone seems able to voice their viewpoints without being completely shot down... Eh. I think as long as it doesn't distress people it'd be okay... I can see that some subjects that may seem.. Taboo could be discussed there... (can't really think of examples, (eh actually got a mild one... like drug classifications)) and so it would be good if you couldn't tell who was who from posting.

I think everyone has brought up very good points though :) (will probably ty most posts above me :D as they have all been very useful in my thought path.)

I've read all the response so far and I just have two thoughts I want to share at the moment:

1) Social problems and other sensitive, personal info being shared:

In my eyes, people can already do this anonymously if they really want to share something personal but don't want people to know it's them - they just create another account on this board with a different e-mail address. I don't think mods go around checking all posters' IPs all the time so any post in this board under a different name will be as anonymous as selecting an anonymous name for the anonymous board, won't it? I do understand that creating multiple user accounts isn't endorsed, but I just feel that if someone really really wanted to post something anonymously, then they can already do that, without the need for a new board. And, likewise for anyone who wishes to reply anonymously.

2) Mods and admins being able to identify posters in extreme cases:

I trust the mod team and I don't mean to insult you with the following but I feel like I have to say it: if I wanted to post something extremely personal and didn't want anyone to know it was me, then I would still wonder if human curiousity would take over one day and the mod/admin would check who the anonymous poster was. I'm just paramoid like that. If there were something that I wanted to be truly anonymous, I think I would just not post it, regardless of who can and cannot identify me... just me being careful about what I don't mind people knowing about me and what I don't want people knowing about me.

I agree with what someone said before about going to a social worker if someone has social problems. What would happen if someone, reassured by the concept of anonymity, suddenly posts one day and says they're thinking of committing suicide? Where would you draw the line between what kind of personal information can be posted and what would be too much?

I trust the mod team and I don't mean to insult you with the following but I feel like I have to say it: if I wanted to post something extremely personal and didn't want anyone to know it was me, then I would still wonder if human curiousity would take over one day and the mod/admin would check who the anonymous poster was. I'm just paramoid like that. If there were something that I wanted to be truly anonymous, I think I would just not post it, regardless of who can and cannot identify me... just me being careful about what I don't mind people knowing about me and what I don't want people knowing about me.

For me, that's one of the downfalls, as well. Although I trust most of the mod team, I don't trust them all, or haven't always done so (sorry guys). I mean, there was one incident a long time ago where a mod gave out someone's IP to an admin from iSketch. Which is terrible, because it goes against the privacy of forum members (and the guidelines that mods are supposed to follow - speaking as an ex-mod from here). Who knows how often stuff like this has happened, but others don't know about it? So, in my mind.. I still think to myself.. mods can.. or.. *could*.. have a snoop just for the fun of it, and maybe even pass on information to other forum members, such as friends? (btw, I'm not digging at the mods here.. I'm just stating a concern that I personally have).

And that for me, is probably the only reason for why I probably won't use this setup (if it goes through) because if I wanted to post something anonymous then I'd also want the certainty that no one would know it was me (hence why posting in the first place). I think there's only one person I would feel safe with knowing who was who.. and that would be Peter. But the reality is that the mods do are here more often and do most things, and that's why they were chosen. Lol, I'm starting to feel more and more against this now :|

Oooo... deep discussion going on here!

Like 2.0 - I am okay with the proposed enhancements to the forum. Will I post there? Probably not.

Now then... I was going to maintain a dignified silence regarding comments made about privacy/confidentiality issues and the fact that mods knowing this, that or whatever could be discussed with other members. If at anytime you felt that a mod (or indeed Admin) had breached confidentiality - then please report it to Peter so that he can conduct an investigation!

I don't take my position on here lightly - I thoroughly enjoy it but I am also mindful of my responsibility in ensuring that confidentiality is maintained. Primarily, the mods role is to uphold the rules of the forum and if a member doesn't, then further action will be taken.

I can't think of any current mod or admin who would go against this.

Sorry to say this, but trusting the mods goes without saying, for me. Honestly, if a mod is that much of a busybody that they'd want to go burrowing and abusing confidentiality, then they probably wouldn't be a mod in the first place. There have been a couple of poor choices in the past, but I think the team right now are spot on. OK, so I wasn't sorry to say that - I meant this part - it's the members and their potential abuse that concerns me more! I'm probably just very cynical.

Now then... I was going to maintain a dignified silence regarding comments made about privacy/confidentiality issues and the fact that mods knowing this, that or whatever could be discussed with other members. If at anytime you felt that a mod (or indeed Admin) had breached confidentiality - then please report it to Peter so that he can conduct an investigation!

I don't take my position on here lightly - I thoroughly enjoy it but I am also mindful of my responsibility in ensuring that confidentiality is maintained. Primarily, the mods role is to uphold the rules of the forum and if a member doesn't, then further action will be taken.

Thanks, TF. I do appreciate that :) The thing is, I did exactly that - tell the admin of the forum about it. Nothing happened. So, again, it does give me a lack of confidence on the whole matter.. :sad: Like I said, I'm not having a dig at the mods here. I'm just trying to be realistic based on previous problems with mods not carrying out their duties properly. And I don't mean on just this forum either. I'm sure this is the case with any forum - or most forums, because it's easy for someone to say "I'll agree to the rules".. and then go off and do something else in hiding. (sorry to go off topic a little, but it is a concern that I have. Not for me, but just in general for all forum members).

I think a bit of perspective is needed here. I’ve had times in the past where I did not trust members of the moderation team here, (none of the current team – I can’t express that strongly enough). My solution to this problem was simply not to post or place anything personal on it. I’ve never been a part of any online forum where I didn’t trust the mod team.

I’m sure if an issue was raised it was investigated and the reason it may not have been actioned is because it could not be actioned. I’ve had this happen in moderation on other forums, if you have insufficient evidence to act on you cannot act. While someone may insist something naughty is afoot, nothing can be done in a fair, unbiased fashion without a fair heap of evidence to the extent it’s a bit frustrating. I know that the current mods and other mods of the past must be aware of this.

I’m going to go out on a limb and make a comparison here:

Like Rob, Peter runs this site free of charge, out of his own pocket, with his own time and don’t think that because he’s not online he’s not doing anything for the forum, I’m sure he checks his bank balance, lol. It is the best and original iSketch forum.. iSketch is the original online Pictionary. These are their sites, and they do what they will with them. Peter posts when he makes a new change, or has one to suggest. Rob doesn’t have that avenue so just makes changes. They don’t need our permission to make changes, whether we agree with changes or lack of action, or whatever it is they’re doing which displeases us. All I know is I can still log onto iSketch and I can still log in here and pull a moon on my profile. :razz: That’s what matters.

Clearly, the arcade is knackered… guessing this has something to do with an update clash and awful coding. Not as easy as it sounds to fix.

Peter is interested in suggestions about forum usage and handling, what he can provide that’s new and innovative. I think that some of the above posts boil down to people not wanting to use the anonymous function because they don’t trust the moderation team. Fair enough, no problem, don’t use it. I do worry though that this can only undermine the current mod team, who I think are great.

I like this forum… I like iSketch… I like them both even better because they’re free. I do appreciate that without the members there would be no forum and I’m not claiming that we should be one big happy family but I think that we should appreciate moderators here like we do our admins on iSketch, because without them? It’d be anarchy.:twisted:

Ches, although living in the UK works varying shift patterns (although I could be wrong if he has changed jobs) which means he's often working nights or early morning. Fortunately for us this can often accommodate for the fact that Australia is 10-12 hours a ahead of this.


Still doing my thang. Much like now and tomorrow, where I will be here from 7pm - 7am GMT.

I think that we should appreciate moderators here like we do our admins on iSketch, because without them? It’d be anarchy.


iSketchforum Mods > iSketch Admins :twisted:

hehe, a big happy family :P
hmmmm.since i dont really like reading long paragraphs (no offense, its my own problem XD) immmmaaaa try to keep this short.

as for trusting the mods and admins and whatnot :) why not? XD none that i've known of have ever been untrustworthy.....they're lovely peoples who probs get headaches from the rest of us (probs me -_-) but are still working to helppp usss and whatnot..answering questions, making updates, whatev :)

hm....as for the forumthingymabobs (yes i make up my own words :D) the counterculture thing sounds cool tbh XD i dont personally have that many opinions but it'd be interesting to hear others talk bout them. hm....as for the second? i dunno ...like what someone said earlier..isnt that what the humor and debate section is for? but its not really my opinion that would matter...i wouldnt use that section anyway XD if others want it, sure? XD

/me twirls around

oh. one last thing. i cannot believe ches said thang -_- thats just odd......
/me is officially scared :P

I don't think people directly meant (although I'm speaking on my own behalf, not meaning to uhh speak for other people if this isn't what they meant?) But with the whole umm... not trusting mods thing... I think it was more, they could find out who it was if they wanted. I trust the mods on here :) And would never think that they would care who was posting etc in the anonymous section, but there is the chance that they can find out.. I think that's more the point, so it's anonymous for everyone else except the mods.. If they chose to find out, (not saying they would) so that if they wanted to know who it was they could, however anonymous that person was behaving...
But.. that being said, would you really post something online if you didn't want people to know it was you, if you knew there was a chance that it could be traced back to you. Because even if you weren't a mod I'm sure there is some kind of way that you would be able to find out who it was (via hacking and other sorts) So eh. So basically, I trust the mods to respect our confidentiality :) And think they do an amazing job.

Thank you peter for payyying for the forum and making it freee :) It's a wonderful place. I love everyone on here :) And think everyone does an amazing job and are amazing ;)

-wanders off mumbling incoherently-

That's a good post sorsie... and I know nothing was meant... it was just how it inadvertently wandered... lol

lol Ches... I see your point there! (Please don't make a rude joke out of that, I beg you, lol)

Wow, what an indepth discussion!

I think that I'm for a test run, I think see how it goes kinda thing then do another vote a month down the line or something? And I can see some posts that would go there, but I also can't see it being in as much use. I think the sharing of problems might be a good idea in some ways, just general sharing of social problems maybe.. that are too.. something that you may not want to stick your name to. I do also like the fact that you could discuss stuff and not be slated or stuck with a viewpoint and therefore be made to seem like you're always on that view point.

I'm pretty much with Sorsie on this one. I'd like to see a test run, just to see how it goes. I can understand that someone could, and would indeed want to post something completely anonymously as these types of situations can and do occur.
I myself completely trust the mods and admins on this forum to know the identities of these anonymous posters as they would need to take action on potential trolls if the need arises.
I think a test run for a "short" period of time, and then maybe there could be a discussion of how successful the test period has gone, where individual people could voice their opinions.

Maybe the random complaints thread would fit better in this new section, if it goes ahead?

Hmm, reading some of these posts has instead made me think more about how mods would be curious etc. I know, I know, we should probably be feeling like we can trust them more, but I'm not perfect. Thinking back on various things I've seen and heard on numerous forums and knowing that we're all human, curiosity can and indeed it does get the better of us at times.

Now I'm not sure about vBulletin but is there an option for the admin to change the settings so that IPs were hidden normally but if there was a need for it (e.g to check a troll etc) then Peter and/or Ches could come on here and go "Right, we need buttmunch's IP, so I'm gonna allow viewing of IPs, once I have what I need, I'll hide them again". I *think* this is possible on a free forum - dunno which one, sorry. Just a thought though, might make some people a bit more comfortable posting if that option was possible.

Ooh, I see something new...
Test Edit: W00p, it works, this it totally better than highlighting :D Edit some more: spoilers within spoilers :o :D Ok, I'll stop now! XD

Now I'm not sure about vBulletin but is there an option for the admin to change the settings so that IPs were hidden normally but if there was a need for it (e.g to check a troll etc) then Peter and/or Ches could come on here and go "Right, we need buttmunch's IP, so I'm gonna allow viewing of IPs, once I have what I need, I'll hide them again".

Lol at the new spoilers xD

Anyway, that's a good idea, but it would have to only allow IP viewing to either just admins or just mods and admins, just in case a user is online and posting in that section.

Some interesting responses, someone did mention what Rob would think and harrr me being stupid this didn't think about that.

so I think I have come up with a more palatable idea which I can't imagine being as frowned upon:

We scrap the idea of getting rid of most rules and having different categories, instead we just have one "Cloak and Dagger" board... on this board:



people would have the option of posting anonymously
people wouldn't be scrutinised for double-posting (it wouldn't be enforceable anyway because it is anon)
people would be allowed to troll and participate in flame wars (I have seen many forums with a board dedicated entirely to flame wars)
posts wouldn't contribute towards a users post count.

How about that?

Also thanks for everyone's input so far :D

Lol, I've just found a user called Anonymous (www.isketchforum.net/member.php?u=2) that joined before Peter :P

Sounds like a better idea. I assume there would be the multiple topics that were mentioned earlier in this thread. Would Random Complaints join this section?

"Anonymous" refuses to be anyone's friend. Dean has tried.
hehe :P

I don't like either of these ideas. I would hate to encourage flame wars and trolling. I like this forum because it has a friendly feel to it, and trouble-makers are dealt with swiftly and escorted to the nearest exit.

I also think people will be (in some cases easily) identified by their style of writing, and it could spill over into the more controlled section of the forum.

I would not like to see even a trial.

people would be allowed to troll and participate in flame wars (I have seen many forums with a board dedicated entirely to flame wars)
That method may have worked on other forums but I can't see it working here. Why would you want to encourage this on this particular forum? Personally, I don't see a need for it and it's just a way for people to atack others just like the Random Complaints thread has been used more than once to attack other people. The only difference with what you're suggesting is that people can attack whoever they want and nothing really won't get done about it - no questions asked. There is no logic whatsoever in that and if that's the way you're thinking, you may as well remove the post report button :rolleyes:

I also think people will be (in some cases easily) identified by their style of writing, and it could spill over into the more controlled section of the forum.
/me hugs her disguise-your-style-of-writing skillz.
It's not that difficult and anyone can do it. It's even more funnerer if you continuously change your method. And for those with multiple personalities you can reply to your own posts with a different opinion :razz:

I don't like either of these ideas. I would hate to encourage flame wars and trolling. I like this forum because it has a friendly feel to it, and trouble-makers are dealt with swiftly and escorted to the nearest exit.

I also think people will be (in some cases easily) identified by their style of writing, and it could spill over into the more controlled section of the forum.

I would not like to see even a trial.

I agree with Saff. One of the reasons I enjoy coming to these forums is because I don't feel "threatened" as I have on other forums I have been on who do the sort of thing you are talking about doing.

I don't see why we would need to add any sort of controversial topics. If someone wants to talk about something controversial then go to a different forum in my opinion! This forum is for games and fun and being nice! At least that is how I have always found it.

I like the forums the way they are as far as the context of it! :smile:

A bit of controversy can make for good debates. And no-one would have to read the anonymous forum if they didn't want to.

One problem I think could possibly occur, however, is that someone may read a post in such a forum and think that it is about them. For example, If I just told Peter that I had bought some crabs from the local fishmongers, and he subsequently posted:

"Someone on this forum has crabs today"

Then if anyone else who had bought some crabs, and had told another person in secrecy, saw such a post, they may think that their confidant had been naughty, and all manner of confusion could ensue. You see?

I've been watching Come Dine With Me on CatchUp... and one fella bought some live crabs and cooked them. Meanie.

Other than that, it could make for an interesting avenue of sparkling conversation.

does this thread come in audio since I can't be bothered to read all of it so early in the morning?

On a totally personal level, I kind of don't understand the need for anonymity in an already anonymous atmosphere. I mean, aren't our usernames already anonymous? Sure, a few of us know others in real life, but apart from that, no-one has to tell anyone anything they don't want them to know.
I agree with Vik on this. Also, any opinion I'd want to share with the forum would have to be something I'm not ashamed to have my name (or at least username) next to. That's a personal choice, but maybe the products of a completely anonymous board could cause grief for everyone, not just those who choose to post on it.

does this thread come in audio since I can't be bothered to read all of it so early in the morning?
Maybe your computer will read it to you (unless it can't be bothered, too!)

I think one cloak and dagger board would probably be better than a multiple board. I was having thoughts, although not sure how easy it is to do cloak and dagger boards anyways, eh. But would it be easier to just have the ability to post anonymously, rather than a whole new section for it? Because as has been said before, we have the humour and debate section, so maybe instead of a complete new area, we could just have the ability to post anonymously.
I also thought of another problem/question I have... If you went into the anonymous section would you be shown as a user online? (e.g. when you click who's online it would say your name.. or would your name disappear when you went into the anonymous section etc etc etc) because then it would be obvious who's posting, and would it show you as a user online in that section or would it just be 5 users are online in this section etc etc. Just thoughts that popped into my head whilst I was asleep last night. (I already thought of problems with being able to choose about your anonymous-ness last night, so then I think I remember thinking it would be better to have a board, but I can't remember any of the arguement I had thought up... eh.)

I like a good debate (such as this one!) and if this new anonymous section was created for the purpose of debating non-PC or risqué topics which people don't necessarily want their online identity to be attached to, then I'd be for it. Obviously due to the need to enforce some of the rules, however minimal, the posters' identities cannot be completely hidden from the Admin/Mods but if you were to post in such a section, you'd already be aware of risk and would agree to it. If you don't like it, don't post! :p

As for allowing "flame wars" and trolling, I personally don't see much point in it... you could just open up MS Word and write weo;iufhrwbfgrbefv ifnbrgbeweprujhf4298yr. The only reason you'd do it online would be to get at somebody on here and, while naming and shaming would probably still not be accepted, implications towards other forum members is just as bad, and these could extend to Forumites who do not want to use this section of the forum. So I think this'd be a bad idea.

Post count and double-posting don't bother me either way.

Sorsie raises some good points in the post above about what would appear on Who's Online and Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread.

If you don't like it, don't post! :p

I would hope that no-one would have these types of problems to talk about. As for these "cloak and dagger" board(s), if they do go ahead then I would agree with Sparrow on that. If you don't want to post or read anything in there then don't. At the end of the day, it's completely up to you what you do with your time and where you wish and wish not to post.

Having said that, being the friendly forum that we are, should we allow such a section in the first place?

If someone wants to talk about something controversial then go to a different forum in my opinion!

There probably are other fora that people could go to, which may provide help with these types of problems and situations. Having that type of thing here would really go against the friendly nature of this forum. I mean, we're supposed to be chatting about our iSketch experiences as well as friendly discussion about general subjects and playing humerous (and sometimes pointless, but that adds to the fun :razz:) games.

I would agree to a trial period of anonymous posting, just to see what things people will talk about. As for "cloak and dagger" section, my opinion tallies with Nyna.

This forum is all about fun, and I think that it should stay this way for as long as possible.

Random thought: Why not just allow guests to post on the forum now? By doing this benefits would include:


Banned/blocked people moaning as a one off instead of registering, possibly posting once and never returning ever again
This in turns means we won't have registered accounts which aren't in use (an issue mentioned in a thread somewhere about deleting inactive members - this way we won't have any inactive members to delete)
As others mentioned, when viewing who's online you might see someone like Capt_Sparrow posting in the anonymous section then when you go there you'll know exactly which post was his - thus it's not really anonymous (but only if the anonymous thing works the same way when viewing who's online)
Rules can be put in place to say where guests can/can't post. For example, guests are only allowed to post in the debates forum (to make heated discussions anonymous and allow people to express their views and opinions more freely without being attacked if someone doesn't like what they say etc), anonymous section and in the banned section/iSketch help for those who don't wish to join the forum but perhaps have one or two random queries/need help.

Maybe at the top of each forum bit, like general discussions at the top it can say "Guests may not post in this section" and in forums where they can posts it can say "Guests may post in this section" - or maybe by default there's an admin tool/setting which automatically notices that this person is a guest and therefore cannot post in a certain section so a pop up might occur saying "Guests cannot post here, please register or log in to continue"

Great idea AJ, but how would the mod/admins stop guests from making malicious posts about other people? I wonder if there is a way for mods/admins of tracking guest IP addresses and blocking these guests from posting, just like on iSk.

Deebs, the rules of the forum could just blatently now state "no trolling and no attacking/cruelty/meaness or any other shizzle towards any forum members." Maybe that rule is what needs to be put in place in all sections of the forum, including places like humour an debate, because I mentioned it earlier here and elsewhere as well as to mods/admins in the past that people take advantage of the humour and debates section to make snide comments about other members here. I have to say, it seems like that suggestion is constantly being ignored.

If any guest posts contain bad stuff and there's no way of knowing who posted it (because of the whole anonymous thing) then the mods could delete it. Again, there could be a specific rule/message stating that any guest post which breaks rules will be modified/deleted without notifying the author because guest posts are there to be anonymous. Could be a trial run and if it fails then at least it was attempted. Nothing lost, no harm done, no reason for complaints tbh.

Going back to what I said earlier about RC thread being abused/closed down in the past, if someone would like to moan about an annoying person they could always do something simple to keep the peace. That would be to say "RC: blah blah blah... but I don't mean anyone on this forum" that way people can't take offense to anything said and we'll know it's not an attack on anyone here. Unless the author's a liar. I've said that in RCs before to clarify I don't mean anyone here or elsewhere, particulary when I know there was a recent issue on the forum or something. That way nobody can claim it's a comment meant for them.

...

people would have the option of posting anonymously
...
people would be allowed to troll and participate in flame wars (I have seen many forums with a board dedicated entirely to flame wars)
How about that? ...

I can understand the argument for anonymity for the purposes of heated and passionate debate with no strings attached, but I just cannot see the point of anonymity for the purposes of increasing negativity.

A heated debate can still at least be civilized, but I don't see trolling/flame wars being civilized and mature under any circumstances really.

Yeah, what Storm and Saffron said (and others, probably).

What would be the point of a trolling section? I think it would alienate a large section of the forum who would just find it really dumb.

AJ, the problem with snide comments is that some are impossible to pin down. Forumite 1 and Forumite 2 fall out, off the forum, because Forumite 2 doesn't like Forumite 1's pink avatar (or whatever). Forumite 2 posts 'Urgh, I hate there being pink all over the place' in RCs. Forumite 1 takes it personally and sends off a post report to a mod. Mod tells Forumite 2 off. Forumite 2 claims they were talking about their daughter's new colour scheme for her bedroom. What's a mod to do? A mod has to treat everyone equally - they can't call Forumite 2 a liar just because Forumite 1 claims it's so. People make sure it's not as cut and dried as 'I think Forumite 1 smells'. How can a mod even be sure that Forumite 1 isn't really upset and is just trying to get Forumite 2 into trouble? It's really hard and not something that implementing that sentence into the rules would do anything about. We already have that kind of policy here - trouble is, if you set such rules in stone, people just get round them in more creative ways. And having guests and anonymous what-nots posting will not help the issue.

Your advise about adding that little disclaimer if you're moaning about something that could be misinterpreted is good.

I'm actually on board for the Cloak And Dagger Board.

I think it may be good to post your opinions anonymously on some topics because i find then you have more to say. I know that, i personally, would discuss things more openly and certainly more confidently if it were anonymous. Some people can be shy when discussing topics because they'd be scared of what people would think of them and wouldn't really join in even though they had a strong opinion of what was being discussed.

And like other people have said......you don't have to look in the anonymous section if you don't want to.

Of course it would have it's drawbacks....but then what doesn't? Question is would it have more disadvantages then advantages? I don't see the harm in having a test run, just so that everyone can understand the concept.

With the whole snide comments thing...yes some people can get offended if they "thought" some comments were directed at them. But i think the thing to remember here is that this is an online forum - most people only know each other by their Forum names. I know it can be hard, but sometimes you can't take everything so personally.

tsk, this looks like a heated debate anyway.....
/me hugs everyone :D

yeah...what someone said....i realized my writing would be way to recogniz..(what goes here? i cant spell -_-).ble -_- no point for anonymoustshielaish stuff for me...

I don't understand why you would want to encourage flame wars and that kind of thing.. I know we have a great mod team at the moment, but surely that would get out of hand within minutes!?


I think it would give people who would normally start one a good place to go and let it out, and i also believe if there is a place for it people would be less likely to spread it throughout the forum

Sorry, I don't agree.
If someone's got something like that they need to let out, write it on a piece of paper, and shred it.

I honestly don't see the point in giving people a place to insult each other. Even if that's not what it's intended to be, it's what it'll turn into.

Have a little faith, i believe that if peter is willing to give it a go then we should support him and i have enough faith that whoever is on this forum will not attack each other because they have the option to without anyone knowing

On the point about being anonymous and not knowing when person X has replied again:

... Edit: Start thinking of appropriate names for the 'almost ruleless' board in-case the idea is met with enthusiasm.

How I understand Peter's statement above is that we will have an alternate username/identity which we use to post there? I think this needs some clarifying.

If there's a consistent alternate username though, can't people get sensitive about their alternate username/identity too? :rolleyes:

How I understand Peter's statement above is that we will have an alternate username/identity which we use to post there? I think this needs some clarifying.

If there's a consistent alternate username though, can't people get sensitive about their alternate username/identity too? :rolleyes:

The idea is that when you post in the specified board, posts you make appear to come from a user such as Anonymous, instead of from yourself. This means you still sign in as yourself on the forum, just when you post in the anonymous board(s) nobody except mods and admins can actually see who posted. Basically leaving all posts as coming from the same user.

Are you saying that we are all going to appear as "Anonymous has posted..." if we post there?

If so, why does Peter say we have to think of "appropriate names"?

I just had a thought (surprise!) - did he mean the name of the board?

No, I think it's because 'Anonymous' is already used for a name on this forum.

Yeah... OK, upon rereading, I understand now.

I agree with what others have said about not knowing when a certain person has replied, and a person could just argue with themselves. :eek:

I took it to mean 'think of a name for the board itself'.

My opinion about this is swaying back and forth. There COULD be one or two nice applications of an anonymous board - but there are a lot of bad routes it could go down. I'm opposed on principal to a trolling section that is part of the regular forum. What good could that possibly bring? Someone mentioned it would take if off the other parts of the forum - well, I don't really see much trolling here most of the time. And if there is, the mods try to deal with it as best they can, and that's that.

Rococco, you said you have faith in Peter - well, so do I. I have faith that he manages to keep this place online, that he can do coding and really knows his stuff - but as to whether he knows the needs and requirements of members of a forum that he doesn't visit on a regular basis - well... I can't take that on faith. I don't think Peter does either, or else he wouldn't care about this discussion, which he is obviously taking seriously. It's us members who really know what we want. That's not a dig at Peter - he can manage his forum as he wants.

No, I think it's because 'Anonymous' is already used for a name on this forum.
Just for the record, that user account is a relic of the phpBB days of iSketchForum, before Peter bought a vBulletin license. It was used by the OLD forum software for Guest posts (posts by users NOT logged in) where enabled.

So Peter could reuse the account if he wanted to.

Ah lol TY Jobe - I assumed it was Peter's "test' user.
And he still doesnt' want to be Dean's friend.

Just to clarify: at current the modification that would be put in place wouldn't allow people to identify themselves they would just be known as 'Anonymous' or 'Bob' or whatever name is chosen to show up. This could be overcome with some sort of tripcode system but I dunno if the mod will be updated to include that any time in the future.

Yes, this indeed would raise the problem that the original poster could be impersonated but I don't reckon it would be a huge issue. At least impersonation wouldn't damage reputations because people would be anon. People would also be aware that it's very possible to impersonate each other so I think a natural etiquette would emerge so people wouldn't do it (although trolls would).

As far as the concept of it being a troll/flame I'm not saying I personally advocate it, I'm just saying I've seen it work elsewhere. Although, this is a pretty diverse forum in the sense of gender and age range - most internet forums are filled with males in there teens/early twenties. My point being friendly one-upmanship is not uncommon amongst groups of guys. Although flame-wars may start tittering on the edge of 'friendly' or may even jump over the line, lol, no one would be forced to participate in the thread.

With regard to the trolling thing it would work in the way that a group of people would recognise a thread as a troll attempt while others would fall for the troll. There would be nothing to stop the former group alerting people that the original poster was a troll. I don't think there would be any 'mean' trolls because it would be to obvious they were trolling. Instead you would be left with the humorous trolls who would post things like:


Why do they call it the XBOX 360?

Because when you see it you turn 360 degrees and walk away!


Very good discussion this, lol.

Why do they call it the XBOX 360?

Because when you see it you turn 360 degrees and walk away!
Very good discussion this, lol.

Only problem with that example, is 360 leaves ya facing the XBox :twisted:

Only problem with that example, is 360 leaves ya facing the XBox :twisted:

Trolled :P

/me pokes jobey
on topic modhead :P

haha XD i read up and saw someone talking bout arguing with themselves
btw, when i was really bored on isk, i realized that arguing with yourself is boring and pointless -_- only a person with no life, (no, seriously, NO LIFE) would do that.

As far as the concept of it being a troll/flame I'm not saying I personally advocate it, I'm just saying I've seen it work elsewhere. Although, this is a pretty diverse forum in the sense of gender and age range - most internet forums are filled with males in there teens/early twenties. My point being friendly one-upmanship is not uncommon amongst groups of guys. Although flame-wars may start tittering on the edge of 'friendly' or may even jump over the line, lol, no one would be forced to participate in the thread.
Of course, noone would be compelled to post in that section but is it actually needed? Friendly banter does occur in several parts of the forum already and people seem happy with it as it is (the poll results will tell whether I'm right or not!).

haha XD i read up and saw someone talking bout arguing with themselves
btw, when i was really bored on isk, i realized that arguing with yourself is boring and pointless -_- only a person with no life, (no, seriously, NO LIFE) would do that.
I think arguing with yourself is quite fun actually! You can understand each side of the argument with complete clarity and think of things which you probably wouldn't think of any other way, and reach some crazy conclusions. Hmm seems I have no life :cry:. I wouldn't write out the argument on a forum though (unless it was ground-breaking) purely because it would take ages whereas in my mind it would just take seconds.
N.B. I'm falling asleep as I write this and I may disagree with it tomorrow (following self-argument of course)

I think arguing with yourself is quite fun actually! You can understand each side of the argument with complete clarity and think of things which you probably wouldn't think of any other way, and reach some crazy conclusions. Hmm seems I have no life :cry:. I wouldn't write out the argument on a forum though (unless it was ground-breaking) purely because it would take ages whereas in my mind it would just take seconds.
Thank you!! I do exactly that and if not, I actually talk to myself and 'argue it out' lol. I don't care if I now seem like a loopy arse, it helps :p
Although, when I did say people could argue with themselves on here and reply to their own posts I basically meant nobody would know cos it would be anonymous.

N.B. I'm falling asleep as I write this and I may disagree with it tomorrow (following self-argument of course)
You better not! I can't look like the only mental person on here :eek:

Lol @ having no life :embarrassed:

There are benefits, definitely. And from what I've seen so far, this community is a pretty good bunch of chaps. But who's to say it won't turn into 4chan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4chan)?

Nonononononononononooooooooo, this place cannot and better not turn into a 4chan kinda place. I can't stand it at all. So far all the people who use 4chan who I know, sorry knew, were just urgh. Trolls, nasty, rude, stuck up and just... words are not enough. The geeks into 4chan are prolly some of the worst geeks I've ever known :eek:

Edit: Just my opinion though and no offense intended for anyone here of course. Like tgfcoder said, this forum has a nice bunch of people :)

Haha, that comparison has put me right off the idea :eek: There still seems to be support for a CC board though in which some people would probably prefer to have the option of anonymity.