#eb7100
1480
0
1
May 10, 2024 4:10:55 GMT -8
Craig
208,885
September 2001
cmdynasty
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Post by Craig on Jul 1, 2008 2:54:32 GMT -8
Hi, The need to add your gender has been added for a number of reasons. In the main, it's in preparation for our next version, where we, and you can customise messages gender specifically. For example, we can have a message, say, in my profile, it can say view his most recent posts instead of the view recent posts by this member. The former, i'm sure you will agree, is more 'friendlier'. Craig Why not have it so that if it's not specified it says, "their..." It was just an example...
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inherit
112005
0
Oct 22, 2016 8:18:39 GMT -8
Angelique St. Clare
68
October 2007
angelique
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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jul 1, 2008 5:25:52 GMT -8
It's a silly thing, really, but for RPGs, the gender thing is confusing anyway. If you're a female playing a male, do you put your own gender or the character's? Some of us like to stay in character as much as possible. I play both male and female characters, and I've been putting "male" for my male characters. I don't know if that throws you off for whatever reason, but if I'm going to be required to put it, I think of the character, not myself.
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inherit
127322
0
May 28, 2014 7:58:24 GMT -8
brian333
4
July 2008
brian333
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Post by brian333 on Jul 1, 2008 7:53:50 GMT -8
While I admire the attempt to improve the interactive experience of Proboards users, I must say I find this actually insulting and invasive.
I've been a Proboards user for many years on the various game-forums in which I participate, and in all that time I've had no problems whatsoever with the administration or use of the sites. I would rate Proboards as among the highest quality servers for this kind of format.
In all that time I've never had any personal information other than my email account posted on your server, and my email is on a second-party site registered under a fraudulent name and internet account. There is a reason for this: I'm one of the lucky thousands whose SSN was stolen from the United States Department of Defense computers.
Now, I'm sure that Proboards security is superior to anything our trusty government uses, but the fact is it only takes one 12 year old with too much time on his hands to hack and then publish anything they find.
I never enter valid personal information on my PC, and certainly do not enter personal information into any site connected to the internet, and I never will.
The stupidity of lawmakers that requires me to input my age has resulted only in my birthday being reset to 1 Jan 1901, and due to the new user-friendly policy my gender is now a matter of a coin-flip. It should be obvious that anyone old enough to type is old enough to lie, and for those who aren't as paranoid as I am this kind of naivety will result only in an ever-increasing availability of information for use by those with less than honorable motives.
I don't care that a computer does not know my gender. I prefer it that way. I don't believe there is such a thing as data security on the Internet, but I am well aware that even trivial data can be used by data-miners for purposes that have nothing to do with internet friendliness.
Please re-evaluate this new rule to at the least make it optional. Hiding from casual users does not insure that the information won't be accessed and used by data-miners, and for all your good intentions, Papa Smurf, there will come a time when you are no longer in charge of Pro Boards, and I'm not ready to believe that whoever comes into posession of the information you've collected will think of it as anything but potential profit.
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libson
inherit
-2696626
0
May 11, 2024 6:09:29 GMT -8
libson
0
January 1970
GUEST
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Post by libson on Jul 1, 2008 7:54:31 GMT -8
i got that too today!
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inherit
119438
0
Jul 1, 2008 18:02:13 GMT -8
reneez
19
February 2008
reneez
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Post by reneez on Jul 1, 2008 9:37:44 GMT -8
And will it be findable behind the hide by anyone? Some of us would rather it -simply not be collected-, and we ask for this as an option in the final code. why would you be on a forum if you want to hid behind a fake id? I mean if you don't want to disclose if you are male or female to your friends why continue to chat with them? If you are a boy and don't want anyone to know, put female for heavens sake! I don't mind the new feature and I appreciate all the work that goes into these boards and community to do the upgrades, added features, and keep it all going.
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inherit
27677
0
Jul 1, 2008 13:33:11 GMT -8
JamesStGeorge
16
July 2004
jamesstgeorge
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Post by JamesStGeorge on Jul 1, 2008 13:13:33 GMT -8
Shhhh. Do no let on. The new feature will be a dating service! Posts will be analysed for matching words and subject matter to make ideal interest matches for the new 'Find a board date', feature. ;D
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inherit
119438
0
Jul 1, 2008 18:02:13 GMT -8
reneez
19
February 2008
reneez
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Post by reneez on Jul 1, 2008 17:55:50 GMT -8
Shhhh. Do no let on. The new feature will be a dating service! Posts will be analysed for matching words and subject matter to make ideal interest matches for the new 'Find a board date', feature. ;D
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inherit
I need a new CT, thinking.... [insert Jeopardy theme song here]
110769
0
Aug 21, 2021 0:07:21 GMT -8
Tumbleweed
20,825
September 2007
tumbleweed
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Post by Tumbleweed on Jul 1, 2008 22:56:02 GMT -8
I actually don't mind the feature at all and my thought is the majority of people don't. I do appreciate they added the hide feature for those (a very small minority) who do care but I just don't think ProBoards need do anything more.
I for one am tired of the anonymity of the internet and I think it is great ProBoards is trying to make a more friendly place. Do they please the majority to the dismay of a few. Of course.
I can think of hundreds of things I'm not personally happy with (a few things of which are ProBoards related and others just life in general) but I know it is my personal opinion so I just zip my lip.
As the old saying goes, "No one said life is fair". You just have to suck it up and accept it.
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markwesley
inherit
-2699414
0
May 11, 2024 6:09:29 GMT -8
markwesley
0
January 1970
GUEST
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Post by markwesley on Jul 2, 2008 4:45:28 GMT -8
I can see why you might feel it necessary to make the change so it works with a his or her code but why introduce a code now, on the fly ? It also seems you're changing your minds according to peoples' views on here as to what can be seen by board admins. Is a gender specific code really necessary anyway, especially when most people have alter egos and lie on forums about age etc and even have genderless style names. How about you change your minds completely, remove the code and maybe introduce something more worthwhile If it wasn't necessary, we would have wasted our time adding it We aren't changing our minds because of the posts on here. We are adding the option to hide it because people have requested it, but that is all. What is the point in hiding it if only 3 people can see it, you say it will refelect view his/her posts so if the main admin cant see it then the his/her recent posts are voided, i agree its a waste of time and not a needed feature, personally i think you will lose some of your members with this feature on, sorry to say
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inherit
72282
0
Feb 22, 2019 7:29:04 GMT -8
Smangii
what's this?
4,772
February 2006
smangii
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Post by Smangii on Jul 2, 2008 6:47:09 GMT -8
...I love how people in this thread refuse to read. YOU CAN NOW HIDE YOUR GENDER. You don't want to be male, you don't want to be female, FINE. Go hide it. The code is implemented to make the environment seem a bit more "community" like and less "machine" like. I personally love this idea, and find this feature an indeed improvement. I actually like to be referred to as a person, not a machine user.
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inherit
16846
0
Nov 19, 2012 15:20:20 GMT -8
Chris
3,036
December 2003
cddude
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Post by Chris on Jul 2, 2008 7:38:46 GMT -8
If it wasn't necessary, we would have wasted our time adding it We aren't changing our minds because of the posts on here. We are adding the option to hide it because people have requested it, but that is all. What is the point in hiding it if only 3 people can see it, you say it will refelect view his/her posts so if the main admin cant see it then the his/her recent posts are voided, i agree its a waste of time and not a needed feature, personally i think you will lose some of your members with this feature on, sorry to say Because that's only an example. There's nothing to say that "Welcome back Mrs. [Username]" isn't possible. That'd only appear to the user that has entered their gender. (Obviously this is just an example. ) There's other things that could be done easily and it could also have benefits to coders. Then there's things like gender-specific templates that could be implemented (despite the fact you can still change your gender at any time) or viewable boards limited to gender, etc. There's just tons of possibilities now.
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inherit
96172
0
Nov 29, 2017 7:41:17 GMT -8
bluebayou
484
January 2007
bluebayou
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Post by bluebayou on Jul 2, 2008 10:30:33 GMT -8
I have an all-woman board, and if I see ads popping up soon like the Always "Have A HAPPY Period!" ones, I'm gonna blow! ;D
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valderra2
inherit
-2700287
0
May 11, 2024 6:09:29 GMT -8
valderra2
0
January 1970
GUEST
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Post by valderra2 on Jul 2, 2008 11:47:16 GMT -8
I agree with the option for undisclosed. Like I said, some people just don't want that out there. And it can affect the way people view you, for example with roleplaying. There are petty people out there who might not want to roleplaying with a guy who's playing by a female, for example. It's the sad truth. I can understand wanting to be 'someone' else when you are active in roleplay forums, but when you have normal chat forums, which all other non-RP forums are, why some people are so against giving their real gender is beyond me. I have been asked this question several times, and I always say that, just as in real life when I stand before someone, I like to know if I address a he or she (if that person has changed his or her gender - no problem - I would address this person by their new gender). Another reason I like to know the gender on the message board is so that if I am referring to that specific person's thread/post/comment/whatever, I can say 'he' said/did, or 'she' said/did. I find it very confusing when someone absolutely refuses to give their gender, and I wonder what possible reason there could be for this. Also, it makes me somewhat suspicious of this person. It's not as if I ask this person to revela anything personal that I could use against this person...
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inherit
127283
0
Jul 5, 2008 8:36:12 GMT -8
Thanatos
4
June 2008
neroskitzo
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Post by Thanatos on Jul 2, 2008 14:55:14 GMT -8
But why does it really matter? Everyone would probably feel very upset if proboards decided to implement a code requiring you to reveal your race even if they used the excuse they wanted it to be more friendly or for advertisement purposes. It is essentially the same thing, sex and race are entirely unimportant; who cares if the person you are talking to is male, female, intersex, etc.? If you aren't looking to date them then you could simply judge their personality and culture based on their posts and not judge them based on their sex or gender. Besides all of this, why couldn't they just inform us of the fact that this feature was available and prompt people to use it rather than requiring people to reveal it. Personally, I won't consider it friendly until it allows my profile to say "View xyr most recent posts".
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#00AF33
Bark Different.
102833
0
1
Feb 12, 2023 16:57:46 GMT -8
RedBassett
I'm a Marxist/Lennonist of the Groucho/John variety.
15,405
April 2007
applecomputer
RedBassett's Mini-Profile
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Post by RedBassett on Jul 2, 2008 15:46:07 GMT -8
Without getting into the whole argument on this I have to ask:
From a coders point of view, wouldn't this be more complex? It seems simpler to say that there are three gender options, if the gender data is not equal to undisclosed, then update the "last posts" in the profile accordingly. Now, you have two inputs, one for gender and one for gender hide, first change the page based on the gender field, then change that if the hide option is on.
With getting into the whole argument:
Personally, I am against a forced gender, mostly because I, like others, want as little data about me as possible online, even if I trust the people who can see it not to disclose it. I also agree that for RPGs people should not be forced to enter what will be recorded as a true gender. I thirdly agree with those who say that some people don't want to be forced to categorize themselves. For this group, it has been mentioned that legal documents do not give an "Other" option, but why shouldn't somewhere like ProBoards where the point is to give the user freedom of information released? Legal documents require a name, but ProBoards doesn't, why should it require a gender? As I said above, I do not like the idea of this data existing on a server, where I have no control of its access (not to sound like I don't trust PB staff, I do, but I am holding this as a general rule) and others can see it in theory. I have always enjoyed the fact that my online profile has never been associated with a gender.
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