Maintaining a happy community

[lordparadise]

houdiniderek said:

lordparadise said:

The forum I mod has quite a lot of games and competitions working at a given time. Here's some of the things we use:

1. An interactive game or social thread on almost every board

2. A governmental system where democratic voting decides most major changes on the forum

3. Quite a bit of roleplay

4. A fanfiction board where members can express ourselves

And, lastly, we have turned the karma system into a monthly contest to get the most karma through alliances and strategy. This idea has been very successful, with the competition being surprisingly healthy and strategic rather than simply biased and based on popularity. I recommend implementing something like this, especially on a smaller-scale forum.

Some of your ideas are similar to ones I use. However, I have never thought of using the karma system in such a way. If you don't mind, could you tell us how exactly it is set up? It sounds similar to SURVIVOR or the way the game ASSASSINS used to be played in the dorms.

It's quite simple, really.

At the beginning of the month, we reset every member's karma. (There's an easy way to do this, I think, though I forget what it is.)

Everyone except the admin is competing. The admin can use the Security Log to see who is exalting and smiting whom, but is objective about who wins and who loses and so will play as he sees fit.

The use of sock accounts is strictly prohibited.

Only active members are able to win.

Otherwise, members are allowed to use any sort of backstabbing, deceitful, strategic and brutal tactics that they want. At the end of the month, the winner gets either a boost in currency or colors/custom titles, and the loser gets a small loss (not enough to make it really bad, but enough so that a member who is out of the running for the win will still have a motive to play so that he/she doesn't lose.

Our first month just ended, and our winner had something like 20 karma; our loser had close to -75.

[Dais Zanad]

My friends forum is losing it member because of all of the mods. You see the mods are becoming power hungry and they are abusing their power. This is causing some of us to rebel against this board, actually I created a site just for rebellion against this site. The mods are violating our right to free speach by deleting and modifying our posts. Now I can see where this ability can come in handy but they are only doing this either because they have a grudge against us, they feel like taking out their anger on somebody else or they are just plain bored. Three people got deleted because the mods were bored. Our admin seems to be clueless about this whole matter and wishes to maintain these mods, due to the fact that he set up a "Mod Survior" in where we compete for "modhood". This doesn't sound fair and it sounds like he is playing favorities. Tell me, does any of this sound fair. These people who got their post screwed, or accounts deleted did nothing wrong! Please can somebody give us some advise on how to counteract this!

-x226-

[Gamoc]

No, it does not sound fair, and that does not sound like a happy community. A staff member needs to choose mods better than that. Always choose someone who is reliable, and one who won't just use the power they have to just screw people up. That is a big part in maintaining a happy community. I always have moderators who won't do anything wrong to my members, and if they do, then i either take away moderation priveleges, ban member, or even delete account depending on what it is they did. That always keeps a happy community on my board.

[Dais Zanad]

well tell that to our admin, hes tikkigod , well hes that here!

[TikkiGod]

x226 said:

My friends forum is losing it member because of all of the mods. You see the mods are becoming power hungry and they are abusing their power. This is causing some of us to rebel against this board, actually I created a site just for rebellion against this site. The mods are violating our right to free speach by deleting and modifying our posts. Now I can see where this ability can come in handy but they are only doing this either because they have a grudge against us, they feel like taking out their anger on somebody else or they are just plain bored. Three people got deleted because the mods were bored. Our admin seems to be clueless about this whole matter and wishes to maintain these mods, due to the fact that he set up a "Mod Survior" in where we compete for "modhood". This doesn't sound fair and it sounds like he is playing favorities. Tell me, does any of this sound fair. These people who got their post screwed, or accounts deleted did nothing wrong! Please can somebody give us some advise on how to counteract this!

-x226-

Um...Sorry...your information seems to be a BIT inaccurate...
The mods haven't deleted anyone
Deleting off topic posts hardly qualifies as "being bored."
And the mod survivor was done because whenever I picked mods, you guys got angry with who I chose. So I let you guys pick the mods. Notice how the host has no say whatsoever in survivor? So was the case in our game of it. How is that playing favorites?
Next time please pay attention to whats going on

[Enchant]

This board is in not here to settle personal disputes that are happening on other peoples boards....this is here to get advice on how to better your board and interact with your own members. While you are free to give us a scenerio of a particular instant, it is not ethical to go mentioning them by name and causing this board to change from assisting admins to air out your personal greiveances here. Please resolve your personal issues else where and let this board do what it is meant to do. Thank you

[Dais Zanad]

Well we are both a part of the community and I think we need help, its a local community and its pretty much a monarchy. Hes claiming the board for himself and wishes to do with it as he pleases. Does this sound right? It is also violating our right to free speach over here in the USA. Free speach should be valued, in my opinion.

[Enchant]

x226 said:

Well we are both a part of the community and I think we need help, its a local community and its pretty much a monarchy. Hes claiming the board for himself and wishes to do with it as he pleases. Does this sound right? It is also violating our right to free speach over here in the USA. Free speach should be valued, in my opinion.

The thing about freedom it goes both ways. Being as he is the admin of the forum, it is his priveledge to do as he pleases, provided he isn't breaking any TOS rules, if you feel he is then, you should report it to the proper channels. However, that is for TOS do decide. The thing is while you feel your freedom is being violated, the truth of the matter is you always have the option to leave and go some place else. Think of it as a business, if the service stinks, find a new place to eat. Same principle here...there are thousands upon thousands of places that would suit your needs and wants better....Complaining about something that you are surely not going to change, is mute and a waste of your time....while you are complaining, you are probably missing out some something that could be better.....


And if you happen to be an admin of a forum, that is making its members feel isolated or insulted then it is an issue that you should look into. If your members are not happy or you have some kind of civil war within the community then you should be the authoritive one and perhaps find a compromise. If it is something that you are resolved on, then you are the admin need to let them know that is your final decision. It is great to be a freind to your members, but being an admin when needed is as important. A freind would respect that. Do what is best for the forum.

[mort666]

i think its the balance between the fun and the serious stuff
people who spent too long in character in a site tend to get bored
so a healthy balance has to be maintained
and promotions help to
member of the months are good
im having a special one for christmas and December
and yes it is based on Santa

[Timothy]

enchant said:

If your members are not happy or you have some kind of civil war within the community then you should be the authoritive one and perhaps find a compromise. If it is something that you are resolved on, then you are the admin need to let them know that is your final decision. It is great to be a freind to your members, but being an admin when needed is as important. A freind would respect that. Do what is best for the forum.

[/b][/quote]

^ I had to do that when religious conversations went wildly out of control... I will re-introduce religion as a sub-board for those who wish to discuss it with open minds and not take offense to when someone states the opposite of what you believe... That, and I need to create some "ground rules" for how to discuss a topic as sensitive as the aforementioned...

[WilburyMania!]

I recommend seriously considering members suggestions before vetoing them. (unless it's against the TOS!)

One forum I am on... they don't consider suggestions unless a member of their little clique suggests it. They veto all other suggestions on flimsy arguments. I am becoming frustrated with them.

If you have an idea but aren't sure if its a good idea, make a poll. I have a suggestions board where people can post suggestions and the main admin and I can post polls.

[mrssmif]

I see a lot of suggestions on doing member of the month. This does seem to me like it would be an option that would work for any type of message board. The only thing is how to make it work for your particular board. How do you all set up you member of the month "qualifications." Is it based on a certain # of posts? Do you first announce to the members that you will be doing this, or do you just start doing it? I am just looking for more examples so that I can adapt this concept to fit my board.

[HoudiniDerek]

mrssmif said:

I see a lot of suggestions on doing member of the month. This does seem to me like it would be an option that would work for any type of message board. The only thing is how to make it work for your particular board. How do you all set up you member of the month "qualifications." Is it based on a certain # of posts? Do you first announce to the members that you will be doing this, or do you just start doing it? I am just looking for more examples so that I can adapt this concept to fit my board.

Some people do it different ways. When rating forums, I have seen that some set it up via post count and quality of the posts; some just do it and the criteria are a mystery.

Instead of Member of the Month, I have always found contests easier to do: Be it writing or captions and the like. On PBS, they have the GOAYB Rater award and last I heard, they are doing a Debater of the Month award.

My vote would be to peruse different sites whether in the Advertising Section or the GOAYB and see if they do the Member of the Month. If so, PM that person here and ask what the criteria is if you cannot find it posted on their forum anywhere.

[urcrazy]

I think that in order to have a successful board you cannot be demanding of your members. People have other lives outside the computer, so you can't expect them to post on a regular basis. I have seen some boards that require you post every couple of weeks or they delete your membership. You can always rejoin but why bother. Sometimes you have vacation or family events that keep you from the computer and sometimes its just the season, seems like the boards are busier in the winter then in the summer months.

I think that whatever you put into your board is what you can expect to get out of it.

there is enough drama in real life to to have to deal with it on the internet.

[HoudiniDerek]

urcrazy said:

I think that in order to have a successful board you cannot be demanding of your members. People have other lives outside the computer, so you can't expect them to post on a regular basis. I have seen some boards that require you post every couple of weeks or they delete your membership. You can always rejoin but why bother. Sometimes you have vacation or family events that keep you from the computer and sometimes its just the season, seems like the boards are busier in the winter then in the summer months.

I think that whatever you put into your board is what you can expect to get out of it.

there is enough drama in real life to to have to deal with it on the internet.

I agree. Even RPs should realize that members do not always have free time or something comes up and they cannot relay it to others on the forum. I think it is okay to have some sort of guideline, but not one such as a week or whatever. They should realize that as well. Most forums I am on either don't have a posting requirement or they delete members every two or three YEARS if they are unactive.