Inactive Accounts - Delete or not to Delete?

[HoudiniDerek]

Feb 21, 2008 12:49:33 GMT -8 fashionexperts said:

That's just my opinion on how RP's should be run. Whether you're playing Harry Potter himself, Padma Patil, or some random kid who was just mentioned in sorting like Mandy Brocklehurst, you need to be active or you're off. Especially if they're wasting a canon on their lazy inactive self.

I understand it is your opinion, but I wanted to give you mine on why I can see it being acceptable for them to not be AS active depending on the character they picked to portray. Also, when you see them log on or what not, do you PM them or do you just have it in the rules and dole out punishments and deletions when you feel it is time?

[Mythos]

I really don't like inactive users but I do understand if they are ill or have been in an accident. We have a member who had broken her wrist and sprained the other one, yet still came one. She didn't post very often but she was quite active in our C-BOX which I consider still being active. Another one has the flu and has been sick for quite some time, so we put his character 'in the garage' so to speak so no one else can try to apply for him.

I stated clearly in the rules section that I have monthly "Activity" Checks where people have a week to reply to the thread if they are keeping or dropping any characters. Then there is a two week period for them to post at least once after the end of the Activity Check or they'll lose their account. I've become annoyed with those who reply to the thread yet don't ever post or have yet to post at all. I'm very lenient when it comes to the Activity Check though, sometimes letting it go a few days after deadline. I go through a lot of trouble for it as well. Sending out mass PMs and e-mails and even e-mailing those who haven't activated their accounts. I try to be a good admin

We even go so far as to let people reserve characters, so they don't have to rush with a biography. They have three days to do so, but I figure if you're really into the site or want to join then three days should be enough to apply for a character. Doesn't mean I'll delete the account, I usually wait till the middle of a month to do that.

[HorrorLegend]

I keep them, moast cause they do still log on, they just dont post any more. But i just recentl opened up a new site so im hoping my members are more active. Also, i dont delte cause most of them I know in real lif.

[jack]

Feb 20, 2008 14:59:34 GMT -8 HoudiniDerek said:

Feb 20, 2008 14:35:34 GMT -8 fashionexperts said:

What's the point of joining an RP and creating a character If you don't post? HoudiniDerek, i'm talking about RPs with canons by the way.

Even with canon characters, does it matter? Let's take Harry Potter RPs for example. Someone could be one of the Patil twins. They are not as heavily utilized in the books so someone could create a character like that and only post once in a blue moon...and that IS canon...even according to the books.

Even though my own view on what counts as activity and what to do about it are different, I agree with HD here to a point. I mean, I'm going to get less upset if Astoria Greengrass never posts on my site (considering she wasn't even a character until December and has a very, very minor role in the books, and not even during the books but after) than if Harry Potter never posts. Of course I want them both to post equally, regardless of canon, original canon, or original status. A character is a character is a character, if you make one, you should be active with it. Do I have time limits, such as, two posts a week or whatever? No way! Why bother? If I can't work up the muse to post with my character but a few times every other other week, then why should I demand more from my members? Also, there is no big rush in our role playing (another 'why bother') seeing as how it's more about the writing and the character development (quality over quantity) that we are after. So what if there are not a whole lot of posts - the posts that are there are killer, stellar, awesome, and a number of other uplifting words.

Feb 21, 2008 12:49:33 GMT -8 fashionexperts said:

That's just my opinion on how RP's should be run. Whether you're playing Harry Potter himself, Padma Patil, or some random kid who was just mentioned in sorting like Mandy Brocklehurst, you need to be active or you're off. Especially if they're wasting a canon on their lazy inactive self.

That's not a very chipper attitude to take into being an admin or staffer of a forum. Try taking on the member's side for a moment, and exclude yourself in your point of view - someone who joins may be in school and need to do well in school, so they get on once a week and really post, but hang out every other day to chat with anyone who is on. Does that mean they deserve to get deleted? Not really - if you think they are 'wasting a canon on their lazy inactive [selves]' then you should consider finding another option to free up the canon - such as having that person give up the character and create another rather than simply deleting them. I know I would hate it if I was active on a forum but couldn't post in character as often as was demanded, and was so deleted. That's just unfair and I know I wouldn't go back, and would in fact discourage others from going there.

Oh, great transition into why I have what I have on my board.

H&H really doesn't delete people, unless it's been a very, very long time, there are no posts (we don't count posts unless it's in character, so it's a lot of extra work to find out if someone posted or not), and the account was logged into once, maybe twice but never again. All those criteria must be met before I'll even consider deleting the account. Why, why you ask? Because of an experience not only I encountered, but also the majority of my member base. We were all at a board that demanded we be on or we would be deleted - and we all worked hard on our characters, on our posts, and the like. The admin would hold it over our heads that we needed to come on and post or they would erase us like a squashed bug from a windshield... and it was really more like we were being bullied than anything else. In the end we decided to leave and make a board where there were no posting restrictions, where the only time an account would be deleted would be in the event that all the criteria were met.

As for people who were once active and their characters no longer are active, or if they leave without notice, we created a special member group for those people and place them into it. I don't feel it's right considering all the unknowns on my end to simply delete someone who took the time and effort into getting accepted.

Am I a softie when it comes to deleting people? You bet. Does that mean that I think it's ugly to have a high member count and a lot of inactive people? Not really. It's only ugly if the forum itself is inactive or a small number of the member base are active.

^^

$0.02

[Kazuma]

I usually keep mine, I'm really soft when it comes to deleteing an account, usually my members and I become pretty good friends and I wait a month untill reminding them and usually they show up for a week, tell me what happend and go. But now-a-days they dont show up at all. Should I delete them or not?

[Enchant]

Feb 23, 2008 7:25:51 GMT -8 Kazuma said:

I usually keep mine, I really soft when it comes to deleteing an account, usually my members and I become pretty good friends and I wait a month untill reminding them and usually they show up for a week, tell me what happend and go. But now-a-days they dont show up at all. Should I delete them or not?

Just do what you think is best for your community. I would recommend reading through the other members experiences here and make that call for yourself. I might suggest that you also, pm and mass email your members to inform them of your actions, should you decide to go ahead and delete them. Give them a deadline....maybe some will show...but some wont.. Its a judgement call....Good luck.

[Zath]

Surely if people log on but don't post anything, it means what they're seeing isn't quite inspiring enough to get them to post.
They clearly have the desire to visit your board but need a little more of a carrot to post.
That's down to you and fellow admin I'm afraid.

[📚 Dianne 📚]

Feb 23, 2008 8:43:29 GMT -8 Zath said:

Surely if people log on but don't post anything, it means what they're seeing isn't quite inspiring enough to get them to post.
They clearly have the desire to visit your board but need a little more of a carrot to post.
That's down to you and fellow admin I'm afraid.

As harsh as this is to hear,you are quite correct when you are speaking of certain kinds of boards. I had always felt that the people joining and then never coming back was a reflection on my board. But then I realized that because I'm an info board with time sensitive material, PLUS I give extensive guest privileges, one does not have to join to take advantage of what is offered. I am perfectly content with a small amount of posters who stay active, and contribute so much to their board.
So again I ask why join a board that you can see clearly, as a guest, may not meet your needs??? Thus the reason why this whole topic was brought up..There is no game that one needs to be active to play, no required postings one has to make...just a simple request that one log on occasionally.

So again - to delete or not to delete, that is the question!

[Stinky666]

Feb 16, 2008 21:12:30 GMT -8 Enchant said:

In other threads, we have touched on the topic of inactive accounts. In this thread we will discuss the topic a bit more in depth. How important is it to have an accurate member count? Do you keep your inactive accounts or do you delete them? If you keep them, is it for the appearance of a higher member count or some other reason? If you delete them, how often and why?

I personally delete my inactive accounts. I usually have it done quarterly. If not it falsifies the forums actual posting stats. It makes the forum appear to be less active then it is. I would rather have low member count with high posting, then high member count with low posting. I do give notice via, post, pm and email when the time arrives.

I used to delete/prune accounts once every week or two, but now I just think "screw it".
When or if I have joined a forum, and I maybe post once or twice, I might simply forget about that forum, and then one day re-find it, recogise it and think "oh I have an account here", try login and discover Ive been pruned. And I think that's annoying as hell.
So, for the simple fact that other members may re-find the forum, I dont delete inactive accounts.

Actually, that has happened plenty of times on my forum. People will often introduce themself and say that they had forgotten abotu the place, lost the link or whatever. And then becoem active, or semi-active.

[boltonboy06]

I always send a mass pm to users who havent logged in for 30 days and who have 0 posts and also leave a announcement thread notifying them of account deletion if they dont return within a certain date

After the date is passed i search for 0 posters and accounts that havent been logged in to and remove them

[WeLiveForHogwarts]

I haven't touched any of the innactive accounts on my website unless they said they wer leaving and would like their account to be deleted. (thankfully none of the members have done that) Anyways I have innactive members and I am sure it's because of my innactiveness at one point but I am in the midst of revamping and updating my site to get the current members active again as well as new members who will be and stay active too.

[Lemming]

on our site we normaly leave them fro 20 days and if they done no posting we remove them. unless they let us know they will be a way. this is in our main ruels so when you join you cant say you been told. its also a way to stop the board looking like its got over a hundreed members when in fact its only got 20 i find that a bit off puting my self

[Former Member]

My forum is a mass rpg and we rely on active members, we've had a few who join up post an intro then disappear...ive nagged them once or twice but theres always is a member (active) to vouch for the inactive members and so I tend to leave them. If a member is really inactive i ban their account for 24 hours then 48 and then if they still dont respond to my emails then I deleate them but Im not that mean i always give them plenty of time and am very flexible unless theyre playing a regular character.

[Dove]

Since my forum is pretty new, i don't have to really deal with that just yet. But if someone is say three weeks inactive, I think I'd delete them. Unless they were to leave a notice saying they'd be gone for a pretty long time.

[HoudiniDerek]

Feb 29, 2008 19:23:32 GMT -8 Dove said:

Since my forum is pretty new, i don't have to really deal with that just yet. But if someone is say three weeks inactive, I think I'd delete them. Unless they were to leave a notice saying they'd be gone for a pretty long time.

What is your forum based on though? If it is an RP forum, I would agree with you. If it is another type of forum, are you sure it needs to be active every three weeks or less? While I know it would be ideal to have very active members every day, I think it would depend on the type and content of the forum too.