Member Feedback Poll

[mas cambios]

Member Feedback Poll

Message from BigCricket

All,

We are asking all forum members to give us some feedback about the state of our forums.

We would be grateful if you would take a few moments to vote in the poll, but more importantly post your thoughts about how things are going in this forum.

Anything is fair game - the moderators, the quality of the discussion, the amount of traffic, the forum structure, etc.

Voting is useful, but we are most interested in ways you think BigCricket and specifically this forum can be improved -- what we are doing right or wrong, and your thoughts generally about your use of this forum.

 

[Gladyboy]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

There is tom much intereference from moderators, some time it is warranted but the majority of the times it appears some mods abuse their powers and just want to get involved when there is no real need.

Pretty much like the umps in our comp!

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

Thanks for the feedback.

How and when mods intervene has been discussed at length in the past and will be talked about again very shortly. We want to strike a balance but it's not always an easy thing to do.

You're on your own when it comes to the umpires though!

 

[onemoreover]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

G'day MAS,

Overall I think the forums are going well, though I am not a veteran of any forum system, so that i just my noob opinion.

I would say that the moderators do a great job! For example, it is often very difficult to determine what is jovial sarcastic banter and what is blatant poor form, since readers, including moderators, cannot really SEE any expression or character in commentary to gauge it's "reality" sometimes. I have only seen moderators intervene after obviously monitoring extended discussion to get a feel for the real standard/quality of some content. I think that the moderators also do a fair job of injecting content into discussions at times to kick it up a gear. Forum rules are forum rules. If you don't like how the moderators handle things as long as they are by the rules, then it's simple. Leave. I think also that the moderators do a good job of taking criticism at face value. Often if moderator criticism is delevered by forum members,it is from a "me, me ,me" perspective, rather than a collective and objective perspective.

The bulk of the discussion is good, with some great lines delivered in jest as well as serious, informative, technical, educational and opinionated content on all fronts.

Much of the junior forums content, that I have checked out anyway, is like standing in a school yard at lunch time. You hear a lot of unsavory personal and targeted dribble. At the same time it is clear they are capable of such a better standard. That's not your fault though, just an observation.

I don't have any complaints really. The system seems to be fully featured, flexible and very usable. As for any potential improvements to the system, I think the admins and moderators have a far greater insight to that aspect. Over time I suspect you get a bigger picture view of the whole system and how it is working than the users do.

cheers

 

[Merlot a good drop]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

The forum is a great chance to express your opinion without going overboard.

Having had our forum suspended once I have tried to stay within the rules as I enjoy the banter and discussion about the good and the things that need improvement.My only problem is that they say the administrators of the comp are reading the forum but they never seem to fix the things we keep bringing up.

Thanks for the opportunity to partake in the BCF

 

[cold case]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

The forum is a great chance to express your opinion without going overboard.

Having had our forum suspended once I have tried to stay within the rules as I enjoy the banter and discussion about the good and the things that need improvement.My only problem is that they say the administrators of the comp are reading the forum but they never seem to fix the things we keep bringing up.
Thanks for the opportunity to partake in the BCF

That would mean admitting to mistakes. Same everywhere and wont happen, but no harm in trying.

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

Thanks for the feedback - it really it helpful.

My only problem is that they say the administrators of the comp are reading the forum but they never seem to fix the things we keep bringing up.

This is a tough one. Occasionally, we get feedback from certain competitions, mainly due to something 'contentious' that is being discussed on the site. They all trot out the usual line that this site is a pain in the backside for their competition and so on.

With this in mind we took the decision to try and work with the competitions a little more than we have in the past. This is for two reasons - 1. They may help us to spread the word with regards to the site and 2. They may start to pay a bit more attention to what is being said and respond accordingly.

We hope in time that this will happen and that the various competitions will see more action from their administrations. However, it is also important to remember there is a fine line between being constructive and having a moan for the sake of moaning.

 

[Rampant]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

Much of the junior forums content, that I have checked out anyway, is like standing in a school yard at lunch time. You hear a lot of unsavory personal and targeted dribble. At the same time it is clear they are capable of such a better standard. That's not your fault though, just an observation.

I tend to cringe when I read the junior forums, most of the posts in there are posters simply pissing in their mates pockets, or like you said personal attacks that just make the poster look like a moron.

That's my two cents.

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

I tend to cringe when I read the junior forums, most of the posts in there are posters simply pissing in their mates pockets, or like you said personal attacks that just make the poster look like a moron.

That's my two cents.

Personally, I agree with what both of you have to say. The question is, what can we do about it?

 

[Rampant]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

I suppose you could try and get them to focus on results rather than just abusing other kids. The APS forums are particularly cringeworthy.

Perhaps you could look into harsher warnings, it just gets agitating if you want to find some results and all you get is how much "Smithy" is as useless as tits on a bull, etc.

 

[Rampant]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

Out of curiousity, why are HDCA threads disallowed?

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

Out of curiousity, why are HDCA threads disallowed?

They have been discontinued for the time being as 75% of all site problems originate from those threads. Not least in the number of dummy accounts created.

The threads will be started up again but under strict guidelines for users.

 

[onemoreover]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

They have been discontinued for the time being as 75% of all site problems originate from those threads. Not least in the number of dummy accounts created.

The threads will be started up again but under strict guidelines for users.

Good work!

 

[onemoreover]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

Personally, I agree with what both of you have to say. The question is, what can we do about it?

To start with, ideally you need a self policing mechanism. This removes the need for manual administration.

For example in the user's ID window of each post, have a user content quality rating visible. This would achieve the following.

a) Make each forum user very concious of there public forum persona.
b) Allow potential responders to user posts to pre-emptively practice ignoring "bad" posters.
c) Encourage better content contribution to ensure elevation of user's content rating.

Such a system provides both penalty and reward components to drive better outcomes.

I am no expert in this but I think you get the basic drift. Maybe you could refine the basic idea, since I have no idea what the forum system is capable of anyway.

cheers

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

For example in the user's ID window of each post, have a user content quality rating visible. This would achieve the following.

Such a system is already in place via reputation. You are able to give each post a positive or negative rep.

All you need to do is click on the weighing scales (

). (Ignore the last 3 icons as they are mod/admin issue and are not displayed for normal members.)

 

[onemoreover]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

Such a system is already in place via reputation. You are able to give each post a positive or negative rep.

All you need to do is click on the weighing scales (

). (Ignore the last 3 icons as they are mod/admin issue and are not displayed for normal members.)

Thanks Mas, I have checked it out functionally and will have a read about the feature if I can find that content. I have a feeling from looking at it, that it is not currently in wide use, since most user icons indicate that "xxxxxx is an unknown quantity......". Also it does not really grab your attention does it. Maybe it is the size of the icons, the fact no text is involved, not sure. Need to understand how the feature fully works first before commenting further.

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

Thanks Mas, I have checked it out functionally and will have a read about the feature if I can find that content. I have a feeling from looking at it, that it is not currently in wide use, since most user icons indicate that "xxxxxx is an unknown quantity......". Also it does not really grab your attention does it. Maybe it is the size of the icons, the fact no text is involved, not sure. Need to understand how the feature fully works first before commenting further.

You're correct in thinking that it's not widely used, at least on this forum. On other forums you'll find that it is used quite extensively, to the point where it is abused by some.

The key is making members aware that it exists. This will come partly from people using it, partly from the mod/admin team making others aware of it.

 

[onemoreover]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

You're correct in thinking that it's not widely used, at least on this forum. On other forums you'll find that it is used quite extensively, to the point where it is abused by some.

The key is making members aware that it exists. This will come partly from people using it, partly from the mod/admin team making others aware of it.

It is also interesting, that among the various current "forum standard" polls that our last items of discussion are not confined to this particular "Club Chat" poll.

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

Now you've lost me - care to elaborate?

 

[onemoreover]

Re: Member Feedback Poll

Now you've lost me - care to elaborate?

Sorry if that was a bit vague.

Check the "International Cricket" forum "Member Feedback Poll". It would appear there are similar issues, but obviously not confined to kids. There is also discussion re the "reputation" system.

Haven't checked all the various "Member Feedback Polls", since there are a few all running concurrently, but maybe there is a common denominator here.

cheers