[Feedback] What I think of ZU.

I guess I never really said what I like/dislike about ZU, just talked about what others brought up.

I like the fact that I can disagree with someone so deeply, and yet be friends with them to the point that I would take a bullet for them. *coughDoubleAcough*

Which brings me to the Skype aspect of ZU. Skype has brought me so much closer to people than I could have ever hoped from VMing. I don't know exactly how it works, but talking in real time with people takes a lot of the 'Random internet person' out of the deal, and makes it so much more personal.

Originally Posted by Golddron

Skype has brought me so much closer to people than I could have ever hoped from VMing.

---------- Post added at 05:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:49 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Mister Blak

The good:

E.g. when I first turned up, I was terrified of Mike, but I can now see that all that stuff about him being a grouchy guy were just jokes.

JOKES ON YOU. *BANS*

The bad:

-Social groups: These get badly neglected. REALLY badly.

That's simply due to the way vBulletin is designed; Social Groups aren't a bad idea, they are/were just extremely poorly implemented and afaik haven't been really integrated properly into the software.

The staff's job as mods isn't to run ZU like a nation, making sure to uphold the rights of the people to freedom of speech, association and peaceful demonstration.

It is to make sure we have a forum which is fun, friendly and with minimal hostility.


The reason negative threads like that are targeted is because they bring nothing of value to the forum. They are bland, no one actually really has a discussion, instead you get short spammy posts about things that annoy people. Like a centralised complain centre. What's worse is that it is often used to passive aggressively call out members and moderators.

It serves no point, so we try to hamper it, before we have 6-7 threads about negativity, when this is supposed to be a positive place. I quite frankly don't care if members should have the right to a thread for them to voice their meaningless complaints. I care more about the atmosphere of ZU.

Okay, I'm going to take this time to point out something I don't like:

They are bland, no one actually really has a discussion, instead you get short spammy posts about things that annoy people.

When people do try to have conversations, I've seen the mods say "do not do this, we have the chit-chat thread for this." (SORRY NESI YOU ARE RIGHT THERE, I CAN THINK OF TWO OTHER MODS WHO'VE SAID IT) It seems very inconsistent to me.

We end up in a place where no one really wins; no one wants the GCC thread filled with negativity of just people just ♥♥♥♥♥ing for the sake of it or white-whining, whatever the case maybe. (Which is not to say do want people to talk about their problems/issues) But at the same time people it seems like they can't do it in the negativity thread either.

That's simply due to the way vBulletin is designed; Social Groups aren't a bad idea, they are/were just extremely poorly implemented and afaik haven't been really integrated properly into the software.

I think it may just be this version of vBulletin because at this Harry Potter forum i frequented, they had social groups too but they were better organized and easier to get to. (like a Social group link at the top of the main index and the social groups themselves were more like one big thread.) I dunno why its so different here.

I don't really care about the negativity threads, I think I only posted once in them, but I still think that people should be able to post the kinds of threads they want. The arguments against them have been weak.

I post every day on this site and have not seen:

- The supposed spillover of negativity into other threads, in fact in the last year ZU was probably more lovey dovey than I've ever seen it.
- The wave of negative threads that have taken over GCC (there were 3 that weren't even frequently at the top of the page, not 7 or 8. 3.)
- Other "good" threads being buried.

What about the wave of "passive-aggressiveness"? I haven't seen it (all I've seen are isolated incidents).

As Saul said, the job of the staff:

"It is to make sure we have a forum which is fun, friendly and with minimal hostility."

I don't see how segregating a range of emotions into threads is fun and friendly.

Some people are talking about the "negative" threads as if they were unavoidable and destroying the forum for everyone, they weren't you chose to click on them and got upset because people weren't happy in a thread dedicated to frustration.


I know we joke about this Nesi, but this is what I mean when I say GCC is too strict. Rather than just letting the board be you're trying to make the posters (or at least a certain population of the posters) feel and post in some way that they just isn't them. Who does it hurt to let a group of people vent?

before we begin, listen to this to understand the beauty of my post:

I know we joke about this Nesi, but this is what I mean when I say GCC is too strict. Rather than just letting the board be you're trying to make the posters (or at least a certain population of the posters) feel and post in some way that they just isn't them. Who does it hurt to let a group of people vent?

It can hurt a lot of people if left alone. The What Annoys You thread always, and I mean always, came back to people, without using names, making suggestions concerning other users. I am not going to link to posts because I'm not derailing this thread with arguments of people getting defensive over their actions. It requires constant watching on the parts of the mods in order to ensure users aren't utilizing the thread to be mean to other users. And that can be stressful when there are three threads with nearly the exact same posts in the exact same manner appearing.

You're being ill-considerate of the mods, and for what, because people should be allowed to have three threads for ♥♥♥♥♥ing about the inanities in their lives? You say the arguments against having them are weak, so are yours.

You haven't seen it because you do not actively watch the boards and you do not actively read the boards looking for trouble as a moderator does. The reason they are only isolated incidents are because a moderator steps in and stops it from going farther. I have seen when a moderator does not step in or has not stepped in and it can lead to series of posts of people being ♥♥♥♥♥y at each other.

Mods, given the fact we actively watch threads, notice people love to do threads in trends. Remember back when we had like five threads about death, dying or other morbid things? We notice that ♥♥♥♥ right away, lol, and laugh about it. Just because you don't notice, doesn't mean others do not.

FURTHER the reason that ZU has been so lovey-dovey is because of the moderators actively encouraging that environment. It is not something that just magically happened, this has been being fostered for a very, very long time, starting with when the new laxer GCC stuff occurs and continuing from then to now and it's been a constant effort.

Thanks for your views though.

The site on the whole is still quite a good one. It seems every few months there is one type of thread where all the drama revolves around.

Back in the day, it was the Count to a Million thread, or all the top ten threads in General gaming. Today's version of that seems to be the "what annoys you" type of threads. It'll come to pass and some new posting craze will sweep the forum.

On my own personal level, I've become less fond with the site, but not because of anything the site has done, or are doing. I guess it's because I'm getting older or whatever. All the "close friends" I've had over the years aren't here anymore, or they've totally abandoned me for reasons I don't know.

Mkay..Nobodies gonna help me out? No acknowledgement or human interaction? How inconsiderately droll, and yet I find myself unsurprised and apathetic.*Crawls into a cave and sleeps*

Originally Posted by The Hound

I think it may just be this version of vBulletin because at this Harry Potter forum i frequented, they had social groups too but they were better organized and easier to get to. (like a Social group link at the top of the main index and the social groups themselves were more like one big thread.) I dunno why its so different here.

Was that using vB4? Because before it was confirmed that there are currently no plans (nor will there be any plans in the foreseeable future) for ZU to upgrade to vB4, I often heard about how it supposedly does social groups in a much better way than vB3.8.7, which we currently use.

Originally Posted by Shadow

Mkay..Nobodies gonna help me out? No acknowledgement or human interaction? How inconsiderately droll, and yet I find myself unsurprised and apathetic.*Crawls into a cave and sleeps*

Consider the main discussion of this thread a storm.

When you posted, the clouds were rolling in and it began drizzling. You decided to stand in one spot, and though a few people walked by, nobody bothered to talk to you. Now there's 8 inches of rain, loose branches and patio furnishings flying everywhere. Thunder and lightning, very very frightening. And the rain is still coming down. You are standing in the exact same spot (somehow) and just now wondering why nobody is talking to you.

You understand? In the eyes of a lot of the people posting here, the argument at hand is the most important thing going on in the thread. They won't just drop everything they're arguing about to answer one post that frankly, is fulfilling the purpose of the thread as the OP intended. It's nothing personal. You just posted at a less than opportune time. And even then, I read your post (I've been following this thread closely, it's the closest thing to drama that my life has right now).

I can certainly offer a word of advice to make navigating easier. You can subscribe to certain forums and they'll show up in your User Control Panel. Just subscribe to the forums you go to most, and voila! You have your own little homepage, bent to your will. I do the very same thing.

(Going back to the storm analogy, staying in a cave is a good idea )

Originally Posted by Sabbo

Was that using vB4? Because before it was confirmed that there are currently no plans (nor will there be any plans in the foreseeable future) for ZU to upgrade to vB4, I often heard about how it supposedly does social groups in a much better way than vB3.8.7, which we currently use.

Oddly enough i cant seem to find on that forum, what version they are using at the current time. But their social groups have always been laid out the way they are now at that place and i know they were not running vB4 before. Hmmmzorz. It is a puzzlement.

Originally Posted by Sailor Moon

JOKES ON YOU. *BANS*

Now we see the violence inherent in the system!

Oh, poor lonely Shadow..Always getting caught in the thunderstorm when everybody else is inside, playing Checkers. I guess my place in the world is in a cold musty cave, away from the busy bodies of regular society..Oh, how I wish I was normal.

If anybody needs me, which I know you certainly will *sarcasm*

I'll be in my dark, cold, and damp cave..Reading Hamlet.

Wake me up when the apocalypse begins..

Originally Posted by Shadow

Wake me up when the apocalypse begins..

Personally, I'd rather sleep through the apocalypse and wake up when it's all over.

And miss out on all the doom and gloom?

Originally Posted by Shadow

I guess my place in the world is in a cold musty cave, away from the busy bodies of regular society..Oh, how I wish I was normal.

If anybody needs me, which I know you certainly will *sarcasm*

I'll be in my dark, cold, and damp cave..Reading Hamlet.

Wake me up when the apocalypse begins..

Join the club.






I'm very lonely.

Originally Posted by Elwood

Join the club.






I'm very lonely.

I'll join ze club, however we need a couple of buckets. It's raining outside and the cave is leaking in water.

Originally Posted by The Hound

Oddly enough i cant seem to find on that forum, what version they are using at the current time. But their social groups have always been laid out the way they are now at that place and i know they were not running vB4 before. Hmmmzorz. It is a puzzlement.

Hmm, you know I was just thinking the other day about making a suggestion to put a link to social groups on the main forum page, right where everyone can see it.

Originally Posted by Bobby Emerald

Hmm, you know I was just thinking the other day about making a suggestion to put a link to social groups on the main forum page, right where everyone can see it.

I've made that suggestion once or twice here in this section. I don't remember why, but I think there's a reason why they are unable to do so?