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Underground > Policy & Help >

Current Posting Limits

Regrettable Juvenilia

20:53 / 29.09.03

Apparently there's now a posting limit of 10 posts per day. This seems a little low, although I understand this may be a temporary measure/something Cal is testing but in the meantime, I know of at least one member of the board who is currently unable to post because they reached the limit (of which they were not forewarned).

Tom, can I ask what kind of posting limit do you intend to implement, and what do people in general think is a reasonable limit? I think it's a good idea in general to inform people in advance if posting limits change...

21:23 / 29.09.03

*LVX23 acknowledges some ignorance of current board politics*

Ok, now I'm starting to get concerned. First the freakout about trolls and spammers, then new enrollment gets shut down, moderators start weilding the power of Dog, and now there's a post limit???

Frankly, this is getting a bit silly. Some days I don't have shit going through my head when I come to "lith. Other days the Logos is pouring forth and I'll post all I can.

So now, if I have a brain/soul storm and pour my heart and mind out on the 'Lith, my non-barb friends can't read it, it might be moved to the Lab because it's not appropriate for Magick or Headshop or whatever, and if my inspiration exceeds 10 posts, tough shit.

And, IIRC, this is all because some posters spam or troll or send offensive pm's. Just use "Ignore" or boot them from the site. The more you pay attention to them and fear them, the more power they have and the more they continue with their abuse.

21:35 / 29.09.03

And, IIRC, this is all because some posters spam or troll or send offensive pm's. Just use "Ignore" or boot them from the site. The more you pay attention to them and fear them, the more power they have and the more they continue with their abuse.

I'd suggest you peruse practically every single interminable fucking thread ever written about Barbelith's trolls to see why "just" embarking on these courses of action is not a) a new suggestion, or b) as straightforward as it might appear.

As far as the posting limit's concerned, I thought it was 25. If it's going to be changing regularly (Tom, Cal, etc.), is there any chance of providing some sort of warning?

Less searchable M0rd4nt

22:15 / 29.09.03

moderators start weilding the power of Dog

That sounds fun! Where is my power? Who hid it? I wanna go weild it! What sort of power is it, and what terrible devastation does it wreak?

Okay, okay. Fed up with defending that particular bit of waste ground. You want it, take it.

IIRC, we've had posting limits on and off since the red'n'grey board went the way of all code and the mustardy one came in. At one point we were rationed to (I think) 15 a day. I'm sure that if a person was genuinely curious, that person could have a shufti round some old policy threads for further details. The current limit (whatever the hell it is, I've no idea) seems relatively new-- last I heard of it, we were on 40.

23:25 / 29.09.03

Again, *LVX23 acknowledges some ignorance of current board politics*

Flyboy's post says the current limit is 10. I never hit the 25 limit, but ten seems pretty low.

Ganesh, I'll politely decline your suggestion (I can barely deal with the current interminable threads). However, I suggest that the responses to the trolls/spammers/wankers are just as responsible for rotting content and probably more responsible for the seeming interminability of those threads.

But again, I submit my a) ignorance of the situation beyond my own experiences, and b) my ultimate unwillingness to get too involved with the current discussions/solutions being bounced about, and c) my occasional unrestrainable outbursts in the face of seeming oppression and advancing Control Systems threatening the democracy of my beloved Barb.

23:46 / 29.09.03

This is the PM I PMed Tom this morning and the reply...NO NEED TO PANIC!!!
.startpm

It wasn't me! I'll look into it when I get home. I'm guessing Cal did it by accident...

> Hi Tom!
> I woke up this morning and was about to post and I get a message saying my posting limit has been reached. Im my time at Barbelith I've reached my posting limits twice (the first time left me curled in a fetal position behind the chesterfield) so when I saw I had reached it today with the few postings I had done I knew 'something was afoot at the circle K". Reducing it to 10...Tom, that number can be reached in minutes during conversation in the Lateshift thread. That being said...'Why Tom? Why?"

.endpm

00:02 / 30.09.03

LVX23: I'd offer to link to the many, many threads where people point out that yes, the response to the trolls is what keeps them going, and other people point out that that's obvious but that trying to coordinate a board of thousands of members to simultaneously Ignore is like herding cats, particularly when said trolls utilise a number of fictionsuits and IP addresses (which also makes them near-impossible to expel permanently from the board) and it takes a while to realise they're them and in the meantime people get chatting with them and then don't want their posts deleted even though they're now in a 'troll thread', and yet more people (and/or troll fictionsuits) say 'I'm new to the board but have been lurking for three years; is X really so bad? isn't it all a bit of a hilarious JOKE!! that you're all too sheep-like to appreciate?', and someone asks why we keep talking about them and proclaims that Barbelith Is Dying, and the trolls get bigger and fatter and happier that they and the reaction to them and the reaction to the reaction to them is being discussed and discussed and discussed until everyone wants to hammer nails into their frontal lobes - but I can't be bothered.

07:34 / 30.09.03

The change in posting limits was an accidental change by Cal when updating another part of the board from an old copy he had. I'm actually quite relieved that we didn't lose more! I've put the limits back up to 50 a day, which really should be enough for everyone.

Regrettable Juvenilia

08:07 / 30.09.03

Thanks, Tom! And thanks to kegboy for helping put people's minds at rest in advance.

Threadrot: can I just point out to LVX23 that as a mode of interaction, the following is not particularly helpful?

A: "Hello, I'm ignorant of the situation, but this is my opinion."

B: "Here is how to educate yourself so you are no longer ignorant of the situation."

A: "No thanks, can't be bothered! But here are some more uninformed opinions! Did I mention that I'm ignorant of the situation?"

Tryphena Absent

08:23 / 30.09.03

Let's not pick a completely pointless fight, yeah? LVX23's first post would have been valid had the limits been purposefully put in place and I doubt the intent was anywhere near flame city. If people can't express their frustration than we might as well shut the board down. However LVX before you jump to conclusions you might want to read the subtext... or how about just the text this may be a temporary measure/something Cal is testing. The changes at the moment are very frustrating but we're being informed of things, I think we're all going to have to lie back and take it.

09:22 / 30.09.03

Oh, I am so glad it was an accident. *tears of relief* I was completely gutted yesterday when I saw I couldn't post, and started hassling Anna by PM about it. I expect she is also glad that it was a mistake for that very reason. So 50 sounds lovely, thank you Tom.

20:50 / 30.09.03

Things like this are likely to happen on and off for a while. If something seems odd, please post about it and chuck me a private message and I'll do my best to sort it out.

00:11 / 01.10.03

a point was made over in the thread nick started about this.
this board has a very rare style, and a part of that is that we seem to expect a lot of new posters.

nowhere else is there so much back story to learn,or the expectation that a new recruit will learn it. i think it is a little unfair to expect everyone to be willing to wade through pages of mostly unreadable shit to glean some simple facts.

not before they learn the merits of said style, that is.

(i'm not just talking about this thread, i am talking generally)

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

00:41 / 01.10.03

I think posting limits are a good idea... I just like the limit to be fairly high.

It's like when you read about companies buying each other for a token sum of £1 or something... it's not a gift. It's a transaction, of which rights and responsibilities are both a part. The fact that there IS a limit (regardless of whether or not I reach it in any given day) is, even subconsciously, a reminder that every post should count, in some way or another, because there isn't an endless supply.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

00:45 / 01.10.03

Although (he said, using another of his posts) toksik has a point... I think, though, rather than changing how shit works here, we should be a little more tolerant of new posters who DON'T know all the backstory/etiquette. (Not... I said NOT... pointing any fingers... I'm guilty of this myself and I mean the community as a whole.)

Because this IS kind of a strange place if you're not used to it... and we can't expect even the best people to suddenly deal with it. Fuck, it took me a long time, but I'm happy here.

Sean the frumious Bandersnatch

23:08 / 24.01.05

(bump)

Don't we have posting limits set up to prevent this sort of thread? Why, yes, we do (from the faq)- "The post limit applies to the last 24 hours. You are currently allowed to post 25 posts per day and create 10 new topics." So how is it that quimper666 has done almost 40 posts in a 12 hour period?

23:21 / 24.01.05

Because the FAQ's out of date.

Tom, nine posts up in this very thread:

I've put the limits back up to 50 a day

Sean the frumious Bandersnatch

23:50 / 24.01.05

Oh. I took that from our new wiki, so I figured that it was up to date.

Something is being done/has been done about quimper666's stream of nonsense, though, right?

Less searchable M0rd4nt

05:04 / 25.01.05

Oh, hopefully he'll get bored and move on. The threads in the Temple are being pruned. I suggest we back off now and see what happens.