Please discuss. Since the SuperMods are having a "heated" debate, I'll let them open with pros and cons.
Well, I laid out some of my feelings on this previous poll that I've linked below, but for me it all comes down to the poll results there. 68% of BigSoccer favor keeping results out of titles. I really feel like this etiquette is one of the things that helps set BigSoccer above the rest. This is a moderated message board and our standards are higher than the chaos you find at unmoderated places. The [R] is just one part of this. Some other reasons I mentioned last time: As someone who has to come on BigSoccer fairly regulary, I'm totally against changing the policy. If there is a result I positively don't want spoiled, I'll avoid it, but as many of us Yanks Abroad fans know, it isn't always feasible to stay away before seeing a game. Some games don't show live and it's really nice to be able to wait for a replay unspoiled. PBP threads are a big part of what makes BigSoccer special - so often games such as U-17 qualifiers aren't televised and even if you missed the game, you can come and read the play by play days later. I'm also against setting a time limit because IMO people won't understand the rule if there are results sometimes and not others. 48 hours isn't enough time in these days of multiple replays and it also could potentially ruin PBP threads. Why do you need a result in title anyway? I realize that no results in titles requires a bit of a learning curve for newbies, but it's also something that sets BigSoccer apart, IMO. Requiring people to take some care in their posting via the Spoiler rule is just one more way that BigSoccer tries to have a slightly higher standard than other boards. And it's nice not to have to avoid the board just because a ManCity game featuring Claudio Reyna is being shown on tape delay a few hours behind. I don't come to BigSoccer when I want to immediately know a score - I hit other sites like soccernet, or kicker.de., or whatever. Did I mention I'm totally against a change? https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174296&highlight=spoiler
i'm sorry if this sounds ignorant, but I honestly don't see how it's that much more work putting an [R] in a thread title without results i understand the new posters find it out the hard way many times, but I guess I just don't understand why it's a "heated" debate?
I'm interested in hearing what the mods have to say about it, but here's my two cents. Keep it: enforce it by deleting thread titles/offending posts where they occur, but don't punish the poster unless it's clear it was deliberate, as in the case of persistent infringement. And, oh yeah, the people that get all connipted about violations of the rule need to lighten up big time. You visit a soccer web site, you're risking seeing a score or two. Big deal. As Alliu says, it's a common courtesy to avoid denting somebody's entertainment, but it's not one of the Ten Freaking Commandments.
What the hell is this thread supposed to accomplish that wasn't already accomplished in this thread last year? I'm tempted to copy and paste here every single word I posted in that thread (and as you know I'm quite the long-winded bastard) because NOTHING has changed to cause us to revisit the [R] policy since then.
I don't see the problem of having [R] on the end of match threads, it goes without saying, it's simple for a mod to add this if it's forgotten by whoever starts the thread. Keeping match results out of thread titles is easily done as well. And if someone looks at match thread when an [R] hasn't been added for whatever reason then come on, it's a match thread, mainly the pre/during/post in the title and if you can't figure out that the result will be mentioned then hell, I don't know what do say. The grey area comes with post match threads about things that have happened in the match or as a result of the match, for example if Newcastle lost and someone started a thread with the title 'Souness Sacked' it would clearly give the impression that Newcastle lost but should that title be edited? and if so how?
What's changed is that's its been a year, the world cup is coming and results are going to be unavoidable, and as you've slowly been noticing we've been adding news to the site which also has results sometimes.
You know Jesse, I've moderated a World Cup before. We handled the spoilers just fine last time. Spoilers weren't, as you suggest, unavoidable. That's just complete nonsense. As for the news business - Last time this came up it was because you were all hyped up about putting newsbots on BigSoccer. On most boards those have been an abject failure. People don't read them and people don't want them. If you're planning something else news-wise then I suggest you say what you've got in mind. Otherwise you can't expect people to comment about it in any informed or intelligent manner.
I don't mind the R rule, but if I really didn't want to know a score, I wouldn't be on the Internet surfing soccer or sports websites. If we do keep it, we definitely need to do something about the bot! I voted CAN IT! As a moderator, it's been only a small annoyance to explain it or edit someone's post to conform to standards.
Perhaps a compromise can be made. Keep the [R]. As soon as the game is over, the mod can post the results next to the [R], but only if the user chooses to Highlight to Reveal.
i've quoted what i said last time... in general... it's done, game over, it's news and fair game this is getting pathetic really... i go to forums knowing the results and still read the pbp's... it's just a different perspective to the game let's grow up and get over the damn [r] crap... it's ridicuously stupid
I'd rather get rid of the newsbots than the [R] rule. I never saw the use of the newsbots anyway since I'm sure we all visit other sites to get news. I'm glad that we left them out of the Arsenal board. I like the [R] rule for the same reasons that others mentioned earlier. Games are shown on delay here all the time and I also sometimes save games on my dvr if I can't see them right away. I usually stay away from BigSoccer if I can't risk seeing a result. However, there are times when I want to come here to discuss some breaking news or check on a particular thread/board without seeing every result.
Seconded. The newsbots are annoying and cluttering, especially when you hit the "New Posts" button and there are two pages of them to sift through. The [R] policy is nice in that I have three games from the weekend I still haven't watch, but I've been to Bigsoccer and haven't seen the scores of those games. Of course, I had to avoid the "New Posts" button so I didn't accidently stumble upon a newsbot story that gives away results. An [R] is a small price to pay, and only a minor inconvenience for moderators. I used to be in the "don't visit a soccer website if you don't want to know a score" camp, but now that I've started watching more games on delay, I definitely vote to keep the [R]'s.
If putting the damned R in the title is too much trouble, or too complicated for someone, then they're too stupid for anyone to want them posting stuff here anyway. Usually it just doesn't matter. Yes, it gets a little silly when paranoia leads someone to put an R in the "North Dakota High School Div III Girls Soccer Quarterfinals" thread, not because someone really thinks there was a network feed but because they don't want to run afoul of the mods.. But if one guy someplace is waiting to watch his recording of Fulham/Chelsea until the kids are in bed and the wife finally passes out from guzzling all that cheap gin and he can light a cigar, pop open a Stella and watch the game in peace, I say it's well worth it. If you're not enough of a soccer fan to understand where that poor bastard is coming from then go post at "Big Wankers" and leave us alone. There's simply no reason to change it.
Add standings where? Now ... Jesse - I've got a serious question here. I always enter BigSoccer here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/usercp.php That means I almost never see this page: https://www.bigsoccer.com/ I'm sure you have data on this, but what's the entry page breakdown? Do most people come through the homepage? Or do they go straight to MyBigSoccer or straight to one or another forum? What about returning visitors? Where does that specific group enter? It's just anecdotal, but I know at least some regulars on the DC United board have that forum bookmarked, go directly to that forum and apparently almost never leave it for another board. I ask because - staunch defender of the [R] policy that I am - I could possibly be persuaded to agree with a change that says the [R] policy doesn't apply to the homepage. It would still apply to the boards - just not to the homepage itself. It's not hard to avoid the homepage. If that's what this is really about then say so. Now if most people enter BigSoccer on the homepage then maybe that's a bad idea. Still, I think it's a more reasonable thing to discuss than doing away with the [R] policy completely. Having now taken another look at the homepage, it does occur to me that it just plain sucks. Problem is anything you'd want to put there to make it better (from newsfeeds, to blogfeeds, to standings) would reveal results. Still, you probably consider that place prime internet real estate (even if I, in my usual BigSoccer habits, consider it a backwater).
See Meissen's post above - the Home page currently often has results from the night/day before. I also avoid it by going to my usercp.
It won't suck forever. And we aren't just referring to the HP, but to pages that do not currently exist. There has been some debate about adding news to forums, though I personally have been a proponant of adding it in sub-forums such that it's user choice. Many teams/leagues/etc will have no "home" pages as well with more than just forums on it. Not everything is set in stone but basically the [r] rule makes it hard for us to expand our services without alienating what I think is a vocal minority but obviously a very important constituency. You guys link back to that old poll but the nominal votes are not that impressive, despite the %age quoted. This is a fluid discussion, and I think your point about board specific guideliness is not bad (tho you DC united guys if you never leave yoru forum should at least get to our shop! heheh )
You mean my.bigsoccer.com? or www.bigsoccer.com/my? Just trying to help out... to answer your questions... 37.65% of all entries are to home page 3.02% are to the MY 24.01% go straight to a forum, but I can't tell you what % is DC Not sure that helps the convo.
I like the [R] rule and before I make a decision, I'd like to know exactly what service would be added in exchange for getting rid of it. Frankly, I doubt it would be anything that I'd be giving up the [R] rule to get. I mean no disrespect with the following comment Huss. But it all comes down to Marketing 101 - before taking something to market are you sure it is something the market wants?