Possible One Time Posters Solution

[Magoo222]

Hey guys,

Not sure if this has been suggested before, or how feasible it is, but a site I used to visit had a feature where anyone new to the site could only post after being a member for a week, to allow them to look around and get a feel for how the site works, before they start asking questions. I've seen quite a few people complain about the one time posters on the site, and obviously with popular releases like Mario & Luigi at the moment causing a lot of people to sign up and ask about cracks/patches for various carts, the boards seem to be overloaded with them.

If people had to sign up and wait a week before posting, it could be that said hack has been developed in the meantime, and they don't need to post. Hopefully though they'll have found enough information on the site to want to keep coming back as an active member, rather than just grab whatever they need and run.

Like I said, I don't know how feasible it is, or if it would actually add to the server load with having to have a timer on each account, but I thought I'd mention it in case someone finds it useful.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

That might actually work!

 

[Ace Gunman]

I have my doubts. We live in an age where everyone has to have everything right now at the click of a button. Streaming movies, downloadable video games, etc etc. This solution you speak of requires patience, and patience is something the modern internet user lacks. I include myself in that.

Why, just last night I was going to change my password for a service I use when I was informed that I may not get the e-mail to do so for up to a day. No way was I waiting a day, so I simply didn't do it. I believe we'd be looking at the same thing here. Yes, most of those people may have only popped in to get the latest release, but in doing so they may stick around. If they can't ask the question they came to ask for up to a week, they may lose all interest entirely.

 

[Law]

I have my doubts. We live in an age where everyone has to have everything right now at the click of a button. Streaming movies, downloadable video games, etc etc. This solution you speak of requires patience, and patience is something the modern internet user lacks. I include myself in that.

Why, just last night I was going to change my password for a service I use when I was informed that I may not get the e-mail to do so for up to a day. No way was I waiting a day, so I simply didn't do it. I believe we'd be looking at the same thing here. Yes, most of those people may have only popped in to get the latest release, but in doing so they may stick around. If they can't ask the question they came to ask for up to a week, they may lose all interest entirely.

I think you know the question I'm about to ask.

Also pretty much the second paragraph here too. Went to change my paypal password, said I had to go get my bank account number, didn't have my details on me so I didn't do it, and still haven't.

 

[Magoo222]

I was looking at it more from the point of view that the question has already been asked 10 times, and doesn't need asking again, provided the user is willing to look through the forums. If someone can't get a direct answer for a week, they'll be forced to use the search feature to find their answer, or wait a week, by which time they will have either forgotten, or (hopefully) already found the answer on here.

Maybe a week is a little excessive considering the type of information most users are after, I know I'd hate to wait a week to find out if I'd fully bricked a console for example, but maybe not allowing a user to post on the day they sign up, just to try and slow them down and make them think a little bit more. Or maybe I'm putting too much faith in the old give a man a fish vs a net proverb.

 

[Wallydraigle]

I hate boards that make you play silly little games like that. If people can't sign up and post they're going to just not sign up. There was this one astronomy board I really wanted to join, and they did sort of the exact opposite. I was looking around and liked what I saw, but after viewing a few topics a page came up that said if I wanted to see any more I had to register. WTH is that?

If the place was giving users such a hard time before they ever got to posting, they'd probably wonder what it would be like later on, and just go somewhere else. I would. The fact is that everyone was a noob once, and everyone had a single post at one time.

Something else to think about is that if someone has an obscure question that might be hard to search for, it might even be a bigger drain on the server if they're sitting there doing a bunch of search queries than if you just let them ask their question and then leave.

 

[da_head]

i have to agree with the OP. i also go to a forum called teamliquid where you can't post for a week and where staff is pretty strict (you do one stupid thing and they ban you). i've been there for years and have never seen a single spambot or a troller

 

[totake]

That sounds like elitist garbage. Reminds me of the telnet RPG days where some MUCK/MUD/MUSHs made you hang around their lobbies for weeks chatting these douche bags up getting "member recommendations" until you could finally earn the "privilege" of role-playing on their server.

What is this, a damn country club?

 

[Ace Gunman]

Well, I can see how it might work. When I first joined, all those years ago. I actually waited a week or two before posting. But that was a different time.

 

[JesseB]

I understand what the OP is getting at, but it won't work. Say this rule was in effect as of today. So what happens in a week when Kingdom Hearts US comes out, or Spirit Tracks in December. Both of these are sure to be as well protected as M&L3, if not better. The point is, there will always be an issue of the day / week, etc. that will drive people to post the same question a billion times. Good idea, but it's more of a temporary solution than a permanent fix.

 

[Magoo222]

@ Wallydraigle: I wasn't suggesting that every new member be moderated or hazed into the GBATemp society, just that they show a little patience and take the time to see how the site works. I wouldn't take anything away from guests, I spent months on this site before finally signing up, gathering as much as I could from all the info on here and I think that's a great aspect of the site. I've found far too many "help" sites that block links or answers to questions until you sign up, and like you said it puts me off joining. However I don't think that saying to a new user, "Thanks for joining, have a look around, and in 24 hours ask any questions you've got" would put people off. As for the searching in the database, I'm afraid I don't know enough about that to comment really, but I see your point.

@ Totake: Again, I'm not suggesting that someone moderate every new person on the site, or force them to "earn" membership, all I'm suggesting is a way of encouraging people to learn for themselves, and in the process not fill the boards up for the other users on here.

@ Jesse B: But at least then they've come back to the site, and not made their one post and left. Surely the main reason to return to a site is if you found an answer there before. I agree that there will always be people asking what seem like stupid questions, everyone has to start somewhere, but just reducing the volume of questions might help a little. I've seen on a couple of the Wii boards, around the time the USB Loaders first dropped, people were asking questions that had been answered a few pages back, but the boards moved that fast that no-one bothered to check. Less single posters = slower moving boards = more useful and accessible information in my mind. And once a user has been with the site for a few days, assuming they're actually checking it and not hanging around waiting to ask their one question, they'll get a feel for how the people are here, and know what's likely to get them the best response.

Again, it's just a thought, I realise that it has flaws, but as Jesse B said, with games like KH and Zelda coming soon, I think getting something in place now might help in the long run.

 

[Domination]

I always tot it could be a good idea, but the noobs wouldn't bother watiting. We will have more 0 post accounts on our hands instead when they found out the account they made can't be used to ask questions.

 

[Raika]

With the upcoming KH and Zelda, this seems to be a good solution. However if KH and Zelda don't have anti-piracy checks then it won't be much of a problem.

 

[syko5150]

both Kingdom Hearts and Zelda will definitely have Anti Piracy blocks on them and i agree making them wait a week before posting is a good idea because in that time frame the answer for their problem will show up but maybe a week is a bit long maybe 72 hours.A lot of the flash carts have fixes in the first few days(well maybe not the older ones).

 

[Hadrian]

Question has been asked and answered many times before.

I say no. What if someone who has been visiting the forum for years and never joined but had a solution to a bit of piracy protection? What if they've been working on some pretty good homebrew or a utility that would enhance our consoles ala Wii Homebrew Channel?

What if they come to join but cant post this hot tits software for at least a week? They'll go elsewhere that's what. Ok you people will get it eventually but I know you lot are an impatient bunch and need stuff ASAP OTHERWISE YOU'LL DIE!

This still applies to members who may not have anything to give other than advice or just simply good times. Sure lots of you people are elitist so you wouldn't care if members go elsewhere but its the members like these that keep me and others here.

 

[Eerpow]

This is a really good idea, this will prevent all these useless post from being... well posted!
If you lack patient then screw you, your not welcome here at GBATemp.

 

[Magoo222]

Question has been asked and answered many times before.

I say no. What if someone who has been visiting the forum for years and never joined but had a solution to a bit of piracy protection? What if they've been working on some pretty good homebrew or a utility that would enhance our consoles ala Wii Homebrew Channel?

What if they come to join but cant post this hot tits software for at least a week? They'll go elsewhere that's what. Ok you people will get it eventually but I know you lot are an impatient bunch and need stuff ASAP OTHERWISE YOU'LL DIE!

This still applies to members who may not have anything to give other than advice or just simply good times. Sure lots of you people are elitist so you wouldn't care if members go elsewhere but its the members like these that keep me and others here.

Hmm, I see your point, but wouldn't you expect the number of single-posters to far exceed the number of prodigal hackers with hot-tits software (Which sounds awesome btw.)?

If it's not causing a problem with the boards, and there are servers in place to handle rushes of members signing up at a particular time using the boards, then nothing needs changing. I'd just seen a few comments scattered in and amongst the forums that made it sound like it was causing problems, and I thought I'd make a suggestion.

Oh, and I'm not really sure what the last part of your post means, are you implying that if we didn't let new people sign up and post immediately then some members would leave as they might miss out on a 0-day hack?

 

[Domination]

No I think what he means is that not every newbie is a noob. They may be here for the community, like chatting and non gaming stuff. And they don't want to wait, and they don't leave like the noobs. Well, thats what I think not sure if its what he meant.

i am sure I said this before too somewhere in the general off-topic... Feels like Deja Vu.