We are always speaking from our own perspectives... I was simply seeking to understand yours. (And obsess over a literal interpretation of "everybody" while I was at it)
I should've added a qualifier, I think Slashdot has made a better go of it than most communities of its size. Would I be correct in guessing the other web forums you are speaking of are smaller than Slashdot, and perhaps more focused in nature? (If not, please share what they are!)
I'm really comparing Slashdot to the likes of Digg, Reddit, YouTube, Newsvine, etc, that feature simple "+1" systems instead of Slashdot's more sophisticated approach.
I also have some experience building and policing user communities, so I have some appreciation for what it takes to temper the signal:noise ratio as a site grows. Browsing Slashdot on +3 or +4 is pretty good, compared to the average quality of comments on the innertubes.
Yes, I'm aware that "I see" indicates your perspective. It's really not as complicated as you're trying to make it.
A long time ago, a wise man once wrote:
Lots of people pose for the word 'Insightful' to appear next to their posts.
Indicating that, on some level, he realizes that this behaviour doesn't apply to everyone. So I'm not sure why we're still arguing this point?
You make good points about metamod, I'm sure it could be improved. I still wouldn't classify it as a "simple" problem to solve tho... eg how do you encourage good meta-moderation? Meta-meta-moderators? And on and on...
A self-moderated system will always have such holes, but Slashdot has made a better go of it than most.
Well.. no. I was already aware this is your opinion. I am responding to your opinion, by characterizing it as unfair and overly broad. If you are conceding that this behaviour does not apply to everybody, then there is no point of disagreement... as I said, I found the rest of your post spot on.
Lots of people pose for the word 'Insightful' to appear next to their posts.
Yes, LOTS do. EVERYBODY does not. Glad we're in agreement now.;)
There are simple ways to solve this, the most obvious being that there be actual consequences for bad moderation.
What on earth do you think the point of Meta-Moderation is?
(And if your answer is, "meta-moderation clearly doesn't work", then maybe it's not as simple to solve as you claim it is?)
I'm not saying that to be a jerk
I don't think you're a jerk, just blunt. I got no problem with blunt. Or blunts. HA! Peace.
This is the exact spot where your post goes from insightful to overly generalized.
Sure there are karma whores aplenty, but don't you think it's a little unfair to paint everyone with that brush?
Why would I care about karma anymore? (Why do you?) I hit the cap like 12 years ago (cue the "n00b!" posts from the 3-4 digit UID crowd). Which of course is exactly why karma is capped and shows no numerical score anymore in the first place.. changes that were specifically introduced as a response to karma whoring.
I recall when I first joined/. it did seem like a "challenge" to get a +5, and I'm sure some of my early posts were written with that goal in mind. But the novelty wears off pretty damn fast... and I can't imagine I'm unique in that feeling. I just post when I honestly feel like I can contribute something (or the odd stupid joke if the mood strikes).
Moderators would have to be trained
They tried the hand-picked moderator route... fantastic in principle, but it simply doesn't scale. Have you read the history and rationale of how the moderation system here evolved? It's pretty interesting: http://slashdot.org/moderation.shtml
Yes, "today" means "today". The summary is directly quoting the original article, which was published on Saturday. Mindblowing, I know.
Is this too complicated for you? That news aggregation sites sometimes (often, in the case of Slashdot) post to articles from days that have already passed?
on january 1st would you say something that happened at 10pm on december 29th, happened "this year"?
I would say "it happened a few days ago", because "day" is a more appropriate unit of measure in this context than "year". Ditto for "yesterday" vs "last week" when speaking of the day before today.
behind your chosen highguard of numenor based pseudonym
Since you asked so nicely, "Wraithlyn" is a combination of "Wraith" and "Raistlin" (from Dragonlance), I used it for an RPG character on a MUD in the mid nineties and ended up using it for Slashdot.
ur mum's face're just being a pedantic ass you're an ignorant hypocrite cower in my shadow some more [...] feeb you're completely pathetic
Funny how often "pedantic ass" and "severe social problems" go hand in hand.
To be fair, the original script had them using humans as CPUs, tapping their brains for processing power... which is at least plausible. Some genius decided this was too complicated for American audiences to understand and thus it was switched to the "humans as power generators" nonsense.
So I just tell myself that's what the machines are REALLY using the humans for, and the "humans as batteries" crap is just Morpheus's woefully ignorant pet theory. It kinda works if you squint real hard.
His post-Titanic dives were for two underwater documentaries, Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep, during which he also developed his 3D camera technology. He also did some TV in there too (Dark Angel and a couple other things). People make it sound like he was on vacation between Titanic and Avatar, but he has 5 directing credits during that period and advanced the state of the art for 3D, not to mention underwater exploration and filming. In between writing & directing the 2 highest grossing films of all time... not too shabby. Anyway, your characterization of him as a rich layabout "kicking back" is pretty off base. If anything he's obsessively driven.
If his dives had any research relevance to Avatar, it may have been for flora & fauna inspiration. Also, it's been reported that Avatar 2 will be largely underwater.
I seriously do not get the problem some people seem to have with this.
I have a 2011 Macbook Air, not a Macbook Air 3. My friend drives a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier, not a Chevy Cavalier 17 (or whatever it would be). Apple just announced the 2012 model iPad. What is the big deal?
Most brands drop "numbered sequels" after a certain point. MS Office anyone? Or how about Windows? (Yes, they went BACK to numbers, that probably had something to do differentiating the fuck away from Vista).
And no, "The New iPad" is NOT *literally* the new name. You think that's going on the box? It's just the "iPad". This year's iteration. The end.
I bike to work year round in Calgary, AB, where it can hit -50 (with wind chill) in deep winter, and we have snow/ice 6 months of the year or more.
How? Thick gloves and a face mask.... exposed skin is a no-no. Not much to it other than that and some willpower. And of course biking on snow/ice (particularly cornering) is an acquired skill... just think of it like an exciting new sport to master.;)
Clearly you don't live in Calgary. Google Maps Transit was a godsend... forget schedule information, you needed it just to figure out an efficient ROUTE thru Calgary's masochistic spaghetti-maze of local bus loops.
They've removed all the complex "stats" that made the game too difficult for console users who can barely figure out their power button and lame ass controller. THATS RIGHT they removed the damn stats from an RPG to make it easier for console users. That's like removing the bullets from a gun to make it safer! God damn idiots! That's he whole reason people play RPGs!
Skyrim's skills & perks system creates incredible depth and customizability.
No, you don't have simple INT score anymore. You have five magic skill trees instead. So really it's more like you have *5* INT scores, plus a shitload of perks to go with them.
No, you don't have a simple DEX score anymore. Instead you have relevant skills like Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Sneak, etc, and your own physical dexterity with the controls. When you spring a trap, you jump out of the way! You'd really prefer a stat-based saving throw or something?
No, you don't have a simple STR score anymore. Instead, you have Stamina which determines your carry weight, and all the weapon skill trees to determine your combat effectiveness.
No, you don't have a CHA skill, you have the Speech skill tree.
Etc etc.
Skyrim's "you are what you play" design is flat out brilliant, it's both accessible (just dive in and play however you want) and incredibly deep.
The only "consolification" crap in Skyrim is the menu system, and it's really not that bad.
And Bethesda is not mod-friendly? Now you're just smoking crack. Skyrim Nexus already has over 4000 mods available, and Bethesda hasn't even released the Creation Kit yet.
I do agree that SupCom2 was an epically awful dumbing down from SupCom1. But Skyrim is a GOOD example of streamlining game mechanics without sacrificing depth.
I used to run a group where we hewed pretty close to the rules, but players could ask to do whatever they wanted at any time and I'd make up a percentage chance of success on the spot, and base results on how close they rolled to the target. Made for some truly awesome freeform combat.
Player: "I want to leap up onto the table and take a flying leap at the Orc, drawing my dagger mid-air and planting it in his eye" Me: "What's your dexterity? OK, I'll give you a 40% chance of pulling off that maneuver, if successful you can roll a regular attack (with a damage bonus from your momentum), but you'll need a critical to hit him in the eye though"
Player rolls a 40 or less, he pulls it off (with a 01 being an automatic critical, and 02-10 being an automatic hit). Player rolls reasonably close (say 40 - 60), he'll be semi-successful (eg he pulls off the flying leap attack but lands on his ass and has to spend time getting up next round), player rolls way off (say 60 - 90) he fails completely (eg trips over a chair and loses his round), player rolls exceptionally high (ie, 90s) he majorly screws up (eg crashes into a teammate taking them both down) and if he rolls 00, HILARIOUS EPIC FAIL TIME, his shoelaces get tangled and he crashes headfirst into the fireplace (d6 fire damage), and his dagger goes flying in a random direction.
This is EXACTLY the plot of a 2003 novel called "Jennifer Government" by Max Barry, the novel literally opens with a Nike executive arranging for the deaths of some kids to drum up hype for a new sneaker brand.
It's so crazily bang-on I did a double take when learning about this story. Talk about life imitating art.
GREAT book too, highly recommended. Time called it an "ad-world version of Dr Strangelove" and that is an apt description. He even did a pretty good job with the tech jargon.
Slashdot Mirror
We are always speaking from our own perspectives... I was simply seeking to understand yours. (And obsess over a literal interpretation of "everybody" while I was at it)
I should've added a qualifier, I think Slashdot has made a better go of it than most communities of its size. Would I be correct in guessing the other web forums you are speaking of are smaller than Slashdot, and perhaps more focused in nature? (If not, please share what they are!)
I'm really comparing Slashdot to the likes of Digg, Reddit, YouTube, Newsvine, etc, that feature simple "+1" systems instead of Slashdot's more sophisticated approach.
I also have some experience building and policing user communities, so I have some appreciation for what it takes to temper the signal:noise ratio as a site grows. Browsing Slashdot on +3 or +4 is pretty good, compared to the average quality of comments on the innertubes.
Yes, I'm aware that "I see" indicates your perspective. It's really not as complicated as you're trying to make it.
A long time ago, a wise man once wrote:
Indicating that, on some level, he realizes that this behaviour doesn't apply to everyone. So I'm not sure why we're still arguing this point?
You make good points about metamod, I'm sure it could be improved. I still wouldn't classify it as a "simple" problem to solve tho... eg how do you encourage good meta-moderation? Meta-meta-moderators? And on and on...
A self-moderated system will always have such holes, but Slashdot has made a better go of it than most.
Well.. no. I was already aware this is your opinion. I am responding to your opinion, by characterizing it as unfair and overly broad. If you are conceding that this behaviour does not apply to everybody, then there is no point of disagreement... as I said, I found the rest of your post spot on.
Yes, LOTS do. EVERYBODY does not. Glad we're in agreement now. ;)
What on earth do you think the point of Meta-Moderation is?
(And if your answer is, "meta-moderation clearly doesn't work", then maybe it's not as simple to solve as you claim it is?)
I don't think you're a jerk, just blunt. I got no problem with blunt. Or blunts. HA! Peace.
This is the exact spot where your post goes from insightful to overly generalized.
Sure there are karma whores aplenty, but don't you think it's a little unfair to paint everyone with that brush?
Why would I care about karma anymore? (Why do you?) I hit the cap like 12 years ago (cue the "n00b!" posts from the 3-4 digit UID crowd). Which of course is exactly why karma is capped and shows no numerical score anymore in the first place.. changes that were specifically introduced as a response to karma whoring.
I recall when I first joined /. it did seem like a "challenge" to get a +5, and I'm sure some of my early posts were written with that goal in mind. But the novelty wears off pretty damn fast... and I can't imagine I'm unique in that feeling. I just post when I honestly feel like I can contribute something (or the odd stupid joke if the mood strikes).
They tried the hand-picked moderator route... fantastic in principle, but it simply doesn't scale. Have you read the history and rationale of how the moderation system here evolved? It's pretty interesting: http://slashdot.org/moderation.shtml
You've given me a new mission in life; to use this phrase in a creative review with the intent of making a designer cry.
And for that, I thank you.
Except for this guy, whom I had the pleasure of chatting with earlier. The mind recoils in horror.
I guess his first 420 accounts got locked down or throttled? :P
Yes, "today" means "today". The summary is directly quoting the original article, which was published on Saturday. Mindblowing, I know.
Is this too complicated for you? That news aggregation sites sometimes (often, in the case of Slashdot) post to articles from days that have already passed?
I would say "it happened a few days ago", because "day" is a more appropriate unit of measure in this context than "year". Ditto for "yesterday" vs "last week" when speaking of the day before today.
Since you asked so nicely, "Wraithlyn" is a combination of "Wraith" and "Raistlin" (from Dragonlance), I used it for an RPG character on a MUD in the mid nineties and ended up using it for Slashdot.
Funny how often "pedantic ass" and "severe social problems" go hand in hand.
Great trolling tho, brah.
Strictly speaking, your wristwatch is a fucking computer, but nobody calls it that.
Computer = "general purpose PC" in common usage, including what they're talking about in TFA.
Who fucking cares if it crosses the boundary between Saturday and Sunday? It was still only 26 hours.
It's like calling 11:59pm Dec 31 "last year" on 12:01am Jan 1. While, it's technically true, you're just being a pedantic ass.
Have a nice day.
To be fair, the original script had them using humans as CPUs, tapping their brains for processing power... which is at least plausible. Some genius decided this was too complicated for American audiences to understand and thus it was switched to the "humans as power generators" nonsense.
So I just tell myself that's what the machines are REALLY using the humans for, and the "humans as batteries" crap is just Morpheus's woefully ignorant pet theory. It kinda works if you squint real hard.
His post-Titanic dives were for two underwater documentaries, Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep, during which he also developed his 3D camera technology. He also did some TV in there too (Dark Angel and a couple other things). People make it sound like he was on vacation between Titanic and Avatar, but he has 5 directing credits during that period and advanced the state of the art for 3D, not to mention underwater exploration and filming. In between writing & directing the 2 highest grossing films of all time... not too shabby. Anyway, your characterization of him as a rich layabout "kicking back" is pretty off base. If anything he's obsessively driven.
If his dives had any research relevance to Avatar, it may have been for flora & fauna inspiration. Also, it's been reported that Avatar 2 will be largely underwater.
I seriously do not get the problem some people seem to have with this.
I have a 2011 Macbook Air, not a Macbook Air 3. My friend drives a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier, not a Chevy Cavalier 17 (or whatever it would be). Apple just announced the 2012 model iPad. What is the big deal?
Most brands drop "numbered sequels" after a certain point. MS Office anyone? Or how about Windows? (Yes, they went BACK to numbers, that probably had something to do differentiating the fuck away from Vista).
And no, "The New iPad" is NOT *literally* the new name. You think that's going on the box? It's just the "iPad". This year's iteration. The end.
I've been spending too much time on Reddit, where 70% of communication is done with memes. (The rest are puns)
Only if your definition of "perfectly good" is "so convoluted that nobody EVER uses it". ;)
Let's be honest here, verisimilitude exhibits a superlative and ostentatious preponderance of syllables.
So are you saying his description sounds true, but is actually false?
Couldn't resist
Pretty sure he knows what the actual definition of landlocked is.
And yet, everyone instantly knew what he meant. Perfectly intuitive metaphor (ie, the internet as ocean).
I bike to work year round in Calgary, AB, where it can hit -50 (with wind chill) in deep winter, and we have snow/ice 6 months of the year or more.
How? Thick gloves and a face mask.... exposed skin is a no-no. Not much to it other than that and some willpower. And of course biking on snow/ice (particularly cornering) is an acquired skill... just think of it like an exciting new sport to master. ;)
...or they use artificial (ie rotational) gravity to sidestep the problem entirely.
Clearly you don't live in Calgary. Google Maps Transit was a godsend... forget schedule information, you needed it just to figure out an efficient ROUTE thru Calgary's masochistic spaghetti-maze of local bus loops.
Five is right out.
The whole point of a doomsday clock... is LOST if you keep it a secret!
WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL THE WORLD, EH?
Skyrim's skills & perks system creates incredible depth and customizability.
No, you don't have simple INT score anymore. You have five magic skill trees instead. So really it's more like you have *5* INT scores, plus a shitload of perks to go with them.
No, you don't have a simple DEX score anymore. Instead you have relevant skills like Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Sneak, etc, and your own physical dexterity with the controls. When you spring a trap, you jump out of the way! You'd really prefer a stat-based saving throw or something?
No, you don't have a simple STR score anymore. Instead, you have Stamina which determines your carry weight, and all the weapon skill trees to determine your combat effectiveness.
No, you don't have a CHA skill, you have the Speech skill tree.
Etc etc.
Skyrim's "you are what you play" design is flat out brilliant, it's both accessible (just dive in and play however you want) and incredibly deep.
The only "consolification" crap in Skyrim is the menu system, and it's really not that bad.
And Bethesda is not mod-friendly? Now you're just smoking crack. Skyrim Nexus already has over 4000 mods available, and Bethesda hasn't even released the Creation Kit yet.
I do agree that SupCom2 was an epically awful dumbing down from SupCom1. But Skyrim is a GOOD example of streamlining game mechanics without sacrificing depth.
I used to run a group where we hewed pretty close to the rules, but players could ask to do whatever they wanted at any time and I'd make up a percentage chance of success on the spot, and base results on how close they rolled to the target. Made for some truly awesome freeform combat.
Player: "I want to leap up onto the table and take a flying leap at the Orc, drawing my dagger mid-air and planting it in his eye"
Me: "What's your dexterity? OK, I'll give you a 40% chance of pulling off that maneuver, if successful you can roll a regular attack (with a damage bonus from your momentum), but you'll need a critical to hit him in the eye though"
Player rolls a 40 or less, he pulls it off (with a 01 being an automatic critical, and 02-10 being an automatic hit). Player rolls reasonably close (say 40 - 60), he'll be semi-successful (eg he pulls off the flying leap attack but lands on his ass and has to spend time getting up next round), player rolls way off (say 60 - 90) he fails completely (eg trips over a chair and loses his round), player rolls exceptionally high (ie, 90s) he majorly screws up (eg crashes into a teammate taking them both down) and if he rolls 00, HILARIOUS EPIC FAIL TIME, his shoelaces get tangled and he crashes headfirst into the fireplace (d6 fire damage), and his dagger goes flying in a random direction.
Man. Need to start playing again. ;)
This is EXACTLY the plot of a 2003 novel called "Jennifer Government" by Max Barry, the novel literally opens with a Nike executive arranging for the deaths of some kids to drum up hype for a new sneaker brand.
It's so crazily bang-on I did a double take when learning about this story. Talk about life imitating art.
GREAT book too, highly recommended. Time called it an "ad-world version of Dr Strangelove" and that is an apt description. He even did a pretty good job with the tech jargon.