I wouldn't mind the ability the edit posts (at least for a short time anyway). Most sites now support that, but Slashdot still doesn't. Would be nice to be able to fix typos that my shitty proofing missed. Of course the beta doesn't support that (or anything useful really), but OMG Ponies!!
I don't mind a new "look." I don't even mind them adding new features (as long as they don't get in the way or fuck anything up). It's when they start TAKING AWAY FUNCTIONALITY that I get pissed off. I couldn't give a rat's ass if they want to pretty up the beta or add "Achievements" (as if Slashdot were a fucking videogame) or whatever. But when they take AWAY the ability to see a simple list of user comments, with replies and mods, THAT'S what really makes the Beta such a piece of shit.
That the current "Beta" incarnation shows horrible judgement and lack of basic understanding of the slashdot audience. Think about that.
Who the fuck takes the audience into consideration when designing a website??? That's crazy talk!! No, the way to do it is to just decide that this is the way it's going to be and if our audience doesn't like it, then fuck 'em! That's the principle Digg used when they started making changes to their site back in the day, and it seemed to work out fine for them.
This shortcoming was recognized and pointed out again and again back in October when they revealed the beta. Now here we sit five months on with the same problems.
But...but...they're LISTENING. Timothy PROMISES!
Hell, AFAICT, the beta hasn't really changed at all since it launched. If they've changed anything (based on input or otherwise), I can't see it. For all that "We're listening to you" horseshit, I would like to know if they've even changed one damn thing. I bet they paid a contractor to design it and don't even have him working on it anymore (except maybe for maintenance).
First, thanks to timothy for reaching out like this
He's not reaching out. Read his post more carefully. It says nothing. It's a long-winded equivalent of a form letter that says "Dear valued customer: We take customer complaints very seriously and also value your suggestions. We always take our customers' valuable input into consideration. Thank you for shopping at Walmart!" Notices that he promises nothing, refuses to back down on abolishing Classic, and basically just says "Yeah, we're listening, honest--now STFU."
Plenty of people have complained that there is no way in the beta to see a simple list of a user's comments (with replies and mods), the way you can in Classic. This makes it very difficult to follow long-term discussions or even respond to replies. Now the functionality is clearly THERE (since you can do this in Classic). So someone has clearly made the decision to NOT include it in the beta.
Lots of people have complained about this and other issue. Nothing has changed. In fact, AFAICT, not a single thing about the beta has been changed since I first tried it out months ago.
You have clearly NOT listened to us. And I doubt you have any intentions of EVER listening to us. And your bullshit post is the most verbose pile of shit that says ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that I have read in a long time. Allow me to summarize, for those who don't wish to read a huge paragraph of unadulterated horseshit:
Hey guys, stop throwing stuff at me, please! We're listening, I promise. And while I'm not promising do change anything, or do anything differently at all really; I really wish you would stop all this protesting and whining! I promise we're listening, and your suggestions will be put right here in File 13, where we will give them due consideration--before doing what we planned to all along anyway.
Piss off your users, and they first get loud and tell you what you're doing wrong. Then, they get quiet. REAL quiet. As in, no longer visiting your site.
The Dice execs should visit Kevin Rose's box and ask him how that works out in the end.
That's one of the real nasty bits of it. Any kind of long-lasting discussion is out of the question. Some of the best threads I've ever seen on/. came from deep, ongoing discussions between knowledgeable people. The beta makes it difficult to have any real back-and-forth.
Gee, who do you think has unlimited mod points and a vested interest in shutting down the anti-beta posts?
The funny thing is, as another poster pointed out, the/. editors would be the first ones to cry "Censorship!" if some other site attempted to silence *their* users.
Yeah, keep modding down timothy. Shutting the door after the horses have already gotten out. Might be better off spending that time updating your resume.
Oh man, Digg. Remember how *fast* Kevin Rose went from former TV host to the most cocky motherfucker on the planet? Must have been a hard fall for a guy who had forgotten than his shit stinks.
Actually, IIRC, when Dice bought Slashdot, that's pretty much exactly what they said. They gave the usual, BS "We promise we won't change anything guys," spill. Of course, 5 minutes after saying that, they started fucking with stuff. Some of the most embarrassing were those paid sponsor videos they started trying to pass off as regular submissions. You would think that they would have known better than to try to bullshit such an intelligent userbase with some retard-obvious shit like that.
Ooh, looks like the Slashdot editors are running in here with limitless mod points trying to put out the fire. I guess they finally got out of their weekly circle-jerk, cleaned the spooge off Timothy's shirt, and noticed what was going on.
If Dice would stop chasing off users with one stupid fucking move after another, maybe more advertisers would come. Slashdot used to have a userbase where 1,000+ comments on a story was pretty common, and even big sites could be "Slashdotted." When's the last time you saw THAT?
Slashdot Mirror
This post indicates that our concerns have been heard. Give them a chance.
Posting anon, now Timothy? Have you really sunk so low?
I wouldn't mind the ability the edit posts (at least for a short time anyway). Most sites now support that, but Slashdot still doesn't. Would be nice to be able to fix typos that my shitty proofing missed. Of course the beta doesn't support that (or anything useful really), but OMG Ponies!!
Why this need for a radical departure?
Probably so Dice can tout a big relaunch of the *New and Improved* Slashdot.
I don't mind a new "look." I don't even mind them adding new features (as long as they don't get in the way or fuck anything up). It's when they start TAKING AWAY FUNCTIONALITY that I get pissed off. I couldn't give a rat's ass if they want to pretty up the beta or add "Achievements" (as if Slashdot were a fucking videogame) or whatever. But when they take AWAY the ability to see a simple list of user comments, with replies and mods, THAT'S what really makes the Beta such a piece of shit.
Timothy's post is just a restatement of the same bullshit they've been saying all along. "We value your feedback....blah...blah..blah..."
That the current "Beta" incarnation shows horrible judgement and lack of basic understanding of the slashdot audience. Think about that.
Who the fuck takes the audience into consideration when designing a website??? That's crazy talk!! No, the way to do it is to just decide that this is the way it's going to be and if our audience doesn't like it, then fuck 'em! That's the principle Digg used when they started making changes to their site back in the day, and it seemed to work out fine for them.
This shortcoming was recognized and pointed out again and again back in October when they revealed the beta. Now here we sit five months on with the same problems.
But...but...they're LISTENING. Timothy PROMISES!
Hell, AFAICT, the beta hasn't really changed at all since it launched. If they've changed anything (based on input or otherwise), I can't see it. For all that "We're listening to you" horseshit, I would like to know if they've even changed one damn thing. I bet they paid a contractor to design it and don't even have him working on it anymore (except maybe for maintenance).
First, thanks to timothy for reaching out like this
He's not reaching out. Read his post more carefully. It says nothing. It's a long-winded equivalent of a form letter that says "Dear valued customer: We take customer complaints very seriously and also value your suggestions. We always take our customers' valuable input into consideration. Thank you for shopping at Walmart!" Notices that he promises nothing, refuses to back down on abolishing Classic, and basically just says "Yeah, we're listening, honest--now STFU."
Plenty of people have complained that there is no way in the beta to see a simple list of a user's comments (with replies and mods), the way you can in Classic. This makes it very difficult to follow long-term discussions or even respond to replies. Now the functionality is clearly THERE (since you can do this in Classic). So someone has clearly made the decision to NOT include it in the beta.
Lots of people have complained about this and other issue. Nothing has changed. In fact, AFAICT, not a single thing about the beta has been changed since I first tried it out months ago.
You have clearly NOT listened to us. And I doubt you have any intentions of EVER listening to us. And your bullshit post is the most verbose pile of shit that says ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that I have read in a long time. Allow me to summarize, for those who don't wish to read a huge paragraph of unadulterated horseshit:
Hey guys, stop throwing stuff at me, please! We're listening, I promise. And while I'm not promising do change anything, or do anything differently at all really; I really wish you would stop all this protesting and whining! I promise we're listening, and your suggestions will be put right here in File 13, where we will give them due consideration--before doing what we planned to all along anyway.
Piss off your users, and they first get loud and tell you what you're doing wrong. Then, they get quiet. REAL quiet. As in, no longer visiting your site.
The Dice execs should visit Kevin Rose's box and ask him how that works out in the end.
That's one of the real nasty bits of it. Any kind of long-lasting discussion is out of the question. Some of the best threads I've ever seen on /. came from deep, ongoing discussions between knowledgeable people. The beta makes it difficult to have any real back-and-forth.
My mother was a Beta, you insensitive clod!
They may well have *listened* to it. It was the fact that they then *disregarded it* that's the problem.
Gee, who do you think has unlimited mod points and a vested interest in shutting down the anti-beta posts?
The funny thing is, as another poster pointed out, the /. editors would be the first ones to cry "Censorship!" if some other site attempted to silence *their* users.
You guys are going to drive poor Beta to suicide! Then you'll feel guilty!!
Timothy is mass downmodding everyone who posts on the beta. Look at the comment sections in the Amazon story.
It's fucking timothy. Look at who's been posting all the stories today.
Yeah, keep modding down timothy. Shutting the door after the horses have already gotten out. Might be better off spending that time updating your resume.
Oh man, Digg. Remember how *fast* Kevin Rose went from former TV host to the most cocky motherfucker on the planet? Must have been a hard fall for a guy who had forgotten than his shit stinks.
Look at the Amazon double-helix comments. Mass downmods everywhere.
Looks like they're using their unlimited mod points to try to downmod everyone who posts on the beta.
It's a real shame. In it's heyday, Slashdot was a pretty fucking amazing place to be.
Actually, IIRC, when Dice bought Slashdot, that's pretty much exactly what they said. They gave the usual, BS "We promise we won't change anything guys," spill. Of course, 5 minutes after saying that, they started fucking with stuff. Some of the most embarrassing were those paid sponsor videos they started trying to pass off as regular submissions. You would think that they would have known better than to try to bullshit such an intelligent userbase with some retard-obvious shit like that.
Ooh, looks like the Slashdot editors are running in here with limitless mod points trying to put out the fire. I guess they finally got out of their weekly circle-jerk, cleaned the spooge off Timothy's shirt, and noticed what was going on.
If Dice would stop chasing off users with one stupid fucking move after another, maybe more advertisers would come. Slashdot used to have a userbase where 1,000+ comments on a story was pretty common, and even big sites could be "Slashdotted." When's the last time you saw THAT?
Here's a hint, it was before Taco sold to Dice.