Archive Windows 98 forums permanently

[PC_LOAD_LETTER]

May I suggest then that a regular there be made moderator with mod action only on that forum and have the other mods wash their hands of that forum if it's too much work.

dencorso was made moderator of that forum in an attempt to appease the users of that forum.

Going with this argument, I might be ok with this idea if Windows NT and Office 97 get the same treatment. I.e. archive the merged nt4/2000/2003 forum and start fresh as the 2000/2003 forum (same for the merged office 97/2000/2002-XP/2003/2007 forum).

im fine with that but honestly there isnt much NT activity in the NT/2000/2003 forum these days and the entire office forum is deadsville as it is so splitting it up would just clutter the main category page.

Live and let live

...You used to say live and let live

you know you did 3x

But if this ever changin

in which we live in

Makes you give in and cry

Say live and let die

[ripken204]

well for those against what some of us have said, i am just for the mods on this.

there job is hard enough as it is and they are making it sound like they have to spend a lot of time moderating this forum to the point that it is not worth it, which is why we are asking the question, is it really worth it?

hopefully all of the crap that is going on will stop, but we do not want the mods to be annoyed to hell with the forum.

[dencorso]

Would you say that if the same thing happened in your operating systems (windows 7 I presume) forum?

I'd simply find somewhere else to go.

It's complicated... There's no place else to go, anymore. And, with the last antivirus software dropping 9x/ME by the end of this year I believe the user-base will start shrinking even faster than it already is, so it's highly improbable there will ever again be enough of us to keep a wiki going or to start a 9x/ME subforum elsewhere.

[herbalist]

Those forums are no longer used for anything constructive and have simply been an battle field for never ending, repetitive flame wars.

Nothing constructive? KernelEX and the GDI heap Extender aren't constructive? The 9X forum and the projects found in it are the primary reason I joined this place and is the area I use the most. I hope this thread and the 9X forum remain open until I get home from work so I can archive the material that I want and post a proper response to this thread.

[imai]

Speaking for myself I think it would be a terrible loss for all W98/ME users if this forum would not be continued. There is still valuable hardware and software in use that will only function under these old OSs.

So if the problem is caused by a few "bad apples" can't we just prevent access to the W98/ME forum for new members ? I mean read-only for all but new posts for current members only.

It is unlikely that there will be a vast increase in W98/ME users in the future but there is still some development going on that is of interest for W98/ME users.

[gamehead200]

Those forums are no longer used for anything constructive and have simply been an battle field for never ending, repetitive flame wars.

Nothing constructive? KernelEX and the GDI heap Extender aren't constructive? The 9X forum and the projects found in it are the primary reason I joined this place and is the area I use the most. I hope this thread and the 9X forum remain open until I get home from work so I can archive the material that I want and post a proper response to this thread.

What I believe jcarle meant to say was while there are interesting and constructive discussions going on in the 9X forum, the amount of flaming, bashing, negativity and other rule-breaking (excluding spam) in that forum has certainly exceeded the amount of constructiveness going on, has gotten pretty out of hand recently and it has become a little overwhelming for us mods (dencorso included) to handle. While you may disagree with this, please keep in mind that the moderating team catches most of the rule-breaking minutes after it occurs, so most of the offending posts are never read by the active 9X members. Finally, members who don't frequent the 9X forum very often may think that nothing constructive goes on in there because the only real time they might actually go through the posts is when all of the rule-breaking occurs.

As for the closing of the forum, we have no plans to close it as of yet, but as cluberti mentioned, it is being discussed and considered. However, please note that if it is decided to close the 9X forum, it will most likely be put in read-only mode, meaning you will still be able to access and read the posts. Also note that we will not simply close it without warning (members will most likely be advised several weeks in advance to wrap things up) as this will only upset a lot of people and just cause more trouble (which we don't want, obviously).

[jaclaz]

Maybe a "stupid" idea :

hey, it's not my fault, the devil imai made me think of it

Why not putting a minimum post AND elapsed time since registration to the board limit to allow access to the Win9x Forums in "write mode"?

Something "reasonable" like 3 posts and 7 days since subscription ?

Old time members won't have problems, new members will have to wait one week, during which they will have time to post something in here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/introduce_yourself-f76.html

This should :

a. mitigate the intensity of work of the Mods

b. allow people REALLY interested in joining the discussions to do so, even if they are "new"

c. let "aficionados" continue as if nothing changed

d. disincentivate "kids" from gatecrashing the party (usually the time span before an idea simply pops out of the brain of children is a few minutes)

jaclaz

Edited August 19, 2009 by jaclaz

[Kelsenellenelvian]

I think that is a GRAND idea.

Maybe 10 posts though.

[awergh]

yeah agreed it sounds like a good solution to the problem, and agreed 10 posts is possibly a better number

[Sl@y3D for my n@me]

Personally, I believe it would be a great shame to archive the forums so that nobody would be able to continue to contribute to the old operating system. Those projects have given the 9x series a whole new lease of life. I am astounded at how much they have accomplished.

The minimum posts idea would benefit the 9x forums greatly, in my opinion. At least that service pack plus guy wouldn't go on a spamming trip every other day.

[ripken204]

Maybe a "stupid" idea :

hey, it's not my fault, the devil imai made me think of it

Why not putting a minimum post AND elapsed time since registration to the board limit to allow access to the Win9x Forums in "write mode"?

Something "reasonable" like 3 posts and 7 days since subscription ?

Old time members won't have problems, new members will have to wait one week, during which they will have time to post something in here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/introduce_yourself-f76.html

This should :

a. mitigate the intensity of work of the Mods

b. allow people REALLY interested in joining the discussions to do so, even if they are "new"

c. let "aficionados" continue as if nothing changed

d. disincentivate "kids" from gatecrashing the party (usually the time span before an idea simply pops out of the brain of children is a few minutes)

jaclaz

if this is possible to implement then i am for it, assuming it fixes the issue at hand.

[imai]

Agree with Jaclaz, his proposal is less drastic than mine but may succeed in scaring off most spammers

(just one more post and I am in !)

[gamehead200]

Maybe a "stupid" idea :

hey, it's not my fault, the devil imai made me think of it

Why not putting a minimum post AND elapsed time since registration to the board limit to allow access to the Win9x Forums in "write mode"?

Something "reasonable" like 3 posts and 7 days since subscription ?

Old time members won't have problems, new members will have to wait one week, during which they will have time to post something in here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/introduce_yourself-f76.html

This should :

a. mitigate the intensity of work of the Mods

b. allow people REALLY interested in joining the discussions to do so, even if they are "new"

c. let "aficionados" continue as if nothing changed

d. disincentivate "kids" from gatecrashing the party (usually the time span before an idea simply pops out of the brain of children is a few minutes)

jaclaz

We've been talking about implementig something like this. The only problem I see with it is new members posting nonsense (e.g., one-word posts) in order to meet that minimum post requirement (which isn't as uncommon as one might think).

[jaclaz]

We've been talking about implementig something like this. The only problem I see with it is new members posting nonsense (e.g., one-word posts) in order to meet that minimum post requirement (which isn't as uncommon as one might think).

Well, the idea was to reduce work for Mods, not to make them able to go on holidays.

Don't we already have Rule #2.a and Rule #10?

Just make them stricter, if needed.

jaclaz

[Chozo4]

We've been talking about implementig something like this. The only problem I see with it is new members posting nonsense (e.g., one-word posts) in order to meet that minimum post requirement (which isn't as uncommon as one might think).

Perhaps, if possile despite sounding silly..

... could it be possible to add in a rule whereas new members must contribute something of a certain degree? As in, the posts must be of a certain minimum length and/or word count? Although, I'm unsure if the forum software MSFN runs on supports such a feature. >.>