I came across this rule when someone claimed the message "You must wait 288 hours before posting in the forums" or something like that. I asked about the message, and the result was this comment on my profile:
[quote=Skeleton_Pilot]The rule that you can't post in the forums for 288 hours after you sign up. I don't see the logic behind it![/quote]
That was Skeleton_Pilot answering my question about what the 288 hour rule was. However, since Skeletn_Pilot is just a normal user, I created this thread to confirm what the 288 hour rule is and why it exists. So:
It is, and there is more news, but the background comes first:
I first discovered the rule when tunablade asked me why the message mentioned in the OP showed up. tunablade has now been around for over 12 days, so he should be unaffected except that he now claims a 486 hour rule. Here's the last part of his about to show you what I mean:
WHAT THE **** again i can not post on the forums because it says i must wait 486 hours after making my account till i can post
486 hours is a little over 20 days, and tunablade created his account on April 1st. An additional 486 hour rule seems illogical when there is already a 288 hour rule, so I wonder what would be causing this problem.
[quote]WHAT THE **** again i can not post on the forums because it says i must wait 486 hours after making my account till i can post
486 hours is a little over 20 days, and tunablade created his account on April 1st. An additional 486 hour rule seems illogical when there is already a 288 hour rule, so I wonder what would be causing this problem.[/quote]
Update: Skeleton_Pilot now claims a 456 hour rule, which is 19 days. Also, Skeleton_Pilot joined on April 9th. I found this out because he made this comment on my profile:
That's terrible! I just tried to post and it says that it's a 456 hour rule too! How are new members supposed to post in the forums now??
Who is in charge around here? I'm going to take this matter up with them!
Maybe 288 hours is the intended rule, but a glitch is extending the rule.
I don't think there was a rule about posting in forums when i created my account. If there was, i can't remember the length as i didn't get involved in the community in '08.
288 hours can be understandable i suppose - but if it's to prevent people from spamming, they're going to do it anyways if they don't understand the forums. Posts become less trolly as you get used to them. I think it's good in relation to the spamming of "WATCH LIVE FOOTBALL HERE" posts, as the bots/trolls wouldn't hang around.
The extra time does seem very excessive though. I guess the best thing to do is hope he doesn't get an extra sentence on forum time and check in with other new users.
I don't think there was a rule about posting in forums when i created my account. If there was, i can't remember the length as i didn't get involved in the community in '08.
Before the whole adbot mess, there were no posting rules of this type.
We already have the CAPTCHA in the registration screen. This new additional rule probably looked better on paper, but so far all it's doing is keeping potential active community members out of the forums. If you keep extending the amount of time in which a user cannot use one of the site's most distinct features, the amount of forum users is going to decrease rapidly.
Well I don't know if this helps, but a lot of the time when I go on a forum it says I have already made a post. I just reload the page and have no problems then
Well I don't know if this helps, but a lot of the time when I go on a forum it says I have already made a post. I just reload the page and have no problems then
No, it's about new members. Now when you sign up there is a waiting time before you can participate in the forums. New members are members, with access to their and other peoples profiles and the games, but cannot make a post in forums for 288 hours, or apparently more.
This rule isn't very bad in theory, but twelve days is excessive. If it was the rule when I signed up four years ago, I would have been put off. Who the heck signs up for a message board that forces them to wait two weeks before they can make a post?
I remember flinging myself into the forums just minutes after I confirmed my account. I really wanted to wander around.
I wouldn't find this so bizarre if other sites enforced such a measure.
If it was the rule when I signed up four years ago, I would have been put off
I would not have stuck around either. The forums are what got me hooked here. Since I wasn't really much of a gamer, if I were told I wasn't allowed to use the forums, I would have seen no further reason to stay and I would have probably wiped my hands of this site completely.
I wouldn't worry so much if I didn't think that exact thing was happening right now.
I know that when my friend made an account on ag, he had waited a week for the confirmation that his account is now usable and then had to write an email about his account to finally make it useable.
Yeah a couple of days should do the trick. As Ernie said, some people come here solely for the community/forums rather than the games. It might just turn a lot of people off.
I agree it should be a couple of days. The whole 12+ days thing I think is too long. I would go more with 5-7 days. While that is still pretty long it will be fine. The people that really want to be active in the community will wait it out while the spammers and stuff will just leave when they see how long it is.
We already have the CAPTCHA in the registration screen. This new additional rule probably looked better on paper, but so far all it's doing is keeping potential active community members out of the forums. If you keep extending the amount of time in which a user cannot use one of the site's most distinct features, the amount of forum users is going to decrease rapidly
To be honest, CAPTCHA's are not even that effective, I just did a simple google search. BOOM. Hundreds of bots that claim they can solve Captcha codes. This delay of time before posting will deter people who are using bots to advertise their product.
All in all, I think it is pretty effective. If somebody really wanted to join the Armor Games forums I am sure they would wait the designated time period (although I believe currently it is a bit too long).
