Jason, first, let me say;

THANK YOU!!

I do, however have one minor concern. Policing this too closely, will result in losing a certain flavour that this website has. Do we remember the days of, "I stayed up for this??" Or, in massive RED letters, "ROBOSAPIEN!!"

I even grew accustomed to seeing Pete's post, as the first one.

If anyone of you have ever been to Venice Beach, there is a famous guy, who wears rollerblades, and plays an electric guitar, while skating around. Not quite the type that you'd like to see, riding through your church during a meeting, but he adds a flavour to the beach.

This place needs some of that flavour. It might be similar to the French Quarter, or Chinatown in a few famous cities.

What I'm trying to say, is this place has always had a personality. Kinda like Bart Simpson's personality.

steve

I'm glad to see this. I've stopped browsing the forums because of all the poinltess posts. Hopefully the new crackdown will make the useful info easier to find!

skou wrote:

This place needs some of that flavour.

No, it doesn't.

praise woot!!i will look forward to giving the forum another shot.When the website changed I found that the forums did too, and not for the better. Thank you for noticing and handling it

Binaural wrote:

Are you saying that you like all the referral posts, "first page" posts, etc? If so, well, you could just leave, if you don't like the changes.

Lol binaural how often do you check this page to recomment? you are like every 5 or 6 posts lol. Oh yeah and i generally dont like change, but without being to skeptical i like the new changes, go woot.

You have no idea how happy this makes me...thank you.

Bravo- I never did understand the joy of being the first to say absolutely nothing, while clogging the system for potential buyers. I want to read other people's opinions of the item that comes up at midnight, not wade through 3 pages of "me first wienies, I'm going to bed" before the solid commentary can be found.

Looked at tonight's thread, looks like they don't mean what they say about the rules, again.

Did someone have a birthday and wake up another year older <and smarter> too!?
Whatever - this is good newz. Thx for your dilligence - and LONG LIVE WOOT !!

Thank you, w00t staff. This makes me happier, healthier, and wiser.

KoiKeeper wrote:

Looked at tonight's thread, looks like they don't mean what they say about the rules, again.

It's getting better. Have to give them a little time to decide what to delete, after all... the crap will get in, it just won't be allowed to stay.

This morning, looking just at page one, I'd say the improvement has been significant.

Maybe now, with a little time and experience, the urge to get to the first page to post just another "looks good, but is not for me" will fade. Those are more like a vote than a full-fledged opinion, and without even a comment about why one likes or dislikes an item, they're not useful, just an excuse to waste other peoples' time and "be seen" on the woot page. Hopefully, the lameness of doing that will beome apparent in time.

As far as I can see, the "signatures" are a source of most of the spam that has been dished out here and don't really see any value in keeping them around. Why not just drop that "feature" all together? Yes, the "electronic bumper stickers" "feature" would be gone, but is that appropriate either?

Just my 3 cents worth,
-Mike

Mike6 wrote:

As far as I can see, the "signatures" are a source of most of the spam that has been dished out here and don't really see any value in keeping them around. Why not just drop that "feature" all together? Yes, the "electronic bumper stickers" "feature" would be gone, but is that appropriate either? Just my 3 cents worth, -Mike

There was spam before the signatures were added. Quite a bit, in fact.

Binaural wrote:

There was spam before the signatures were added. Quite a bit, in fact.

Very true, there was spam in the forums, its just that the "signatures" allowed the abusers (and still do) to not have to enter their crap each and every time. Also, when they change their ad on their profile, it changes the "signature" on all their "messages."

Maybe banning all urls in signatures would do it?

Mike6 wrote:

Very true, there was spam in the forums, its just that the "signatures" allowed the abusers (and still do) to not have to enter their crap each and every time. Also, when they change their ad on their profile, it changes the "signature" on all their "messages." Maybe banning all urls in signatures would do it?

nah, not all links in sig lines are spam.....

Check out the Not Fair! thread on Everything Else. Still a big giant spammer there.
Come on, Woot gods, make it happen!
(um, I mean, please)

Mike6 wrote:

Very true, there was spam in the forums, its just that the "signatures" allowed the abusers (and still do) to not have to enter their crap each and every time. Also, when they change their ad on their profile, it changes the "signature" on all their "messages." Maybe banning all urls in signatures would do it?

There are actually quite a few posts in today's product forum that have the signature files back in them. Did the new policy last only 2 and a half days? I knew I should have started a pool.

I like directing people to Woot! and telling them about all the stuff that makes Woot! unique, like the one day, one deal rule that's sometimes broken, the which sometimes isn't, and also the First Post, First Page, ! "spam." If not for that, how funny would the Woot Cliche Generator be? I can't say I get anything specific out of all the "spam" in the forums, but I do think they add to the whole effect in some strange way. And if they go, so does some of the fun. As for the advertising junk, I just ignore it, including the Ads by Gooooooooooooooooogle stuff.

Binaural wrote:

There are actually quite a few posts in today's product forum that have the signature files back in them. Did the new policy last only 2 and a half days? I knew I should have started a pool.

I looked last night, and there was a whole bunch of stupid (First page) (Sucks) posts, but I didn't see the same posts this morning.

It seems that the Moderators are Moderating. THANKS MODS!

steve

M4XX, the way I interpreted the first bullet point was that if your website (or Blog) was non-commercial it would not be subject to the banning rule. I haven't figured out how to set up a signature (actually too lazy to do it) so I don't have one.

Thank you Woot for the changes.

dreamaster wrote:

Thank you. I appreciate the changes.

Ditto!

rant

I like the idea of keeping the woot du jour on topic . . . I've been guilty of trafficking in E-blather there . . .

I don't think it's necessary to forbid wooters with commercial sites of their own to link to them . . . especially if woot! is featured reciprocally on their site(s) . . . I don't believe it's unfair competition unless the wooters try to undercut woot's price. As it is, plenty of folks are only too eager to find and post a better deal.

This is e-biz; and e-biz begets e-biz . . . this kind of circular promotion is more complementary than competitive.

/unrant

I have a suggestion for a new rule, which would help delete quite a few more of the junk posts - make whining/begging/bragging about that popular grab-bag item an infraction, when it's done in OTHER product threads. Then rather than altering the text to make fun of the violators, REMOVE their posts entirely.

I'm already sick and tired of lamers drooling/whining about how "that's not what I typed!!!"


Also - most such modding rules really need only be strictly enforced during a current woot, and can be relaxed, at least some, as soon as it sells out or is replaced.

Awesome effort! I wasn't sure if there WAS any substantive debate - looking for product info I couldn't get through the sheer volume of crap from idiots. Thanks - I hope it goes well!

Thanks WooT! I found similar new woot orders cheaper on Froogle, but then I factored in shipping...

Feature suggestion, that could obviate much of this:

Include a "Rate this post choice" on each post (next to the pm button).
Then include a "show in order of rating" choice. (Audible.com's review system is a reasonable analogue"


This would make the forums more swiftly useful to those of us trying to make that elusive "quick buy" decision.

Thanks.

Ban-me-not.

pH1

How ironic that the first ad that appears under Woot's announcement of the new enforcement policies is an advertisement for a free iPod.... Just fill out a survey and.... :)

AZGman wrote:

rant I like the idea of keeping the woot du jour on topic . . . I've been guilty of trafficking in E-blather there . . . I don't think it's necessary to forbid wooters with commercial sites of their own to link to them . . . especially if woot! is featured reciprocally on their site(s) . . . I don't believe it's unfair competition unless the wooters try to undercut woot's price. As it is, plenty of folks are only too eager to find and post a better deal. This is e-biz; and e-biz begets e-biz . . . this kind of circular promotion is more complementary than competitive. /unrant

/rant

That argument is so full of holes (read that: bullchit!), it makes the Titanic look sea-worthy (even as it lays on the botton of the sea.) Next, I look to see pete the spammer defending his actions using the same inane "logic." I am glad that you did admit that you have spammed though, it offers some insight on your motivation of your rant.

w00t invites people to comparison shop, as they think they have the best deal available on each product they offer. People post other sites all the time, only to have them shot down as they have not really done their homework, i.e. different models, shipping charges, etc. These are invited posts, not of the nature the spammers were dumping on here daily (or, seems like some were once a minute.) I don't recall w00t having anywhere on their site that they ask people to supplement their products, etc. The "woot as printers and I sell cartridges, so buy from me" (which is what a referral link amounts to as well) ads need to go and stay gone.

Yes, in the bricks and mortar world there are lots of cross-advertising agreements, however, these are contractual arrangements and are designed to benefit both parties either in customer traffic or in cash flow. w00t has implememted a like process by making arrangements with Google for the "Google ads" it appears (I have no connection with w00t other than to be a customer.) If people want to advertise on w00t and there is already a deal in place with google ads, then people should go to google ads, not just ATTEMPT to rationalize their spamming as they are sending people to w00t. While one would anticipate "w00t.com" has hundreds of thousands of customers daily, "whatsYourProblem.com", "spamWorld.com", "mailOrderStreetWalkers.com", etc. will be long gone before they cumulatively have that many hits in their life, much less per day.

/unrant

Mike6 wrote:

/rant That argument is so full of holes (read that: bullchit!), it makes the Titanic look sea-worthy (even as it lays on the botton of the sea.) Next, I look to see pete the spammer defending his actions using the same inane "logic." I am glad that you did admit that you have spammed though, it offers some insight on your motivation of your rant. w00t invites people to comparison shop, as they think they have the best deal available on each product they offer. People post other sites all the time, only to have them shot down as they have not really done their homework, i.e. different models, shipping charges, etc. These are invited posts, not of the nature the spammers were dumping on here daily (or, seems like some were once a minute.) I don't recall w00t having anywhere on their site that they ask people to supplement their products, etc. The "woot as printers and I sell cartridges, so buy from me" (which is what a referral link amounts to as well) ads need to go and stay gone. Yes, in the bricks and mortar world there are lots of cross-advertising agreements, however, these are contractual arrangements and are designed to benefit both parties either in customer traffic or in cash flow. w00t has implememted a like process by making arrangements with Google for the "Google ads" it appears (I have no connection with w00t other than to be a customer.) If people want to advertise on w00t and there is already a deal in place with google ads, then people should go to google ads, not just ATTEMPT to rationalize their spamming as they are sending people to w00t. While one would anticipate "w00t.com" has hundreds of thousands of customers daily, "whatsYourProblem.com", "spamWorld.com", "mailOrderStreetWalkers.com", etc. will be long gone before they cumulatively have that many hits in their life, much less per day. /unrant

Holes can be punched in anything . . . even your balloon . . .

By the way, may I suggest a little less starch in your shorts? You are really chafed!!

Hurrah! Nothing is as tiresome as looking for useful feedback and finding "first post!" everywhere.


Hopefully this will include a reduction in the "no thanks, not for me" and "too expensive" posts. They may provide a tiny bit of demographic feedback, but so does whether or not the items are sold out, and by when. "Too expensive for me" posts don't provide me with any buying information, such as : is it useful, is there a better make/model, is there a reduction in price from the manufacturer in the near future...

So, is that a yes? :)

Hooray!! w00t's cleaning up the forums. Very glad to hear. I used to check the forums often, but I soon realised that it was mostly a bunch of spam and "first page" posts. Now I might actually cehck the forums again.

I also agree with the above sentiment that people who make one-line posts such as "too expensive" and "not for me" and "I stayed up for this?, wheres the Block of Concrete?" Should also be deleted. That's just more noise to filter out. Product threads should be only for ACTUAL information about a product, such as price comparisons, reviews, more detailed descriptions, etc. Those one line posts dont really contribute anything.

edit: lol, the initials are automatically changed to Block of Concrete. I love it!!

B.O.C. is Block of concrete? Ithought it was Bone Of Contention.

steve

fRank0 wrote:

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! BTW, if you want me to pull the link to my site, I'll be deeply hurt, but I will comply.

That's your site? Seriously?
Holy cow, I was imitating that site way back when...
Back when I was building sites, that is...
It's a total riot!!! I haven't been there in years though.

skou wrote:

B.O.C. is Block of concrete? Ithought it was Bone Of Contention. steve

morph early, morph often!

Just out of curiosity,for the next B.O.C, is it still going to say Block of Concrete?

Now, it is just fun, but during a real Bag-o-Crap, having "Block of Concrete" showing up will be confusing.

steve

skou wrote:

Just out of curiosity,for the next B.O.C, is it still going to say Block of Concrete? Now, it is just fun, but during a real Bag-o-Crap, having "Block of Concrete" showing up will be confusing. steve

There won't be any confusion during the next Bag-o-Crap because, it's not actually a Bag-o-Crap at all - it's called Random Crap. Each unknown item (aka crap) costs $1 and each order contains one bag of some sort, regardless the number of craps ordered.

Rest assured, you'll know when it happens.

edit - Well now I have egg on my face , I just noticed the date you joined. The explanation might still help anyone else who wondered the same thing.

holmesdog wrote:

There won't be any confusion during the next Bag-o-Crap because, it's not actually a Bag-o-Crap at all - it's called Random Crap. Each unknown item (aka crap) costs $1 and each order contains one bag of some sort, regardless the number of craps ordered. Rest assured, you'll know when it happens. edit - Well now I have egg on my face , I just noticed the date you joined. The explanation might still help anyone else who wondered the same thing.

No I won't - cuz it'll happen at 1 am east coast (while I sleep) and they'll all be gone in about 37 1/2 seconds!!

AZGman wrote:

No I won't - cuz it'll happen at 1 am east coast (while I sleep) and they'll all be gone in about 37 1/2 seconds!!

Yeah, I don't have much hope either, it comes up at midnight where I live. One can dream though.

[quote user="DocMenach"]Hooray!! w00t's cleaning up the forums. Very glad to hear. I used to check the forums often, but I soon realised that it was mostly a bunch of spam and "first page" posts. Now I might actually cehck the forums again.
[quote]

I used to check the forums at least dailey as well. The pointless posts, and contant spam signatures REALLY turned me off though, so I stuck with trying to check around by myself on the internet and talk to friends. haven't looked in the forums for a while now, guess I'll start reading again!

it's basically twelve hours into today's still-not-sold-out phone, and I just can't see any way a woot "moderator" can defend the first-page retention of postings like

amascovich wrote:

I could really use a monitor right now.

mesmashwoot wrote:

Man I stayed up for this... I was hoping for a Robo Mower. Or a generice Rolex named Bolex. Sorry Woot -- me got phone already. Looks cool though.

DontYouKnow wrote:

I thought Verizon merged with Cingular!?!?!?

I'm not even going to get concerned about the other (three, right now) pages until there's been adequate progress cleaning up an ongoing first. It's been better, but it's not yet lived up to the promise.