Help write a set of LG community standards

[swcom120]

[REPPIN 818]

[LuxuryBrown]

[mike_dee23]

Two things:

1. Don't post something from another message board and pass it off as fact or rumor... If someone posts a rumor that the Lakers are about to trade Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum for two 2nd round picks... don't start a thread that says "Rumor: Odom and Bynum for 2 picks"... Only post a topic with "rumor" if it comes from a legit source like a newspaper, ESPN, Fox Sports, or a Web site with credibility like Pincus's site.

2. If your post is based on an article, be sure to put that article title and the source as the subject. For example someone perfectly used "LA Times: Kobe on 'Kimmell': Is no news good news?" Don't use your own paraphrased version of the article... chances are you are missing a key point, or are swaying readers to think one thing, when the article is really mentioning something else.

[ShotInTheDark]

It would be nice to have a 'Player Gossip' forum, so all the rumors and stories on players personal lives can be kept in one place, separated from meaningful discussion about the game of basketball.

[TLT]

[TLT]

[Hawkins]

[Addicus]

[Addicus]

My suggestion is for people to remember everyone has an opinion. This will allow us to have civil debates/conversations. Don't expect to change the mind of other posters no matter how many people jump in and deride that poster.

I have found the countless attacks against LuxuryBrown (whom I usually agree with) and Shoes have ruined many good threads. These are just examples.


Great thread.

Edit - Bring back Lakers999 - we need that sense of humor and craziness to balance out the negativity that is increasingly expressed here.
_________________
Stop crying and start doing.

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/addicusbrown

[Dennis_D]

[LakerLanny]

Rule #1 - Laker Lanny is always right

Rule #2 - Refer to Rule #1


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Love, Laker Lanny

[AirKobe8]

Personally I'd like to see more respect between us all. Cmon, I know this should be implicit, and its been the subject of virtually all rules suggested here, but like 90% of the conflicts here come out of disrespect. Just cuz another poster doesnt think like you it doesnt make him an idiot. Nobody here is the truth's owner, and we should always be opened to people who think differently than ourselves, diversity is what makes life great.
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www.lakersbrasil.com
Fan site made by me and others, dedicated to posting Laker news and articles in portuguese.

[Walter Sobchak]

I've got a couple suggestions, programming-wise (or moderator-wise) that I've seen on other boards that use the phpBB core programming that could help with some things around here:

1. Place some kind of limitations on the new members. Make it so you have to have been a registered member for 30 days before you can start a topic, or make it so you must have 100 posts before you can start a topic. Make it so that new members can only post X amount of times per day for the first month (or three months or whatever) that they're here, or so they can only post like 5 times an hour or something. This will hopefully encourage new members to get a better feel for how things are done around here before coming in and single-handedly disrupting the board with their newbie-ness.

2. Make it so when somebody quotes another poster, it only quotes the new text, not previous quotes as well. As I've seen other people say in this thread, oftentimes a thread grinds to a halt as two people endlessly quote something back and forth with each quoted section getting successively longer. I can't tell you how many interesting threads seem to lose all interest and participation from everyone else simply because it suddenly becomes so visually irritating. Placing the onus on individuals around here to go in and parse out all the previously quoted stuff I think confuses some posters who may not understand how to do that (if they can't figure out the URL function, they probably can't figure that out).

I think that especially doing #1 will help a great deal with all the other rules people are typing in here. If all the regs adhere to the things we've all seen that will make the board better, it can often go for naught when newbies come in and disrupt everything. Curb them and things will almost surely go smoother. This will also help with the people who are just blatant trolls, which thankfully I don't think has traditionally been too big of a problem around here; and it will come in handy on days when there is "big news" which may suddenly attract newbies to come talk about it.
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"People don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

Just a reminder folks: "a lot" is two words. So is "no one".

[targetman]

In this boring offseason, I don't mind reading things about our players that are not strictly basketball related. Did someone run into Sasha bowling? I'd like to read that because it would be a refreshing change from the same people hijacking every thread to pontificate.

What about just consolidating threads within the lounge, so you have a rumors thread, a Kobe thread, a PJ thread, a Mitch thread (I'll skip that one), etc. That way, if someone is not a fan of Kobe Bryant they can skip that thread altogether.
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Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

[TNLakersFanInLA]

[Aeneas Hunter]

My two contributions:

1. Don't start a poll unless there is really a good reason for it and unless you are capable of writing intelligent, fair choices. Otherwise, just express your opinion and leave the polls to Gallup.

2. Don't link every anti-Kobe, anti-Laker article on the internet. Some websites clearly exploit message boards by putting up occasional inflammatory posts (including one website that had a "Laker fans are stupid" article). They know that these articles will be linked on message boards, generating hundreds if not thousands of hits for their website. They are doing this to make money. If the article doesn't say something useful or interesting, don't link it.

In response to Walter Sobchak -- I disagree with basing any posting privileges on number of posts. Some people can literally crank out 100 posts in a day, most of them boring and repetitive. Other people don't post unless they have something worthwhile to say. Let's not reward the former and penalize the latter. Furthermore, if you set a 100 post threshold, you are encouraging junk posts by people trying to reach the threshold.

On the other hand, I strongly agree that the quoting function is often badly misused and makes a lot of threads hard to read.

[DancingBarry]

Some good comments here. I wasn't sure where exactly this thread would go, but some of you have put in some quality effort...which when you think about it, is really most of what we want to accomplish.

[prisma8slg]

[AirKobe8]

[RYZ]

Wow. The authoritarian instinct is really rearing its ugly head in this thread.

Bad ideas all around.

For instance, what's wrong with bumping an old thread (often someone will make a guarantee about something that will have come to fruition by a specified point in time) to disprove someone's theory/prediction. That's the beauty of the internet: if you put it in writing, you need to know that it's going to float somewhere in cyberspace for a long time and it could come back to bite you. It's distinctly different from, say, talk radio, where an anonymous dude makes an outlandish claim that will never come true, but there's no way to ever call him on it. Without the ability to revisit old threads, how do you ever evaluate a poster's credibility.

Second, why can't players be blasted? If someone thinks Sasha sucks, let him say it. This place isn't beholden to Sasha Vujacic, or Kobe Bryant for that matter. If the weight of the board disagrees it will be borne out in the responses. But because every player on this team has at least a handful of fans, we need to demonstrate a hyper-sensitivity to those folks, few as they may be?

Luxury Brown spent all last season defending Smush, and he took it in return day after day, and I think deservedly so. But I never, ever recall him lamenting " Why are you guys so hard on Smush? Mods, can't we do something to make them relent?" He just strapped that target on his back, and charged it.

There's scarcely a single opinion expressed on this board that won't offend one of the 15,000 registered users. If the new policy is to avoid upsetting all other users at all costs, LG will end up an unbearable tyranny of the minority, where only sunshine will be allowed. To me, the bottom line is, if you've an affection for Brian Cook, and are bothered by the slew of invective hurled in his direction, find a way to deal with it. Either present cogent arguments, or ignore it.

The two rules need to be: No ad hominem attacks, and no foul language; in other words, just enforce the exisitng rules.

[Marty]

I have no problems with bumping threads to disprove or prove one's point(s). But the bumped threads from few days ago was obviously to mislead other posters here (ex. Bumping Walton's interview from few MONTHS ago) or simply to fool around. It's absolutely unnecessary.

Therefore, Time-sensitive threads should be locked if the last post is already one week or 10 days old. If the topic is a "hot thread" then leave it open and update the title if necessary, just like what we do here.

Just my two cents.

[Drifts]

[drzucchini]

Any post that begins with "I've been a Lakers fan for ___ years, but...", "I've always been a huge ___ supporter, but...", or "I'm as big of a ___ fan as anybody, but..." should result in a perm-ban.

There's no need to qualify your likely controversial statement. It won't make it any truer, nor will it make it any less controversial. Just cut the crap and get to the point.

[LuxuryBrown]