2018-09-16 01:46:35

Hello people.
I've seen in topics where drama is going on or someone posts material that doesn't belong on the forum, such as cracks or torrents, that there are those who request that the topic is deleted. Honestly, I can't understand why. I believe these topics should continue to be archived but closed, because it's been said that those who don't know history are bound to repeat it. By asking people to delete a topic, you are suppressing history and creating the possibility that someone may not know what happened, and thus will cause the same problems again. If someone has another opinion about this, however, please do let me know because I'd be interested to hear it.

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2018-09-16 12:07:09

here's how I see it. if, you, as the user, chooses to delete your own topic, you have all the rights to do so. with that said, if admins interfear, it should only be closed, and up to the original poster, whether to keep, or delete.

2018-09-16 13:58:30

Hi,
Most of the time we close topics. What you'll notice though is we've generally, as mods, only closed topics if things have really hit the proverbial fan and not sorted themselves out. It's definitely something to perhaps consider though, yet at the same time I like to think of us as, well, not a strict forum. I've seen forums where people get banned just for bumping up old topics and to me that's just not logical or fair.

2018-09-16 20:21:07

Hi,
Agree with you, Shotgunshell. If admins interfere, Topics should be closed and if there are links to cracks or other Things unwanted on this Forum the link should be removed but the Topic shouldn't be deleted, so that others can Review what happened and what led to the Topic being closed or a specific link being removed.

Greetings and happy gaming, Julian

If you say you never lie, you're a liar.
Oh, and #freeGCW

2018-09-17 18:26:27

Aaron is correct here, generally  admins tend to close topics rather than delete them, and even then, only when things seem to have gone into an irretrievable spiral of doom.
We will also remove links when necessary as well.

The one exception is sometimes when someone has hit the submit button a couple of extra times so you end up with multiple copies of the same topic, since there deleting the extra ones just removes redundency and clutter and doesn't cost the forum anything.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2018-09-20 21:59:26

I also agree. We shouldn't be like the git version control system, showing the world what we should have done; we should be like another version control system I know of, called Fossil, which shows you what you actually did. To put it another way: we shouldn't be acting like the victors of a major historical war and write the history books the way we want people to see us, but should instead write the history books as the war is happening. If that makes any sense. smile

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
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2018-09-21 00:08:24

I have no opinions on whether a topic should be deleted except to say that the correct decision will always be dependant on the specific case. No single answer is going to be appropriate for every situation.

2018-09-26 04:44:39

In general, I disagree with the ability for users to delete their own topics or posts. I believe that if a topic gets out of hand, or a user specifically requests that a post or topic should be deleted if it is, say, damaging to their character, admins should have the right to step in and exercise their judgment. This, of course, depends heavily on the admins being decent human beings who aren't on a power trip for shits and giggles. So, in this day and age, that's pretty much a pipe dream. The thing is, it obviously can be done, this site is a pretty good example of that. However, I stand by what I said. There's nothing that will teach you about etiquette, or oversharing, or a host of other negative consequences of saying things that you maybe shouldn't online, quite like having a mob of faceless usernames wiping the floor with you and picking apart your stupidity bit by bit. Even if you were right and you know it, you might learn a thing or two about how people think, and/or develop a thicker skin as a result. Caution, even a healthy dose of paranoia, is a great thing to carry with you in this time we're in where even an unassuming username can be traced back to you. The old, trite advice about not saying something online that you wouldn't say to your grandmother rings true, surprisingly.

There was another blindness-related forum which I was a part of for many years before it shut down. I found said forum as a teenager, and boy, some of the things I wrote there were cringeworthy. My responses to the criticism that was hurled at me were pretty shameful. But I still wouldn't change it, because it taught me a lot of things, too much to go into on a post like this. I don't believe that having an easy out, i.e. deleting your own posts, is beneficial in the long run. All it does is teach you that you can slip away from harm you may have caused unscathed, and that's really not a good message to be sending, whether you're 12 or 100.

The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's just holding half the amount it can potentially hold.

2018-09-26 08:16:34

Well written, Turtlepower. Completely agreed.
I've always thought this forum at the very least should have something like what Gamefaqs does, where you can delete your posts, sure. But the message number is still there, the name of who posted is still there... the message is just marked as having been deleted.

"You know nothing of death... allow me to teach you!" Dreadlich Tamsin
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2018-09-26 09:06:51 (edited by Ethin 2018-09-26 09:07:25)

I don't think users should be allowed to delete their own posts. It seems like people are using it incorrectly... a cowards way out. They say something, they get a backlash, and delete their post so that "no one can see" their shame. Its cowardly and sends the message, "I'm willing to bitch about stuff, but just can't defend my position, no matter how defensible or indefensible it might be!"

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github