Official response poll to the Off-topic section debate

It has come to my attention from numerous users that there is a “debate” (mostly childish arguing) over whether or not flowlab should have an Off-topic section. In order to keep the peace (and stop the hundreds of flags being spammed in my notifications, and personal messages) while grazer is away for a couple weeks, I will make a poll for the community to decide.

My personal stance on the subject:

I honestly don’t have a strong opinion either way about having an Off-topic category or thread, since it would help lessen the Off-topic posting in serious threads, however I know how kids and teens can be, so I don’t want flowlab and grazer to lose the respect and trust of schools and parents by seeing unsuitable content in an education aimed creative engine forum. Most people are neutral about having an Off-topic thread, but some don’t like the forums looking like a playground.

Regardless of the results on the following poll, I would personally recommend that we have a hidden Off-topic for only the active users, so schools, parents, and new users are not discouraged from using flowlab. If the desire for an Off-topic category is very low, I would also like to suggest using an alternative for chatting, such as Discord or Private messaging, since only a few people would be posting Off-topic anyway. Just so you all know, flowlab forums have over 21500 users, whether they are active or not, and most come here specifically for help, not for goofing off. Please try to remember this when you are posting from now on.

SHOULD FLOWLAB HAVE AN OFFICIAL OFF-TOPIC CATEGORY?

  • Add a public official Off-topic category section in the forums
  • Add a Trust Level 3 Lounge Off-topic thread section for active users only
  • Do not add an official Off-topic section, because it makes flowlab look unprofessional

0 voters

UPDATE

Based on the current feedback, the majority seems to want a trust based Off-topic channel, but others are concerned about losing their Trust Level 3. I believe Trust Level 2 is a good enough qualification for a hidden Off-topic Lounge. I’ll wait until grazer gets back to collect more votes and feedback, but a Trust Level 2 hidden Off-topic Lounge sounds like it will be the most favorable option by everyone.

15 Likes

that’s modern-day arguin’for ya

4 Likes

I don’t think it needs to be an official category, but the otc could still exists right?

4 Likes

Glad to have an actual topic for this :upside_down_face:

2 Likes

Why I don’t want it to be trust level three is because we have a lot of users that are new that want somewhere to hang out. One otc isn’t going to ruin reputation, but I’ll go with what the mod says I guess. Also, most of the users of the otc don’t fulfill the requirements of a level three user.

requirements

To get to trust level 3, in the last 100 days…

  • Must have visited at least 50% of days
  • Must have replied to at least 10 different non-PM topics
  • Of topics created in the last 100 days, must have viewed 25% (capped at 500)
  • Of posts created in the last 100 days, must have read 25% (capped at 20k)
  • Must have received 20 likes, and given 30 likes.*
  • Must not have received more than 5 spam or offensive flags (with unique posts and unique users for each, confirmed by a moderator)
  • Must not have been suspended or silenced in the last 6 months

* These likes must be across a minimum number of different users (1/5 the number), across a minimum number of different days (1/4 the number). Likes cannot be from PMs.

All of the above criteria must be true to achieve trust level 3. Furthermore, unlike other trust levels, you can lose trust level 3 status . If you dip below these requirements in the last 100 days, you will be demoted back to Member. However, in order to avoid constant promotion/demotion situations, there is a 2-week grace period immediately after gaining Trust Level 3 during which you will not be demoted.

2 Likes

I’d prefer if the OTC be open to Trust Level 3, because it ensures that trusted, active users get to say off-topic stuff without clogging up the forums. Opening the channel to all users, including newer users, is a recipe for creating a huge influx of off-topic posts, regardless of where the posts are made.

We already have a Trust Level 3 category for off-topic discussions, called the Lounge. But nobody uses it that often for whatever reason, so perhaps we should encourage posting off-topic things over there.

7 Likes

Honestly I’m content with this decision

5 Likes

Again like I said, many users on the OTC are not trust level three. While I’m not completely opposed to this idea, I believe it would remove some traffic from minors. And only one would exist, I really don’t think that will hurt this great community’s reputation.

I know that. So moving all off-topic discussions to the Lounge could encourage those users to be more active and engaging with the rest of the community. Actually post things that are relevant to Flowlab, even if it is just slightly connected to Flowlab. That way, they will show that they can be trusted with discussing things outside of Flowlab.

If for whatever reason they cannot be that active to gain Trust Level 3, then they should stick to Private Messages instead.

3 Likes

As long as we stop arguing it’s fine

4 Likes

I could say the same thing about game reviews.

1 Like

@meburningslime Game review are related. People work on their games and then ask to get them reviewed, so it’s basically giving them feedback. Which is one of the whole reasons the forums are here.

9 Likes

That’s fair enough, but I still believe in the freedom of a break room. Many of you have posted on the “flowlab memes” area, and don’t try to tell me that’s related enough.

I want this to be available to all people, not just active users. For example, when Bentley comes back, you’re saying he’s not allowed to talk to us on the otc unless he gives you what you want for 50 days?

1 Like

Based on the current feedback, the majority seems to want a trust based Off-topic channel, but others are concerned about losing their Trust Level 3. I believe Trust Level 2 is a good enough qualification for a hidden Off-topic Lounge. I’ll wait until grazer gets back to collect more votes and feedback, but a Trust Level 2 hidden Off-topic Lounge sounds like it will be the most favorable option by everyone.

9 Likes

I second that.

4 Likes

Yes, I believe Trust Level 2 is a good enough trust level for off-topic discussion.

3 Likes

Continuing the discussion from Official response poll to the Off-topic section debate:

Trust 3 seems best imo

1 Like

What happened… lmao…

I think that it would help if it was trust level 2, since it’s the least level required to consider someone an active member on the forum. Although getting to level 3 isn’t very hard, but it does take time for newer users so I think trust level 2 would be best.

6 Likes