No betting rule in the forum.

[Herodes]

I propose that there's a no betting rule on this forum. And if someone wants to bet about something, then use some dedicated site for that, and pay up the coins in advance to be held in escrow.

Betting with strangers with no coins in escrow is bound to be a disaster.

[1715239580]

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[gweedo]

I propose that there's a no betting rule on this forum. And if someone wants to bet about something, then use some dedicated site for that, and pay up the coins in advance to be held in escrow.

Betting with strangers with no coins in escrow is bound to be a disaster.

but why should the forum babysit us?

[tiberiandusk]

Idiots are going to be idiots. Half the fun of these forums is watching them all lose their shit.

[finkleshnorts]

What's with all these ideas about rules? That's a terrible rule on so many levels.

But I agree with the bit about escrow. That goes for IRL too.

[BCB]

I think what we really need is an adult forum and the kiddie forum. 

[bitcoinbear]

Don't we already have a gambling subforum where bets can go?

[finkleshnorts]

Betting is irresponsible, regardless. I'm embarassed to have taken part in Matthew's bet (not because of Matthew, and not because I was certain pirate wouldn't pay out, but simply because betting is foolish).

[toffoo]

sorry, I couldn't resist:

[Herodes]

I'm not against betting, not so sure if 'internet promises' is what we should base bets on. Too easy to run away from the responsibility.

Apart from that, the comment about having a adult and kid forum was a good one. *chukle*

[Mosrite]

Betting is irresponsible, regardless. I'm embarassed to have taken part in Matthew's bet (not because of Matthew, and not because I was certain pirate wouldn't pay out, but simply because betting is foolish).

Retarded statement. When you cross the street, you make a bet. When you invest in anything, you make a bet. Such nonsense.

[greyhawk]

If you have a no-betting rule in the forum, you would also have to close down the "Securities" forum as well.

[Bigpiggy01]

I propose that there's a no betting rule on this forum. And if someone wants to bet about something, then use some dedicated site for that, and pay up the coins in advance to be held in escrow.

Betting with strangers with no coins in escrow is bound to be a disaster.

I like the idea of enforced escrow.

But a no betting rule still reeks of Danish nanny state.

[Herodes]

I propose that there's a no betting rule on this forum. And if someone wants to bet about something, then use some dedicated site for that, and pay up the coins in advance to be held in escrow.

Betting with strangers with no coins in escrow is bound to be a disaster.

I like the idea of enforced escrow.

But a no betting rule still reeks of Danish nanny state.

Yeah, obv. I posted to spur a discussion. Which seems to be working.

I know bitcoin.org removed the forum from that site because it was an 'embarassment'. And as of lately I feel the forum is an embarassment for the bitcoin community overall. Esp. for newcomers, all they see is arguing, scams and general mayhem. Those who are easily scared could quickly back out from a mess like that.

So I think my general thought is that the forum should have more content and less noise. So perhaps some parts of the forum should just be moved to bitcoinchildishandimmatureforumdiscussions.com or alternatively allstupidbitcoindiscussions here.

Then bitcointalk.org could go about the bitcoin discussion, with a more serious tone, and everyone that can't behave is forcefully moved to the 'kid section'. For instance, every user could have a 'kid/troll'-button, and once it's received enough votes from the community, it's reviewed by forum staff, and if they think you don't contribute mutch to the forum, you'll be moved to the kid/slum-section for a couple of months.

It's said, I would not refer anyone to this forum to learn more about bitcoin.

[gbl08ma]

It's said, I would not refer anyone to this forum to learn more about bitcoin.

Regardless of my opinion in this particular subject, I completely agree with you in this statement. I used Bitcoin for many months before I decided to join this forum, I remember that I saw it as a... dirty? ugly? thing. And the thing that made me change my mind was that by not joining, I'd be unable to communicate with the people that run some of the trustworthy and honest projects in the Bitcoin community, and that use this forum as their main communication mean. Also, I thought that by joining I'd be able to get updates on interesting Bitcoin projects (and on the project itself) quicker and easier.

Unfortunately, later the "show unread posts" function returns results that aren't very insightful - and eventually scare away many newcomers. Among these results, there are lots and lots of gambling and betting threads. Is there a way to ignore specific threads or even whole subforums (permanently mark them as read)?

I don't think people should run their projects, "investments" and bets directly on this forum. I think they should be able to use it as a way to advertise and discuss their things, but the forum infrastructure shouldn't be used for just everything from "sign me up" to "cancel my account" and "here's my bet". There are betting websites for bets; projects should have their own independent infrastructure allowing for contacting the people responsible by the project (instead of relying on forum threads and PMs); and "investments", be them serious and honest or not, should have their own independent page clearly stating their rules and important announcements, instead of relying on bitcointalk threads with over 50 pages.
For me, "discussing" a project/bet/investment/game means either discussing an idea for e.g. an upcoming thing or discussing something that's established already. I wouldn't trust anyone who uses a mere forum post on a single website to announce a bet/investment/game.
In other words, that kind of things shouldn't live in the forum (homeless) but have its own "building" where people can enter.

About the "one forum for kiddies and another for adults" idea, it may seem very appealing at first, but I think that, unless you have some central authority who judges who is a kiddie and who is an adult (and then one may wonder: does it judge in a fair way, or not?), the end result would be that the kiddies forum would be empty, and everyone would show up on the adults forum (nobody would want to be called a kiddie).

[SaltySpitoon]

I propose that there's a no betting rule on this forum. And if someone wants to bet about something, then use some dedicated site for that, and pay up the coins in advance to be held in escrow.

Betting with strangers with no coins in escrow is bound to be a disaster.

I bet you this won't happen.

[FreeMoney]

I'll bet that rule is not instated. Whoa, meta.

[giszmo]

I propose that there's a no betting rule on this forum. And if someone wants to bet about something, then use some dedicated site for that, and pay up the coins in advance to be held in escrow.

Betting with strangers with no coins in escrow is bound to be a disaster.

I like the idea of enforced escrow.

But a no betting rule still reeks of Danish nanny state.

Come on, giving money to an escrow is just as much a problem as to trust my betting partner that he will pay. Because I think that bets of bitcoin will not exist in 3 years from now, I don't put my money into such long term bets but only things up to 2 months of payout. An escrow is one aspect that makes the whole situation more complicated and of course more expensive but if a total stranger wants to bet with me, I certainly would take these extra costs. With MNW I understand people didn't.

[Herodes]

Good post. I think it's easy for a newcomer to be confused coming here, esp. if he's not willing to put in the time to find the best posts. Because there's gold here sometimes as well.

I agree that services should have their own infrastructure. If anyone's serious about making a service, they could program a webpage or hire someone to do it.

It's said, I would not refer anyone to this forum to learn more about bitcoin.

Regardless of my opinion in this particular subject, I completely agree with you in this statement. I used Bitcoin for many months before I decided to join this forum, I remember that I saw it as a... dirty? ugly? thing. And the thing that made me change my mind was that by not joining, I'd be unable to communicate with the people that run some of the trustworthy and honest projects in the Bitcoin community, and that use this forum as their main communication mean. Also, I thought that by joining I'd be able to get updates on interesting Bitcoin projects (and on the project itself) quicker and easier.

Unfortunately, later the "show unread posts" function returns results that aren't very insightful - and eventually scare away many newcomers. Among these results, there are lots and lots of gambling and betting threads. Is there a way to ignore specific threads or even whole subforums (permanently mark them as read)?

I don't think people should run their projects, "investments" and bets directly on this forum. I think they should be able to use it as a way to advertise and discuss their things, but the forum infrastructure shouldn't be used for just everything from "sign me up" to "cancel my account" and "here's my bet". There are betting websites for bets; projects should have their own independent infrastructure allowing for contacting the people responsible by the project (instead of relying on forum threads and PMs); and "investments", be them serious and honest or not, should have their own independent page clearly stating their rules and important announcements, instead of relying on bitcointalk threads with over 50 pages.
For me, "discussing" a project/bet/investment/game means either discussing an idea for e.g. an upcoming thing or discussing something that's established already. I wouldn't trust anyone who uses a mere forum post on a single website to announce a bet/investment/game.
In other words, that kind of things shouldn't live in the forum (homeless) but have its own "building" where people can enter.

About the "one forum for kiddies and another for adults" idea, it may seem very appealing at first, but I think that, unless you have some central authority who judges who is a kiddie and who is an adult (and then one may wonder: does it judge in a fair way, or not?), the end result would be that the kiddies forum would be empty, and everyone would show up on the adults forum (nobody would want to be called a kiddie).