Mods. "I believe threads like these need to be locked" thread. Post more here.

[Wind_FURY]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1324174.0

The OP was thoughtful and genuine, but the topic is now over 300 pages long and most of the replies are now mindless and low quality.

Plus no one is truly discussing anymore. That deserves a lock, yes?

[1715387202]

1715387202

[1715387202]

1715387202

[timerland]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1324174.0

The OP was thoughtful and genuine, but the topic is now over 300 pages long and most of the replies are now mindless and low quality.

Plus no one is truly discussing anymore. That deserves a lock, yes?

Yeah. I didn't see anyone coming out with new ideas for at least the last 5 pages, even with one spam post that went unnoticed probably because of the sheer amount of spam in this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1324174.msg30783460#msg30783460.

I think this has been discussed before, and hilarious locked a few of these mega spam threads already.

Either way, it's not up to me to decide. Mods may think that there is some decent discussion going on still in that thread to leave it open but imo I don't see any signs of that happening.

[earl07]

Woohh, i didn't expect that theres some members that also thinks what i'm thinking.I also want to start a topic about mega threads but i guess i don't have to do it anymore. thanks pal.
I agree about your concern and i think they should really be locked.If a topic or a question is already answered (specially if it's accurate) then it a certain thread should be lock to prevent others to post nonsense to it.A 300 page of replies to one topic is already too much.

[TheQuin]

The problem is if the thread gets locked then they'll just start another one to replace it. The merit system is slowing down the influx of new spamming accounts, now we just need a way to weed out the ones already here.

[Eternu]

Every thread can be locked by OP, so i guess that its their duty to lock it down when they get enough answers or when it begins to become spam thread. They do not need to wait for mods to do that for them. I know that sometime discussion can be really long and educational, but threads like this is just ridiculous.

The problem is if the thread gets locked then they'll just start another one to replace it. The merit system is slowing down the influx of new spamming accounts, now we just need a way to weed out the ones already here.

Sadly, what you said is truth. But maybe there should be some kind of penalty for creating threads that already exist, or that are exactly the same like some old ones. People should brows a bit before they make new thread, and some kind of punishment would make them do just that.

[HashFace]

I tend to agree.  The "Bitcoin Discussion" section is a bit of a mess.  There is alway a dozen or so threads on page 1, with 1000's or replies, but nothing really new being added, and people are obviously not reading through the thousands of previous replies to see that their comments have already been covered 100s of times.  Some of the topics are rather silly, like "would you still buy bitcoin?" ... open topics where virtually everyone can have a opinion, but no one really cares what your answer is.  

[rlim475]

The large difficulty with most of these so called 'mega threads' is that the usefulness of most answers is subjective. The reason being that they are opinions. While some may think that 100 people saying the same thing is pointless and spam, another may consider it to be useful as they can understand that it is a common opinion.

I think the real target should not be to stop such threads (because it could actually be a very good discussion), but to further implement measures to reduce the spam.

Every thread can be locked by OP, so i guess that its their duty to lock it down when they get enough answers or when it begins to become spam thread.

This is a good point and I think it's a feature that many probably do not even know is available. I see more veteran users doing this all the time. Perhaps we can somehow make people more aware of this feature?

maybe there should be some kind of penalty for creating threads that already exist, or that are exactly the same like some old ones. People should brows a bit before they make new thread, and some kind of punishment would make them do just that.

What kind of punishment could you have for such a thing? The search feature is really not all too great and so, even if using search you'll often not be able to realise that the thread you started has already been opened.

One thing I have noticed quite a bit is people posting the same thread twice across two different sub-sections of the forum. I personally think that one should be deleted and they should get a warning for this but it could be within the 'rules'. Does anyone know?

[Eternu]

maybe there should be some kind of penalty for creating threads that already exist, or that are exactly the same like some old ones. People should brows a bit before they make new thread, and some kind of punishment would make them do just that.

What kind of punishment could you have for such a thing? The search feature is really not all too great and so, even if using search you'll often not be able to realise that the thread you started has already been opened.

As far as search option is concerned, I am not sure what could be done on that end. But i know there are advanced options for search, which personally i never used before. Because I found everything i wanted without it.

And about penalties... there could be a prohibition on creating new topics for limited time, for those members for whom has been proven that have created needless topic or shit thread. And there could be a similar penalty (like prohibition on posting for limited time) for those who created pure shit post and for those that are constantly making them.

[rlim475]

maybe there should be some kind of penalty for creating threads that already exist, or that are exactly the same like some old ones. People should brows a bit before they make new thread, and some kind of punishment would make them do just that.

What kind of punishment could you have for such a thing? The search feature is really not all too great and so, even if using search you'll often not be able to realise that the thread you started has already been opened.

As far as search option is concerned, I am not sure what could be done on that end. But i know there are advanced options for search, which personally i never used before. Because I found everything i wanted without it.

And about penalties... there could be a prohibition on creating new topics for limited time, for those members for whom has been proven that have created needless topic or shit thread. And there could be a similar penalty (like prohibition on posting for limited time) for those who created pure shit post and for those that are constantly making them.

The main difficulty with both of these suggestions is that they need moderation. That's the difficulty with most suggestions, without recruiting more moderators it just won't get done as they are reportedly already much too busy as it is.

[BTCforJoe]

I tend to agree.  The "Bitcoin Discussion" section is a bit of a mess.  There is alway a dozen or so threads on page 1, with 1000's or replies, but nothing really new being added, and people are obviously not reading through the thousands of previous replies to see that their comments have already been covered 100s of times.  Some of the topics are rather silly, like "would you still buy bitcoin?" ... open topics where virtually everyone can have a opinion, but no one really cares what your answer is.  

I agree. I used to love the Bitcoin Discussion thread when it used to be similar to Ivory Tower. I will say this though: I've started a couple of topics on the board, and I've made each one of them self-moderated to help weed out sigspammers and shit posts. I hate to say it, but those topics never became popular, even though I feel that they're actually a lot more decent than the shit show that we're currently seeing.

But as a lot of you have mentioned, once the sMerits dry up and sigspammers realize how difficult it is to rank up shit profiles, we'll likely see some drastic (yes, drastic) changes in the future. Won't happen overnight, but I think the staff's foresight about controlling the spam with the Merit System is actually going to work within a few months from now.

I can't wait.

Oh, and OP, I do agree with you. That thread definitely needs to be locked. Wouldn't even mind a few of those accounts within that thread banned.

[gambitcoin53]

is there any way to limit a thread to just 20 pages, so there would not be spamming of repeated and similar views or replies of that specific thread, that way, it will not be so difficult to back read a hundred- paged thread even thousands, it is true, it is difficult for an OP to read a thread with thousands of pages. bitcoin discussion threads is over populated by quality and not so quality posts. there are hard-headed people that doesn't read if his post has a similar reply. just a thought.

[denis-z12]

Hi guys, I could use your advice. One of my threads was locked. I would like to know why in order not to make that mistake again and correct it if possible?
Who should I contact about this? Some moderators told me that they didnt lock my thread but I would really like to know what was wrong with it and what I can do or need to do to correct the situation. It was actually quite useful as it was about falling victim to phishing links and how we should keep both eyes open.

[Browsers Lab]

is there any way to limit a thread to just 20 pages, so there would not be spamming of repeated and similar views or replies of that specific thread, that way, it will not be so difficult to back read a hundred- paged thread even thousands, it is true, it is difficult for an OP to read a thread with thousands of pages. bitcoin discussion threads are overpopulated by the quality and not so quality posts. there are hard-headed people that don't read if his post has a similar reply. just a thought.

I agree. Most of the threads I have noticed, with over 15-20 pages, are becoming mindless dribble.  I suggest that locked down these threads would be a good idea. I also believe that having a thread that is extremely open-ended is also a problem. The best way to fix this issue would be to force people to have threads are contributing rather than just to get attention.