On June 24 2013 13:36 Inimic wrote:
This is called negative reinforcement: they create a punishing situation, then they give you an 'out,' and taking that out relieves some of the punishment. TL+ therefore reinforces your decision to use it by offering a forum with less strict moderation.

(The punishment is the site's famous mod hammers, closed threads, and fast, reflexive bans. Never for the right stuff- you see threads close because people reply rudely to them, and the rude people aren't banned- the thread will just get closed...)

Your post is wrong in every single way.

TL isn't giving subscribers less moderation. You can't even claim to miscomprehend this if you bothered to read the OP and thread. The TL+ forum is said to be less strictly moderated but only in terms of thread and post content.

The mods bans are fast but always fair and considered. That's a case of speedy moderation, there is nothing 'reflexive' about it. Good threads are rarely closed if there's arguing. Lengthy general threads that remain open with vitriolic attacks prove this. And bad posters are banned all the time, as shown in those same cases. The only ones that are closed are those that become absolute shit-storms, full of rampant abuse and with no constructive comments and that usually go completely off-topic. Some of these same threads which are deemed worthy of a civil discussion are re-made with strict commands from the mod staff not to verge off-topic, the same people that you blame for the allegedly arbitrary closures.

People can make sillier threads or posts in TL+ because that forum matters less not more than the rest of site. The site itself is heavily moderated in terms of thread quality/posts so we can all enjoy great articles, blogs and reports. No one wants a mess of bullshit in general, the strategy section or the main game sub-forums. Think of TL+ as a private IRC channel where people are shooting the breeze. If you actually saw the threads you'd see that they are no less lacking in quality than the rest of the site, so the issue of moderation isn't even relevant.

I can kind of appreciate the caution Inimic seems to have toward the system, as it's hard to predict the effect of a change like this on a big ecosystem like TL. Moderation is always going to take into account a number of things, like how well known and reputable the person under review is.Forums always end up having tiers of "well-knowns" down to "lurkers", and it'll be interesting to see how much " and has paid money to the site" will add to that bias. On paper there'll be no change of course, but forum culture can have a mind of its own. Would be interesting to find out how reddit gold changed how reddit does things, if only to see how things were impacted in a less moderated community.

Either way I hope TL does well out of the attempts to monetize, it's a really great site.

We're talking about people giving dollars and cents here, not thousands of dollars like political party donors. Even if that were the case, give Nazghul some credit for integrity.

You have this attitude like Nazghul is somehow relying on every single douchebag who buys TL+ and then posts like crap to keep it all together. He'll be fine. Someone acts badly they'll be banned. I can see no chance of TL+ being a way to avoid any type of moderation. For a start there's dozens of banlings. You reckon they're going to get a committee together before banning someone? Or even more preposterously Nazghul is going to start reducing or over-turning bans en masse? While we're in conspiracy land, maybe there'll be an icon that shows how much a user is worth and that's when a flag goes up before a ban can be enacted.

I never really said any of that, please don't misinterpret. I don't think anyone is going to avoid getting banned because they are willing to spend thousands of dollars (do trolls do that at all?)

I merely said that TL users have a relationship with the site, and the nature of relationships can change when money starts changing hands, and that's interesting to me. I certainly hope it leads to new content and such as has since been suggested

Jaxx

Slovakia758 Posts

June 24 2013 14:36 GMT

#824

Some really nice features on TL+. I also like gift option, it will be funny to see a whole row of + for quality posters (e.g. translators).

Now I just have to make sure that my gf doesn't find out I'm going to spend some money on TL

H0bgawblin

United States109 Posts

June 24 2013 16:50 GMT

#825

I am personally not interested in the services, but I'm really glad about how this is being done. Hope you guys get super amounts of money so you can keep up the good work.

Valeranth

United States100 Posts

June 24 2013 17:15 GMT

#826

Will there ever be a method to pay other than paypal? They are a horrible company and I'd rather not have to use them.

Zaphid

Czech Republic1860 Posts

June 24 2013 17:57 GMT

#827

laegoose

Russian Federation325 Posts

June 24 2013 18:35 GMT

#828

Just bought 6 months because TL team is doing awesome job.

A bit annoyed with all hidden charges Paypal is applying to me. It turned out that for Russia cost is 18.95$ + 2$ in fees.

739

Bearded Elder29905 Posts

June 24 2013 18:51 GMT

#829

Haha :D I just gifted my first TL+ for a month. Feels great

Targe

United Kingdom14103 Posts

June 24 2013 23:26 GMT

#830

On June 25 2013 02:57 Zaphid wrote:
[image loading]

Let's not start this.

Mczeppo

Germany319 Posts

June 24 2013 23:44 GMT

#831

On June 22 2013 06:23 Latham wrote:
Honestly I'm a bit disappointed TL. I didn't expect this of you. When I first read this I had to check whether it's April Fools'. I though this website would be absolutely the LAST place on the web to divide and segregate people.
I guess the guy selling the kickass 1st TL shirts (with the pony with the flag scarf and SC units as grass) was right when he said you guys went too commercialized.

exactly...
that was the first thing i had in my mind when i read this. Dividing people is a horrible idea in my opinion.
Very disapointing

E.L.V.I.S

Belgium458 Posts

June 24 2013 23:47 GMT

#832

what is tl + santa ??

Shellshock

United States97277 Posts

June 24 2013 23:49 GMT

#833

On June 25 2013 08:47 E.L.V.I.S wrote:
what is tl + santa ??

It's for people that have gifted at least 6 months of TL+

ensign_lee

United States1178 Posts

June 25 2013 02:22 GMT

#834

I am honored to support a site which gives me so much happiness. A bargain at $30 I say!

Koshi

Belgium38799 Posts

June 25 2013 10:39 GMT

#835

Is it intended that there is an extra "enter" at the start of each post? Was this always the case? It looks a bit off to me.
Every post has an empty line first and then the text.

Shellshock

United States97277 Posts

June 25 2013 10:40 GMT

#836

On June 25 2013 19:39 Koshi wrote:
Is it intended that there is an extra "enter" at the start of each post? Was this always the case? It looks a bit off to me.
Every post has an empty line first and then the text.

It's because of the filter button