Padded Room

[Autumn]

There are really a lot of good ideas here. I am fairly disappointed I missed out on the thread when it was still active.

While reading through it I came to a lot of the same conclusions and Ideas already posted. So I don't have much to add. What I would like to add is a combination of what I thought where some of the best ideas.

1 - All new users will enter the forums with posting rights only to the mud room, but would still be able to read all other sections that any member who is not age verified would be able to.

2 - The mud room would be watched over by a specific group of moderators, to help and direct new members.

3 - The mud room should contain a revised version of the FAQs. I think the current FAQs are good, but can be almost painful to sort though. It needs to be reorganized more then rewritten. The new ones should simply cover the basics facts we would like any new member to have before posting. We should still keep the old FAQs as well because they cover more, but leave them out of the mud room.

4 - At any time after joining the mud room they can take a quiz to prove they know the bare minimal we would want them to, via the new FAQs. Nothing terribly hard on the test just enough to show they have done their homework. After completing the quiz they would gain the privileges all other members have, minus the age verified only sections of course.

I think this would help stop people from creating joke account and trolling, as well as increase the amount of general knowledge new users have.

Users who are new, but already established in the community would be able to easily answer the quiz gaining immediate access to the rest of the site. It would be an inconvenience for them, but an acceptable one I think.

The problems I see are around the complexity, like scarecrow mentioned. If it’s to complex it won't take long for it to all fall apart. We may also lose new members, because of frustration or laziness.

I know almost nothing about programming so I don’t know how hard it would to implement any or all or if, or it would even be an effective method. This is just my 2 cents on the subject.

[<Ez-Target>]

hmmm i really like the quiz idea
somehow make a quiz that they can access at anytime, but they have to get like 80% on the test to get a profile and be able to post

thats my idea an' i'm sticken to it

It's not about quizzing new players to ensure they read the FAQ. It's about ensuring new players are properly observing forum rules and norms through evaluation of their posting habits.

There are plenty of stupid posts here that have nothing to do with items covered in the FAQ.

Also, I'd like to know if plans are proceeding in this direction, since there's been no comment by the administration for some time. At a minimum, could I get a PM from the administration to let me know if any of my and Scarecrow's suggestions are to be explored further, and if we'll need to provide input into the implementation from a technical perspective? It would be appreciated...

[spleen]

All of this is being taken into consideration. Unfortunately, with the recently implemented changes to the forum (which were planned and underway before the padded room discussion began), there's been a forced hiatus from practical research and development on the idea. As to whose input will be taken, the input already made will certainly be taken into consideration. WRT technical input, that will also have to wait until the admins have finished the current site upgrade, and put a bit of time into looking at the solutions available.

To respons to your post, though, it's not just about "ensuring new players are properly observing forum rules and norms through evaluation of their posting habits". A large part of the idea is also to shield new players from the abuse they would typically suffer from the "stupid" questions they will invariably ask, and to eliminate the hostile noob-bashing "me-too" lynchings that inevitably result. In short to improve the general enjoyment of the baord for all users by keeping these two groups of people apart.