New Minimum Character Count For Replies.

Originally posted by Fett Pinkus
reply to post by EnlightenUp

 

I got warned twice for writing that so please be careful.............................................................................................otherwise its warning time!


Apart from that the system isnt fully thoughthrough atm, they really should have tested it first before implementing it.

Intrugiung that you were warned twice on that, it's not like it's rocket science to work out. Unless the staff consider the membership monumentally stupid and that all hints as to the titanic problem with the system must be hushed up so as not to let anyone else realise, then I can't see why that happened, but then I also don;t know what exactly you wrote that got the 'extreme violation' markup.

I agree that there should have been some beta testing before rolling this out, or prehaps a discusiion, one such as has been triggered by this thread, about how to make sure all posts were quality contributions, would have been a good idea.

There are numerous times when what you want to express doesn't take 200 characters but also isn't 'lol, yeah'. An automated system (such as this is) is a rubbish way to auto-mod peoples replies, because it is pure rubbish to assume that any reply below 200 (or similar) characters, just isn't good enough...

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by NoArmsJames

 

Well maybe someone can answer me this question. Why did this come up.

I've cleared my temp file was something going in in the meantime?

[edit on 12-4-2009 by SLAYER69]

I get the same problem.
Hopefully this is just a bug in the coding where the post is attached to the reply info somehow with an improperly coded algorythm.

I'd hate to copy and paste, copy and paste, copy and paste

reply to post by ArMaP



That is true i guess.
Trial and error maybe.... similar to the media site when then started.... how many issues were there then?
Nobody got it.... I'm sure in time this will be resolved.

But i do understand what you mean... many posts may be lost..

It's a bit random for sure

I have always admired people who can speak their mind in profound ways and in as few words as possible.

I think the "no one liner rule" was fine as it was and this move is unnecessary. You are always going to get people breaking or bending the rules. You will never get everyone to be your idea of perfect. It's nothing to loose sleep over anyway.

My advice is stop sweating over the small stuff. You will be happier and live longer.

And in the end, I will go along with whatever you end up doing. If I have to start baffling people with long winded posts rather than dazzling them with my profound brilliance, so be it.

IMHO

Edited to see if it works...ha...ha!

[edit on 12/4/09 by John Matrix]

reply to post by Goathief


Here's a screen capture of the problem I'm running into.




I'm assuming this is a bug.
If not......This will suck

I have a question?
How many here are using Firefox?
I've noticed many of the screens look like Firefox. I'm wondering if there is a compatibility issue with one of Firefox's browser extensions?

Just a thought

This is not a good idea

reply to post by blupblup


The problem, as I see it, is that things now need patching, while if this had been thought as it should, the problem with the quoted text, for example, would have considered since the beginning.

Being a programmer, I know that things can never be as good as they would if they have to be patched, the best way is thinking about what we are going to do, about what it will affect and what things will affect it, then we make the changes, then we get someone else to test it, the people that made the code should never test their own code, not because they know it but because they will think in the same way all the times, so while testing they will not think (or at least they have less probabilities of thinking) about things they did not thought about during the coding phase.

Sometimes just showing it to another person (or even just talking about it with another person) is enough to see that something was missing from the initial planing.

PS: this post needed no tricks to pass the character limit. ‍

mainly because it is easily circumvented...

i guess its okay......

may as well use 175 'spacebar' characters

has about the same level of depth and meaning as many posts here anyway

reply to post by ArMaP



Well, you certainly know your stuff mate.
I know it's frustrating for sure.

Hopefully the kinks will be ironed out.

I'm sure Springer or S.O. will be along with an explanation before too long

reply to post by jfj123


Hit the preview button.

When the page refreshes the counting starts from the beggining, avoiding this bug.



After writing the above answer I still had to write 54 characters.
Was that answer not enough?
As we can see, it's hard to put a price to a piece of our thoughts, even if it's just a character count.


I have an idea (that will probably be ignored by the site owners), why don't the mods create a thread for testing all the bugs we can find for some time, then this code is suspended (I hope that can be done) until those bugs are ironed out.

What the mods think? (or should I suggest this in a different forum?)

Originally posted by SLAYER69
I have a question?
How many here are using Firefox?
I've noticed many of the screens look like Firefox. I'm wondering if there is a compatibility issue with one of Firefox's browser extensions?

Just a thought

I'm using firefox but I've also tried IE and had the exact same problem so I tend to think the problem is in ATS' coding and has nothing to do with the browser.

As of the current conditions of this new rule, it is in no way condusive to creative writing forums.

It took several weeks for me to realize that a long, thought out post should be first fine tuned in a word program then copied and pasted. I had spent a long time making my thoughts coherent and well thought out only to have some glitch happen, my cat walk across the keyboard, or other many situations and lose of all of my work.

And this was before I joined the collaborative writing forum.

To have a good quality contribution, I simply must do it in word. Least of all to spend the amount of time I have chose to dedicate to the Space Opera, I'd be beyond ticked to lose all that information only using the ATS posting box.

This new rule obviously needs tweeked. If not, well it was a creative, organic experience while it lasted.

This will ruffle some feathers but, it's just my opinion. This ATSer would be willing to PAY for a special acess to an area of ATS that is not confined to so many rules and regulations. And where hopefully adults would behave as such and not need rules that make us feel like we've reverted back to grade school. I, for one, have found many poignant two line posts.



[edit on 4/12/2009 by Whisper67]

I've been thinking about this new rule since it was posted.

The reasons behind it are valid and so are many the reasons against it.

So this is how I'm going to chose to approach it ...

I will post as I have always posted and will neither try to circumvent the system nor will I go out of my way to adhere to it.

If what comes naturally is too short for the character limit, well, I just won't post it and that will be fine by me.

I personally just don't want to express myself around an arbitrary character number.

It's really not that big a deal.

All this came to me as I was trying to figure out how to say: "resistance is futile" in over 200 characters.

Is it just my paranoia or are management continually introducing ever more restrictive and sillier rules. I understand there is a business to run, and we have no concept of what that means from this side of the fence, but I'm starting to feel like I'm back at school! You know, like those nightmares you have in your forties about showing up naked in assembly unprepared for the latin exam?

I can't say I've ever been part of a thread where one line posts detract from the enjoyment of reading or participating. Often, it's the one-liners that make me laugh and keep the thread alive and vibrant, and the longer posts that switch me off.

100% agreement with the members that have commented that sometimes one line is the most powerful and appropriate way to contribute.

As for the 'don't try our patience' comment - well, errm, ok I got it, you're the ultimate boss, but please remember what side the bread is buttered on. Without active, long standing, loyal and commited members, ATS would be what?

So that's just one rather minorly-contributive and unimportant member's opinion

Best
R

PS. gotta say I'm getting a bit nervous about clicking on that red U2U button. it feels like one day the message will read 'from today, members will be warned or banned for humor or spontanaiety' !!

reply to post by schrodingers dog


I would certainly hate to miss some of your gems Schrodingers Dog if they are too short for you to post.

And Schrodingers Dog, you will just have to write longer pearls of wisdom in the future.

it occurs to me that a space is a character

so is the blank nothing between the words just as important as the words and the meaning

punctuation is a character

huh!!!!!!!

do many punctuation marks make the meaning more important???????????

how arbitrary this decision is

Righty-o.

Got the memo, and more than happy to compy.

Wonderful idea SO! Personally, I was finding the "one liners" and "me too'ers" distracting from the meat of the discussion. This is also a great way to get threads back on track in regards to a bit of care and effort on the part of not only the thread starters, but also the participants.

I applaud this move HIGHLY!

long posts seem to violate the spirit of the internet

people will click out faster if presented with large blocks of dense text

twitter has imposed the opposite restriction

because thats the way people are