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Post by Stinger on Jan 3, 2015 13:31:18 GMT -5
I agree with all of the moderator/inactive user accounts purge posts. We need active moderators here, and it seems like Pagan has been doing almost all the moderating of this forum since...a while. Possibly before I joined even.
Here is an additional thing:
I would like to see more serious MilSim games. I know it might seem strange coming from me, as you normally here this from the veteran guys or at the very least someone who is 18. However, the Realsims as well as that tiny little night scenario at Action Paintball have been my favorite events. The answer to this may have to be through private games with tighter communities, but I can see it working here too.
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Post by dizzyshot (Bad Company) on Jan 3, 2015 13:55:21 GMT -5
Mod Voting. I feel the community should have a say in who any new mods should be. Not saying that current mods wouldn't make a good decision, but sometimes it makes people feel that their more involved. Obviously final decision would fall with the current mods, but it could give them ideas of people previously not even thought of. Also, even though this could end badly, a decision for a thread creator to lock/delete the thread instead of having to wait on a mod to come by and lock/delete the thread. That's about my two cents on the topic. Oh and if someone want's to make a new field abandon malls were the rage last year.
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Post by Ogre on Jan 3, 2015 14:20:32 GMT -5
As far as moderating goes, I agree with those who are on everyday and follow the rules 95% of the time should be offered some sort of moderator status if they can handle it. I have no complaints with the moderating staff I think they do a great job but I do feel like a lot is done by just 2 or 3 moderators, Mostly Pagan, MS-ARC and Gimp from what I see. I would like to see website admins more involved with the sport, maybe bump up Pagan or Gimp to Admin level, the only active admins are Zorak and Kneif and I'm not sure how often they actually get out to play, meanwhile Gimp, Pagan and a few others are still very active and are part of the old guard. Notice it was Pagan that came to us with the message our lord and savior Hadoken had bestowed upon us regarding the I'll fated commerce section, although, I'd assume all the mods and admins got the same message. You would figure an admin would have came to us with this information, however in the scheme of things, I guess it doesn't mater. I would just like another admin who isn't just active on this site but is moderately active in the sport it's self.
Obviously things will be fine either way, I just think the latter direction is the one we should be heading in.
I do think we should be more inviting and focus on events that bring the community together. The community is 99% of why I play Airsoft, it's not the or for the l33t Milsim, to be honest, on my budget, playing airsoft is probably more of a pain in the ass than its worth. Getting out to events, meeting new people, seeing old friends and making new connections is why I play. I've met some pretty cool people in the years I've been attending MiA events and I've always received a warm welcome, some field owners have even gone out of their way to make me feel at home and it's a nice feeling. At the end of the day, it's amazing to sit down and swap war stories of the days gameplay with each other. I have yet to meet a seriously player that I didn't like. I've made more friends on the battlefield than I have enemies, and if at the end of the day, being able to sit down and relax at a campfire after a hard days combat is what it's what bbwarz is all about to me.
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Post by Один (Odin) on Jan 3, 2015 14:44:29 GMT -5
I definently agree with purging inactive users and bumping some people up to mod and admin positions, but beside all of that I have a idea. One maybe split the events section with a in state section for local games and a national section for out of state events like Blacksheep or Lion Claws.
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Post by Gimpalong on Jan 3, 2015 14:57:54 GMT -5
Honestly, I'm not really sure that any of the current mods need to be bumped up. Pagan and myself already have Global Mod status, so we can already do the vast majority of moderating stuff that needs to happen. The "Admin" level goes a bit beyond just moderating.
As far as moderating goes, I get one, maybe two reports per week to deal with. So it's not like we're overwhelmed with stuff that needs to be addressed.
Things I'd like to see:
1. MiA patches. 2. An MiA commerce/workshop type show. People gather, learn about gearbox/tech stuff, sell gear, shoot airsoft guns, dick around. 3. A large MiA event in the summer with camping/hanging out/playing on multiple days. Sort of like Lioness. 4. A functioning commerce section. 5. More fields.
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Post by Cats (Doom) on Jan 3, 2015 16:16:31 GMT -5
Time to stir the turd since I've always kept one foot out the door anyway:
1: A new site with an upgraded commerce system (something like AR15.com where Equipment Exchange feedback is part of your profile and every transaction is an opportunity to add another rating to your average) and some better thread, board,and sub-board organization.
2: A fresh start to MiA with a more transparent community. No hidden black-lists, no mods that vote amongst each-other behind closed doors, no deleting posts without leaving any trace, and other such things are not very forthcoming.
3: An inclusive community rather than an exclusive one. The vast majority of the players I've met in Northern Michigan will simply not join MiA because of how poorly players who operate outside MiA's accepted standards are treated and the stigma it has created about this community. I don't just mean young kids doing backyard stuff either, I mean experienced players with gear who may even attend national games too. When I see members and mods bash players and groups openly on the fourms and on the field I am sickened and angered by such behavior. Yes it is great to have a mature community of mil-sim and experienced players, but it would be nice to have MiA be that place for everyone to be part of; even if this means having a separate site for players who take airsoft more seriously. The only way to maintain a experienced community is to promote and encourage the much larger under-experienced community. I dislike playing with the guy who has a walmart gun, cheats, or is wearing military ranks as much as the next guy; but chasing them off is not going to improve the situation, because they are as much a member of the greater airsoft community as the guy who has been playing for 10years+. A non-MiA member's run-in with the law can cause just as many problems for the airsoft community as a member's run-in; so would we not be better off watering-down our membership so we can teach new players rather than dictate rules to them and watch as they say "f**k you" and walk off (or in many cases bing chased off). I'm not defending chronic cheaters and generally bad people, but what I'm saying is they will continue to play with or without MiA; MiA is only one part of the airsoft community, not the community. I'm sure some of you will ignore these facts but thats your personal problem, it should not be the community's problem; and if MiA is a site about putting the individual before the community, then why do we bother.
4: More fields. Stop ruling out every field because it is not officially backed by MiA members. There are privately owned fields and commercial fields that don't acknowledge our community exists or has any authority and we have to accept that fact. Rather than exclude them when they ignore us, we need to continue to welcome them and their players, and even get out there and play by their rules every now and again. Those fields generate some of the greater airsoft community's membership, we not only need to be able to tap into that because of the things in #3; but also because we need the membership to help mold into experienced players, and we need the fields to play at because we appear to have complaints that we don't have enough. I don't like my local commercial field (TCP North), it's unsafe and sorely lacking in everything I like about airsoft; but I still go there because I see the vast number of young new players they start in the sport, and playing there is a good way to help them work their way into the MiA and/or experienced non-MiA community. By playing there you also build a report and the owners/operators may even look to you for answers when they realize you are more involved at the state and/or national level than they are. I would hope this sort of thing could be more important to experienced players than simply going out and being the most competitive player on the field.
5: More modernized features.
6: A separate account system like we have here on the current MiA. I and many members will simply not be part of a community were you need a facebook or social media account to login. Forums are a bit more old fashion than social media, they entail a level of community and accountability that social media may not have; and to some of our members this is why they are part of this community. Thats not to say we can't keep an MiA facebook, lots of new players use facebook exclusively; but lets make sure that it is not required.
7: Carry over some of the stickies and repost them on the new site.
8: Include the community in the creation of the new site. We ask airsoft fields and groups to include MiA, so theres no reason we shouldn't include our own members in the process of creating a new community. Threads like this are a great step toward completing that!
9: Make staff accountable and structured. How does one become a Mod? How does one advance as a Mod? What is a Mod's duties to their self and the community? I'm sure some of these things already exist; but they should be public and readily available. If a player feels they have been treated unfairly or even harassed by a mod (or other member), there should be some checks and balances. It shouldn't be the job of staff to mediate member's social problems, but mods themselves should be held to certain standards that the entire community can expect from them. The community should maybe even be included in establishing these standards. The whole "this is a dictatorship" mindset and opinion is a good way to alienate members.
10: Make not only the forum rules known, but also the proper etiquette to use when posting on the forum.
11: Some modern forums have the ability to force new members to read and agree to certain forum rules before making the first post on that forum or even on a specific board. This might be a nice feature. The individual board thing might be exceptionally helpful, since we constantly see people who will read the forum rules but not the individual board rules. This might also cut down on those people that just join and make a post (or in some cases lots of posts in one day) without reading any of the rules.
Sorry but I've been really busy out of town on work so I likely won't be checking for responses; so take my requests how you will because a few of them are very soap-boxy.
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Snarf
New Member
Ambidextrous selector switches are the bane of my existence
Posts: 560
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Post by Snarf on Jan 3, 2015 18:21:41 GMT -5
Things I'd like to see: 1. MiA patches. 2. An MiA commerce/workshop type show. People gather, learn about gearbox/tech stuff, sell gear, shoot airsoft guns, dick around. 3. A large MiA event in the summer with camping/hanging out/playing on multiple days. Sort of like Lioness.4. A functioning commerce section. 5. More fields. I really like the idea of an MiA community event where people can trade not only goods but also information, as in internals/tech work instruction, gear recommendations, maybe tactics and stuff etc. It should be a newbie friendly event in a spot where we can have a ton of people. Last year, the Mia Field Day at No Limits was awesome— great turnout and a good market for commerce, as well as some really fun rec games. Something along those lines but on a bigger scale would be very cool.
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Post by Mosin on Jan 3, 2015 18:23:35 GMT -5
Nobody is answering these complaints, so I'll take a crack at a few bullet points that stood out to me:
1) Becoming a mod is something that happens over time, and you pretty much just have to ask for it. Worst case if nobody in the present mod staff knows anything about you we'll say no, best case we'll give you the section. As stated earlier, this board literally goes 2 weeks at a time before anything pops up, so we really don't need more mods at this point. I will say on record though that the older dudes that have retired to a lurk status should be removed from mod positions, but other than just seeing the names under the respective threads, it really doesn't hurt anything, as they're not exactly running a muck on the boards and abusing powers.
2) We don't exclude fields that aren't MiA compliant, you simply have to put the required text that you're not compliant with our safety standards. Honestly I don't even know why that's an issue. If you play unsafe or want to run games on fields that aren't insured, consider us doing you a favor by not being good with you just posting up.
3) The black list isn't exactly hidden, and honestly it doesn't need to be everyone's business. The list consists of less than 10 people, and is shared among myself, Pagan, and Canto presently. As fields emerge that are in agreement with what we presently have to not host on the same day and for all intents and purposes play nice with each other, we'll share the information.
4) Ogre, don't focus on who presented the information. Pagan was the first to act on it, we all got the same message from Hado.
5) Connors, the purpose of the thread I made and became stickied was so anyone that wanted to join could look at that list and see who would be most appropriate to PM and get further info. Every time someone posts about wanting to join (Which hasn't been in over a year iirc) is swiftly answered by dudes that are still in or fresh out.
I'm currently having a serious look at buying/running a field of my own, exclusive to airsoft and in the Southeast Michigan area, maybe one of the surrounding counties to Oakland. Presently the only thing lacking is investors and the perfect parcel of land, but it's a work in progress.
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Post by Ogre on Jan 3, 2015 19:43:49 GMT -5
I really like the idea of an MiA community event where people can trade not only goods but also information, as in internals/tech work instruction, gear recommendations, maybe tactics and stuff etc. It should be a newbie friendly event in a spot where we can have a ton of people. Last year, the Mia Field Day at No Limits was awesome— great turnout and a good market for commerce, as well as some really fun rec games. Something along those lines but on a bigger scale would be very cool. This is exactly the idea I brought up to Canto at firestorm. Basically we want to aim for something akin to Evike's Airsoft Camp but even a greater focus on the community.
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Post by Connors on Jan 4, 2015 16:18:55 GMT -5
5) Connors, the purpose of the thread I made and became stickied was so anyone that wanted to join could look at that list and see who would be most appropriate to PM and get further info. Every time someone posts about wanting to join (Which hasn't been in over a year iirc) is swiftly answered by dudes that are still in or fresh out. That makes sense. Never really looked at it from that angle, didn't even think bout it.
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Post by UAD Airsoft on Jan 4, 2015 16:40:18 GMT -5
As stated before me, a new site would be great. Something built off of MyBB or IPB. If you guys need hosting, feel free to contact me since I work for a datacenter!
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Post by luke213 on Jan 4, 2015 17:29:22 GMT -5
Well I'm fresh back but in my opinion the biggest thing would be more traffic and more posting users etc. But I'm not sure how things have been going to get here if it's been slow or been mostly since commerce isn't available anymore.
I'd like to see MIA move off of proboards just to give more control of what happens with the site and rules to MIA itself the users and the mods. However I believe there is value to all of the old posts here and the information in them, so if that change happens I'd love to see the content moved to the new system. I don't have any experience migrating from proboards so I'm not sure if that's possible.
On the mods that have been mentioned, again old voice coming back here I've been one of those inactive guys for quite a few years. I haven't seen any real mod issues as far as people overstepping their bounds nor a huge number of reported posts and issues, so I really don't see that we need more mods or more active mods right now. That said like was mentioned there has never been a set number, more less mods in MIA have always been guys who just generally showed themselves to be responsible and willing to do it. Over the years that has varied a bit but generally it looks like that is all the same.
As far as old guys that aren't active still holding mod status I don't see it as an issue. I haven't seen where one of those mods has come back and caused trouble best I'm aware that isn't an issue. There isn't any limit to the number of mods within reason that I'm aware of. If those mods that aren't active come back to the sport and want to come back to the forums I don't see any reason for them to not be able to do the job they did before even after a long absence.
Also just as another example a few years back MIA got hacked and there was a big hoopla about it, I happened to be on the site at the time and helped get things back on track. It just happened to be a case where I hadn't been on in years but I was there at the right place at the right time. Now that's not common but in any sort of situation like that it doesn't hurt to have the extra hands available if needed.
I guess I don't see a problem leaving guys on the list of mods, I don't see it hurts anything. I also don't see a problem appointing new mods if they are responsible and can keep things running smoothly.
One thing that has always been a point of contention on MIA over the years is how it's moderated and the way it handles newcomers. I've been on forums a long time all sorts of different ones and typically these days firearms forums. I haven't seen the same level of issues elsewhere and I think part of that is they aren't as diverse as far as userbase goes. We have young, old, poor, and rich guys all wrapped into one group and it's going to rub some people wrong and others not. I think as a whole considering how many different groups of people are coming together into one place MIA has done pretty well with some exceptions over the years.
I'd say the mods as a whole are just trying to do their job and keep this place running well. Sometimes that rubs people the wrong way but generally it works pretty well.
Luke
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Post by BoredKender on Jan 4, 2015 21:49:22 GMT -5
The one thing I want for MIA in 2015 is the return of the FLYING SQUIRREL!
As far as us old people chairsofting goes, I don't know when I will even be back in the state but I plan on giving Uncle Sam a full 20+ and am only a little over 4 years in. If y'all think that it warrants a removal of status I can dig it.
Do kids still say that these days?
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Post by Foxhound on Jan 4, 2015 22:03:04 GMT -5
While many people don’t see me post a whole lot around the forums, I have been on here for a little over 5 years so I've seen some of the changes over that time. I’ll give some of my input from what I've seen and adding on to what some people have already said.
1. Not to beat a dead horse but an active commerce section back within the forums. While there are a couple ones setup right now (Facebook, Reddit, Michigan 6mm, etc.) they aren't located within the forum so less people are going to make another account on a separate site just to sell their stuff. A commerce section within the forum will obviously increase traffic and (hopefully) better input on other threads around the forum. I know that may be out of the moderator’s control though due to Proboards’s ToS. If we do happen to get a new forum with a commerce section I like the idea of having a visible feedback system next to the username so there’s an instant ability to see their status.
2. On the topic of moderators, I feel like there’s no need to increase the amount we have or purge the list from inactive ones. They’re not doing any harm being inactive and they obviously gained that status for a reason, and there’s not a limit on how many there can be as far as I know. From the responses I’ve read there’s also no need to have any more mods since there aren’t really any overwhelming issues that would constitute the needs for more than we already have. The mods I commonly see are respectable and well known guys that are active in the community, exactly what this forum should have. But obviously if there are other users that have shown the same commitment to the sport and community BOTH in person and on the forums they should be considered so they can have input on other important decisions that are made by the mod staff. Not just anyone though. You guys are doing a great job and I’ve never had a problem with any of your decisions.
3. Off of what Praetor and Stinger said about a popup for new members with the basic rules we have decided on, I think it would be great idea. I know there are stickies for that kind of thing but we all know not everyone reads those. A popup or some kind of thing that new users have to read and agree to before they can post so there’s no reason for them not to know the basic rules.
4. A field feedback section would also be a great idea. That way players who haven’t been to a field before can see pictures and testimonies from other players. There could also be a section that gives recommendations to field owners/hosts on what they would like see improved as far as the field goes. (The AAR threads seem to be more of recommendations for future hosts that are focused on gameplay)
5. As far as the community goes, more fields are always wanted but that takes time and money of course.
6. Yearly patches would be cool idea, it could raise more awareness.
7. Promoting the community as a whole would also be a good idea. But with that comes newer members and we need to be more accepting of the less experienced players. It hasn't been as much of an issue as I’ve seen in the past which is nice to see. Less bashing and more constructive criticism for newer members so they can make changes to how they conduct their business so it’s safer and more appropriate for everyone as a whole.
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Post by UAD Airsoft on Jan 4, 2015 22:19:58 GMT -5
If I can get approval from the staff here, I can start developing a IPB version with a working commerce section. I can host it through my company as well if need be.
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