Ask the Mods questions about the Forums!

[StrandedonEarth]

Is it stil possible to embed "coubs" on the forums?

eg: http://coub.com/view/4kdyc

[Red Iron Crown]

 

8 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Is it stil possible to embed "coubs" on the forums?

eg: http://coub.com/view/4kdyc

Doesn't seem to be.

[DDE]

@Red Iron Crown Seems to be the case for Steam screenshots, too (e.g. http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/277356179389964484/8766824B235DA7E995E4BB5B739EB9C779C82C81/ ). Bad news for me, I don't even know how to attach image files otherwise.

 

 

 

[Red Iron Crown]

@DDE Try uploading the pics somewhere where an URL ending in the file extension is available (I use Imgur and Dropbox, there are others). 

 

[DDE]

@Red Iron Crown Has there been a recent update? Everything worked flawlessly last Sunday.

[Red Iron Crown]

4 minutes ago, DDE said:

@Red Iron Crown Has there been a recent update? Everything worked flawlessly last Sunday.

There was an update applied earlier this week (Sunday, I think?). 

[DDE]

18 minutes ago, Red Iron Crown said:

There was an update applied earlier this week (Sunday, I think?). 

Well, dammit.

@Red Iron Crown, could you please throw a report Invision's way? I doubt they meant to "fix" this.

Edited August 27, 2016 by DDE

[DaMachinator]

Just add the correct extension to the end of the URL and verify it resolves correctly. KSP screenshots should be .png's, IIRC.

[Red Iron Crown]

Just now, DaMachinator said:

Just add the correct extension to the end of the URL and verify it resolves correctly. KSP screenshots should be .png's, IIRC.

Doesn't work for Steam screenshots as far as I can tell, I think they've tried to prevent hotlinking.

[DDE]

16 hours ago, DaMachinator said:

Just add the correct extension to the end of the URL and verify it resolves correctly. KSP screenshots should be .png's, IIRC.

Steam's screens are .jpg, and I have verified it doesn't work.

[legoclone09]

Is a general chat thread against the rules or anything? I started one called What's Up? and then I saw in the forum games guidelines don't make one because they are hard to moderate. Is it against the rules? If so just lock it up.

[technicalfool]

1 hour ago, legoclone09 said:

Is a general chat thread against the rules or anything? I started one called What's Up? and then I saw in the forum games guidelines don't make one because they are hard to moderate. Is it against the rules? If so just lock it up.

Well I was going to move it to the Lounge, but it seems you already posted it there!

Seems harmless enough so far. Go have fun. Though I get the feeling you're going to end up with a thread full of direction-related puns.

[legoclone09]

1 hour ago, technicalfool said:

Well I was going to move it to the Lounge, but it seems you already posted it there!

Seems harmless enough so far. Go have fun. Though I get the feeling you're going to end up with a thread full of direction-related puns.

Yeah. OK, I was just a little worried since in the forum game rules it said it would be hard to moderate. Thanks!

 

EDIT: Also is it possible to have signatures scaloe to the display? Height is consistent, but on my iPad it doesn't look like it does on a larger desktop display. (ribbons cut off to second row) 

Edited August 29, 2016 by legoclone09

[Snark]

Hi all,

Recently, the mods have been (privately) asked about "what's the deal with the no-politics rule?", e.g. where is the line, and what's considered OK or not OK.  Also, for some odd reason politics seem to be coming up a lot these days, can't imagine why.    So it's worth a few notes on the subject:

In general, this forum tries to be a "hands-off" place, for the most part:  i.e. as much as possible, just let people say what they want to say.  The forum guidelines were written with that in mind, and the moderators generally aim for a policy of "the less moderation, the better."  So the rules that we do have are generally there for very pragmatic reasons:  they're there because bitter experience has shown that Bad Things happen if they're not.

So, politics is one of those areas that has proven to be untouchable.  It's been shown consistently over the years that it's simply not possible to have any significant mention of politics without it quickly blowing up into a massive flame-war where nobody wins, because people feel so strongly about these things.  And since politics have nothing to do with KSP itself, we can draw the line there with a clean conscience that we're not impeding the free discussion of KSP, which is what this forum is about.  If people really want to talk politics, there are plenty of other forums where they can do it.

So, that raises the interesting question:  just what is considered "politics", then?

Well, in this context, we pretty much have to treat it like art:  hard to define, but "we know it when we see it."  What constitutes "politics" is a very fuzzy boundary that's hard to sharply define (for one thing, a lot can depend on context.)  So that's why the rule is deliberately left fairly vague:  to give the moderators reasonable latitude for judgment.  Basically, it's politics if the mods think it's politics.

Yes, that is, unfortunately, arbitrary.  Unavoidably so.  Because that's unavoidably arbitrary, we try to take care against the vagaries of individual judgment.  In particular, we try to avoid making such decisions individually:  if a moderator notices something that seems excessively political, they'll consult with other moderators before taking any action.

Well, okay, I hear you ask, in that case, how do moderators "judge" this, typically?

Basically, it boils down to:  "does it have a high potential to erupt in a flame war?"   Which rules out just about anything political, given how high passions generally run about these things.  Please understand:  when the moderators enforce these rules, it's not because of any opinions on politics, or any concern about the issues in question-- simply that they lead to toxic exchanges in the forums that don't benefit anyone.

Some concrete examples of stuff that fits that description:

• Making pretty much any reference at all-- even in jest-- about specific candidates in current elections, in any country
• Making generalizations about particular countries
• Discussing the rightness or wrongness of just about any governmental action-- laws, budgets, etc.

Those are just a few examples and not intended to be an exhaustive list.  And even those examples are a bit vague:  everything depends on context, and the nature of the individual post.

The "it depends" dictum also bears not just on what the content is, but what the moderator response is after tidying up.  For example:  An innocent user, with a clean record, who happens to make a casual politics-related joke because they didn't realize it was out of bounds, and clearly meant no harm by it?  Probably just a gentle reminder "please don't do politics, even in jest."  An angry political rant dropped like a bomb into an otherwise non-political thread?  Probably something a bit harsher, especially if the user has been warned for it before.  It all depends.

So that's the deal from the moderators' perspective.  How does this apply to you?  Here's what the mods would like to request of all the users:

• Please, just don't do politics here, okay?  There are other places for that.
• If you see someone else doing politics, please don't respond.
• If someone seems to be posting stuff that's over the line, don't call them on it (that's "backseat moderating", it's against forum rule 3.2).  Instead, just report the post, along with an explanatory note, and let the moderators take care of anything that may need taking care of.  It's what we're for.
• I know that all of the above sounds vague and hand-wavy.  Can't be helped, I'm sorry.  If you have more specific questions about specific instances, please feel free to privately message any of the moderator staff and we'll be happy to weigh in (with the understanding that, due to privacy concerns, we can never discuss moderator action against a user with anyone other than that user).

 

TL;DR:  Politics are against the rules, but there are some light edge cases where you might get away with it.  Don't try.

[Andem]

This isn't really a question, but props to the moderation team and SQUAD for making this forum such an incredible place. The RPG Maker forums are a hellhole, I actually got temporarily banned for an accidental double-post. So, thanks! 

[DuoDex]

5 hours ago, Andem said:

This isn't really a question, but props to the moderation team and SQUAD for making this forum such an incredible place. The RPG Maker forums are a hellhole, I actually got temporarily banned for an accidental double-post. So, thanks! 

Thanks fam.

I forgot how fun whitetext can be, Also I forgot to turn on spell checkkcing. And am now tpying blind .

[Dman979]

I seem to have borked things up quite badly in one of the threads I started.

Can someone tell me what the response in this thread was, and then close the thread and move it somewhere safe?

Thanks.

 

[Red Iron Crown]

2 hours ago, Dman979 said:

I seem to have borked things up quite badly in one of the threads I started.

Can someone tell me what the response in this thread was, and then close the thread and move it somewhere safe?

Thanks.

 

Looks like Kasper tidied it up for you. Try hosting your log somewhere as a txt file rather than inlining it in a forum post.
 

[DoctorDavinci]

Is there a way to have more than 6 members in a private conversation on the forums?

[legoclone09]

57 minutes ago, DoctorDavinci said:

Is there a way to have more than 6 members in a private conversation on the forums?

No, but Google Hangouts/Skype/Discord/Steam would work.

[Zucal]

What 3rd-party tools do y'all make use of? IRC, Slack, etc.

[Dman979]

4 hours ago, DoctorDavinci said:

Is there a way to have more than 6 members in a private conversation on the forums?

Yes, there is. Add people after sending the first message, I think.

[Red Iron Crown]

4 hours ago, Zucal said:

What 3rd-party tools do y'all make use of? IRC, Slack, etc.

We use IRC for real time collaboration/consultation. Well that's what it's for in theory, in practice it's used for making wisecracks and bad puns.

[stibbons]

33 minutes ago, Red Iron Crown said:

in practice it's used for making wisecracks and bad puns.

Real time wisecracks and bad puns. That's definitely important. 

[Dman979]

2 hours ago, stibbons said:

Real time wisecracks and bad puns. That's definitely important. 

As opposed to fake time wisecracks and puns.