Ok. This is something that has been bothering me for a while.

I have noticed quite a few things recently that I feel shouldn't be allowed (I'm not on about anything major here) but just things I have noticed certain members doing. Now I don't particularly want to make a post asking said members to stop as they might think I'm being bossy, and if they do various things they might think I'm *picking on them*.

On the other hand I'm hestitant to PM a mod, not because they won't help, but if over time, I keep finding things wrong they might think I'm being picky or I just felt like having a moan. Or even worse that I'm jealous. Because I'll admit it, it is usually to do with the amount of posts people accumulate without actually contributing to topics or the way topics go *off-topic*, but this is not jealousy - it's just a pet peeve of mine.

I also feel a bit guilty at wanting to mention these things, especially if it's the same members over and over again. But I feel it's the duty of every member to keep this forum in good shape.

So as you can see I have a Gollum problem here...too many conflicting emotions.

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^ By me and my SS *squiggle hugs*

First off, Johnny's Fan, I think it's good that you wanted to post this. Secondly, do not ever feel like we're going to think you're picky for PM'ing us. I think it's great that you notice all these things, because it is one of our rules that the members stay on topic. We've made it clear recently that we want our members to start earning their posts by actually posting real messages instead of just making their post count go higher by posting in say..Misc. Randomness. To be clear on this, we made it so that the posts that are posted in Misc. Randomness don't count towards your total post count thing or whatever. There's a lot of threads below this one that talk about that. Anyways, what I'm trying to get across to you is that you can PM any of the moderators at any time if you're getting annoyed about something. You can PM me any time

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First off, I LOVE getting messages, it makes my day...
Don't ever feel that you're just moaning because every member counts and we're trying to make the forum the best that it can be and if everyone works together it will be.
Well, Evenstar pretty much summed it up, I don't think there is much else to say...

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[Will accept any PM! So PM me! ]

Just a thought, Johnny's Fan: take a look at the rules on here. If the thing you found appears to be against at least one of the rules, or you KNOW without looking or THINK without looking they're against the rules, we'd rather know about it than not.

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I'm so glad you brought this up JF! I think about this all the time, and it's why most of the time I just forget about PMing a mod. Even when they respond with a "thank you" I still feel guilty.

I guess since I see off-topicness in a lot of places, it's importance has sort of been diminished in my mind.
For instance, I wouldn't PM a mod if I saw [as I do many times] a discussion on King Theoden turning into "Hey, I agree!" "Cool, have some lembas!" "Ohhhhh yum, I love lembas!" "Have some more, I made it myself!"

Okay, you get the point.

So I'd still feel like a taddle tail PMing a mod about this when I see it happening a lot. I also don't want to give the impression that you mods aren't doing your job right and I'm trying to fix it.

Anyway, thanks again, JF, for posting this.

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^Thanks Gily!
<By Bubble Black

Nah, we know you aren't meaning to tell us how to do our job (unless you're an evil little chatter *coughs*) Because we can't be in every thread at the same time, so it's impossible for us to know when things are going off-topic or whenever other evil things are occurring So we like it if you PM us. It helps us do our job.

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Yes, just to reiterate, we cannot be anywhere at once, and so it really does help if people can PM us when there's something that needs attending to -whether it be something as simple as thread that needs moving, or wanting to draw to our attention a situation with a couple of members that you think we may feel needs dealing with. Please do so!

You're not telling on others, you are not making a nuisense of yourself (generally ), and it's not telling us what we are doing wrong. Member feed-back is good. It also shows us that we're not the only ones aware of the problems - shows its not just us. It's nice to know that there are others who really care about the forum, and agree with, or at least understand, the rules that have been set.

Besides, most of us love getting PMs - it makes us feel loved or something.

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<center>i love
doctor who

support Arwen!
[+~^$#?]</center>

I've been thinking about mentioning this too, so thanks Johnny's Fan for making this thread for me.

I've noticed a lot of topics really getting out of hand and well... off topic, but usually that can be fixed by posting something back on topic and not encouraging the off topicness.
I've also found that a lot of people tend to accumulate posts by going around and saying "I agree!" to everything [espeically in the LotR book/movies boards]. They don't add to what people have said, present their views on the subject, or bring up another point, and it really gets on my nerves because it's almost as bad as a one word post.
I too don't want to risk sounding like a tattle tail as Gwen put it, but I feel that it's something you moddies should know about.

We pretty much count the entire "I agree!" thing as a one-word post, because we've made it clear that we want people to actually add something to the topic instead of just restating other people's opinions. I'm glad this thread was started, because I honestly didn't even realize that there were a lot of you who didn't know if you should PM mods about this stuff. Please. PM US. We never get PM's and we're unloved. Like Herenya said, 'it makes us feel loved or something'.

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Thanks a lot for the responses guys - it's helped me a lot. It's also great to know Gwen, Lareal that I'm not the only one whose been thinking along those lines. I know what you mean about the *I agree* posts, they're the kind of things I was talking about.

Another thing I have found (I can't say recently as I've not been there much myself), is that you get people commenting on other people's art work - practically every thread and usually with nothing interesting to say except *That's great!". That's probably where I first noticed there was a little problem. Another one is the contests page, where people who are not involved with any contest post saying they like a certain entry. Now that to me is a bit odd as you can say that when the poll starts.

So these are just a few little things that have niggled me. But I'm OK now!

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^ By me and my SS *squiggle hugs*

But is is okay to PM you about a certain person who does this? There are several people who do it all the time, but I don't want to seem like a tattle tail. So, is it okay to mention names?

It's fine to mention names when you PM us, it allows us to PM the person and politely remind them to avoid using one word-posts or whatever.
Don't hesitate when you feel you should contact a Mod, we're here to help and we love to make the forum the best place it can be.

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[Will accept any PM! So PM me! ]

Please mention names if you can when you PM us. It helps us do our job so much faster, because if we know who is doing things like this we can take care of it immediately. Either way, we're going to need names half the time.

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Cool, thanks for putting up with my questions!

Also, Johnny's Fan, a good way to encourage your peers to make more meaningful comments in regard to artwork and such (i.e. constructive criticism) is to set an example for them. For example, you could say "That's great, because..." I haven't gone and looked at the threads you mean, so maybe you do this already.

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"...that kind of music in general turns my stomach. It's nice that they do have fans, though." -Nienor

To be perfectly honest I think I have only posted there once or twice except when I post in my own thread. But personally I would say something constructive as (I know only too well) a good comment can really help the artist.

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^ By me and my SS *squiggle hugs*