A Few things - RE: Moderation, etc.

[Pape]

Wasn't trying to troll. Just think the secrecy is weird and unnecessary.

So you just used the word used by nearly every troll who came here for the past 20+ years?

Not sure I buy that explanation. It is quite literally saying things aren't aboveboard in NE, illicit things are happening....

If I rolled into your teams thread and started with shady Brady this, shady Brady that, it absolutely would be taken as a troll post...

@captain stone disagree all you want, but at the end of the day the totality of his comments confirm rather than refute what I'm saying

 

[XLIX]

The gif is kind of cool, so I don't have an issue with that.

The gif on its own is cool. The notion that the gif represents Jones' attitude towards the Bucs game is insulting to Jones.

 

[Dingleberry]

I am going to praise and bash Brady at the same time. As great as he is on the field (light years ahead of Montana), he is awful in front of the camera. Such a plastic, awkward demeanor. Just wanted to please both sides and not offend anyone.


Brady's commercials are a complete cringe-inducing abortion. Hopefully, the overturning of Roe v Wade will put a stop to all Brady commercials.

 

[festy1986]

Will this allow for more freedoms in the game day threads? @Ian

I was kicked 4 or 5 times last year and it got to the point where I would get kicked on my first or second reply within those threads.

I get that some people don't wanna see knee jerk reactions but I feel like the moderation on those got way out of hand and made participatiom in those threads to be useless unless you're just going to be in sync with what the implied status quo was.

 

[Bill Lee]

I've been rewriting code sitewide so far this offseason to drop some of the server load during peak times, which should hopefully help there. I'm also in discussions with the server company on some things, but what I'm working on should reduce the number of database calls considerably on game days, which should make a significant difference.

It makes me think of how adding lanes to a highway has been shown to not reduce traffic at rush hour. The extra lane convinces more people to get into their cars instead of taking public transport, or that they can shift their commute a bit later/earlier now that there is more capacity. The only impact is to make the duration of rush hour shorter.

In essence making it possible for people to see responses to their GDT rants faster will just encourage more people to rant and push the server(s) to the point where they become responsive or crashy all over again.

In this case one approach (presuming this is possible) is for you to decide what response time you want the server to provide, measure how it's doing, and when it's slower than desired bounce back posts to the sender saying "sorry, busy, try again later'. This is basically what web server farm front end load managers do. They run independently of the main server and serve to keep their load within limits. If the system is designed correctly, it should be able to shed load pretty efficiently. It's also better for the people writing the posts, in that their browser won't stay locked up waiting for the server to eventually post the message. It'd also mean they wouldn't be as tempted to hit reload in another browser window.

It's interesting to take it to the limit and consider a server that could handle everyone's rant instantly. The instant after a bad play/call/whatever, everyone watching the thread would see 100s/1000s of posts all with similar rants. The end result would be that the readers could not keep up with the writers. This puts a limit on how much effort you should put into making the system faster. Eventually it becomes pointless.

IMO we already see evidence of this. Player X makes a good/bad play and we see dozens of one liner posts that just say "X!!!!!!!". A lot of them could be dropped which might frustrate some of the writers but the readers would be OK with it. If the writer had something more thoughtful/meaningful/important to say they could resubmit it when the server load goes down.

 

[Ross12]

This is not a take-sides political post...it's about something else.

I drove up to see my sister in NH yesterday and passed a house that had hateful Biden signs all over the front lawn and another with F*** Joe Biden (spelled out - in a neighborhood full of kids), Let's Go Brandon, and Trump 2024 giant flags.

I did my typical sigh, but the thoughts stayed with me. How sick in the head, how full of irrational rage, does a person have to be to spend all kinds of money and energy to put a permanent primal scream up in their neighborhood, and about something (someone) that really hasn't made much of a difference in their day-to-day life in any way, shape, or form? I know people like this - several ex-friends, because it just wasn't worth the energy to listen to them anymore. They go to work all day, listen to hate-radio back and forth, then come home and rush to put on Fox or OANN to hear some out-of-context or blown out of proportion OUTRAGE perpetrated by an evil libtard (in some town no one ever heard of) or some illegal brown person or some stupid teacher or whatever.

They go to feed their addiction. I've said it repeatedly here, whenever Felger and Mazz are brought up: anger lights up the brain same as porn, and it's addictive. And that drug is the formula of hateful, as opposed to informative, talk radio and cable news (the side of the argument is irrelevant). The fighting is the point. The fighting gets the clicks. It's the unconscious desire feeding that fix for anger. And it's destructive to the addict, their family/friends/social circle...their Thanksgiving gatherings.

The same thing is going on here, and with all sincere respect (seriously), Ian, you're not going to stop it with Block or Ignore functions. The formula works for a while, then burns itself out, or settles into an echo chamber of misery, because the people seeking informative discussion just can't deal with it any longer.

In any case, I wish you all well. It was a fun few years here. I don't watch cable news at all anymore. I don't listen to F&M or any of the controversy mongers at all anymore (and hint: the vast majority of fans don't listen to them, either), nor do I engage in the irrational and hateful social media political wars - in the limited time I spend on social media at all. I'm happier. I'm more informed now than I was when everything had to have a side to hate. It's kind of ridiculous that this analogy is apropos to a fan board for an unbelievably successful sports franchise.

And it's a damned shame, because this site wasn't like this at all until the last couple of years, and is worse this year than ever. The curmudgeons of yesteryear, for all their screaming schtick, were informed and made good arguments or were hilarious (Joker, Captain - I love those guys), but first and foremost THEY WERE FANS, actual fans, who would complain about something specific in threads about that one issue, but otherwise support the team. Now the place is full of either trolls from other team's boards, fans broken beyond repair by Brady leaving, or just people who need the fight fix.

Ah well...

I think this is a really good post. I understand a few folks disliking the left-leaning bent, but I get that you had to use something as an example. I’m someone who generally votes Republican or Libertarian with few exceptions and I didn’t feel bothered, though I’m much closer to a Centrist than a Conservative.

The point of “the fight fix” is the key. In my opinion, a third or more of people you engage in discussion online these days are only there to get their ”fight fix”. This board, Twitter, reddit, any discussion platform - same problem…

But I’m invested in trying to keep this place as an escape for engaging, entertaining and hopefully respectful Patriots discussion as long as @Ian is and as long as we have an audience for it.

Hope you aren’t actually heading out @50-yard-line as you’re an awesome poster but if you are, it was great having you.

 

[Deus Irae]

And it's a damned shame, because this site wasn't like this at all until the last couple of years, and is worse this year than ever. The curmudgeons of yesteryear, for all their screaming schtick, were informed and made good arguments or were hilarious (Joker, Captain - I love those guys), but first and foremost THEY WERE FANS, actual fans, who would complain about something specific in threads about that one issue, but otherwise support the team. Now the place is full of either trolls from other team's boards, fans broken beyond repair by Brady leaving, or just people who need the fight fix.

They've almost completely de-balled this place. What you people complain about almost constantly today is mostly stuff that wouldn't have earned even a second thought in the 2000s, or even early 2010s.

I know that a lot of the old stuff was lost, so it's tough to go back and see how things were, but just ask some of the other old-timers about NEM, for example.

 

[Pats2000]

It's the people who don't like Brady who are the most obsessed with him. A small contingent of us Patriots fans follow him and wish him well, but there is a small(er) contingent of haters who are completely obsessed with him and mention him Every. Single. Chance. They. Get.

The contigent of incessant Brady posts comes from the BB is nothing without brady

 

[1960Pats]

They've almost completely de-balled this place. What you people complain about almost constantly today is mostly stuff that wouldn't have earned even a second thought in the 2000s, or even early 2010s.

I know that a lot of the old stuff was lost, so it's tough to go back and see how things were, but just ask some of the other old-timers about NEM, for example.

Exactly.
Society has become less informed but more opinionated. That's a bad place.
I'm glad that I'm older and grew up in the 50s and 60s. It was a much better world back then.

 

[Triumph]

I’ve had a 2-3 triggered posters that followed me and would be the first to respond to anything I posted. It was really bizarre. Thankfully, they aren’t here anymore.

Im still here.

 

[XLIX]

The contigent of incessant Brady posts comes from the BB is nothing without brady

Don't be ridiculous.... Belichick has that one playoff victory.... you know, 28 years ago.....

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Don't be ridiculous.... Belichick has that one playoff victory.... you know, 28 years ago.....

Ian, the block feature can’t come soon enough.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Im still here.

Nah, we rarely clash, if ever.

These posters would rarely post, but come out of woodwork and personally attack me. Severe head cases who I wouldn’t even waste my time responding to.

 

[Pats2000]

Don't be ridiculous.... Belichick has that one playoff victory.... you know, 28 years ago.....

It's almost ironic

 

[Pats2000]

Exactly.
Society has become less informed but more opinionated. That's a bad place.
I'm glad that I'm older and grew up in the 50s and 60s. It was a much better world back then.

I love how every old person ever in every generation since speech became a thing thinks it was better in their day.

 

[XLIX]

Ian, the block feature can’t come soon enough.

You can put me in your ignore file any time you want.

Unfortunately for you, you don't have the self control to do so.

 

[n6249c]

I have a question about the above statement. If people are mad about gas prices, food prices, rent, the economy, their 5 year olds being spoke to about changing their gender, etc and these things can greatly affect their day to day lives (and obviously have), why aren't they allowed to exercise their 1st amendment right in a peaceful manor?

And why don't you think people haven't had a change in their day to day lives from what's been happening?

Two responses. First, in general they are, or should be, but too often the “peaceful manner” part of that gets lost, and it seems they’re out to provoke confrontation and exacerbate the situation not to seek resolution or improvement.

second, specifically, they should do so in venues appropriate to the topics. when they instead inject those expressions into a forum named “PatsFans” with a topical focus on the New England Patriots NFL football team they should expect others in the forum to exercise similar First Amendment rights by telling them to go to hell, because their reason for injecting such extraneous topics is to make others in the forum as miserable as they are, and they should go to hell instead of trying to bring it here.

 

[Ross12]

You can put me in your ignore file any time you want.

Unfortunately for you, you don't have the self control to do so.

This is a really good example of someone looking to start something - the pivot away from talking about football and towards the person themselves. It’s no longer “Bill this” and “Tom that”, now it’s “YOU don’t have the self control…” Please refrain from that type of behavior.

Ironic that this statement has to happen in this thread of all places. In a depressing way.

 

[XLIX]

This is a really good example of someone looking to start something - the pivot away from talking about football and towards the person themselves. It’s no longer “Bill this” and “Tom that”, now it’s “YOU don’t have the self control…” Please refrain from that type of behavior.

Ironic that this statement has to happen in this thread of all places. In a depressing way.

Bullsh*t. When someone responds to a post of mine saying absolutely nothing but “Ian, the block feature can’t come soon enough” then they are the ones looking to start something (especially since we already have an ignore feature - I just wish we could use it on mods).

Anyone that doesn’t like what I have to say already has the ability to shut up and ignore me so if they complain about wanting to block me but haven’t done so, that speaks volumes.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Bullsh*t. When someone responds to a post of mine saying absolutely nothing but “Ian, the block feature can’t come soon enough” then they are the ones looking to start something (especially since we already have an ignore feature - I just wish we could use it on mods).

Anyone that doesn’t like what I have to say already has the ability to shut up and ignore me so if they complain about wanting to block me but haven’t done so, that speaks volumes.

What does Bill’s playoff record without Tom have anything to do with this thread? It doesn’t - as Ross said you are just trying to start something.