Captives of the turtle pit, hear ye, hear ye!
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Law Bringer
Member # 2984
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 18:22
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Two things before I give you the stats. Well, actually three. One is on-topic, the others aren't, but in the interest of keeping the forum uncluttered I won't post a second thread. As a word of warning, all three require some degree of sanity. First off-topic thing. Happy birthday to Rosycat, who has sadly departed from these boards, leaving them an overall less funny and colder place. On the odd chance you see this, we all miss you, especially the weather balloon crew. Come back some time. Second. It's tricky to make a statement of personal opinion without making it either a) political or b) sappy or both, so I won't pretend to try. This day marks the third anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie, a peace activist who was crushed to death by a bulldozer in the Gaza strip. She was with the activist organization ISM, trying to prevent the Israeli army from destroying whole streets of houses that apparently were too close to the Egyptian border for comfort. The assertion was that the houses were housing terrorists. Make of that what you will. Rachel Corrie was working for a cause she believed in, and though she possibly didn't intend to, she died for that. I think a moment of silence is in order today, for her, for the countless people who have risked or are still risking their life to keep down the fire in that powder barrell, and for the countless lives that have been claimed and are still being claimed by said fire. --------------------------------------------- Back on topic, and on a less sombre, but no less serious note. Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that one of my gimmicks (I was going to call them "services", but laughed at the thought) could be a long-term detriment or even an immediate risk to this community. I considered that possibility when I started offering it, but pushed it aside at the time. It has come back to haunt me. I am referring of course to the top posters ranking. This part of the endeavor stats appears to encourage rivalry and competition; specifically making frequent posting a competitive sport. Don't get me wrong; I don't advocate cutting back on wanton posting. This is Spiderweb. However, I believe people should post a lot of nonsense because they have a lot of nonsense to say, not because they have to say a lot of nonsense to get their ranking up. When I first wrote the spidering script that mirrored the profile info of Spiderweb members, this was supposed to be a supplement to a project codenamed "The Great Endeavor" (hence "endeavor" as the folder name) we were doing on Polaris - a list of member numbers and corresponding names for reference. It was done manually first, so I made a PHP script that automatized this. Then I found that it was very easy to run it repeatedly to get statistical data. I gathered this data to calculate things I was interested at the time - seasonal activities, postage per member, and so on. The ranking was a byproduct that seemed obvious at the time. I started it because it seemed interesting; I continued it because people wanted me to. However, this forum is not a spam competition. It was and is still the official message board of a game developing company. Last week's controversy, regardless of the view you take on it, has painfully driven that point home. I still think that specifically what Jeff did in that instance was a bad knee-jerk reaction. However, in a more general sense, it made me realize that we are using this forum for a purpose not intended by its owner. The existence of the General community, unrelated to the games and heavy on diskspace usage as it is, is a matter of tolerance on Jeff's side. And some people appear not to realize this. Recently, I have been approached by numerous unnamed persons who asked me questions ranging from "when will you do the next ranking" over "where am I standing right now" to "can you do the stats at such-and-such a time so I will be on top". And, bluntly, I'm a bit shocked. Someone once compared my forum-data organizing efforts to Google. Well, at the moment I feel like I imagine Google's creators feeling when they realized their top search terms were for porn. "Sure, it was a no-brainer, but heck, have we really contributed to turning the internet into THAT?" -- Fortunately, there is a very simple solution. The statistical updates will continue for the time being. I will gather the same data I always have. All aggregated stats will be published here and at the dedicated website. The ranking will not. The only place displayed names and member numbers will come up is in the search function of the website, and the archived profiles. Finally, in response to another question I've been asked a lot: I do not think your posts are spam, nor pointless - and that's to all of you who asked. Certainly not as pointless as some of mine. But I want to remind everyone that the purpose of a forum is still communication, and communication is destroyed when the content is valued higher by its quantity than its quality. Sane thought for the day. And with that off my chest, here are the new stats. -------------------------------------- I. Joining Rate 113 members joined, and 63 of them posted. This is an increase from last month, but only slightly above average in general. Monthly Overview: April 2005: 151/87 May 2005: 78/43 June 2005: 147/91 July 2005: 153/88 August 2005: 108/62 September 2005: 91/52 October 2005: 81/43 November 2005: 83/41 December 2005: 85/52 January 2006: 136/86 February 2006: 100/59 March 2006: 113/63 II. Activity 63 new posters and 261 older posters make an active community of 324. Again, an increase from last month, but not as high as in January. Monthly Overview: April 2005: 360 (273) May 2005: 262 (219) June 2005: 325 (232) July 2005: 352 (264) August 2005: 293 (231) September 2005: 256 (204) October 2005: 229 (186) November 2005: 234 (193) December 2005: 239 (187) January 2006: 333 (247) February 2006: 268 (209) March 2006: 324 (263) III. Postage An amazing number of 7355 posts were written in total - this is especially amazing considering that the last update was only 27 days ago, what with February being shorter and me doing the stats a day early. This is reflected in the 272 posts per day, which is (by less than a post ahead of July 2005) the highest daily average yet. July is still ahead of it in terms of posts per member; 22.7 for this month makes it only the second greatest average. Also, 0.84 per posts per member is a record. However, it is influenced by the shorter measuring period (I can explain it if really necessary). Monthly Overview: April 2005: 7576 | 186 | 21 | 0.47 May 2005: 4723 | 169 | 18 | 0.52 June 2005: 7267 | 251 | 22.4 | 0.77 July 2005: 8691 | 271.6 | 24.7 | 0.77 August 2005: 5917 | 190.9 | 20.1 | 0.65 September 2005: 5412 | 174.6 | 21.1 | 0.68 October 2005: 4477 | 149.3 | 19.5 | 0.65 November 2005: 4389 | 141.6 | 18.8 | 0.61 December 2005: 3958 | 131.9 | 16.6 | 0.55 January 2006: 6580 | 204.3 | 19.8 | 0.61 February 2006: 4555 | 153.24 | 17 | 0.57 March 2006: 7355 | 272.56 | 22.7 | 0.84 Good night! :) -------------------- Encyclopaedia Ermariana • Forum Archives • Forum Statistics • RSS [Topic / Forum] My Blog • Polaris • I eat novels for breakfast. Polaris is dead, long live Polaris. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 18:33
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Do you mean to say my banning caused a posting spike? Who'da thunk it? However, next month I demand to see rankings for the year, and your qualms be damned. -------------------- SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice. Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 5450
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 18:54
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Shame. The stats will still remain as my most anticipated monthly thing, though. :) And Aran, you might as well answer the question that is on everyones lips: What about a yearly stat ranking? -------------------- I'll put a Spring in your step. :ph34r: Posts: 2396 | Registered: Saturday, January 29 2005 08:00 |
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Councilor
Member # 6600
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 18:55
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1. No comment. 2. (Respectful silence.) 3.The lack of rankings is sad, even if it is sane. (And I'm not just saying this because I post a lot. I'd still want to see them even if posted once a month.) I'm a creature who gets addicted to scheduled news, even the pointless stuff. And ranking helps me keep perspective better than averages do. But considering the state of the last stat thread, this isn't entirely unexpected. Dikiyoba. Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 19:06
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quote:This would be madness. Pure madness... And I think Dikiyoba has the appropriate approach to this: 1. Nobody knows where she is, do they? 2. (moment of silence) 3. I don't want to know who asked for skewed/early stats. I guess we may be better off without the rankings, though... I feel that my 250-something posts this month were useful ones (or at least semi-sane ones), but I am well aware that many people posted far more than me, to far less utility. In conclusion, I mourn the passing of a time-honored Spiderweb tradition, and curse the fools who consigned it to an early grave. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
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Master
Member # 4614
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 19:08
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No! You're making me actually look on your website to see my ranking and my number of posts this much. Talk about inconvenience. :P But seriously though. There's always somewhat of a competition of how fast one can post, and frankly, I don't think the rankings had that much to do with a highering of spam posts. If I feel like spamming one day, I'll do it, last place or not. And even if there is a little spike in post counts, for the better. Now that you've done stats for more than a year, you are under the unfortunate consequence of being bound to reapeatedly performing this service to the boards in a timely fashion. :P Well, maybe not really. You could stop if you really wanted to, but they you mays well drag your PHP script to the Recycle Bin. -------------------- -ben4808 Posts: 3360 | Registered: Friday, June 25 2004 07:00 |
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Triad Mage
Member # 7
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 19:10
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2) No comment. 3) (Respectful silence) It could also have to do with windows A4 coming out ... -------------------- "At times discretion should be thrown aside, and with the foolish we should play the fool." - Menander ==== Drakefyre's Demesne - Happy Happy Joy Joy Encyclopedia Ermariana - Trapped in the Closet ==== You can take my Mac when you pry my cold, dead fingers off the mouse! Posts: 9436 | Registered: Wednesday, September 19 2001 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 4153
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 19:15
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quote:In case you didn't notice, Aran seems to have completely disabled the Rankings section of the Endeavor. And a question directed at Aran: what is the _ash-by menu item meant to be? I tried selecting it for the monthly summary, and got the stats for December 1969. -------------------- Gamble with Gaea, and she eats your dice. I hate undead. I really, really, really, really hate undead. With a passion. Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00 |
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His Mighty Tentacle
Member # 627
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 19:32
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So... What is my ranking? Do I even have one? I probably don't. **Shrugs** -------------------- If I could make just one wish, I would want a tasty vlish. Geneforge IV. Still no tasty vlish. Posts: 1104 | Registered: Tuesday, February 12 2002 08:00 |
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Master
Member # 4614
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 19:35
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It generally doesn't take that many posts to get a decent ranking. I can consistently get in the top three if I try, but lately, I have't. Exile 3 is pretty fun too. -------------------- -ben4808 Posts: 3360 | Registered: Friday, June 25 2004 07:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 19:39
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As a point of order, who exactly are the captives of the turtle pits? The denizens are fuzzy turtles, they are fed unused sanity, and that's it. Where do captives enter into this picture? Oh, and I saw the rankings before Aran killed them. He had 812 posts last month. Now, why again did the rankings get pulled? -------------------- quote: Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 20:37
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Speaking as someone who already spends an altogether too large portion of his time on the forums and usually manages about 10 posts a day, how on earth does one make almost 30 posts a day? -------------------- The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 20:54
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Salmon made a typo, intentionally or not. Several days ago, Aran had about 380, so my guess is his monthly total was 412ish. Aran's post was very heavy and I understand the feeling that he may be overreacting, but I think he's quite legit. Jeff doesn't care about spam, but it does decrease the entertainment value of the boards, really. And there was a lot of heavy posting this month. IIRC, the *entire* top ten had post counts over 200. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
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His Mighty Tentacle
Member # 627
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 20:57
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What was Arghhhhhhhhh's ranking I wonder? Before he went nuts, got naked, and started beating his Mac with a baseball bat. -------------------- If I could make just one wish, I would want a tasty vlish. Geneforge IV. Still no tasty vlish. Posts: 1104 | Registered: Tuesday, February 12 2002 08:00 |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 20:58
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I think his final postcount was around 200, so he wouldn't have made it even remotely near the top, this month. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 21:07
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I think Aran is hiding his 30 per day mark of shame. —Alorael, who has no shame to hide. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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Councilor
Member # 6600
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 21:26
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If someone were to create thirty posts in one day, every day, they would almost reach Alorael's current post count in one year. That is a scary thought. Dikiyoba. Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 22:07
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Without Aran to post the reality, or to deny the rumor, it looks like the absurd number will have to stand. As Slarty said, this has been one of the most amusing months on the messageboard. I don't think that this can be separated from the posting rate and the excitement generated by a posting contest. We've had two bannings, a caning, 2 temporary bannings, a fan-fanfic, and several cartoons. What on earth is wrong with what happened? Edit- I've decided that nothing was wrong with what happened. Irrational exuberance is still exuberance, and it was damned nice to see it for a while. Especially during the stressful times of the bannings and cannings. But whatever, no harm, no foul. [ Wednesday, March 15, 2006 23:35: Message edited by: Andrea's Salmon ] -------------------- quote: Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 2836
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 22:16
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quote:Lol. Let's all gang up on someone and cane them. Posts: 587 | Registered: Tuesday, April 1 2003 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 2984
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 22:16
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quote:1. You can be a captive of a pit in two-dimensional cartoon space without being in the pit, if said pit is wide enough. Look at Alex's drawing... 2. You only had a fleeting glimpse, which is why I won't complain about inaccuracy. But seriously, if you will take the time to compare my postcount in last month and now, you will see that while it was quite a lot, it was barely half that number. -------------------- Encyclopaedia Ermariana • Forum Archives • Forum Statistics • RSS [Topic / Forum] My Blog • Polaris • I eat novels for breakfast. Polaris is dead, long live Polaris. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 22:18
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quote:Nothing, and I repeat, Everything, is done for a reason. -------------------- quote: Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 22:20
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quote:I have Rosy's MSN contact details and can confirm that she's frequently online, so she's alive and well. We don't really talk to each other, though, and I'm afraid I'm not about to give out her details to everyone on the forums. -------------------- The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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Too Sexy for my Title
Member # 5654
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 23:26
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Edit: too much drama to be one of my posts [ Sunday, April 16, 2006 15:02: Message edited by: Dominican Desire ] Posts: 1035 | Registered: Friday, April 1 2005 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 2984
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 23:33
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quote: quote:Even disagreement may be tactful when uttered subtly. -------------------- Encyclopaedia Ermariana • Forum Archives • Forum Statistics • RSS [Topic / Forum] My Blog • Polaris • I eat novels for breakfast. Polaris is dead, long live Polaris. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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Post Navel Trauma ^_^
Member # 67
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written Wednesday, March 15 2006 23:44
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3) Yay. I've never liked the rankings, for precisely that reason. -------------------- Barcoorah: I even did it to a big dorset ram. desperance.net - Don't follow this link Posts: 1798 | Registered: Thursday, October 4 2001 07:00 |