Super Soaker Central

Several people have complained about the 150 minimum character post limit and I too have to agree that it is too short. Sometimes you might not need to post a post that long and I think 100 characters would be much better. I have added a poll to this so people can vote on what they think but if you want to remove it Doom, feel free.

I voted none. I have no problem spelling things correctly, or writing competent messages that meet the minimum length, but I think the board posting rules are far too harsh. I mean, if it was a board for the discussion of world issues (or whatever), then I could see these rules making sense, but otherwise I think doom needs to be more lenient.

I think 100 would be better, since most posts are about 100 long... This way, people don't have to write novel sized posts, but can't post one liners, or even, one word-ers.

Originally posted by FlameKnight@Jan 13 2005, 04:14 AM
I voted none. I have no problem spelling things correctly, or writing competent messages that meet the minimum length, but I think the board posting rules are far too harsh. I mean, if it was a board for the discussion of world issues (or whatever), then I could see these rules making sense, but otherwise I think doom needs to be more lenient.

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yup doom needs to learn that he is dealing with kids and these things just aren't going to happen. I find it funny though that they are like nazis here trying to get spelling and grammar right :Hey, that's funny.:

They may be kids, but I know for a fact that I could spell just as well as I do now at that age. Mis-spellings on their part are the result of laziness, IMO.

I think some posts need to be quick and to the point. Adding and elaborating on posts that are intended to be short can create posts just as bad as if they were short spams. I am very bad at grammar. Being forced to elaborate on something could make my posts very confusing and complex. I said 100. I feel 150 is a bit too long. But if I have to, I will post that long to get my thoughts into a post.

I have actually no problem with this grammer facism, but it does get annoying that after school and homework we have to be really careful to use grammer and punctuation. However 150 word posts can be annoying (especially in trading as I found) when the phrase "how much" has to fit into 150 words.

I agree that 150 seems a little long. 50 or 100 seems more reasonable, I'll see what can be done.

EDIT: Definitely, I just got an alert for that same post! :Hey, that's funny.:

Most of you sound like I was being unreasonable with this... I wasn't. This initial number was one I made quickly and I knew this would become an issue eventually.

http://forums.sscentral.net/index.php?showtopic=2316

Also, if anyone thinks this is too short or too long, I can change it very easily so bring it up in a topic/poll if it's a problem.

Of course, this was brought up, but honestly, I'm only looking to improve this forum. If you don't like it here, start your own forum or something! Most forums have similar rules and this was mostly a test. This is not unreasonable (or will be for long) and neither are the S&G rules provided that we give you a full featured spell check! I'm sorry, but posts that are (1) hard to understand from spelling and grammar errors or (2) completely useless are not positive discussion! I have changed the setting to 50 characters, but if this topic shows that the membership want it longer, by all means will I change it. I very much want this forum to feel stress free, but I also want this forum to be used properly.

I voted 50, but I don't really care as none of my posts have been affected.
. Although I do think that people should learn to spell things right and use proper grammar. It will help eventually somewhere in life. A terrible command of the English language will lose you a good price selling an item on Ebay, hurt you on a job application, etc. And people will stare at you if you still can't spell things when you become an adult.

I voted for 150. I think it's a perfectly resonable length for a post, it forces you to get kind of creative with your post, and, as Doom stated before, it reduces the amount of inexperienced usery posts that are five words long.

"I think it's a great idea! Go for it!"

Sometimes, that's all I'd want to say to some posts, but being only 38 characters (if you include spaces) or 29 if you only count characters (no spaces), it'd be stopped by the character counter. I'd hope that you guys wouldn't consider the quote above non-contributive, off-topic, or inexperienced userish. If you guys do, well, I have no further comment on the length topic, then.

I do understand the concern about problematic one-liner posts that don't add anything to a thread, but I'd be wary about enforcing a minimum post length. It can end up stifling a thread or the board in general, but that's in my opinion. Some, I'm sure, would disagree.

As for spelling and grammar, yes, it's good to promote proper spelling and grammar to ensure messages are easier to read/understand. However, sometimes (not always) I feel you guys are a little too harsh when it comes to criticizing another person's post, especially when I've yet to see anyone continually post (myself included) without the occasional spelling or grammar mistake (often in the form of notable typos). Of course, 'tis up to the staff here how to handle things. I've just felt somehow irked when reading how some posts have been corrected and the original poster berated over their mistakes. Then again, maybe I'm too generally mellow.

B)

I say 200. if you've got something to say, make it clear. even if you need a novel-sized post. and if what you have to say can't be said with 200 characters, it probably needs some more thought.

(sorry about the highly opinionated rant. long week.)

50 is pretty good also, because a lot of people probably don't know how to type, and don't have the time to look for the letters. (unless there like me, and have memorized the placement of where the letters are.) btw thank you for changing the limit Doom.

I agree with Dux and toaster, give your posts some thought before you post them instead of quickly firing one off. As far as spelling and grammar go, Dux has a point about the job application thing. Most employers won't even hire you if you have just one spelling or grammatical error on your job app.