FSFT Only Users Not Contributing to the Community - You Will Be Banned

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FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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FSFT is for HardForum community members that contribute to our community. If you only use HardForum for your personal marketplace, you will soon be banned. I would suggest that you now conclude your business and move elsewhere. Also if you think that you will now start posting spam messages elsewhere in our forum, this will not help your cause, so save your keystrokes.
 
I hope I don't get banned.., do you mean like completely banned from all of hardforum? What about occasional posters/mostly lurkers (like everyday) who only contribute sometimes, but not nearly as frequently as marketplace activities?

Worst case just ban me from the marketplace (please don't though lol) and not from [H]
 
im wondering how much percent go in that category , i believe im in that list, i respect rules here. but its not too extreme?
 
I some time talk in other areas but I doubt I do it often enough. I imagine I will be banned from using FSFT soon
 
: /

edit; could (whomever) post any more clarification? Is there a system of qualification / disqualification that isnt people just hoping to spam?
 
Yeah, I would like some clarification too. I like to browse the marketplace and hot deals section and post stuff there occasionally, but usually don't frequent the other parts of the site. Though the HARDOCP reviews are usually pretty dope.

Please don't ban me lol.
 
Well I think he is talking about the people that come here and just post items to sell here. And do not post anything else like in video card section, Gaming etc. There are some that have no posts in anything but the FSFT section.
 
The FSFT is my most frequently visited section...but I always list my items cheaper than I would on Amazon and Ebay, partially due to less fees obviously but also cause id rather give a deal to a fellow member. So I think that's contributing...;)
 
geekebox said:
The FSFT is my most frequently visited section...but I always list my items cheaper than I would on Amazon and Ebay, partially due to less fees obviously but also cause id rather give a deal to a fellow member. So I think that's contributing...;)
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Seriously though, jokes aside. It costs a lot to run a website like this. No one charges you fees here and you get a platform for buying/selling to many many vetted traders.... So if you only use the forum for monetary gain and not actually part of discussions/community... it's kind of a Douchebag thing to do.

Honestly everyone here should at the very least pay for genmay. It's $15 and just a 1 time fee. And if possible and can afford go for atleast $1 patreon a month.
 
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[QUOTE="Honestly everyone here should at the very least pay for genmay. It's $15 and just a 1 time fee. And if possible and can afford go for atleast $1 patreon a month.[/QUOTE]

The ads show up no matter what section of this forum you are in. Im sure its not the money ;)
 
Actually the adds don't show up for many. I intentionally permit them to show up when I'm browsing this forum... But adblocker is used by a lot of people
 
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Kuurus said:
Actually the adds don't show up for many of us. I intentionally permit them to show up when I'm browsing this forum... But adblocker is used by many forum goers
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I may sound like a n00b for saying this but I have never used an adblocker unless I did without knowing. I just use chrome and clear my internet cache after each session with aggressive anti-virus and anti-malware programs. I don't see many ads on this site because it is a clean design that only puts a single ad in the corner. I enjoy the news here and comment on it regularly. I enjoy the community that shares their insight and knowledge on things. That being said, Fatwallet is about to shut down. I think if hardforum had a deals section set up like fatwallet that grabs referrals from sponsored deal links it would be good for the users and the forum. Lots of deals in a tile format in a section and so on. You could team up with eBates, Walmart, Amazon, ebay, and so on. I have heard there is good money in referrals and it could bring new users to the site. Just a thought since Fatwallet's closing could be creating a void. I think the product deals should be more than just technology related since that would give you a broader scope. Black Friday and Cyber Monday is coming pretty soon after all. A finance section with card deals through banks would be nice too. There is good money in those referrals I have heard as well. I am not saying the site needs money but I wouldn't think the site shouldn't turn it down as long as it is a morally and ethically sound business deal they would offer you. This place needs to be a larger and expanding marketplace if you ask me. Just bring the retailers into the mix.
 
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~CS~ said:
That's one way to kill a community, might want to take a breath.
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Only people interested in that retailer deals section would see it. Unless, you are saying that just making a business deal with those companies in any respect would make people leave due to being offended. I know some people hate Walmart and so on.

I personally make deals with retailers all the time since I am in procurement for my engineering and manufacturing departments in my subsidiary/division. It is not a bad thing to negotiate so all parties get something they want.
 
One thing another forum I frequent does for their FS/FT section is that they charge $20 yearly for people to post in that forum. The WTB section is free to post, but you have to pay to post things for sale. Perhaps this might be a good idea to implement?
 
Not sure what to say? I do read the forums upon occasion, but rarely say anything unless I have a unique issue, love to see everyone's builds though. The reviews are good, very well thought out and I enjoy them. I do frequent the FS/FT forum quite a bit, I have traded and sold there for almost ten years now, built me quite a few pc's out of it for me and my family. I love this forum site, but if I get kicked I guess life will go on, right? :) Thanks for what you do guys.
 
You mean I can't be anti-social anymore? Damn.... I've always visited this site since 2005 and spent countless hours reading these forums, reading reviews, and clicking ads.. Creeper status. Usually when I post in a thread that isn't FS/T I get ignored anyway... Oh well. If I get banned for not being talkative, as OzarkBoy said... life goes on. There are other forums out there. Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed tbh
 
I may not post often to the discussion threads but I suppose I will make more of a habit of participating. I do, however, make an effort to price everything I sell here below eBay as a service to other members. I also, back around 2010 or so, sold a handful of Core i7 920 CPUs to Kyle himself. I even got a sweet [H]ardOCP check in the mail!
 
Those with ~500-2000 posts saying you hope you don't get banned - are quite obviously NOT Kyle's intended audience for his callout.

usebrain.jpg
 
There are a ton of areas to show some interest in, it can't be that hard to find a small outlet to express your self beyond what you are selling.

I very rarely sell anything, but I have bought from here before. One thing I do check is whether the seller exists outside of this specific forum. I am far more likely to buy from someone who is engaged elsewhere on the forum than someone whose sole reason for being here is to be avoiding doing business with CL and eBay. I doubt I am unique in this either.
 
Hey Kyle, I can understand your frustration seeing people just use your site as a personal market place. I use Hardforum as a place to sell my unneeded electronics and comment on your tech news. I find that HardOCP is one of the greatest tech news websites, as there are no where near the amount of intrusive ads as other websites, and there are no "bloat" articles. I find most of the postings are very good and relevant to my interests as well. I want to thank you for continuing to host this awesome site and I will continue to use it into the foreseeable future. Sure, I may not post new threads very often, but I think that is because I just don't upgrade my gear as much as I used to and have become quite good at troubleshooting.
 
I do actually like the idea,of a small contribution to participate in the FS side of this forum. This is coming from someone who is undoubtedlt included in the group of bans as I have not posted much outside fs/ft. Hard time keeping up with 3 kids, 60hr job and my hobbies .. Either way wish [H] the best with whatever decision gets made.
 
I will say that if you only post in FS/T, you are missing out on a lot of what makes this site great.

I appreciate a good deal on tech as much as the next guy but if someone is just using this forum as a place to hock their gear fee-free without contributing elsewhere...I mean they're basically consuming someone else's bandwidth for their personal gain and not giving back in any way, shape, or form. I like that Kyle wants this to be a community, not just a trading post.

With that being said, I think it's completely understandable that some people read far more than they post, and it's a pretty reasonable assumption that Kyle has forum tools that allow him to view your entire history here. I don't think it'll simply be a sweeping ban of low post count people. There's probably some way to view a user's history, and if the only thing that shows up there is a history of creating and bumping threads in FS/T then those people might have something to worry about.

Of course I'm just speculating here - I have no idea what bossman will do but he has a history of being fair. In the end though, this is his house and he is completely within his rights to filter the guest list.

Think of it this way: If I throw a party and you show up with the sole purpose of opportunistically using my front lawn to sell lemonade without mingling with the guests, chances are I'm gonna ask you to move along.
 
Kyle, it would seem fair to me to ask sellers to pay a $10-$20/year fee to post in FSFT.
And I say that having posted a few items for sale myself.

There is a value to the traffic you have in this venue, and sellers should not mind paying a small fee
to benefit from that. It would certainly be far less than what the alternatives cost.

All users could reply to posts, but you'd have to have paid your yearly dues to make a new thread.

It would also be a great filtering system to keep out spammers and douchebags (not that we have many here).

.
 
Spartacus said:
Kyle, it would seem fair to me to ask sellers to pay a $10-$20/year fee to post in FSFT.
And I say that having posted a few items for sale myself.

There is a value to the traffic you have in this venue, and sellers should not mind paying a small fee
to benefit from that. It would certainly be far less than what the alternatives cost.

All users could reply to posts, but you'd have to have paid your yearly dues to make a new thread.

It would also be a great filtering system to keep out spammers and douchebags (not that we have many here).

.
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Agreed. I signed up for patreon but if they are taking a significant cut I'd rather contribute without using them at all.
 
I'm not sure paying yearly is the solution. But I like hearing everyones ideas. :jimlad:
 
Spartacus said:
It would also be a great filtering system to keep out spammers and douchebags (not that we have many here).
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You're right, we don't have many spammers here. :D

Furious_Styles said:
Agreed. I signed up for patreon but if they are taking a significant cut I'd rather contribute without using them at all.
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Agreed. I am choosing to periodically send $ directly to Kyle rather than do the Patreon thing, but mainly because I don't like automatic debits. Ideally, I'd like as much of my contribution to go towards the site as possible. If you do Patreon, do Patreon + PayPal both take a cut or does using Patreon take PayPal out of the equation (i.e. do you have the option to do direct bank drafts/etc.)?

Pretty sure the last time I sent Kyle PP I used F&F so no fees were taken out.
 
When I go back and look through accounts, I find some users than literally have not posted in our forums anywhere but FSFT for the last year. These are the users I am focusing on.
 
thebufenator said:
I think if the FS/T section ended up needing a fee, ONLY the "business" sellers would continue. I don't sell often enough to want to pay a fee to sell one item. I imagine others feel the same and would just sell elsewhere.
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Understood.

But even for a single item, if it's a few hundred dollars we are talking about, the $10-$20 is minimal.
And then that gets you a whole year of access for anything else you may want to post.

But that also does accomplish some things for [H] as well. They are cutting back on the clutter, and
retaining more of the serious traffic. And most importantly, they are helping to offset their own costs.

I understand wanting a free venue, but running the venue is not free. This is going to be more and
more common.... we'll need to pay for any value we are getting anywhere.

It's the no free lunch thing.


.
 
Hmm. I've posted in various sections in the past, but these days I mostly lurk, read reviews, and keep an eye on the FSFT forum. My overall post count is also comparatively low, since I’ve only been here a few years and I’ve kept quiet for most of that. It makes sense to me that you'd want people to contribute more to the community, and I don't mind making some time to post meaningful (not spam) content... but if a determination has already been made, then yeah, I suppose I would rather just 'save my keystrokes'.

I guess what I'm saying is it'd be nice to have an intermediate step for those of us who might be on the wrong side of wherever the line gets drawn and didn't realize there was a problem... I'm guessing there are a number of people who didn't know it was an issue at all, and going straight from clueless to banned without a chance to make things right is kind of a bummer.
 
=Gunslinger= said:
Pretty much fits my profile for posting, I'm more of a reader/lurker on the site since I'm neck deep in the extreme OC side of things, and there is not a lot of that kind of stuff on your site.

I'll typically read the reviews or news on new hardware releases and also look for good deals in the marketplace. I sell a good bit of hardware but I'm definitely not making any profit on it, I just bench the new stuff mostly, and sell off the previous gen to help offset the cost.
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You are exactly the user we are looking at. You use HardForum pretty much exclusively to sell products. You do not contribute to the overall community. A quick scan shows me your last post outside of FSFT being right at 2 years ago. If you are going to use our forums for nothing but a personal storefront, why should we allow you to do, or why should we allow you to do it for free?

How many old farts here stil play pc games?
42, still play FPS games mostly, BF4 for the most part now (when I'm not benching :D)
Post by: =Gunslinger=, Nov 10, 2015
 
I am pretty cutious though. You say you will be banning non-contributing accounts, but what will you be doing to allow said accounts back in? Or new accounts for that matter? Curious because some people (similar to myself) may go through spurts of activity for whatever rrason and may have been inactive for the last bit. Would there be some way for someone to be allowed back into FSFT forum after being removed?
 
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