The Doll Forum

pulchri-dude wrote:As chat is lately dead...

Chat has been very busy. Mostly late nighters. Some nights running as many as 2 people so I don't ave to talk to myself

Seriously though we have been getting from 6 to 12 people in evenings on average. Weekends are busiest.

Bianca wrote:In response to both staff and member polls TDF management has decided to set the following polls to Members Only. This will make trolling of these forums more difficult and provides incentive for visitors to join, which makes for easier moderating.

• Dolls Alive
• Bat Cave
• Open Forum
• Dolls In General

These forums are all visible but require login to read.

TDF Management

Incentive to join, I but not, Just means you have to log in to read that forum.
But ok if you want to have it this way

As Dolls in General is a many doll manufacturers, doll products etc. subforums,
and the definition of to troll means to be logged in, & posting to even be a troll? as all previous troll incidents have done before.

Care to explain how always having to be logged in anyways makes any difference.

I do have to correct the viewer ratio that I posted earlier... it is in fact closer to 1/8 logged in & 7/8 not logged in at any given time.

pulchri-dude wrote:As Dolls in General is a many doll manufacturers, doll products etc. subforums,
and the definition of to troll means to be logged in, & posting to even be a troll? as all previous troll incidents have done before.

Care to explain how always having to be logged in anyways makes any difference.

I do have to correct the viewer ratio that I posted earlier... it is in fact closer to 1/8 logged in & 7/8 not logged in at any given time.

What I mean is you have to be loged in to read the members form.
I some time read the form when I am on say like AOL where my pasmord in not saved. and If i want to be able to read the form not I would have to log in. its not a big deal just inconveniont.

For better or worse, TDF is what it is. Why change now? The trolls from SA did not push TDF underground, I don't see what purpose it would serve now. There are places closed to the general public to discuss dolls already. This would be tantamount to closing the barn door after the horse already ran away. Public, private- Would really not make any difference to me. For new people who might honestly want to know about dolls- Big difference. To Doll manufacturers who show their wares here, big difference. JMHO.

IMHO all members and all guests should have the posibility to read our posts and threads, but only members should be enabled to create new posts and threads.

Excluding any threads and/or posts for public reading will be arbitrary. In this case I remember on the north german speech "Was dem einen sin Ul, ist dem anderen sin Nachtigall." - English: "One man's meat is another man's poison."

They cannot do right for all.

Ekkehard

never mind.

Bianca wrote:In response to both staff and member polls TDF management has decided to set the following polls to Members Only. This will make trolling of these forums more difficult and provides incentive for visitors to join, which makes for easier moderating.

• Dolls Alive
• Bat Cave
• Open Forum
• Dolls In General

These forums are all visible but require login to read.

TDF Management

OK, I can see Dolls Alive and the Batcave, especially Dolls Alive, as that is for already established doll owners who understand and are empathetic and considerate of the (for lack of a better word) "fetish". But "Open" and "Dolls in General"? Those are the forums that visitors are most likely to go first to learn about dolls and doll ownership!

I can see it now, some potential doll owner, one who is sitting on the fence and worried about wht people will think if he/she gets a doll, who finds their way here and the first thing we show him is how friendly we are by throwing brick walls in his/her face!

Sorry guys, but nothing you can post will convince me that it makes any sence whatsoever to put up a guard station at the visitor center's front door! Yes Regis, that is my final answer.

It's a bit like window shopping... you can see the big brands, and watch as much as you want, but if you want to see the more general information, you need to enter the store to find out about that.

And in the real world, that requires you to touch the door, open it, and enter... on the internet, it requires that you create an account and log in, and that process is not hindered in any way.
So, if a window shopper e.g. a lurker wants to read those forums, he or she simply needs to register and log in.

AlexKnight wrote:It's a bit like window shopping... you can see the big brands, and watch as much as you want, but if you want to see the more general information, you need to enter the store to find out about that.

And in the real world, that requires you to touch the door, open it, and enter... on the internet, it requires that you create an account and log in, and that process is not hindered in any way.
So, if a window shopper e.g. a lurker wants to read those forums, he or she simply needs to register and log in.

That analogy seems a bit messed up. The window shopping/entering store bit is more like anyone reading the title to a forum/thread and then clicking on it to enter to see more details of it without any restrictions, the same as if a shopper can walk freely in and out of the store to find out more.

Registering and logging in is the equivalent to someone being at that store entrance instead in the window shopping example and asking you to fill out a registration card or having you apply for their store credit card (divulging some details about you) before you are allowed to go in and look around. It can get quite obnoxious at some point in my opinion.

I can think of at least one other forum that can be openly viewed by anyone. May drive people over there. Just saying. OTOH, I can think of another that cannot be viewed without being recommended and accepted. This also has its advantages. Depends on the direction you want this forum to go.

AlexKnight wrote:It's a bit like window shopping... you can see the big brands, and watch as much as you want, but if you want to see the more general information, you need to enter the store to find out about that.

And in the real world, that requires you to touch the door, open it, and enter... on the internet, it requires that you create an account and log in, and that process is not hindered in any way.
So, if a window shopper e.g. a lurker wants to read those forums, he or she simply needs to register and log in.

Excellent metaphor!

All the Doll Forums are viewable, which is most important to the manufacturers and it was when I first came here, so to potential buyers as well. The Doll Matrix is also very important.

The rest is really just for us members to discuss that aren't essential either to manufacturers or potential buyers - for the Open Forum has various topics that do not even have to do with dolls, the Bat Cave is definately nonessential to manufacturers or potential buyers, Dolls Alive which also is not essential for manufacturers/potential buyers of dolls or gaining knowledge and making that a members only section also has to do with the trolling issue.

Only issue people could possibly raise, in my eyes, is the one with Dolls in General, but all the potential Doll Makers here that want a forum/Doll Maker account, must go through the necessary steps in order to obtain one, going through whatever screening process is in effect at the time of wanting to get a forum/Doll Maker account. If they do not want to comply to screening, for whatever reason, then that's their own business.

What about the Eye Candy section? What about the Doll Matrix section? If you make those Members Only, it might curb trolling some more and other things.

Some up my feelings after reading this post.


Seems to be a bad link

Normally I wouldn't get involved, but I have to say that I think this is a fairly good idea as long as only just a few forums remain closed. The reason I say this is because I get several emails per week/month from people who lost money to one of the troubled doll manufacturers. A lot of the time these people spot a manufacturer and just go straight to the web page and buy without doing any research. In a way, those public forums actually encourage fraud within the doll community. Additionally, this cuts revenue to the trustworthy doll makers, which raises prices and slows development. That of course works against the community as well. Of course, my perspective is going to be different than most because I am a manufacturer, but I thought I would throw it out there for you guys to consider.

narcissus wrote:It might then be considered a form of parasitism by some Doll Makers/management/staff/members here, then. This does not necessarily mean that other doll manufacturers that don't have accounts/forums here are untrustworthy to deal with though.

Your statement is incorrect. If any parasitism is occurring at TDF it is in fact the other way around. Doll makers who come to TDF just for exposure and sales leads, using smear tactics to persuade their customers elsewhere and give NOTHING back to TDF in return are the parasites, while the 'ethical' doll makers at TDF add content and help to bring traffic here...making them the hosts for the parasites .

Quick definitions from WordNet (parasitism) wrote:▸ noun: the relation between two different kinds of organisms in which one receives benefits from the other by causing damage to it (usually not fatal damage)