To some degree the moderation team already does this, but the forums (and the Fresh Topics list ) could be a lot neater if threads with a single YouTube link (unless it fits in contextually) were deleted and the posters were encouraged to post links/opinions in a Stickied "Post Your YouTube Links Here." This already happens with trendspam as any one knows if they were posting in the recent Week of Celebrideath.

Naturally YouTube links are just one example, others include Amusing Pictures, What's Your Favorite Movie, What TV Show You Are Watching, etc.

2. Expand Floodcontrol.

If a user violates the ToS and recieves a formal warning, they should lose posting privileges for a certain amount of time, determined by a moderator, depending on severity of offense.

3. Add More Perks.

David wisely followed a certain member's advice and, as most of you know, restructured his money making/ad system by giving perks to users who donate. The ability to change usernames is the most notable aspect of this. I was very happy to see this implemented, but I feel more can be done.
- Users should be able to purchase customizable moods, new emoticons, the ability to sticky a single thread, to have a longer signature (all of course subject to moderator/administrator approval).

As a moderator from the future, I have seen all these plans implemented and can assure you that they work well.

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i am the WORST MOD EVER

2 Now, I'm not 100% familiar with members being warned. I do know that they are only able to create on topic a day, which isn't actually a bad idea. I also like the idea of having a post flood control for warned members so that they aren't able to continually spam the forums even when warned. Possibly a time anywhere from 120 seconds (2 minutes) to 300 seconds (5 minutes.) The only problem I have with your suggested idea is that there should be a set time, rather then a number which can differentiate per member warned.

3 Perks come and go, but they are definitely a necessity if David hopes to continue to have members donate more and more money to increase the cash flow helping the site. I love the customizable mood idea. I think it would be highly used by most members. Especially the ones who state that we need more moods then we currently have. New emoticons are always a plus. I feel that the ability to have a member sticky a single thread would become highly abused and isn't needed at all. :)

I do like your ideas, for the most part.

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Curl Up and Die
------Its No Secret
-----------Boats and Birds
---------------What Sarah Said

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1 In a sense, I like this idea and the thought process behind it. I do think that if moderators went around deleting every single post that had a youtube link, this would cause some chaos and create unhappy members. Although having stickied threads which are often created is a good idea, how often do you honestly think that a member would view these sticky's? Most members live off of the Fresh Topics and rarely view any of the sticky's which are already in place. I think if we deleted every thread which had a new picture in it, a lot of people would also get mad. Gradually, if this was done then livewire would become more organized and clean, but at the price of possibly losing some members...

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Yes, there would be a bit of a rough transition phase where people would have to adjust to the new rules, but in the long run it would be easier for people to get support, which is my central concern. Another idea I think could work or be used to help transition into stricter rules would be a Fresh Support Topics bar and a regular Fresh Topics bar, which I envision you could just switch between via a tab system like most browsers have nowadays.

A little clarification, I'm not saying that all threads with a YouTube link or a picture (even ones where that's the sole content of the OP) should be deleted and moved to a sticky thread. If someone likes to post up YouTube videos everyday (and they get a good thread/discussion going), they should have their own thread. A posterchild user for my argument is Ska Ninja who posts quite a few videos. Now, far be it from me to say he shouldn't, but over half of the threads on his first page of posts are YouTube links with one or two or no lines of text. And I've seen his topics in the Fresh Topics bar, so each time he posts something like that, it becomes a bit more difficult for someone who has come to this site looking for support to find that support (assuming, of course, that your assertion that "most members live off of the Fresh Topics and rarely view any of the sticky's" is right, which would mean that most people looking for help live off of the Fresh Topics bar too).

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2 Now, I'm not 100% familiar with members being warned. I do know that they are only able to create on topic a day, which isn't actually a bad idea. I also like the idea of having a post flood control for warned members so that they aren't able to continually spam the forums even when warned. Possibly a time anywhere from 120 seconds (2 minutes) to 300 seconds (5 minutes.) The only problem I have with your suggested idea is that there should be a set time, rather then a number which can differentiate per member warned.

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The reason I say there should be a scaling punishment system is that: