What are We Going to do When all Hell Breaks Loose?

[Renorei]

So...once the Freeborn trailer starts playing in theaters and getting more mentions on horror websites, an assload of random people are probably going to start showing up and offering useless comments, such as their opinions on how the werewolves should look in a movie that's already been made, and stuff like that.

Also, once the movie itself hits theaters, they will probably come to this site and post things like "OMG Freebon is teh awesomexors!!!1111" or "Frebbon is teh suck you guys r morons", depending on whether or not they like the film. I'm expecting much more of the former, but a handful of the latter will probably occur as well.

Now...quite frankly, I don't really want to hear any of it. I don't care about their opinions which are too late. I don't care about their half-a** reviews of the movies. The reviews I really will want to hear are those of my fellow core pack members (I use the word 'core' here to refer to the thirty or so members who are very active in this forum and contribute a lot). To an extent, I think we have all formed somewhat of a bond by being members of this forum. Even though I disagree with some of you most of the time, I would still much rather hear what you have to say than hear what some random noob who shows up to make one post and then never comes back has to say.

In short, I am concerned that as Freeborn gets more publicity, the forum will be clogged with stupid posts by new members who honestly had nothing to do with the creation of Freeborn. Although AB is trying to make Freeborn and the Pack separate entities, they will still always be connected, IMO. Also, featurettes that might play on TV about Freeborn will most likely mention the pack and the pack website.

I don't want this site to became a place where thousands of people who saw Freeborn or the Freeborn trailer can come and dump their comments about it. But, I think it might be inevitable.

So, what are we going to do about it?


My recommendations:

-This one is kinda harsh. Immediately before Freeborn starts getting lots of publicity, close off the membership to the site. That way, no one new can join. Then, open it back up a couple of months after the movie has already left theaters. We'll still get a few errant noob commentators, but for the most part, the fervor will have died down. Then, the pack can continue with it's life after Freeborn, hopefully selling packwere, giving advice for werewolf books and movies, and helping Wolf Park, etc.

-Shortly before Freeborn starts getting publicity, change the site so that the parts of the site that have anything to do with Freeborn require a rank of 'Legendary' to view. To a brand new member, the website will look like it has nothing to do with Freeborn. They will still be able to view certain parts of the site...werewolf creativity, general film, video games, the RP thread, etc. But they won't find anything right off the bat that has to do with Freeborn. As such, they won't find anywhere to post their comments and they will probably get frustrated and go to Yahoo! movies instead.


Anyway, does anyone else have any thoughts? I know both of those suggestions might seem mean...but I care much more about preserving the balance of the current pack than appeasing noobs by providing them with a venue to give their review of Freeborn or tell us what we 'should have done'.

Anyway, if anyone else has a better idea, feel free to post it. We could just leave everything the way it is and await the inevitable...but I honestly think we might regret it.

[Vilkacis]

Here are my thoughts:

Keep Freeborn and the Pack mostly separate. Make a small section for Freeborn (and do similarly for any movie we take part in), and point any Freeborn werewolf-related discussion there. This will require a bit of self-control on our own part, though, as I know we all love to talk about Freeborn... everywhere. But we should be a werewolf forum, not a Freeborn forum.

Also, although we have no control over this, Freeborn should hopefully establish its own forums (completely separate from our own). If things are done right, the brunt of those who are only interested in the movie Freeborn ought to wind up there rather than here. And if we end up getting too many, we'll have a place we can point them where their comments will be more appreciated.



I really dislike any idea of closing off new membership. There would be no better way to kill the Pack.

-- Vilkacis

[Fenrir]

What if we closed off the membership to you

[Darth Canis]

We can't completely close of the pack to new members. I am sure tons of werewolf fans that aren't familiar with these forums will flock hear when they hear about freeborn. Their defantely should be a loose association between freeborn and the pack forums but as freeborn gets bigger it should develop its own forums.

[Akugarou]

I'm all for a seperation of The Pack from Freeborn. Hopefully a Freeborn movie forum will be established, which will leave The Pack to be "The werewolf forum to the 'stars!'"

[Short Tail]

Yes, as AB has said in some other post (tshirt I think) we must keep freevborn and the pack seperate or else the movie company get the site and can do as they please with it. we could always lable ourselves as the "Premier Werewolf Fan Board" and open it to include everything about werewolves but give those of us who were here to help with the movie a special rank. (too many to make moderators) Idk just an idea
@ Aku - good choice of songs as a sig

[Akugarou]

Why, Thank you! *bows*

[Scott Gardener]

It was volume here that made Freeborn possible. Brownrigg himself told me this.

It may be tricky sorting through a bigger site, but that's the trade-off of success. Dealing with an overload of information is not neccessarily a bad thing; ask Anthony and Megan Brownrigg themselves.

It might involve for some more complicated coding than temporarily suspending new membership, but, perhaps a "gray muzzle" section that activates after the first of either 500 posts or six months of membership. That still lets the other topics fill up, but it's not like it's deathly important to read every single post in "What song do you like to hear?" It also lets newcomers who would have been major figures in The Pack if they new about us sooner have a chance to join in. It also lets us welcome new converts.

[Renorei]

What if we closed off the membership to you

I'm already here. And, I've already contributed a heck of a lot to the various important threads.

My point was, when Freeborn starts getting more publicity, and after it comes out, a flood of people might show up and make useless comments that don't do any good at all, the summation of which would either be "I liked it" or "I didn't like it". This will result in the comments of the older members (the ones who have been here for months, and who are really dedicated to this project) getting lost in a sea of bad grammar and two-sentence posts. I'm worried that they will upset the wonderful balance that we have here.

Furthermore, I didn't suggest that we block new members forever. Just for few months before and after Freeborn comes out. If the ultimate goal of this forum is to be the premier werewolf discussion forum, a few months will make no difference towards the ultimate goal. True werewolf fans will hang out at places like the Werewolf Cafe, etc., and will find this place anyway once we opened membership back up.


*Sigh* Anyway, that was just an idea, one of two suggestions that I provided.


Scott's suggestion and my second one are both very similar. I think either of them would work. 500 might be too much, and 50 might not be enough. Probably some number in between might be appropriate. I don't know. Anyway, I like the idea of new members not having access to all sections.


And, to future posts in this thread...keep in mind the 'block new members' thing was JUST A SUGGESTION.

[Vilkacis]

On one hand, I do like the idea of having a Sanctuary where the older and more active members can have a bit of peace and quiet, but if we did that, it would need to be based on length of membership instead, with number of posts being of limited importance. I also think the requirements should not be too stringent. Something like over a month with 50+ posts would work just perfectly, I think.

On the other hand, one of our great strengths is that all our members are essentially equal from the day they join. They only way in which they are currently judged is by how they act (which is how it should be). The dangerous thing about this idea is that it puts a rather clear division between those who are us and the other guys. Heaven forbid we get to the point where we consider only ourselves the real Pack (which is, frankly, the undertone I sense from your message). It would certainly not be the end of the world if that happened, but it would be the end of a Good Thing.



If we make this Sanctuary (a name that I favor), the requirements for entry must be few and light (as with Legendary status).

-- Vilkacis

[Lupin]

I think the best idea right now is for freeborn to have its own set of message boards, and not to mention The Pack's address anywhere. That way if someone wants to come here, they have to search on their own, like most of us.

[Renorei]

On the other hand, one of our great strengths is that all our members are essentially equal from the day they join. They only way in which they are currently judged is by how they act (which is how it should be). The dangerous thing about this idea is that it puts a rather clear division between those who are us and the other guys. Heaven forbid we get to the point where we consider only ourselves the real Pack (which is, frankly, the undertone I sense from your message). It would certainly not be the end of the world if that happened, but it would be the end of a Good Thing.



If we make this Sanctuary (a name that I favor), the requirements for entry must be few and light (as with Legendary status).

-- Vilkacis

Regarding the undertone thing...that is sorta what I'm getting at. I, personally, don't think that signing up for a membership on this site should constitute pack membership. I think that, to be a true pack member, there should be something more.

I don't think that showing up and making a handful of posts should make you a pack member. So, in a sense, I do consider us to be the real pack. I'm not saying others can't become a part of the real pack, but they should have to...pay their dues, so to speak. In posts and membership time.

Granted, none of us had to do that. However, we haven't been bombarded with new members. New members keep trickling in at a rather constant rate, and are easily assimilated into the pack because there are so few of them. However, as time passes by, we will be bombarded. That is why I think a change is in order, before Freeborn gets publicized. I want to preserve this pack that I love. If, when the time comes, we allow anyone and everyone to become pack members and have access to the entire site, I think we are going to lose a lot of what made the pack special. For me, it was never the 'join-and-receive-instant-equality-thing' which made the pack appealing. It was getting to know other werewolf fans, and over time developing an understanding of each person and their quirks, personalities, and idiosyncrasies.

I like the name 'Sanctuary'. And I can agree with the requirements you've suggested. I think these are enough to keep the kind of people we wouldn't want in, out (read that again, I promise it makes sense).

I also like the idea that has been suggested by several of keeping the pack and freeborn as separate as possible, even when it comes to the forums. That way, most of the onslaught would go elsewhere, not here.

[Stone Wolf]

Well, instead of permanently denying access to most or some of the forum, we could instead put the "noobs" on a sort of probation period in which, within a given amount of time and number of post, full access will be granted.

[Renorei]

Well, instead of permanently denying access to most or some of the forum, we could instead put the "noobs" on a sort of probation period in which, within a given amount of time and number of post, full access will be granted.

Oh no, I wasn't talking about permanently denying anyone of anything.


Your suggestion sounds a lot like Vilkacis's 'sanctuary' idea. I think this seems to be a sort of consensus. That, and separate the Pack and Freeborn as much as possible.

[Hearth]

You should get a report button on each post. That way, any flaming, stupid, or irritating posts could be reported to moderators and deleted. It is used on many forums, such as forums.civfanatics.com, waiting4oblivion.com/forums etc.

It wouldn't remove the problem, but it would ease it down a bit. (Although, I'm afraid, moderators would get much more work to do...)

[Kzinistzerg]

Welll... look at it this way. imagine figarou x 300 and -30 IQ points. keeps the playful spammilike posts, loses the intelligent content in those same posts. spammers. so, I don't know what to say, except, make this attached, loosely, and make Freeborn froums fro teh discussion of teh movie.

[Anubis]

I agree with Excelsia, I love this forum way too much. its the only Online community that I'm committed to. and I'll just hate it when a bunch of hype crazy noobs that just saw the movie. go on and post some useless, needless and just plain stupid crap all over the forum starting new threads about the same thing! saying one liner posts saying that freeborn is cool or freeborn is crap. yada yada, blah blah BLAH!!! not contributing to the forum not one bit, and then get bored with it and just disappear just when freeborn's hype gone down. then we, the real werewolf enthusiasts are stuck with so much post sludge it ruins the whole thing for us. Its like tourists are crowding the beaches kicking the locals out and when summers over the sand is covered in trash.

But i got an idea. some sites have cover pages like click here to enter or a intro thingy. what about we put one up telling them if they aren't actual werewolf enthusiast they can talk about freeborn in an alternate forum where they are free to muck the place leaving us in peace

[Scott Gardener]

The price of fame is groupies. Yes, if all goes well, we'll see a huge flood of nutballs. But, on high traffic forums, where the spam load gets up there, there are also core members who have a lot of sway, who are taken pretty seriously. Part of the beauty of the Pack is that every once and awhile, a newcomer becomes a major player. Anubis, consider, for example, well, you.

[Fenrir]

I agree with Scott.

We will just ride it out. And if it comes to the point of being so imposibly overcrowded. I think we will simply move on with our lives

I hope Iam not one who spams to badly, but I bet I am. Am I?

[Lupin]

But i got an idea. some sites have cover pages like click here to enter or a intro thingy. what about we put one up telling them if they aren't actual werewolf enthusiast they can talk about freeborn in an alternate forum where they are free to muck the place leaving us in peace

I have two problems with that:

1) I hate intro pages.
2) They wouldn't actually read it. They'd just click "Enter". (Trust me on this one. People don't read anything.)

[Stone Wolf]

But i got an idea. some sites have cover pages like click here to enter or a intro thingy. what about we put one up telling them if they aren't actual werewolf enthusiast they can talk about freeborn in an alternate forum where they are free to muck the place leaving us in peace

I have two problems with that:

1) I hate intro pages.
2) They wouldn't actually read it. They'd just click "Enter". (Trust me on this one. People don't read anything.)

You have a point there... they will just assume that it links to the Freeborn forum but actually be sent here... I for one think it's not really worth trying a cover page.. but that's just me..

[Renorei]

I hope Iam not one who spams to badly, but I bet I am. Am I?

You do spam. But you don't spam too much. Furthermore, we ALL spam. However, in addition to your spam, you make worthwhile comments in the important threads.

And, from my point of view, you've sorta earned the right to spam, if that makes any sense. Your contributions to the pack have outweighed all spam that you could post.

Its like tourists are crowding the beaches kicking the locals out and when summers over the sand is covered in trash.

Heh. Wow, you phrased in better in one post than I have the entire thread.

[Veruth]

Well, as long as the forum dedicated to the actual movie is the most prominent and the easiest to get to, most of the spam and other undesireable things should be concentrated there. Theoretically The Sanctuary idea is a very good one. I'm thinking of the pack as sort of a sister site to the freeborn site, like a link off the main page with a description of the pack's role in the creation of the movie and it's focus so you have to actually look through the site to get here. of course there's still the "nobody reads anything problem.

[vrikasatma]

I agree, one of the things I love about this forum is the lack of idiocy and generally higher level of respect between the members here. The quality of the posts is the best I've seen anywhere in terms of information and content. It's going to severely suck when the +3X+ers and the lowest common denominator gets wind of our little treehouse here.

There's another forum I'm on — the Burning Man E-Playa, with more than 11,000 members (including, it goes without saying, a fairly large clique of bullies and more tricksters than you could shake a stick at) — that runs on this same software, and has a feature that allows you to add someone to a Buddy list, to Ignore a certain poster, or to Ban which both Ignores and disallows that poster to communicate to you via e-mail or PM. Simply put, Ignore/Ban means you don't read what the Ignored/Banned person types. This is completely in the individual user's hands and at their discretion. The page comes up and has an option at the top that says "This page contains data from Ignored users. View page with Ignored data?" that you can click on.

The list admin/mods can add the Buddy/Ignore/Ban software as an option.

I'd be wary of having areas where only Legendary posters could go because that's elitist. There are posters on this forum that don't live online and don't post a lot, but who post good material and contribute and play well anyway.

I ran into a situation a week ago when I was on one of my Myspace groups, La Luna Therian. Some 16-y.o. knuckledragger from Washington State came on and wrote "U GUYS R RETARTED, YOU CAN'T SHAPESHIFT, SO GO GET A LIFE!" I responded by telling him to go back to school and learn how to spell before he called anyone retarded (no offense, Anubis).

[Terastas]

Well, the first thing I know we'll have to eventually do is revoke our "no new threads" policy in the What should a werewolf be? forum. It works right now because our list of topics is short enough to be reviewed, but eventually the new topics and repeats will pile up enough that we can no longer expect everyone to read through them all before commentating.

I agree that this forum is definitely, definitely going to become spam-ridden once Freeborn is due for release, especially when people actually go to the movie and see the Pack mentioned in the opening credits. In fact, I believe that's happening already. A lot of the members that have signed up in the past four months, I'm convinced, did so just to beg for a casting call or a Pack pendant. There will be the core members that theorized and helped Freeborn become what it is, and there will be many more spamming to boost their post counts so they can pretend they were core members.

The big thing I feel I need to point out, however, is that the Pack is closely associated with Freeborn, but not a part of Freeborn itself. Once Anthony has his finished product, a distinction between the Pack and the movie will have to be made. A lot of "Freeborn p0wnz!!" and "Freeborn sux0r!!" threads will pop up in the Werewolf Movies section, but the Pack should never wind up as the Freeborn fan club.

Personally, I see no reason why the Pack should become restricted to Freeborn, or disperse once the movie takes off at the box office, especially considering how many of us already have brainchildren of our own. Maybe with luck, some of us will be able to use our presence in the Pack to get our names known and further our own careers, and if their werewolf-related, we can come back here to make those Pack projects too.

I'm not so sure that this forum itself will stay together once the influx of moviegoer wannbes comes pouring in, but I'm confident that at least the thirty-odd of us that got together back when it was called Devoured will stay in touch somehow.