Screen Shot forum fans be carefull

[Gary_Hayes 60]

not really making anything Dave. Just making other users aware.Notice I said "Users" and not flightsin.com41,200 downloads and counting on Avsim alone.http://www.projectopensky.com/banners/gary_banner.gif

[Guest DaveKDEN]

>"seems we arent welcomed by their regulars."I guess your original posts wording threw me off a bit. I guess I'm just growing tired of the "us vs. them" mindset of a few bad apples both here and there (or there and here ;-)).

[Bearracing 3]

Gary,Regardless of how one flight site operates vs another is not particularly important, but there was a real problem developing here at AVSIM concerning our servers and the problem was being caused by the individuals that were posting in the Screenshot Forum. So many posts were being put up, with the highest percentage of these not being in the spirit of what the screenshot forum was supposed to be about, that our server was being totally jammed to the point it was effecting the speed in the other forums.The original purpose of the screenshot forum was for everyone to have a platform to post their "favorite" screenshots from their favorite sim (rather that be a flight sim, trainsim, or autoracing sim). What was happening though was that many were posting whatever screenshot they had, just to see how fast they could clock up their posting numbers or often times there were people posting just to try out a new signature, etc..Another problem was that even after we limited each post to 700 pixels wide and a limit of 5 jpgs per post, individuals complained until they were blue in the face, then decided to post 5 jpgs and then merely respond to the original post with 5 more jpgs. Not exactly in the spirit of why we restricted each post to 5 jpgs in the first place.Then there is the common problem of (and I don't have an answer as to what to do about this) just how many screenshots of a single Boeing or Airbus can one put up or that we as readers can stand to look at. I recall once, back when the Project Airbus Team released one of their latest, when one individual posted nearly 30 different screenshots, of which every single one was showing basically the same aircraft landing, only from slightly different angles. Ugh!One of my personal favorite reasons for having the screenshot forum (and frankly one of the reasons for having the screenshot forum as per the adminstration here at AVSIM) is having a place where the freeware developer or painter can display his or her latest work for all to see.Hopefully, if and when, the AVSIM ss forum is back up, the original spirit of why the screenshot forum exists will be adhered to.Bear!

[edetroit 933]

Oooooh Dear! :-( ........If anyone would like to see my screenie's.I'm at a very nice quiet and friendly forum. :-)Go to General Chat @ http://www.ifsd.ieregardshttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e7b0d700af57751.jpg

[Guest]

Best,http://www.mnm-fs.com/pics/banner_flightsim2.gif" I am the one and Only .. Nobody Id rather Be. "[/b]

[Guest Tim13]

Steve makes a very valid point with regard to the "number of posts" counter. I think that it's obvious to most that those numbers are sometimes more important to the poster than actually making or responding to a post. I think that it would be beneficial if people were "ranked" by a simple title system based on posts logged if this is possible with the forum system.I'm talking about something quite simple such as:0-25 posts = Student pilot26-100 posts = Private Pilot101-200 posts = Commercial Pilot201-300 posts = Flight Instuctor301-400 posts = ATPThis way, after 400 posts, you achieve a noted "regular status" on the board, and there is no longer a contest to get 1000, 2000, or more posts logged. Giving a rank to people while hiding the actual post number would go a long way to cutting down the number padding since there would be no incentive after the magical 400th post.Just a thought.Tim13

[Dewey 0]

Shane, one of the surest signs of a "newbie" is that it bothers them when someone yanks their chain a bit. There is a formula for handling negative posts that always works - ignore them.Have a good one.Dewey

[edetroit 933]

Aw c`mon guys!...too many rules!...I was and still am a daily visitor to the AVSIM screenshots and discussion forums .1; most people with a high number of post counter were/are people who were kind enough to comment on other people's posts and 2; The number of people who posted too many shots at once were so few they could be contacted personally and asked kindly to reduce their number of screenies.....easy huh? :-)regards http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e7b0d700af57751.jpg

[Guest]

Glad you think it is simplistically easy.More strict rules come about as more and more people figure out ways to bend or get around the rules. Much of what "Bear" stated should be seriously taken to heart by the many regulars that spent all their time in the Screenshot forum. If some of what he said applied to you, be very certain that you are part of the behavior being watched to determine how we handle the screenshot forum in the future.As for what was going on over at FS.com, thank you to Darrell for trying to handle that situation. We certainly don't need any bashing going on. So let's let that rest. I'm leaving this thread open but will move it to the Hangar Chat forum because I know there are many users of this forum that could care less about discussions on the screenshot forum. If you want to continue to discuss the issue, civilily, you can do so in the Hangar Chat forum.

[Guest drobson]

Thanks, Scott! I've long been a fan of both Avsim and FS.com, and see absolutely no reason why both sites should have any conflict between them. Both sites are there for the general public, and both offer things that the other does not.Darrell

[edetroit 933]

>Glad you think it is simplistically easy. >>More strict rules come about as more and more people figure >out ways to bend or get around the rules. Much of what >"Bear" stated should be seriously taken to heart by the many >regulars that spent all their time in the Screenshot forum. >If some of what he said applied to you, be very certain that >you are part of the behavior being watched to determine how >we handle the screenshot forum in the future. >>As for what was going on over at FS.com, thank you to >Darrell for trying to handle that situation. We certainly >don't need any bashing going on. So let's let that rest. >I'm leaving this thread open but will move it to the Hangar >Chat forum because I know there are many users of this forum >that could care less about discussions on the screenshot >forum. If you want to continue to discuss the issue, >civilily, you can do so in the Hangar Chat forum. Ok here's my view, I think the screenshot forum is very important for previews of upcoming a/c or paints etc. coming second are simmers favorite shots. I for one also like to show shots of a complete flight, while I totally agree that there is no need for more than one shot at cruise altitude ,I dont think 5 shots are enough especially if one wants to show off other things apart for one's a/c eg. Ai traffic....let me think how many......Gate,taxi,takeoff/climb,cruise,descent/approach,touchdown,taxi,gate......that's eight........Anyone think that's too much?I might also say that I think complete flights posts were enjoyed by many judging by the way the posts caught fire...LOLBTW Scott.......I'm a very easy going guy....If you guys want only One shot per post I have no problem with that and I will adhere to it...I say this because your post sounds so heavy.I would also like to thank Darrell for his very courteous welcome to Flightsim.com's screenshot forum.regardsp.s BTW posting a complete flight is no joke and can be very hard work! ..somtimes taking as long as the flight to edit compile! http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e7b0d700af57751.jpg

[Guest]

SS Forum is badly needed and is one of the most important aspects of any fsim related forums. If you take a look at any other FS related forums you will see an SS forum being part of it.Now i am all for upholding the rules of the board. And because we know all too well that some people will just never be able to follow the rules, i suggest that you (AVSIM) start doing what you do best... delete and remove the posts that are breaking the rules.Simple as that. It really sucks to read replies from people like Bear saying how the ppl were breaking the rules of the forums all the time and yet you did nothing (but talk) to fix the situation. Then all of a sudden you killed the forum. Going from one extreme (just talking the talk) to the other (killing the forums) is not the best way.I say you go to the middle and actually start enforcing the rules.Ofcourse people will be disgruntled but they will learn and they will start following the rules.BIK

[Guest Matt Johnson]

Hold on a moment here.When you post in our forums, you are a "guest" in our house. We post the house rules on the doorway (the T&Cs you see when you sign up, and any anchored posts in the forums you use). Now, you really expect us to "nag" you when you don't follow the rules, rather than just kick you out?And, furthermore, when it gets to the situation where we are having to consider turfing out a large proportion of the users of a forum for breaking the rules... going back to the house analogy, we'd be more than ready to kick everyone out of the house and lock the door.Now, if the Screenshot Forum is going to be used in the way that we want (i.e. the way that Bear describes), then we're going to get along just fine. However, the downright childish and immature behavior we saw from more than a small number of former Screenshot Forum users before we closed down the forum due to its resource usage was, frankly, a bane to both our forum moderators and quite a few of our Senior Staff.In another thread, I used the term "we will consider the reintroduction of the Screenshot Forum", and I reiterated that that particular choice of words was deliberate... maybe now you can see why.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

"Hopefully, if and when, the AVSIM ss forum is back up, the original spirit of why the screenshot forum exists will be adhered to."I have a couple of thoughts. First, I found it easy to compress a jpg in 700x525 format down to 75K, sometimes even less, without a great loss of quality. If we can reduce the max size allowed for screenshots, the new forum can run that much faster, especially for us dial-up users who were getting slaughtered trying to open 20-30 pic threads.Content is much harder to police. So is the situation where people are just drumming up the number of posts.... One way around that, is to drop that stat altogether....I wish there were some type of software that could strip images from a thread when they exceeded a certain number. Does it exist? It'd be nice to have an "auto-moderator". Users are going to have to be honest with themselves though. I would flag users when I saw pics too large, only to be flagged by some of the regulars here with "Stick in the mud" and "you are not a moderator" comments. Maybe the absence of a thing is going to make all realize how precious it really is. My motives are selfish--I'm not willing to move into the inner city to gain access to a high speed connection. Last, rules only go so far, but some ignore them not out of intent--simply because they don't know how to work within them. I'd suggest we leave a locked thread, with a brief example of how to crop a large image (such as 1024x768) into a meaningful, smaller image. Some people think a screenshot has to be what FS is showing at the time. I suspect they seldom see the picture within the picture, which can sometimes be far more powerful.....

[Bearracing 3]

Actually John, I was just chatting with a couple of administrators here at AVSIM about doing just what you suggested. Placing a permanent post that explains and gives a tutorial on the various ways to edit and post mutliple screenshots while staying within both the structure and spirit of the established screenshot forum rules. I for one was one of those individuals that practiced the screenshot form of using templates. I have a series of templates I use for my features and/or reviews where I am able to place multiple imagines into, then I post the template at the maximum width of 700 pixels. Ironically, my posted templates rarely exceed 75 to 90 Kb each, in size, yet they each may contain between 2 and 6 individual screenshots. I do use an old photo editing tool (PhotoDraw2000 from Microsoft) for most of my editing, but I occasionaly use the default Windows MSPaint tool as well.The truth is that many people or individuals just don't understand or want to understand why these rules must be in place, which is so that all can enjoy viewing screenshots. The screenshot width maximum size and number of shots per post rules are looked on by some as a kind of unreasonable restriction, that doesn't apply to them, but the rules are designed for the convenience of the viewer as well as keeping the load off our servers. I am one of those individuals that is stuck with a dialup modem (56K) and I've been told it will be years, if ever, before that will change where I live and I know that a large number of readers here at AVSIM are in the same boat as I am. I can't begin to tell you how annoying it is when someone posts more than 5 shots (usually by reposting through the reply feature) when you're working from a dialup modem and to be completely frank, I almost never wait for all 10 or 15 screenshots to roll up before I click back out of that post and go to another. If someone is so inconsiderate as to ignore the spirit of the rules, then I'm not going to waste my time waiting between 3 to 5 minutes for their shots to come up on my screen. If you have more than 5 screenshots to post, as I often do, then try taking just a couple of extra minutes to place them on a template. You can even try adding captions to the individual shots right on the template if you wish, in otherwords, try using a little imagination and remember, the rules are really not meant as a restriction, but rather to make your screenshots more convenient to view by the reader of your post.Bear!