I'm relatively new here and still learning the ropes. However, I was wondering why the thread about the Utopia Planitia page at ST Dimension was considered spam, was locked, and destined to be deleted. Why is this sort of post considered taboo? Was it because the posting was considered an advertisement or some sort?
------------------ When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Posted by Aethelwer (Member # 36) on :
Exactly...if you want to post about a Web site, be sure to ask if it's okay first.
------------------ Frank's Home Page "We've got some new songs here that are not even on the MP3 thing. They're not available in any format, except of course the bootlegs that seem to proliferate all through our audience, as we watch people lip-synch along to songs that HAVEN'T BEEN RELEASED! DAMN YOU!" - John Linnell
Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :
In a word, yes. Chris has posted here a dozen times, so it's not like some of the spammers who post here once to plug their site. And never post again. But then, they usually never post again because we ban the f***ers. 8)
But the post was a complete spam and is completely unacceptable. I'll be deleting it as soon as I remember how. . .
Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
The thread disappeared so fast that I couldn't check it. I believe there was a reason to lock the thread (I guess it was you, Lee), but it could easily discourage posters who haven't been here so long and want to do more than just spam.
Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :
It's a problem. How do you deal with someone spamming their ship design site in a ship design Forum? Simple. Post the pics, paste in the text. Then say there's more on this class HERE or they have more ship designs HERE.
But to come right out and say "go HERE and look at my designs" isn't being considerate to other people who are able to post here regularly without constant blatant self promotion. Why should we go and look at his poxy little page? Let him prove that it's worth our time and attention first.
Everyone in this thread has their page's link in their signature. Isn't that enough?
------------------ Remo Williams: "Chiun, you're amazing!" Chiun: "No! I am BETTER than that!"
I have seen it a few times that people posted a not too spammy message (their first one, no pun intended), and you kissed them good-bye with a short notice. While this was correct with the self-imposed rules of this board, the rules are not obvious for someone who is newly registered. It could be possible that some people are not spamming to promote their site in the first place, but want to introduce themselves to the board.
The fact that anyone can use their signature as a link is a good reason not to allow links (if not related to the currently discussed subject) inside the message body. I think this and the rule "Thou shalt not spam" should be in the terms of use that everyone has to read when registering, maybe even with examples of what will be locked and what accepted.
Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :
Oh, I wouldn't go so far as to ban links from signatures. I'm not a total bastard! Besides, we have some particularly humourless people round here who'd have problems using signatures solely to make little jokes. 8)
And there is a mention about spamming in the rules:
quote:IF YOU SPAM US, WE WILL SHUT YOU DOWN! If you post a spam to this BB, you will be banned, and your ISP contacted concerning abuse of their serivices. Doing that will probably get your account terminated. You have been warned.
------------------ Remo Williams: "Chiun, you're amazing!" Chiun: "No! I am BETTER than that!"
But this doesn't really let people know what consitutes spamming. Everyone knows that MAKE.MONEY.FAST is spamming, but up until I saw that thread locked I would have assumed that posting a link to your personal shipyard would be perfectly acceptable.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
There you go, Tom. Cleaned up your double post.
As for the spamming thing, I think Lee seems to be the only one that knows what's spam and what's not here. I don't try to understand...
Respect mah authoritah! 8P
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
As I understand it...
Not Spam is when you talk about something, and show your page in a link your signature.
Spam is when what you TALK about is your page and its link.
So that "HEY GUYS! Come see my page, it's got ships and banners and popups and aliens and trekbabes and way cool stuff blowing up and did I mention ships? Here's a link! (insert link here)" is spam,
while a philosophical treatise on the inherent morality of Interstellar Jelly Doughnuts, followed by a signature which goes "------------------- (insert page link here): Ships and stuff" is not.
------------------ Calvin: "No efficiency, no accountability... I tell you, Hobbes, it's a lousy way to run a Universe." -- Bill Watterson
Baloo and I have been reading the same books
[This message has been edited by First of Two (edited November 13, 1999).]
Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :
Quite. This is a Forum to discuss ship designs, not web sites about ship designs.
Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :
When posting about my own designs, it has always been my habit to post a picture of the vessel in question with a link to the page that has the picture and description. Some folks only want to see a picture. Others want to read about the vessels.
Personally, I've always favored websites with pictures of vessels and a backstory about the vessel. "Here's my ship, isn't it nifty" says nothing except that someone either didn't take the time to think out why the vessel might exist or didn't think it was important.
If I read a book about cars, I want more than just a bunch of pictures. I want to know why they were built, what they could do, and what unique features they possessed. Same thing with starships. A picture without a backstory of some sort tells you nothing except that someone took the time to learn how to use a paint program.
I admit that some of my posts were actually close to spam. On the other hand I have posted only when I had to present something new or unusual and it wouldn't have made much sense to copy and paste everything to the small column of a forum thread.
I think it's no spam if the link is presented as an incentive for further discussion.
Spam: "Hey, I've got pictures of every Federation starship".
No spam: "Could you check these ship specs on my site."
Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
Baloo: If you want to see a really cool website with amazing pre-TOS ship designs and extremely detailed back stories filled with political infighting, sex, and bribery and interstellar intrique done by a really, really clever guy...
I'm sorry, modestly prevents me from continuing.
Er, is this spiced ham?
------------------ When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :
I've seen it. I enjoyed it. I am waiting for more updates.
Have you seen my site? I like the visual style your ships are rendered in. I tend to keep the illustrations simple and rely upon the text description to "flesh out" the design. I'm always glad to see another site that follows the same philosophy.
[This message has been edited by Baloo (edited November 15, 1999).]
Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
Thanks for the kind words, Baloo. I don't know if my drawing style is simple: it doesn't seem simple when I'm drawing. But the drawing are pretty straightforward. I use Freehand 7 for Macintosh. I try to work in a lot of surface detail in the form of panel lines and windows. I also think authentic-looking markings (hull numbers and banners) are also very important. I include markings in all views. I draw mostly with thin lines but tie everything together in each view with a slightly thicker outline line. I also use a lot of gradient fills to produce shadows and the illusion of three-dimensions.
------------------ When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
I wish my gradient fillings would look half as realistic as Masao's.
Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
Bernd: Freehand has two types of gradient fills, linear and radial. Linear gradient fills go from the top down in layers whereas radial gradient fills go from the center outward in a circular pattern. For each you specify starting and ending colors and as many colors as you want in between. By varying the distance between specified colors you can vary the "hardness" or "softness" of the color change. The angle of linear gradient fills and the center of radial gradient fills can also be specified. Another nice tool is the blend. You can use it to create a shaped highlight within an object. The best advice I can give is that you need to experiment a lot and not be afraid of using very light and very dark colors for highlights and shading.
------------------ When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
I do have tools for gradient fillings, but they don't give the impression of a smooth color change. At the latest when I have to convert the ships to bitmaps, all the colors (and greyscales too) are messed up. You should see my vector graphics, they are really beautiful
------------------ "Naomi Wildman, sub-unit of Ensign Samantha Wildman, state your intentions." (VOY: "Infinite Regress") Ex Astris Scientia
