Welcome to the team Ageha!

Thank you for the welcome!

I hope I'm able to do my part in helping out the Sims 4 section. 

PS: I'm really awkward in replying to things formally so I hope you guys won't think I'm being rude if I replied in short sentences. Nonetheless, I'm happy to be here and like I said, hope I'm able to help.

Ɛɗιη wrote:No need for formalities at all

Glad to hear that as sometimes I do not have much patience with some people.

Well then, I guess if there's someone too annoying (beyond any normal level) feel free to tag me.   

Also, since I'm already here, should I or am i allowed to close threads if the problems have been solved?

Ok thank you for the heads up! 

Ageha wrote:Also, since I'm already here, should I or am i allowed to close threads if the problems have been solved?

Welcome to the team @Ageha!   

And yes, you can (and technically should) use those tools, to the best of your knowledge. While a formal introduction to all the intricacies and implications of moderating may come a bit early for you at this point, here's some basics nonetheless.


  in general: "ask nicely first, shoot second". If someone is unfriendly, try asking them to tone it down. If that doesn't help, you have two choices. You can summon Edin or one of the other blue/pink mods that may be there (I am currently not regularly available though). Or, you can take matters into your own hands and censor parts or even the entire message if it's too outrageous by clicking on the "Edit"-button on the post(s) concerned. I am very infamous for the latter method; ask the other team members. However, if you decide to go this path please make sure to take a screenshot of the original message before tampering with it. Keep the screenshot ready in case you are asked about it. I would strongly recommend though, you try asking Edin or the other mods for support, for the time being. When you are more experienced and more in the "groove", you can consider alternative methods of dealing with problem users. It's actually rarely necessary to censor entire messages, but if it is needed, you need to do it right. P.S. I like replacing the text of 'problem posts', with this here, combined with a "Mod Edit: post censored due to user complaints/rule violation/etc. - The_gh0stm4n"




  moving topics won't be that relevant for you; I think you can only move threads back-and-forth between the TS4 Downloads and TS4 In-Game sections. 'Technical' things (downloading, installing, uninstalling, crashings, etc.) should go into the Downloads Support. All other in-game stuff goes into the In-Game Support. Note that sometimes users may have follow-up questions to their original problem. Say, someone asks about something technical first, and you answer the question in the TS4 Downloads Support. Then in the same topic they ask you a follow-up questions about an in-game issue. You should still leave the topic in the TS4 Downloads Support, because it would be too awkward and confusing if you "flip-flopped" topics all the time. Similarly, if you see another team member has moved something, you should leave the topic untouched and not move it yourself. It can cause irritations between the mods involved, and it is also confusing for the person in need of help.


  lastly for now, try taking it slow.   On some days, there is so much going on in these sections you cannot possibly solve or reply to these questions on your own. You (will) have to learn prioritizing topics and questions. For example, if you see several topics dealing with one and the same issue, it may be worth thinking about replying to just one of them (per day?). Then you go over to another subset of topics, see if they deal with one problem, or maybe more, etc. You get the idea.


That shall do for now!

  

I still disagree with the G4TW policy that everybody should open his/her own thread about an existing question.
I support the system: 1 question = 1 thread.
What's the use of searching when you find 200 or more threads about one and the same problem ?

Start a thread, give the answer, close the thread [SOLVED]
Just look lately howmany threads about infinite loading.
If I'm new to this forum, which thread gives me the correct answer ?
Example: Infinite loading after crack [SOLVED}
First item is the question, last item is the solution.
No endless debates in seperate threads about how people applied the crack and it still doesn't work (as they haven't read the instructions apparently).

Thank you @The_gh0stm4n for the welcome! 

Like mentioned, of late there's alot of thread revolving around the same issue. Will it be alright for me to link to my other replies on the thread? Since of late, I've been doing mostly that. For example, I've already replied either in-depth or given the most 'work-around' on one thread, and when there's a similar 'problem', I'll just link my answer from the first thread to the others.

I'm kinda 'really active' (since i replied to most) now because of ramadan mostly.   So on other days, I hope if there's new, or possibly old errors coming up, I would prefer to link to threads (after finding the problem of course).

Also, you've ALL been so nice to me, so again, thank you.

Hi there Ageha, welcome to the team!

It's so nice to see new faces around.

If you consider that you are just repeating yourself and have a very detailed response for the problem (in another topic or in the same, it doesn't matter), you can just link to it. Just clarify to the user that if they are still having problems or if they must reply somehow, they should do it on the topic you were on originally, not in the one you linked, so they don't start getting mixed up.

You are free to do (almost) anything you want to make it easier on yourself, like either linking to another responses or even preparing responses beforehand for problems that come up frequently. Hopefully not resorting to always copy-pasting, but using them as a guide.

And of course, if you have any questions or need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask. We're all here for you too.

Hello SeoY and thank you!

I'll keep that in mind for 'future' reference. As for now, I'll be in a 'frenzy' like state since the update (Parenthood) surprisingly was released quite fast. 

Cheers

Oh dear I doubt it'll come to that. 

Tarac wrote:I still disagree with the G4TW policy that everybody should open his/her own thread about an existing question.
I support the system: 1 question = 1 thread.

And as usual, maybe it's an idea to use a compromise solution? Instead of determining something to be THE best solution, maybe determine a system depending on the (projected) needs of a Forum section. A "1 question/topic = 1 thread" system could make sense with a section about user-made custom content in The Sims games for example. Also, in practice it's not handled that strictly anyhow. If I see people opening multiple threads I try merging them. If not, it's usually not that big of a deal either way.

Tarac wrote:Start a thread, give the answer, close the thread [SOLVED]

- How do we determine if the OP has no other questions? Or that the problem has been actually solved? That the proposed solution actually works for the topic in question?
- On a related note, most users don't post back about final feedback, at least not here. 
- If topics get closed prematurely, users will just open another one about the same issue. Which would have to be locked again eventually??
- If people are new to the Forum, they will have to read either way. And most people don't look at topic titles, so they will ignore the [SOLVED].
- Another problem is, people often use vague topic titles, making it more difficult for the new user to find a solution.
- About closing topics, we traditionally don't have many Moderators in the first place, and those who eventually get promoted tend to leave shortly after (yeah, sorry pink Moderators if you are reading this, and sorry if any of the Quartermasters feels discouraged now). Many want to have the high rank/status/voting right, but not many people are fond of using these mod tools, a responsibility that (normally) comes with the rank. And to be honest, the thought of me literally all the time clicking on the "Lock" button does sound like a lot of additional effort in the long term, for a benefit that I don't find obvious. 

I grant that the line of thinking is unusual and the argumentation interesting, but that's one of the things I would suggest to keep, because the current system has been used for so long now. Also, as indicated, the actual situation in practice can be seen as a "mixture" between the two systems anyway. And should we discuss about new Forum sections, we can always reconsider special rules.

P.S. @everybody, I am intending to be more active again, expect more comments like these from me, over time. 

- How do we determine if the OP has no other questions? Or that the problem has been actually solved? That the proposed solution actually works for the topic in question?
- On a related note, most users don't post back about final feedback, at least not here. 

I agree on this. Back when Vampire came out and then Parenthood and Fitness got updated so fast, people keep opening topic one after another, without going back to their first thread. Whenever I see a familiar username, I always click on their statistics and see if they've posted before. Granted, it's only a few who does this but the they never really gave a final feedback if their installation/game is working, before posting a new topic. I actually have a couple of still-open topics because I can't confirm whether the solution provided works for them, or they found a work-around.

For now, even when I did not provide any solution (since I'm always the last to check these things lol), I try to at least ask the OP is they have any further questions before closing the thread.

PS: Yay! CarlosThe_gh0stm4n is back!

Type in the searchbox "Origin not running" and you'll have 419 threads and counting.
1 topic (sticky) would have been sufficient:

The 5 reasons for the Origin not running error

1. Your install folder The Sims 4 is inside a folder Electronic Arts, Origin Games or ZLOrigin games
2. Your AV has put the crack in quarantaine and prevents it from opening RldOrigin.dll
3. You copied TS4.exe and/or TS4_x64 instead of making a shortcut on your desktop
4. Origin or ZLOrigin is open (active) on your computer
5. You copied instead of moving the folder The Sims 4 out of one of the folders as mentioned in point 1.

Nobody is going through 419 or more topics to find the answer, thus he/she starts his/her own thread making it even more complicated.

It's just an idea, it's your forum so you determine the rules.
On my forum it reduces the questions a lot.
Also moderators not active within the last 3 months without notice will be unmodded.
So bye bye people like Mera, ShadeKensis, m4dm4n, Rapper_skull, Narong 30, Phoebe, Michael Myers etc. (a pity that the dates last active do not contain a year)
In my view on the G4TW forum, blue mods are not granted the required facilities needed.

PS.
Did you know that this forum has approx 8000 members that registered but since their registration never logged in ?

Tarac wrote:(...) Nobody is going through 419 or more topics to find the answer, thus he/she starts his/her own thread making it even more complicated.

It's just an idea, it's your forum so you determine the rules.
On my forum it reduces the questions a lot.
Also moderators not active within the last 3 months without notice will be unmodded.
So bye bye people like Mera, ShadeKensis, m4dm4n, Rapper_skull, Narong 30, Phoebe, Michael Myers etc. (a pity that the dates last active do not contain a year)
In my view on the G4TW forum, blue mods are not granted the required facilities needed.

PS.
Did you know that this forum has approx 8000 members that registered but since their registration never logged in ?

I get your basic concern, but for some reason I still can't make a (neat) connection between the 1 question/1 topic-system and the benefits it may or may not have on the search function. I mean, I guess you could theoretically see the [SOLVED] in the search results next to the topics. Then again, most users simply don't care enough to post final feedback or choose a good topic title. Sometimes I edit topic titles if they are really bad, but that is rare. And as said before, if one user does not have any follow-up question, then I close the thread and give the notification that they can open another thread in the future again. The system as such works decently enough, and people can for example also look for something like "Origin is not running SOLVED". Which should highlight topics with the "SOLVED" tag, for example in the topic title after it has been locked by a Moderator. But most users certainly don't think of that.

Let's also not forget that the majority of users on G4TW are school/college kids, and their general attention span and judgment tends to be rather weak. Sometimes you also have tired & frustrated adult users, but they tend to have the same site navigation difficulties. But as for the main audience here, why care about formalities at all, if they are only interested in getting a quick fix for their Sims problem? I also doubt that the typical school/college kid will be patient enough to properly scan through the search results. Whatever deficits the current system has, if one doesn't have the patience then they won't succeed either with a good system. 

I don't even know if it's possible on Forumotion to tweak the search function; maybe that is a question best asked Forumotion directly, here. What I do know is that the Forum software used is antiquated - to put it diplomatically - and it does not appear there will be new major software changes anytime soon, apart from graphics/UI. I recall one of the Forumotion Administrators mentioning in an announcement that advertising revenue is getting smaller and smaller. Should be indicative of the future prospects on here.

As for names, I was looking at nobody in particular. It is as it is though: it's much cooler to sit on the chatbox and claim "I have a high status". It was also one of the reasons to go for individual permissions for team members. So instead of being assigned a usergroup and having full permissions, it was decided to try assigning permissions in a small part of the Forum. That means, you chose your area on the Forum or subject matter you are fond of, and then get those permissions in that area only. The longterm effects of this change still remain to be seen, but from what I can sense thus far, it is probably the right way to go.

The people in the so-called Vice Presidents group are more like honorary figures, they do not have permissions by themselves normally. It's mostly users who have made "unusual" contributions at one point or another. Shadekensis for example used to post lots of entertainment/off-topic related things. Rapper Skull was involved in creating the No-CD fix for TS3. Most recently, the blue people are Moderators who have (limited) Admin-powers in an area outside the Forum. SeoY has Admin-powers on the Minecraft-server. I myself have those powers on the Facebook page. It's arguably a strange usergroup to have, but still fine enough I guess.

As for the pink Moderators, the main argument to keep them was because of sentimentality/tradition. Something I never agreed with, but that leads me to the next point.

Tarac wrote:it's your forum so you determine the rules.

Technically it's still the Forum of the person who is at top of the Administrators-group (a.k.a. The Admin), even though he has not logged on in a while now. And despite what many people think, I don't even have any formal position to be able to suggest Admin-level measures. I am "only" the envoy who's been put in charge of looking after things on a Moderator-level, as best as my knowledge and permissions allow.

Edit: and even though I myself disagree on many things, it would not feel right if certain 'traditions' were abolished.

The_gh0stm4n wrote:I get your basic concern, but for some reason I still can't make a (neat) connection between the 1 question/1 topic-system and the benefits it may or may not have on the search function. I mean, I guess you could theoretically see the [SOLVED] in the search results next to the topics. Then again, most users simply don't care enough to post final feedback or choose a good topic title. Sometimes I edit topic titles if they are really bad, but that is rare. And as said before, if one user does not have any follow-up question, then I close the thread and give the notification that they can open another thread in the future again. The system as such works decently enough, and people can for example also look for something like "Origin is not running SOLVED". Which should highlight topics with the "SOLVED" tag, for example in the topic title after it has been locked by a Moderator. But most users certainly don't think of that.

Typing in "Origin not running [SOLVED]" will bring up 450 threads, most of them not even related to Origin not running.
As far as I understood this forum also runs under phpBB so threads can also be shown as last reaction first.
Typing the solution to a problem and then close the thread means that the solution always is on top.

Adopting the "one man, one thread" way could mean (in theory) you can have 30.000 threads about 1 question.
Maybe an idea to have frequently asked questions as 1 topic in FAQ's, 1 question, 1 answer with the correct solution [closed]

But let's not argue about it, you've adopted this system for years and you are apparently happy with it.

Tarac wrote:You've adopted this system (...)

As indicated, it seems a customized phpBB version, and there are not many possibilities to edit things. Also, I went under "advanced search" and used the following parameters.




I believe the small window that pops up when you use the simple search window (click on "Search" in the top toolbar) uses the Search for any terms or use query as entered. That means you will get results that contain "any" of the words you entered, but not necessarily all words together in the results.

I wouldn't know how to edit this search function. And as also said, this is not the same software as your "real" phpBB.

Bit late to the party, but, welcome to the team!

Aelinore wrote:Bit late to the party, but, welcome to the team!

Thanks for the welcome and LOVING your favorite games!