Why is it against the rules to tell someone they aren't posting in the right place?

[Titi]

I recieved a warning the other day for telling a newbie who posted a trade offer in in the ACNL forum that she would have more luck posting at retail.
This is the first forum I have been to that sends out warning for this.
Why?

Isn't it a much better impression for members to see that the community is trying to help them get around than by seeing that no one is replying to their thread and eventually see it be closed by a mod?
It gives an impression of a much friendlier and active community, not to mention less strict.
Of course, we should also report the thread so it can be closed, but we should be allowed to point the user in the right direction.

As for the whole "it brings attention to the misplaced thread" thing, it's a little excessive in my opinion...
One person (or 2 if they post at the same time) will tell that person that their thread is misplaced,
and other members most probably won't post in it once they see that.
This is a pretty active forum, it's not like the misplaced topic will stay on top of the first page forever if there is one reply...

 

[TheCreeperHugz]

I think it has something to do with the fact that if you post saying it's in the wrong place, they might make another one in the right place, which just cluttered up the forum since a mod could easily move the thread to the right place

 

[Jennifer]

I think it has something to do with the fact that if you post saying it's in the wrong place, they might make another one in the right place, which just cluttered up the forum since a mod could easily move the thread to the right place

This.

The other reason is when we do move the thread, your post is now spam in the thread.

And when people do post in more problematic threads (IE: Fighting or ones that shouldn't even exist), we really don't want them to be seen. There's a huge number of Looking for threads, for example, where people are posting to make a deal and it's like...the thread is against the rules and you people are acting like it's okay and that happens so often with some threads that the "hey this doesn't go here" makes it worse. You'd think they wouldn't post, but I've had to give out 5 mini mod warnings in the same thread before and seen people continue to post even after several of those people are all "hey not allowed"

Personally, I feel if you're new and don't bother taking a few minutes to click the big rules and stickied announcements before posting, you kind of deserve the warning as a reminder. They aren't written up for fun.

 

[Titi]

Oh the person misplacing the thread should get a warning,
not the person telling them where to post... That's what I mean.

I can see the clutter issue though, isn't it possible to delete a thread? You can only close it?

 

[Shirohibiki]

..wait, this is against the rules? OH GOD I'M SORRY

 

[Titi]

..wait, this is against the rules? OH GOD I'M SORRY

You never got a warning for doing that? Lucky!

 

[Shirohibiki]

You never got a warning for doing that? Lucky!

i mean, i haven't done it in a while, but oops wow i should probably revise and review da rulez again to make sure i'm not missing anything else slkdgshfdh

i just sort of thought it was the correct thing to do oh no D:

 

[Titi]

i mean, i haven't done it in a while, but oops wow i should probably revise and review da rulez again to make sure i'm not missing anything else slkdgshfdh

i just sort of thought it was the correct thing to do oh no D:

Yeah same.
It was just common sense to me, I always do it on forums...

 

[Jennifer]

Oh the person misplacing the thread should get a warning,
not the person telling them where to post... That's what I mean.

I can see the clutter issue though, isn't it possible to delete a thread? You can only close it?

We can delete it, yes, but then it also gives us more work to do too. Look at it this way, either someone can report it and we move it or someone reports it, someone else has already posted (if not more), said user has then gone and reposted topic--we now have to give out warnings and delete the thread versus a quick move. Similarly, user posts a topic and waits for it to be moved, but now there's a whole line of off-topic posts about how it's in the off-topic section that are spamming their thread.. we now have to delete alll of them.

As a final example, user has their thread moved, comes back and sees all those posts on how it's in the wrong section. Then they are confused and may think that they posted in the wrong section not realizing it was moved and not realize it's now in the correct one.

In general, we only give warnings to thread owners if they keep remaking the thread or if it's a thread that shouldn't exist in the first place.

 

[Party Poison]

..wait, this is against the rules? OH GOD I'M SORRY

Right, Shiro!? I feel bad because I've done this maybe four times, haha. Now that Jennifer explained it though I can see what they are trying to do. I guess, if you only post to give advice on someones posting than you're better off just reporting the thread to have the professionals deal with them and advise them instead of causing more work for the mods. :>

I learned something new today, haha.

- - - Post Merge - - -

i mean, i haven't done it in a while, but oops wow i should probably revise and review da rulez again to make sure i'm not missing anything else slkdgshfdh

i just sort of thought it was the correct thing to do oh no D:

I need to go read the rules again, too. Hng, I should do that now since my nutritional counseling review videos aren't posted yet to work on. e - e

 

[J087]

I'm actually not surprised that there's yet another thread posted to question this subject. If people keep asking about it one could wonder if the current situation truly is the most ideal one.

 

[Titi]

I'm actually not surprised that there's yet another thread posted to question this subject. If people keep asking about it one could wonder if the current situation truly is the most ideal one.

The problem is also that when I recieved the warning, it wasn't explained this way at all.
It just said we had to avoid bringing attention to the misplaced topics... which seemed harsh.

 

[Titi]

double post by accident sorry...

 

[sn0wxyuki]

I received this warning once then from there onwards, I don't bother when I see anyone post anything at the wrong place xD then when I see somebody come and remind them "hey this is the wrong place" lol and I assume they will receive the same fate as I do but I still don't bother. But now with Jennifer explanation I think it should be all clear why you should not do that.

Probably harsh to you but then, just serve it as a reminder and don't go repeating the same action and you will be find =D Enjoy TBT-ing xD

 

[J087]

The problem is also that when I recieved the warning, it wasn't explained this way at all.
It just said we had to avoid bringing attention to the misplaced topics... which seemed harsh.

I couldn't agree more. I'm sure moderators will save "a lot of work" when they give a more detailed explanation in their warning to why you shouldn't have posted or said something. That way threads like these wouldn't exist and other moderators wouldn't have to read through it all and leave a reply explaining what should have been explained when the warning was given.

 

[Kanapachi]

Has anyone ever noticed that we have a report button? Yeah, you should try it next time.

 

[Titi]

Has anyone ever noticed that we have a report button? Yeah, you should try it next time.

I did report the thread as well for it to be closed... No need to be rude.
I just didn't think it would be a problem to point the user in the right direction in a friendly manner.

 

[debinoresu]

I might have done this once, but that could have been on a diff forum

I just assumed it was considered minimodding and just report threads in the wrong place instead of posting on them. imo the mods reason for this makes sense, just report it to be moved and go on. I think, by their thread being moved, they are pointed in the right direction.

 

[Fuzzbyroo]

I've never done it because I remember reading about it somewhere in the rules. I always find it annoying when new users don't bother reading the rules and post "Looking For" threads all over the Villager Trading Plaza. I don't say anything but I always feel like telling them to go read the rules. It's not that hard... I understand that they are new but it wouldn't hurt to check the rules and other stickied announcements.

 

[Trent the Paladin]

I couldn't agree more. I'm sure moderators will save "a lot of work" when they give a more detailed explanation in their warning to why you shouldn't have posted or said something. That way threads like these wouldn't exist and other moderators wouldn't have to read through it all and leave a reply explaining what should have been explained when the warning was given.

Or maybe if the rules were read a little more often, people would figure it out a lot quicker.