Important changes to beyond.ca - Please Read

[rage2]

Hey everyone.

In order to improve the quality of the site, we've decided to halt all new user registrations as of today. That means that there will be no more new users on the site. This also means that if you get banned, you'll only be able to read the forums and not be able to contribute to it anymore.

We will be introducing an invitation system in the near future so members will be able to invite their friends onto the forums. We feel that this will be a much better way to filter only good members to the site.

This will also affect the marketplace, because a lot of readers may not have access to reply or PM you, so you should look for alternate contact information in your ads.

Any questions you may have regarding this new policy, please ask away.

[kaput]

.

[JfuckinC]

awesome!

[Jlude]

Not a bad idea at all. :thumbsup:

[brownboi]

:goflames:

[D'z Nutz]

How the hell am I going to figure out how to convert my dvd's to my ipod? Where am I going to buy cheap shoes?



Originally posted by rage2
This also means that if you get banned, you'll only be able to read the forums and not be able to contribute to it anymore.

Let's face it: if you get banned, you weren't really contributing to begin with.


Originally posted by rage2
This will also affect the marketplace, because a lot of readers may not have access to reply or PM you, so you should look for alternate contact information in your ads.

This also means members with < 90% user ratings will no longer be able to create a new account to gain marketplace access and will have to find alternative ways of getting points back :poosie:

[A790]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
face it: if you get banned, you weren't really contributing to begin with.
The good news here is it means we can stop banning the same members over and over...

[Disoblige]

Oh my god, this is just GOLDEN. This is a joyous day indeed. It will be a sweet next few months as some get weeded out.

[A790]

Originally posted by Disoblige
Oh my god, this is just GOLDEN. This is a joyous day indeed. It will be a sweet next few months as some get weeded out.
Starting with.... YOU!


Nah, just kiddin ;)

[Dave P]

:thumbsup:

[benyl]

Nice, using the ban stick will be permanent now!

[Tik-Tok]

This is a great idea Rage.

New owning game: Get your friends open account banned, and make him beg you to send him an invite :rofl:

[kvg]

cool idea:thumbsup:

[Pollywog]

Thank god, I was getting so sick of all of the new trolls.

[toyboy88]

Originally posted by Jlude
Not a bad idea at all. :thumbsup:

[Phenix]

If this is gonna happen would i be able to get my user rating reset so i can post in the FS threads?

Thanks

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Phenix
If this is gonna happen would i be able to get my user rating reset so i can post in the FS threads?

Thanks

Why would they reset the user rating that you made for yourself, just because they've created an invite only membership? If you wanted to be about to post in the marketplace, you could have made a new account awhile ago. Or if you really want to do it now, just send yourself an invite when they come out.

[toyboy88]

Originally posted by Phenix
If this is gonna happen would i be able to get my user rating reset so i can post in the FS threads?

Thanks

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/293656/increasing-the-user-rating/

*Note: NSFW.

[G-ZUS]

:D :clap:

[TeamBestBud]

YES! FINALLY!!!






THANK YOU JEEBUS.

[sr20s14zenki]

Lol this is great. No more trolls leaving me shitty feedback when I make fun of them.

[GQBalla]

awesome idea!

[ExtremeSi]

I don't know.. I always liked how beyond was more open and didn't have so many rules and restrictions like some other forums do. I can't be the only one that shares this opinion....

[mr2mike]

We'll get less lulz with the Bannerjee's signing up to explain their side of the story.

Just curious, why wouldn't you go IP banning? Or is it hard to do nowadays with all the free Wifi spots out there?

[ercchry]

:clap: :clap:

so awesome! i noticed the quality of new members drop dramatically once you no longer needed a "pay" email to sign up (ie. shaw mail)

[TeamBestBud]

Originally posted by ExtremeSi
I don't know.. I always liked how beyond was more open and didn't have so many rules and restrictions like some other forums do. I can't be the only one that shares this opinion....

That was cool until beyond blew up and we had a bunch of retards signing up and trolling the forums on the regular. Now this kinda shit is what is needed to weed out the fucking trolls.

[Mar]

It's a good thing I created 2 accounts 5 years ago! If one gets banned I just make an invite with the other. :poosie:

[JfuckinC]

Originally posted by mr2mike
We'll get less lulz with the Bannerjee's signing up to explain their side of the story.

Just curious, why wouldn't you go IP banning? Or is it hard to do nowadays with all the free Wifi spots out there?

oh man so true, how will people join up and attempt to defend themselves when we are shredding there lives to bits??? :eek:

[OG*crxboi]

pretty wicked idea, but how would the invites work?

[Unknown303]

This is what I have always been waiting for.

[speedog]

Invitation system sounds good - will eliminate a lot of moderator work caused by all of the bogus new member sign-ups that just put up useless for sale posts (this or that distributor out of China or where ever).

Only problem I foresee is someone like myself who just stumbled upon this forum, joined up and became somewhat involved in minor way - I don't think I could have ever have been invited to this forum because of my demographics (older, married baby boomer white guy with kids) and I'm not actively involved in the Calgary automobile enthusiasts scene. Just saying that there should be some consideration given to a possible alternate sign-up process although this would increase the verification workload upon the assigned moderators. Of course, if the intent is to move beyond more back to it's roots, then the invite system is probably best and I will be thankful that I arrived before the new changes that were put into place today.

[GoChris]

meh

[speedog]

Originally posted by ercchry
:clap: :clap:

so awesome! i noticed the quality of new members drop dramatically once you no longer needed a &quot;pay&quot; email to sign up (ie. shaw mail) "Pay" e-mail is not necessarily a necessity to survive in today's on-line world.

[dj_rice]

$100 for my invite. PM me for payment options

[RickDaTuner]

Originally posted by dj_rice
$100 for my invite. PM me for payment options

this is exactly what I was thinking LOL.

how about we make the invites traceable too, so that poor invites result in percentage loss...:dunno:

[revelations]

Does this mean we can register with more common emails now like gmail, yahoo, etc. ?

[ercchry]

Originally posted by revelations
Does this mean we can register with more common emails now like gmail, yahoo, etc. ?

it has been like that for a while... read my post above

[adam c]

where exactly is the invite anyways?

[Proyecto2000]

sounds like a good idea to me.



Originally posted by dj_rice
$100 for my invite. PM me for payment options

I will sell my invite for $25 :rofl:

[revelations]

Originally posted by ercchry


it has been like that for a while... read my post above

Really? I signed up years ago with a GMX email account (free).... not sure why one would HAVE to use a shaw/telus email :dunno:

[ercchry]

Originally posted by revelations


Really? I signed up years ago with a GMX email account (free).... not sure why one would HAVE to use a shaw/telus email :dunno:

you see how pay was written as "pay" its not like telus or shaw email costs you money... its free with the services you purchase... by pay i mean not hotmail, gmail... etc, etc... that is how it use to be back in 04... i used shaw as an example because that is the one i used since i tried for a while to sign up back then when i wanted to buy a car off of here and i couldn't sign up with hotmail.

[Kloubek]

Fine by me!

[OG*crxboi]

so Renee made this account for me and used her email, anyway i can change it to my email then now?

[DonJuan]

.... wait u mean there will be signifacantly less newbs to pwnzor?

THIS IS REDICULARS!!!

[badatusrnames]

Wow, this is a big direction change that I'm sure you guys contemplated thoroughly.

While it's a little disappointing that Beyond's becoming invite only, as I'm sure there are plenty of people that enjoy Beyond and contribute positively here that came to the forum from a google search with no connection to the community otherwise. That being said, I'm sure the ratio of good, new members to trolls/spammers/insta-bans is infinitesimally low, which creates too much of a workload for the mods to have to deal with.

Really, with ~80,000 registered accounts, how many are really active, contributing members, or ever have been?

Now that bannings are going to be much more permanent, are the mods going to be a little more judicious/hesitant in how they swing the ban stick, maybe go with a few recorded warnings first?

Overall, I'd say a good move, it should definitely go a long way towards maintaining the "community" atmosphere. Hopefully, though it just doesn't become a clique where any opposing viewpoints are met with a ban.

[JfuckinC]

Originally posted by badatusrnames
Hopefully, though it just doesn't become a clique where any opposing viewpoints are met with a ban.

become? :rofl:

haha jk.. kinda.. the mods are reasonable, most of the time haha

[Grogador]

Dumb. Turning beyond into a closed stagnant community because nobody wants to do the morning spam cleanse :thumbsdow There's better ways to deal with this.

[EK 2.0]

Originally posted by RickDaTuner

this is exactly what I was thinking LOL.

how about we make the invites traceable too, so that poor invites result in percentage loss...:dunno:


I'm thinking if a user gets banned under the new system...I will also ban the user who recommended them....hahaha...

And this is a great idea...really shows how big beyond has grown in eight years...

All hail rage and kenny...:clap:

[kvg]

Less beyond csi posts from people joining to vent.:clap:

[topmade]

I like the change, but I also liked it when exploited scammers would make accounts pretending to be someone else to try to back themselves up.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Grogador
Dumb. Turning beyond into a closed stagnant community because nobody wants to do the morning spam cleanse :thumbsdow There's better ways to deal with this.
It's got nothing to do with spam cleanse. I do that every morning with the other morning mods, it's not that much work. 5 mins of our day.

It's the large number of trolls that's on the forums, the I don't give a fuck if I get banned because I'll make a new account mentality that we're trying to curb. It's really made the site less desirable for a some of our users.

There will be an invite system coming online shortly which will enable new user registrations, and bad users will be tracked to whomever granted the invite(s).

[beyond_ban]

Request 1% user rating.... or i may have to test out the Iphone 4's camera tonight.

All things considered, i think it is a good idea. I just hope i don't post something stupid when i'm drunk which results in a ban :nut:

[kaput]

.

[benyl]

Originally posted by beyond_ban
or i may have to test out the Iphone 4's camera tonight.



This... :rofl:

[rage2]

Originally posted by Phenix
If this is gonna happen would i be able to get my user rating reset so i can post in the FS threads?
You sure can.

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/316543/how-do-i-get-my-user-rating-back/

[kvg]

Originally posted by rage2

You sure can.

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/316543/how-do-i-get-my-user-rating-back/

:rofl: I guess all is the same in the beyond universe:clap:

[Tomaz]

How many invites does a user get?

I like this idea. It will be like the original gmail! :)

[beyond_ban]

Originally posted by kaput


You just took away any motivation they might have had to give you back that 1%. See you in ask leo!

Since i made the thread, i should get back .5% for everyone that posts pictures haha.

[Jlude]

Originally posted by beyond_ban


Since i made the thread, i should get back .5% for everyone that posts pictures haha.

:rofl: haha I vote you should get 1% back just for starting that thread.

But you really should contribute to the thread that YOU created!

[kvg]

Originally posted by Jlude


:rofl: haha I vote you should get 1% back just for starting that thread.

But you really should contribute to the thread that YOU created!

I second that:clap:

[max_boost]

to those who say beyond is just another forum, this should stir up some good behavior hahaha

[se7en]

wait....I don't want beyond_ban to post his "trophy" bitches....i paid good money for the food I just ate.

[banned3x]

do you guys get that feeling that scat19 is behind all the new trolls?

when does this go into effect?

[speedog]

Originally posted by banned3x
do you guys get that feeling that scat19 is behind all the new trolls?

when does this go into effect? First post in this thread said today.

[banned3x]

Cool since you guys are making drastic changes can you upgrade vbulletin?
There's soo many cool features on other forums that would be nice to have. Like when u put the cursor over a thread you can see the first sentence or live feed on threads. There's cool search options like when you make a new thread it will automatically show you ever thread started with the same topic so no reposts etc etc.

[CUG]

Originally posted by banned3x
Cool since you guys are making drastic changes can you upgrade vbulletin?
There's soo many cool features on other forums that would be nice to have. Like when u put the cursor over a thread you can see the first sentence or live feed on threads. There's cool search options like when you make a new thread it will automatically show you ever thread started with the same topic so no reposts etc etc. This version is fine in my opinion. That function beats up bandwidth pretty hardcore on a forum this big.

Cool idea.

[Grogador]

Bandwidths cheap

[googe]

Eh, I don't think this is a good idea. It will stop new trolls from joining, but it will stop potentially decent users too. Random new people have kept the forum interesting over the years.

That said, I don't have any other suggestions for dealing with the expendable account issue.

[cde1966]

I can't imagine sponsors liking this idea too much, after all they pay money to get as much exposure as they can, cutting off new users is cutting off new customers for them. Sure from a user stand point it's good, but everything comes down to money.

[JordanAndrew]

Originally posted by cde1966
I can't imagine sponsors liking this idea too much, after all they pay money to get as much exposure as they can, cutting off new users is cutting off new customers for them. Sure from a user stand point it's good, but everything comes down to money.

I don't think Rage2 needs the money bud. I guess a newbie like you doesn't know that yet.

[Unknown303]

Plus none members will still be able to browse the forums they just can't contribute anymore.

[ExtraSlow]

I like this plan.

If the Rage and the moderators ever feel they aren't getting enough new users, they can have open registration weeks, just the Demonoid does.

I also vote that your user account gets deleted after a year of inactivity. There are people who joined, posted one thing, then never came back.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Your time is up trolls. Looking forward to
this.

[asp integra]

good idea!

[Mibz]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
I also vote that your user account gets deleted after a year of inactivity. There are people who joined, posted one thing, then never came back. But then we can't artificially inflate the number of registered users.

It would also mean all their posts would disappear, so we'd lose a -ton- of content from older users.

[Jeremiah]

damn im at 90%

http://www.flixray.com/dvd_covers/200011/1537.jpg

moar lurking for me :thumbsup:

[Barking_Spidre]

This is a wicked idea. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[inline6turbo]

Originally posted by JordanAndrew


I don't think Rage2 needs the money bud. I guess a newbie like you doesn't know that yet.


He doesn't mean money for Rage, he means the money we'll potentially lose from lost customers.


Wasn't there a way of filtering out bots by making the registration process having one of those changing verification letter boxes?

[Unknown303]

All the vendors are still going to get exposure to people browsing the forums. They'll just have to contact you by phone or whatever as they won't be able to sign up.

[inline6turbo]

Ya it's not really a problem, as long as the admin don't combine this invite only system along with the "log in to see pictures" junk that's on so many other forums!

I didn't mind the bots or idiots rejoining, keeps things entertaining, but whatever the beyond gods decide I will support :)

[A790]

Originally posted by cde1966
I can't imagine sponsors liking this idea too much, after all they pay money to get as much exposure as they can, cutting off new users is cutting off new customers for them. Sure from a user stand point it's good, but everything comes down to money.
Good point. I wonder how this change will affect the sponsors...


Originally posted by JordanAndrew
I don't think Rage2 needs the money bud. I guess a newbie like you doesn't know that yet.
Obviously an "OG" like you doesn't understand basic economics...

[Scuderia]

Originally posted by JordanAndrew


I don't think Rage2 needs the money bud. I guess a newbie like you doesn't know that yet.

What a fuckin moronic thing to say. Are you his fuckin accountant? Maybe he doesn't need the money, but the guy was referring to the money the sponsors would lose from less exposure to potential clients. Get off his e-nuts. I wish I could be an established, OG member like you bud.

[M.alex]

(not that it matters but) I think it's a bad idea - you just end up with the same people who follow their usual routine with their usual posts and arguments. (i.e., no new blood to stir stuff up)

Granted you can invite people, but chances are the people whom you invite will have similar thought processes/interests/etc... to yourself (hence why you're inviting them), so nothing really grows and the site just stagnates and gets boring.



:dunno:

[cde1966]

Originally posted by M.alex
(not that it matters but) I think it's a bad idea - you just end up with the same people who follow their usual routine with their usual posts and arguments. (i.e., no new blood to stir stuff up)

Granted you can invite people, but chances are the people whom you invite will have similar thought processes/interests/etc... to yourself (hence why you're inviting them), so nothing really grows and the site just stagnates and gets boring.



:dunno:

Good point. Things need to get stired up once in a while, otherwise you'll end up like some other forums. :thumbsdow

[speedog]

So offer up some alternative solutions then as it's become somewhat clear that the moderators are not content with things the way they currently are set up.

I know one forum that I was a moderator of in the past (long since dead) used a user verification solution whereas the moderators would have to confirm every new applicant - of course, this was easier in that forum as that forum was very specifically focused on the working conditions within one company/one union and we knew who our potential user base could be. Beyond, on the other hand while being somewhat topic focused, could stagnant as some posters have surmised above as it's potential audience does not come from a defined user base.

[cde1966]

Originally posted by JordanAndrew


I don't think Rage2 needs the money bud. I guess a newbie like you doesn't know that yet.

Wait! you're saying that "Rade2" owns beyond.ca and is the only owner? I thought Canada.com owned it! Either way, can someone have too much money? For the record, I was talking about the sponsors getting new customers and generating income from them.

So tell us more about Rage2 and how you think he doesn't need money, afterall you are in "first gear" so you must have great wisdom.

[rage2]

A couple of questions answered.

Canada.com doesn't own any part of beyond. They're just an ad partner, like Google.

We've thought about this decision for quite some time, and finally pulled the switch. With this initiative, anyone can still read the site. In fact, over 60% of beyond's viewers are non registered members. I've mentioned this in the first post in regards to the marketplace. Same idea with sponsors. They just have to give alternate contact that's not through PM. We're not cutting off any users to potential customers. If anything, it forces non members to contact the sponsors directly, instead of posting a question on the site, and usually, getting ridiculed for not calling them instead. ;)

It's not going to be an entirely closed board. There will be the invites like we've mentioned, and there will be ways for new members to register without an invite (we have a few ideas we're hashing out right now). So we will have new members on the forums, but we're hoping that we can create a system where we only get members that contribute, and not wreck havoc, on the forums.

Any other questions or concerns, feel free to ask.

[big A]

I just read all the pages with anticipation of asking the question that Rage just answered.
It was, will a new to the scene car enthusiast that doesn't know an existing member be able to join.
I am glad they are working on a solution for that.
A Toyota Celica forum I joined made you answer many questions about celicas and then allowed you to apply to be a member and then "someone" accepted or denied the application.
I agree with the things Speeddog has said and coincidently he is one of my favorite, and I think benificial, posters on this forum because when he posts it is usually car related and educational but like he said if this rule was in place when he found this site he would not have been able to join.

[CUG]

Originally posted by Grogador
Bandwidths cheap It's not that, but I think it actually slows shit down.

[4lti]

:eek: :clap: :clap:

[WRXer]

I guess I joined just in time :clap:

[CMW403]

Originally posted by JordanAndrew


I don't think Rage2 needs the money bud. I guess a newbie like you doesn't know that yet.

:facepalm:

wow, what an intelligent contribution.

[turbotrip]

you should give out invites to people at car shows or something too; without a lot of new members its gonna get really boring really fast

[kenny]

Originally posted by turbotrip
you should give out invites to people at car shows or something too; without a lot of new members its gonna get really boring really fast

:thumbsup:

[Sugarphreak]

...

[EvolizePhoto]

I see why the 'bosses' decided to do this, but it really just makes me wonder when we're going to have to pay 5-10 dollars a month to post here and have avatars and access to all the forums.
This same thing happened on alot of other forums im on. they close registration become invite only within 6 months they are charging a subscription fee :/

Really hope it doesn't happen here.

[Wrinkly]

Hmmm - on the fence about this myself...

However; if this is the direction we're going and 60% of readers are not registered, then that surely means the vast majority of registered users don't even read, let alone post or take part in any way?

So - why not a 'tidy up' of the members list and remove all the stagnant accounts. I notice a lot of them seem to join to simply list a link to their own web site in their profile (usually unrelated to cars), then are never seen or heard from again. :dunno:

[kenny]

Originally posted by EvolizePhoto
I see why the 'bosses' decided to do this, but it really just makes me wonder when we're going to have to pay 5-10 dollars a month to post here and have avatars and access to all the forums.

Never. Premium memberships have been brought up before by the other "boss" and I have consistently voted against it. While I am involved with the site, it will remain a completely free site. :thumbsup:

We don't remove old inactive accounts as it really doesn't accomplish anything other than lowering the member count, and removing any information or notes we may have on previous troublemakers.

[Disoblige]

I never would have thought of that and I hope I don't ever need to. Hope rage2 shares the same idea. Honestly I don't think it'll ever happen..

Closing open registration is one thing, but subscription fees is a whole other ball park.

Edit: oof, kenny beat me to it.

[EvolizePhoto]

Originally posted by kenny


Never. Premium memberships have been brought up before by the other &quot;boss&quot; and I have consistently voted against it. While I am involved with the site, it will remain a completely free site. :thumbsup:

We don't remove old inactive accounts as it really doesn't accomplish anything other than lowering the member count, and removing any information or notes we may have on previous troublemakers. Thanks for the reassurance. I've been calling this place 'home' for free over 8 years now, hopefully another 8 more. :D