What should be allowed in the requests board?

[FierceDeity]

I feel like this issue never actually got resolved before the last topic got locked.

Let's not get caught up in the exact criteria that constitute whether something is spam or not. Because, in reality, no matter what definition we give it, it's the end result of said spam that matters. Let's just consider the pros and cons that arise when somebody requests a lot of songs.

Pros:
-Arrangers looking to do requests are given many more options as to what they'd like to arrange, especially when it comes to difficulty of arrangement/how much they like that individual song.
-Arrangers may be informed of songs that they, too, would like to see on the site, but hadn't checked to see if they were already there or not.
-That requester has a higher likelihood of having songs that he/she likes to be arranged, allowing them to play more of their favorite video game songs on piano, which is the point of the requests board.

Cons:
-An arranger might have to go further into the requests board to find your individual request (which can be resolved by a simple bump).

How dare he want to play many songs from his childhood?! CURSE YOU, APHRODITE, GODDESS OF DESIRE!!! *shakes fist at Mount Olympus*

-Nothing else really comes to mind.

Obviously, this list is rather skewed toward my own opinion on the matter, but I sincerely want to know what everybody considers to be the actual ramifications of such "spamming". Again, the term doesn't mean anything. The end result does.

Let's try to keep this one civil, yeah?

[Yugi]

-An arranger might have to go further into the requests board to find your individual request (which can be resolved by a simple bump).-Nothing else really comes to mind.

The search feature is beautiful.

[K-NiGhT]

the search feature also doesn't work very well.

[FireArrow]

lol, I'm gonna script all this into a soap opera.

Requests should be allowed in the request board, drama should stay in high school. I'm sorry, but I really don't see the big deal.

[mikey]

Requests should be allowed in the request board

This is very appropriate.  I concur!

[JDMEK5]

I left for like, a day or two and I see a locked topic here and halfway down the second page I'm shaking my head like "What the heck happened while I was gone??"

But going back to the topic at hand, the request board is serving its purpose. Someone wants a song arranged that isn't already on the site, they request it, simple as that. I mean, it is possible to spam the request board but that would require 30 requests per day (and they would prob be in different threads cuz the spammer wouldn't actually give a crap whether the song was actually arranged or not) at least. We're nowhere close to that. As Bubbles said, it's only 17 in 5 months. That's really trivial. At that rate, what's the worst that can happen? His requests don't get done? What happens after the request has been made is completely up to us arrangers (save for bump spams but fortunately we don't really have a problem with that).

To recap: The request board is for requesting. As long as nobody's spamming (I gave my definition of 'spam' up there^) or doing something other than requesting, there's no problem.

And to be honest guys, this kind of this is supposed to be addressed by the moderators. It's part of their job and I don't think we arrangers should be the ones disciplining people if there's disciplining to be done. If the problem concerns you and the moderators aren't currently doing anything about it, pm them. Let them handle it. I believe the mods, and only the mods, have that kind of authority.

That was longer than expected. Remember to keep calm everyone. It benefits nobody when discussions flare up into disputes and arguments.

[Olimar12345]

Just to clarify, originally we were talking about not getting off topic within requests.

[BlackDragonSlayer]

It is a bit unfair to other requesters, though; I mean, look at the percentage of topics he has on even the first few pages...

(in reply to JDMEK5's post)

[K-NiGhT]

Just to clarify, originally we were talking about not getting off topic within requests.

with all due respect, I think only you were concerned about that.

[KefkaticFanatic]

Anything that follows the criteria listed in this post are what is allowed in the requests board: http://forum.ninsheetm.us/index.php?topic=1626.0

Requests board is mostly a conduit for casual users of the site to interact with the arrangers that lurk mostly in forums.  Of course it also serves the same purpose for other forum goers as well.

What both requesters and arrangers have to remember is that requests are simply ideas that any arranger may or may not take upon themselves to fulfill.  There is no sort of obligation for people to fill them out or in the order in which they should be taken.

Perhaps if one person was doing something ludicrous like posting 10 request topics in a row then they would be considered spamming, but that goes along with the obvious definition of spam that I think you all should be able to understand.

The only problem I really see are the entitled kids that think they are owed their arrangement or something of the like, and the moody arrangers/users who like to complain about people (usually innocently) asking for a status update or making numerous requests.  These people are the ones that need a slap on the wrist.

If you see someone making requests but not doing them well, help them to improve.  Suggest ways for them to reformat it or where to find sources for the music.  Responding with hostility does nothing but give the site overall a bad image and make yourself look like a dickhead.

I don't think there needs to be any further discussion on the matter, but if I'm missing something I guess you can chime in.

Random thought edit:

Perhaps something like a timed purge of the requests board could be implemented.  Perhaps any topics with no posts in X days would be deleted, or at the end of each month topics would be nuked (in which case we would need a way to store the requests that people *want* to fulfill, so probably the first is the only reasonable option)

Just an idea.

[spitllama]

Yes, the continuous posts are obnoxious, but there's nothing wrong with making them. They're requests, they're formatted correctly, etc. That board has a very particular purpose laid out, and he's following it.
Spamming is lposting excessively for little reason other than to post. We're seeing the first part of that definition in the request board but not the second.

What will likely be the end result (blackdogperson I hope you're reading this), is that he'll realize that the excessive requests are actually turning arrangers away from even opening his threads, and his overly-zealous posting is actually guaranteeing that he will not see his requests fulfilled. Either that or he'll just realize nobody's arranging his stuff and stop.

Regardless, though, I was pretty surprised that this topic even surfaced in the first place. What would you say is our completion rate for requests?... Maybe 20%? Maybe? Since joining years ago the amount of requests on a weekly basis has decreased IMMENSELY. I think it's because out completion rate is so low. Let's fix that before we hate on the people still making requests.

Really. Listen to yourselves-- "How dare he post so much... it inconveniences me in some way that I can't clearly articulate. It just bugs me because yah."



So I say allow what we're seeing now, do not allow requests that don't follow the rules, and encourage request completion in general.

Edit: made this at the same time as Kefka-- but yah what he said.

[JDMEK5]

It is a bit unfair to other requesters, though; I mean, look at the percentage of topics he has on even the first few pages...

As long as he's not requesting so much and so frequently that he's automatically bumping other requests off the first page, I don't think there's a problem with that.

What both requesters and arrangers have to remember is that requests are simply ideas that any arranger may or may not take upon themselves to fulfill.  There is no sort of obligation for people to fill them out or in the order in which they should be taken.

Perhaps if one person was doing something ludicrous like posting 10 request topics in a row then they would be considered spamming, but that goes along with the obvious definition of spam that I think you all should be able to understand.

Exactly what I said, said better.

Perhaps something like a timed purge of the requests board could be implemented.  Perhaps any topics with no posts in X days would be deleted, or at the end of each month topics would be nuked (in which case we would need a way to store the requests that people *want* to fulfill, so probably the first is the only reasonable option)

That's an idea. Maybe we could have that implemented in the new forums..?

[MaestroUGC]

I've been on this forum for about five years now and I have never once fulfilled a single request. Now that's not saying much seeing as I don't contribute to the site, but I think what spit pointed out about the fulfilled requests rate being low is something worth talking about. I think the reason why it seems certain people who make a lot of requests frequently is because that ratio is so low, and that's a very bad thing for this site. Requesters are important as they tell us that people are coming here looking for music and are hoping we can help them.

Considering this is all voluntary for everybody involved, there's no real need to even allow requests, since there's no incentive to actually do them. This is a problem because at times it seems like requesters are being ignored and that means they lose faith in our arrangers and the site as a whole. I think there are some requests that have been unfulfilled for a year now at least, and that doesn't seem right.

For one thing the request system is rather flawed because not a lot of people visit the forums to be able to make a request and it doesn't say anywhere on the main site that this is the place to do so. I'm sure if more people knew we'd get far more requests weekly, daily even. I'm sure this will all be rectified when these fancy site updates start coming out, but until then and even after this ratio needs to be addressed. 20% is damn low and that's a number that drives people away from even bothering to request.

I realize that this was brought up because we have a few posters that make a lot of requests rather frequently. That's not a bad thing nor should it ever be regarded as such. The fact that these guys keep making requests only shows that they like what we do and want us to do more.

This shouldn't be an issue of "what should be allowed in the requests board", it should be a question of "how can we effectively fulfill these requests since there are a lot of them and that number is only getting bigger."

Considering that this is a hobby for most of us, there's no reason to ever fulfill a request. However, there could be a way to ease up on the volume of requests and give back to these guys.

1) Limit the number of open requests to 5 per requester. This will reduce the number of requests a person can make and make them think about the music they really want.
2) Every time a new game comes out there will surely be a demand for it and that means more requests. However, since a lot of us here start arranging music as soon as we see the first trailer, we're usually on top of it. That said, there should be a rule that requesters must wait a certain amount of time after a game is released before requesting music from it, re-releases and remakes notwithstanding.
3) Each arranger should submit at least one fulfilled request anytime they want to submit music to the site. This is in addition to the limit placed by the uploaders.

That last point I feel is very important because it creates an incentive for people to start doing requests, and the requesters will learn to be patient when requesting.

This should really be stressed on the main site about requesting music: Requests are very much welcome but please keep this in mind. All of the arrangers here are volunteers who put a lot of time and effort into their work, but they are still just volunteers and hobbyists that only have so much time to arrange. Please be patient when making a request and make requests in moderation.

[spitllama]

I really like #3 Maestro. I've been wondering how to incentivize arrangers to do requests (I'm equally at fault here) and I think that's a great solution.

Not really understanding the point of #2 though...

[Clanker37]

I think with #2 he's referring to the amount of requests we get when a new game is released. Look an X and Y for an example. It was released and suddenly the site is in a Pokemon-themed frenzy, with multiple people requesting the same music from X and Y, when in fact somebody or multiple people had already arranged it. Not only does this waste our time, but also has the potential to push other requests down and into oblivion of the second page.

A potential problem with #3 is that it leaves our submissions in the hands of the requesters. What if everyone makes a request that everyone else legitimately does not want to take? Where does that leave the arrangers that only arrange for quirky, obscure or forgotten games, that nobody else has ever heard of and certainly won't request for? Just a few thoughts.

Also, I think we should improve the search feature, so that people can search for their request in case somebody has arranged it, and not submitted it. It might save some time.

Also revive that request thing that Shado did.