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Gasland Message

Name: Keno
E-Mail: keno@fairpoint.net
Subject: Changes to Gasland registration
Date: Friday, September 23, 2016
Time: 3:47:58 AM
Remote Address: 162.255.158.94
Message ID: 304693
Parent ID: 0
Thread ID: 304693

Changes to Gasland registration

Well, for the first time in about 12 years, I have made a major change to the registration rules for getting a new password and posting at Gasland. Things are now like it was back before 2004, to where it's easier to get on board this board.

Back in '04, this board was the most popular Stones board on the web, there was no question about that, and if you were around back then, you know that for a fact, and Gasx3 had been the busiest Stones board since 1998, when it started up, replacing the old official board that the Stones ran and then closed on their first website. The Stones in early '98 closed down Stonesworld because of spammers and flamers, and that's another sad fact. By '04, that was part of the reason why it became harder to join up here, that, and the fact the board here was so damn busy... we were on a shared server back then and the server couldn't handle the heavy load.

But that other reason was becoming a major problem. We had a certain number of spammers back then, and even more so, we had many flame posts, too. Back then, mini flame posts were allowed, but often some of them got out of hand and became major flames, which nobody wanted to read or see. So I started to make it mandatory that you had to prove who you were to post at Gasland to end the spam and end the flames. Well, with the new signup rules in place, the spam posts disappeared over night and the flame posts were cut in half. So the new registration rules were a success! Still, from time to time there were problems with a handful of Gassers who loved to still flame others, but usually a email to them explaining if they didn't let up, they would be banned, and that ended that along with few Gassers ever being banned.

There was talk both here at the board, and in private emails to me, that the new rules I had out in place to get a password were too strick and in time would kill the board. After-all, at any message board/forum, you need new blood to survive, as it was/is normal for most posters in time to leave, or at the least post less as time goes on, and it is the newest posters who in time write up the most new posts. For the most part that is true, and no question, once the new registration rules went into effect, there was a major drop-off in new posters, since the other major Stones boards were easy to sign up to. I personally didn't care, as for me, the less flame posts - the less for me to clean up at month's end and in time less work at the board for me in running it.

In time, and for the last several years, in part because of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter becoming popular, message board everywhere started to lose posters, and in the last few years, new posters were becoming rare at Gasland. But I as the webmaster looked at this as a good thing, I didn't care if Gasx3 was no longer the busiest Stones board on the net, all I ever cared about was that it was a peaceful place, and that it still had a good number of readers (aka lurkers) along with strong page views, which in turn meant higher paying ads from clicks, which helped to pay for the joint and my work.

Really, the last 2 years here, ending back in early March this year, had, as far as I was concerned, the perfect number of posts while no drop off in lurkers. Yes, there was still it seemed, that maybe twice a year I had problems with a handful of flamers, and as I grew older I could handle such rude people less and less. Then came early March and directly after 2 long time regular Gassers lost their cool over nothing (really 2 different, stupid things), well I had enough. One of them was banned, and that made for 2 regulars along with a former regular, being banned in about 3 weeks time, when up till that time, nobody had been banned in years. Yes, I had completely had it with flamers by this time in my life. I at that time been in poor health and had just gone through 4 surgeries in my life in a 8 month period, and I didn't wish to deal with such rude assholes any longer. At this same time, it just so happened that Gasland and the domain's server had a major service problem, and the board was offline for 4 days straight until the problem was fixed by my host. So I had time to think it all over and decided during that time, to no longer allow any kind of flame posts at all ever again. If a person flamed, they would be banned and I didn't care who they were, no more flames would be allowed at Gasx3 again! When the board came back online I let everybody know of the new rules, a few of the regulars didn't like that news I guess, and they left, never to return (at least up until now anyway). That left us with only a handful of regular everyday posters, but since that day over 6 months ago, we have not had a single flame post, either, and nothing even close to a mild argument here between posters! This is by far the longest Gasx3 has ever gone without any flames at all, and I realize making this new rule was the best rule I ever made here and I will never again back off it. Flamers are low lives and kill the human spirit, and they will never again be welcome here.

But as I noted, this new rule besides bringing peace, made Gasland half dead at times. That, and the fact we have had almost no new posters this year, the few new posters who showed up only made a post or 2 and then left. So that old talk about making it harder to get a password would mean less posters, is now proving true more so than ever before. If I don't let up on letting new people join us here, there will be few left here posting in time. Truth is, we are at that point now. Last week here saw the fewest posts ever made here in a week, and by a large number, the fact we were offline with server problems for most of one day didn't help any, but if Gasland is to continue to be worth reading, we need new blood. So as of tonight, I have taken away the harder restrictions that were in place since '04 for becoming a Gasser, and hopefully this will bring in some new posters. The new signup instructions are now up and in place, but no, the FAQ page hasn't been changed at all. Flames are still not allowed ever, but it is no longer hard to get a password, if you want one and follow the simple rules, you will get one and be welcomed aboard - as long as you don't plan to flame or spam.

With all of that said, I realize this could lead to some spammers or flamers in the future. No problems, if and when it does, they won't last long, I promise. I also realize that by making a post like this, that it's possible that a lone wolf former Gasser who stopped posting because of the flame ban, cold return to just flame what I just wrote here. That is exactly what happened back in March when I made the announcement that Gasland would no longer allow flames ever again. At that time, a very sick in the head former Gasser, who hadn't posted here in about 3 years, posted a very rude flame at me, and in turn he was not only banned from ever posting again here, but he was totally banned from even visiting the domain ever again (yes, I can do that, any owner of any domain can do that. Yet since 1998 I had never done that before). I don't like banning anybody, but I will not put up with such sick people, and if any former Gasser who doesn't like me or us, wants to let us or me know that by posting rude here, well so it will be, and it will tell all of us exactly what kind of person they really are, and they will be banned, never to hurt this place again (and Gasland wins in the end!). It's sad that I even have to write that, but so is life. Gasland was started by me to make friends with other fellow Stones fans, and for the most part, that has been the case for years now, and overall I'm happy I started up the joint years ago, but still, it only takes one asshole to fuck with things.... To those of you who are still posing there today, I thank you for your support - you Gassers are the salt of the Earth indeed!

So it's now very easy once again, like it used to be in the distant past, to sign up and post again at Gasland. If you never posted here before, why not sign up and join us? To our old friends who only post once in a blue moon, or to those of you who stopped posting for whatever reason (other than if you don't like the new no flame rule), we all would love to have you back! Again, page views here haven't dropped off at all, we still have a ton of lurkers here and at least some of them used to post here many years ago, so maybe it's time to return if you're one of them, even if you only make one post a week, it would be nice to hear from you!

I thank you for reading this long post and I hope this new move will result in a handful of new or returning old posters. If not, well, there won't be a lot to read here in the future. To those who been thinking for the last few months I was just letting the board die, no, that's not true, but I admit I wasn't doing anything to keep it going strong, either, and I hope this will help in bringing in some new posts and posters.

Cheers to all, and please make a post or reply, Ronnie!

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