Listen Up PTS!

Yep those bunch, that way we can discuss relevent elections, it will be appealing to new members from all of those nations and the mods can move some topics into the correct area. You would also need one on "World" politics, if a country goes to War, etc, to be placed in there. But I think it would get a lot more people interested.

I think that we'd be better off having points only awarded by moderators, council members and maybe other members, in return for quality posting. Taking away the automatic points-for-posts and points-for-replies system would cut down on spamming/point-mining posts, eliminate the perceived disparity between ATS and PTS, and more importantly be a great incentive for members to post quality material - like a sort of a WATS system but instead you award points or "member applauses" to other members.

Maybe 250 points from mod applauds, 100 from councilors, and 50 from we proletarians. The WATS of course could still be reserved for truly outstanding contributions. That way trolls or spammers may get plenty of annoyed replies, but at least they won't get any points. And members' point tallies would be a true measure of how much they have contributed to the community.

There would unfortunately be room for abuse, with some members receiving more member applauds purely based on their popularity, so the system could perhaps be adjusted accordingly if such an effect were observed.

For Example what's going on in zimbabwe and has been for a while, that should be discussed here and in a section to talk about Africa's politics.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
Maybe 250 points from mod applauds, 100 from councilors, and 50 from we proletarians.

The WATS of course could still be reserved for truly outstanding contributions. That way trolls or spammers may get plenty of annoyed replies, but at least they won't get any points. And members' point tallies would be a true measure of how much they have contributed to the community.

When I spoke of being able to give points, I mean from our own personal cache of points. I don't know how many people would be willing to give up their own points. It would make having points more meaningful. Kind of like a bank account.

[edit on 6/11/05 by EastCoastKid]

Not in your "points" discussion

But don't you people know about MYATS?????


It's where you can subscribe to your favorite ATS, BTS and PTS threads and see them in all one place?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

you really should take advantage of that feature, I don't get the part about PTS not being visible enough. Plus there's a nice tab up there that say Politics@ATS. Stop being lazy, it isn't that hard to click on one of the tabs above or to subscribe to forums that interest you.

[edit on 6-11-2005 by worldwatcher]

I think they mean due to the fact none of the stories are shown on the left side like they are on ATS.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
Not in your "points" discussion

I meant to say that. Sorry.

But don't you people know about MYATS?????

Excellent feature.

I'm not sure I follow Odium, the New Posts on ATS, BTS, & PTS all look the same to me, well except for the colors

IMO all three boards are set up identically.

No on the left side, you have an "update" or "Recent Posts" bit, which as far as I know/have seen you don't get PTS put on it.

MyATS is my browser HOMEPAGE. But there's only so much room. By the time I get down through all the forums I've subscribed to for MyATS, it's already dawn and nearly time to go to work. If I add too many PTS forums, it'll be four screens long...and I'll be out of a job.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
MyATS is my browser HOMEPAGE. But there's only so much room. By the time I get down through all the forums I've subscribed to for MyATS, it's already dawn and nearly time to go to work.

If I add too many PTS forums, it'll be four screens long...and I'll be out of a job.

But how many of those do you think should be in the Politics section instead of where they are?

I've noticed we have a lot of ones on funding in the "weapons" section as well as ones talking about "treaties" between two nations, which really should be in the politics part of the site.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
I'm not sure I follow Odium, the New Posts on ATS, BTS, & PTS all look the same to me, well except for the colors

ah HA! It's a conspiracy! Those damn colors!!! PTS colors make members APATHETIC!!!

Originally posted by Odium
I've noticed we have a lot of ones on funding in the "weapons" section as well as ones talking about "treaties" between two nations, which really should be in the politics part of the site.

Good point.

Good point? Why thank you - I like to think I'm full of them.

But you notice nobody votes me into power. (bitter).

They vote you! With your lack of ideas! Ahh, why I love Democracy! j/k

Edit:
-shakes fist-

[edit on 11-6-2005 by Odium]

wecomeinpeace and others like yourself, including me, who have many interests is it that difficult then to just click on the tab above??


I really think this board is well designed and easily navigable.

plus if you're on the NEWPOSTS page on either ATS or BTS you can always
click on


I don't think the visibility of PTS is the issue here, those who are interested can easily find it and access it anytime they want.

*you didn't see me leave out an entire word or make a spelling error

[edit on 6-11-2005 by worldwatcher]

If I'm honest I never even noticed the links at the top that give you all the different sections till about 6 weeks ago - but I hardly pay attention to the screen. :|

Originally posted by Odium


They vote you! With your lack of ideas! Ahh, why I love Democracy! j/k

Edit:
-shakes fist-

[edit on 11-6-2005 by Odium]

But I'm so good at finding folks like you to help me, and to make me look good.

Originally posted by Odium
If I'm honest I never even noticed the links at the top that give you all the different sections till about 6 weeks ago - but I hardly pay attention to the screen. :|

To be fair, WW, there are alot of different features to explore here. It took me a long time to find the myATS feature.

well maybe one of the jobs of the council members and their staff could be to inform members of all the great features and how best to use them to make their visits here as easy and enjoyable as possible.

I think all members should take the time to explore and know the board they spend so much time on.

[edit on 6-11-2005 by worldwatcher]

At least I'm doin' good at something.

I think the best thing to do would be to level points between ATS and PTS for those who think points are "worthwhile". Give an "award" for PTS like the Way Above. I also think with this award should come access to the "secret forum" - but that's just me. I also think that trolls should have points removed from them for doing it, so as to try and stop it. I also like the idea of removing 1 point per-swear word or 10 points if someone attempts to get around a filter by using a *, etc.

Splitting the Politics sections up, so you have Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America, South America, etc, as well as International Politics. So that we can discuss important issues that are going on in each of those nations and also it might make people from search areas want to join due to this.

Clean-up of existing threads, the Mods moving them into the right sections once the sections are up. War on Terror being moved to the Politics section so that it A) brings more members ehre and B) I think it has more to do with this part of the board.

Information on Socialism, Capitalism, Conservative, Liberal, etc, politics as well as links to resources such as the online site that has all of Marx works. This can help people to better understand and allow them to "Deny Ignorance".

A debate and research forum to get the place nice and active. If people are able to under-go say research similar to what is done in the real world on peoples political views, etc, some might wish to do that and teh debate forum seems to be fun and if you base it around politics could help get people interested.

Election Coverage and a place to put interviews or stories that members wrote up that are based on Politics; such as interviewing an MP or House Member, etc.

Just what I think would help get more people interested in this section of the forum. Hoep it helps.