Let's Talk Boards - Introduction

ModWuks·May 10, 2017·61 votes·11,659 views

Hey, you! Thanks for taking the time to pop in. I'm Wuks, and as you can tell by my blue name, I'm a Senior Arbiter, one of the volunteer roles here on the Boards. I've created this post as the first in a series of posts to get players more acquainted with the workings of the Boards, from how to best utilize the Boards based on your interests, to the latest improvements, to things like Boards moderation. While future posts will be a lot more detailed and focused around specific topics, this first post is meant to be just a quick introduction to this series, where we're at now, and an opportunity for y'all to get to know us. Let's get started!

Can't reply here... this thread is closed (wrong sub-board). 🔒

Now let's get into the main topic of the series: what we've done recently to improve Boards experience. Over the past few weeks, we've been working to roll out player-run Boards moderation within the Player Behavior & Moderation sub-board. With these changes, we've also adjusted a few of the ways we respond to actions that don't align with Boards Rules or Guidelines. This includes preferring to close threads that are posted in the wrong sub-board with a suggestion to re-post in the appropriate place, rather than deleting the post outright; and preferring to edit identifying names in "Name and Shame" posts rather than deleting the post outright. The way we respond to these violations are an extension of our goal of visible moderation. So far, we've gotten a lot of positive feedback, but we have also heard a few criticisms and have taken them to heart.

Given the feedback we've received with player moderation in PB&M, we'll be rolling out the same initiative within General Discussion. If this is something you're interested in and you meet the qualifications, we strongly encourage you to submit an application! We have a few more projects in the works, but we'd like to hear more from you!

In addition to changes in the way we moderate the Boards, you may have noticed another change. We've recently opened up this sub-board, Boards Community & Moderation, to understand how we can better engage the community. We'll be using this space to post about our events, our thoughts relating to the Boards, and things generally related to the Riot Games Volunteer Programs. If you have any feedback on what we could be doing differently, ideas on cool ways we can recognize and/or engage the community, questions for the Volunteers, or anything else related to the Boards, please drop us a message in the comments or in this sub-board; members of the Riot Games Volunteer Programs will be on hand to discuss their thoughts, visions, and experiences.

Thanks again for your time,

- Wuks,
Senior Arbiter

114 Comments

TormentulaMay 10, 201728 votes

Is it me, or this forum post's page gorgeous?

Why can't the rest of boards.leagueoflegends look like this?

Velzard of KozMay 10, 20176 votes

They might use the same font and size for topic titles - though that may be messy with long topic names, here they probably know how much space it'd need to be one-liner

Then use the same font and the goldish colour of the subtitle for the path like Boards > Gameplay > TopicName, but with much smaller font, however it's questionable how well the links would look in such fashion and whether that wouldn't be too distracting from the title as the path is guaranteed to be long.

Finally they might allow users to point to image to be displayed as header, working similar to how part of the first image/link/video given in the post is displayed as view next to topic title in topic list (with there being default placeholders in case of no pointer given or the image being invalid should that be able to be recognized by the tech), however:

You'll have problems finding good images fitting that and many people would probably use such headers that would get distorted and cause you headache everytime you'd load the topic and had to witness such hidiosity, lol;
It's questionable whether they could (or had the time to) program it that it would be automatized.

Also, the main post background is slightly transparent, not sure If it's also special there or just didn't notice it on other posts. Comment backgrounds don't seem that way.

ModWuksMay 10, 20173 votes

If you have feedback on a color scheme for comments, we can give that a try :)

Velzard of KozMay 10, 20175 votes

The last paragraph was just an observation, not feedback literally, but in case I'd have opportunity to say something: I looooooooooooooooooooooove the dark blue background of the main post. Also it looks like (and Chrome Inspect feature seems to agree) the text colour is brighter. I'd personally prefered it everywhere like that (though it may be my eyes so not sure If others would share the love for it) as darker background and "glowinglyish" bright text on it is much easier for me to read (which is also why I am the type that uses black bg on text/code editors).

ModWuksMay 11, 20173 votes

Done aaaand done! Hope that's easier on the eyes. :P

Velzard of KozMay 11, 20172 votes

You're the real MVP!!!

For your normal Boards icon is a poro, this is the only way I can reward you: item 2052

ModWuksMay 11, 201710 votes

http://pm1.narvii.com/5785/9fb6ef9985de8b77c3e0cda7cf3135c0f25f38cd_hq.jpg

ModWuksMay 10, 201723 votes

http://68.media.tumblr.com/774d9d9a221d1e56125f6a4e9420e683/tumblr_ofavykK0W61s708y2o1_500.png

DarkRitualMay 11, 20179 votes

So when are we getting more stickers? [slayer-pantheon-popcorn]

ModWuksMay 11, 20176 votes

It's mostly a Dev product, so I can't give you a timeline or make any promises. I will look into this though!

ShadowParkerMay 10, 20177 votes

Boards feedback:

On the red tracker, I love the background art and the idea behind it but it's really hard to see posts where the picture is. Making these posts more visible while retaining the picture would be sick.

If we could also get the option to go back to "Boards home" in the red tracker again, that'd be great.

Otherwise I love the background art.

One last thing: will boards ever leave beta?

ModWuksMay 10, 20171 votes

100% unintended :c We've got our Boards monkeys working on a fix! (PS: I'm the Boards monkey, so I'll have to get back to your Boards Beta question in a bit)

EDIT: Red Tracker's fixed! (No fancy backgrounds, though :sadface:)

Back to your question: "Will Boards ever leave Beta?"

This is a pretty tough question to answer because there is a good amount of consensus within the community about certain things that we want, for instance thread moving. I don't think that Boards is in a place where anyone's really comfortable with removing the "Beta" tag just yet, but I also can't speak for the greater powers that be. Should the wishlist for the Boards be checked off, I think we may very well see Boards without the "Beta".

ShadowParkerMay 11, 20171 votes

What's all on the wishlist?

Also I feel like there haven't been a ton of board improvements for awhile now. At least that I'm aware of?

ModWuksMay 11, 20173 votes

I'll compile the wishlist so people can compare notes and add anything they don't see on there.

And you're right. The last major development update was Boards for mobile, but since then, a lot of resources have shifted towards the client and other projects. We'll work towards Boards improvements that aren't development oriented in the meantime ;)

RiotKeyruMay 10, 201715 votes

On the red tracker:

As Wuks stated, 100% unintended, we're working to getting this reverted back to the normal state.

If we could also get the option to go back to "Boards home" in the red tracker again, that'd be great.

Really like this idea but the only place we're able to put it in is the sidebar. Would that be ideal? Maybe below the Universal Rules?

One last thing: will boards ever leave beta?

:^)

Karn BishopMay 10, 20179 votes

If we could filter out stuff from the red tracker that would be great, because while im sure some people care that littlenarutofan99181 has a slow download speed of the client I personally do not give a damn and while i wouldn't mind scrolling past such a thing the damdable things drown out every other type of red comments from gamplay to story and art.

in short please make help and behavior its own sub tracker so the important stuff is not drowned out by 90 copys of help my internet is slow and other gems such as i don't know why i was banned for threatening to hunt down and kill all my teammates, pls unban me.

ModWuksMay 10, 20177 votes

Yup, we've heard this from a good number of people. Not sure where the discussions have ended up, but I'll follow up and see if there's maybe something that can be done in the near future.

I'll also see if Tundra Fizz can add this as a feature to FEK once he has the time.

Hyrum GraffMay 11, 20172 votes

Red Tracker that groups by thread instead of by comment. That is all.

Velzard of KozMay 10, 20177 votes

Thank goodness, with that system some M&G posts finally might not be deleted because of one mod not getting the joke or not reading the post at all but just title. Bless you.

Also: As topic of next posts, maybe explain text formatting. Quantum of people still don't know how to do magic like slash characters not disappearing, paragraph separation lines, small and big fonts. Many people make their text bigger when they just want to make hashtag as they don't know how to escape the hastag. And there might be some secrets even I don't yet know. Could be very interesting topic in my opinion.

DeclinedMay 10, 20175 votes

You mean like this?

https://boards.eune.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/off-topic-en/rL385u11-how-to-boards-formatting

Velzard of KozMay 10, 20172 votes

Wow didn't know about that. Thanks. I think that it should be pinned, at least for some time. I feel like it deserves as much attention as "Scams making the rounds again!".

EDIT: Wait I'm dummy didn't even notice it was on European Boards so it couldn't be pinned on NA ones.

ModWuksMay 10, 20172 votes

Boards Formatting and Syntax is something that's definitely planned for an upcoming series post. :D

DrCyanideMay 10, 20174 votes

Is there a plan to add a Lock Icon that looks more like it belongs on the boards (possibly one from the client)? The last two Lock Icons I saw a) looked different from one another and b) looked like someone just stuck an emoji in front of their post.

Deep Terror NamiMay 10, 20173 votes

We're literally using emojis, that's the only option because that's the code something-or-other the text is written with. Could you show me which one was different? If it was from one of us it shouldn't have been.

DrCyanideMay 10, 20172 votes

Looks like the difference was my mistake. I thought I saw two different locks on my phone, but it's just a difference between the desktop's emoji and the phone's emoji.

http://i.imgur.com/OW9zYOZ.png?noredirect

ModWuksMay 10, 20172 votes

One of these days, we'll get a real lock icon. :)

BunnymapMay 10, 20173 votes

This post background is pure magic. Please, we need to be able to do this ourselves. At least the fancy header/title

Kei143May 10, 20173 votes

ohh .. the sidebar has been split between game & community.

Kinky, and I like it.

Shouldn't Dev Corner belong in the game section though?

Pommel KnightMay 10, 20172 votes

I know you gave graves his cigar back, but making Sona smoke too. Damn you're on a nicotine high Riot.

Also wtf is happening to Zed?! He has lighting roses growing out of his eyes?

TormentulaMay 10, 20176 votes

http://imgur.com/68OQaaE.jpg

Velzard of KozMay 10, 20174 votes

Watch Jhin's teasers.

ModWuksMay 10, 20172 votes

{quoted}

Also wtf is happening to Zed?! He has lighting roses growing out of his eyes?

It's exactly like my Flex Queue games. That Zed's ded.

PhoenixOfHeavenMay 11, 20172 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKkTcGIsa4U

They put a ton of effort into his reveal, and it was honestly worth it. He is one of the best champs we've had in a long time. Great story, great visual, great gameplay, great everything. True art.

ModWuksMay 11, 20172 votes

Jhin was unFOURtunately no match for Season 7 though. [Insert ADC's in 2k17 meme]

:'(

PhoenixOfHeavenMay 11, 20172 votes

I think it was just the opposite, actually. When people were complaining about ADC's being weak, he remained one of the top picks. When the 'ADC's are weak' phase occurred, he was one of the most common ones to come across.

AMYS GRAVEMay 10, 20171 votes

preferring to edit identifying names in "Name and Shame" posts rather than deleting the post outright.

How do you plan to handle names which are identified in images instead of text?

ModWuksMay 10, 20171 votes

There are some situations where we'll need to delete the thread altogether, but in most cases, we'll simply remove the image and leave the post up. Depending on how much value the thread has (ie. if the thread only has "ban this player"), we might just delete or close the thread due to it having virtually zero discussion value.

For the foreseeable future, we'll likely continue to maintain the "Naming and Shaming" rule in most circumstances. There are some other special circumstances, such as https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/miscellaneous/UMaYfTnK-guy-feeds-0500-kda-every-game-on-over-187-accounts , in which we may leave the thread up. We'll look into clarifying the guidelines and rules in the future for the sake of consistency.

AMYS GRAVEMay 10, 20171 votes

Yeah, its probably going to depend on how much discussion is around the image because sometimes the image is the majority of the post. Discussion value can be somewhat subjective so it will probably be case by case basis a bit i suppose.

In any case keep up the good work.

ModWuksMay 10, 20172 votes

Thanks for the question and for poppin' in :D Much appreciated!

KüramaMay 11, 20171 votes

Thanks again for your time,

Wuks, Senpai

Fixed.

ModWuksMay 11, 20172 votes

I appreciate you as a person c:

KüramaMay 11, 20171 votes

But not as a volunteer/Kohai? Amumu

ModWuksMay 11, 20172 votes

As both of those as well!

MordepoolMay 11, 20171 votes

What exactly are you asking people to volunteer for. I ask because I feel I would like to help out seeing as I'm on the Boards 6/7 days of the week. But I'm limited to Mobile due to the nature of my work

ModWuksMay 11, 20171 votes

Great question! You can find more info about our current and upcoming volunteer programs on this post:

https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/community-moderation/TP4y93oc-introduction-to-the-riot-games-volunteer-programs

Electro522May 11, 20172 votes

So, from what I read, will only GD have moderators, and not the normal boards? I ask because I also spend quite a bit of time on the boards, but have really only gone on GD maybe twice ever since these boards came out.

MasterOfMetaIMay 11, 20171 votes

will you guys ever add anymore emoticons (like the slayer - zombie ones)?

ModWuksMay 11, 20173 votes

I don't think that's a terribly unreasonable thing to ask for. I'll follow up on this!

I will note, though, that you can find links to the ones that are created but aren't on the Boards and just link them as an image. It serves the same effect, but with a few extra steps.

BLACK REALM GODMay 11, 20171 votes

this seems like a nice feature. i like helping and sharing my opinions and such about how the boards should be changed for the better, but im sick of being called a bronze just because i dont like ranked or trying to make connections over a video game and having my opinion automatically disregarded for that one reason. so i wont be applying to any form of volunteer work until rank isnt the only value used to determine the value of a players criticism or insight. it just seems like a waste of time.

hopefully the new moderation is regulated to prevent certain forms of harassment that just ultimately i see no way of combating when not being particular about job assignment. i've been a moderator on a few forums and websites myself and experienced the trouble first hand that can be caused by arrogant moderators and title/badge wearers.

anyway all in all a well written post. looking forward to see the outcome.

ModWuksMay 11, 20172 votes

[{quoted}](name=BLACK REALM GOD,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=EnnbY9AE,comment-id=0012,timestamp=2017-05-11T02:40:05.611+0000)

this seems like a nice feature. i like helping and sharing my opinions and such about how the boards should be changed for the better, but im sick of being called a bronze just because i dont like ranked or trying to make connections over a video game and having my opinion automatically disregarded for that one reason. so i wont be applying to any form of volunteer work until rank isnt the only value used to determine the value of a players criticism or insight. it just seems like a waste of time.

Respect is one of the central ideas of our Boards Rules, so I get where you're coming from. We'll continue to try to encourage mutual respect throughout the Boards wherever possible, but obviously it's a tall feat. At least as it pertains to Arbiters, rank isn't that important. Ulanopo is unranked and plays bot games, but I don't see anyone knocking him for it.

[{quoted}](name=BLACK REALM GOD,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=EnnbY9AE,comment-id=0012,timestamp=2017-05-11T02:40:05.611+0000)

hopefully the new moderation is regulated to prevent certain forms of harassment that just ultimately i see no way of combating when not being particular about job assignment. i've been a moderator on a few forums and websites myself and experienced the trouble first hand that can be caused by arrogant moderators and title/badge wearers.

Arrogant moderators aren't something we want either. If you see anyone within the volunteer program acting in a way that's unbecoming for the program, please let me know. I'll keep an active eye on this sub-board and the Moderation Discord if you ever want to share any feedback about the Boards, volunteers, or Boards Moderation.

[{quoted}](name=BLACK REALM GOD,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=EnnbY9AE,comment-id=0012,timestamp=2017-05-11T02:40:05.611+0000)

anyway all in all a well written post. looking forward to see the outcome.

You and me both. Thanks for the comment!