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Time to move on: Insurmountable issues with the current platform

Deep Terror Nami·12/6/2019, 3:11:10 AM·31 votes·15,082 views

The consistent use and the immediate profound impact of upvote botting/brigading makes it impossible to look at the Hot page without wondering if the community got it there, or a single individual did. Once something is there the community will tend to give it attention, no matter how it arrived, and unfairly drives community discussion in this way when individuals or groups manipulate votes. Some of the most well loved Boards users have even done so over several years to ensure they are always in the spotlight (akin to a streamer using viewbots).

I'm well aware of the limitations of this platform and of those moderating it; the mods can't be blamed for solving this issue, because the tools necessary for it don't exist here. The possibility of simple turning votes off for all sub-boards does not sit well with most, so is ultimately not an option.

So, what do we do? I think it's past time to migrate to a new platform that can actually accomodate change and is professionally developed and maintained. These manipulated posts are like unmarked "sponsored" ads, and I didn't even get into the situation where the same people use downvotes to harass and keep any opposition out of sight.

24 Comments

ModJikker12/6/2019, 3:02:52 PM8 votes

If it helps, we are looking at options to help control the upvotes/downvotes on certain sub-boards.

Stepping out of my mod shoes for a moment, I have never liked this platform at all. If anyone remembers back to the original migration, I was very outspoken against it (and somewhat stubborn if I may be honest). If we could have a new platform that would allow things like moving threads and a better search feature on top of better voting control, I would love it. I don't see that in the very near future for Riot though.

KVbqbFsC8e12/6/2019, 9:42:41 PM4 votes

I don't think Riot has any incentive to develop a new platform.

ModEvangele12/6/2019, 11:49:28 PM3 votes

Nami On a whole real level, both as a poster and a moderator, I agree.

I would love a new platform and to be able to have input into what would make it more functional and desirable from both a poster and moderation standard.

That being said, I'm unsure of the willingness of Rito to move to another new platform at this point, though I can attest to the mod team expressing our desire for either fixes/changes to the current platform or a new one all together. Rito is definitely aware of our/the communities frustrations with the current structure.

The limitations of this platform are astounding, though there is quite a lot that we CAN do. As Jikker mentioned, we are looking at different ways that we can combat certain problems that have reared up and will be implementing a few as soon as we can. Our (entirely volunteer) Boards Dev and Jr Boards Dev teams have been working hard on giving us some functionality that the Boards lack in terms of moderation tools/clarity as well as some fun stuff on the front side that has already been placed into effect. Wuks might have more up his sleeve as the champion he is, but personally I dont know much about that kind of stuff so I cannot allude to what is possible or not.

OneMustFall12/6/2019, 2:53:29 PM3 votes

I've been saying it for years, I would just disable voting altogether and let threads stand on their own merits. Hot topics that get the most views/comments are the ones that will show up in the hot feed. Everything else is moot anyway. I rarely pay attention to threads based on upvotes since circlejerking is extremely prevalent on these boards.

At the very least, downvoting should be eliminated. I'm tired of seeing posts by Moderators and Riot staff get downvoted into oblivion by the ignorant mob so I have to click to see what they're saying. I'm sure it's annoying to them as well especially when they're spending the time to write a thoughtful response, which is more than you see from 90% of the upvoted threads on these boards.

iamthegoatofwar12/6/2019, 10:32:24 AM1 votes

You of all people saying this platform is basically toast...and water remains wet. Damn shit really is bad here.

Salty Mc Feed12/10/2019, 11:17:38 AM1 votes

I am tempted to believe that there are bots but it's just as tempting to believe that users who behave like mindless bots or even better that there are people who don't like certain opinions and use the bots label as convenient excuse to silence them.

But I know one thing for sure: People have been suggesting that you just disable votes completely (for years) because it distracts from the actual discussions and no mod or admin ever gave a shit about these suggestions.

2Charmnot2Charm12/6/2019, 2:08:18 PM1 votes

Mods should just disable voting for threads for a while (they can leave comment vote available if they want)

Tomoe Gozen12/6/2019, 4:58:31 PM1 votes

The consistent use and the immediate profound impact of upvote botting/brigading makes it impossible to look at the Hot page without wondering if the community got it there, or a single individual did.

I'll just use my own post i made a couple of hours ago as an example. I've raised a good point (imho) about the certain limit of the Hextech Loot and i've written a lengthy post about it in order to make it a relevant and good read, instead of just an irrelevant, hate-filled bait that would attract certain people. What i wanted is a discussion and out of two people who've been there (and even if i assume they've both downvoted it), that's -1 and it currently sits at -3. So people are allowed to vote/downvote and essentially bump up/down a post without even wanting to engage in a discussion at hand.

Voting up or down should only be used to push down irrelevant discussions to the topic at hand instead of being used for "visibility" of the post at any point at time. In fact, mods could move posts to the relevant board if that's the case (i know that this Boards doesn't have the capability to do so). If you disagree about something, feel free to express that through verbal conversation. Disagreeing about something through the shadows and essentially making sure that the post you're clearly not interested to engage in never sees the light of the day, is dumb as shit.

I'm not accusing anyone of botting, i just find i amusing that people still complain about toxicity while they turn 180 and do this kind of stuff, without thinking twice about it.

TequilaSnipes12/6/2019, 8:54:45 PM1 votes

You know what, i agree. Ive made a really good thread that fixes the disconnection issues for people disconnecting claiming they have great actual wifi connections. Its viral and people dont vote much. Its helped all that ive talked to but i just find they dont go back and like the post like the bots do. Its so obvious to tell if bots are voting because even on the top posts there like 10 or less votes.

Oh and the thread for the fix in case: https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/bug-report/AknHBNAE-add-a-title