Gerard

That reminds me of one thing that has annoyed me for ages - there is no general subforum all about GTA, where you could post "which game is best" type stuff and comparisons and ports and things like that. Masses of possibilities for that. Jace: follow the topic

Well someones in a loving relationship there... Voting will commence in a few days when Chris gets back from London I'd imagine (aka after New Year).

Everyone seems to be getting the idea, and there have been loads of useful suggestions in this topic. But I get the feeling Chris is just going to maybe do one of the ideas and pretend he's spent ages making loads of changes, which I'm just fed up of. Seriously stop the self-promotion lol. We all know you know how to use IPB too, yet you always try to show us how. The ideas can be okay though. Keep the suggestions coming people... not that Chris listens, but everyone else is.

TM you're right - we need to be unique. We are just a medium-sized forum that is almost identical to all the other GTA forums around, and we really need to change to become anything special. Video walkthroughs are a prime example of the kind of thing we need to be doing. Not RP. I think most of you missed one of Misho's points a while ago. Chris said that people shouldn't need rewarding for helping with GTA, because that's what this forum was designed for. The problem is that that nobody IS helping with GTA, so we obviously need to do something to encourage people to post more about GTA. A small part of that is discouraging people from doing other stuff, but positive reinforcement has to be the biggest part. Chris - you're getting the idea. I'm not suggesting that we become entirely communist and free where everyone gets a vote and decides on the changes, but you still have to listen to your members.

Isn't that just pushing the contents of there into the rest of the forum? Our members are used to flaming, they need to learn why not to do it, instead of just being punished for not doing something they were allowed to do yesterday. But yeah get rid of it. Additional/replacement outlets for energy, anger and creative juices required though.

Howabout you make a big topic where members can all put their suggestions for solving arguments and letting off steam - seeing what they would like in the forum instead of an unused RP zone. Obviously the staff (as a team) would pick and develop the best ideas, but at least steal the ideas from the members first, as they have as much a chance of having a good idea as we do.

Haha never read your RPs. Maybe there are some better ideas than RPing then? Bit silly to have roleplay with no role to play except "me hating/flaming you"

Sorry there are some people I haven't replied to: Well this is the same problem that all public forums have, especially those that appeal to young children. We could take the hardline nazi tactic of warning/suspending/banning members that fight - but to be honest that doesn't help anyone. The members will just make a new account or decide they hate us and come back spamming en masse. We need to show our members that spamming isn't what we do here. It isn't big, it isn't clever, it isn't cool, it won't earn you respect. I reckon a lot of members get confused that we seem to encourage FFAG topics and flaming in the warzone, but then yell at them when they do it slightly differently (eg outside warzone). So we discourage spamming/flaming and encourage other forms of discussion and problem solving, eg just not replying to them (or rising to bait), or encouraging long discussions rather than small shitty personal attacks (your mum...) Don't pull out made-up statistics lol - just say "most". You're right though, most members wouldn't bother reading the rules because they're mostly the same wherever you go. Only 15% of the rules are different to those that appear on 83% of other forums and 94% of GTA-related forums. The only rules that need to be listed prominently are the 15% that are unique to us. The rules do need a rewrite to be more informative, helpful and user-friendly (so the newbies can&will read them), and likewise the terms that you agree to when you register. Not a big job, but again that is something that could be done effectively with a bit of group discussion. The RP idea failed because nobody pushed it. The name was changed and a description was added (maybe even a pinned topic) but it wasn't as if Chris and the other staff joined in the RP and helped it along and showed members how it should be done. Staff have that nasty ability to solve their arguments with the banhammer (not that we do that here). We do need somewhere where you can express your opinion and let off a bit of steam. This is currently in the form of flaming, and that's about it. If we pushed RP, that's a nice way to do it (for some members), but perhaps things like an agony aunt (personal-advice-giving topic) would be useful? Anybody got any ideas for that? The rules don't change except maybe a little bit twice a year or so, then they get rewritten every couple of years. They need to be more user-friendly, and constantly adjusted to fully reflect how we expect our members to act. Maybe we could make little cards of rules that you can show (like a bbcode tag?) just with a handful of bullet points of the important rules, then this can be shown all over the site (in signatures) and used in topics to show members what the rules are. See the red box at the bottom of GTW's Rules. Chris - suddenly your shift key works? Or you found the other one? Or you using OSK? Our survival also depends on the community here - I don't see why we can't involve them in the decisions that affect them.

Usually have two Shift keys? Stop changing the subject! I think this topic proves our members are actually pretty good at helping to make decisions. The staff don't have to do everything the members say (obviously) but they can get a good feel for consensus, and some members will actually be able to improve the ideas. I think you need to trust the members more. I'm not suggesting we be a democracy, I'm saying that more people make the decisions, thats the staff are more open with decisions, and that more members have an input into the ideas that shape this forum. Not a silly suggestion, because (since you like comparisons) thats how large companies and sites like Wikipedia work.

Yeah okay, however you do it, just make sure there's still an outlet for the creativity ALL gta fans harbour. Although these changes should all be discussed publicly (like this topic). Why can't the admins/staff use the suggestions forum too to get the opinion of members before making changes?

I didn't say make it today. Everything about IV will be confirmed in a couple of months, and we'll know a hell of a lot more from all the previews and reviews in the weeks before the launch. So by then we should have a new facility for making gta-related suggestions to replace the then-defunct GTA wishlist. That's not an amazingly massive change, but just something we could tap into. Sounds like you're just trying to prove me wrong or something - that's not the point here...

Yeah the RP is a good idea, but the most you did about it was fill in the forum description. Staff didn't lead by example there, staff didn't RP. Nothing was done so it kept on being used as a warzone for flaming despite the name-change. i didn't suggest you should get rid of it. The problem is it is the most important subforum to most of our members, and it is by far the biggest. GTA takes a total back seat except to a few new members a week who join and ask questions in good faith that they'll be answered. Turns out about 3 dedicated members take turns to reply to the queries there, and everyone else pisses about. Just shoving FFAG into a subforum doesn't really change anything for the thousands of people that already use it. The culture on this forum says that "Funny posts in ffag = respect". That needs to be changed to "helping out about GTA || discussing maturely = respect". Yes of course we need a lounge to discuss in - that's because we're all friends here, and we like to chat. Maybe even a few topics for fun, but that shouldn't be the focus of the forum anymore. Oh so now we're into personal digs? Is this really about TGTAP for you, or just proving to yourself how awesome you think you are? In reply to your rhetorical question, this one. Well as soon as IV is out there's no point in a wishlist for it, except perhaps possible upgrades or episodic content for IV (which is 360 only) or modifications (which is PC-only). When TGTAP was listed in that magazine, they specifically cited the imagination of our members - why not tap onto that and allow a small subforum for wishes and things (would probably be bigger than the classics) - you could even stop people creating topics in there and force replies only. I'd bet hundreds of members would be willing to post in there - it's always massively fun thinking up what you want. Or does that not fit into your obscure small view of Because you're the only person who doesn't seem to see this problem and/or agree that this deeper stuff needs to change. You're fighting everything, probably because it means devolving slightly. Seems pretty selfish to me. No I'm not afraid to say that. Going to fire and ban me because I don't agree with you? So you DO want to be like GTAForums!

Everybody here has got the idea - we just aren't a GTA forum really. Chris, just because GTAF have a fun&games area doesn't mean we have to - most of the people here are saying we need to move away from the current generation of GTA forums that exist. My point is that we need to move up a gear, not just carry on slowly expanding in the same silly direction. Definitely a subforum for the next GTA (GTA 5? Episodic IV?), but also more subforums for GTA IV. Not long before we need subforums for gameplay&help and modifications. How to reward people? I don't mean give away prizes or shitty forum money - you've totally got the wrong idea. I mean respect. Make being knowledgeable about GTA the best thing to be here. Elites should be the best helpers, not just people Chris has on MSN. Yeah this isn't going to happen overnight, we can't expect our existing members to just jump out of the existing mindset and into a new discussive helpful culture. The staff need to prepare, assist and encourage all the way - and continuously show new members the good way to continue. Keep coming with the good ideas people, I'm impressed.

TGTAP is a nice forum - we have 11,000 members who are mostly keen on GTA, and a good line-up of decent staff who care about keeping the place clean. However, I think we need to change to move up a gear - to become bigger we have to become better. What's wrong with how we are now? The most successful topics on the forum are things like "3 word story" and "Why did the chicken cross the road"; our members see winning arguments and being proven right as the best things to acheive; and the staff are here just to clean up messes. This is fine, it has worked for TGTAP for years, and we're still a lot better than any other GTA forums, but if we changed our focus we could very easily become a hell of a lot better than we currently are. What needs to change? The focus of this forum seems to be on fun and games and arguments and things like that - not GTA. There are no rewards for helping out with GTA, and there is nothing to push people to post there. The staff should be leading by example and helping other members out, and showing that the 'cool' thing to be is knowledgable about GTA, rather than just silly games. How could these changes happen? I don't think any one person should lead this forum anymore. Yes there needs to be an owner (Chris), but most of the day-to-day decisions should be made by several staff members (working together in a team) with public discussion. A topic could be made about the possible changes (like this topic), and everyone in the forum will have a chance to say what they like about it, what they don't, and what might be an even better idea (like you can in this topic). The changes Im talking about don't require admin panel access or anything special, I'm talking about a change in the culture of the forum. Persuasion, guidance and help are what we need, not bans and suspensions and rules. We need to persuade people to post in the GTA sections about GTA What would these changes achieve? If we were more about GTA, then of course everyone who loves GTA is going to love it here. Anyone who needs to know anything can ask here, and get a series of useful and well-thought-out answers. Anyone who knows anything about GTA can come here and help people out and be respected for it. We would have loads of GTA IV content by the time it launched, and we'd get massively popular with that. We'd have loads of downloads and a well-organised forum with perfect structure, rules and organisation. Everybody would have a say in how things are done, and we'd end up with a great system where we could all work together in the pursuit of GTA-related discussion. What if we didn't change? If we just kept going how we currently are, we would of course still survive. We have a decent formula for a medium-sized forum that has worked for us for years. But we can't really expect to grow. We could employ some more staff but we'd still just end up getting overcrowded, less attention would be payed to important parts of the forum and members would end up getting banned just for slightly annoying a moderator (see GTAForums). I don't want us to end up small or shit like most other GTA forums, I really believe we can grow and improve. These are my thoughts, and there are a few people that agree with me. However there are also some people that think TGTAP is fine as it is. This is not official policy or anything like this, these are my own suggestions. I'd like to know what you all think about this, and if you have any suggestions for radically improving TGTAP Forums.

Is this really so hard? Lol Most respected member = Members or elites. Not staff. Most respected mod = Mods or Super mods only. Not admins. Not ex-staff. Mods/Supermods = Chris82, Gerard, Sky, Jared, Lord Voldemort, MrLlamaLlama, RockstarREM, Slayer, TM™ Admins = Chris, Righty

Thanks for the suggestion. I doubt anybody actually reads those rules when they sign up, but it is a legally binding contract to agree not to use the service unless you agree to abide by them. Our rules are scheduled to have a total overhaul soon, the staff are currently deciding how to sort that out. We'll probably put some very brief rules on the registration page, along with "You must read the full site rules and abide by them" or something so that they know they have to keep checking the rules. Oh and Im sure all our admins know how to use the ACP pretty well, we don't really need it explaining. I'd like to point out that the rules aren't the only rules that apply - it's not as if those are the only things staff are allowed to punish you for - they are a rough explanation of what is and isnt allowed on the forums. But we do try and include everything there.

Clarkson (as well as May and Hammond) is regarded as FUNNY. Top Gear is both interesting and comical, NOT factual. You are supposed to take everything he says with a heavy pinch of salt. I hate to generalise again, but this is British humour, which consists of subtle jibes at other people and quietly enforcing non-believed stereotypes. Statistically the USA does have the fastest-growing obesity rate in the world. America is frequently cited as the fattest country in the world with an obesity rate of 30% and another 35% classified as "overweight." Malta and the UK aren't too far behind though, so maybe it is unfair to single out the US. But its funny, and that makes it okay in the right context, such as a funny non-PC program. Clarkson calls cars "a bit ginger beer" (slang for queer, meaning homosexual) but thats just funny and doesnt offend me at all. But still some people complained cos they took it out of context - you wouldnt want to see that on the news or in a serious newspaper. So I say grow up, stop being so paranoid that people take jibes at you. Yes okay we do make fun of Americans for being fat, ruining the English language and being stupid. Those are just silly generalisations that people don't really believe (unless theyre stupid themselves). If you arent fat or stupid, then great - you dont fit into the stereotype and youre awesome and the generalisation doesnt apply. If you are, then you need to do something about it and you deserve to be laughed at until you do (usually). Stereotyping is fun. As for cars, German cars rule, Italian ones are fun, some others are OK. American cars don't usually stand out, but there are exceptions. Same opinion as Clarkson & Co. As for this topic, stay on topic and don't let these stereotypes get in the way of a good wholesome discussion.

That means you can't vote for Chris or Righty - probably cos everyone would, by definition their job commands respect. Here's my list to be edited. There are some multiple nominations until I decide 4 real. Most Knowledgeable (GTA3): How on earth are we supposed to know any of these? Most Knowledgeable (GTAVC): A "most knowledgeable (GTA)" would've been adequate Most Knowledgeable (GTASA): Most Knowledgeable (GTALCS): Most Knowledgeable (GTAVCS): Best Stunter (San Andreas): Best Stunter (Vice City): Most Respected Member: Most Respected Mod/Super Mod: Most Helpful Member: Most Improved Member: TM Best New Member: Specify "new" Most Intelligent Member: Funniest Member: Most Original Username: MrLlamaLlama Biggest geek: UrbanOutlaw/Chris/Spaz Most Random Member: Most unique member: Best Avatar: Best Signature: Best Graphics maker: Best Writing (creativity forum): Wasn't there supposed to be a separate award for "Best forum posting"? Not the below. Best Topic Starter: Like "best forum posting" but specifically for topics? This presumably includes "funnest FFAG topics" Medal of Honor: Userbar Whore: Weirdest Looks:

Not sure how much my temporary 56k is going to like this topic, but I'll give it a shot. Attempting to pick some good photos now... and failing... This reminds me of a few of Spaz' pictures: Spiffing: (no I don't smoke) Three Musketeers: (me on the right)

Of course it isn't referring to black people - are you guys insane? Charger is probably the most racist here because it was him that associated the word "monkeys" with black people, something totally not intended. So every time you talk about the word "monkey" you're talking about black people? Every time you hear it you assume it means black people rather than monkeys/chimps? This is just the YouTube internal error message, it pops up every now and then. Even TheGTAPlace has its own "funny" errors.

GTAIV (you didn't say which Christmas) I currently play Splinter Cell Double Agent (fun, bit tricky/frustrating) and Call of Duty 4 (very fun & realistic, but not very long, but good multiplayer). Still play SA a fair bit. All on PC for me, not sure how many of those are on previous-gen consoles.

Thanks for pointing that out - the same problem occurs for me. The "&CODE=unanswered" isn't being recognised by IPB, probably since the upgrade. I'll set Chris on it.

Report button works fine for me just now. It isn't javascript, so you don't need that enabled for it. Try opening it in a new windows, or copying the link manually into the address bar (easier with Firefox). Otherwise, try Manually reporting the post with the following url: http://www.thegtaplace.com/forums/index.php?autocom=reportmanager&CODE=form&section=Forum&tid=[[[TOPIC_ID]]]&pid=[[[POST_ID]]] Change [[[topic_ID]]] to the ID of the topic that you see in the url of the topic page (14325 here), and change [[[post_ID]]] to the ID of the post you want to report. To find the post ID, click on the "Post #1" link in the top-right of the post, and at the end of the box that comes up it has &p=215277 (for your post above) so put that there. So to report your post above, you need the following link http://www.thegtaplace.com/forums/index.php?autocom=reportmanager&CODE=form&section=Forum&tid=14325&pid=215277 But for now, you could just PM either myself or Sky and we'll sort it out.

I prefer the normal square (4:3) 1280x1024 resolutions, just seems more normal and more useful. Yeah widescreen is slightly better for watching widescreen films etc, but it still isn't the exact shape of every widescreen thing. You still have to make a compromise between a small image that shows everything (letterbox) or fill the screen with half the image (zoom). If your current monitor works fine, definitely don't bother paying for a whole new one just to go widescreen. If your old one is a shitty CRT, or if it breaks or anything - then is the time to upgrade, and you'll probably find it easier to get a large widescreen monitor.

Anyways, you became staff in a month? Good for you, you must he here lots. He whatnow?