A section for theories and collaborative efforts

[Bossqwerty]

With all the rules about no posting theories and such in the exploit section I think the community is really missing out. I can't even count the number of times I've found something that I know has great potential, but am limited in exploring it due to me only being one person. I've seen time and time again in the exploit section, the most recent example being the "dupe" thread, where an exploit is posted and in days or even hours the community has discovered ways in which to take it to the next level. I really believe it would be a great addition to the site, but at the same time I realize that half the threads would be people that have know idea how anything in WoW works posting their theories. I assume that's the reason one doesn't already exist.

edit: Obviously there would have to be rules. Theories must have a basis. No just stating "I theorize a dupe exists!" I guess I'll cite that dupe thread again, the basis was the ability to rollback which has great potential to lead to other finds. You would be required to have something to work with.

[Dante]

They're thinking about making this, will be discussed next staff meeting. Source: KuRIoS

[KuRIoS]

it does exist, you are just not invited.. :P
Well, I have thought about the idea and how to do it the best. But we are not interested in people turning out to be greedy and removing exploits because other found ways to use it. If you guys believes that people would be fair and use the section and you believe it is ok to have it public, then let us know

Added the poll

DO not reply with idiotic posts like "/signed" , "I agree" or crap like that. only reply if you have something constructive to add. (You may vote of course)

[Bossqwerty]

it does exist, you are just not invited.. :P
Well, I have thought about the idea and how to do it the best. But we are not interested in people turning out to be greedy and removing exploits because other found ways to use it. If you guys believes that people would be fair and use the section and you believe it is ok to have it public, then let us know

Their loss :P.

I am certain there will be people who are not fair and greedy and remove exploits as you said, but in this case I feel the good outweighs the bad. Then again every section has people like this.

[Disphotic]

a section like that should never be public, it shouldn't be open to donators either, if anything, either contribs, elite, legendary, or as it apparantly is now, invites only.

[shadowsx]

What about instead of donator/contrib+ what about just contrib+ or similar?

Donators are more than likely to donate just to view the section and not contribute anything helpful whereas contribs and higher will more likely contribute to discussion.

Just a thought.

[Dante]

I think votes only is the best option. If for only contribs+ only it will just turn out like the sticky in elite that got corrupted.
Also, I have a feeling lots of leechers will vote for "should be public" so maybe it's a good idea to post the poll in contrib+ section?

[Bossqwerty]

a section like that should never be public, it shouldn't be open to donators either, if anything, either contribs, elite, legendary, or as it apparantly is now, invites only.

I don't really understand the line of thinking for invite only. What would get someone an invite to the section? It certainly wouldn't be their aptitude for exploiting. That is not measurable. Sometimes the worst exploiter in the world could find a way to expand on something, solely due to the fresh perspective. It would not be healthy for the section to cherry pick the people you think are "good exploiters." Every single person here has different knowledge about the inner workings of WoW, and a different skillset that just might be the key you need to make a theory a reality.

The best and smartest exploiter I ever worked with was a leecher.

Their contributions? Probably not. Most likely it would be a "know the right people" kind of thing. There are plenty of leechers here that I'm sure are better exploiters than I or anyone other contributor+ here. Of course them being leechers and all might lead one to believe they wouldn't share, but a few might take an opportunity like that as their moment to shine.

I do believe 100% public is the way to go. Invite only defeats the entire purpose of a section like this. So will making it elite and up or whatever other way people want access limited.

[Disphotic]

I don't really understand the line of thinking for invite only. What would get someone an invite to the section? It certainly wouldn't be their aptitude for exploiting. That is not measurable. Sometimes the worst exploiter in the world could find a way to expand on something, solely due to the fresh perspective. It would not be healthy for the section to cherry pick the people you think are "good exploiters." Every single person here has different knowledge about the inner workings of WoW, and a different skillset that just might be the key you need to make a theory a reality.

The best and smartest exploiter I ever worked with was a leecher.

Their contributions? Probably not. Most likely it would be a "know the right people" kind of thing. There are plenty of leechers here that I'm sure are better exploiters than I or anyone other contributor+ here. Of course them being leechers and all might lead one to believe they wouldn't share, but a few might take an opportunity like that as their moment to shine.

I do believe 100% public is the way to go. Invite only defeats the entire purpose of a section like this. So will making it elite and up or whatever other way people want access limited.

by saying 100% public, do you mean, 100% hotfix public?

Invite only could work like looking at previous post history of "applicants", though to reduce the number of applicants (I mean, if every leecher can apply, they will), you could set the limit to require X reputation to apply. Some mods dedicated to that forum part could then look if he/she got anything to bring to the section by looking at previous history etc. Like for example, understanding how the physics of wow works, being a programmer etc etc.

making it public defeats the purpose, it will be hotfixed and users got a much higher chance of being banned.

[Bossqwerty]

by saying 100% public, do you mean, 100% hotfix public?

Invite only could work like looking at previous post history of "applicants", though to reduce the number of applicants (I mean, if every leecher can apply, they will), you could set the limit to require X reputation to apply. Some mods dedicated to that forum part could then look if he/she got anything to bring to the section by looking at previous history etc. Like for example, understanding how the physics of wow works, being a programmer etc etc.

making it public defeats the purpose, it will be hotfixed and users got a much higher chance of being banned.

While you do have a point, I've been around a long time and it looks like you have too. One thing I've learned in my time here is that it doesn't matter what section an exploit is in, it will not be any more hidden from blizzard or those who would report it to blizzard than if it was posted right in the public exploit section. The one exception being if it's a serious exploit with loads of potential for abuse and it's in the public section, it will be fixed much faster due to the volume of people able to access and abuse it.

Invite only sounds good on paper, but no matter how you look at it it's detrimental to the forum. I have worked with people on this forum that are elite and up, have a bunch of great contributions, and generally appear to be amazing exploiters. This is not always the case, many of said exploits are found by pure dumb luck, many are found by those without jobs or school who have nothing better to do than pound their head against the wall for literally days on end until they find something. While these people are "good" at finding exploits and often make great contributions, they are not theory crafting material. A moderator sending out invites cannot differentiate between one of these people and a good theory crafter. It's just not possible to have a healthy theory crafting forum that is invite only.

I don't like the idea of limiting it by rank either, the higher up you go the more barren the forums get. donator / contributor only might be a good sweet spot though.

[LastSilhouette]

I am the kind of person who requires a foothold to get started. Call me Japan. When someone presents a basis for an idea or theory, I am usually able to take it and expand upon it; make it better. So I immediately like the thought of this. The problem arises with making it public, or right on the tip of Blizzard's nose. If you leave it open to the public, the odds of the theories taking off are much higher. If not due to skill in finding exploits, from sheer brute force of effort. If it's invite only, the odds are much less likely that the exploit is hotfixed. Therefore, perhaps there is a middle ground. Here is a general theory on a system that may work. Critique as you please.

Invite only system. The poster decides whether or not to make the theory public or private. In the case of a public theory, the public can view the theory, and post on it. However, they cannot see the posts that anyone makes past that of the OP's. This provides a controlled environment. The OP may then choose to quote parts of what people have said in the main post, allowing the public build off of what has been said, but ONLY what the OP wishes for them to see. This way they are able to build upon the theory, but unable to see the end result, hopefully preventing it from being fixed. Additionally, this allows the public to gain rep and/or intangible "points" towards becoming an invited member to the theory community.

[Bossqwerty]

I am the kind of person who requires a foothold to get started. Call me Japan. When someone presents a basis for an idea or theory, I am usually able to take it and expand upon it; make it better. So I immediately like the thought of this. The problem arises with making it public, or right on the tip of Blizzard's nose. If you leave it open to the public, the odds of the theories taking off are much higher. If not due to skill in finding exploits, from sheer brute force of effort. If it's invite only, the odds are much less likely that the exploit is hotfixed. Therefore, perhaps there is a middle ground. Here is a general theory on a system that may work. Critique as you please.

Invite only system. The poster decides whether or not to make the theory public or private. In the case of a public theory, the public can view the theory, and post on it. However, they cannot see the posts that anyone makes past that of the OP's. This provides a controlled environment. The OP may then choose to quote parts of what people have said in the main post, allowing the public build off of what has been said, but ONLY what the OP wishes for them to see. This way they are able to build upon the theory, but unable to see the end result, hopefully preventing it from being fixed. Additionally, this allows the public to gain rep and/or intangible "points" towards becoming an invited member to the theory community.

Not a bad idea but unfortunately it's probably a whole lot more work than the site admins intend to put into this. In the end it's almost certainly going to end up being one of the poll options.

[LastSilhouette]

Not a bad idea but unfortunately it's probably a whole lot more work than the site admins intend to put into this. In the end it's almost certainly going to end up being one of the poll options.

It shouldn't be that much work. Two forums, one public, one private. Make it so all can see the main post in the public section and that's it. I feel like that should already be an option waiting to be used in the forum coding, but I wouldn't know much about that. If anything, I would imagine it's the invite only portion what would get tedious.

[Nyarly]

I voted "yes and should be public" only because i would really like to see something like that for exploration and nothing should be private in exploration.
I would say the same for exploits but i don't think most people will like to post their ideas in public. So it depends on what you want to achieve there, do you want every theory (most of them bad and few good ones) or just the most promising ones ?

And would it be possible to do this thing for multiple purpose ? (exploration & exploits ?)

[Maisteri]

I think the best solution would be to find a plugin that lets the poster determine which usergroups will be able to see his thread.

This way you could have the section public to everyone but you could still post stuff that only contrib+ would be able to see and such.

I'm personally not that interested in this idea that I would go and look for this plugin, but someone might be.