this is a more prickly topic than religion, HB

STOP BREAKING MY HEART!

General sentiment, from what I recall, was that the forum was taking up too much server space. Though, in all honesty, I really wish the purge hadn't happened. There's a lot of important information, regarding why some bands were accepted or rejected, or some policies came about, and so on, that are lost to history. We will just never know and now have to try to reverse engineer why something was done.

Um no, that would hardly make a significant difference. I don't really remember how the posts were lost, to be honest. Probably some forum update screwed things up, or there was a fuck-up with the database... The hosting at that time was not terribly reliable.

Remembered it wrong. It was backup size not server space. And, mixed with bugs on that backup, of course.

Can we just stop to marvel for a second that this once existed on the Metal Archives?

Man I almost forgot about that shit. Fuck.

The users who just contribute like crazy to the site and never post in the forum hardly have always intrigued me--Tiaca (username hard to remember to spell--the really long Aztec most badass username fellow who updates like crazy), GVOLTT, Piotr, Carter (former/retired), BlackenedZeroth, Drowned, etc., and several more.

Drowned posts a lot here though.

You're right. I see my clock is just bad.

What was the story behind this again? Just a troll submission that slipped through?

Nah ShadowOfDeath was a 14 year old bedroom black metal kid that posted on this forum back in the day and was pretty much a proto-Noktorn.

His Apocalypse stuff is probably some of the worst crap I've ever heard.

This?

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Apocalypse/19770

If so, I can already tell this will be glorious.

Yep, that's the one.

Tlacaxipehualiztli. Really nice fellow. He's from Poland and loves Mexican Death Metal. Which is a wise thing to do, kids.

in my opinion all custom titles not given by nightgaunt or napero are false and must be burned

Baiting us to get a title are ye? Well I won't bite!

I loved Nightgaunt's play on his title for whiney posters. It was something like "Zinfandel, Moscato" etc. That one, despite it's dry humor always made me laugh.

How did updates to band pages work pre-V2? I never actually did anything worthwhile here until after V2 went live, so I never had any points, but were updates and additions still allowed by veterans and up? Was there an accessible report queue and the like in V1?

Also, for the staff: Is there a feature you wanted to see in V2 but got left on the cutting room floor?

Updates in Version 1 of the site were slightly more straightforward--this word just does not do it justice and is not meant in any way to evaluate the kind of updates that Version 2 requires. In a number of ways, this description is somewhat misleading, and I wish I could think of a better way to describe it (personally, the way it appears/is experienced by myself, at least). It is hard to pinpoint what I mean with such a word, but there is comparatively lots more information packed into Version 2 to juggle with if that makes any sense, which is what I mean. The report queue was not accessible to all registered users or visitors at all, and the reports were categorized based on their purported prioritization (e.g. "low", "medium" and "high") rather than individual categories, if I recall correctly. It is so strange that, as I sit here tonight, I barely remember what navigating Version One on a day-to-day basis was like. Overall, Version 2 gives users much more options and things to do with the interface than Version 2 did--obviously a result of the overhaul and expansion that Version 2 introduced.

It is so strange to come to a point in using the Archive, that I honestly cannot remember what it was like to navigate Version 1 on a day-to-day basis hardly. Version 1 had 'frames' which made navigating it a little awkward at times, and there was this little 'trick' I discovered (something that someone who enjoys 'watching code' would find amusing, such as myself--can only imagine the sort of things 'Blazer and Morri might have found). I also do not remember the 'metal knight' rank being part of Version One either, incidentally. Overall, I believe Version 2 has done a great job at consolidation and placement of information--its format and template admittedly took a little getting used to, and I initially was in a period of shock at how 'different' it felt overall. Version Two has added so much but it has also done away with a lot of the older ways of doing things on the Archives that I remember used to be truly a pain (a lot of you, especially oneyoudontknow, will remember the "Incorrect split albums" thread!). I want to say that Veterans and higher still had close to the same level of access, except maybe deleting album tracks, deleting cover art/images, and perhaps changing release titles, but I'm probably wrong somewhere.

Honestly, as far as 'updating' band pages in version one (please forgive me, I almost included "artists" and "labels" pages here!), it's almost as if I barely remember what it was like which now that I've stumbled upon this post and starting writing this response, deeply saddens me. Version One of the Archives (not concurrently updated with Version Two, incidentally) can be found here. I really do not know if I have answered your question satisfactorily, of just rambled here, MCH. Now that I think of it, and this is almost inexcusable, I cannot (for the life of me) remember where and what button you pressed to update any information. Goodness. I mean it hasn't been... that long... ago.

How often are 8 points for reviews rewarded? And how many points do scribes get?

As far as I know, 8 points are granted quite rarely for reviews.

I can't speak for other mods, but I rarely give 8 pointers out. Usually, for me, an 8 pointer is a review that stands out as exceptional.

As for how many points scribes get... that privilege is not point based. It can be given to anyone at any rank. That said, scribe status is normally only given for two reasons: to ease the burden on the queue and because we have trust in the reviewer to produce acceptable material. Thus, it's usually only given to prolific, high-quality reviewers.

So scribes get no points for reviews?

Oh, shit, I read that wrong. Scribes get the default 5 points for each review.

Scribe status? Someone can fill me in on this?

Scribes get their reviews auto-accepted.

A privilege we hand out to some users (prolific, high quality reviewers) that allows them to bypass the review queue.

Who is that The_Internet guy? He's a knight with less than 6000 points.

Former mod. Better known as Naz. There's a few knights with even fewer points, they're people we know and trust who may not be too active on the site (i.e. Iggnsthe, orion) or who focus more on certain projects (Muhammad). invocator2k was also knighted, as a trade forum enforcer, and he has contributed quite a lot since then while previously only being active on the forums.

What kind of a poster was Noktorn? His profile says that he 'got banned from the forum for the third or fourth time'. Was he trolling or something? Or would he get involved into arguments?

Also, does anyone know why Perplexed_Sjel stopped submiting reviews in 2011? Can this have anything to do with MA's getting updated to V2?

I've been wondering about Noktorn as well; what the hell did he do

I seem to remember one of his posts being a massive wall of text on why 'getting into metal through the classics is bad' or something like that. It sparked a big debate.

Noktorn is a complicated beast, and I'll leave that for someone else to answer.

As far as Perplexed_Sjel goes, I don't remember specifically. However, on the greater issue of whether some people gave up when we switched to V2... I think some folks certainly did. The rationale varies but some people just don't like change (even if, from a user's perspective, it really wasn't that crazy and a lot of changes were minor). I still remember the backlash to the color scheme, for example.

Noktorn was a typical young metalhead that felt a particularly strong urge to prove his sophistication and intellectual prowess whenever possible. He at first liked to appear to others as a stalwart incredibly dedicated to metal, but in his later years he turned to bashing many of aspects of the genre. His musical projects were probably not that great; I can't remember how any of them sounded. Later on all he talked about was caveman slam death and gangster rap, which I guess makes sense for him.

Instead of darkish red on black it is now a textured reddy brown on black. An enormous change, of course.

In fact, V2 just seems better in every way to me. Might be because I'm used to it and not to V1.




He always came across in reviews as 'an outsider', so to speak. One of his projects was infamously terrible, I believe it was called 'Rainfall'.

I think I remember Perplexed having a couple of blunders with Nightgaunt, if I'm thinking of the right handle.

Noktorn was odd to interact with on the forums at times, I remember one post he would agree with you and almost praise you for it, and then the next time he replied to you it would be as if he forgot that you and him were "cool" (by virtue of his apparent harmony between one another solely, incidentally), and trample you.

As Derigin pointed, complicated... Labyrinthine, at times.

You mean Derigin.

Yes sir.

It appears the board's culture has shifted a bit from those types of guys. The Noktorn or Resident_Hazard types (there were plenty more, however usernames allude me) seem to have dwindled. I'm sure it had something to do with the old serious discussion forum getting canned.