Ah sorry for US folks 'Cake Hole' means 'mouth'.

Rain
No Coffee House?

That was a mistake - fixed it.

Looks good. +1 on some spam/troll filter at CH door.

Major problem with MS forums is the moderators (MVP: most valued pinheads?) most often mark their posts as "answers," which are often just boiler-plate c r a p.
 
Although the points idiocy has been changed, there is still some kind of reward system. Just plain stupid.
 
You want points for posts go to a gaming forum. At least go be with others who think the forum is the reason for your existence.
 
AND:::::::::::::
 
It is WAY annoying to be searching for answers and find posts marked as answered when they are not.
 
It may make MS appear to be responsive to users pleas for help, but really it just increases my sense of disgust and distrust.  "Oh look, 90% of users' questions are answered."  NOT good business. 1984 double speak: distortion of mutual reality.
 
Forum moderators should NEVER be allowed to mark any response as an answer. ONLY the OP should be allowed to identify what actually was useful.
 
Get rid of this BRONZE, PLATINUM,.... member stuff.  "Oh look, the poster must know something cuz his post count is in the thousands."   BAPU knows lots of good stuff but most of his 11855 posts are not relevant to CW products. What is the point of his "PLATINUM" badge as it relates to providing knowledge and helpfulness?
 
"Reward points 0"   What is the point of this?
 
No post counts
No reward points
No badges of metal
 
 

jm24
Forum moderators should NEVER be allowed to mark any response as an answer. ONLY the OP should be allowed to identify what actually was useful.

The problem with that is there's no guarantee that after the problem's solved, the person will come back and mark it answered. Sometimes they'll even say in the thread "thanks, that solved my problem" but not indicate the issue was solved or answered. This makes it more difficult for the people who need to find answers to the same problem.
 
As to moderators, the proposal is for people from the community, not people who have a vested interest in trying to make Cakewalk look good so I don't think you'd have "the Microsoft effect."
 
The points thing is highly variable. I've seen some forums use point systems really effectively for sorting answers for knowledge base articles and such, whereas others are b.s. popularity contests and no one participates in them.

I am a bit strident about moderator abuse cuz I am tired of the hours of reading "answers" that are not.
 
But, I agree about the low percentage of OP follow-on. So, as long as we are able to designate an official moderator assassin, who has true diplomatic immunity, and the requisite skills, to effect complete elimination, and thereby are enabled to enforce proper behavior, I am with you.
 
-----------------------
 
Lose ALL points, and post counts, and rewards,....   I find no value in these tallies. None of which enhance my happiness with forum posts. Must be my age (I am 62 years old), but I have never found a reason to keep "score" when not engaged in a game. And often, in games, score keeping interfered with, and reduced, the actual fun of the activity.
 
I stopped running SETI, Einstein,...partly because I found the focus on points, and competition, to be totally antithetical to scientific exploration.
 
Keeping and displaying this type of data is irrelevant in these types of forums.
 
Have the CH keep points, ONLY for CH posts. Some persons over there no doubt can find a reason for most anything. I do not frequent that tavern. Just too busy.
 

If Cakewalk cannot provide moderator support then considering forum members to do it seems like the only viable choice.  I would prefer the moderators be Cakewalk employees because they are the ones who write the TOS and have the means to help fix issues when they come up.  I have had experience with other forums where non-employees were the moderators and they can sometimes over moderate!  
 
Nothing is perfect.  However, if everyone would simply follow the TOS, we would not have to be moderated at all when it comes to sexual content, vulgarity, hatred, disrespect, politics, name calling, etc...
Sadly, even though most forumites are respectful of others, fights can start and words can fly and then threads get deleted or locked.  Moderators are necessary to ensure that the TOS is respected but I don't think Cake has had time to devote to this.  It is a tough spot to be in for sure.  To improve, I do like that they are considering different folks for different forum sections.  I don't think a few could cover the whole place.  It will take time to develop.  The guideline has to be clearly written so that everyone is treated equally and fairly.  Cake will have to moderate the moderators as well.
 
I don't want the Coffee House to be changed because it has evolved into a very unique group.  I am not a regular contributor here but I spend a good amount of time seeing what's up with personal side of life that can be funny and sad. As long as everyone is welcomed to participate, I hope this place continues as it has.  
 
 
 
 
 
 

These forums have been very helpful to me over the years, thanks to a comparatively small number of members who have both the knowledge and the willingness to lend a hand. If Cakewalk needs to farm out moderation in order to keep the forums going, that's OK with me. If it doesn't work out, i.e., it alienates the most productive members and therefore makes the forum less useful, I would hope Cakewalk would step in and change it again. I have always gotten good technical help from fellow users here, and that's my only requirement. As long as that constant remains, change is good -- bring it on. I won't be a moderator, though.

There are forums other than the Coffee House? 
 

A wise man once said, "it's easier to beg forgiveness than ask for permission". Make the changes that are ultimately going to be made.