Notification of *why* a thread has been locked

[Ubernerd Lucas]

I recently posted in the "off-topic" discussion section; within five minutes, my post was locked. I have no idea why; nothing in it violated Steam's community guidelines, there was nothing offensive or controversial, it was just an off-topic thing (link: http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/12/46476691281648802/ ). As far as I know, it was simply at some moderator's discretion

I request that Steam add a feature to notify a reason why a thread was locked. It could be an actual comment from a moderator, a user report used to flag the post, or even just a quote of the rule that was broken. This would help people (such as myself) who don't know what rule they violated figure out what happened so as to avoid it in the future.

I know some mods will a reason why before locking a thread, but usually I see that in blatantly obvious cases; the majority of threads I've seen have been locked without any stated reason. A personal notification of why would help to improve the community and mollify those who have had their threads locked for no immediately apparent reason.

[MakoSipper]

+1

Also, when your thread gets deleted or moved, a message (maybe automatic) should inform you what happened to it (not just "moved or deleted") and, if moved, it should send you the new link.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Unfortunately, most would just argue the reason. You can, however, contact a moderator (if one can spare the time)and ask why it was locked. It would take a lot of our limited time to give a reason for every thread lock or deletion. (We are just volunteers after all and have things to do in our own lives)

[MakoSipper]

Maybe if you set up a system where you have predetermined options for the reason why it was deleted/closed/moved? It'd be just an extra click, I guess. Maybe make it as automatic as possible, so it wouldn't mean much more work for you.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Can't have a per-defined for everything. Besides that, I could just imagine how long it would have taken me to merge all these "#RIPD2DOORS" posts into one thread. That was about 17 of them. Add in giving the reason and it would have taken me twice as long.

I can understand wanting to be notified though. Especially on moved threads, though I think you are supposed to be redirected if you click on it in your post history.

[MakoSipper]

I'll post it as a new suggestion, then. Do you think it could be done automatically?

[HLCinSC]

I had similar suggestions in the past you might find interesting to look over.

http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/558751813285052597/

http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/648817378069978247/

[Herr Kruelbar®]

Perhaps a closing comment by the moderator as o why a discussion was closed would suffice.

Something like this - "[SteamModerator] - This discussion/ threat is closed because ..."

[HLCinSC]

Originally posted by C01t.45 SS Herr Kruelbar:

Perhaps a closing comment by the moderator as o why a discussion was closed would suffice.

Something like this - "[SteamModerator] - This discussion/ threat is closed because ..."

Read the links I posted right above you I suggested the same thing and the moderators explained why they dont

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

There should be some common reasons, though. Such as "off-topic for this forum", "topic covered in another thread", "flaming or abusive thread" etc.

[Zefar]

More often than not those threads does not belong in that section. The rest are often threads gone out of control.

For instance Steam section is used to dump a vast amount of topics that does not belong there. They think it's a general discussion about anything. It isn't. It's things related to Steam that should be in that topic. Just Steam and not the games on Steam.

For Steam Community we also have a lot of trash topics but that section is for things related to Steam Community.

If people took the time to read the section and see if their topic belongs there or not the threads would not be deleted all that much.

[MakoSipper]

I understand that. But how will people know what they've done wrong and potentially refrain from doing the same thing again if they're unaware of what really happened?

[MakoSipper]

At the very least, I think I should get different messages if my thread was deleted OR moved.

[Zefar]

We have enough on our hands than to inform people who clearly post in the wrong section.

To give you an idea on how many useless topics there have been. I have 70 pages in the Steam discussion section I won't tell you how many per page I have but I got 70 pages of topics and I can see deleted ones. Granted this is one of the most hit sections on Steam. Also topics are purged after a certain point.

If your topic is gone you can go through the rules at
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=4045-USHJ-3810

Or ask yourself, does this topic belong in this section.

[MakoSipper]

A warning explaining what happened and, on repeating the same mistake, applying penalties, like being banned from posting in the forums for say 24 or 48 hours, maybe a week... Well, seems more educational to me than just saying "something was wrong, we won't tell you what, figure out for yourself, you brat". And in the long run it would definitely make thinks easier for you guys, even.
If you're overworked (and I don't doubt you are), Steam needs more mods. Steam users are costumers, after all.