[META] Introducing "Players Only" Mode on Popular Posts

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

Hey everyone,

Sometimes posts from r/baseball reach r/all or r/popular, which means they’re suddenly visible to a much bigger audience outside our usual community. While that’s great exposure, it often brings in spam, trolling, and low-quality comments from non-users of r/baseball that derail discussion and take away from our primary user's ability to interact with and discuss the post.

To help keep conversations thoughtful, on-topic, and more available to you all, we’ve introduced "Players Only" mode. Think...."Players Only Meeting" but just for our sub. Here’s how it works:

• Identified posts will be marked with a "Players Only" flair
• Only regular contributors to r/baseball (measured by subreddit karma) can comment while the mode is active.
• Comments from accounts below that threshold will be held for review and approved if not rule-breaking.

Our goal is to keep r/baseball a space for good, on-topic discussion for our primary userbase and protect it from spam, trolling, and rule-breaking from users who come here to do harm or cause chaos. We intend to enable this mode for when a post trending outside the sub, but we may also apply it to other posts if we think it’s necessary to protect the discussion and prevent more extreme modes of moderation.

Thank you for being part of this community and we look forward to great discussion!

-- with love, the mods

Edit: clarified that comments from non-players will be held for review rather than being automatically removed forever.

Want to check your subreddit karma for r/baseball? Navigate to your profile on http://old.reddit.com and click "show karma breakdown by subreddit" on the right hand side.

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

Want to see "Players Only" in action? Check it out here

[u/SeaRespond9836]

Finally my chance to be a player.

[u/mysterysackerfice → u/SeaRespond9836]

Nope..you're riding the pine with the rest of us!

[u/Skraxx]

I'm a Player now? Sweet.

I demand a new contract from r/baseball. I'm represented by Scott Boras so good luck.

[u/The-original-spuggy → u/Skraxx]

Time to unionize. These fat cat mods are taking everything from us. Without us users there would be no subreddit /s

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits → u/The-original-spuggy]

Do you want a lockout? That's how you get a lock out....

I'm sure there are some r/mlb users who would love a chance to play in the big leagues

[u/high_and_outside → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

YOU’LL NEVER GET US TO AGREE TO A SUBREDDIT CAP WITHOUT A SUBREDDIT FLOOR, YOU OLIGARCHS

[u/The-original-spuggy → u/high_and_outside]

SHOW US YOUR BOOKS

[u/slicebishybosh → u/The-original-spuggy]

NOT THOSE BOOKS, THE OTHER BOOKS!

[u/slicebishybosh → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

I'm convinced most of the people in that sub don't know they're in that sub.

[u/_HGCenty → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

So by this analogy, after the lockout is done, the mods will turn a blind eye on Purchased Engagement Devices that artificially boost karma?

[u/The-original-spuggy → u/_HGCenty]

And they're going to allow better on us, take all the profit at our expense while we get death threats in our DMs

[u/Yankeefan333 → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

Didn't know Bud Selig was a mod here...

[u/RabbertKlien → u/Yankeefan333]

He was handing out beers.

[u/JinFuu → u/The-original-spuggy]

Time to unionize. These fat cat mods are taking everything from us

Hopefully our union can get our salaries to equal theirs.

[u/Blue387 → u/Skraxx]

I told Scott I am holding out for a 7 year $126 million contract

[u/Kaldricus → u/Blue387]

Scott: Good news, I was able to get you $126 million. Bad news, it's a 126 million year contract. I did get you 2 tickets to 5 games per year*

*Out of market games only

[u/Anton-LaVey → u/Blue387]

Barry Zito out here catching strays

[u/workinkindofhard → u/Skraxx]

Boras? r/baseball is going to let you walk, good luck over at r/sportsball

[u/RabbertKlien → u/Skraxx]

I just want the health insurance.

[u/akyser → u/Skraxx]

Missed chance for a Bot Score-ass pun. 

[u/Electric_Rex]

I know I definitely am, but how can people check if they’re a player?

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits → u/Electric_Rex]

Without sharing the exact number, I'd say a couple of days of not being an asshole or having atrocious opinions would vault you into "player" status.

[u/beefytrout → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

and for that reason, I'm out

[u/zgibs125 → u/beefytrout]

beefytrout was Mark Cuban this whole time, how did I not see it

[u/beefytrout → u/zgibs125]

[u/Burmondsey → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

or having atrocious opinions

Well I think that Dinger and Mrs. Met would be a lovely couple

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits → u/Burmondsey]

BANNED

[u/dmlfan928 → u/Burmondsey]

Dinger and MRS Met? Get out of here with that filth. It is clearly Dinger and MR. Met as the ideal couple.

[u/slicebishybosh → u/Burmondsey]

Mr. Met just likes to watch anyway.

[u/AdoringCHIN → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

Does that mean someone with a Yankees/Dodgers flair gets instantly banned?

[u/Basic_Bichette → u/AdoringCHIN]

Straight to jail.

[u/Knightbear49 → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

I hope I made the cutoff

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits → u/Knightbear49]

[u/IONTOP → u/Knightbear49]

same

[u/DrunkensteinsMonster → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

What if we are only sometimes an asshole and only occasionally have atrocious opinions?

[u/hjugm → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

Without using the words Tommy or Pham, can you provide an example of each?

[u/MurrayInBocaRaton → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

As a Mariners fan, this is impossible.

[u/new_account_5009 → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

Being a Phillies fan counts as having atrocious opinions for this stuff, correct?

[u/blasek0 → u/new_account_5009]

What about being a Phanatic fan?

[u/DustyDGAF → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

Ah shit I'm screwed

[u/IONTOP → u/DustyDGAF]

Same, I'm only at 93k in comment karma on /r/baseball...

[u/slicebishybosh → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

How does one qualify as an asshole? I don't think I am one but there's a few people in the Cubs sub that would definitely say I am...

[u/at1445 → u/slicebishybosh]

Do you agree with the hivemind on any remotely controversial topic? You're good.

Do you use facts to show that the hivemind is stupid and reacting off of feelz instead of reality? They're going to start gatekeeping your posts.

[u/old_brew → u/Electric_Rex]

On old reddit there's a "show karma breakdown by subreddit" button on the profile page.

...unless that's a RES feature, I don't remember anymore.

[u/Electric_Rex → u/old_brew]

Well I’m on the mobile app, so…

[u/Jux_ → u/Electric_Rex]

In a browser window go to old.reddit.com and then click your user profile once you login. It’ll show you in the top right your post and comment karma with a link to expand a by-subreddit breakdown.

(I’m guessing between 10-100 and you’re fine)

[u/Electric_Rex → u/Jux_]

You actually can’t open old Reddit on mobile because when you click the URL it redirects you to the app

Edit - Never mind. Just have to hold it down and hit open

[u/WetGrundle → u/Electric_Rex]

That's the only way I browse this place (on my phone)

[u/naaahhman → u/WetGrundle]

It's the way of my people, you don't mess with the classics.

[u/old_brew → u/Electric_Rex]

You can navigate to old.reddit.com on whatever browser you use, just checked and it's there.

[u/Electric_Rex → u/old_brew]

Oh for real? Okay then

[u/slicebishybosh → u/old_brew]

Apparently I have 188,000+ comment karma in r/baseball.

Mom, I'm finally cool!!!

[u/tuutruk]

I need the opinions of Russian bots before I like or dislike this move. 

[u/Jux_ → u/tuutruk]

The next “Bauer gives up 5 ER in NPB” thread should be a fun experiment

[u/slicebishybosh → u/Jux_]

Whenever the Bauer warriors show up, just bring up Colin Kaepernick.

[u/ContinuumGuy → u/tuutruk]

"This GM sucks so much, he belongs in a gulag."

[u/5redie8 → u/ContinuumGuy]

Something something warm water ports

[u/OWSpaceClown → u/tuutruk]

I just can’t wait till we find out that half the teams have had their analytics compromised by Russian hackers who’ve been driving them into the ground with inaccurate scouting.

[u/eekbarbaderkle]

Hello it’s me, Mr. Replacement Level.

[u/lost_jedi → u/eekbarbaderkle]

Barely commenting above the Mendoza line.

[u/_HGCenty → u/eekbarbaderkle]

We should rename karma in this subreddit to VAR: Votes Above Replacement

[u/tyler-86]

I'll be interested to see how this affects politicized posts. Every now and then a post blows up on here because it has some mild political implication and the upvotes and downvotes get really weird. Maybe if they can't post, those brigaders will be less inclined to bother.

[u/TigerBasket → u/tyler-86]

God willing

[u/MarcBulldog88]

Only regular contributors to r/baseball (measured by subreddit karma)

This is a thing? How does this work?

I can see my own karma breakdown by subreddit on my account page, but is this data available for others too?

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits → u/MarcBulldog88]

Any user who has interacted with a subreddit has a karma score (an integer that's either positive, zero, or negative). It's the cumulative upvotes and down votes from your interactions.

[u/TheWhitestGandhi → u/MarcBulldog88]

There used to be ways to look up users' karma across subreddits, but the last time I used any of them was years ago and I'm reasonably sure most of them died with Reddit's API changes

[u/Rockdog4105 → u/MarcBulldog88]

Where do you see it on your account page?

[u/n8_n_]

I don't agree with this.

I think a lot of the questions from r/all ("I'm not a baseball fan, can someone explain x?") end up being useful for other people visiting, and if I'm reading this right those won't be asked or answered.

plus, the top comments that get traction are always from r/baseball users anyway and spark meaningful discussion; the other ones get buried and don't detract from the ability to discuss the top ones.

I get why this is happening and why it's easier to moderate but my 2 cents is that it doesn't promote better discussion overall

edit: after clarification I now agree with this

[u/Knightbear49 → u/n8_n_]

When I see these posts go “viral”, the mods usually pin a top comment giving more context.

[u/n8_n_ → u/Knightbear49]

perhaps I just interact with these posts too early for the most part, but from what I've seen, they often aren't posted and usually don't answer all (or even most) questions from non-fans

[u/double_dose_larry → u/n8_n_]

I think that there's a bit of misunderstanding. Post and comments from "Non Players" are allowed on r/baseball. There's no change in that. We will always remain open to new users to join in on the discussion.

It's only those posts that become popular enough to trend, or those that are controversial in nature that will have the "Players Only" mode applied to them.

[u/Nickyjha → u/double_dose_larry]

It's only those posts that become popular enough to trend

Right, that’s the issue. Non-baseball fans should be allowed to ask questions on those kinds of posts, since they’re the posts they’re the most likely to see.

[u/n8_n_ → u/double_dose_larry]

no, I get that. the issue is that "posts that are popular enough to trend" are inherently the ones that r/all users are likely to find, and therefore where those questions often occur and are needed.

I get this move for controversial topics but if it was a problem you'd probably lock it for r/baseball users too

[u/double_dose_larry → u/n8_n_]

Ahh, the misunderstanding was on my part then. It's a fair point and the intention is for those comments to still appear in the conversation. We'll be closely monitoring this with the intention of approving all the valid/non-rule breaking comments, it's just that those comments would be reviewed by the moderating team first.

[u/n8_n_ → u/double_dose_larry]

please edit into the main post that you'll be re-approving valid comments, that is imo not remotely clear from how it's written currently, and changes how I feel about this rule considerably.

good rule then I think, ty mods

[u/double_dose_larry → u/n8_n_]

Language in the post updated to reflect. Really appreciate your feedback, thank you.

[u/areodjarekput → u/double_dose_larry]

For example, Shohei Ohtani's 50/50 post would have been subject to this, yes?

I don't love that. That was a historic moment, and non-fans asking questions is good for the sport IMO.

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits → u/areodjarekput]

That's true but we also closely monitor threads that trend and threads that are controversial in nature and have the ability to switch it in on and off as needed.

[u/barney-sandles → u/double_dose_larry]

Don't really understand the point of this. What's the problem if people who dont know the sport well comment on big news?

For the controversial news, sure, especially if it verges on politics or broader social issues that might bring non-baseball fans who just want to argue.

But if it's like playoff highlights or record breaking news, whats the harm?

[u/DOWNVOTES_SYNDROME → u/double_dose_larry]

so if there's a feelgood story that gets baseball press and people on /all want to ask and learn about baseball, they can fuck off because moderating the bad posts is too hard? is that how it goes? we are now an insulated community that has to be sought out, and if anything gets too popular, we keep it in the club?

[u/double_dose_larry → u/DOWNVOTES_SYNDROME]

No, those comments will still appear after review and approval.

[u/DOWNVOTES_SYNDROME → u/double_dose_larry]

what you are saying was not said in your original statement, i would edit or clarify your original remarks because a lot of the problem people are going to have is with what i am saying. if other people's comments will show up in a timely fashion then it's still not the best, but at least it's much more understandable. the way it's worded says everyone who isn't a regular baseball commenter will have all their comments automatically removed if a post gets too popular or is deemed too controversial. nothing about review and approval

[u/double_dose_larry → u/DOWNVOTES_SYNDROME]

Language in the post updated for clarity, appreciate your feedback.

[u/DOWNVOTES_SYNDROME → u/double_dose_larry]

of course. always my pleasure to help fine tune things. thank you for taking constructive criticism

[u/Antithesys → u/n8_n_]

Maybe it would help if we saw an example of a post that garnered sitewide traffic with the kinds of comments the mods are trying to avoid.

the top comments that get traction are always from r/baseball users anyway and spark meaningful discussion; the other ones get buried and don't detract from the ability to discuss the top ones.

As a great man once said, this is democracy manifest.

[u/IamChicharon]

Am I a player? What’s the subreddit karma to fWAR conversion equation?

[u/double_dose_larry → u/IamChicharon]

Yes

[u/currgy]

I will be holding out for a new contract before participating. Please direct all questions to my agent

[u/Disused_Yeti]

if you called it 'members only' you would've had to give out jackets

[u/EmotionalAccounting]

Do we need to be subscribed to the sub or just contributors?

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits → u/EmotionalAccounting]

There is no subscription requirement

[u/EmotionalAccounting → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to respond!

[u/Falling-Down-Stairs]

A player? Great! Whose my locker next to?

[u/ResidentRunner1 → u/Falling-Down-Stairs]

Nyjer Morgan

[u/shadedmoonlight → u/ResidentRunner1]

[u/MalumMalumMalumMalum]

I'm left-handed and can almost hit the plate. Willing to sign for league minimum.

[u/Angel_of_Cybele]

I am AAA at best I bet

[u/kc9kvu → u/Angel_of_Cybele]

There have been a few injuries and we're light on highlight reaction depth, you're getting the call up.

[u/jonsnowballs18]

Hope I don’t get sent down

[u/DA_87]

Who has enough karma?

[u/Panz04er]

I wonder (not sure if possible or if the mods can see or have access to it) to have the Karma be a cumulative total that includes your r/baseball karma and your karma on your teams subreddit

[u/double_dose_larry → u/Panz04er]

Unfortunately, no. The tools that we have to work with is karma on this sub only and karma on Reddit as a whole.

[u/NoCommercial_8820]

This is a great idea. I’m not sure this sub gets brigaded by others … (and for what?!)

I’d love to see this for other subs I visit.

[u/LeftArmInjured → u/NoCommercial_8820]

Oh Na it does, you might not see it too much with the work that goes into it on the mod end, but it certainly happens

[u/Jux_]

This is good. For every one new fan that is blocked from commenting on the first ever baseball post they see in r/all, it’ll catch 100 assholes “Just asking questions” about a Pride night or Bauer not being signed

[u/WabbitCZEN]

[u/Jonjon428]

Random bot farms in shambles

[u/new-who-two]

I have a Player's Club card, does that count?

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits → u/new-who-two]

Did you hit the player's club for about a month or two?

[u/new-who-two → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

Like a true Player, I have no recollection 🥃

[u/ricky_burns]

We did it gang! We can tell our family we’re ^online Baseball Players now!

[u/shadedmoonlight]

looks like I gotta comment more in here again

[u/DoctorWaluigiTime]

Sounds good to me.

Have you considered opting out of /r/all / /r/popular? It works wonders for /r/nfl.

[u/GrimmBloodyFable]

Players only? Come on.

PUT YOUR. PINKY. RINGS UP. TO THE MOOOOOON

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits → u/GrimmBloodyFable]

What you tryna do?

[u/CordialClarence]

HOW DO I KNOW IF IM A PLAYER

[u/RagingAcid → u/CordialClarence]

if you have to ask you aint one

[u/ResidentRunner1 → u/RagingAcid]

He's also using all caps, that's only for the Friday compliment and roasting threads, rookie mistake

[u/yes_its_him]

Is 194,000 karma good?

[u/h3shf3sh]

Okay.

[u/kc9kvu]

Considering

1. Very few posts make the front page and be impacted by this

2. The level of activity required to be considered active seems really low

3. r/Baseball likely doesn't get many new users from the front page, but from people actively seeking out baseball content

This seems like a pretty low cost for the benefit.

[u/bigbird727]

Good way to keep out the riffraff. From a public forum

🙄🙄🙄

[u/ScarletFire5877]

I’m doing my part

[u/Rock_man_bears_fan]

Yeah I hate this

[u/yousmelllikebiscuits → u/[deleted]]

This isn't "flaired users only" - it's a flair on the post

[u/RuleNine → u/yousmelllikebiscuits]

I don't think they were being literal.

[u/YaketyMax]

Are we slowly turning into /r/conservative here? 🤔

[u/Jux_ → u/YaketyMax]

It’s common with a lot of subs that hit r/all and the thresholds are usually very small. Like basically filtering out first timers to the sub on super popular posts.

I would be a bigger fan of our stuff just simply not hitting r/all because that’s when the assholes show up. For every new user wanting to learn about baseball there’s 100 bots or jackholes “just asking questions” about why Bauer isn’t on a team

[u/sadclassicrocklover → u/YaketyMax]

They have it tuned up to an extreme, like comparing north Korea to Switzerland