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When did the serious threads become stupid? -- Ramius Moderated Version
Omnicron9999
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
RAMIUS EDITED VERSION:
I have lurked here for a number of years, and have started posting somewhat recently. It has always seemed in the past that any topics in the serious forums (G&T, D&D) that I frequented were taken seriously (meaning: on topic). The off-topic, more chat type posts, were punished. It seems so less like that now.
I can show specific examples if needed, but it seems so rampant that I don't think it is really necessary. Reading through serious threads has become stupid at times
ORIGINAL VERSION:
I have lurked here for a number of years, and have started posting somewhat recently. It has always seemed in the past that any topics in the serious forums (G&T, D&D) that I frequented were taken seriously (meaning: on topic). The off-topic, more chat type posts, were punished. It seems so less like that now.
I can show specific examples if needed, but it seems so rampant that I don't think it is really necessary. Reading through serious threads has become stupid at times
ORIGINAL VERSION:
I have lurked here for a number of years, and have started posting somewhat recently. It has always seemed in the past that any topics in the serious forums (G&T, D&D) that I frequented were taken seriously (meaning: on topic). The off-topic, more chat type (SE++) posts, were punished. It seems so less like that now.
I can show specific examples if needed, but it seems so rampant that I don't think it is really necessary. Please, don't get me wrong, I like SE++ as well, but I think every post has its place. Reading through serious threads has become stupid at times.
I can show specific examples if needed, but it seems so rampant that I don't think it is really necessary. Please, don't get me wrong, I like SE++ as well, but I think every post has its place. Reading through serious threads has become stupid at times.
Omnicron9999 on
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Here is a good example, first reply.
I never object to an awesome internet joke, or meme, but really? Half the threads on SE are more productive.
I see about every other post in that thread being relevant and on-topic
Every other one is a joke post.
Are you suggesting that the moderators should be busting all of those?
I'm only suggesting we try to keep the on topic boards...ON TOPIC.
Stupid posts, e.g. cocks dicks lol...
Shouldn't be tolerated in the at least somewhat serious topics.
I mean, really, if it's rampant, you should be able to come up with 10 blatant examples pretty easily.
Whoa, whoa, I'm not trying to kill the party here...
Like I said, jokes are fine.
If everyone really wants, I will bring a bunch of examples of threads being nonsense. I am only saying that it seems everything is going way more casual. I used to LOVE reading D&D threads, they are interesting, informative, and really entertaining. Now it seems that they are just jokes, and non serious posts. As its description states, it is supposed to be more structured than SE. I can hardly tell the difference sometimes.
I'd be okay with you using a spoiler tag and providing like, 100 links.
Because it'd have to be at least 100 links before I considered it a severe problem.
Basically, I figured there would be more of a concensus on this. I like hanging out here, and I really don't want to make waves. Seriously, I only wanted to voice some concern.
to Pony: The very point I am making is that D&D isn't more structured, the definition says it should be, however.
If everyone else disagrees, I can deal.
Please feel free to comment on THIS VERSION of the original post:
I will not entertain any interforum rivalry, jingoism, comparisons to SE++, or trolling. Posting such is a waste of your time because your post will either be edited or outright deleted.
How is it not more structured?
You don't need to give up just because you didn't find consensus. Provide us some examples so we could see the problem you're seeing.
I've definitely seen the modhammer come down pretty hard on regs, perhaps even moreso than newbies, the idea being that the mods can be pretty certain that the regs should know better. Recently in D&D, there have been some new forumites who strained the patience of the mods to quite a degree, in a fashion that, had they been regs, would have earned a ban pretty damn quickly.
Regarding the difference between SE and, for example, D&D, I think the primary difference is that in SE the topic of conversation is able to change with the flow of conversation. In D&D, once the topic starts to drift (I use the yardstick that if you have a two or three level deep quote tree unrelated to the topic at hand, it's starting to drift) either one of the mods or the forumers participating will generally make an effort to move it back on topic.
In my opinion, the point is that one or two offtopic posts, a couple of jokes, or even a running joke that pops up within the conversation (which happens a fair bit if people keep bringing up inapplicable or flawed arguments) does not make the topic "chatty."
Specifically relating to the example provided, I think the topic doesn't have a very serious tone because the question the OP asked is difficult to take seriously.
Good call. I can see how that would skew one's expectations. One does not fuck around in H/A, which I for one appreciate. But that is a completely separate beast from the other forums.
You could be absolutely right, anything remotely off-topic is pretty serious there. I honestly thought there would be more people feeling the same way. I was obviously pretty wrong, which is why I am totally dropping it. I appreciate the people who did take this seriously however.
The very fact that a new heavily moderated thread had to be made because the last one became such a disaster lends a bit of credit to my argument however :P
Than, completely true. That was totally not what I meant to do. I didn't mean to imply there was anything wrong with SE++. simply that every post has its place. I enjoy SE, my point was simply that other board's threads seem to deviate and sway in the same manner as SE. The very reason SE exists is that the other boards aren't meant to be the same.
As Ramius pointed out when he made the new thread, simply the mention of one board invokes some form of rivalry. I didn't anticipate this at all, which of course, was a mistake.
Can't we all just get along?
In my honest opinion that thread should have fucking died right then and there. To be honest I posted one of those quick little replies but deleted it once I figured people wanted to talk about this shit. What I should have said was "perhaps why does bandwidth cost so much money would be a better question" but, I'm wasn't that clever at the time. Because that might have actually brought something to the discussion.
The problem with having the same synergy in every sub forum is that you end up realizing that a lot of these Internet jokes, memes and what not aren't really clever at all. To start with, sure, tee-hee. But people tend to drill you with this shit until it end up not being funny at all. It's probably even more apparent if you're volunteering to moderate the place.
Luckily, the forum comes in assorted flavors so I tend to bounce around enough to see something I want to take part in and do so.
My only gripe is that G&T's become rather stale and gamefaq-ish as of late but then again so is the gaming industry and tech market.
That's something that's confused me, why does D&D and Artist's Corner have a chat thread, when there's a chat forum. Or, alternatively, why doesn't G&T have a chat thread anymore? The whole thing seems fairly random.
this is my moderated thread.
*UNLOCKED*
Over the lifetime of the forums, man of the subforums have developed fairly close-knit groups of posters who all like to hang out together and chat. Having the chat threads gives this someplace to happen within the particular group that would keep other threads from getting too terribly derailed.
SE++ can be difficult to post in if it is not your particular brand of madness (it's mine, I joined in the H&R days), so it's nice that the other social groups in the forum can have their places to hang out.
Unofficial PA IRC chat: #paforums at irc.slashnet.org
two things
1. You really, really, don't want to go there. It will still set off a nerve in many people.
2. Because of reseaon one, the mod do not like us talking about it. at all.
1. I calls them likes I sees them. Excuse my curiosity, but I'm just wondering why have some subforums have chat threads, and others don't. Like I previously stated, it seems fairly random that X and Y get chat threads, but if you want to chat in Z, too bad, go to SE++.
2. I noticed. Thanks Ramius, for unlocking.
But I'll answer about the G&T chat thread, none-the-less.
One very good reason for G&T to not have a chat thread is simply "traffic". G&T is the most highly traffic'd forum we have, and to try and then funnel all of that traffic into a single thread for purposes of off-topic banter is ludicrous on the face of it. When G&T started with a chat thread, they were actually slightly LESS traffic'd than SE++, but G&T has grown the fastest.
Another good reason has to do with the type of posts and/or posters who did manage to thrive in the ultra-high-speed chat environment that the G&T chat thread became. A "significant" proportion were not the types of posts and posters that we'd like to encourage in our headline forum.
That works. Thanks.
Also, MC, I felt it easier to pick the brain of an admin rather than wait a week for the Mods to council, or you know, lock and delete my post.
It seems that prior to previous evidence, the internet is in fact, not serious business, and people come here for fun. I'm shocked too.
What I'm having issues with is the lack luster quality of the G&T forum as of late.
That's just my personal opinion though.
I agree. I also thought it was funny when the PS3 Impressions thread turned into a PS3 megathread, managed to go like that for awhile, then got locked we a mod looked at it funny.
Kinda says something.
Edit - Zuh? Ramius is back?
Also, ct is your #1 admin for most of these matters, but he has been out all week, I think due to his internet service being down. So I'm mostly just covering for him. I really shouldn't try and get into discussing "the current state of G&T", because frankly I haven't read a single thread in there all month.
If you guys are making a plea for me to focus on it a bit and come back with my impressions, I can try.
That's what I do anyway and it seems to work pretty well.