The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent
vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums
here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules
document is now in effect.
Why did x megathread get locked?
Posts
In fairness, Blueblue made a good point about this - one reply to a given post about La Mulana in the LM thread, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 in a very short amount of time for the same post in the Steam thread
That doesn't speak to reasons, I guess, but it does speak to the phenomenon
I think we should generally give at least one thread cycle as warning, and explain why we're doing it.
Ok so the answer: possibly with the larger Marvel and DC threads. I don't actually know what their remit would be, given we have a whole forum for on topic superhero talk. For individual tv show/film threads, probably not. There's a clear crossover there.
some posts require effort or research, and it's hard to care if nobody's going to read it. There are other, more dedicated forums. I'd only post about it here if I want to talk about it with a given group of regulars in a thread
but for G&T in particular, there can be other additional expectations for thread creation - a somewhat detailed/authoritative OP, in-game guild leadership, etc. that's a lot of commitment for something that might not actually get any interest. and if one were so motivated as to seek out a game-specific thread regardless, well, the era of bbcode fanforums for everything is fading but nowadays Reddit is but a click away
I agree, as long as it's handled well. The D&D threads tend to homogenize over time as the release gets further in the past and the threads devolve into general discussion, or turn into discussions meant for one thing but oh I clicked on the wrong thread because there's five of them on the front page about related properties. But the other question is, why not just make the Superhero thread spinoffs in GV?
because its really not fun to have a fun discussion going and then have the thread locked
edit: again, not complaining, just answering why its a concern for me in particular
Yeah I mean, I guess my post wasn't really meant to address what you're saying, and I'm not sure what about its content gave the impression that it was aimed at people who only want to do their chatting in huge pre-made threads. It was actually meant to address the anxiety or perception of futility people are talking about surrounding creating their own threads, and to give my perspective on the discussion occurring in this thread, having had literally nothing to do with the decision or the execution of it. It was not intended to be a comprehensive explanation or solution.
I hate those expectations. No one reads those OPs, certainly not more than once. There's an element of preening and status seeking about it, especially when people complain (and they sometimes do!) that they would 'make a better OP' and 'keep it updated'. If I make a thread about a game I almost always use the format "(x) is a pretty fun game" and then write a couple of sentences about why I like it.
because holy shit fuck miriam
I've done some OPs in my time. One day I had to look up a question to something, and then later I came back to update the OP and realized I already answered the question there ages ago.
Even the people who make the OPs don't read the OPs.
It may just be a bad comparison, but I don't think mod actions should ever really be analogous to dice rolls. There should at least be reasons given to those who ask for them.
Steam games are a weird sort because there are a few that can sustain a thread on their own, like Evolve, Crusader kings, Civilization, etc., and a lot, lot more that cannot and their only exposure will be a few pages here and there in one of the Steam threads.
It's just how it works. If I'm playing some game that's already come and gone for most people and their isn't a big thread that is related to it, I'm either going to have to necropost an old thread about it or make a new thread about it. Both of which will get 1 or 2 responses and then disappear off of the first page, and the saying "out of sight, out of mind" very much applies to small threads.
Where as, if I post in a big thread, I'll probably get at least a few people discussing the game for a while, and that discussion might spin off to other similar games, and it's just a much better experience.
Big, more general threads also tend to be much better about spoilers too, in my experience. Like, I just started playing Bloodborne last week, but I don't really want to go into the BB thread because it's full of people discussing end game bosses and weapons and such.
To be fair, that's a pretty informative OP.
Fuck Deirdre :winky:
But no seriously god dammit miriam whyy
I agree. It absolutely got right to the important stuff!
Though that was deliberate for a gag
Like it absolutely has problematic elements in it and has some real bad dog piling tendencies, but there tends to be a lot more discussion about a lot more topics in there than GV and in the past when it has either gone away for a while or there has been a push to get people to go to GV they've never really worked? Like, I would really like it if GV became really active and fun and lively but even Geebs' super creative contests and polls couldn't breath life back into it.
I would be pretty bummed out if the thread outright disappeared because it is a subject I, shockingly, like to discuss frequently and GV moves at a far more glacial pace and is way less spontaneous and fun in its flow of discussion. If we had a solution that fixed this issue then I would be happy but I'm skeptical since it didn't work the last two times it was attempted.
Again: this only works for people who are ALREADY interested in thing. Megathreads allow for new interest in thing to form and expand.
There are a bunch of games and comics from this year that I never would have looked at if I didn't stumble upon conversation about them in a megathread.
I knew I loved the Arkham series, so I will easily go into an Arkham Knight thread. But I never would have given a Galak-Z thread a look at all. But thanks to things like the PlayStation or podcast threads, I ended up checking out this neat little game. Now I might participate in a thread for it, but it took megathreads to catch my initial interest.
Monster Hunter is a series I had written off. Tried already, even. Yet the enthusiasm from people in the Nintendo thread convinced me to try the new one anyway. And I ended up really liking it. The MH thread alone would have never done this for me, because I never would have gone in there because I had previously written it off.
The nice thing about megathreads is you might go in there to talk about x but you can get pulled into talking about y or z without ever planning on it. And that's extremely valuable to me and a big part of what makes this place my forum of choice.
I was going to say this applies to a lot of Wii U and 3DS games in the Nintendo thread, as well
But I think a lot of them are covered by the indie games thread nowadays
do you guys reckon the movie thread fall into bullet point 3? It's definitely gotten busier but I do think when there isn't one movie talk dies a bit.
I've never seen a thread locked completely out of the blue until the megathreads were closed yesterday. Admittedly I might be missing them, but in cases where threads are closed it is usually because:
A. the posters have gone so wildly off topic that there is no hope of getting back in place
B. The posters are combative in some way, or the argument has become cyclical and personal
C. It's a spambot or breaks the official forum rules.
D. The thread hits 100 pages (whether or not it needs a cooling off period is another discussion).
I don't think I've ever seen a "fun" thread closed, but I'm not omniscient. And I wouldn't take it personally if one is, as many factors outside of the OP's control can dictate that. But that's easier said than done.
Really, Chincy, I can't think of any reason why you are worried about your place around here.
I think the movie thread is essential to have somewhere to talk about older, smaller movies
Like if someone just got around to watching Boyhood and wants to talk about it, they can go to the movie thread
Honestly, that's kind of the catch-22 of a megathread: it's easy to start a conversation about anything in that given topic, but it's also difficult to sustain that conversation outside of the short-term.
I think it falls into it hard, but I've lost that argument over and over again with the other moderators. And also yeah, people sometimes want to just talk about the dumb movie their dumb self just dumb saw.
I think if all the regulars made the effort to move over to GV over time, rather than all at once, and sort of guide the way for the non-regulars/lurkers then we might be able to pull off getting a decent level of posting going on over there.
it was probably more meaningful in the era before Wikia and Reddit, to be sure. I curated the Diablo II thread OP for a while.
nowadays, well... I suppose it depends on the game? A lot of the value-added in a thread is still dependent on having regulars contribute content, because they care about the community of fellow regulars here rather than elsewhere. A thread where nine other forumers show up to say "oh, this is interesting" before they, too, click away to Reddit to look for dedicated fans to talk to about the game doesn't give the thread any attractive activity.
The frustrating thing about that is when the thread title will mention some info I really want to read about, but there's no link in the OP to that discussion, and it seems to be pages and pages ago...
No idea how to solve that except better curated OPs, but that's a LOT of dedication to keeping a topic monitored and offering easy connection points for new participants.
I fucking love it when somebody else talks about how they feel a certain fondness for a lesser-known movie that was actually pretty great, but few people have seen. Like Copland. It's really pretty fucking good, but very few people seem to have seen it. But then, everybody I ever talk to that HAS seen it always has the same opinion of it - "you know, it's actually pretty fucking good!
The Nintendo thread has a stronger case to stay alive because most people don't care about Nintendo any more so individual threads about Splatoon or whatever are unlikely to have traction. For X Box and PS4 a million games come out every month. For Wii U it's like 3 a year.
cool, thanks for answering
For a post about a videogame yeah. But there are a lot of topics which can result in either a great thread or a horrible crappy one. And a really big factor in how they go is the OP. It's not the only factor but look at threads like the SE++ trans thread or Atomika's thread about the GOP debate or the thread about the US Government Shutdown. Obviously lots of work went into those OPs and I think it really helped set the tone in the first page or so which in turn nudged (if not shoved) the thread towards going well.
I'd contrast that with the rash of "Goddamn separate threads" that Eljeffe started. When a thread starts already fighty and hostile to the subject matter with an OP that is at best exasperated that it even exists it will continue in that vein.
I have that problem too. Sometimes I can't even remember which thread I was already talking about it in.