Little confused about Forum Procedure

BrotherVoodoo

I don't get entirely why I can't start a topic say in the comic forum that has particular questions about comics and instead have to do so in the help advice forum.

The principal reason why starting an individual post is easier is that then it doesn't get completely lost in a discussion of hawkman's wings or some shit in an otherwise already epic post.

It just seems more beneficial to start a specific topic like that in the comic forum but instead I have to do so in help advice which is the only forum you can really do a lot of specific posting.

DarkPrimus

They already have a thread for people to ask and answer questions about comics that "don't deserve their own thread".

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=93524

BrotherVoodoo

I get this. Its just the thing is, when you ask a question sometime it disappears into the ether. Like I said, people get caught up in elaborating on which Green Lantern is currently Green Lanterning. It seems to me easier to start a new post. It will stand out and things will get answered faster. Sometimes it seems as thought it would be beneficial in other forums as well but I realize that its unadvised. I don't know, I just don't understand the preferred method of the boards...

Tomanta

BrotherVoodoo wrote: »

I get this. Its just the thing is, when you ask a question sometime it disappears into the ether. Like I said, people get caught up in elaborating on which Green Lantern is currently Green Lanterning. It seems to me easier to start a new post. It will stand out and things will get answered faster. Sometimes it seems as thought it would be beneficial in other forums as well but I realize that its unadvised. I don't know, I just don't understand the preferred method of the boards...

It won't stand out, though. It would get lost in the dozens of other, similar threads that will see maybe 3 posts and then roll off the main page.

BrotherVoodoo

Yeah but that's more responses then you might get posting in a 37 page long post.

Like for instance. I would love to start a discussion about the market and paying for gaming and the future of such. But I'm sure I'd get called a jackass, told the discussion already happened (so I can't bring it up anymore, or told to post in another anthology post)

I mean, if a post doesnt get a lot of responses fine. But it seems counter productive to mandate that just because it might that it shouldn't be started at all.

JC of DI

Well that's a lot different than what the opening post described. That sounds like a decent enough topic for discussion in Games and Technology, as long as no similar thread is active on the topic.

Repeat discussions are nothing taboo unless you make a post about a topic that's already been discussed relatively recently. A search for your topic's keywords should find any relevant threads in the forum before you create a new topic, and if any of the threads mentioning it are recent, then that thread should be used, as that is the point of threads in and of themselves. If you're simply asking a question, then perhaps the old topic itself already answers it for you, thereby saving yourself the time of waiting for responses to your new topic!

The rules for each individual splinter forum vary slightly, but Graphic Violence, SE++, and G&T all share a "No Redundant Threads" rule, in order to avoid having the entire front page of a forum fill up with the hot news item of the day. It also will result in cases like yours where a general question about comic news sites is now relegated to the "General Questions" thread.

However had you looked around the forum some you would've found an active thread that has been around for over 2 months that is all about comics news. It is even quite appropriately titled.

BrotherVoodoo

I know where it is, I get it that it's there. I'm just saying. Sometimes it seems more to the point to just start a new relevant and more narrowly focused topic. If it dissapears so be it. I understand we don't need 20 ps3 slim posts I'm not arguing against that.

I just think that when I want to talk about something like backwards compatibility and the issues and costs between 360 and ps3 or something I can only assume I'll be directed to the ps3 slim post or the general xbox live post and instead have to hope and pray that what I say will be noticed by people talking about Master Chief's boxers or psn network or spanish Kratos.

It just seems like sometimes its hard to get a conversation started when theres already 3-5 different ones happening in a post and 10 replies later its on a old page never to be discovered ever again.

JC of DI

You're assuming quite a bit, though.

If I want to know about new upcoming 360 games I might not be aware of, I'll head to the general 360 thread.

Using your example again: If I have a question about which backwards compatibility setup is better between 360s and the PS3 units that support it, and if no relevant information is found then I would think that I am clear to make a thread. If someone comes into my thread at that point and tells me that there was a topic that covered it already and links me to it, then he has effectively answered my question. There's nothing wrong with being pointed in the right direction.

However if your question is only regarding backwards compatibility on the 360 only, then the 360 general thread is a place for that type of question. The assumption that it will get lost in a sea of posts that aren't about your question or comment is strange, because you can't seem to apply that logic to the notion that each mini-topic that gets discussed in bigger threads would have their own topic line on a forum's page in your alternate method. Your new, non-established topic would then plummet past the first page in no-time, as people replying to already-established discussions would constantly be bumping threads in front of you.

Eat it You Nasty Pig.

If there is actually a specific issue you want to discuss that will have some depth to it, you are probably safe to start a thread about it. If you want to discuss some topic that has already been whined about ad nauseum (backwards compatibility woes, console wars, or whatever) then there isn't really a reason for a new thread.

I don't read the comic forum so I don't know what weird stuff they do, but in G&T you see specific console-related topics get their own threads decently often.

wunderbar

The problem that is run into if everyone asks a single questin with every thread is that you'll have about 9 million threads that will get 4 posts, and that's it.

The PA forums have been trying for years to strike a balance between what should go into a specific topic thread, and what is worthy of it's own thread. But generally, if you're asking about something that already has it's own thread, you ask it in that thread. If you start taking about something in a thread, and it starts to spin off to another topic, feel free to start a new thread so the first one stays on topic.

It's murky, and it's not always clear, just use your best judgement, and if the mods close your thread or tell you you're wrong, well then.....you're wrong :P

Fallout

if everyone made a thread for their one little question in the primary discussion forums like the comics forum, then there would be no room for the big threads

H&A is specifically dedicated to that need for help with specific things, however

Khavall

You're missing something big too:

If a thread has 37 pages it's not because everyone's ignoring it.

Ringo

He is afraid of his question being lost in the scrum.

But of course you then just ask the question again.

Or retreat to H/A

Me Too!

The thing with the GV question thread is, it won't get lost

People read it and see a new question and answer that question if they can

Now sometimes that answer turns into a discussion amongst the people who know things

But it's not like it is completely missed

DarkPrimus

I think BrotherVoodoo's problem is that he feels he's too good for the rest of us, as procedures that everyone else have found satisfactory are so beneath him that he dismisses them outright, without even trying them first.

Henroid

Penny Arcade is a big forum, and it's operated the way it has for a long time. People should learn to adapt to forums, not expect the forum to change for them. That said, BrotherVoodoo, if your question does get lost in the appropriate thread, nobody is going to be mad at you for asking again. As long as you're polite about it.