Forum Concerns - Community Meeting

[DrunkCat]

I agree with Socks in regards to Shout Boxes. Every forum I have been on that has had one, it hindered activity quite a bit, and it tends to introduce more moderation issues, which can be difficult to manage if the chat box doesn't have history, or lacks other features to make a moderator's job easier. Shout Boxes are also pretty susceptible to spam, which is something I've been trying to keep off the forums a ton. We've had issues in the past, though I think so far this year it's been fairly good, with only a few minor spam here and there.

You could easily describe mega-threads with this. I mean, functionally they are the same thing.

- - - Updated - - -

You think everything I make is worthy of a thread? :l

Yes.

[QUOTE=XoPachi;89264I don't have -anything- interesting to make a focal point of a discussion for anymore than 3 posts if that.[/QUOTE]
Number of posts in a thread doesn't matter. Make it anyway. No harm will come from threads with no posts. If you can give it a title and content, it's a thread. Personally I'm always surprised at which threads die and which threads take off, so don't always assume you know the direction it'll take.

[Socks the Fox]

You could easily describe mega-threads with this. I mean, functionally they are the same thing.

The main difference is persistence. If I post something to a megathread it'll still be there for people to go back and see, whereas with a shoutbox if you weren't there and it scrolls off the screen, it's almost certainly gone forever.

I still think both should go away though...

[Taw]

The main difference is persistence. If I post something to a megathread it'll still be there for people to go back and see, whereas with a shoutbox if you weren't there and it scrolls off the screen, it's almost certainly gone forever.

I still think both should go away though...

That's why I want to remove most megathreads as well. Only two I can see sticking around are the two mentioned previously, WGYG? and The Picture and Gif Thread.

I'm going to talk to the rest of staff regarding the potential changes still, and try and gather feedback before we possibly implement these proposed changes.

[DrunkCat]

I don't think anyone seriously reads anything beyond 5 pages back. :x

Also I can understand the picture thread remaining, but what reasoning is there for the WGYG? Leaving it open will just concentrate the activity in there and become the 'general general' thread.

[Taw]

I don't think anyone seriously reads anything beyond 5 pages back. :x

Also I can understand the picture thread remaining, but what reasoning is there for the WGYG? Leaving it open will just concentrate the activity in there and become the 'general general' thread.

We have been thinking of possibly disallowing rant type threads, and it was brought up to leave the thread, and keep an eye on it/moderate it more heavily (also have some rules for the thread itself). So that's why it'd potentially be kept around. I'm personally still on the fence on it, but I'm not opposed to either solution (or any potential other ones).

Edit:

Also wanted to add that I don't really tend to browse megathreads other than quick skim through a couple pages to catch up and look for anything that needs to be taken care of. But I likely do miss a lot due to constant subject changes in them, etc.

[Cause the Rat]

Yet another thing to consider about mega ranting threads. It keeps the number of single ranting thread down. This helps keep a more positive overall atmosphere on the forum. Wile still maintaining a place for members to rant and let off steam.

[piñardilla]

Yet another thing to consider about mega ranting threads. It keeps the number of single ranting thread down. This helps keep a more positive overall atmosphere on the forum. Wile still maintaining a place for members to rant and let off steam.

I feel the opposite, actually. People have a higher threshold for worthwhile content to start a new thread with than to dump in a megathread, so having forum activity center around these threads results in more airing of grievances than there would be otherwise.