Has anyone ever thought of....
 

Splitting up GD? Into, say, regular GD and Post-Pumping Games GD? :D Just a thought. I just went back over to skinlove after a couple-month hiatus, and then went back the next day... and nothing had changed. There were hardly any new posts. It was like moving in slow motion!

I realize that with a more strict topic like WA2 skins, there's not going to be as much activity, but it does get a bit tiring coming in here and slogging through all the "junk" threads. Not that I don't enjoy reading/participating in them, because I do from time to time, but sometimes I'd just like to see what's going on with everyone, but I have to get through all the little games and stuff first.

Is this crazy? Am I gonna get FLAMED? /me hides under a BIG ROCK until all the angry veterans finish stampeding!

:D

I suppose that, even if it were split up, the occasional jester would start one in GD, though, eh?

I dunno. I'm tired. And I gotta finish working on my skin, it's due TOMORROW! :eek:

Sounds like a good idea to me. It's ok when theres only 1 or 2 games at a time, but it seems like recently theres been a new useless game thread every day.

Not just useless games, either! A lot of topics are just stupid "hey look at my topic" topics. I think it's a good idea :up:

Don't you think this will make people post stuff to increase their post count? Soon everybody will have post counts in the stratosphere.

No, what makes people post meaningless stuff is their belief that a high post count will win them respect.

Yeah, you're right about that.
I've seen some forums where they don't show a members post count. That way there's no "incentive" for posting meaningless junk.

It's a good idea in theory, but then it would fall to the mods to determine when a thread was appropriate for GD, or if it was a "post-pumping game." There's already been enough issues of what threads a mod should or shouldn't lock, etc., and having another such distinction would create more problems than it would solve.

A lot of the old timers say that the boards vacillate; that there are periods of lameness where most of the threads are games or other tripe, then, for some reason, things become new and exciting again. It'll pass.

I dunno, annoying the living hell outta everyone seems to be an incentive for some posters. (Not pointing a finger in anyone's direction)

then why are you pointing at me?

part of the problem is that post count does seem to gain respect with a large number of people. many people are quicker to dismiss n00b's opinions, and treat members with a higher post count with more respect

I think it's good idea to delete everyone's post counts.
I have a suspicion that at least one of them is false anyway:rolleyes:

quiet a few do already. take Inatlantis, or me.. ..well ok I'm not AS bad as I once was but still.

Well, as for me, I could care less about post count. I never have any clue what mine is anyway, and it doesn't really matter what level I'm at... people like me or hate me for WHAT I post, not for how many posts I have.

Sandman, I agree that there's a lot of trouble making the distinction between PP games and plain old "junk" threads. However, I can look through the front page of GD right now and find 11 threads that I think could be moved to this new forum, and on the second page I find 8 threads. I'm including polls in this, since polls tend to generate a lot of comments, and often sit on the front page for a long time. I've heard people complain about "Oh jeez, not another poll," and then other people say, "If you don't like it, don't participate." But I think that a new forum could provide a place for that sort of thing, where all the members of GD could be at both; there wouldn't be so many hard feelings about starting a poll or a game, either, because nobody would be able to complain if it's in a completely different forum.

So I guess what I'm saying is, this new forum could be a place for POLLS and for GAMES. Those are easy enough to detect that a mod could move one if it popped up in GD. Perhaps a sticky could be made telling everyone that there is a new forum, and any polls or games need to be started there, instead of GD.

I think there would be enough people that would frequent both forums. I'm one of them- I enjoy some of the games, and most of the polls. However, sometimes I'm just not in the mood to look through a LIST of them, trying to find the new threads in GD instead of the polls/games that have been up for days, weeks, or even months.

Is there any way to make one forum's posts not count towards post count? Deadrabbit, I agree with you a BIT on your point of having more respect for those with a higher post count, but... I don't tend to do that, so there must be some others who don't either. I have respect for the people who post sensible, or interesting, or helpful, stuff. I don't care if I ask a question and a guy with 3 posts answers it, I hold him in respect just as much as I do a person with 3000 posts who answers it the same way. Just because a person doesn't have a high post count here, doesn't mean they don't frequent other forums elsewhere.

I don't know that deleting post counts altogether would decrease the amount of noob flaming. Those of us who have been around a long time (I know, I'm a young'un compared to most of you) know who is and who isn't a noobie. You can also tell by the way they ask questions or... flame certain veterans :D

Anyway, here's a summary of my general argument:
1. I think there should be a new forum, a spinoff of GD, that is solely for POLLS and for GAMES.
2. It would hopefully reduce the number of complaints of "not another poll" or "not another game".
3. Mods MAY have to move a lot of threads at first, but I think people should get the idea after a while.
4. A sticky might help for those who aren't around if the split is made.
5. I think there would be enough people to post in both forums to make this worthwhile.
6. This would keep GD confined to newer posts, or those that have sparked controversy.
7. There will be less "junk" threads to look through when checking GD each day, and less threads that are days/weeks/months old.
8. People's post counts will probably either spike, or slow down quickly, depending on whether or not they want to "play" in the Polls and Games Forum, but I think at some point they will even out again.
9. If people DO want to post "junk" or post-pump, they would have a place to do that without getting flamed by other members for filling up GD.
10. I don't know about deleting post counts- I'd personally like to see if this would work at least for a while, and see if it deters people from posting "junk" threads, since they're not quickly seen because they're not in GD.


Thanks for all the input everyone, I'm glad to see everyone talking about it like civilized folk ;)

You make several good points M...chicA, and I respect that, but this idea, or ones like it, have been suggested before and nothing's happened, so I doubt anything will now.

Also, there is still some tension between the mods in regards to what threads to lock, move, etc., and I stand by my assertion this could create a similar situation in regards to what threads should be moved and/or locked. I'm not just referring to the current ones, but each new thread that shows up.

There aren' any new games much anymore. The Why and What games have declined a whole lot. I think the wWhy is dead finally. Now that I say that someone will prolly revive it. There's only three games right now I think. Maybe there could be a new one of fun stuff like picture threads and games and stupid polls. If someone already said this then flame me.:p

But I don't really want to see GD change. It would be too different and so many people would be lazy and just stay in one spot. That's mostly what I do. If you spent all your time in games then you would never get the important news and things like that in GD. Just something else to think about.

Although I generally like that style of moderating, it does have its flaws. A large number of "useless" threads (I define this as a thread with a huge number of activity, visited by only a handful of people) pushes more useful threads further down the list, making browsing and reading less of a pleasureable activity. So, in theory, your suggestion seems absolutely perfect. It strikes a nice balance between sanity in GD (I know a lot of members who've had enough of the craziness in here, and left), and pleasing the members who like to post pump. There is a problem though; it would be terribly difficult to moderate such forum. Who would want to wade through hundreds of useless threads to make sure there is no flaming/racism/etc? I know I wouldn't, and I also know I wouldn't want to force the mods to do this job. It's just plain unpleasant. So, I think the best solution is to discourage post pumping in the first place like we used to in the past. It worked fine then. It just seems that presently, authority has slipped, and we are letting things happen which we wouldn't before. If some idiots decide to still make a post pumping thread, we can deal with it then (leave it alone, chastisement, or just hoping that the other members of this community have some sense in them and simply don't reply to the post). So, I think preemptive education is the best solution.

Okay, I agree with you rm about keeping the post-pumping down... but like I said, I sometimes join in the games too... some of them are at least a little bit interesting or fun... you learn a lot about other people by what they post in situations like that, or what music they listen to, or how they feel about certain things.

Maybe I haven't been here long enough... how was post-pumping discouraged in the past? In the time I've been here, that hasn't really been done, except by flaming those who do it (not everyone flames, but it does happen). I'm just curious, cuz that sounds like it would work out great if it actually happened.

I admit I wondered who would moderate a forum like that, but I thought I'd wait and see if someone brought that up. I didn't know if that would be a problem or not, but I definitely see where you're coming from- I wouldn't want to be the one to moderate that one lol.

What's the deal with post-pumping anyway? Who cares what your post count is? I never even think of those games that way... I just answer the question, and I rarely post twice in one of those things. *sigh*

As far as people not wanting to move around the forums, well... I go to both skinlove and GD, and it's no problem. It just depends on what mood I'm in that day. I'm sure I'd be one to go to both a games/polls forum AND gd. But that's me. I can't speak for everyone, obviously :)

And Sandman, I understand what you mean, but like I said... by just glancing at the first two pages of GD, I can count 11 and 8 games/polls on each page. That's all I mean, is those that are definite. If it says "poll" it goes on the other forum. If it is a game in which many people MUST post one or two lines, instead of a paragraph of good solid argument or comment, it goes in the other forum.

I'm sure that in theory it sounds nice, but in practice it would be much more difficult, but I did want to get a feel for what you all thought about it.

Has it ever been done before? Is there any way to give it a trial run, or would that be extremely difficult?

Thanks guys!

post count is crap
join date is'nt

Well said. But who goes and looks those up? :D

[tour guide]If you will look to your left, you will see the date of registration.[/tour guide]
:D

like i said a while ago, post count and join date should meld into one rating that means much more. being registered in nov '00 with 31 posts is just as bad as being registered july '02 with 1000. also, there are those who sign up, leave, and then come back a year later...

if we use some sort of trigonometric formula, we could figure out a more accurate rating system (ie, those who have been here the longest with the most posts rate higher than those who have not been here long or who don't have many posts). but this will never happen, so why bother trying?

meh, forget i said anything.

sorry tri

you published for the whole world to see
we will not forget!

:D

That might be a good idea, but is it possible with vBulletin?

But why do we have to determine who is "more valuable" anyway? I know some people who have been here less time than me, and I really look up to them. It doesn't matter if they've posted a lot or a little. I don't say, "Hmmm, this person has 1000 posts in the last year, he must be worth more than this other guy who posted 100 in the last year." Or, in that case, "This gal has been here for a week and made four meaningful posts that were well-thought-out, but she's not worth as much as this other chick who has been here for two years, and has 1000 posts, even though her posts were rude and thoughtless."

These are just examples, I have no idea if there are people like this here lol. :)

Crap... thank you, Mr. Tour Guide, now you see how much I pay attention. I didn't even realize that shows up over there LOL :D I think the only thing I ever look at is "location" because it's interesting to see where people are from. Perhaps we should base member "rating" on location haha.

So we know who's first up against the wall when the revolution comes... ;)

Hey, keep your mouth shut, I've been here longer than you :p

LOL

and i've been here longer than both you. :p

i must say, i find that all the useless posts makes me feel much better about myself when i contribute something useful, when i actually open my mouth around here.

which hasn't been that often, as of late.

maybe you don't, and maybe i don't. but every time there's a n00b flame fest over here, one of the first things i see posted is "and judging by your post count" (see "will mr. chevelle please shut up" or whatever it's called) and other such nonsense. it keeps happening, and then inevitably there's a "post count doesn't mean shit" backlash. and i guess they're both right, but post count alone doesn't cut it, and neither does "registered:"

meh, like i said before, it's not worth the trouble, it'll keep happening in some form or another anyway.

Perhaps we should have a kiddie pool for the noobs LOL. Just to get their feet wet before they get themselves in trouble :)

The whole Chev thing was weird, that had to be posted by a lurker so it wasn't really a noob thing. I dunno. It was weird, that's all. What a loser lol.

Anyway, thanks for all the input everyone, I see what you mean, but I thought I'd run it by y'all and get some ideas and opinions.

All it takes is a little maturity...

in my experience the kiddie pool is always warmer and green from all the piss...