Thinking of new forums

Honestly, I would like a section that is a little less moderated. An OT section where things like religion, politics, etc, could be discussed without being closed just because someone disagrees with someone else.

I see so many good dicussions closed by trigger-happy mods just because something "might" get out of hand.

Maybe it could require a special registration so just some innocent bystander does'nt happen to walk in and get a bad first impression. Many forums sites have an "adult only" section for folks that have to prove their over a certain age. I'm not asking for a forum for adult content, but one where we can actually express our feelings.

I just think that there is a really great mix of people here, all with strong feelings about topics like religion, politics, current events, etc. And I feel like we're treated like children when threads get closed so quickly. Obviously no one should be able to just berate another member, but I should be able to say things like "Bush sucks and he is ruining our country", and "I think that Christians are wackos", and "country music sucks".

Of course people ar going to disagree, and some may even get upset or angered over my feelings, but I welcome and would encourage a good debate.

I don't know, the Lounge can get so boring sometimes. It's like, when a good heated debate gets closed, everyone is real quiet and walking on eggshells for the rest of the week. That sucks.


-evil

 

A pretty large forum like this one will have a wide range of ages, beliefs, views etc, - there's no really effective and non-inflammatory way getting around those factors, apart from common sense/courtesy, which isn't always as "common" as we'd like with some folk, I'll admit..

Politics/religion/ethnic threads are best avoided like the plague, for obvious reasons, i.m.o. But there are a few sub-headings you could split the Lounge up, if so desired, such as motoring, electronics (both already mentioned), general chat, audio, daily greetings/birthdays; forum announcements (which are often 'sticky' anyway, and so on. Birthdays is probably a good start, since there are a lot of them on this board.

Spam type threads, I'm not personally keen on, but some like that kind of thing. I suppose a sub-heading for that would at least stop them being too prominent for those that don't wish to see an endless thread at the top of the forum all the time.

I do agree it may get a little 'messy' if it's subdivided too much. Personally, I'm not bothered of its left as it is, or broken up a bit into several categories.

 

Why? We're all adults (well, if the section was made "adults only"), and we all have different opinions.


Why should topics such as these be "avoided like the plague"?


-evil

 

I think a nice geeky science forum lots of links and chat about new technology would be cool,just mens stuff, boys toys, no girls

 

In just thinking about the "regulars" here at MG, those who hang out in the Lounge, I can't think of a single member who is not mature and able to have a serious discussion. Thats one of the reasons I like it here so much, is that everyone is very respectful and mature. I'm sure what you're referring to happens often at other sites, but I just don't see that happening with the Lounge "regulars". Much too intelligent and respectful group of people to resort to name calling or personal insults. I just don't see it happening here.

In fact the last five or six closed threads didn't contain any name calling, as I recall.


-evil

 

Mainly because, as stated, we are a Computer Tech forum. That's why we are called "Major Geeks", and not "Major Generals" or whatever.

Squabbles occur when adults cease thinking like adults, which sadly happens a lot. The Lounge forum idea is for us to chat with friends and meet new ones. I've seen forums become an unhappy mess over such topics too many times to think otherwise. And yep, it has happened here, trust me. One reason why this place is a lot stricter than it used to be.

I like to discuss many things intelligently, including politics, religion and so on, but it has to be within the goals of this site, which is primarily computer tech help.

At the end of the day, I doubt the site owners would be prepared to lose users and members and reputation over topics that are of their very nature, controversial. I DO like such discussions, but there are other places for that, like Halo said.

Being over 18 doesn't mean there'll be less trouble, by any stretch of the imagination. Had 15 year olds that have been great, and adults that have had minds of a very puerile nature.

 

Well if those are the rules we live and die by, why are we discussing the idea of an Automobile or Motorcycles forum? That was MA's idea in the intial post. Those topics aren't "Computer Tech".


-evil

 

Maybe a Tips / Tutorials section.

Steve

 

Cleary a forum dedicated to rodents would improve this place~~

 

The mods here are hardly "trigger happy". And they don't close things because someone disagrees with someone else. When people start personal attacks, or whining because someone doesn't see it their way and gets rude about it, it deserves to be closed. Also, there are some members here that can't hold a conversation without making things up to support a position that they cannot back up wih facts, thus giuing little credence to anything they are trying to say. I've seen a few tech forums do away with their "lounge" areas as they morph into flame pits, and respect for other members is nonexistent.

I disagree with that.


I'll say this from my "privileged" position: For every item you see a mod deal with, delete, edit, etc., there are 15 things you don't see. You folks have no idea of the amount of bullshit these mods deal with that you never see.

 

Point taken. It's just that in reading the original post and trying to think of the most frequently posted type of OT post, it is probably the of the religion/political variety. Sorry, but religion and politics are a major factor in most current events these days. This being the Lounge, I'd much rather discuss current events with folks whom I respect for their intellect than debating whether a beaver is cooler than a chipmunk!

Anyway, like I said, point taken. I'd also hate to see this turn into a miserable place and end up losing members. Oh well.


-evil

 

Completely aside from the sticky idea of non-moderated/controversial forums...

Entertainment (sports, movies, books, music)
Automobile (cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, etc.)
Food (recipes, cooking tips, etc.)

Those seem to be the most common "off-topic" forums I've seen on various boards.

 

Picking up on what evilevets said - how about a "Regulars Only" section of the Lounge. Say only members who have made more than 100? 200? whatever posts.

 

Unmoderated forums are a bad idea. While it fits into the character of some sites, it wouldn't work here. The furthest I would suggest is a moderated hot button topics forum with a post rank limit, starting at Private 1st class or Senior Member perhaps, to discourage trolls and make it a less attractive target for troublemakers. Make them wait and they'll move on to someplace where it's easier to stir the pot. It would also spare those who wish to remain above the fray by keeping it seperate. Those who can't play nice, just lock them out. Any publicly posted complaints about a lock-out, ban them. It should be dealt with in private or not at all.

 

Maybe split it up into things like -

• News
• Music
• Automobiles/Bikes
• Other stuff

Just general categories, I don't know it could either work really well or it could separate everything and make it worse.

 

I like that idea. Very similar to what I proposed in my first post, but I like the "post rank limit" idea.


-evil

 

It's fine the way it IS the only things i will like is Maybe a guide sections,
You know internet connection speedup ,setting O.S ,and installing new hardware.....

If you had to much you will only ask for trouble you knows SPAM and flame war...don't need those....

My two cents.....

 

The Idea's of specific hobby areas sounds pretty fun...
Who knows, I might even learn how to play that danged Bass guitar after all...

 

i too think its fine just the way it is, despite the fact that my political/religious views are often not shared by the majority. when threads are closed, they have usually run the course of intelligent response before people start getting irritated with each other. the 'what kind of ? should i..?' posts are directed to all. if those posts were split out, we would lose the variety of knowledge and local availability that exuists in the lounge. i for one rarely look at the other threads, (with the exception of 'software' which i try to keep abreast of) and cant see myself trolling through 1/2 doz threads on specific subjects. (and i dont like change lol) much aloha

 

How about a forum with just 'clean' written jokes that can be voted and commented on

 

Well, technically that could be considered discrimination, and those not allowed in there would whine, and on and on and on...

@ evilevets: Well, Thead was an original member and he comes and goes and he gets his post count jerked around, etc., but he's pretty cool once you can understand his humor.

Then again, I know how you feel about some of these threads; it was frustrating to come home one day last week, and one of the threads right at the top of the page was some guy cooking his dinner while holding a muppet....



I didn't have time to fully respond earlier like I would have preferred, but I'll continue with some thoughts here. I've been around here about four years, met Abby because of this board, have talked to a couple dozen members on the phone, and for the most part have enjoyed it here. The only time I have a real problem with anything here is if someone decides to personally attack Abby, then their ass is mine. She's the most fair person I've ever known, and her moderating decisions are always based on the best interests of the board, not taking someone's side. She's paid for it in the past, hell, one of the many "spinoff" forums MG has created (you know, 12 mods, 6 members ), even devoted an entire thread to calling her names. But if you consider the source of the board, he had an incessant need of having his ego stroked by having tons of people blowing up his skirt anyway, so it was basically harmless.

There are numerous long-standing members that I continue to keep in contact with that don't bother visiting much because of the antics that have been mentioned. I can understand that. There's numerous people here now that I look forward to reading what they have to say, and I believe a bit more diversification of the board must just be a good idea to encourage more posting, but 20 people are gonna suggest 20 different forums, and you can't make everybody happy. And there's no way you could convince me a forum with politics and religion as topics is gonna stay civil in the long run. And no matter what the topic, it's gonna get spammed...period.

The members are what makes a board, not the colors or topics or door prizes. A forum is only going to be as good as the people posting in it, whether it be a tech forum or a donut forum. The trick is keeping it streamlined enough to make it look like the peeps posting in it know what they are talking about. I've said this before, I don't envy the mods volunteer duties one bit. I wouldn't be worried about being trigger happy; being ban-happy would be another story altogether.

As far as topics go, I'd like an entertainment forum and sports forum to be considered, and since Abby likes to cook, I think she'd appreciate a cooking forum.

 

Agree with laurieB. Leave it as it is. Nothing currently stops members from raising any topic in the Lounge forum. Another half dozen or so forums will be a real PITA to check out daily, as I currently check Software, Hardware, Lounge, Interesting links and Must have downloads every time I log on. Sometimes I go through them all more than once before I log off. Let other sites run uncensored forums. That is not why I joined MG. Bazza

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If it ain't broke......etc

 

I have a lot of interests apart from tech like gardening and cooking, but I don't think there are enough members or interest to warrant a separate forum for each topic.

Wouldn't hurt to try, and if it works would be great.

However, I haven't seen too many posts here on the subjects though.


I completely disagree with the sentiment that the mods here are trigger happy.

If anyone thinks that, they haven't visited other forums......

 

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
-- Bill Cosby

That just came to mind for some reason. I would also add that the day a forum I participate in regulates access according to post count is the day they can delete my account.

 

I say leave it like it is!!!!

When I come home from work, the first thing I do is check my e-mails and then see what is going on in the lounge, then I move on from there!! Personally I like the diversification in the Lounge. For one...you can kind of keep up with what everyone has going on, without having to bounce around through three or four different threads!! For two...it is going to be confusing (atleast in the start) and the mods/admins will be pulling double overtime trying to make sure posts end up in the proper forum, etc., etc., atleast that is what I think!!

Most importantly...repeating myself...I like to come into the lounge and hear about somebody selling their friends motorcycle, and so and so's trip to the fair with their kid, and the fact that somebody is getting disgusted with todays gas prices, followed by a killer recipe that someone just tried, all in one place!! And in the couple of years that I have been hanging around these parts...I can't recall anytime that the lounge was SO busy that your had to go through two or three pages just to keep up with the new post coming in.

Roger

 

That's pretty close to the way it used to be around here. There was a a nice balance of fun threads and threads covering many things such as what is listed in post #29. Interesting or helpful discussions were not only quite common but enjoyable to read and learn from...anything from how to replace a toilet to Kodo 'aka' The Shoe's latest open mouth insert foot comment. If we had a silly thread going there would be 10 or more of us participating and in an hours time there would be page, upon page upon page of hilarity.

As I was Halo's accomplice in crime here's my 2 cents worth.

We can't turn back the clock but we can try to make things even better and more organized. Keep off topic for off topic and categorize the rest in order to encourage and promote discussion.

The lounge is floundering...there are rarely actual discussions/conversations that stimulate the brain or encourage participation anymore. It's boring. Sub-categories may just be the answer to not only get people thinking AND participating, but also allow people to start a thread asking a question and have it be taken seriously instead of having it taken over. The topics Halo and I came up with, (minus the travel as that was Halo's last minute addition) came from Sgt. Tibbs initial suggestion. Out of the 5 categories Halo has in his post I can easily see myself actively participating in 4 of them regularly. I can also see them as being a draw for new members who are put off by what they see in the lounge as it is now.

There are a lot of intelligent, interesting people that are regular members of MG's. But alas, everyone seems to be hiding or caught in the rut that is the lounge and maybe, just maybe this is what we all need to expand beyond the mindless threads that are so dominant.

Final note...IMO having an adult only forum or a regular member forum is I think asking for trouble. There are not many people in this world who can carry on a mature civil discussion for very long when it comes to things like politics and religion...and there are even fewer here..more so I think because it can be so much more difficult to express yourself through a keyboard than if you were face to face with a person. Hurt feelings, arguments, etc. will no doubt carry over into other forums..it's human nature. You can't turn off your emotions/feelings by flicking a switch..it just doesn't work that way.

If you go the regular member only route and exclude newer members we will run into the same thing we have with other restrictions..they will spam like crazy to get their post count up to gain access or we will get blasted with irate messages.

 

I am sorry!!!!!!!!!!
On a serious note, I have to agree about too many sub-categories. the ones listed sound like good ones.
The food/recipe one really interests me, but when it has been tried before, not many reply.
Maybe with it's own category, people would REMEMBER to put in some good recipes

The other sub-categories, maybe the same. You see it, think, oh yea, I was going to reply to that, even if it is days later?

Just my two cents.
I do like it the way it is now, too.

 

Both key points, and they relate. We've still got some really good people here, but the mix has most definitely changed over the years.

A large percentage of the lively and entertaining threads were started, instigated if you will, and carried by a fairly small number of people (with lots of others jumping in on the fun), most of whom, for whatever reasons, aren't here anymore. Or like Abby and (I assume) Kodo, and probably some others, don't have the same amount of time to spend anymore. I've always been more of a thread joiner than starter, but I used to stay up & posting 'til the wee hours when things were rocking. Unfortunately, I don't have the energy to do THAT anymore, even if they were still going.

Thread hijacking was common as mud. But generally done in threads where the participants KNEW each other well enough to know when it would be enjoyed, or at least not minded. Threads would wander off-topic, wander back, much like any bunch of friends informally shooting the bull. Spam has always been around, but tended to be at least HUMOROUS, if not on-topic, again, generally where it wouldn't be minded.

You can't roll back time, unbreak eggs, or push the water back up over the dam, and you can't resurrect a mix of people that have mostly wandered off in other directions. Some of the active old-timers still stick their heads in... once in a while, but the chemistry that kept them here and active has changed.

This is in NO way meant to minimize any of our current group. There are still some really great people that hang out here, just not the crazy mix that kept the board sizzling all night long.

Adding new topical forums may help some; couldn't hurt to try, but the "good old days" mix that made this place what it used to be was a rare mix. I don't know what would put THAT back in. My only fear with splitting up the informal area into smaller subgroups is that there will likely be LESS posted in any one area, making each area look quieter than the lounge already does, unless there's some real interest in some of them. And there well may be. Won't know until you try, I guess.

 

It's been tried here before? Must've been before me...

 

I know I started a thread a while back with a recipe. Abby and a few others posted some of their favorites, too.http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=78334&highlight=recipe

 

Could even put in a word filter to eliminate or cut down on "dirty language"

 

Personally I think that a forum named Shawn would be cool. The only topics to be discussed would be about Shawn, for Shawn, or against Shawn. Just an idea.


-Shawn

 

Well my thought of a Regulars only forum was intended as a way of reducing Spam rather than get it bombarded with the stuff. But as I only see the forum from the outside I don't know the amount of said cr*p you would normally get.

I agree with Abby that the Lounge has started to get a bit dull. Before I became a member I used to lurk quite often in the Lounge to read the often amusing and interesting debates. This particular thread is the best there has been in some time.

Maybe then the Lounge should be "advertised" a bit more to bring in more members rather than have more forums.

 

Huh. I totally missed that one! Funny thing for me to do, considering I hadn't been a member here more than a week when I suggested adding a cooking/food forum!

 

GT, if the Lounge is quiet, then the Interesting Links forum is positevely dead, in comparison. A lot of great sites are posted there but very few members go there to read them and even fewer post. I, for one, for example, would rather post an Interesting (software) site in the Software forum as more members / guests would see it, but I try and stick to the relevant forum knowing full well that most members will miss it. Bazza

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Bump