On the topic of the "Chit Chat" thread

[MexicanAnime]

Pre Face - At first when I saw that the Chit Chat thread was locked, I was going to attempt to make around ten threads with a different subject. Such topics would only include short posts such as "I had a good burger", "Work was bad today", "I found some money!", "Time to do homework", and so on to prove my point. While I still humor the idea, the admins, mods, and members have done no ill will, so I decided to abandon the plan and to avoid being snarky or snide. I decided to include this little section as I was pretty excited about it. However, I will attack the issue with a more direct, formal, and civilized way so that every one can give their opinion.

Let me first say that I respect the mods and admins of the site and they're pretty good with keeping this place in tact. That being said, the latest action to lock the chat thread is something I really don't approve of and that I would like reversed. Personally, I believe it was unneeded and unnecessary for something so harmless to the forum and the members. To be frank, I think it will do the opposite of what was intended, which was not a bad thing really.

As a moderator of two active forums and a person who browses many different forums, the most active thread is usually the Casual Talk/Chit Chat/Current Thoughts thread, which I'm sure everyone here knows. What's the appeal of this topic? Why do so many people love it? Well, within the limit of not posting a bunch of spam, one can just talk about whatever comes to mind or those little daily events in their life. There's no fear of "derailing" a topic if a conversations is switched and the whole thread is usually very relaxed. Sometimes someone may bring up a certain video game or show and there might be conversation about this. Honestly, there's no problem with this as can just do little chatter and be done with it, and then move on. If the chat were to be taken away, then the option you suggested would result in many threads over the smallest shows/topics/discussions which would clutter the forum. There would also be less incentive to check and comment as they would have to get through all the topics just to see it. While I understand not wanting to have restrict the forum to only a few threads, doing this will cause just as worse damage and have the same effect.

The chit chat threads binds everyone together (including the animu obsessed nut like me) rather than dividing them off into certain sections of the forums. This connection between the members is what makes it special and if this were to be taken away, part of that would be lost and some may eventually lose interest. Part of this is going off my experience with another forum where this happened, so it's not exactly unheard of, no matter how corny it sounded.

If someone wants to talk in depth about a certain topic, then they can feel free to make it still without having the chat thread. While I understand that the forums have not been as active, can you truly say that the fault of it is due to just one thread, let alone a harmless one like this that's on other boards and has done nothing but add conversation? For those who feel otherwise, feel free to correct me, but there's never really been huge problems on this forum, especially compared to all the sites I go on. The chat thread is welcoming and nice, which many newcomers first check out and is what has a high chance of making them stay. There's no conflict in the thread and as said before, only does good which is what really makes me wonder why the thread was locked in the first place. I can honestly say that I probably wouldn't check the forums as much if that were to happen and I'm sure a few others may feel that way. I don't mean this as a threat as if the thread were to remain unlocked I would still post around, but it wouldn't be as frequent due to the sillyness and the fun of just chating would be gone.

Finally, let me ask a question to the admins, mods, and members. Would you prefer the site to have more posts and topics in the loss of the current members having less fun and enjoyment?

If you feel otherwise or just want to share your opinion on the matter, go on ahead.

[Dazz]

As the admin, and creator, of several large forums, I disagree entirely on your views. You're welcome to hold your view, but as somebody from a position with analytical data to back me up, I find you can't provide evidence to back up many of your claims. I don't believe running a forum besides the one in question gives any more value to your thoughts than being a member of the forum in question does. That is of higher value than anything.

On all forums I have been involved in, Chit-Chat threads have caused segregation and separation, and devoid the forum from any in depth discussion. I understand why you feel the way you do as somebody who has been member for a long time and is already established here, but as somebody who isn't an hourly user of the forums, a fault of my own I admit. But, when you go to a forum and have to go through a single THREAD to read every new post that occured in the last 24 hours, you see an issue.

I don't want to go through 6 pages of "I ate a burger today" in order to find anything to actually develop a discussion on. We have a forum for posts like that, I hasten to add, which many people have neglected to remember; it's called the Playground.

Regardless of how well established members see this situation, we shalln't be bringing the thread back. I have been in charge of well over 100,000 people on forums in my time. I know what makes a forum click and what doesn't, and the easiest method of knowing if it's working is if people actually engage each other in discussion.

Just because we closed a thread doesn't mean we closed the forum, there is a whole board for those 10 threads you're insinuating you'd make - and if you had posted 10 posts in quick succession, we would have straight up suspended you for spamming anyway... So that would have just fallen flat anyway. I miss the point you attempted to make there.

Anyway; want to talk about burgers? Make a discussion about foods. Want to discuss drinks? Ask about drinks. People need to stop being self absorbed and talk to each other, which the Chit Chat thread prevented. We want you to engage in one another and act like human beings, and not treat the forum like Twitter.

[Combat Lobster]

I really can't express my opinion without getting on my soapbox and stepping on some toes, so I'm just gonna say that the chat thread being gone is a good thing.

[tigerlily*]

I think we'll see people coming out of the wood work and getting more involved now. I'm looking forward to it! :D

[MexicanAnime]

"As the admin, and creator, of several large forums, I disagree entirely on your views. You're welcome to hold your view, but as somebody from a position with analytical data to back me up, I find you can't provide evidence to back up many of your claims. I don't believe running a forum besides the one in question gives any more value to your thoughts than being a member of the forum in question does. That is of higher value than anything"

I cannot as it would only result in "In my experience", which I will admit is the strong force behind these claims as I have seen this happen multiple times. At the same time, I can't disprove your claims nor can you do so for mine as it's all a matter of viewpoint and experience. Granted, this is your forum and you're allowed to do what you please (don't mean that as an insult), but I still desire that my input be mentioned.

"On all forums I have been involved in, Chit-Chat threads have caused segregation and separation, and devoid the forum from any in depth discussion. I understand why you feel the way you do as somebody who has been member for a long time and is already established here, but as somebody who isn't an hourly user of the forums, a fault of my own I admit. But, when you go to a forum and have to go through a single THREAD to read every new post that occured in the last 24 hours, you see an issue"

Most of what I would say here would be what I said of viewpoint, but let me add that in my experience, when a few members start to have a conversation that lasts a bit longer than expected, topic is usually made afterwards where they can have an in depth conversation while still posting in the regular chat.

"Just because we closed a thread doesn't mean we closed the forum, there is a whole board for those 10 threads you're insinuating you'd make - and if you had posted 10 posts in quick succession, we would have straight up suspended you for spamming anyway... So that would have just fallen flat anyway. I miss the point you attempted to make there"

That was just more of a snark and snide way to get my viewpoints and it shouldn't have been taken seriously. The reason I posted "Pre Face" and italics was because that really wasn't a "point" to back up my other paragraphs. I just found the idea funny and put it there for my own amusement, do not worry.

Well, my brain is currently fried from school and walking, so I have nothing else to add that wouldn't be me repeating myself constantly. Though so far, it may seem that I'm alone on this and it's just me having this problem.

[Mass Distraction]

To be honest I never ever check the playground section. I much prefer to talk about random shizz in one thread and keep my actual ideas and discussions for more in-depth threads. I'm here for the community for the most part and it's kinda sad to not be able to casually chat with other people. Restricting the casual discussion has already killed one community I was on.

I was more inclined to discuss random and unnecessary stuff on the chat thread. I see actual topics as places for more deeper discussion that just random talk. Then there's the fact that often times people will get off-topic. Then someone comes and tells people to stay on topic and make a thread for that other discussion that was started. The same happens again and again and all I end up doing is skipping from thread to thread. This is my opinion and I'm sticking with it.

[Dazz]

Once again we have to consider what we promote to external sources; Who is going to join, and see a thread with 300 pages, and go "I'll start contributing there!"
In a thread where members who have already well established themselves are the only people talking, about just each other... You know what kills forums? No new blood. Members leave, and when nobody new joins, who is there to talk to?

This is the issue, not if you can talk to other members casually. Thread jump, it takes 2 seconds, it's also a lot easier then flicking through 6 pages of a single, inconsistent thread with no meat. There is no rule against making new threads.

We're a community message board, we aren't a social network. Yes, make friends... But don't act like you're the only people reading your posts - new members need somewhere to join in. When the only thread that is active is a chat between you, nobody is going to chime in.

[Mass Distraction]

To be fair, every new person who has stuck around have contributed to that thread.

But I digress, it's not like I'm going to make a difference here.

[MexicanAnime]

Once again we have to consider what we promote to external sources; Who is going to join, and see a thread with 300 pages, and go "I'll start contributing there!"
In a thread where members who have already well established themselves are the only people talking, about just each other... You know what kills forums? No new blood. Members leave, and when nobody new joins, who is there to talk to?

Members posting in chats that were many pages long is not a problem and I have seen that with this forum. When a new member joins, they can enter the Game Discussion or Chit Chat thread and already fit in with the discussion and the members. While this community is pretty close, I don't see why you're worrying about members here doing that as mostly everyone is welcoming and don't act very "cliquy". For my proof on this, all one has to do is check the different threads to see that both members and mods welcome newcomers in a friendly way without making them feel like outsiders.

[CosmykTheDolfyn]

Here is one issue that I have: How many new threads will be created because of this?
I'd much rather go through 6 pages in a single thread of random gibberish than 6 separate threads of random gibberish.
I'll admit, if there are more than two pages of unread threads when I log on, I don't read a single one. It's just too much to bother with, and I generally log off. If the number of new threads increases exponentially due to this, you may be seeing less of me, and other people...
In my general experience, without such a general thread, that is exactly what happens, and it has made me lose interest in a forum before.

But, for now, I guess we can just sit back and see what happens. If the site and forums benefit, great! Leave it. If nothing really changes, leave it! No real big reason to fuss about it.

[Combat Lobster]

Here is one issue that I have: How many new threads will be created because of this?

I'm working on posting those threads I never posted right now.

I'd much rather go through 6 pages in a single thread of random gibberish than 6 separate threads of random gibberish.

Then I suggest you invest in a Tumblr and/or a twitter since those better serve what you're looking for. (And you can post as many dumb gifs as you want too!)

Edit: VVV That's the kind of "stepping on toes" I mentioned previously.

[CosmykTheDolfyn]

All right, fine. No more dumb gifs. Since you're the first person to ever actually say anything. Generally, I just post those after something I figured sounded thoughtful as a laugh. Ironically, I hate both Tumblr and Twitter. And I have working on submitting more facts recently. Trying to get several new ones every few days.

[Psychospacecow]

So, what's happening exactly?

[Petie]

I don't have enough time for a fully response of my own here right now but to answer your question quickly, the chit-chat thread (and all threads of its kind) are gone, posts that are simple gifs or videos or anything else equally spammy are no longer allowed outside of the playground, and members are encouraged to create actual threads for conversation now. I'll be back with my own thoughts a little later but that should do it for now.

Edit:
See this post for my full reply.

[Zaliphone]

I'm glad that it's closed.

Just a while ago I saw someone post in it and I had never seen that person post before because they only really posted outside the chit-chat thread. It was kind of weird and I'm glad that the chance of that happening again is going to be much smaller.