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[Aurelia]

Ok, here's a slightly different thought that only just came to me but might work quite well...

What if the Chat forum had the post count turned off (as that is where the current games threads and also How Are You thread is) and is kept the same really - for light hearted chatting, amusing posts, the few games threads, etc. ?

I'm really loathe to make a sub-forum just for games as people don't come to this forum for the games, so the argument (that has been said in this thread) that "people will go elsewhere for games if you don't have them here" doesn't really bother me, because that's not what people come here for to start with.

We will be having more fun things like competitions, contests and some other non-competitive light hearted things (that may be in Chat or in Projects & Activities) so it's not like the community will be purely serious debates and nothing else.  We also already have the monthly art trade, skype chat, IRC, shoutbox, RAWR steam group, etc and obviously there's no reason why member's cant arrange to play games elsewhere with other members.  Also the Chat forum itself has always been for lighthearted threads, even if not games, so there is and has always been an area away from the serious side of the forums.

So... what if we try out having the Chat forum's posts not count towards post count?  That will mean they won't show up in the recent posts list so the games won't clutter that up, but it would also mean that the non-game threads in there (which outnumber the games threads) also wouldn't show up.

*sigh* I keep coming back to "why aren't we just enforcing what we decided last time and having just the 2 games threads?" but I guess that doesn't solve the problem of them cluttering up the Recent Posts list.  If we do end up making a sub-forum, I REALLY don't want to make it purely for games, nor call it a games thread, which leads me back to why not alter the existing Chat forum in some way to make it more conducive to the high volume threads in there?

Thoughts?  I'm going round in circles in my head heh.

[Rocangus]

What about making a subforum in Chat that is for the games, and that the post count is disabled there?

[Alastago]

Ok, here's a slightly different thought that only just came to me but might work quite well...

What if the Chat forum had the post count turned off (as that is where the current games threads and also How Are You thread is) and is kept the same really - for light hearted chatting, amusing posts, the few games threads, etc. ?

I'm really loathe to make a sub-forum just for games as people don't come to this forum for the games, so the argument (that has been said in this thread) that "people will go elsewhere for games if you don't have them here" doesn't really bother me, because that's not what people come here for to start with.

We will be having more fun things like competitions, contests and some other non-competitive light hearted things (that may be in Chat or in Projects & Activities) so it's not like the community will be purely serious debates and nothing else.  We also already have the monthly art trade, skype chat, IRC, shoutbox, RAWR steam group, etc and obviously there's no reason why member's cant arrange to play games elsewhere with other members.  Also the Chat forum itself has always been for lighthearted threads, even if not games, so there is and has always been an area away from the serious side of the forums.

So... what if we try out having the Chat forum's posts not count towards post count?  That will mean they won't show up in the recent posts list so the games won't clutter that up, but it would also mean that the non-game threads in there (which outnumber the games threads) also wouldn't show up.

*sigh* I keep coming back to "why aren't we just enforcing what we decided last time and having just the 2 games threads?" but I guess that doesn't solve the problem of them cluttering up the Recent Posts list.  If we do end up making a sub-forum, I REALLY don't want to make it purely for games, nor call it a games thread, which leads me back to why not alter the existing Chat forum in some way to make it more conducive to the high volume threads in there?

Thoughts?  I'm going round in circles in my head heh.

I think it would be a shame to lose all the posts in the chat area, not being in the recent posts and such.. The chat forum also isn't specifically meant for off-topic, but for stuff "that belongs nowwhere else" too, so it's not all spam, i see community things pop up there too.
I agree that a games section is a bit overdone, those things shouldn't get out of hand, and are rather hard to properly moderate, unless you tolerate just about everything.. It could become just a spam-filled place where nobody really cares about, just for the sake of posting, whereas the current games have some participation to actually have some fun.

But finally.. I don't really care if you decide to make a post-less sub forum for it, or moderate the whole forum to a few games threads, i'm not an active user of them, i just post in them for fun every while, so both solutions fit me.

[Nezdragon]

Ok, here's a slightly different thought that only just came to me but might work quite well...

What if the Chat forum had the post count turned off (as that is where the current games threads and also How Are You thread is) and is kept the same really - for light hearted chatting, amusing posts, the few games threads, etc. ?

I'm really loathe to make a sub-forum just for games as people don't come to this forum for the games, so the argument (that has been said in this thread) that "people will go elsewhere for games if you don't have them here" doesn't really bother me, because that's not what people come here for to start with.

We will be having more fun things like competitions, contests and some other non-competitive light hearted things (that may be in Chat or in Projects & Activities) so it's not like the community will be purely serious debates and nothing else.  We also already have the monthly art trade, skype chat, IRC, shoutbox, RAWR steam group, etc and obviously there's no reason why member's cant arrange to play games elsewhere with other members.  Also the Chat forum itself has always been for lighthearted threads, even if not games, so there is and has always been an area away from the serious side of the forums.

So... what if we try out having the Chat forum's posts not count towards post count?  That will mean they won't show up in the recent posts list so the games won't clutter that up, but it would also mean that the non-game threads in there (which outnumber the games threads) also wouldn't show up.

*sigh* I keep coming back to "why aren't we just enforcing what we decided last time and having just the 2 games threads?" but I guess that doesn't solve the problem of them cluttering up the Recent Posts list.  If we do end up making a sub-forum, I REALLY don't want to make it purely for games, nor call it a games thread, which leads me back to why not alter the existing Chat forum in some way to make it more conducive to the high volume threads in there?

Thoughts?  I'm going round in circles in my head heh.

I've been thinking, and here's my view on the issue.  I think it'd be best if the game threads were simply removed.

Sure, we're trying to keep as rules-free as possible to allow our members more freedom, but the fact of the matter is that no organized community can survive without some level of order.  There has to be enforcement somewhere down the line.  Unless they have their own defined space (which, there's already more than enough nooks and crannies to navigate around and watch over), game threads only serve to clutter up whatever section they're in.  We have plenty enough community events and organization for games to not really be an option.

I just say remove the "how dare you" thread.  "How do you feel" and "what are you listening to" are debatable.  They could stay, since they actually do have some semblance of substance to them.  If we're that concerned about it being a "rule" then we can point to the rule we already have: don't abuse the technology.  A game thread like "how dare you" is, in essence, spam.  Problem solved.

I understand how it's fun, and I used to be heavily involved in game threads in my younger days.  But they don't hold a community together, and removing them will not tear the community apart.  At the least it's one thread; at worst, three.  Not a terrible issue... unless people like the boost to their post counts?  :P

[Rocangus]

I must say I protest on the suggestion to remove the "how dare you" thread. It's been around for ages, and is a bit of fun in mids of the more serious discussions. Though it's just feedback, you guys are the ones to make the call.

[CosmicStarsAbove]

Rogangus has a point, it's good to have a couple threads to just screw around in, as long as we don't get carried away and turn into a draconian equivalent of /b/. :P

[Aurelia]

We've decided, for now, to keep things as they were with just the 2 game threads allowed and no new ones to be created.  Several board-information posts will be made over the next few days/week to give better details about this and other things that need re-stressing over the site :)

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