Specific topics vs. Generic topics Discussion

[SDS]

I know that you (SDS) are more concerned with traffic and more threads means a likelihood of more traffic but, from this users standpoint, one poster posting the same thing in 2, 3, or even 4 threads is a bigger pain in the ass to wade through than thread conversations that take mostly organic twists and turns.

 

I'll add that if you want threads to stay on track, or get filtered to be kept on subject, it seems to me that you'd need more moderator presence.

 

Well, I think more traffic adds to a livelier discussion, but that's just about it. Personally, I'm a headline scanner in the news and on boards. I never know what is being discussed on here specifically and I assume I'm not the only one. The kids and my commute have crushed so much of my free time.

 

Your 2nd point is well taken. Chz is queen in my book, but a change in culture would need a much larger presence by many more people.

[plenzmd1]

Twas my shout out to Promo as he denigrates us regular posters on SS regularly because we don't "sack up" and post on the schmozzle that is TBD.

 

Ink, only thing i will say here is i always feel like an outsider on this board, even though i have been posting since at least 2006. Not wanting to start an argument here, but the sense i get, and it could be wrong, is that if you are not part of the "core" here, your opinion is not welcome, nor are you. Again, i am not saying that is gospel, but that is the sense one gets not being in the "core".

 

To me, makes for a much less interesting board...as i can pretty much open open any thread and know exactly t who will say what and who will argue what side of the question at hand...

 

I love reading the opinions of people on this board, i grant the majority of posters are way more knowledgeable about hockey than I, but a little more accommodating stance prolly brings greater numbers of posters and much more interesting threads.

 

As they say my opinion, just liket an areshole, we all have one and they all stink

[Johnny DangerFace]

^^^^^I agree with plenzmd1 on this and sds for the most part. We have our dozen plus main posters (maybe 15-25?) that contribute most of everything and we have a ton of lurkers that I wish would post more and join in because all of the "core posters" are extremely welcoming to new opinions. But what happens is a new poster wants to talk about something, starts up a topic to share their opinion or to be part of the community, and instantly the BS starts. Multiple people say it shouldnt be a thread, inside jokes start, topic fails, and the new poster tried to be part of the community and got shot down unfortunately which stinks. Could they have joined in on one of the existing threads? Sure, but oh well they didn't and they felt more comfortable starting a thread on a specific subject.

 

I think we should be more open to new topics, and more specifically to new people starting topics. Give them a break, the more people the better.

[Taro T]

Scott, it seems to me that the 'all about' threads cause a lot of stuff to get lost and sets the stage for the other threads to have stuff off topic (to the particular thread) show up in them. Once those 'all abouts' get jumbled, it seems the stage has been set for more specific threads to get hijacked as well.

 

It seems to me to make sense to have a pinned 'all about the draft' to be there on draft day but it also seems silly to have a thread dedicated to cover 'everything' over a year before the draft.

 

Non-moderators then seemingly perpetually asking for something to be moved to a particular thread or stating that something belongs in a different thread also gets old (no offense intended to anyone in particular if that remark seemed to hit close to home, there are a few that seem to that).

 

Going slightly off topic, sorry, this place doesn't seem as open as it used to, and I don't expect it's only because the Sabres stink. We used to get non-Sabres fans show up here pretty frequently for GOOD hockey discussions. That doesn't happen much anymore. Which is sad. That was part of the fun of this place.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Taro T

[inkman]

^^^^^I agree with plenzmd1 on this and sds for the most part. We have our dozen plus main posters (maybe 15-25?) that contribute most of everything and we have a ton of lurkers that I wish would post more and join in because all of the "core posters" are extremely welcoming to new opinions. But what happens is a new poster wants to talk about something, starts up a topic to share their opinion or to be part of the community, and instantly the BS starts. Multiple people say it shouldnt be a thread, inside jokes start, topic fails, and the new poster tried to be part of the community and got shot down unfortunately which stinks. Could they have joined in on one of the existing threads? Sure, but oh well they didn't and they felt more comfortable starting a thread on a specific subject.

 

I think we should be more open to new topics, and more specifically to new people starting topics. Give them a break, the more people the better.

I think most posters are met with (slightly) open arms. Unfortunately, they come in full Kamikaze which the board responds in kind. I don't think we are an unreasonable bunch. A lot of outsiders fail to adhere to the culture that has been created. They swoop in with ridiculous posts and ideas. Should they be welcomed? What do I know but if every loon with a whiner line take swoops in here spewing their garbage, does it make for a better board? I think the culture in place ensures we can have somewhat reasonable discussion and segregates all the BS.

[Taro T]

I think most posters are met with (slightly) open arms. Unfortunately, they come in full Kamikaze which the board responds in kind. I don't think we are an unreasonable bunch. A lot of outsiders fail to adhere to the culture that has been created. They swoop in with ridiculous posts and ideas. Should they be welcomed? What do I know but if every loon with a whiner line take swoops in here spewing their garbage, does it make for a better board? I think the culture in place ensures we can have somewhat reasonable discussion and segregates all the BS.

Pinheadedness has always been frowned upon around here (Todd Kaz & the brain, yes I mean you). But it seems a lot of the thread policing is just petty and the desperation to start threads at times borders on desperate.

 

It makes it tiresome at times. Just MHO.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Taro T

[Johnny DangerFace]

I think most posters are met with (slightly) open arms. Unfortunately, they come in full Kamikaze which the board responds in kind. I don't think we are an unreasonable bunch. A lot of outsiders fail to adhere to the culture that has been created. They swoop in with ridiculous posts and ideas. Should they be welcomed? What do I know but if every loon with a whiner line take swoops in here spewing their garbage, does it make for a better board? I think the culture in place ensures we can have somewhat reasonable discussion and segregates all the BS.

 

I really agree with you and like the community as it is. And I think its an extremely friendly forum (there is a reason I cant stand other forums), but sometimes when someone starts a new thread with good intentions, sometimes the place can seem a little closed off or exclusive.

 

I will also say I would rather this forum stay as is (thread-wise) than turn into the cluster-crap over at TBD where everyone starts a thread for every ridiculous thought they have (and somehow everything is a topic duplicate).

 

Perhaps a couple mods are needed here to move post, close threads, etc.?

[dudacek]

 

 

Ink, only thing i will say here is i always feel like an outsider on this board, even though i have been posting since at least 2006. Not wanting to start an argument here, but the sense i get, and it could be wrong, is that if you are not part of the "core" here, your opinion is not welcome, nor are you. Again, i am not saying that is gospel, but that is the sense one gets not being in the "core".

 

To me, makes for a much less interesting board...as i can pretty much open open any thread and know exactly t who will say what and who will argue what side of the question at hand...

 

I love reading the opinions of people on this board, i grant the majority of posters are way more knowledgeable about hockey than I, but a little more accommodating stance prolly brings greater numbers of posters and much more interesting threads.

 

As they say my opinion, just liket an areshole, we all have one and they all stink

Less quantity, but far better quality here than TBD in my opinion.

But I know what you are saying.

 

There are some longtime posters who may seem like they are talking past you, but that is mostly because you are wandering into old conversations between old friends. Part of what makes this board great is the amount of knowledge on the board and, yes, there is a streak of making the new kids earn their stripes.

To me, it elevates the level of conversation, but I can see your point that it could limit the diversity of opinion. I think the calibre of the team has reduced the number of posters, but I have been surprised by the lack of draft talk this year.

 

I can also say the way to move past it is for people like yourself to keep posting.

My perception is there are far more readers than posters. I think most readers would like to hear more voices.

 

On topic, I read pretty much everything posted here so the amount of threads doesn't matter to me personally.

From an outsiders views however, I think more threads is better, but like Ink says, the inmates need some gentle guidance.

Chz needs help.

[nfreeman]

I've read a few complaints about the creation of threads, etc... So, I figured I would start a discussion here. Here are my thoughts:

 

You'll never please everyone, but we have too few threads IMO. There is a huge problem though:

 

Many posters here refuse to stay on topic.

 

That causes multiple discussions on the same topic in multiple threads and people get aggravated with that. Staying on topic requires discipline and restraint. If there are only 6 degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon then there are only 2 or 3 from any one topic in the NHL to another. If we could agree to stay on topic then this would be a much more user-friendly place to visit.

 

Subject lines should be descriptive and not generic."Tim Murray" is an awful subject. "I love Tim Murray's no non-sense style" is much better. We can have multiple Tim Murray threads as long as they talk about distinctly different aspects of the man.

 

The question is - can we stay on topic? Can we avoid the tangents? Can we start a new thread when a tangent should be discussed?

 

No one should ever look in a 2014 NHL Draft thread to find information on Tyler Myers development for instance. Everyone should have a reasonable expectation that of they scan the board they can see what is being discussed today given the subject lines. That's my two cents. We don't need duplicates threads, but distinct threads directed a specific topics that stay on topic should be the goal.

 

Agree? Disagree?

 

As one of the self-appointed thread police, I will say that the only new-thread issue that bothers me is the truly duplicative thread.

 

I agree. Seems things went downhill when the "all about..." Threads were created. That set the tone for consolidated threads.

 

I found the titles of those threads annoying, but not the substance (no more or less than any other thread, I suppose). Fits with my superficial nature, innit?

 

I honestly think we should have a few generic threads (draft, free agency, all around the nhl) like we do. And if anyone wants to talk about anything specific that's worth talking about, then they should start a new thread without fear of getting told it's being discussed in the general thread.

 

I agree with this.

 

^^^^^I agree with plenzmd1 on this and sds for the most part. We have our dozen plus main posters (maybe 15-25?) that contribute most of everything and we have a ton of lurkers that I wish would post more and join in because all of the "core posters" are extremely welcoming to new opinions. But what happens is a new poster wants to talk about something, starts up a topic to share their opinion or to be part of the community, and instantly the BS starts. Multiple people say it shouldnt be a thread, inside jokes start, topic fails, and the new poster tried to be part of the community and got shot down unfortunately which stinks. Could they have joined in on one of the existing threads? Sure, but oh well they didn't and they felt more comfortable starting a thread on a specific subject.

 

I think we should be more open to new topics, and more specifically to new people starting topics. Give them a break, the more people the better.

 

What if the FNG completely duplicates a thread that's 4 slots down from the top? I can't help but get annoyed.

 

Scott, it seems to me that the 'all about' threads cause a lot of stuff to get lost and sets the stage for the other threads to have stuff off topic (to the particular thread) show up in them. Once those 'all abouts' get jumbled, it seems the stage has been set for more specific threads to get hijacked as well.

 

It seems to me to make sense to have a pinned 'all about the draft' to be there on draft day but it also seems silly to have a thread dedicated to cover 'everything' over a year before the draft.

 

Non-moderators then seemingly perpetually asking for something to be moved to a particular thread or stating that something belongs in a different thread also gets old (no offense intended to anyone in particular if that remark seemed to hit close to home, there are a few that seem to that).

 

Going slightly off topic, sorry, this place doesn't seem as open as it used to, and I don't expect it's only because the Sabres stink. We used to get non-Sabres fans show up here pretty frequently for GOOD hockey discussions. That doesn't happen much anymore. Which is sad. That was part of the fun of this place.

 

I think those folks don't bother anymore because the team stinks.

 

I think most posters are met with (slightly) open arms. Unfortunately, they come in full Kamikaze which the board responds in kind. I don't think we are an unreasonable bunch. A lot of outsiders fail to adhere to the culture that has been created. They swoop in with ridiculous posts and ideas. Should they be welcomed? What do I know but if every loon with a whiner line take swoops in here spewing their garbage, does it make for a better board? I think the culture in place ensures we can have somewhat reasonable discussion and segregates all the BS.

 

I agree with this too.

 

Separately: I nominate this thread for top navel-gazing thread thus far of 2014.

[TrueBlueGED]

I personally prefer the consolidated threads. While I understand that for more casual readers of the board having one thread dedicated to everything about Tim Murray may be difficult to keep up on, I think I may go slightly insane having five different threads dedicated to five different aspects of Tim Murray. Perhaps more to the point, I don't think having more focused threads would prevent any conversation overlap or repetition--in fact I believe the opposite, that having five Tim Murray threads is likely to lead to the same thing being said in five different threads, rather than five different things in one thread.

[nfreeman]

Less quantity, but far better quality here than TBD in my opinion.

But I know what you are saying.

 

There are some longtime posters who may seem like they are talking past you, but that is mostly because you are wandering into old conversations between old friends. Part of what makes this board great is the amount of knowledge on the board and, yes, there is a streak of making the new kids earn their stripes.

To me, it elevates the level of conversation, but I can see your point that it could limit the diversity of opinion. I think the calibre of the team has reduced the number of posters, but I have been surprised by the lack of draft talk this year.

 

I can also say the way to move past it is for people like yourself to keep posting.

My perception is there are far more readers than posters. I think most readers would like to hear more voices.

 

On topic, I read pretty much everything posted here so the amount of threads doesn't matter to me personally.

From an outsiders views however, I think more threads is better, but like Ink says, the inmates need some gentle guidance.

Chz needs help.

 

Definitely.

[dudacek]

I would rather see a mod politely merge extraneous threads than posters feel like they should go after each other about them.

It would dispel some of what plenz is talking about.

Edited June 28, 2014 by dudacek

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

I'm glad Myers wasn't traded.

 

:)

 

That's why I like this board....it's like a big bar in the 70's. I don't care what you say or when you say it. Lurkers shouldn't get scared off. At a bar, strangers open up and spew opinions.

 

I'll be honest, if it turns into a regimented ideal, the team is going to be crappy enough for the next few years that it isn't worth it. I probably like the Bills 3x as much as the Sabres, and I haven't posted on that board in years and only look at it once every few months after I got a virus as a lurker. It's more like a junior high locker room. This is more like a mediocre golf course where you have members but reasonable greens fees open to the public. You may not get the best tee-time as a new fella, but if you show your face a few times, it's all good.

 

 

[SDS]

:)

 

That's why I like this board....it's like a big bar in the 70's. I don't care what you say or when you say it. Lurkers shouldn't get scared off. At a bar, strangers open up and spew opinions.

 

I'll be honest, if it turns into a regimented ideal, the team is going to be crappy enough for the next few years that it isn't worth it. I probably like the Bills 3x as much as the Sabres, and I haven't posted on that board in years and only look at it once every few months after I got a virus as a lurker. It's more like a junior high locker room. This is more like a mediocre golf course where you have members but reasonable greens fees open to the public. You may not get the best tee-time as a new fella, but if you show your face a few times, it's all good.

 

Staying on topic is more of a courtesy to the OP and the rest of the readers. It doesn't need to be regimented, but it shouldn't be all that difficult either. It's not like new ones can't be created or old ones bumped.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

 

 

Staying on topic is more of a courtesy to the OP and the rest of the readers. It doesn't need to be regimented, but it shouldn't be all that difficult either. It's not like new ones can't be created or old ones bumped.

 

I will make a suggestion...things go to archive pretty fast. There have been many a time I know there was a discussion, but the search filter won't bring it up because it is in archive, so I just make the point in a thread that isn't as specific. You can go to google with the query, but not here.

 

That being said, if Tyler Myers ever actually does get diagnosed with Marfan, you will hit the jackpot as this site has the first page of results.....

[SDS]

 

 

I will make a suggestion...things go to archive pretty fast. There have been many a time I know there was a discussion, but the search filter won't bring it up because it is in archive, so I just make the point in a thread that isn't as specific. You can go to google with the query, but not here.

 

That being said, if Tyler Myers ever actually does get diagnosed with Marfan, you will hit the jackpot as this site has the first page of results.....

 

Newest one there is July 2013. Maybe I just don't have the memory that some of you do. I never think of old threads to bring them up.

[Andrew Amerk]

I would agree that this board tends to be harsh to new posters, usually.

 

This board does have its "own culture," and you can't fault newbies for not automatically knowing it.

 

Some new posters are perceived as coming out with "guns blazing," but sometimes they are only acting that way because they were immediately jumped on.

 

This is a very knowledgable and mostly intelligent board, but that doesn't provide the right to act like self-righteous elitists to new posters who just want to belong on here.

[inkman]

I would agree that this board tends to be harsh to new posters, usually.

 

This board does have its "own culture," and you can't fault newbies for not automatically knowing it.

 

Some new posters are perceived as coming out with "guns blazing," but sometimes they are only acting that way because they were immediately jumped on.

 

This is a very knowledgable and mostly intelligent board, but that doesn't provide the right to act like self-righteous elitists to new posters who just want to belong on here.

I feel ya AA but lets look at DStebb as an example. Most everyone hated him upon entry to the board. At first, we pushed backed hard. We didn't want to hear what he way saying because of the way he was saying it. He recognized it and assimilated (muwahahaha) into the board.

 

Some people are ######. This place isn't meant for everyone.

[JJFIVEOH]

I completely understand the reasoning behind this thread, and I agree with most of it to a point. But if we're going to start the 2014-15 season by deleting posts, especially ones that were obvious attempts at humor and nott in any way meant to change a subject, I'm outta here. We have a civilized enough group where we can police each other, and have done so up to this point. If a thread strays too far off topic, I'm sure one of us can get it back on track. But deleting posts is crossing the line. I'm on several discussion boards and trust me, this isn't one that warrants any deletion of posts. I can't believe my post was removed.

 

If we're deleting posts that were blatanly comedic in nature, what's going to start happening with posts that aren't so obvious?

Edited June 28, 2014 by JJFIVEOH

[PASabreFan]

I don't see a big problem, but what's being discussed is important.

 

Let's just all commit ourselves to writing better subject lines, not getting our panties in a wad if a new thread emerges from an existing thread when appropriate — if someone creates a new thread today entitled, "Will Reinhart be in Buffalo next season," no one should say, "hey we're already discussing Reinhart in the draft thread — and being nicer to new posters. On the latter, I try to be, but the behavior of others has been pretty bad at times.

 

The one unsettling and surprising thing several posters have said is that they don't feel welcome here, or don't feel part of the "core" or feel left out. As one of the most prolific posters, it worries me that I've helped create that feeling. I have to admit, though, I don't have a good handle on what some of y'all are referring to. Can you put a little meat on the bone? What exactly makes you feel that way?

[spndnchz]

I completely understand the reasoning behind this thread, and I agree with most of it to a point. But if we're going to start the 2014-15 season by deleting posts, especially ones that were obvious attempts at humor and nott in any way meant to change a subject, I'm outta here. We have a civilized enough group where we can police each other, and have done so up to this point. If a thread strays too far off topic, I'm sure one of us can get it back on track. But deleting posts is crossing the line. I'm on several discussion boards and trust me, this isn't one that warrants any deletion of posts. I can't believe my post was removed.

 

If we're deleting posts that were blatanly comedic in nature, what's going to start happening with posts that aren't so obvious?

 

Not sure what you're referring too.

[PASabreFan]

I think this is what SDS is driving at. We had a thread titled Round 2, Pick 31: who will it be? When the Sabres actually picked, a new thread was created with the name of the drafted player. You can easily argue we needed just the original thread, but when I scanned the board, I found out we had picked Lemieux. I'm not following the draft today, didn't even know it started this early, and I wouldn't have known about the pick without the new thread. And it underscores the importance of a good subject line.

[SDS]

I think this is what SDS is driving at. We had a thread titled Round 2, Pick 31: who will it be? When the Sabres actually picked, a new thread was created with the name of the drafted player. You can easily argue we needed just the original thread, but when I scanned the board, I found out we had picked Lemieux. I'm not following the draft today, didn't even know it started this early, and I wouldn't have known about the pick without the new thread. And it underscores the importance of a good subject line.

 

This can't be shouted from the rooftops enough.

 

You would think that posters would want people to open their topics they spent time on. Poor, uninformative subject lines are like writing a novel and calling it "Book" and slapping a brown cover on it.

[JJFIVEOH]

Not sure what you're referring too.

 

Go to post #38 and click on my quote so it takes you to the actual post. It won't because it's gone along with at least two other replies to said post. I have the Email notifications.

 

This forum doesn't need policing. If posters get out of hand, a simple thread reminding people of forum etiquette would suffice. If the forum starts getting more policed posters are just going to leave. And with another last place finish looking on the horizon losing posters is the last thing this place needs.

[wjag]

Three things that I think detract from the board

 

1. Thread Police

2. Spelling Police

3. Internet Explorer. Can't tell you how many times the IE refuses to honor the "post" button.

 

I hope we are a welcoming board. I hope people would be encouraged to post and not be run off.