A random thought on organization

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've noticed (and participated in) several threads here that are both interesting and (ultimately) controversial enough that they get closed down.

Typical topics? Paladins & their actions; Monks & INA; y'all know the drill.

Invariably, when (not "if," RARELY "if") the thread gets closed, one or another mod makes an offhand comment along the lines of "Lets not hear about this for a while..."

The problem, of course, is that such questions arise time and time again in the campaigns of people who DIDN'T participate in those threads, and/or who don't have the search feature for their account, so the questions get asked repeatedly.

Might not ENWorld Mods find their job a bit easier if they archived all such closed & controversial threads in some way to make them easier for ALL to find- either by stickies or by moving them to their own little subsection?

I'm not suggesting that such topics be banned- occasionally, a new wrinkle does show up.

I'm just suggesting that if there were a new section - call it The Red Zone, for discussion's sake- that showed up under the RPG forums menu that had all of these Paladin, INA and similar threads archived, there might be fewer 10+ page "discussions" that cover the same ground again and again ad nauseum.

 

[Morrus]

That's a little unfair to the new users who would enjoy discussing such tihngs. It would be much easier if those people who are "bored" with a given topic simply not discuss it and allow those who wish to to do so.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm not advocating barring the discussion, just lumping the closed posts in an easily searched forum...or perhaps having a stickied thread with links to groups of such threads.

For instance, the 1st post would tell you what the thread was about, the second post would be links to all the closed INA threads, the 3rd post would have links to the closed Paladin behavior threads, etc.

It might just save you guys some headaches.

Just an idea, though.

 

[Piratecat]

Some people love seeing the car crash of closed threads. Such a forum would get a cubic buttload of traffic.

 

[diaglo]

Some people love seeing the car crash of closed threads. Such a forum would get a cubic buttload of traffic.

fit my square butt in that round hole.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Some people love seeing the car crash of closed threads. Such a forum would get a cubic buttload of traffic.

And this is bad thing because...?

You could charge premium prices for advertising banners in the Forbidden Forum. And perhaps the ads themselves could also be ones that were controversial. Maybe put that extra-wide WotC book banner into heavy rotation, along with some of The Le's cheerleader banners. Were there ads for Book of Erotic Fantasy? That would be a good fit.

 

[Umbran]

And this is bad thing because...?

Because it gives you a clear and simple place to look for and find your old grievances. Rather than allowing time to heal wounds, it gives folks a way to pick at the scab, so it never heals.

 

[diaglo]

now i'm stuck with The Joker by Steve Miller running thru my head.

Cause Im a picker
Im a grinner
Im a lover
And Im a sinner
I play my music in the sun

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I don't know, Umbran...I'm pretty sure I'm a typical poster, and but for a few purges, I had subscriptions to every controversial thread in which I'd participated...

Whenever such a topic arose again, I could easily scan through my subscribed folder and find, link, quote, etc. from those at will.

And its not like the participants in a given thread varies, from what I can tell. If someone starts an INA thread, its like a call to battle to the most ardent supporters of position 1 or 2 or 3- they'll ALL show up, for at least a couple of posts.

Really, the wounds don't get a chance to heal anyway- they get reopened whenever someone unaware of the past threads starts the discussion anew.

How many INA threads get started and closed in a given month? Paladin Ethics Threads?

Joshua Randall
You could charge premium prices for advertising banners in the Forbidden Forum.

Again- the topics within wouldn't be forbidden, just an easy place to find the closed threads on the most controversial subjects- hopefully minimizing the rehashing of old (unsettleable) arguments until something truly new comes up that clarifies WotC's intent on Rule X, or whatever.