The new off-topic forum

[Darrin Drader]

Well, if you're worried that no one will go there, a concern that I would be surprised if proven right, just put up a sticky in the popular forums (that no one ever reads) announcing its existence and inviting people to post there.

 

[KingOfChaos]

I, for one, rejoice in the Off Topic forum. Especially if it keeps the annoying Hivemind threads out of General RPG Discussion.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I'm glad to see it's being tried, at the very least.

My only worry is irrational, I think. Basically, I worry that it will be the start of a quasi-elitist sect of ENWorld.

 

[Darrin Drader]

My only worry is irrational, I think. Basically, I worry that it will be the start of a quasi-elitist sect of ENWorld.

Too late.

Actually I think those of us the most interested in it are hardly concerned with our social standing.

 

[Skade]

My experience with forums is pretty minimal, so I have to ask, how would an off-topic board create an elitist sect among the members?

 

[MerakSpielman]

It's a fine line between what is on-topic and what is off-topic. The ubiquitious Roman d20? Those entertaining little movies mixing 8-bit characters with the Dead Alewives clip? Trogdor the Burninator? These are all things that I welcomed in the General Forum as being funny or interesting to gamers at large. Threads with the [OT] tag often get posts like "This is SO not off-topic! This is totally on-topic man!"

I can see the OT forum for things like "I am drunk" "Hivemind" and "I'm now a Daddy!", but there are plenty of borderline issues. I think the mods might be biting off more than they can chew, what with the number of judgement calls they're going to be having to make now.

Incedentally, if something is posted in General and you think it's off-topic, you're going to move it, right? What if something in OT is posted and you think it belongs in General? Are you going to move those?

 

[Skade]

I'm not arguing that Hivemind threads do not belong in the OT boards. I fully agree, actually. However, the threads are almost always peripherally related to games. Sure there is a lot of random silliness, but much of that silliness is things like what book or miniatures someone recently bought, or how their last game session went, or almost roleplaying like banter between the various personalities considering conquering the world at some point.

The Hive is alot like the conversations that almost invariably crop up during a game session without old friends. We make jokes about movie quotes, make off hand remarks about what movie we just saw, and talk about life in the context of gaming. It is perfect for the OT forum, but it is not quite off topic. Mind you, it is common for us to discuss whether we are drunk, and our kids, so yeah - I have no point.

 

[EricNoah]

I can see the OT forum for things like "I am drunk" "Hivemind" and "I'm now a Daddy!", but there are plenty of borderline issues. I think the mods might be biting off more than they can chew, what with the number of judgement calls they're going to be having to make now.

We'll try to take a pretty broad interpretation of on-topic and leave those in General. It's usually not hard to make the call.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

It's been discussed before that the reason most people don't read or post to Meta is that it is way down at the bottom of the page. The Off Topic forum is almost as far down (only 5 above Meta). It's likely to be ignored almost as much. I predict that the mods are going to end up moving alot more threads, and no matter how many times you tell people "It belongs in Off Topic" threads will start in General, only to die in Off Topic, except for those of us who will spend a good amount of time there. Breaking the General forum in half (which is essentially what this is doing) will just result in less people regularly posting in both areas. Some will migrate to Off Topic and spend most of their time there, others will stick with General, depending on what they prefer. The amount of discussion in each will not be the same as we had in General alone.

So, my vote is not to have the Off Topic forum. I like it all in one place, where discussions can attract people who wouldn't see them otherwise.

 

[LightPhoenix]

My experience with forums is pretty minimal, so I have to ask, how would an off-topic board create an elitist sect among the members?

I did say it was irrational!

But to rationalize, I've been involved in a few communities where people have decided to start secondary boards and channels and such, and it eventually grew into that. I sincerely doubt it would happen on ENWorld, because people here are cool. But who knows with people?