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Thread: staying on topic

  1. #1
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    Default staying on topic

    .
    all of a sudden [the most recent 2 or 3 weeks], no one wants to make a new thread for a new topic. WTF?
    one person stated in one thread a couple of weeks ago that he didn't want to start a new thread even though what he wanted to say was completely offtopic, and if replied to would hijack the thread. then he said what he wanted to say instead of starting a new thread. since then, several posters have followed his example like ants following a scent trail instead of actually thinking and doing the right thing.


    here's the type of thought process that ought to occur to us when realising we're about to go offtopic:
    this thread is ''wipeout t-shirts on ebay!''.
    not only that, it's about a specific sale on ''ebay''.
    and a specific line of t-shirts.
    is this soundtrack promo flyer on ''ebay''? no.
    is it a ''t-shirt''? no.
    is it offtopic? yes.
    would it tend to take this thread permanently offtopic to the point where the topic title would be meaningless and therefore make it hard to find the offtopic data? yes.
    should there then be a new topic? yes.
    is it about Wipeout merchandise? yes
    would a general topic about Wipeout merchandise be specific enough? probably not.
    then the conclusion is that the promo-flyer should have its own topic since it is, organisationally speaking, on the same level of categorisation as a specific sale of wipeout t-shirts.

    wandering offtopic and then back again is okay, but lately there has been a plague of the kind of wandering that leads to hijacking, conscious or not, which makes it difficult to find what you want to find. no wonder newbies start threads subjects which have already been covered. even when someone is conscientious enough to really look for the needed data, the search engine can't even find what it looks for when the topic title has little to do with the posts in threads that go totally off their original course.

    |end of rant|
    .

  2. #2
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    Default

    Anyway, changing the subject... :wink:

    I've only just noticed that, good point!

  3. #3
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    Default

    I apologize if at any point in my visits here, I have done anything to annoy or frustrate anyone. This includes hijacking posts. Please be soft with my punishment. I wouldn't want, let's say, a titanium braided device of some sort to be brandished in any way, shape, or form. I now return you to your regularly scheduled program...

  4. #4
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    Default

    .
    lol
    .

  5. #5

    Default

    I apologize for that. It's just that a couple other forums I'm on, the mods get testy when new threads are made just to post a sentence or two. My Xios implant's busted; it's no longer thinking for me, apparently...

  6. #6
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    Default

    .
    it wasn't you that i was talking about, Robert. feeling guilty, are we?
    .

  7. #7
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Synthetic Consciousness
    It's just that a couple other forums I'm on, the mods get testy when new threads are made just to post a sentence or two.


    That right there is the important point: This forum isn't like "other forums". Things are _very_ different here. A lot of the more recent members have only experienced these "other forums" (which I've seen occasionally, but tend to avoid with rabid intensity) and bring their preconceptions with them.

    It's my opinion that _this_ is the way a forum should be, and the others are kind of like gross mutations that should be weeded out of the gene pool via the standard evolutionary process.

    When people come here and treat this forum like one of the others, it's like they're trying to change this forum so that it's more like one of those others. Some of the strongest reactions there have been here have been (understandably) against those people.

    I think the bottom line is that if you appreciate the difference that this forum represents, then you should try to change those "other forums" you frequent by trying to make them more like this one, not the other way 'round.

    For the rest of us, we'll try to not totally bite your head off when you do something "not befitting this forum", but it's tough for us because of how much we like the way things are here. 8 )


  8. #8
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    Default

    well sometimes it is possible to see the thread of thought for example a person says
    wipeout t-shirt at ebay
    second person says yes you can get wipeout t-shirt on ebay as well as other stuff.
    third person say really? I never knew that.
    forth person say yes you can, I got 2097 soundtrack there.
    5th person say I don't trust ebay
    a brief discussion occurs about the possibility of being duped on ebay...yes its deviation from main topic I.E wipeout t=shirt on ebay but you can see the progression...right?

  9. #9
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    Default

    Anyone can jump in and return the thread on track, really!

  10. #10
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    .
    depends on how you define a ''brief'' digression and whether anyone actually does return to the topic. recently we had one 'digression' which went on for four days and approximately 45 posts which never returned to the thread topic, and had nO relation to the thread topic. if the digression is a natural development and doesn't go on for more than a half-dozen or so posts, then returns, that's okay. as i said in my original post in this thread, there were several instances, in the period prior to my starting this thread, of people who knew they were changing to an unrelated topic, but intentionally decided to post anyway, which results in a topic hijack.
    .

  11. #11
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    Default

    If we ever get too far off topic, we'll have no choice but to dust off the old robot from Lost in Space.

    Take it away, buddy!

    *robot steps out of packing crate and buzzes*

    Danger Will Robinson, Danger! Thread hijack detected! My hooks are flailing wildly!

    Ah yes, good stuff

  12. #12
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    Default

    is this the part where i say "no comment"?

  13. #13
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    Default

    what you all looking at me for?..... (hopes no one will notice) i have to admit i have gon offtopica fair number of times!

  14. #14
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    Default

    Let's all stay on topic now, people! Don't make me get the Lost in Space robot out of his packing crates and flail his metal hooks at you

  15. #15
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    Default

    I'm thinking about that website goes online (page 2 onwards) thread, lance, well, i can't really talk, it was starting to go back on topic and i derailed the whole thing with that scrabble comment...

  16. #16
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Task View Post
    ...
    It's my opinion that _this_ is the way a forum should be, and the others are kind of like gross mutations that should be weeded out of the gene pool via the standard evolutionary process.

    When people come here and treat this forum like one of the others, it's like they're trying to change this forum so that it's more like one of those others. Some of the strongest reactions there have been here have been (understandably) against those people.

    I think the bottom line is that if you appreciate the difference that this forum represents, then you should try to change those "other forums" you frequent by trying to make them more like this one, not the other way 'round.
    ...
    I believe the general consensus on these "other" forums is that if everyone is posting a new thread for just about every post, then no one will post in the existing threads or worse - the new threads will be makeshift replies to older threads. I have entered a similar mindset of these "other" threads recently since my friend has opened a new forum for his website. However, I also look to this forum as an example that the new threads, if they so begin to bore the community will vanish into obscurity and become lost as a part of the primordial beginnings of that forum.

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