Quality of Discussion

[Kryos]

Something of interest to me here would be comparing the vote results at this time(38 10 4 4 7)to post results.  Without checking, as I am too lazy to do it, I would suspect a vocal minority as I've observed in a few other threads.  But, that's just a guess.  Also the noise factor that might create.

P.S.  My vote is yes.  Because if you can't trust someone to use nil reach reasonably, why do they have mage karma?

Edit:  Here's a tally from the first page.  Not attributing who to what and so on, as it is not meant to be defamation.  Just a quick summary trying to be unbiased as could be.

Posts

Yes: 5

No: 3

Gemmed: 1

Branch it: 2

Redundant or off topic Posts:  9

I posted this over in another thread, and rather didn't like the result I saw when I decided to be a bit less lazy than first anticipated.  Perhaps one key to evolving the level of discussion here on the GDB is to keep to topic (branching new threads when needed) and being a bit respectful to both what has already been said and who said it.  The amount of 'noise' in a discussion would be tremendously decreased with these efforts, I think. 

I will make a conscious effort to do this from now on.  Will you?

And yes, ironically, that post was a break of my own realization.  Bad me, but not again.

[evilcabbage]

cabbages try to stay on topic when they can

sometimes we like to post funny things.

usually we also keep something related to the topic in the post somewhere.

it helps to not get forum banned.

[RogueGunslinger]

Quality of discussion here is  stellar, especially when you consider we're an internet forum with a slew of active posters who are very passionate about what they're discussing.  Can we strive to make it better? Sure I guess. I don't really see it as an issue. If anything I'd say sometimes people are too sensitive and too quick to take disagreement as personal slight.

[Kryos]

I would care to disagree on the quality of discussion.  One strong suggestion to this is threads being locked for people passive aggressively attacking one another or things they see in game.  The other is the sheer noise factor, one source of which you bring to light and I find quite true:  passionate posting.  Lastly, the sheer amount of off topic and some time just detracting content is vast.

[BadSkeelz]

If you think that's why RAT got closed you're wrong.

If you think the GDB is bad, you're wrong.

[Jingo]

The GDB was better once. This was long before there was a RAT.

I think his was back in the time where the Arm canon was still a bit more fluid though.

[evilcabbage]

rat was just a place for people in between characters to congregate and post.

unfortunately it's gone.

oh well.

i just occupy myself with game discussion now.

[Desertman]

There was a time I didn't understand Cabbage.

I have grown to enjoy how he speaks as though he's a cabbage.

Speak on Cabbage, lend your vegetable wisdom.

[Majikal]

I don't understand what this thread is about. Maybe I'm just tired.

Did I miss something?

[burble]

You could remove the vast majority of posts and there would be no loss of information on most forums. Asking people not to post useless drivel is asking them to go against human nature.

I like Reddit where up/down votes can remove low information posts from view and where replies to replies spiral off into their own collapsible branches so you don't have to see them.

I took a cursory glance at the SMF forums. A couple of possible coded solutions:

Restrict the number of posts allowed per day (there's a mod that does this). If there is a cost then people will treat posting as more valuable and potentially not waste it on low information - what's a good word - jibber jabber.

Code a topic type that only allows one post per account to prevent someone from hijacking a thread and allow the most varied input. I didn't see a mod for this at the SMF site but looking at the other mods it sounds doable.

[Barsook]

Just don't make a limit on the off-topic part of the forums.

[Desertman]

What we really need is a Turnip-based poster to post in opposition to Cabbage.

They could have an ongoing war in regards to the merits of above-soil and sub-soil vegetables.

[RogueGunslinger]

Limiting posts...

I'm sure it's obvious how I feel about that.

[solera]

I vote NO to a RGS nerf.
I am quite surprised that a discussion board is only about information, that thought had not occurred to me. I agree with the tighter expectations of the New Players section. For the rest, a GDB is about sharing information, feelings, humor, stories, I'd have thought. I think "noise" is a necessary evil. If we keep throwing out the bath water we will have no babies left. 

On a random note, how about if we had a thread with a 100 character limit per post? See page one of Moe's thread.

[Marauder Moe]

Twittergeddon?  Oh god please no.

Why the hell would you want to actively limit activity on the GDB?  This is not (just) an information resource.  This is a community.

[whitt]

This is not (just) an information resource.  This is a community.

QFT

[RogueGunslinger]

What we really need is a Turnip-based poster to post in opposition to Cabbage.

They could have an ongoing war in regards to the merits of above-soil and sub-soil vegetables.

Account name: Donald Turnip.

[evilcabbage]

What we really need is a Turnip-based poster to post in opposition to Cabbage.

They could have an ongoing war in regards to the merits of above-soil and sub-soil vegetables.

turnips live in the ground because they're a slave race, nothing more.

[valeria]

I think the quality of discussion would benefit if more people studied the art of arguing persuasively (protip: repetition is a valid persuasive strategy only when used correctly).

I also think the quality of discussion would benefit if people posting ideas approached it more from the "I think this idea is really cool, but there might be problems I haven't thought of and issues that could be mitigated" mindset rather than the "I think this idea is really cool, anyone who doesn't agree with it in its entirety is a fool, and anyone who thinks there may be problems are trying to stop progress and their concerns must be destroyed" mindset.

Finally, I've seen several threads devolve into "shout down dissent" threads, usually through some combination of the previous two things.

When these things combine, I find them very toxic and tend to stop participating in a thread.  If there's one way I'd increase the quality of discussion on the GDB (and I 100% agree is already much better than the discussion on most gaming boards), it would be to have more people be self-aware of what they're posting and how they're posting it.

[Desertman]

We are for the most part a community of pedantic know-it-alls who believe beyond any doubt we are smarter than everyone else.

We play a game where the entire focus is to outsmart other people usually for the purpose of killing their characters and advancing our own social agendas.

I am not surprised at all that our GDB is a viper's nest of people just looking to subtly snipe each other down any chance we get.

I usually try not to post too seriously just for that reason.

You show your throat around here and people are going to shit on you and toe the line of getting banned just as much as possible to make you feel stupid because it makes them feel smarter.

Maybe that's just human-nature in general though.

Maybe I'm the only one who sees it that way here.

I do generally feel like our community is one of people who oddly seem to care about each other but at the same time will take any chance we can to grin and say, "You tard, I'm so much smarter than you and this is why. Feel my interwebz-superiority by me pointing it out to you without actually pointing it out.".

If there's one thing people here love, or seem to love, it's saying, "You are an idiot and I am so much smarter than you.", without saying those words.

(That isn't aimed at any one person. That is aimed at MOST people here, up to and including myself. I have caught myself doing it and I admit that. It's something I do actively try to avoid however, I'm just not perfect. I do feel like we care about each other here though, which is an odd combination. There are people I will argue with here about just about everything they believe, but if they showed up on my doorstep in the rain and needed a couch to crash on for the night and a meal, "Come on in man. I'm sorry about your troubles.", and I feel MOST people here would do the same for me. We are a strangely tight knit but also incredibly abusive family in that regard. We are lovingly strange....you fucks.)

[valeria]

I think that's probably a function of the fact that most of us are actually used to being smarter than everyone else.  This kind of game attracts a pretty small subset of people, and requires extremely high reading comprehension and processing skills.  You know... things usually correlated with high intelligence.  And the people most active on the discussion board are an even smaller subset of people who like to argue about things.

It reminds me a lot of law school like that.  We've taken a bunch of people who are used to being the smartest person in the room, people who like logic and argument, and put them all in a room together.

I don't think it's shitting on other people to want to feel like the smartest.  I think it's more about how it requires some actual mental adjustment, dealing with people who are just as smart as you   That's just my pet theory, anyway.

[Desertman]

I don't think it's shitting on other people to want to feel like the smartest.  I think it's more about how it requires some actual mental adjustment, dealing with people who are just as smart as you   That's just my pet theory, anyway.

Oh what do you know! 

[valeria]

SHUT UP I'M SMARTER THAN YOU

[wizturbo]

What is this, a Mensa meeting?

[BadSkeelz]

i am super raisinable.

[Jihelu]

People are being off topic in the thread about not being off topic.
Thats some top tier irony.


Anywho I think people stay decently on topic.
Then you guys go off on something not so topic and it keeps going, someone points it out, and the same people KEEP GOING.

[solera]

I like watching topics wander, though I agree it must be a pain for serious stuff.

[Kryos]

My smile when I see the proof in the pudding?  Immense.  

But I do hope the point gets across.  As per usual, there are interesting takes on the nature of the beast  which were not in my original purview, but I now consider.