sensing a rift

[aaron]

this forum is unlike most forums that i frequent in that there seems to be a dedicated forum or thread within a forum for damn near EVERYTHING. i wonder how overwhelming this is when new readers come through and have to catch up on 200+ pages of what movies everyone's been watching for the last 2 years, 90 pages of hi nice to meet you's, and whatever else is in the other forums aside from the main one.

i feel like a lot of people are really harsh about this to newcomers, or people who simply don't have the time to scan the forums for an answer to a specific question, when it could just be asked and answered straight away. i've seen a serious increase in the amount of "there's already a thread for this" and "please post in the dedicated forum" posts over the last 6 months or so, and some of them are becoming increasingly hostile. i'm wondering how this makes newcomers feel, to be berated for simply being misguided or unfamiliar.

/livejournal

(and yes, i know, we already have several topics about this)

[equalsign]

Feelings seconded.

[jp1]

Amen...I am sick of the "we have a dedicated thread" garbage myself. Imagine if real world conversation worked that way.

I also think it projects an elitist pompous attitude.

[SpaceBooger]

As a moderator I have been one to redirect members.
I do agree that if I have a question about something, being redirected to a post with 100 or more replies usually makes me want to look elsewhere. But on the other hand. Having to sift through 5 pages of similar threads to find a topic I want to read in a particular forum is also annoying.

So I guess what I am asking is that if you have a beef with our system (which I sometimes do too) please don't just tell what you dislike, give some suggestions on how we can improve the forum too.

[jp1]

I don't think there is much to suggest. How about spending the effort it takes to type out the redirection or "try google" or whatever else simply answering the question or having the conversation. Why does there need to be only 1 thread for every topic?

There are books on nearly every bit of human knowledge but when a friend comes to me to ask a question or have a conversation I don't direct them to the library, especially if I have the knowledge to answer them.

EDIT: I mean who wants a front page full of 1000 page stickies? That is where it is headed.

[noiseredux]

I agree with jp1. I mean I get aggrivated when it's a topic right on the first page, or something that's been discussed to death (like ethics of emulation, or your favorite console, etc) but for the most part you can discuss something again. Maybe even say "oh we discussed this in the past, see THIS thread for more details" but that doesn''t mean you can't start a new fresh discussion as well.

[J T]

[jp1]

That was great JT.

[aaron]

I don't think there is much to suggest. How about spending the effort it takes to type out the redirection or "try google" or whatever else simply answering the question or having the conversation. Why does there need to be only 1 thread for every topic?

There are books on nearly every bit of human knowledge but when a friend comes to me to ask a question or have a conversation I don't direct them to the library, especially if I have the knowledge to answer them.

EDIT: I mean who wants a front page full of 1000 page stickies? That is where it is headed.

i can't describe how much i was trying to convey all of these points with my initial post.

[J T]

I actually do like having certain things condensed into mega-threads, such as the "find of the day", the "Omg e-bays is crazy", and the "image" and "video" (unless the image or video warrants its own discussion). It keeps the board from getting too cluttered, especially by new people that don't know the layout.

I just wish people would politely redirect new forum members to these threads and not have an attitude about it.