Ok I have ten minutes before having to do something so will comment on the post counting thread (the big one - I think the smaller forum games can be addressed with the post counts switched off for them and a review later to see if people are happy).
To explain why *I* don't like the big thread, which is entirely my perspective as a poster and not as an admin, I will add some remarks in an effort to help understanding. As an admin my process is to collect more opinions and discuss with the other mods, so don't take this as anything official - it isn't. And I'm posting it to get more opinions from the users, so by all means comment!
Why Rui as a person doesn't like That Thread:
1. It's cliquey. I can dive in anywhere else and feel like I'm in the Anime UK News forums. I feel that that thread is a closed group with its own community distinct from the rest of the forum and honestly, I don't feel as though everyone is welcome. It's often used to talk about other members and community happenings too, in a closed circle. I appreciate that this sounds rude, but as a user of the site I don't really like that atmosphere even though it's a friendly, chatty place overall.
2. The counting game doesn't seem related to its current function.
3. It takes a lot of anime discussion out of the rest of the forum and into that closed community - I read that thread every day despite only having posted there once, and there's a lot of great anime discussion sometimes. I can't help but feel that if the thread had never existed, that discussion would be in the community and starting some fun topics, instead of being in the post counting thread which hardly anyone ever looks at. This is an awkward thing for me to say as there's no guarantee that obliterating that forum as some people have requested is going to bring that discussion into the community either. It might just disappear. I definitely don't think we should kill that outlet of discussion for those who enjoy it, I just wish it would be shared around more!
Other people don't like that it's spammy and increases post count, but the latter we might be able to fix and that might resolve some of the former problem for most members.
-The counting part is completely meaningless and nothing to do with the content of the thread. Someone (apologies, I have forgotten) tried to explain that it stops so many people coming in and keeps the thread fun, but even as chat the counting feels disjointed and in the way.
-The site chat page is good but doesn't replace the need for the thread as some people can't use the chat at work in their breaks but still want to talk.
-Previous complaints have been that discussing things outside of that "hidden" circle is difficult due to trolling etc. Now that we have a moderation team, is there any potential for that to be easier?
-Would a "Clubhouse" (yeah it's not a cool name, being cool isn't my job) sticky thread in Random serve the same purpose, with the post counting left to the Forum Games category and the chat allowed to grow separately be of interest?
If that happened, and I'm not sure that the post count thread members will agree with my reasoning at all, we could monitor the forum games category better and see how used it actually is. Then down the line we can revisit whether it's serving a purpose. I don't think at this point we should just be removing things that are genuinely being used by a lot of active, contributing members, without carefully considering how to make things work better.
Am I on the right track with this summary?
R
To explain why *I* don't like the big thread, which is entirely my perspective as a poster and not as an admin, I will add some remarks in an effort to help understanding. As an admin my process is to collect more opinions and discuss with the other mods, so don't take this as anything official - it isn't. And I'm posting it to get more opinions from the users, so by all means comment!
Why Rui as a person doesn't like That Thread:
1. It's cliquey. I can dive in anywhere else and feel like I'm in the Anime UK News forums. I feel that that thread is a closed group with its own community distinct from the rest of the forum and honestly, I don't feel as though everyone is welcome. It's often used to talk about other members and community happenings too, in a closed circle. I appreciate that this sounds rude, but as a user of the site I don't really like that atmosphere even though it's a friendly, chatty place overall.
2. The counting game doesn't seem related to its current function.
3. It takes a lot of anime discussion out of the rest of the forum and into that closed community - I read that thread every day despite only having posted there once, and there's a lot of great anime discussion sometimes. I can't help but feel that if the thread had never existed, that discussion would be in the community and starting some fun topics, instead of being in the post counting thread which hardly anyone ever looks at. This is an awkward thing for me to say as there's no guarantee that obliterating that forum as some people have requested is going to bring that discussion into the community either. It might just disappear. I definitely don't think we should kill that outlet of discussion for those who enjoy it, I just wish it would be shared around more!
Other people don't like that it's spammy and increases post count, but the latter we might be able to fix and that might resolve some of the former problem for most members.
-The counting part is completely meaningless and nothing to do with the content of the thread. Someone (apologies, I have forgotten) tried to explain that it stops so many people coming in and keeps the thread fun, but even as chat the counting feels disjointed and in the way.
-The site chat page is good but doesn't replace the need for the thread as some people can't use the chat at work in their breaks but still want to talk.
-Previous complaints have been that discussing things outside of that "hidden" circle is difficult due to trolling etc. Now that we have a moderation team, is there any potential for that to be easier?
-Would a "Clubhouse" (yeah it's not a cool name, being cool isn't my job) sticky thread in Random serve the same purpose, with the post counting left to the Forum Games category and the chat allowed to grow separately be of interest?
If that happened, and I'm not sure that the post count thread members will agree with my reasoning at all, we could monitor the forum games category better and see how used it actually is. Then down the line we can revisit whether it's serving a purpose. I don't think at this point we should just be removing things that are genuinely being used by a lot of active, contributing members, without carefully considering how to make things work better.
Am I on the right track with this summary?
R