Suggestion for improving forum structure

[Sipex]

I was told by a mod that suggestions can be made here. I've noticed that these forums attract a lot of debates and arguements and topics do get locked if they go on too far or get too harsh.

Now, we all know you're not going to stop these arguments/debates/etc, it just won't happen. We're nerds, we get passionate about what we like and a lot of us like big, elaborate discussions...some on sensitive issues.

I'm suggesting a new sub-forum be made strictly to cover large, detailed debates and discussions. If we make a place where people can discuss the issues they're passionate about and that people know what they're getting into I think we'll see a lot less topic hijacking.

[Zeofar]

I think one of the major problems with this idea is that by the time most posters realize that they're in a big discussion/argument that would warrant a thread dedicated to such a narrow topic, they've posted pages of points and conterpoints and arguments and jibes, and the topic gets covered by a rolling snowball of people talking about a very particular thing who don't realize what they're doing. They don't get into heated debates because they WANT to, it just happens.

The other problem is that the moderators don't want heated debates that would warrant a thread lock going on anywhere in the forum, period. If people are saying things that are against the forum rules, then the thread its locked because of that, not just because it isn't in an "Meanie forum area - Come here to get insulted" board. Allowing this would lower the general tone of the entire forum, just like an option to disable the censor. If people need to get that into it, pm's sound like the solution.

Lastly, you would need to create a ton of redundant boards if you wanted to legitimately categorize all these debate threads, which sounds like a nightmare to administrate.

[Mystic Muse]

There is currently no real need for this. As Zeofar said, by the time it gets to the point where it's an argument, it'll usually be a several page long thread. One thing he said that I need to bring up though.



If people need to get that into it, pm's sound like the solution.

Board rules apply within PMs too. If you want to do something that isn't board legal, you have to take it off the board.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: This forum is not intended as a place for debates or arguments. It is intended as a place for civil discussion. The Forum Rules reinforce that distinction. Topics should be discussed in the topically appropriate subforum. Discussions of any length and complexity are permitted, even resulting in additional threads when the first one reaches the fifty page limit. If a thread gets hijacked by different topic, we can try to steer it back on course or split off the second topic into a new thread. But some subject drift is to be expected.

But all discussions must stay within the Forum Rules - threads that don't are likely to get locked whether they have twenty posts or twenty pages of posts. That means no Flaming, discussion of Inappropriate Topics, or anything else against the Forum Rules. We try to keep threads open by dealing with specific posts, but sometimes a thread is so intrinsically against the Forum Rules, or so far down the path of violations, that the best thing to do is close it.

We're not going to create a subforum for either formal debate or for heated argument. That's just not what GitP is about.