Repeat Threads - Can we please have some official rules.

[Insanum]

Or we could make a rule about not posting "search bar!" That would solve half the problem.

But then the Repeat Hippies[/B] Win. We need a negotiation here.

 

[Syntax Error]

You can't eradicate repeat threads. They are inevitable and they will always be a part of any message board. Weekly repeats, though, those need to be shot.

 

[quiet_samurai]

snip

Well who knows, maybe there should be a vote on it. See if the majority of the escapist still cares that much about it. I know that as long as ive been here it has mattered to the majority.

I'd say it's more the majority of the *vocal* users. And they're a rather recent majority, at that.

Oh no its you again...

Well i suppose, but then again what is a non-vocal user?

Someone who just posts on the topics, but doesn't get involved in all the "What should The Escapist be" threads like this.

Seniority around here is bullshit none the less.

I agree in 99% of the cases, but not on a 'proper forum etiquette' topic like this. If the way the forum worked before you joined up bothered you so much, and your only solution is to tell people that something that doesn't bother them should be replaced with something that does bother them because you like it better, well, why did you join in the first place if things bother you so much and your only solution is to tell the people already here they have to behave the way you say they should?

So what this really leaves us with is exactly the way things are now. Some will take exception to a repeat and others wont and life goes on.

Or we could make a rule about not posting "search bar!" That would solve half the problem.

You know that's the best point anyone has made so far. It would get rid of the problem. I just think people who make a big deal about it are just in denial and can't accept the fact repeated thereads will always happen. They don't like that the escapist isn't being ran the way they want it to so they whine about it.

 

[Therumancer]

In Internet time 4 weeks is almost a century.

Really, I have no problem with repete conversations, and nobody wants to chime in on the bottom of a thread that has been neglected for a week or more. Even when the conversations are even more frequently repeted, if they get traffic, in the end who really cares? The Search Bar brigade can always choose not to visit those topics and just leave everyone else alone.

Truthfully I can't see The Escapist caring too much since I believe they support themselves through traffic and people viewing the advertisements they run.

I just don't see it worth getting worked up about as I have said before.

But then again I rarely start threads, just jump in on those from other people.

 

[Fire Daemon]

It depends on the nature of the thread. It would probably be better to necro a 'Whats you're favourite video game character?' thread, rather than creating a new one, but it would be smarter to create a new thread that involves a topic with a high level of discourse, such as religion threads or topics such as 'Was the nuclear bomb the best way to end WWII?', things like that.

I think the poster has to know about the forums and how the community will react to their thread before they make a thread. If you know that it is going to be called a repeat thread it may be better not to make it. You don't have to spend a lot of time here to now what threads work and what threads don't.

It doesn't hurt to use the search bar before making a thread, even if you don't plan on necroing an older thread, just so that you can see how that topic plays out. Maybe reading the older thread will help you make the newer thread better? It certainly would not hurt to read some past opinions, they could be included into the opening post. Maybe you could see that a particular discussion doesn't work. You could try to find ways to fix the mistakes of the first or just don't bother. The search bar (and google) should be always be used when making a thread, in my opinion.

 

[Insanum]

Whatever gets rid of Fuhrerism is fine with me. I just go through a few pages with a few keywords, and then post if I find nothing fitting. Also, if you are going to be a Search Bar Fuhrer [SBF], please, do it politely, and don't get all sarcastic in the process. That's the only thing that is pissing me off. People are getting all sarcastic because they are mad of a repeat thread.

I searched "children" on that post and come up with three similar recent threads. I got annoyed at people refering to me as an SBF for pointing out a valid point.

Yeah, but your point didn't contribute anything to the topic. You didn't post "oh hey--here's another thread, and look: someone did post an answer to the question you asked about a clear, non-selfish reason(s) for wanting children."

In other words, even if you ARE going to point out the search bar, make sure the threads you've found actually answer the OP's question. The point of the search bar is to find things of *value*, not just to make a valid point about how there have been similar topics.

That particular thread was similar to the other one. The other thread seemed to answer the question better. Topic close enough to be repeat. The search bar is for finding points, but is rarely used.

I know[/I] that there are ALWAYS going to be repeat threads, But if we can minimise them it would be helpful. These forums have definately declined since i have been on them, repeat thread ratio has shot up & actual post quality has gone from being amusing and inciteful to being all the same.

And i know no-one has died from not using the search bar, It was a metaphor, and a damned good one at that.

 

[Akai Shizuku]

Why do people care so much about this?

 

[diablomaki]

i wonder how many people would have a brain aneurysm if i started another thread about repeat threads, or would the world turn into alot of happy little bunnies.....

 

[Akai Shizuku]

i wonder how many people would have a brain aneurysm if i started another thread about repeat threads, or would the world turn into alot of happy little bunnies.....

Let's each make one and see what happens.

 

[Insanum]

Or we could make a rule about not posting "search bar!" That would solve half the problem.

But then the Repeat Hippies Win. We need a negotiation here.

Well, there's what your argument boils down to: we can't let the Repeat Hippies[/B] win.

Seems kinda silly when you think of all the greater manifestations of forum ass-haberdashery going on around it to worry about that, doesn't it?

Basically its not about being right & wrong anymore. We seem to have two clear sides, The Search bar brigade/nazis & the Repeat Hippies. We need to find a middleground. I dont think that the 4 week rule isnt unfair. If they made it official im fairly certain it would drag the quality up.

And it's in the escapist intrest. Better forums = more users = more traffic, correct?

 

[Insanum]

It is not written, but I believe the unofficial rule for repeating is like 3 months or so. I'm not sure, though.

Actually Lab wrote just recently in a thread that the rule is 3 months from the last post, not creation date. But ya, she needs to add that to the stickies.

Ahh, If they could shorten that to 4 weeks im sure that the repeat hippies would be happy, and the search bar brigade can live with that.

 

[Faeanor]

Snip - see above for full post

you do have a fair point. Isnt it easier then to ignore the one post that says "please use the search bar"? you are right tho - No-one really reads all the pages of a really long thread (there was a thread about this a few days back) but

But you forget that the simple act of posting "Please use the search bar" bumps the repeat thread. Not posting in a thread is the ONLY way to make it die.

Well i suppose, but then again what is a non-vocal user?

We're called lurkers.

 

[ZSF]

We're called lurkers.

Very effective against marines pre-comsat.

 

[Standby]

At the end of the day, they're not your forums, don't like the fact that a similar thread has popped up after 2 days? Heres an idea, don't post in it.

There are many threads that pass through the pipes so to speak before a lot of people even see them, which is why there is always repeat input and discussion within them (and a small minority crying 'Repeat!'), if it just so happens to be a topic ou discussed last week, fine, move on and let other people discuss it.

Perhaps it's an indication you're on the boards too much scanning the topics, in which case it might be time to go spend your time doing something else. Likewise if a topic appears and the first thing you do is search to see if it was done before, methink you should go search for a life.