[SO META] On the current format of General Chat threads.

[Rogue planet]

I wanted to tell Matt to get it in the relationships thread but I couldn't because 'get it matt' is only 11 characters. :(

I think what he means is that even if you did say that, it's not really going to make a tremendous difference or add much to the conversation. If we allow brief one liners I don't think it's suddenly going to give a breathe of life into GC.

But at the same time rather than inspiring people to type more of a response, most of the time people will just think "well **** it I won't post at all" and I'd rather see brief one liners from people than silence so I'm supporting removing the character limit also.

 

[Honest]

Just to keep you guys in the know, we've taken the proposal of removing the character limit to hstaff! We'll let you guys know as soon as a decision has been made.


That aside, does anyone have any huge issues with the mini DCC idea?

 

[£]

I wanted to tell Matt to get it in the relationships thread but I couldn't because 'get it matt' is only 11 characters. :(

okay this totally makes sense I approve 101%.

 

[Oryx]

I don't really know how to word this but in the past couple days with this more interaction thing I've kinda felt less comfortable around here because threads are turning into debates. I come here to chat, not to be called a hypocrite because my opinion doesn't match what you think it should be. If I wanted that kind of conversation, I would go to D&D. Is there a way we can mitigate this without just flat-out banning disagreement? Obviously I don't want to just make it so you can never reply to someone if you disagree, but I also don't want to feel like my chatting messages are being analyzed for points of faulty logic to be attacked on because that's not why I'm in GC. :(

 

[Honest]

To be 100% fair, any sort of conversation can turn into a debate. It can be on something serious (Israel/Gaza) or something dumb (mayo tastes like crap). D&D, I think we all agree, contains the more pressing issues that hold a lot of weight. Talking about how bad mayo would taste would belong in GC. That being said, we can't shut down any sort of differing opinion. I'd feel in the wrong if I took steps towards removing the ability to argue. Of course, there's a line that people shouldn't cross when arguing, and that's where the report feature comes in handy.

Long response short, I would rather not.

 

[Shining Raichu]

#whatwouldRamessesIIdo

I have absolutely no difficulty writing four words or 25 characters and the amount of people who think removing it makes a drastic impact startles me! If there's a topic that can be answered in less than 25 characters it's not a very good topic of conversation!

It takes me about five seconds to write that much and I'm a slow typer! Like if it was a Skype chat I'd see the point in it but forums feel like... I have to put a little more into my posts than something like "yes/no/maybe/idk lol"

if people just took the time to have more #sickbanter in the GC forum we'd have a good time srsly guys

As I said when I made the request in the staff section, you would be shocked at how many times I've had a 1-3 word burn that completely lost its zing when I had to lengthen it to 25 characterss. The struggle is real.


On the subject of debating, I do see where Oryx is coming from. The thread about compliments from strangers recently turned into a huge Belldandy vs The World debate because everybody's world views didn't match up, and I know Oryx herself was very unpopular in another thread (or possibly the same thread? Yeah I think earlier in the same thread) which had something to do with men and women or something.

See, I know exactly what I'm talking about, I'm a real mod. It's my attention to detail that puts me over the top.

Anyway, I think this does need to be looked into. I'm not suggesting setting any formal limits on arguing, just perhaps making people more aware of the culture of the forum should they ever stray into dangerous territory in that regard.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

To be honest though, I do kinda like the debate aspect of the threads here. When I think of GC, I think of people having these conversations in real life which sometimes would spark a mini debate naturally. While I don't think they should be taken to the extreme as they would likely do in D&D, I think it adds a nice little spark and encourages more flow throughout the threads. Just my opinion on it.

 

[Honest]

I don't think GC would have any substance at all without debates of some nature. It's interaction, after all, that defines a chat.

 

[Oryx]

To be honest though, I do kinda like the debate aspect of the threads here. When I think of GC, I think of people having these conversations in real life which sometimes would spark a mini debate naturally. While I don't think they should be taken to the extreme as they would likely do in D&D, I think it adds a nice little spark and encourages more flow throughout the threads. Just my opinion on it.

Jesus, what do you guys thinks happens in D&D? I can guarantee that the two threads that are coming to mind here were as they would be in D&D. Conversations about whether or not statistics back up minorities and police officers, conversations about whether or not sexism exists, heated conversations where we have things like "you can't take critique" and "you don't respect people" and on and on. In fact, I would say if anything it's more heated here in GC than in D&D, because the people who visit D&D are generally doing so for a debate and are willing to back themselves up or change their opinion (a lot of the time anyway), so the debate is less emotional and more measured as opposed to someone just expressing their opinion and getting sucked into a debate because someone took issue with it.

If I had these kinds of conversations regularly with my friends, I would extract myself from that friend group because it would make being a part of it stressful. Which is why I brought it up here - I participated in said debates, and then found myself feeling uncomfortable posting in general because of them, knowing that if anything I say is slightly out of line or not the 100% perfect opinion I'm going to have to defend it until the cows come home because people will certainly let me know.

 

[Honest]

Jesus, what do you guys thinks happens in D&D? I can guarantee that the two threads that are coming to mind here were as they would be in D&D. Conversations about whether or not statistics back up minorities and police officers, conversations about whether or not sexism exists, heated conversations where we have things like "you can't take critique" and "you don't respect people" and on and on. In fact, I would say if anything it's more heated here in GC than in D&D, because the people who visit D&D are generally doing so for a debate and are willing to back themselves up or change their opinion (a lot of the time anyway), so the debate is less emotional and more measured as opposed to someone just expressing their opinion and getting sucked into a debate because someone took issue with it.

If I had these kinds of conversations regularly with my friends, I would extract myself from that friend group because it would make being a part of it stressful. Which is why I brought it up here - I participated in said debates, and then found myself feeling uncomfortable posting in general because of them, knowing that if anything I say is slightly out of line or not the 100% perfect opinion I'm going to have to defend it until the cows come home because people will certainly let me know.

So what do you propose? Because I'm finding it very difficult to come up with something that doesn't limit what can be said. Preventing conflicting opinions isn't exactly feasible, because they'll always exist. And when they're mentioned in threads, those opposing opinions will be brought to light. The way I see it, you can either respond to them, which is what's bothering you. Or you could simply not. No one says you have to prove your point. It probably sounds weird, but you don't have to engage in the argument. That mirrors real life; if an argument is coming, you can avoid it.

 

[Alexander Nicholi]

As I said when I made the request in the staff section, you would be shocked at how many times I've had a 1-3 word burn that completely lost its zing when I had to lengthen it to 25 characterss. The struggle is real.


On the subject of debating, I do see where Oryx is coming from. The thread about compliments from strangers recently turned into a huge Belldandy vs The World debate because everybody's world views didn't match up, and I know Oryx herself was very unpopular in another thread (or possibly the same thread? Yeah I think earlier in the same thread) which had something to do with men and women or something.

See, I know exactly what I'm talking about, I'm a real mod. It's my attention to detail that puts me over the top.

Anyway, I think this does need to be looked into. I'm not suggesting setting any formal limits on arguing, just perhaps making people more aware of the culture of the forum should they ever stray into dangerous territory in that regard.

I need to pay attention more. Someone smack me! D:


So, what's happening here is that instead of the prior aforementioned thought of D&D having chat, GC is having debates? o_O; I had a really aching feeling the police thread didn't belong to begin with. >.>

 

[Rogue planet]

If I had these kinds of conversations regularly with my friends, I would extract myself from that friend group because it would make being a part of it stressful. Which is why I brought it up here - I participated in said debates, and then found myself feeling uncomfortable posting in general because of them, knowing that if anything I say is slightly out of line or not the 100% perfect opinion I'm going to have to defend it until the cows come home because people will certainly let me know.

I feel like this is almost the nature of PC; not everyone here is your friend. Doesn't matter where you post someone can and will call you out on it if they disagree. I do it all the time, not with you because we're usually on the same page, but if I see something I don't like I'm going to mention it no matter how minor it is.

If it's getting too much, just stop responding. You can't change everybody's mind.

 

[Bellsprout]

Soooooooo is the character limit coming down here or is it still being talked about in the staff forums with no real progress?

 

[Nihilego]

Soooooooo is the character limit coming down here or is it still being talked about in the staff forums with no real progress?

it isn't coming down at the moment.

 

[Nick]

it isn't coming down at the moment.

"Why?"

is all I had to say to this post, but character limit.

 

[curiousnathan]

This is probably highly irrelevant,

All I'd love to see is General Chat be a chill place to well...chat. Whether that includes the "post and go" trend that is so apparently inherent in the forum, or not.

 

[Honest]

This is probably highly irrelevant,

All I'd love to see is General Chat be a chill place to well...chat. Whether that includes the "post and go" trend that is so apparently inherent in the forum, or not.

The problem with that is that several people consider the post and go method not chatting :[ There's no interaction... and isn't that what the main premise of a chat is?

 

[Rogue planet]

The problem with that is that several people consider the post and go method not chatting :[ There's no interaction... and isn't that what the main premise of a chat is?

except you can't really force people to interact more i mean what are we supposed to do? NEW RULE: YOU HAVE TO MAKE A QUALITY POST

that doesn't work. I feel if anything, you need to relax the rules, it needs to be more like a skype chat where you just post your instant thoughts

 

[Honest]

except you can't really force people to interact more i mean what are we supposed to do? NEW RULE: YOU HAVE TO MAKE A QUALITY POST

that doesn't work. I feel if anything, you need to relax the rules, it needs to be more like a skype chat where you just post your instant thoughts

What you said is exactly what I'm pitching as an idea; a relaxing on the rules. You're misusing the word quality, however. A one worded answer, in my opinion, can have enough quality to survive as a post, on the condition it's relevant to the topic at hand. Yes, I would like the posts here to be more like a chatroom of sorts, but there are still going to be differences between posting here and on a chatroom. A post that simply says "lol" and nothing else would be unacceptable. Sure, it adds to the conversation that you're amused by whatever, but you can definitely partake in the conversation with the same intent in your post, but add in a little flavor, too. "Lol" itself doesn't contribute to a conversation. But a post that says something like "why?" would be okay with me (as long as it's not a habit on the user's part) because it's asking for a respond, ie interaction.


There's a reason I asked for the 25/4 rule to be taken down. Andy and I are already super lax on the rules, but the issue is having people capitalize on that.

 

[Nick]

I'm not going to follow the 25/4 rule guys just letting you know so if you guys see me banned its because I'm naughty and a threat to the wellbeing of the community and didn't put 25/4 in a post I didn't need to.

#prayforme