Anti thread proliferation is a fine brake as a matter of principle, but the fact is that without a tight Buffy focus, folks are interested in talking about other shows. And now it's spread over Due South, Firefly (when we talked about Miracles) and Natter and probably a couple of other places.
The point of limiting the threads is to keep a brake on volume, and also to keep the board from splitting up too much. But a general TV thread is well in keeping with the focus and history of this board - it would just make convenient what is already happening anyway. Because people are already chatting about The OC.
I understand the beef about draining specific talk out of Natter, but subgroups already exist in the community and are both inescapable and necessary for a population this size.
If we don't have a general TV thread, then I expect general TV talk will be inconveniently and incoherently spread around. It won't stop it from happening.
Hey, Java cat, speaking of which, do you still need a copy of last week's TAR? I've still got it, though I doubt a copy would reach you by the finale.
without a tight Buffy focus, folks are interested in talking about other shows
I've always been interested in talking about other shows. Which is why I do it elsewhere, because I don't need to do it here, I don't see how our infrastructure could support it suitably here ... it's not like losing Buffy means I need to fill that void with talk of other shows. It's just as present as it used to be.
Are people really looking to fill something with this discussion?
If we don't have a general TV thread, then I expect general TV talk will be inconveniently and incoherently spread around. It won't stop it from happening.
Has anyone who doesn't want a separate thread indicated that they want people to stop talking about TV?
Would we eliminate the Smallville, Due South, and Farscape threads to consolidate discussion?
Gah! They're really distinct subcommunities at this point.
Would we eliminate the Smallville, Due South, and Farscape threads to consolidate discussion?
That's a great question. This is what I meant by wishing we had figured out what we were consolidating and what we were leaving open. I'm not so confused about what consensus seemed to be for the myriad Buffy threads (though that would be good to clarify through more than a 8 people discussion too), but was interested in more of the smaller volume threads that are currently dedicated to other shows or to special segments of the Buffy viewing population (i.e., Atlantic Canadians).
I guess before we begin to open new threads, I'd like to figure out if we are moving to a more "general interest" board because that would have a different implication for me.
How close are we to using up our bandwidth currently? Are we on the edge? Can we afford to have more volume?
I didn't think the issue was bandwith but was SQL connections.
I guess before we begin to open new threads, I'd like to figure out if we are moving to a more "general interest" board because that would have a different implication for me.
This gets into the whole "what are the Buffistas without Buffy" question that was going to come up sooner or later (or state of the board discussion). Which is mostly just an observation, but I have little to add but the observation.
I'd say the current proposal doesn't close any threads, actually, so no need for immediate Gah. I just wanted to put the question on the table.
FWIW, I personally think of this place as a general interest board, born out of a common love of Buffy, with something of a pop-culture focus. Also an attachment to good spelling.
Weighing in on the general tv thread, Tevya style:
On the one hand, there's a lot of great shows Buffistas watch and whitefonting through them in Natter to discuss them is a pain in the ass
On the second hand, a general tv thread is sort of outside the scope of of an M.E. oriented community
On the third hand, the community needs to evolve, and if there's demand for the thread, maybe it should be fulfilled
On the fourth hand, a general tv thread could draw a bunch of non-Buffistas or worse to our quiet "utopia"
On the fifth hand, I really want a place to discuss shows like Alias, and West Wing
On the sixth hand, if the tv thread is anything like the movie thread, I'm going to be afraid to ever go in there because I'll have just seen Tru Calling but not caught up on the latest Sopranos and I'm going to be prudish like an undersexed schoolmarm and avoid the thread at all costs, which will turn into me never going into the thread at all which totally defeats the purpose of having a place to discuss my favorite shows.
So I'm coming out against the tv thread, because at least for me, it won't serve the purpose. I'd rather find myself discussing Alias in Buffistechnology or Jake 2.0 in Buffy Spoilers, then have all the discussion happen in a thread that I'm going to be too chicken to ever go into.
That's my two cents.
