If combining seems to be problematic, perhaps it makes more sense to delete them, or put each up for an individual vote delete/keep. At this point, how many active participants do they have?

About ten each, but Smallville is more active during the season, and as mentioned, I expect it to get more active when it's the lead-in show for Angel, with a former ME writer on staff.

And now I'm starting to feel like one of the Atlantic Canadians stumbling across a proposal that we don't need that thread.

And now I'm starting to feel like one of the Atlantic Canadians stumbling across a proposal that we don't need that thread.

Mucho apologies, Plei. Not trying to make anyone uncomfortable, it's just several of the thread denizens of Smallville and Farscape have said they'd miss it, but would be okay if it was gone. That's why I thought it was fair to suggest it.

Mucho apologies, Plei. Not trying to make anyone uncomfortable, it's just several of the thread denizens of Smallville and Farscape have said they'd miss it, but would be okay if it was gone. That's why I thought it was fair to suggest it.

I honestly do anticipate a jump in its traffic, and I think some of the main in-season posters aren't on the board much at the moment, it being summer and all.

I *DO* want to see some consolidation of the Buffy threads, but I don't think that the existing non-Buffy threads should really be touched at the moment.

I don't know what to propose as a solution.

Can I summarize, for my own benefit?

Fewer threads = fewer posts, or so I understand. Posting expands to fill all available threads, so having fewer open threads would help towards resolving the connections problem.

Consolidating the DS, SV, and FS threads is proposed as a way to encourage consolidated posting on those issues (Kristen's "carpooling" analogy): consider it a pro-mearaing strategy. Also see above, re: fewer threads = fewer posts.

However, the concern is raised that consolidating those three threads would result in yet more posting total in that thread than currently occurs in the three separate threads because it would be used as a general tv thread (although that is not its stated purpose). Adding a new high-volume thread (such as a general tv thread) is currently discouraged for technical reasons involving board capacity.

Pro consolidation: might cut down on posting volume.
Con consolidation: might not, depending on whether the thread stays on topic or is hijacked via (natural and expected) thread drift to related topics.

Another option offered is to simply delete the three threads, which would help the board as a whole to an extent which has not yet been quantified. All three threads currently have fairly low posting volume, certainly totalling not 1/10 of Natter on an average day.

Huh. I think I don't know enough about any of this to propose a solution. Except for more enforcement of thread drift for the time being, until we get some resolution on the code issues?

What about -- and I know it's something people said they wouldn't like, but there don't seem to be any easy solutions -- rolling LOTR into Movies?

I think I don't know enough about any of this to propose a solution. Except for more enforcement of thread drift for the time being, until we get some resolution on the code issues?

Sort of like asking people not to overuse their electricity?

Sort of like asking people not to overuse their electricity?

I know, Elena, it seems nonsensical.

And the issue really does tie back into the question of, well, community priorities. Is this a genre-tv fannish board? An ME-verse-only board? (Although I think that was answered by the decision to open a Tim-verse thread.) A social/community board with more focus on social interaction and less on specified topics?

If we're a Jossiverse board then there's an argument to be made that the non-ME/non-Minear tv threads are out of our scope and can be tossed in order to support the more important elements of the board, however those are defined.

Thing is, every poster has a different experience here. There are people who post in the Farscape thread only, and who probably have no idea we're even having this discussion. I don't want to abandon them, but I also feel like this is, first and foremost, a Buffy community (despite the wide range of interests many of us share). And I would be willing to cut loose the (to me) extraneous stuff to keep the board and the community going.

But that's MHO; YBMV. (And I'm abusing parentheses today.)

Well, I'll be going pretty dark gray for the next two weeks, so I can feel all virtuous that I'm doing my part to keep posting down.

It seems to me clear that less threads leads to less posts. If I want to say something about Farscape AND bitch about my boss, I will post the Farscape observation there and the bitching in Natter. If there IS no Farscape thread, I'll mention my observation on Natter and add a paragraph of bitching (and, hell, probably throw a couple more subjects in there for good measure) --voila, one post instead of two, or three for that matter. I think having threads for high traffic subjects is needed or it will be too overwhelming, but folding much smaller threads into each other sounds very workable.

This is an xpost, and then, I'd ask that we move all discussion on how to improve board health to BBaBB, dicussion on consolidation and deletia in this thread, and banning ita in Bureau. All this cross discussion? Likely unneccessary server waste.

So here's my last xpost.

Why not move ALL closed threads off this board? Leave them up for ONE WEEK, no more than that. Then we put the in "The Attic."

We could have them hosted by Fangeek, at a pretty minimal price (I know da owners, I'll haggle). That should lighten the "click through" load on the server, substantially. The threads would be available for read only, just not on this board.

They don't have to be here.