Okay, here it is. Comments welcome.

Proposal:

1. Should we have dedicated threadspace for (non-premium) original cable drama? (Note: this would not affect programs currently housed in Boxed Set.)

Yes

No

No preference

2. If the ayes have it on the previous question (regardless of your individual vote) do you want this to be a separate thread or a combined thread with the current Premium Cable?

Separate thread

Combined with Premium

No preference

3. If a separate thread wins, what whitefont regime do you prefer?

Whitefont

No whitefont

No preference

4. If whitefont:

Whitefont until 24 hours after East Coast broadcast begins

Whitefont until 72 hours after East Coast broadcast begins

No preference

Hec, what bothers you about it? Is the problem highlighting to read or creating whitefont in your posts?

I'm not Hec, but for me it's the reading -- I find that whitefont breaks up the conversation, makes it impossible to page through a thread at my usual reading speed, some (not all days) adds just enough mousing pain to my day to make it not worth the bother when there's no way to know if what's underneath is going be a conversation I wanted to read anyway -- and as soon as I've made the "not worth the bother" determination, I'm that much less invested in the convo or (in the case of a TV thread, where it is the whole convo) the thread itself. And when I'm that disconnected, I don't come back to read later, or likely discuss the show on this board. Which is sad, as it's kind of why we happened.

(Writing is easy -- a single character)

oh! And while I'm grumbling about it, I'd really rather have a single rule like "TV threads are NAFDA". Having different whitefont rules for each thread makes it harder to manage discussions overall.

I do respect that many others are more sensitive to spoilers than whitefont, and I'd rather not talk TV here than fuck with the board consensus. But, again, sad.

I could be wrong (cause I don't understand a good portion of the stuff in that thread) but in BBaBB I believe there was talk of being able to customize the spoilerfont color in the CSS version of the board.

This is true; nonetheless, I felt the need to lay out the arguments for why (for some) whitefont can be a Bad Thing. We've gone to more and more whitefont, and more and more different rules for it, over time; because we're (rightly) sensitive to spoiler issues in general, the anti-WF stance often just doesn't come up in new thread discussions, but I feel like it's really an uncivilizing influence. Still, I'm sorry if the vehemence went boom at you.

I didn't notice a boom (I'm pretty dispassionate about this proposal due to my lack of cable). But now I'm confused by the uncivilizing bit. Whitefont is uncivilizing? How so?

I'm exactly the opposite of David

Because of your variable Beagle.

I totally get that there are many preferences on the matter.

I dislike white font for the reasons amych notes. Also, I dislike the hyperconsciousness you need in phrasing your post to white font things. It never feels like an engaged discussion, but like people trying to talk around family secrets in front of the kids. It's oblique and I'll-tell-you-in-the-kitchen and bleah.

I know it is the only way the spoiler averse will be able to engage in a bucket thread, but it's a big enough buzzkill for me that I would simply not post in that kind of thread even if it were devoted to nothing but my favorite shows.

But that particular thread isn't going to be a big home for me anyway, so I'm really not advocating so much as articulating my anti-whitefontery.

I do think the people who prefer/like whitefont might be in the minority (or content with TV discussion in Natter), but I'm wondering if it might ultimately be a good idea to have a bucket whitefont thread. Of course, that's even more splintery to the community but I'd consider it. (Because my pro-discussion position still trumps most other concerns.)

Basically we've got folks that can't deal with bucket threads that don't have white font, and folks that can't deal with bucket threads that have white font.

No matter what we do there's going to be a disenfranchised group of people.

I do think the people who prefer/like whitefont might be in the minority (or content with TV discussion in Natter), but I'm wondering if it might ultimately be a good idea to have a bucket whitefont thread.

Who gets the star-bellies?

I want to start with a star belly, but then I'm thinking I might invent a machine to print them onto others. Then I won't need one. I'll have my star white fonted.