Okay, I said I wouldn't come back, but eh, whatever. I have a comment on the volume issue.

The only gaming talk I have ever seen on this board has been in Bitches, and it has not taken off or taken over the thread the way the potential posters of the proposed gaming thread seem to be saying it would in Other Media.

Generally when the topic crops up, there are four or five posts of "old gaming war stories," three or four of "I'm playing X version of Y this weekend, how about you?" and maybe a half dozen more miscellaneous other comments. The conversation doesn't take over the thread, doesn't go on for hours, doesn't even really span more than a few pages of posts (and I read 50 at a time). The topic comes up, it goes back down again, same as everything else.

And I've never seen anyone go "Ugh, not gaming again" when it does come up, so it's not like anything is preventing the conversation from continuing longer beyond simple lack of momentum.

All of which adds up to some serious skepticism on my part that a dedicated thread is sustainable. That is all.

megan, does it help any I explain that it isn't this thread in particular so much as the precedent its creation would set?

Still mostly stepped away, but I think a) precedent has already been set, but more importantly b) it feels to me that the more times we go through this, the murkier the idea of precedent becomes around here. To me, it seems that we've actually done a remarkable job of treating each proposal as stand alone. I just don't see that we really do precedent around here.

I just don't see that we really do precedent around here.

FWIW, I was re-reading the "Define spoiler" vote the other day, and that entire discussion hinged on precedent. As do things like the fact that we don't sign our names to our posts. Precedent is everywhere; it's just usually invisible until people realize that they didn't all interpret it the same way.

And I've never seen anyone go "Ugh, not gaming again" when it does come up, so it's not like anything is preventing the conversation from continuing longer beyond simple lack of momentum.

Oh, that's interesting. Because, people do say "Ugh, not baseball again" when it comes up. But baseball people just talk on anyway, and sometimes mention how much Hecubus hates cats.

Oh, that's interesting. Because, people do say "Ugh, not baseball again" when it comes up. But baseball people just talk on anyway, and sometimes mention how much Hecubus hates cats.

Cat hatred is a not uncommon topic when discussing board games too. Usually after said feline has decided to subject war-torn Western Europe to closer scrutiny, and possibly territory marking.

Usually after said feline has decided to subject war-torn Western Europe to closer scrutiny, and possibly territory marking.

That reminds me of this one time playing Risk; I had just moved a gazillion troops up from Australia into Asia and just then the house kitty, Stalin, decided to jump on the table from the north, knocking all my guys and many of a couple other players askew. Europe was all a-jumble...

...oh, but I digress and threaten to overwhelm this thread with my gaming jibba jabba.

(OW! Goddamn it, I just bit my tongue again. Must remember to occasionally remove from cheek.)

The baseball talk reminds me why I am cautious about specific subject proliferation. One of my very favorite things about B.org is the chance to learn about other people's passions. I don't game or do Flash animations or do Krav, but I love learning about them through smart, idle chit-chat as the talk turns to them. If gamers have their own thread, that talk will go there, and I will lose the chance to hear about it in Bitches or wherever.

...oh, but I digress and threaten to overwhelm this thread with my gaming jibba jabba.

Jeez, save your pickup lines for... well, probably the grand jury.

So. Gaming thread. I likes it. Proliferation doesn't bug me, I already picture this place as a nerdhole in a hub-and-spoke model.

Remind me, how long till the board rolls its Will save votes?

Scrappy, I not only get the argument when put just that way, but I even empathize strongly with it. You are ever wise.

That being said, I still like and want a gaming thread, and I think we'd certainly be welcoming to all comers.

there was this total assface playing a Ranger and he did the dumbest shit ever...

Wait, I think I know who you are talking about!

As for the discussion at hand, I feel like I threw in the towel years ago. I'm spoiler phobic, this is what I bring up all the time. Multipurpose threads work about as well as a square wheel does for me. I don't go in Other Media because I'm slowly reading the Other Media that is contained therein and don't want to be spoiled. I gave up on discussion SF on b.org so long ago that half the time I forget that it's actually discussed here. I have deeper discussions about it with my grocery store checker at this point.

From my perspective the multipurpose threads have hurt my sense of b.org community over and over again. Yes, I'd love to talk gaming here. If it happens great. If not, I'll probably just stick with IM discussions about it.

Hmm. I am... on the fence.

I'm hypothetically antiproliferation, as I understand that there are, in the end, infrastructure issues with endless thread proliferation--not to imply that this is the Beginning of the End or any such thing.

I have not noticed either gaming talk taking over other threads, or failing at conversation at other threads. But then since I'm blocked at work, I usually just hang out in Boxed Set, SPN, Fic, and Literary these days anyway. I would have expected gaming to show up in Other Media, as I consider Games a Media. In fact, I'm surprised it hasn't.

It does appear that, in general, a new thread will serve to generate conversation, but there also needs to be enough of a subpopulation already on the board to sustain it. Is six, eight, twelve Buffistas enough to sustain a thread on games and gaming? I dunno: how many people post regularly in SPN? Twelve, maybe? Which I guess answers my question.

I suspect that, as this isn't primarily a gaming board, creation of a gaming thread won't result in hundreds of new posters and lots of extra strain on the board. I also suspect that everyone in this thread that I've seen speak in favor of the new thread is someone who's often spotted participating in other threads on non-gaming topics.

So, if we're not going to put a big strain on the board infrastructure, and we're not sucking social engagement away from more general-interest threads, I'm in favor.

Of course, if we start it, and in six months there's only a hundred posts, I suspect someone's going to want to bring this back to the table.