I'm just caught up, and while it's no skin off my nose if we start a gaming thread, if the expected participants are likely already to be reading and participating in Other Media, what's the harm in seeing if OM will sustain the conversation?

For myself, I don't post there now, but I have no objection to going in there for games. I would not have expected to find it there, though, because (as previously noted) games are not a communications medium, and when I think of games, the Joss-related games aren't prominent in my mind, so I wouldn't go looking for it in Alt-Joss. So I'd be good with it, but I feel it would need to be reflected in the subtitle or whatever.

Beyond myself, ND has said that he would have to avoid it due to the spoiler issues. That turns me against OM as an option too, because games don't generate a bunch of spoilers themselves, and therefore it seems perverse to have people turned away because they're concerned about getting spoiled for other things. If Sang Sacre is now basically about varieties of computer gaming, then I'd be good with trying there.

Also note, in my aforementioned opinion, that I'm mindful that ND already misses out on a bunch of threads because on this board cross-pollination tends to trump big spoiler fear in thread purposing, and fair enough, it's the way the votes go, but I wouldn't mind seeing this one go the other way. And, of course, at the moment the gaming thread people are a (reasonably voluble) minority, and so losing even a couple or a few from the confab due to non-topic-related issues bothers me more.

As a Buffista who likes all sorts of games, I'd be hip to the thread. I understand the desire to not have sprawl. It is nice in Bitches to learn about new stuff, and I'm sure folks wouldn't mind hearing about new games in there.

However. Based on todays little experiment in Bitches, talk of RPG in a busy thread... kinda fragmented and hard to maintain a conversation. IJS.

It seems this post might not really help either side of the issue, as it finds merit with both sides. Ya, I'm a libra. So sue me.

OK, I think there's an interesting thing going on in the Music thread, with the current bandom talk. I don't know if the people posting are the "usual" posters in there, but it's definitely not the usual kind of conversation, and I'm sure it won't last forever, but is hot-n-heavy right now. Isn't this basically what people are suggesting around games talk in the Other Media thread? How do people feel about that?

It felt like the music thread was WayRolled (or WentzRolled) but I rather liked it.

So while I've stepped away from this discussion for a bit, I have been pondering the question of precedent. I guess it seems to me that what our precedents are are a little vague and could use some clarity.

The only precedent that I can think is really at issue every time we go through this is What are the acceptable reasons for new thread creation?

These are the possible reasons I have come up with. If anybody can or wants to help me flesh them out more, please do:

1 - A particular topic of discussion becomes so voluminous in a general thread that all parties involved agree a new thread should be created.

I have no idea if or when this reason has been implemented. I think possibly Movies and Music came about this way, but the problem with those threads is that they are legacy threads from previous boards. Not everybody is happy with them, and how much should we let their creation affect thread creation on the Phoenix?

2 - A particular topic of discussion becomes so voluminous in a thread the the topic is ejected into a new thread.

This is not meant to revisit the past, but what is precedent but "what has gone before"? Most importantly I include this because in our only (to my knowledge) implementation of this method of thread creation, it did not go smoothly, and seemed to be disliked as a method of thread creation by all parties involved.

3 - A group of people decide they would like a focussed area of discussion for a particular topic.

This actually seems to be our most common, and most successful method of thread creation, but it also seems to be met with quite a bit of resistance every time. As I type out these methods this way, I find myself wondering why this method is not preferable to the other two.

4 - No new threads should ever be created.

I'm not sure anyone actually holds this position, but if you do, why? What would you prefer the board look like?

5 - Thread creation should be at will.

I'm not sure anybody holds this position either, but if you do, why? What would you prefer the board look like?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

So, am I missing anything?

Why is 1 preferable to 3 ?

Does anybody think we should ever go through 2 again?

Have I misstated anything, or mischaracterized anything?

Is 3 fairly stated?

I think possibly Movies and Music came about this way, but the problem with those threads is that they are legacy threads from previous boards.

Nope, they were born here. Both grew out of Natter.

Okay. It was before I got here, so I wasn't sure.

Yeah, I think Movies and Music were more of a 3 than a 1.

As far as 2 goes, while I'm sorry that there were hurt feelings, I'm not sorry that Supernatural got its own thread. For all the reasons that were expressed at the time, I think it was ultimately a good thing for the board. So, yeah, if a similar situation presented itself, I would go through it again. What other option is there?

As far as 2 goes, while I'm sorry that there were hurt feelings, I'm not sorry that Supernatural got its own thread. For all the reasons that were expressed at the time, I think it was ultimately a good thing for the board.

It is not my intention to stir up trouble, but I have to reply to this. I'm still waffling about whether or not it was a good thing for the board. I know that I am far less likely to try and start a conversation or make lots of posts about something I'm enthusiastic about, because I'm worried that someone will decide that the conversation is annoying and want to shunt me and my enthusiasm off to someplace where that they won't have to read it.

Does this mean I think there should be a gaming thread? Eh, I'm waffling about that, too. I can understand the reasons people want a separate thread. But I, like Plei, worry it will lead to further splintering of what I think of as the Buffista community.

Jilli is me.

Well, you know, I can't aspire to Jilli-ness. But the situation has changed my experience of, attitude toward, and relationship to B.org as a whole. Change is good, they say and also, I'm just one board member, so grains of salt, as needed.

And Beverly is me.