Buffy ,'Selfless'
A thread to discuss naming threads, board policy, new thread suggestions, and anything else that has to do with board administration and maintenance. Guaranteed to include lively debate and polls. Natter discouraged, but not deleted.
Current Stompy Feet: ita, Jon B, DXMachina, P.M. Marcontell, Liese S., amych
There are several reasons for the deathmatches taking so long. They include -
I'm very sorry that you are being irritated by this. I am trying to find a workable way around this.
It seems like the Non-deathmatch-y people find the Press posts irritating, and the Deathmatch-y people find them useful. Can there be a middle ground? Could Elena be given, temporarily, a deathmatch notcie thread?
Elena brought up using Atlantic Canadians as a the notice thread. I don't like to see the thread go that way, and besides, we'd do discuss this season of Angel, so UnAms could possibly get spoiled. But I have told her that my objections are mild, if it's the only solution.
I also suggested to Elena that maybe if she limited her Deathmatch posts to one a day in Press, that was edited to mark where things stopped and started. Is that an acceptable middle ground?
Or you know, we could put it to a vote, and put the whole thing to bed.
Thing is, though, I have only very rarely posted more than once a day in Press regarding the deathmatches. The few times I've posted more than once a day it was because there was a gap of several hours between sessions.
Look, I have never had any intention of cause problems or dissent. I'm running the matches for those people who enjoy them, and posting the start of each daily session to help those people. That there are people that are annoyed/bored/driven bat-shit by them is something that was brought to my attention the day before I left for vacation. I've been back for 3 days. I'm trying to find a solution that will irritate the least number of people.
Elena, I'm not at all meaning to beat up on you. I know that you're working on a solution. I can be a crankypants sometimes.
And this all starts to get in to the territory of "you know the O.C. posts in...every non-show-specific thread drive me batshit". Which they really, REALLY do. But I've kept quiet about it because it didn't seem like that big a deal given that others were really into the show. I just scroll past them. IJS.
Other than the fact that it's probably a pain in the ass for Elena, I've enjoyed the deathmatches lasting for the time they have; I'll miss the action when it's gone. It's a fun thread, and I really appreciate that she has the patience and desire to keep running it.
Not sure how to measure qualitatively irritation at Press deathmatch notices v. people finding them helpful. A number of people find the announcements useful, a number of people find them annoying, and a number of people have expressed a neutral position. Does one trump the other? In other votes/discussions here, it's broken down by people who, for whatever qualitative reasons, vote pro, anti, or indifferent about an issue. I guess I don't see this as different. So far about 20 people, more or less, have weighed in with an opinion, but I don't think any consensus has been achieved (as in other cases, where discussion here does eventually decide an issue; my perception is that this one isn't going to go that way, but again, that's my opinion). I'm kind of liking the vote and put it to bed scenario. Something like:
No, deathmatch notices do not belong in Press.
Yes, put a notice in for each time a new round of voting starts.
Yes, but only one notice per day max.
Yes, but only one notice per new character round.
That's my quick and dirty of what I think the suggestions have been. As for other threads or new special threads, I guess I'd leave that decision until after a vote on whether or not the notices can or can't stay in Press.
That's my two cents, anyway. My personal view is that I perceive that the usual culture here is to scroll past stuff you don't care about or is annoying to you in a thread (that's the universal you, by the way), but Press seems to be a particular sticking point, so maybe a vote is the way to go.
One thing to remember as a community is that scrolling past is one of the most important social lubricants we've got. There are some tensions intrinsic to the board, and they're not ever going to be resolved one way or the other and I don't think they should be resolved. The middle is a space where we can all function and so it takes some scrolling and skipping to maintain it.
Which is not to say that these issues shouldn't be addressed. It's a legitimate point that Beep Me and Press are (for many people) part of their limited diet on the board, a way to keep up with the life events of the people who are part of the community.
One reason the deathmatches went more quickly the first time is simply because I posted entire brackets at a time, so you'd vote on as many as four vote pairings at once. Personally I don't mind drawing out the death matches. Not only do people enjoy them, but I think they serve a valuable function of us revisiting our "common tongue" as it were. It's a kind of community glue in its way.
Anyway, I hope people don't take the criticisms personally. I don't think anybody was upset about Cindy's pseud - I think a lot of people had a muscle memory about pseud abuse though that made them feel uncomfortable. This discussion on pseuds is mostly on the level of potential abuse - and that's useful. I think if nothing else we affirm community values on the level of consensus (which still is an important part of how function). In short, people can use pseuds but double identities need to be clearly a source of fun and play and anybody who posted "seriously" as two different personae would be considered suspicious.
That's not a rule or anyting - that's just sort of our historical culture (I think).
I don't think you can compare the quote deathmatches to following other threads. The deathmatches are dependent on Elena's having a window of time to run them, and without something like a Press announcement, a particular match might well be over before most people noticed it. I think they're fun. I participate when I have time and skip the notice when I don't. There are occasionally notices and natter in Press that don't seem to fit the official Press definition, but it's only a minor irritation to me.
I thought the ferrets were posting as lurkers, myself.
IIRC correctly, The Press thread was created mostly to avoid posting the same thing over and over in each thread. To me, it seems the Deathmatch announcements are as legitimate a use as anything else in the thread. It is a non-personal announcement thread.
I am neutral on whether or not they are annoying, as I scroll past almost everything in press, as a lot of it is local specific.
I think sometimes it seems that the deathmatch is the only post in press because there are not a lot of posts in between Elenas posts. I don't think a lot of things fit this
Having a party? Organizing a local F2F? Know something that we all really need to know? Announce it!
description
Also, Elena, I have not sent my fall blanket. I am sew busy that the thought of doing something crafty in my free time is almost impossible. I hope to do it someday soon-- perhaps in summer.
Also, as I was reading the FAQ to see if we ever delineated Press more than the slug, I came across these mentions of Spoilers lite:
Q. What if I can't determine if news is allowable under Summer Casting Rules?
A. Don't post it. Ask in the applicable spoiler or spoilers-lite thread. One of our experienced Buffista Spoiler Companions willbe glad to help you figure it out. Chances are, if it's legal information, one of them will have already posted it in the applicable show thread, anyhow.
Q. Do I have to use the white font for spoilers?
A. In the Spoilage Lite threads, yes. In the main hardcore spoilerthread, no, but it's good form if there is something really really shocking and impending. Like, for example, quotes from an early-bird review. Also, be aware that people using text-only browsers like Lynx don't get any juice out of the white font, so it's nice to give them a text-only warning that there are spoilers ahead.