And obviously discussing the chances of Harlz succeeding with his lady friend is within the rules. Obviously people will shake they're head and move on, but it's entertaining for some at least.
Derek, Derek, no one's not thankful for what you guys are doing. We just want a little more free space to roam to make threads to have more lively discussions instead of burying them inside "Random Thoughts." That's all. This has nothing to do with how the site is run, how much money you're paying so we can blow off steam after work or school -- it has nothing to do with any of that. And you'd be surprised how fun Cale is to post with. He's a funny dude. He just seems to be one of the few people willing to voice his opinion.
You haven't read this thread have you? If you have then I have no idea why you just posted that 'cause all i'm offering is constructive criticism. I went over the top with the thread title and acknowledged that in the first post. Was frustrated in the heat of the moment. But I would encourage you to read what myself and Will have posted in this thread and comment on that. Not how i'm a moaning twat. Thankyou.
By the way, Andrea, being as you were the one that closed that thread I'm sorry if my first post here seemed confrontational towards you.
Will, you don't understand what it's like to always read a complaint thread about these forums every few days. It's disheartening. It makes some of us question why we spend all our valuable time making such a great site for you guys, if all people are ever going to do is challenge a decision we made over a certain thread, or nitpick everything we did wrong. It's caused me to want to avoid my own forums because I'm afraid I'll come on here again to find another thread telling us how badly we are run, and how we aren't "fair enough" to our members. When I made a pointless thread in Random Chat a year ago about meeting a fellow staff member I was cursed at for doing such a thing, being told such behavior was not indicative of a true administrator and that I had to 'set a good example'. Now I, and my fellow staff members are being criticized for not allowing the same type of pointless/dumb threads to exist in Random Thoughts. It's like "Do we, or don't we?" because it feels like one of those damned if you do and damned if you don't situations.
Well whoever tore you apart for that is clearly a 70 year old senile grandma. "A model administrator"? You're not running a bloody Navy Base here, it's a forum. I wouldn't take too much heart from sticklers like that and what they have to say. I do appreciate the site existing. I'm just presenting a case for there being more fun and entertainment to be had if we had more freedom with threads in random chat.
Yes, but, as you're well aware, times have changed, and I'd be more than willing to guarantee you that, if you were to make that thread tomorrow, no one would care, and the discussion would be a, generally, lighthearted one. There were a lot of people then who had something against this site and you on a personal level. None of those people are here now, and we're all better off for that. I'll admit that these threads almost always start off complaining, but they eventually evolve into more intelligent discussions and involve constructive criticism once more people get involved. At first, when I saw this thread, I thought the same thing, until I put my own thoughts on it together. A good example I can give is this: Would you rather have a bunch of threads discussing various music news, or just one thread with all the news stuffed in there, on the possibility that you'll miss something you really wanted to know? I know the "big" threads (all items pertaining to one artist) are a good idea, but to put them all in one thread would be weird. The same thing sort of goes for "Random Thoughts." We just want a little more freedom with the thread-creating here, that's all. Close them if they're really stupid, but if they're causing no harm, why not let them go?
The best thing I can tell you is that we'll discuss it at length in the staff boards and see what we think. We don't want to let dumb threads run rampant in these forums because we've had a reputation of being far more intelligent than the LPMB/LPUMB at times, and I don't want to just let any dumb thread fly because it might harm the integrity or intelligence of these boards. It's okay to have stupid fun sometimes, but if we allow too much of it, it could backfire on us. You know where I'm coming from?
I understand both sides here. I know how hard it is to discuss something in RT, when it is in fact RANDOM. I also know how annoying it is to have hundreds of threads about stuff that could easily go in RT. I also see how difficult it is to try to run a website with people complaining left and right. And just so everyone knows, I'm not saying the staff isn't doing their job, and I'm not saying the members are being idiots. I'm just saying what I think, and hoping it's not misconstrewed.
The staff are doing their jobs. I'm just suggesting a relaxing of what is deemed a 'pointless' thread in Random Chat.
I agree with what you're saying about the official boards, but we're not the official boards, and our members are infinitely more intelligent than most of the members from the other boards. There might be a stupid thread here and there but, as I said earlier in the thread, that won't happen as often as you're afraid it will, though I do see where you're coming from. Like I said: If it's stupid, close it, delete it and shoot the guy who made it with a pea shooter until he realized it was a dumb idea. But if it genuinely seems like it's a discussion-worthy topic, whether it'll last ten minutes or ten months, it should be allowed to stay, unless, as I said, it's completely stupid.
And OFFA, the quote (Not Will's) in your sig.... I am shaking my head. (sorry I meant that to merge into my last). Will was too quick.
Like I said, we'll discuss it. I just don't want any fallout if we start allowing random threads, and people feel the intelligence of the boards have gone down. We want to please you guys but we don't want to get shot for doing just that. It's a very thin line we have to straddle sometimes, and I think this is a prime example of that.
Makes sense. And @ Cale: I love the man's music, but you gotta admit, what with all that's been going around (although the latest one was a bit wonky, if you ask me. The mom sued another person for "groping" her?), it's still kinda funny. If it offends anyone, I can take it off.
That's understandable. Like I said, though, you've got to give us a little more credit than we're getting right now. We're not just a bunch of monkeys running around with typewriters.
Well I will admit (and no I'm not referring to Cale or Will or anybody in this thread) that some of the whiners over the past few months HAVE been the equivalent of monkey's with typewriters. You guys at least try to be reasonable when talking to us and I respect that =).
I don't think anyones going to start a thread like "Everyone flop out your cock and take a photo". A prime example is the Harlz Love Life one. I mean, it's just a bit of banter. Whether it lasts for 2 hours or 2 months as Will has said, it shouldn't matter.
Cale! That is going in my sig, in place of the MJ comment. Unless it's against the keep it clean rule.
I hear what you're saying Derek, and the rest of the staff. And I completley hear Cale and Will and everyone else. I understand, Derek, that you don't want the intelligence of the boards to go down, but a few stupid threads (could be more than a few with time) won't bring the intelligence down, in my opinion. I'd like to think that the LPA has many intelligent members, and that we won't let a stupid thread get out of hand. I think that more freedom would be nice with threads, so it doesn't get lost in Random Thoughts. It happens all the time, if you post something, a comment or a question, it's easily overlooked. If you make a thread, people can respond if the question/comment is worth their time. However, if it's a stupid question/comment, then the thread will be just be dead and noone will care enough to answer. Which makes sense. On that topic, I think we should be able to make threads at our own discretion, however, I think we're an intelligent bunch, and should be able to say to ourselves "Would this be worth making a thread about?" I agree with Will, that whether the thread allows 10 minutes or 10 months of discussion, it's worth it, to let everyone feel like they're contributing, or just having a good time posting in a silly thread. To Derek and the rest of the staff, you guys do an amazing job, you really do, and I'm not just kissing ass. However, a little bit of leniency would be nice in making threads in random chat. By all means, if a thread is breaking rules, close it. But if it's not breaking rules, even if you think it's stupid, let it die out on its own. I kinda feel like I'm rambling and jumbling my thoughts, but hopefully you guys can make sense of them. That's just what I think.
I would rather have more freedom with threads. Reason being... posting something in RT and getting buried underneath the rest of the discussion just feels like... postwhoring. Random Chat it may be, but I at least want to have a productive discussion if I'm being random at least. I don't know if I make any sense or not, but I hope that contributes to the discussion.