I hate teh OT subforums

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by AAHZ
We should integrate the Tech and History into the OTF for the same reasons we integrated all the Civ4 forums together.

We are too small a site to have all these sub-forums. Sorry, but its true.

AAHZ

We allway have communicated well, from what i remember.

I am asking you, please why does it bother you if we say have 5 other subforums, and you only wanted to go to say 2 of them.

What harm is it doing to have those other forums?

Thanks
Gramsps

[ZEE]

no harm other than we are too small a site to surf through 3 forums about the same relative Off-Topic stuff. CFC fills a page within an afternoon. We fill up a page in OTF in a whole day. If we integrated the 3 then it would appear that we are more active than we are.

Smoke and Mirrors, maybe, but effective...

Again, sort of like integrating the Civ4 like we did. A good idea

[DrSpike]

I think on the whole the subforums have been a success. Threads in the tech forum are largely free from the 'witty' one liners they would otherwise experience, and the Sports forum is a good way to get all the American football threads in one place, whether you post there or not. In both cases there is sufficient traffic.

The history forum is the only one suffering from the split - some of these threads would get more interest in the wider OT. There's a trade-off as discussions would tend to be more light hearted there.

On balance if it were my site I'd leave tech and sports as they are and consult with the small numbers of history forum regulars about reintegration.

[Harovan]

I think Spikie has it right, the Sports forum is thriving and the Tech forum has its purpose to keep the discussions there clean from trolls of non-nerds . Some of the On-Topic forums are significantly less frequented, by the way.

I like the history forum and browse it regularly, although I seldom post myself. It is an interesting forum and has had some good threads in the past. However, for the time being it's as good as dead, if not counting forum games, which are a good sign for the agony of a forum, sadly but honestly.

But then, for a while the same was true for Other Games. Meanwhile it has developed into mainly a discussion forum for consoles, and thus has lost my interest somewhat, too.

[Locutus]

I like the history forum and browse it regularly, although I seldom post myself. It is an interesting forum and has had some good threads in the past. However, for the time being it's as good as dead, if not counting forum games, which are a good sign for the agony of a forum, sadly but honestly.

Same here. I personally really like the History forum, I pleaded for years to get it to begin with. And for a while it was doing pretty well, but unfortunately in the last few months it has indeed been as good as dead (ironically since shortly after we appointed Laz as mod -- and no, I'm not blaming him in any way). I do still believe it serves a purpose since discounting Historical Filth we virtually NEVER had (serious) history discussions in the main OT before this forum was created, but I'd be okay with leaving it up to the regulars there to decide if it stays or not.

The Sports forum is an unqualified success, something which I think few people would dispute (few not being none so don't get your knickers in a twist, Winston ) After the main OT and Civ4-General it's the largest single forum on the site in number of posts per month, it's hard to argue with that.

I'm on the fence about the Tech forum, not a huge fan and it had a very poor start but by now it generally has enough traffic and a decent community of its own to warrant its continued existence if that community wants that. I personally wouldn't be sad if it was rolled back into the main OT either though.

[Winston]

If only you'd listened to me and my lackeys from the start, you wouldn't be in this dreadful mess.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Ming


Yep... right place

The sports forum has earned it's own place. As far as the other two... I could go either way. I would love to hear opinions from those who actually post in those forums.

Better, you should listen to those who don't post in those forums.

I've cruised over to the Techo-forum, but it's gobble-di-gook for me. So, it's okay if it stays separate.

The History Subforum needs to come back into the OT. Although there's a lot of people interested in history, they don't have enough interest to click onto a separate Forum. The History Sub-Forum rarely has a new thread. Much more interest was generated when history threads were in the OT.

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by Zkribbler


Better, you should listen to those who don't post in those forums.

Just curious, if those sub-forums were not there, but rather folded back into the OT General, what exactly do you think this would accomplish?

Just asking is all

[Zkribbler]

I was editting while you were posting. I think those threads which are now exiled to the History Subforum would generate much more interest.

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
I was editting while you were posting. I think those threads which are now exiled to the History Subforum would generate much more interest.

Thanks

I just sweep the floors around here and take out the trash that has been sanitized for public viewing, so i have no pull either way, more curious than not.

[Zkribbler]

F'zample:

A would-be-conquerors Hurt-or-Heal thread was started in the History subformum on 12-27-07. It has only 20 posts.

A 20th-Century dictators Hurt-or-Heal thread was started in the OT on 1-4-04. It already has 93 posts.

[Locutus]

The Hurt or Heal games are forum games, not discussions. They really belong more in the OG than anywhere else.

Much more interest was generated when history threads were in the OT.

Sorry, but you are deluding yourself. There were NEVER any real history discussions in the main OT, even if someone did start a thread it would usually drop off the front page like a brick and rarely get any responses, or it would just turn into spam thread. That was the reason why Laz and I and others pleaded for years to get a separate History Forum to begin with. Once we got that, it generated 9000+ posts in 18 months (until a few months ago it averaged around 700 posts/month, more than most single forums on this site in the same time frame), most of which were serious and on topic -- that's FAR more than there were in the OT in the 5-6 years before that, and the overall traffic levels in the OT where MUCH higher in those years.

I absolutely agree that the forum hasn't been doing to too well in the last ~6 months and that it's raison d'etre has to be questioned at this point, but to think that moving it back into the OT would suddenly magically generate discussions that were never there before is nothing short of a fantasy.

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by Ming


Yep... right place

The sports forum has earned it's own place. As far as the other two... I could go either way. I would love to hear opinions from those who actually post in those forums.

I never use the tech forum. I do use the history forum a little, but my experience is that the forum is best at producing lots of +1s in those hurt or heal threads, and little of real worth.

[Lancer]

If I stop having a clue can I be an admin?

[Zoid]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
F'zample:

A would-be-conquerors Hurt-or-Heal thread was started in the History subformum on 12-27-07. It has only 20 posts.

A 20th-Century dictators Hurt-or-Heal thread was started in the OT on 1-4-04. It already has 93 posts.