Looking at older topics... and...

You're dead on there. There's absolutely no harm in letting a person express themselves. If you can't reply with something positive (like Klobber was saying about art critiquing earlier), then don't even bother.

While it may seem tacky or cheesy for a person to vent on MFGG, they've made their choice and there's really no rules against them doing that. If you call them out on it, you effectively hamper any chance of them "healing" through their ranting. It's best to just let things take their course and keep your pithy quips bottled up.

I'm not saying that everyone should conform and try to force themselves into a politically correct mold when it comes to discussion, but there are obvious situations where someone else's snide remarks aren't welcome.

If you're talking about the chat, doesn't that kind of irrelevance and "disrespect" occur in the PPP as well?

It's more of a selfimposed taboo for me.

I know what you mean, I certainly don't try to derail threads just because they're PPP fodder.

Haha topics like these are so refreshing to participate in ... even though I'm worried what I'm spouting out might be garbled nonsense
The PPP really was like a chatroom in message board format which I thought was awesome; the more casual things that go on in there I can't really imagine possible in General Chat
A normal conversation between two people doesn't exactly stay on topic, or else they'd talk about the same thing for the rest of their life
A topic in the PPP about one game might spark a remark that it's similar to another game, and from then on out the topic's about that other game until it decides to either switch back or go to another subject
In General Chat and other forums that would be considered offtopic and frowned against usually; it's not like General Chat should be avoided because it's big and scary, just I find it more serious and less lighthearted

No I mean as in posting a topic. @ RK

This post has been edited by Toby on Dec 19 2006, 03:21 AM

Posting topics in general, or serious topics?

When I am posting a topic, I often feel uneasy posting them when it does not adhere to the general atmosphere at that moment.

I see where you're going with that, but honestly I think that kind of thing should be allowed in the General Chat as well since discussion usually continues from that point.

While it may be confusing for people jumping in without understanding the conversation that came before it (although they can just take the time to skim the thread if they want to participate), it's not like deviating from the subject automatically means the thread is worthless.

Although really, if "another game" is mentioned that people start discussing, they should just make another thread so they can continue that discussion elsewhere. You might be surprised how much more fulfilling the discourse will be when there's a specific dedication to a topic (even if it did come about as a spin-off from another).

I'm really not sure you should be taking that into consideration. The idea behind a forum is a multitude of topics, if we were constantly thinking of the "atmosphere" then we'd maintain a very narrow scope.

The only exception I can think of are topics that are always in bad taste, or perhaps in bad taste in the face of current events. But those topics are usually regulated by the rules anyways and aren't really acceptable under any atmosphere.

Posting a topic about old stuff while everyone is having a nostalgia trip... is generally more fun and fulfilling to post, than other times.

Because that's what matters on a forum. Having fun and engaging in discussion about a subject you're good with.

This post has been edited by Toby on Dec 19 2006, 03:35 AM

Yes, and it's great when a topic happens to mesh with the climate of the community.

But having restrictive posting habits based on that same climate seems like backwards thinking to me. There's no reason to hold back just because you don't feel like you're tapping into the greater mind of the forum.

After all, intriguing and provoking discussion comes out of those who challenge the norm.

It's not very restrictive, I mean, if I really feel like it, I could post something like "Old games might be cool, but what about gears of war?". And from there I could go to "new consoles" and derail it into a discussion of nowadays values when it comes to not only consoles, but other things aswell.

Its kinda fun trying to mesh together the topics, so there's a logical series of topics, somehow all pertaining to eachother.

And sometimes you feel spontaneous and just make one, and feel a bit uneasy, and hope it gets atleast one or two replies.

For me, forums are all games and fun. But not random sentences having no sense at all fun.

This post has been edited by Toby on Dec 19 2006, 03:43 AM

You really just need to use good judgement there. There's a pretty fine line from a topic's discussion evolving, which is natural, to someone blatently derailing the thread, which is a fairly common practice in the PPP.

And as I said before, that's absolutely fine and I encourage that.

But there are times when you can't really do that without making it look like you're really stretching to make a connection. That's when the behavior you've described is effectively restricted, and I think somebody who's pensive about making such a post would do themselves and everyone else a favor if they just bit the bullet (unless it's something that you believe is far too controversial, then it's better to PM a member of the staff for approval first).

I recognize that as well, and as Salad said the good kind of discussion comes from gradual evolution and not jarring changes of pace (in the realm of a single thread that is).

I wasn't trying to suggest that people go around derailing General Chat topics, I'd hope many of us have established a sense of judgment that is capable of knowing when deviation is proper. And those without said judgment are going to exist regardless of the rules, and I'm sure those folks will be properly regulated.

As said, I do have the courage to break out from the "mold" and do something different.

Oh and; Being farfetched when playing a game is not too fun. Unless it is so bad its funny.

This post has been edited by Toby on Dec 19 2006, 04:47 AM

I still think the PPP should be "rebuilt" and provide for more regulation of what can and can't be posted there.

Trying to make the IRC replace the PPP won't work since the IRC itself won't work for some people, and it doesn't have discrete topics like the PPP does (so essentially it's the PPP condensed into one topic which would be hell).