Should we be condensing topics on the board?

[Triumph]

We were discussing this the other night in chat - the board has become oddly reliant on a few different threads.  On other boards I've been on (HF and elsehwere) this is the norm - you jam everything into one huge thread.  This makes sense for people who use the board a lot - they know right where to go and they know where the discussion is.  It's especially good for boards that have several different major topics all going at once - where people post about many different subjects, a thread about a particular subject might fall way down and even on to the dreaded page 2 before anyone gets a chance to reply to it.  I've been on a board that is just about sports in general and this is how they do it - there is one gigantic thread devoted to the NHL, the NBA, each week in the NFL, and so on.

 

The problem with this format is that it is utterly daunting for any newcomer.  If I showed up, having never posted on a message board, and see that most of the threads on the front page have 100 or more replies, it's going to look unwelcoming.  How can I possibly read all this stuff?  Won't my post be lost in a sea of other posts?  And so on.  This board doesn't get tons of post traffic - I don't think we need to be condensing stuff.  There's not twenty threads vying for the top of the board all the time.  I think it makes sense to condense things when there's one particular subject that everyone is talking about - I think on trade deadline day and July 1-2, having one thread is a good idea since that's what everyone wants to discuss.  I don't think we need a free agency thread throughout the off-season though, I don't think we need a general around the league thread during the season, and I don't think RowdyFan42 should feel compelled to bury his good posts about the AHL into a thread I made for minor league transactions.  Even if people agree that condensing threads is better, I say, don't be afraid to start threads.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Triumph

[dmann422]

I agree with you last sentence, if people want to make a new thread they shouldn't get bombarded with "why didn't you just put this in xyz thread?!"

But you need to fix the poll, you're not asking a yes or no question.

Edited September 24, 2014 by dmann422

[devilsfan26]

I don't know if I should answer yes or no because the question isn't worded in a yes or no format, but I agree that we don't need such long threads with discussions meandering to various topics over dozens of pages throughout long periods of time, such as the around the league thread as you mentioned.  This board is small enough to handle that thread being broken into multiple smaller threads in which we can know what is being discussed at the time just by reading the title of the thread. 

I do think threads about the same topic should continue to be merged though.  I also post on a Rutgers football forum, and for some reason people there start their own threads about topics that are already being discussed, so we end up with five threads about the same thing when it is much easier to just have all posts about that topic in one place.

I also still think we should go back to having discussions about other sports in the Off-Topic section and do away with the Locker Room section!  There are like two active threads at a time in off-topic, I never understood the need to create a separate section to talk about other sports.

Edited September 25, 2014 by devilsfan26

[Derlique]

Agreed. It probably is intimidating for new members to post. I think we should have more threads

[dmann422]

The poll remind me of this:

 

.

Edited September 24, 2014 by dmann422

[Devilsfan118]

I like the way it's always been here - one pinned thread for major events (draft, camp, trades, trade deadline, etc) but in general I don't mind a new thread for a new idea or topic of discussion.

I personally wouldn't like having 4-5 mega threads with 100+ replies

[Triumph]

I don't know if I should answer yes or no because the question isn't worded in a yes or no format, but I agree that we don't need such long topics with discussions meandering to various topics over dozens of pages throughout long periods of time, such as the around the league thread as you mentioned.  This board is small enough to handle that thread being broken into multiple smaller threads in which we can know what is being discussed at the time just by reading the title of the thread. 

I do think threads about the same topic should continue to be merged though.  I also post on a Rutgers football forum, and for some reason people there start their own threads about topics that are already being discussed, so we end up with five threads about the same thing when it is much easier to just have all posts about that topic in one place.

I also still think we should go back to having discussions about other sports in the Off-Topic section and do away with the Locker Room section!  There are like two active threads at a time in off-topic, I never understood the need to create a separate section to talk about other sports.

 

Haha whoops, sorry everyone on the crappy poll question.  I almost put in the body of the OP "Hope I don't screw this poll up" and of course I did.  

 

I definitely think thread merging should take place.  Once it was announced that there were 6 different camp tryouts, we could throw all of those into one thread and msweet or DM did that.  But yeah, the super-threads are more what I'm talking about - it makes sense for training camp, I think, but we could easily have a daily post about training camp if that were the prerogative - talking about the lines and whatnot.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Triumph

[AEWHistory]

For me, I like the option of opening smaller, individual threads to read. I hate wading thru mega-threads unless it is truly warranted. For example, if we had a 20-page thread on, say, the greatest defenseman of all time then I'd gladly read thru that given enough time. OTOH, a bunch of tenuously related subjects, smoothed together into one thread are a PITA to read. I'm not a major poster tho, so perhaps that's the conundrum.

FYI, I voted no. Hope that feedback helps.

[aylbert]

Individual threads; it's why I've been here for so long.    It's far more organized and concise.   You don't have meandering posts, and if someone hijacks a thread, you can tell them to knock it off and go post about it in another (new) thread.

Edited September 24, 2014 by aylbert

[SterioDesign]

personally i like things the way they are now, smaller threads. Sometimes youre just away or dont check out the site for 3-4 days and there's a long ass new thread with like 12 pages and i dont feel like reading it all so i cant imagine having those huge topics.

[MadDog2020]

I like the way it's always been here - one pinned thread for major events (draft, camp, trades, trade deadline, etc) but in general I don't mind a new thread for a new idea or topic of discussion.

I personally wouldn't like having 4-5 mega threads with 100+ replies

This. If it 'ain't broke...

[sundstrom]

i also prefer the threads as they are now.

 

that being said, the post counts for good posters (and injection of new posters) seems to have gone down significantly over the last couple of years and that's a shame. now, it's the preseason and there's not a ton going on. And there's only so much we can talk about gionta vs josefson. but still - i'm all for plenty of discussion.

[SterioDesign]

i also prefer the threads as they are now.

 

that being said, the post counts for good posters (and injection of new posters) seems to have gone down significantly over the last couple of years and that's a shame. now, it's the preseason and there's not a ton going on. And there's only so much we can talk about gionta vs josefson. but still - i'm all for plenty of discussion.

 

agreed but some new posters or discussions literally got called out by some self proclaimed "forum cops" who decided it was better to be douchebags rather than simply not reading if they we're not interested.

 

For a newcomer it's not really appealing

[Triumph]

For me, I like the option of opening smaller, individual threads to read. I hate wading thru mega-threads unless it is truly warranted. For example, if we had a 20-page thread on, say, the greatest defenseman of all time then I'd gladly read thru that given enough time. OTOH, a bunch of tenuously related subjects, smoothed together into one thread are a PITA to read. I'm not a major poster tho, so perhaps that's the conundrum.

FYI, I voted no. Hope that feedback helps.

 

No, you're exactly the kind of person I want to hear from, because I don't want this board to be 12 people having the same arguments all the time, and it's headed that way.  So I'm curious what people who don't post much think.

[2ELIAS6]

cant anything just be left alone.. i hate how some boards are controlled like HF, god forbid you post something in the correct thread( in there eyes) they go and delete it right away.. like its a forum board leave it alone its not that serious.

[Devils Pride 26]

Much better this way. HF sucks because if you have a life and aren't on for a day or two, you're 10 pages back

[dmann422]

Much better this way. HF sucks because if you have a life and aren't on for a day or two, you're 10 pages back

in addition the problem I have wih hf boards is that because they condense everything into 2-3 topics, basically 3/4 of the topics in the devils board is off topic. I'm not coming to a devils-centric board to talk about video games or the nfl. I'd much rather more hockey topics but no they have to be crammed into the 2-3 threads they have for hockey.

[Devilsfan118]

Much better this way. HF sucks because if you have a life and aren't on for a day or two, you're 10 pages back

 

Exactly.  You can get so behind in a thread that it's almost daunting to try and catch up.

[Satans Hockey]

I agree with everyone about hf boards. There's a reason why this is the best place to talk about the Devils. Let's keep it that way.

[aylbert]

Agreed... I despise reading page 84 to 110, and bridge across 15 different topics.

 

Sometimes a post will warrant 4 posts, sometimes 400....  and I'm fine with that.   I think the calling out of everyone for anything that occurred for a while here really hurt things here.   I still check this board a lot, but it feels like we lost a lot of activity that used to be common here...   I don't know if that's reflective in site statistics or not.

[Triumph]

I feel like people are missing the thrust of what I was saying.  I was not advocating more topic condensation - I was advocating the opposite.  We had an enormous thread on NHL free agency which spiraled in a million directions as the off-season progressed and was the same 9 or 10 people posting in it for a long time.  I don't think things like that are good for forums and I'm trying to see if people feel the same way.

[Satans Hockey]

I feel like people are missing the thrust of what I was saying. I was not advocating more topic condensation - I was advocating the opposite. We had an enormous thread on NHL free agency which spiraled in a million directions as the off-season progressed and was the same 9 or 10 people posting in it for a long time. I don't think things like that are good for forums and I'm trying to see if people feel the same way.

I agree with you, I think most people posting in this thread are as well.

[StarDew]

I feel like people are missing the thrust of what I was saying.  I was not advocating more topic condensation - I was advocating the opposite.  We had an enormous thread on NHL free agency which spiraled in a million directions as the off-season progressed and was the same 9 or 10 people posting in it for a long time.  I don't think things like that are good for forums and I'm trying to see if people feel the same way.

People start threads and usually there is something snarky posted about why the new thread?  There is a group of posters that belittle folks most of the time.  If they go off on a tangent that is okay but heaven forbid one outsider does.  It is not worth the time or effort to post more so less is what you get imnsho.  It is easier to have discussions in PMs.  It is a sad situation.

 

So this is how I see/perceive the community nowadays.  Remember the days when it wasn't like this Tri?

[DevilMinder]

Big topics sure one thread. Every topic ? I agree it's a bit much.

[point]

I was going to say something, but my martini stopped me.