Sub Forums Could Use a Shake Up

[chatty]

IMO you have too many sub-forums, I reckon you could knock them down and get more people posting and using other sub forum categories if t were less convoluted.

Merging the WWE and General wrestling would be a good start - no need for general wrestling when theres only several threads that are used. Have them all as one sub-forum would sput more threads and people using them as the WWE fans would take more of an interest instead of having to go out of their way. The Lucha Thread in WWE got about a fifth of the posts in one week as the thread in general got in 2 years.

Music forum being tucked away in Entertainment doesn't help it. You could probably merge Off Topic and entertainment into one as well.

[LOCONUT]

I dont disagree. We have been looking at some mergers.

[Ozanne]

I'm not sure about merging Off-topic with Entertainment, but Video Games could definitely go into it. Good idea though, especially merging Wrestling into one.

[Hero!]

I dont disagree. We have been looking at some mergers.

:yes:

If I may propose:

Wrestling forum (ROH, NJPW, TNA only need a thread)
Off Topic (recently seen a surge in activity, would be fine on it's own)
Entertainment/Music/Video Games (neither music nor VG forums get a ton of activity)
General Sports (merge MMA into this, barely anyone posts there)
Soccer
R-Fed/Board Games

[LOCONUT]

Im going to eliminate the soccer forum and then see where we are at.

[Rancid_Planet]

IMO you have too many sub-forums, I reckon you could knock them down and get more people posting and using other sub forum categories if t were less convoluted.

Merging the WWE and General wrestling would be a good start - no need for general wrestling when theres only several threads that are used. Have them all as one sub-forum would sput more threads and people using them as the WWE fans would take more of an interest instead of having to go out of their way. The Lucha Thread in WWE got about a fifth of the posts in one week as the thread in general got in 2 years.

Music forum being tucked away in Entertainment doesn't help it. You could probably merge Off Topic and entertainment into one as well.

Agreed. I think we would see a great deal more action by merging the wrestling forums. The same would probably be true for other areas.

I consider myself an expert on this as way back in the day I once totally fucked up the action on a video game forum I was put in charge of by overly dividing everything up. I mean I fucking killed that place until I relented and admitted that we didn't have the traffic to warrant so many sub forums. When I went back to having one big general gaming forum and one big entertainment forum (as well as an Asylum like area we called something stupid like "the menagerie") then the traffic as a whole increased quickly.

[The_Mike]

I think Off Topic and Entertainment/Music/VG could merge pretty easily. OT doesn't really having anything going on but the politics thread and depression thread. Stuff all the space/gravity/science stuff into a thread called Lol Science and it'll be fine.

[LOCONUT]

hell yeah dogs.

[Hero!]

We need a dogs thread.

[LOCONUT]

Ok this has begun. If any meaningful threads are missing please let me know. Im basically moving over the 1st page of each forum. Nothing is being deleted though. The old forums still exist, and should be searchable, they are just no longer visible to you arseholes.

[Rancid_Planet]

This is excellent.

[MikeHunt]

Looks shit

[LOCONUT]

Maybe you should report it.

[LOCONUT]

So we now have 1 global wrestling forum called Professional Wrestling. We have also merged MMA back into sports. This is a test. If it blows we will revert back. Feedback is good. Lets give it a few weeks. I am assuming this will change everything.

[MikeHunt]

Maybe you should report it.

Ok

[LOCONUT]

Hilarious. Hard to believe you lost the POTTY.

[MikeHunt]

yes I'm trying to be funny.

[Miotch]

No, you're trying to be irritating by abusing the report function, which I feel obligated to tell you is a banable offense.

[MikeHunt]

Eh how is highlighting bullying a banable offence?

[Percussion]

#freemma

[Peter Griffin]

Eh how is highlighting bullying a banable offence?

So you have been reporting hundreds of your own posts I take it then?

[Simon]

Like the changes.

Seeing as this is only a testing period and can be reverted back if people don't like it, maybe now would be a good time to take the plunge and merge the OT and Asylum forums? Worth a go, everyday news items of interest don't really get discussed unless they are either big enough to draw people to the OT or weird enough to be considered worthy of the Asylum. Make a decision on how the new forum will be moderated ie. Asylum attitude or not, and see how it pans out. Even if it doesn't work, it might stir up a bit of interest in the OT forum when it reverts back.

[LOCONUT]

I know. We voted on it and merging lost. Not ruling it out for the future but these are team decisions and we want to make sure we get it right.

[mth]

Like the changes.

Seeing as this is only a testing period and can be reverted back if people don't like it, maybe now would be a good time to take the plunge and merge the OT and Asylum forums? Worth a go, everyday news items of interest don't really get discussed unless they are either big enough to draw people to the OT or weird enough to be considered worthy of the Asylum. Make a decision on how the new forum will be moderated ie. Asylum attitude or not, and see how it pans out. Even if it doesn't work, it might stir up a bit of interest in the OT forum when it reverts back.

:yes: I'm going to keep pushing for it. There's no reason for them to be separate. OT has half a dozen active threads, if that even, and every thread in The Asylum would be just as at home in OT, particularly now that douchebaggery is much less of a thing than it was in ye olde days.

[The_Mike]

For what it's worth, I'm fine with OT and the Asylum remaining separate, and still think OT could just absorb Entertainment and Video Games instead. Still, I like what's been done with the place so far.

[G-Fresh]

Yeah, OT and the Asylum should remain separate.

[LOCONUT]

I am also on the side of keeping it as is. We should have a place for discussion where people cant be fucking pricks to each other. And more importantly, a place where we can be.

[Donald]

Just merge everything together and have a free for all.

[Matthew]

you say that, but you are one the biggest whiners around.

[Donald]

anybody want a peanut?

[Clive Plasma]

Should each of the brands in the "Professional Wrestling" section be stickied? If so, it would be worth stickying TNA and NXT there too.

Definitely keep OT, Asylum & Entertainment separate btw.

[RFF Champ]

There's too many stickied threads in wrestling.

[Hero!]

yeah, other promotions' threads don't need a sticky. The only stickies that should be up there are:

Wrestlemania
Upcoming PPV
Weekly SD thread
Cewsh Reviews
NXT
news & notes(?)
Every monday: New RAW thread sticky

There's no need to sticky the LU, TNA, ROH, or "Rajah hall of fame reference" thread

[chatty]

I wouldn't even sticky NXT or SD personally. I think they are used enough and often enough, they will find their way to the top of the page most of the time.

[Fro]

Asylum and OT should remain separate but it would be nice to have a description of the Asylum on the main page. If I were a new poster I wouldn't know what it is and I would just think we have a lame ass general discussion forum (OT).

Also merge the POTTY sub forums into one rather than making a new sub forum every year.

Also make me mod of the sports section cuz I'm the clear MVP in there.

[Peter Griffin]

Or Cewsh Reviews, bluhhhhhh.

[Matthew]

you don't even know what you post anymore

[Clutch]

At this point in the game I would merge OT & Asylum together. Both get little to zero activity and perhaps we need a culture change with respect to 'asylum rules'. The whole "I can make personal attacks against you in this forum but I can't anywhere else" is really ridiculous. Our resident bullies thrive in this environment, unfortunately. Any kind of abusive behaviour needs to be addressed and resolved, regardless of subforum the attack originates from. Sure, the Asylum is much more docile now but I believe that the stigma attached to it endures.

I'd like to think that we have evolved from that mentality and I think we'd actually have an active offtopic subforum where posters can feel both welcome and protected against 'allowable' abuse.

my2c

[The_Mike]

I'll second that.

[Hero!]

So whats the deal with r-fed and board games forums?

[Miotch]

At this point in the game I would merge OT & Asylum together. Both get little to zero activity and perhaps we need a culture change with respect to 'asylum rules'. The whole "I can make personal attacks against you in this forum but I can't anywhere else" is really ridiculous. Our resident bullies thrive in this environment, unfortunately. Any kind of abusive behaviour needs to be addressed and resolved, regardless of subforum the attack originates from. Sure, the Asylum is much more docile now but I believe that the stigma attached to it endures.

I'd like to think that we have evolved from that mentality and I think we'd actually have an active offtopic subforum where posters can feel both welcome and protected against 'allowable' abuse.

my2c

You make some fair points, but I, personally, don't want to see the asylum lose its place. I love the forum and I love the fact that it's a bit more lax, personally. With that said, if you really want to see the OT more active why post the majority of your threads in the asylum? Do you not think that an activity spike in the forum would help it be more of an active part of the community? Many of your threads could thrive in the OT, yet you post them in the asylum.

To play it out your way, say we just have an OT forum and no Asylum. You can all but say good bye to MikeHunt because I'm going to have a zero tolerance for bullshit. If there's not a place to harbor some of the funny and malicious behavior then people are legitimately just going to get banned, repeatedly, for longer and longer periods. Personally I don't think we should approach the issue of inactivity by reducing our numbers.

[Clutch]

I really don't think we would reduce our numbers at all through bannings. Majority are respectful and it's a only a small few that abuse the rules. Those that don't either have to fuck off or they have to respect the rules. If there is only 1 'off topic' subforum and it's moderated the same way across the board, then I can only see more activity versus not.

[Miotch]

Likewise if you simply posted in the OT there would be more activity than before.

[The_Mike]

Why does anyone want a place to harbour malice?

[G-Fresh]

Why do people want safe spaces?

[Miotch]

Why does anyone want a place to harbour malice?

It's going to come out either way. The Asylum just gives people a place to do it. Also why can't anyone just answer the question as to why, if you want a more active OT, don't you just go post in the OT?

[Mik]

Because it makes zero sense that we have an 'off topic' forum and an 'anything goes' forum. We are virtually all adults, we don't need two forums, one where you can be a dick and one where you can't. We need a middle ground if anything.

[Clutch]

It's going to come out either way. The Asylum just gives people a place to do it. Also why can't anyone just answer the question as to why, if you want a more active OT, don't you just go post in the OT?

That's not relevant to this discussion. It's the fact that we only need one 'off topic' forum with the same rule set (that doesn't have 'allowable' abusive behaviour)

[Grimario]

Because it makes zero sense that we have an 'off topic' forum and an 'anything goes' forum. We are virtually all adults, we don't need two forums, one where you can be a dick and one where you can't. We need a middle ground if anything.

If someone posts something stupid, there should be some leniency in them being called out for being stupid. Apart from maybe half a dozen posters, I don't think anyone has a problem working with that.

Merge them.

If I was a mod, I would say that in the mod forum where it is being discussed.

[Miotch]

That's not relevant to this discussion. It's the fact that we only need one 'off topic' forum with the same rule set (that doesn't have 'allowable' abusive behaviour)

Of course it's relevant to the discussion. You say we don't need both yet won't post in what will ultimately become if we merge them.

Also a middle ground worked super well with the Rajah Tavern, right?

[Clutch]

I never said I wouldn't post in a singular off topic forum, Mitch.

[The_Mike]

It's going to come out either way. The Asylum just gives people a place to do it. Also why can't anyone just answer the question as to why, if you want a more active OT, don't you just go post in the OT?

I post in the OT pretty regularly. I agree that malice will come out either way, but that's what mods are for. When someone starts being abusive in the wrestling forum they sit out for a few days. What's the point in having a forum where they do that without being censured? Why is there a desire to maintain somewhere to be malicious and hurtful to other posters when there is already a mechanism in place to try to stop people doing that?

[Miotch]

I never said I wouldn't post in a singular off topic forum, Mitch.

No you're just refusing to post in it now for some reason. I'm just trying to figure out why.

[mth]

Because it makes zero sense that we have an 'off topic' forum and an 'anything goes' forum. We are virtually all adults, we don't need two forums, one where you can be a dick and one where you can't. We need a middle ground if anything.

:yes: This.

[Fro]

ok I change my mind now I'm on team merger

call it General Discussion

have a chat thread or 2 in it where the rules are lax (call it asylum chat or something)

there's a middle ground in terms of moderation, its not like you would need to have a no tolerance policy if you did this.

[Jordo]

So whats the deal with r-fed and board games forums?

rfed forum is super dead. I loved it and had a blast down there but it's been dying a slow death for a long time and I think it might be done completely now. I went into the board games thread to see if I could get in a mafia game and realized just how dead that place is now too.

When I saw these mergers and stuff happening I was waiting for the rfed and board game to be merged. Surprised it hasn't happened yet

[mth]

R-feds are totes dead. Put 'em in the ground.

I tried to pitch a few Board Games ideas and got maybe two responses, not enough to be worth trying to follow through with them. Seems that section might soon follow.

[kdestiny]

I won't let it die so easily. I have an idea.

[Judas Iscariot]

The mafia games ran non stop for a few years after Mr Nobody brought it back and there was eventually a burnout. I think those of us who played and loved them know they'll be back but a very extended break was very much needed so everyone could reset.

[Fro]

I think people will still play, we just need game runners. Survivor could be popular. And people need to do more pop culture themed mafias. We kinda OD'd on mafias but they can still draw a crowd I think, with the right theme. We need a Seinfeld or Simpsons or the godfather or gane of thrones one. Something that'll move the needle. A politics one with trump and Obama and Hillary and Putin and Kim Jong un would be hype as fuck.

[virms]

I would say just have the board games forum with the rfeds as a subsection.

As much as I love what cewsh review is I don't think it needs to be stickied. When they are producing material the thread is always at the top of the page plus everything is on the main page. I think it will be fine unstickied.

[virms]

We might need to add a porn thread so rog can make it through the day.

[Matthew]

everyone already left the water cooler

[mth]

Just delete the R-feds, they are dead.