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[EEVILMURRAY]

Coming home from work and seeing two pages of threads with new posts is extremely off putting.

If you were a new member, would you feel less intimidated?

[Eddage]

If you were a new member, would you feel less intimidated?

 

I don't know I'm not a new member... Probably not though.

[Mr_Odwin]

I personally feel that logging on to see an entire page of newly posted in threads is exciting and awesome. Maybe it goes back to the C-E days where it was a regular occurrence. My nostalgia tells me those days were better too, but that might lie to me - I've yet to figure it out.

[Eenuh]

Well Eenuh you're right, the general side of things shouldn't be excluded, although my thought on the matter is that there's too much emphasis on it. A place for general discussion is great and all but when it becomes the overriding theme of the entire forum, then it really defies the point of n-europe being a Nintendo site. It might as well be g-europe.

 

As far as I remember, N-Europe's forums haven't just been about Nintendo for years. If we were only allowed to primarily talk about Nintendo, this forum would lose a lot of its members.

There isn't any "emphasis" on General Chit Chat, it's just naturally the part of the forums where people can talk about more things. Just talking about Nintendo related things will only get you so far, in the end there isn't much to talk about unless new games get released.

 

 

Also, as we're talking change, then the whole n-e awards need a rehaul too. The fact that there were no awards for best person to play online with, or any awards related to the supposed core content of the forum for example only serves to further deepen the divide between "north" and "south" of the forum.

 

You were free to suggest awards last time though. You can even suggest awards now, but it's a bit early. The awards are just a fun thing anyway, nothing to take seriously. *shrugs*

[Dyson]

The awards are community run, as opposed to being an official thing. Suggestions are always welcome

[ReZourceman]

The awards are just a fun thing anyway, nothing to take seriously. *shrugs*

 

Doesn't seem like many people take it seriously at all.. I mean I was voted funniest member three years running....

[Goafer]

 

Doesn't seem like many people take it seriously at all.. I mean I was voted funniest member three years running....

 

I take my role of newbie of the year very seriously and am currently working on all the promises I made during my election campaign.

[Cube]

The awards are community run, as opposed to being an official thing. Suggestions are always welcome

 

It also doesn't help when idiots prepare it all, let people vote and then have no time to count up the results.

 

...

 

...

 

What?

[Pookiablo]

You were free to suggest awards last time though. You can even suggest awards now, but it's a bit early. The awards are just a fun thing anyway, nothing to take seriously. *shrugs*

 

The awards are community run, as opposed to being an official thing. Suggestions are always welcome

 

I did! But I was ignored (or someone gave me some baloney that "we'll do it next time"). And the fact they're community run means that they should be as inclusive as possible so that EVERYONE in the community can take part! Why make it "just a fun thing" for a few select people when it could be an even more fun thing for even more people!

 

As for all the other stuff, that's fair enough and each to their own!

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

For the record, I consider myself more neutral than anything else about this. I simply can't predict what will come of this as there are so many variables to consider. I have no clue if this is a good idea or not, but I'm gonna roll with it and see what happens. If everything goes to hell, I assume we'll try to reestablish the old ways.

 

I also agree very much with Eenuh about the importance of the general boards. I, too, joined back in the day to discuss Nintendo, but since then my focus has changed almost entirely to the general boards. At the moment I'm more in need of a community than a Nintendo forum, it appears, but even if that were to change, N-E would still be able to fulfil my needs. Where's the harm in that?

[Aimless]

As for the community aspect, it's actually hard to call it a community. Seems more like a clique of people who spend more time on here than others. The general discussions always involve the same people talking with one another in a fairly familiar way about their lives (which they've already talked about a million times already on the forum), which makes very little sense to anyone who enters the forum for the first time. As Jim correctly stated, it's a bit intimidating (I remember thinking so when I first joined too). At least with specific discussions anyone can join in and not have to feel like they must know everyone before saying something.

So, what do you consider a "community" to be? As far as I can tell you've just described one, so I'm interested to see how your definition differs.

[Pookiablo]

So, what do you consider a "community" to be? As far as I can tell you've just described one, so I'm interested to see how your definition differs.

 

Well I view the community as everyone who's signed up to the boards (bar the ones who no longer visit here and thus have essentially left the community).

 

When people speak of community on this forum, what they actually mean is the small group of people they interact with on a more regular basis than the other members. That a sub-group within the community in my view.

 

Regardless of allegiances to General CC, Other Consoles Board, or Wii Discussion or w/e, the community is the "n-europe community", hence that little button at the top.

 

Of course, not everyone chooses to be as big a part of the whole community as everyone else, etc. but that doesn't mean that we can't make more of an effort in order to try and make the forum a more inclusive place.

[Jimbob]

I'm an in-betweener at the moment, there are some parts i like of this new N-E, and other parts i dislike. The below sums it up.

 

The reason I liked the bigger movie, music, etc threads is that if someone just happened to mention something in passing that I hadn't seen/listened to then often I would go and check it out (rate the last tv show is the best example here). That isn't going to happen anymore, cause I'm certainly not going to click on every one of the new topics just in case it might be something I'm interested in.

 

Coming home from work and seeing two pages of threads with new posts is extremely off putting.

 

It seems that way with me as well. I like all the new topics to look into, but there seems to be too many to keep track of. Simples is better sometimes, but perhaps a way to encourage new topic creations (stickyin the HWYD topic would be good, the rate threads a possible chance as well).

Edited July 20, 2010 by Jimbob

[jayseven]

Sorry if this has been suggested, Not gunna lie... i havent read all 3 pages of this thread. so sorry to sound like a broken record....

 

 

 

Why dont you split the general discussion board into sections?

 

 

Movies Section where new threads can be created for Movie News / Discussions

 

Music Section (see description above but replace Movie With Music)

 

TV / Anime Section (see 1st description but replace movie with TV)

 

Books / Comics (See 1st desctiption but replace movie with Books / Comics)

 

 

 

and then the main general discussion board is there for people to make the birthday threads and the "Well today i kicked a duck" threads.

 

 

Disclaimer... i dont kick ducks.. thats just mean

That's how the playground sub-forum,the creative gallery and tech board all formed -- it was deemed that there was enough discussing of these topics in order to generate the respective boards -- and while teh pace of those forums is substantially more pedestrian than the gen chit-chat, I/we have gotten used to there being pretty much just one/two updated threads in them when we log-in.

 

Creating a sub-forum needs to be a balanced process - firstly, is a topic being discussed enough to demand a sub-forum, and secondly would the transportation of said discussion negatively impact the gen chit-chat. Essentially, if we fracture the gen chit-chat into various sub-forums covering all topics, what would be the point of gen chit-chat?

 

By locking the big topics we can, hopefully, witness some mildly organic changes.

 

 

Yeah but this also limits what we post. People used to just rate and movie they'd watched, sometimes people would talk about it and sometimes people wouldnt. This way we have to post a new thread for every single movie, regardless of whether we wanted an indepth discussion about it or not. Sometimes people just want to rate a movie, thats why I think both should be allowed.

As has been said; we should go with the notion that a 2-page topic is a success, and we're encouraging you to make the threads about the movie you want to discuss. This way, you'll have to actually initiate a discussion with your opening post.

 

If people bite and reply, then win. Conversation ensues. If not, then you fail at making topics and should probably try harder next time.

 

The reason I liked the bigger movie, music, etc threads is that if someone just happened to mention something in passing that I hadn't seen/listened to then often I would go and check it out (rate the last tv show is the best example here). That isn't going to happen anymore, cause I'm certainly not going to click on every one of the new topics just in case it might be something I'm interested in.

 

Coming home from work and seeing two pages of threads with new posts is extremely off putting.

 

I think the main problem here is the different ways people use the forum. Some 'refreshers' sit at a computer all day and check on n-e very frequently. Some... gobstoppers (?!) check once or twice a day, and, much like reading your regular paper, use the forum as part of their routine, checking the same threads in the same order, sometimes daring to venture into that other board you like sometimes but generally never post anything there, checking out the hot-peeps gallery but not posting any replies, etc, etc.

 

One element of the community aspect here is that everyone seemingly reads every topic, so everyone knows everything. The idea that we have more scattered threads means that things might clique-up a bit. Who knows? One thing for sure is that this should encourage positive content.

 

Plus it means us mods can actually do some moderating. This is good news for you lot because it means there'll be an inevitable angry mob shoouting about something we did. Those topics are fun.

 

EDIT: Oooh!

 

And RE: UIG, ReZ's new themed photos thread is precisely the way to combat the loss of UIG. We all know the themed/challenge pictures were the best bit of that thread.

 

Let's just try and think outside the box for ways to bring back our favourite elements of the big threads in novel ways!

[ReZourceman]

checking out the hot-peeps gallery but not posting any replies

 

I didn't post any replies three times this morning whilst browsing that thread.

 

------------

 

Okay, can we have the comic book thread back now please. Its completely pointless it being locked and shouldn't even be part of the experiment anyway.

 

Thanks

[Happenstance]

As has been said; we should go with the notion that a 2-page topic is a success, and we're encouraging you to make the threads about the movie you want to discuss. This way, you'll have to actually initiate a discussion with your opening post.

 

Thats not really the point though. Not everyone wants to make a post that will generate a load of discussion but just to rate the movie. Why cant those who actually want to talk more about it make their threads while others just keep using the rate threads?

[jayseven]

So what you're saying is that by closing the rate... threads we've gotten rid of a bunch of posts that nobody reads and have saved the poster that 5 minutes of their lives that they would've wasted writing something pointless that they don't want anyone to read anyway?

 

RE: Comic thread -- give the experiment some time, alright? Mistakes have/will be made, but they will be rectified once things simmer the fuck down and we see how broke we've made it, then we can provide various solutions.

 

And before anyone says "if it ain't broke..." again; there's plenty of other areas of discussion that this experiment covers, and they're looking promising in their own ways.

 

We need to stop being so meta about it all and just deal for the time being.

[Emasher]

To be fair, reading something and discussing it are entirely different.

 

That said, there's a reason some other sites, like Gametrailers have an option for users to make blog posts rather than start threads in the forums.

[Sheikah]

Well Eenuh you're right, the general side of things shouldn't be excluded, although my thought on the matter is that there's too much emphasis on it. A place for general discussion is great and all but when it becomes the overriding theme of the entire forum, then it really defies the point of n-europe being a Nintendo site. It might as well be g-europe.

Well there's nothing wrong with that - real life issues are far more important than Nintendo. If you're not happy that more people care about general discussion than Nintendo then blame Nintendo's crappy shift to casual audiences; people who don't particularly care to sign up to Nintendo forums and stick around long.

 

It's much more enjoyable to get to know members in-depth rather than find out which Wii title they're most looking forward to. Yes, I sometimes want to know about their gaming interests, but I don't see any reason why gaming should be the main focus for anyone who doesn't want it to be.

[Molly]

I like it. I think we should embrace the change and then suckle at it's warm and tender teat.

 

 

Edit: Although, I definitely won't read all the threads. Not that I did before, I'm extremely lazy.

Edited July 20, 2010 by Molly

[Nolan]

As for the community aspect, it's actually hard to call it a community. Seems more like a clique of people who spend more time on here than others. The general discussions always involve the same people talking with one another in a fairly familiar way about their lives (which they've already talked about a million times already on the forum), which makes very little sense to anyone who enters the forum for the first time. As Jim correctly stated, it's a bit intimidating (I remember thinking so when I first joined too). At least with specific discussions anyone can join in and not have to feel like they must know everyone before saying something.

 

You just gave a perfect example.

[Aimless]

[Community chatter]

My point was that all the traits you listed are what a community is. By definition it's an ingroup, I don't see that as a problem; a clique is just a group of friends seen from the outside.

 

I don't view this place as exclusive. I've certainly never come across a more inclusive gaming forum — new posters aren't discriminated against, every other post isn't a meme, and the cast of regular posters is almost entirely different to the Cube-Europe days. No you can't walk in and instantly know everything about everyone, but when is that ever the case? We're all new at some point, every friend starts off a stranger. You get a feel for things quickly by taking part, or even just taking the time to lurk for a while before contributing.

 

I don't disagree that more could be done to bring the wider community together, but you do that by instigating things and encouraging people to do so, not by lopping bits off. If, as you suggested earlier, the General boards were banished from the forum that wouldn't encourage people in the other sections to get to know each other better, just take away a venue for those already familiar with one another. Rather than cutting off its nose to spite its face, the boards should be encouraging people to take part in the General sections as well as keeping up the game chat.

 

Anyway, personally I don't take issue with the staff making some changes. I think a few of the forums could be consolidated, especially when paired with some light formatting rules — think along the lines of ReZ's icon request earlier — and getting people in good habits. In any case it's something that should be discussed, not just enacted by the staff because they're the staff; I'm not damning the experiment as it's labelled as such.

[ampharoid]

Yo

I've not really been able to access t'internet lately but joined a while back

It seems I have returned to a messy forum

 

All jumbled topics with no real purpose

I LIKE PURPOSE!!!

 

My dislike for the new set up is that I liked it how it was and personally when I joined I found it great. One of my previous posts even stated that I was happy to be part of such an awesome 'incestuous' family.

I joined initially for helped on Wii games but soon found myself wanting to chat about inane issues in the HWYD thread and look at your crazy but pointless photos in UIG.

How else am I to see who I'm chatting to?!?

 

As far as I remember, N-Europe's forums haven't just been about Nintendo for years. If we were only allowed to primarily talk about Nintendo, this forum would lose a lot of its members.

 

So true, I wouldn't have stayed if it weren't for the General chit chat. I'd have taken the advice and truly fucked off for good.

 

If you were a new member, would you feel less intimidated?

 

NO!!!! I'd feel more initimidated. There is far too much to go through and you don't find out anything about the other people on the forum. Plus my PC is slow and doesn't like 'tabs'. It will take days to go through, instead of just clicking 3/4 main threads and getting what I want to read.

PLUS!

To be brutely honest I don't honestly have anything seriously exciting in my life that deems a thread devoted to it. But I would like to vent frustrations at late buses, car breakdowns, microwaves blowing up and the such like. I would love to tell you all about my (not very interesting) but slightly funny shopping experience, the twat down the pub last night and the nice meal I had out last week.

But none of it warrants its own thread, So it doesn't get said.

Then I don't post and I drift off before I've even become a well known face in these parts and no one remembers me.

 

When people speak of community on this forum, what they actually mean is the small group of people they interact with on a more regular basis than the other members. That a sub-group within the community in my view.

 

however you define it it doesn't matter as long as people are able to use the boards in their own way. Some people only want to discuss Nintendo and some, myself included, would like to know about peoples weekends and the small group that 'interact with on a more regular basis' are the core members of the forum. Without them, the forum wouldn't be as successful as it is. Smaller forums would kill for post counts and the number of active members that this site has. Those core members are also the ones that welcomed me in with open arms and made me want to contribute more to the forum.

 

I like all the new topics to look into, but there seems to be too many to keep track of. Simples is better sometimes, but perhaps a way to encourage new topic creations (stickyin the HWYD topic would be good, the rate threads a possible chance as well).

 

I agree mostly

SIMPLES!!!!!

New topics = good

2000000 new topics to read

 

Anyways I have shown my thoughts (as a newish member)

*prepares for the backlash*

Edited July 20, 2010 by ampharoid

[Pookiablo]

Well there's nothing wrong with that - real life issues are far more important than Nintendo. If you're not happy that more people care about general discussion than Nintendo then blame Nintendo's crappy shift to casual audiences; people who don't particularly care to sign up to Nintendo forums and stick around long.

 

It's much more enjoyable to get to know members in-depth rather than find out which Wii title they're most looking forward to. Yes, I sometimes want to know about their gaming interests, but I don't see any reason why gaming should be the main focus for anyone who doesn't want it to be.

 

Which, as I seemingly have to continuously point out, I'm not disputing. But this is a Nintendo forum. I come here to talk Nintendo. Not find out why so and so had a shite day. But, if general chit-chat is part of the package then I'm not against it. It adds more variety which is a good thing. My point with this whole thing though is that this is primarily a Nintendo forum whether people like it or not and people seem to argue me down for it despite the fact that the site is called n(intendo)-europe. Teen chat this ain't.

 

And surely, Nintendo's "crappy shift" is a point of discussion nevertheless.

[jayseven]

Nolan; he was referring to the user called 'Jim'.

 

Ampharoid; thanks for the post! That's the sort of insight that's needed, here.

 

I think this thread has shown how diverse a reaction there's been to this whole shebang, and how difficult it is to quantify how much better/worse the forum is (after less than 48 hours?).

 

I think the current 'thread madness' is just a short-term condition that the forum is going through during its weaning stage, and I highly doubt we'll keep up this 15ish-new-threads-a-day for all that much longer.