forum topics too broad: too many locked threads.

[wathomas777]

While I love DDR and have gotten a lot of help from this board, I feel that the topics in many forums are way too broad to be helpful.

For example, in the controllers forum, ALL topics related to a specific controller are assigned to a single thread. Some of these threads, such as the one for home built pads, is over 100 pages long.

This is an awful amount of material that a person must sludge through (including personal comments) just to find an answer to a question.

Yes, one of the many pitfalls of a forum is repeated questions. However, locking every thread because it should be in one of five approved topic areas is just plain dumb.

Also, by funnelling ALL discussion into a single general thread is akin to having to carry on a conversation in a crowded room with everyone talking over one another. The flow of the thread is ruined.

I would rather deal with multiple threads even if they are repeated than to deal with one "uberthread" with 18 different conversations going on at the same time.

If you go into a forum and notice more than 50% of the threads are locked, then something isn't right.

Am I the only one who feels this way. While some more senior members urge newbies to "do their research". I still like to have threads in which nearly everything discussed is based on a very specific thread topic, not lumped together in 4 or 5 ubertopics which ramble and have no flow, and simply are a mess to navigate.

I would rather have continual repeated threads from newbies asking the same question over and over again, because then I can easily ignore that thread and look into a thread that intersts me.

While care must be taken care to avoid constantly repeated thread topics, the topics should be made general enough so that 4 or 5 different and unique conversations aren't going on in a single thread.

In the controllers forum almost all topics related to building a home built pad, is directed to the homebuilt pad thread which is at "part 3" now, and is over 120 pages in length. This is pretty daunting to navigate if I am simply trying to find where one can find an arrow graphic to put on their home built pad.

Or when several mentions of soft pad mods come up, but they're impossible to find since the search terms soft pad mods don't reveal any results, and the information is buried in an 8 page ignition thread, or 6 page level two thread.

[Spike]

Your entire argument is based off of your own opinion.

So if our opinion is different, well that's about it.
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[Reenee]

Or why not just make one nice thread that compiles frequently asked information?

[ZephyrGlaze]

Or (I admit this would be a bit labor intensive), make it board policy for mods to delete posts that don't contribute anything to the topic in a given sticky. *Looks at last ten pages of Videos thread*
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I remember forum signatures. Do you guys remember forum signatures?

[not dryad]

[Cutriss]

[Cutriss]

To make a second, more direct, and less vitriol-laden post specifically for you, wathomas777, what exactly are you looking for?

You say you're reading the homepad sticky, but you're also looking for Ignition mods? Have you seen the FAQs we have in our tips section?
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Sentient Mode is capable...

[Ghettoman-DDR]

this is only a suggestion but how about you can start deleting useless threads that no one ever needs anymore....
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Power isn't everything for a console, added Miyamoto, "Too many powerful consoles can't coexist. It's like having only ferocious dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction."

[42987||;]

Why would you delete them if you can just lock them and leave them there for future reference. I know not many people on here are prone to use the Search feature, but for those that do it is beneficial for them to still be able to find something that might be useful to them whether locked or not. Everyone has a different opinion of what is and is not a useless thread. Just because it doesn't meet up to your wants or standards for whatever reason doesn't mean it's useless. That is just your single opinion of "useless." Even when new threads are created that are relating to one that was created not long before it, it can be used as a reference thread to the repeated one so the new members can get the idea of looking for older topics before whoring out new ones everytime they have a question. Deleting "useless" thread isn't necessary I think. Then again, neither is postwhoring.

[wathomas777]

I would like to thank everyone who responded to my inquiry with their thoughtful and informative posts.

And I do see the logic in many of the arguements presented here. But one of my main "issues" with the "uber" thread model, is that there is no conversation flow.

I frequent another very similar board called www.avsim.com. In it, there are forums for each general section, much like here, but threads are allowed to be opened on any topic as long as it fits within the confines of the general heading (such as Microsoft Flight Sim discussion, or FlyII discussion, etc.)

Commonly repeated questions are simply handled by a senior poster who normally will provide a link to the other thread, or if it is a quick answer will answer the questions.

People who intentionally bump a topic with a "bump" are discouraged and repeated offenders are banned from the forums.

The advantage of this, of course, is that users can look at a given topic and know that for the most part, the thread will follow the topic.

Topics are only locked if they are abusive or degenerate into a nasty personal flame or attack.

In an "uber-thread" you can have 3 to 4 topics simultaneously swimming in the same thread, and you lose flow. This especially is a problem if a person replys to a thread that may be five or six messages up and fails to use the "quote" command. As it is confusing at times to whether the reply is to the last message in the thread, or one that is a previous 3 to 15 messages back.


But hey, every moderator has the right to run their board as they see fit, and if the users are ok with it, then "thems the rules", and I will adapt.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[Cutriss]

Ugh. AVSim. I couldn't get them to stop spamming me to save my life. I eventually just closed the account that I used when I signed up there.

And for the record, I had a hard time when I was using that place. I was looking for some very specific information (related to comparative modularity of the various sim packages out there - I needed some logging functions because we were going to be using a sim package in a clinical experiment - this is another story for another time), and I had to dive into whole slew of threads where I thought I might be able to find an answer, and was never able to locate what I needed.

Granted, this was three years ago, so if they've cleaned things up since then, sure, but when I was there, I had a real hard time finding the info I needed.

Bear in mind also - the average age of the users of AVSim is *a lot* higher than it is here, so we have to use a heavier hand to manage things. Sad but true.
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Sentient Mode is capable...

[rampage]

I'd also like to note that not all posts get locked for being similar to one that has a sticky related to it.

For instance, if there's somebody with a very specific question about a very specific issue that may be related to something in a sticky, but is unique enough to deserve its own post, then in general, we'll let it live.

For instance, "I have a Foobar brand controller version 2 and I want to know how [to do something very unique or special]," will probably live. However, saying, "What do you think about the Foobar brand controller?" will get locked, beause there's a sticky related to general Foobar brand controller issues.

You have to ask, is this post specific and/or unique enough that it really deserves its own thread? If not, then it should go into the sticky.

If you feel strongly enough about this, PM the mod who locked your post and give a good explanation as to why it deserves to live. If you bring up a good enough argument, chances are it will get unlocked.

[Cutriss]

Also, this messageboard is for everyone, not just you (speaking vaguely, not directing this at anyone in particular). Some people post a new thread because they want "their own thread", as a matter of self-importance. You can cover it up all you want, but ultimately, a lot of people complain about their threads getting locked because they take it personally. And it's really not supposed to be taken that way.
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Sentient Mode is capable...

[SO! loves Electroplankton]

the only thing that bothers me is when people complain because question so and so has been answered a few times before in a 500 page thread. Some people's schedules are too busy to read through the whole thread!