Moving forward, we're picking up our game. We're going to make this board active and inviting.

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OK, we're going to diagnose the current problems that are holding us back.

1. What are some structural (very core) problems with the Discussion board?

2. What are some lesser problems with the board you see?

3. What are we doing well?

Finally, if you want to, tell us some changes you would make to make the Discussion board to make it more active and inviting?

You do not need to change the discussion board at all. It does not need to be active or inviting, the board is already relatively active, people post in it daily, just not every single hour like the other threads. The board itself is fine, each discussion can been seen as a productive discussion, and if a discussion is led astray then the board moderators will warn people to get back on topic, and eventually close the thread if it causes problems. The only thing I can think of that might need a bit of improving is the base thread material. Some things shouldn't be put up for discussion in the first place, and you need to be able to look at a thread and say from the start "This will not lead anywhere." But other than that, the discussion board is fine. If you really want the board to be active, you'd have to degrade the quality of the board to attract the players who don't bother to form a valid argument.

I just meant 'fundamental' issues that have to do with the very basic make-up of the board.

How would anonymous posting 'take care of bullshitters', Hyde?

And Gorman, less rules are better, OK - but what rules/guidelines do you think we should have instead?

Same question goes to everyone - what do we like/dislike about the current guidelines + what new ones would you like to see considered?

The problem is that discussions in written form are tedious and not very effective compared to discussions that can be done in real time via chat or similar things.
Remember the last interesting conversation you had and remember how much ground you covered in a matter of minutes. Now compare that to the average thread in discussion.

The only effective way to attract people to the discussion board would be knowledge that they couldn't acquire more easily elsewhere. http://historum.com/ is an excellent example of a discussion based forum that works very well because it's a gather of experts who exchange information about certain subjects.
That's not the case for the discussion board here. I don't see it happen either. Toribash related discussion happen everywhere all over the forums. The replay board is (presumably, I wouldn't know since I don't check it at all) filled with people discussing replay related problems.
As long as the discussion board does not have a defined purpose it has no purpose at all, so it does not work very effectively. As of now it's just the playground for a handful of active people who do not manage to produce particularly interesting content.
That playground could potentially be more interesting if it would be in an environment that isn't filled with 12 year old virgins who are obsessed with dolls.

what it boils down to is that there is nothing much you can do.
The only way to increase activity is by admitting more activity through lack of moderation. That's a rather sad attempt but if it's your only option go for it.
Alternatively you could just ask an admin to delete the board.


edit: One of the reasons why the content you active people produce is not interesting is the terrible way you format your posts. It isn't even fun to read your stuff if more than half of it is quotes, goddamnit.

Should get people to outline their credentials (or lack of) before they post. Then we can take them seriously (or not). Speaking of Pig, just curious, what are your credentials?

Yes, if you'd read my post and comprehend it that's precisely the point I made. I'll repeat it happily.
historum has a purpose and an active userbase.
The discussion board has no purpose besides “go wild and discuss literally anything toribash unrelated” nor an active userbase.
How do you get an active userbase in this environment? Not at all. The target group of the game is not the target group of a reasonable and semi-intellectual platform.
;o

No, I'm just wondering, in general, what are your credentials? Are you studying a degree? Working? Unemployed? Just because I want to get to know you better, not because I'm 'implying' anything.

Of course you should not have to give your credentials to take part in a debate, unless the particular credential is relevant to the topic.

Enforcing the rule would be extremely elitist and would encourage looking down on people and discounting their opinion, even if their argument is good

This sums up my overall opinion. Points in bold being things I disagree with and where my suggestion stems from.

I'm still surprised that after so many years people still find the will in them to post in Discussion when they're aware of the general demographic.
Not that it's a bad thing at all.
I really appreciate the attempt to educate the younger player base, but surely everyone realized by now that maybe a dozen (if that much) of the people who post here are somewhat knowledgeable on the topics that are being discussed (hence this whole thread).

The subject in common that "experts" in this forum have is mainly the game itself. [no doubt that there's people with other fields of expertise here, taking interesting degrees and etc, but do you really want to come home and continue rambling about the topics you study to an audience that won't listen? I understand if some people say yes to that and I'm all for a relaxed and comprehensive moderation and overall participation if that's the case]

Discussion about the game and its problems seems scarce on the Replay board (in a way) as it focuses more on specific critics on certain replays according to the general canons that people compare them to.
Suggestions covers it a tad bit, and some channels in IRC ramble (to an extent constructively) about the game, but considering that this is the topic most of us have in common maybe it'd make sense if we'd open this board to discussions about the game itself in my opinion.

Right now I don't find anything on the rules that go against the discussion of some aspects about the game in here, so that might be an easy way to spite a conversation where everyone is already into the topic.

I realized there's nothing to talk about. The ones who insist on commenting on every topic possible know nothing in general. (Like when someone asked me to provide sources when I said that men are generally stronger than women. I cringe every time I think about it.)
Flame wars are fun, but aren't really tolerated. What remains is the endless circlejerk of agreement and Pig making everyone want to punch him in the face.