How general is General Chat really?
It's described as:
I'm not making the above up. Seriously, go and look at the forum description; it's right there, plain as day. Now, let's check out Merriam Webster, and see how it defines the word "Anything."A gathering place for members. Discuss anything you wish within this forum, so long as there is room for an open discussion.
Now, I've never admitted to being the smartest guy, but I do know how to read. I take offence to the fact that the Polk's Eleven thread was threatened to be closed. What is the point of closing such a thread? It's merely a comical thread for the sole purpose of entertainment and perhaps the theft of girl scout cookies. As we all know, those cookies are delicious.Pronunciation: \-ˌthiŋ\
Function: pronoun
Date: before 12th century
: any thing whatever : any such thing
But I digress. This website is for entertainment purposes, am I right? The Final Fantasy series is a video game series, and video games are a source of entertainment, correct? Now, if logic serves me right, a forum based around a source of entertainment would thusly be... another source of entertainment. Please, someone tell me if I'm wrong with my logic.
Now, an entertaining post, on a message board, for our entertainment, based on a different medium of entertainment would just be silly, right? Clearly, this is sensory overload.
It just so happens that this thread is one of the few humorous and original ideas that General Chat has had in a long while. The stagnancy is overwhelming, with "How do you feel about/ how do you like; this/that/the other?" What kind of discussion does this offer? You post your opinion and leave the thread. Discussion over, thread over. That really got the minds going.
Sure, I'm guilty of this, and of not posting my fair share of original and thought provoking threads. But, when I do post a thread, full of humor and perhaps a little edge to it, it's seen as offensive and closed down. Now, this is not my argument. You can call my thread flame baiting, trolling, being an asshole, or just being plain mean spirited, but what you can't call it is unoriginal. I asked a question about two former members. Was it funny? To some, sure. Was it offensive? To some, perhaps. Did it get the point across that was intended? Absolutely.
What truly irks me though, is how some threads remain open, when they offer absolutely nothing; zero room for discussion or thought. Take the Techno Dog for example. How can we turn that into a legitimate discussion, aside from the typical "That dog's crazy," or "Awwwwwwwww that's so cute." Under the strictest guidelines, if the conversation were to evolve into something say, on the merits of dog training, or perhaps even the morality of employing certain techniques in dog training, we'd be going off topic.
Now how can we have a topic when the post at hand is just a video? Explain that to me. Why is that thread not in the Humor and Word Games section. It's a humorous post that offers absolutely nothing.
Better question: Why do we even have the Humor and Word Games forum? If General Chat is for anything to be discussed, why do we have a sub forum for things that are too general for General Chat. How can "anything" feasibly be broken down?
Or is it because Humor and Word Games are simply for mindless posting? Or, shall I simply call it what it is: SPAM.
Now, I know there are a bunch of members who post exclusively in Humor and Word Games. That's cool and all, but I feel that's causing one of those things that TFF is so well known for: Rifts.
Hear me out. It's no secret that a good deal of members only post in the Humor forum. The question is, why do they do that? I for one cannot come up with an answer to that question. I mean, how hard can it be to string a few sentences together and have a normal conversation about literally anything. I honestly feel that if we were to get rid of the Humor and Word Games forum, we could bring about all sorts of activity to General Chat.
The truth is, I hate the H/WG forum because it does nothing for me. It doesn't spark any real conversation, and it's so mind numbingly simple. By removing it, and allowing for more themed (read: threads) topics for free flowing conversation, I think it would do wonders to improve both General Chat and the overall TFF community. I know for a fact that I'm not alone in this feeling.
I will go so far as to say this. If H/WG is deleted, and with it go members, then those are not the members that we really want at TFF. Think about it, they'd have been here only for the spam. Would you rather have a bunch of spammers in their own little pen, or would you rather have members who could and would interact with the rest of the community?
I don't know about anyone else, but I'd prefer the diversity.
I understand that not all issues are cut and dry. Yes, in a perfect world they would be, but with the more rules we have, the more loopholes we create. The rules make it easier for the mods to do their jobs, and for the most part, they are doing a good job. At the same time, under my proposal, there would have to be some more leniency, and General Chat would indeed actually become more general. Granted, those God-awful "vote a person out" and "what color did you poop" threads would have to go, and rightfully so. They literally bring nothing to the table. However, stupid, silly threads for entertainment, like World Domination and Polk's 11, are fun.
Look around, General Chat is stagnant. It really could use the fun.
I'm willing to talk about this civilly, and I want to do this because after nine years, this place really grows on you. If I didn't give a damn, I wouldn't have spent the past two hours writing.


























I might think about it










Bookmarks