RE: The subforum shuffle
04-18-2012, 07:15 PM
I don't see the issue? Mostly I don't see what it does besides encourage the creation of more threads that would go in there.
It would be a different matter if this were a new forum for discussion on a narrower topic - in that case, yeah, I can see it being inconvenient if there aren't enough threads popping up to justify its existence. Then it would basically do very little except make people wonder where certain possibly-borderline threads would go. There's an implied message of "talk about this stuff goes here", which is, at the least, awkward if there isn't that much talk about whatever it is.
But here, the split is between "general discussion" and "things users have made or are planning to make". There's a pretty clear difference there, and the implied message of a subforum for the latter is "do more of this stuff".
At the very least, I can think of threads that I'd make there that I'd have second thoughts about making in General Chatter. Namely, if I wanted to make a "Fogel Writes Silly Stories" thread, and if I want to write something more serious and get feedback on it, I can make another thread. Or if I decide to work on my feeble art skills, I can make a "Fogel Draws Terrible Things And Hopefully Gets Better (Eventually)" thread.
Basically, I can have different threads about different sorts of projects I'm doing that don't fit into Adventures or Forum Games, and not feel like I'm monopolizing a generalized thread, or feel at all weird about posting silly stuff and more serious stuff in the same thread. While I could technically have done such things in General Chatter, it doesn't feel to me that those are in the spirit of that subforum.
The community here is largely made up of artists and writers and crafters and musicians and game programmers, and people who fit into more than one of those categories or others that I'm missing off the top of my head. If you give them a subforum for creative endeavors and say "put stuff here", then they will. It may take time, but it's going to happen.
At worst, it's a bit silly and premature. But I don't see how it could have actual negative effects.
It would be a different matter if this were a new forum for discussion on a narrower topic - in that case, yeah, I can see it being inconvenient if there aren't enough threads popping up to justify its existence. Then it would basically do very little except make people wonder where certain possibly-borderline threads would go. There's an implied message of "talk about this stuff goes here", which is, at the least, awkward if there isn't that much talk about whatever it is.
But here, the split is between "general discussion" and "things users have made or are planning to make". There's a pretty clear difference there, and the implied message of a subforum for the latter is "do more of this stuff".
At the very least, I can think of threads that I'd make there that I'd have second thoughts about making in General Chatter. Namely, if I wanted to make a "Fogel Writes Silly Stories" thread, and if I want to write something more serious and get feedback on it, I can make another thread. Or if I decide to work on my feeble art skills, I can make a "Fogel Draws Terrible Things And Hopefully Gets Better (Eventually)" thread.
Basically, I can have different threads about different sorts of projects I'm doing that don't fit into Adventures or Forum Games, and not feel like I'm monopolizing a generalized thread, or feel at all weird about posting silly stuff and more serious stuff in the same thread. While I could technically have done such things in General Chatter, it doesn't feel to me that those are in the spirit of that subforum.
The community here is largely made up of artists and writers and crafters and musicians and game programmers, and people who fit into more than one of those categories or others that I'm missing off the top of my head. If you give them a subforum for creative endeavors and say "put stuff here", then they will. It may take time, but it's going to happen.
At worst, it's a bit silly and premature. But I don't see how it could have actual negative effects.