DeRailing / Topic Discussion

[TheIronMaiden]

I enjoy following the trail of thought in larger threads. I think that most people are able to follow multiple trains of thought on a player topic simultaneously.



I also think that in more specific threads here will be more potential for meta complaining about derailing or trolling or staying on topic which isn't as enjoyable to read as hockey discussion. Either that or they will die right away bumping down more long standing debates.

[jtfrogger]

I'll give you my personal experience.

I used to get most of my hockey/Calgary news from CP. I was, and have always been, a casual user. I read much more than I post. But I now get most of my info elsewhere. I still pop in on occasion, but not as much.

I personally hate the mega-threads. Even on topics I care about, I don't bother reading them. They get tiresome when a heated debate gets going on a minor detail that is somewhat relevant but not worth discussing over pages. When some new information comes up, I miss it in the weeds.

[TheScorpion]

Maybe this is a slightly different issue, but one of the biggest things that's always bugged me on this site is the idea that starting threads should be seen as a "last resort." I think that discussion over whether a thread is threadworthy or not is entirely pointless and does nothing to contribute to what any other people might consider a valid topic of discussion. If the moderators consider a thread non-threadworthy, that's one thing and they can lock it, but I personally think that, unless a thread is an obvious troll thread only designed to incite a reaction, discussion of whether a thread is "threadworthy" or not just shouldn't be allowed.

Let the mods discuss that and come to a decision on their own terms. I just think it sends a much bigger message to the thread creator if nobody posts in their thread--proving that the general consensus among posters is it's not threadworthy--instead of if everybody just endlessly piles on that there's no point for its existence. It stifles any disagreement in that regard and often has nothing to do with what the thread was created to discuss.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

A couple things
- Certainly I'm not afraid of facing criticism for my view. The debate is happy in many threads and I'm happy to continue that conversation
- There are some posters that indeed beat the drum in numerous threads, and given that the debate about hits and fighting is happening in other threads, I didn't want to be one of those posters that takes numerous threads in that directions, after I made my initial point

But I take exception to the notion that I don't what to face criticism for my view, when I have been having the debate, and I would say it a pretty respectful way with several posters, in numerous other threads.

You absolutely have been respectful and thoughtful in making your points and it's a topic I personally enjoy debating.

I do think though that making a point and then pronouncing you will not respond to any replies on the topic isn't maybe the best choice. I understand not wanting to derail, but once you make the comment you've let that genie out of the bottle. Telling people not to respond to you kind of shuts down the debate and unilaterally gives you the last word.

As for more or less thread topics, I really have no preference. I have always thought it's a self regulating thing as some topics just wither and die on their own.

[fastpuck]

I also find the mega threads tiresome, because I often have to wade through irrelevant arguments to find some new news. I liked the day game day news threads, where it is just news stories of the day with a bit of discussion. On another point- sorry to derail- I also wanted to search for Monahan/Lindholm draft discussion and poll and couldn't find it. Partially because Mega threads encompass multiple years. Is there anyway to yearly date threads or start new threads each hockey year? Thanks PS> Bingo, I love this forum and am an avid hourly reader, just not a big poster.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by jtfrogger

I'll give you my personal experience.

I used to get most of my hockey/Calgary news from CP. I was, and have always been, a casual user. I read much more than I post. But I now get most of my info elsewhere. I still pop in on occasion, but not as much...

I am interested to know where you get most of your Flames-related information now, and what happened here at CP that pushed you elsewhere?

[Split98]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I enjoy following the trail of thought in larger threads. I think that most people are able to follow multiple trains of thought on a player topic simultaneously.



I also think that in more specific threads here will be more potential for meta complaining about derailing or trolling or staying on topic which isn't as enjoyable to read as hockey discussion. Either that or they will die right away bumping down more long standing debates.

Honestly, no issues there. Sometimes the topic in the OP is stale and that discussion has evolved into something else. Those are different, as it's a collective having a discussion. IMO, change the tread title if you need to, but don't stifle conversation because it didn't fit into the header.

For example, that Pettersson thread has largely become a 'hitting in the game' thread - which IMO, is great. We don't need to talk about the news around the Pettersson hit any longer, but it sparked debate around the NHL about where this game is headed.

If it dies right away? Great! A little news and a few comments to followup isn't a negative. Sometimes interesting news doesn't need to be discussed, but I still liked reading it.

[Shazam]

^^ Facebook, Reddit... The posters on FB are a lot more civil and there's almost no, if any, passive aggressive posts.

[Kovaz]

I think there could be a distinction between "breaking news/recent events" threads and "ongoing discussion" threads. Those are generally different types of discussion and when they get mixed into the same topics it can be difficult to find what you're looking for. Ongoing debates tend to derail news threads and create that feeling of having 5 of the same thread (every thread about Bennett becomes the same thing), but news is hard to follow when it gets appended to the same OP or buried on page 38 of a topic.

I don't see any problem with having "Bennett's performance/should we trade him?", "Bennett hit on Compher" and "Hitting's place in hockey" as separate threads on the front page at the same time. News threads will fall off the front page fairly quickly if ongoing debates get redirected into appropriately named threads, and that way we don't have to feel reluctant to create new threads for new events.

[Textcritic]

I think there will always be a place for some mega-threads, but I also think there is room for more narrow-topic items. Many of the things people complain about in mega-threads (specifically those about derailment and petty side-arguments) are also things that occur with frequency in more acutely focussed discussion threads, so I don't believe their outright elimination will help in that regard.

What has improved my own experience with CP considerably is the "view first unread" post button, which makes the mega-threads MUCH more easily navigable.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think there will always be a place for some mega-threads, but I also think there is room for more narrow-topic items. Many of the things people complain about in mega-threads (specifically those about derailment and petty side-arguments) are also things that occur with frequency in more acutely focussed discussion threads, so I don't believe their outright elimination will help in that regard.

What has improved my own experience with CP considerably is the "view first unread" post button, which makes the mega-threads MUCH more easily navigable.

Can we make that button bigger?

[jtfrogger]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I am interested to know where you get most of your Flames-related information now, and what happened here at CP that pushed you elsewhere?

Mostly from Twitter now. I find it easier to cut through all the noise. I don't like trying to find new information in the middle of a discussion I don't care about. Some discussions are great and interesting, which is why I am not removed completely.

[edn88]

I have to confess I find myself getting most of my hockey news from Twitter these days. I don't care so much about megathread vs on topic thread, but (and maybe I am just getting old), I cannot handle the constant and somewhat petty debate that seems to spiral out of control (which is ironic, because that is the knock on twitter). I pop by for some of the more specific Calgary content (for example was curious what the forum's take was on Eric Francis' latest faux pas the other day).



Personally I would love to see the thumbs up and thumbs down for posts. I do find myself stopping to read posts that have lots of thanks on them, but perhaps some of the posters who continually post crap could get some feedback in the form of negative ratings (rather than people piling on), it would help them change what they post (or stop posting all together). Maybe we could pilot this in some of the non-hockey threads to see how it impacts (like in the Funny Pictures thread).

[ComixZone]

I love the "Sean Friggin' Monahan" thread styles. Where we have one active thread for that player.

From a News perspective, and or an incident specific perspective, I think specific threads are fine.

I wouldn't want to see a crazy amount of threads, but damn do I not want "Have we waited TOO long to trade Sam Bennett" to be the only active Sam Bennett thread. We should have a "Sam Friggin' Bennett!" mega-thread, one for every player on the team perhaps?

[CaptainCrunch]

I'm kind of a silo guy, all topics around one topic or person in one silo.

[Tron_fdc]

I don't mind multiple threads. The board is so busy these days that the irrelevant topics drop off the front page pretty quickly, and I rarely go past page 1.

A lot of info and headlines get swallowed up into megathreads so it's easy to miss a lot of topics.

[David Struch]

Already 40 references of Bennett in this thread lol.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by David Struch

Already 40 references of Bennett in this thread lol.

Have we traded Bennett yet?

[MRCboicgy]

I think some more thought into thread titles could help too


I tend to personally avoid most megathreads, for casual reading - unless someone reports a post in one - because i will often feel out of the loop with discussion. It ends up being like missing an episode in a tv series.


Here's one thing that leads to my confusion: Last night, should we talk about the Oilers game in progress in the OOT thread or the Sucks thread?

I would vote for the OOT, then any other commentary around the team can be in the other thread.

Example, talk about Nurse scoring the OT goal without #97 in the OOT thread, and then talk about the bewilderment at how #97 has been in on 9/10 goals in the Sucks thread.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by MRCboicgy

I think some more thought into thread titles could help too


I tend to personally avoid most megathreads, for casual reading - unless someone reports a post in one - because i will often feel out of the loop with discussion. It ends up being like missing an episode in a tv series.


Here's one thing that leads to my confusion: Last night, should we talk about the Oilers game in progress in the OOT thread or the Sucks thread?

I would vote for the OOT, then any other commentary around the team can be in the other thread.

Example, talk about Nurse scoring the OT goal without #97 in the OOT thread, and then talk about the bewilderment at how #97 has been in on 9/10 goals in the Sucks thread.

Well now you're just dividing by zero.