Badly needed of an Off-topic forum!!!

I

ish6

Since 2001
Many many years ago, Auran had an off-topic forum, where we had the opportunity to discuss any subjects, within reason! But because the powers of be disagreed for whatever reason, it was taken off the forum!

At the time Auran told us that if we wanted to talk about other subjects to go to other forums, etc; But I have always felt that was a mistaken and a wrong business decision on their part! More and More topics are discuss within threads that are not specific for that type of thread - I do it myself, etc ... Why not just put back the off-topic forum so we can discuss all sorts of issues. Plus I feel this will keep folks coming back! They might not, at first, come here to talk about trainz, but at least you have those folks who are borderline trainz users coming! Every other game forums that I have participated in have an off-topic forum, and it has never been a problem, even discussing politics!

Anyhow, Auran consider bring back the off-topic forum, and I bet that the list that displays how many users are online would increase double, daily!

Ish

PS. Please let dedicated trainz customers of this forum express their opinions, and do not delete this thread!
 
I wasn't here at the time, but over at www.trainsim.com we had "The Yard", which was an off topic forum. Main problem was religion and politics, too many flamewars. Admin got tired of chronic problems, got rid of it. My solution would have been stricter rules, no religion or politics ever, start flamewars and get banned for 30 days, start another one and get a permanent ban. But the admin's position was that it's a trainsim forum, a little off topic is no problem, stray too far and you lose focus on your primary purpose - and having to deal with problems completely unrelated to your primary purpose on a daily basis is too much like the pit crew at Daytona fixing someone's lawnmower engine, next thing you know there are so many people lined up wanting their lawnmowers repaired that you don't have enough time or room to service the race car.
 
Hi ish.....

I do not disagree with your post.

But, an "off topic" forum may be difficult to moderate while trying to keep the N3V forums rated as "G".

If a youngster were to view or post in an "off topic" forum and their parents or guardians were to review the topics there, they may restrict their child from participating in all the Trainz Forums.

That may be the reason why prior management discontinued the Off Topic forum.

Just my thoughts....
Ron
 
ish6 said:
Many many years ago, Auran had an off-topic forum, where we had the opportunity to discuss any subjects, within reason!
Click to expand...

Your answer to why we don't is in your 1st line. From what we were told after the 'great crash' (which is when that category went away) the reason they removed it was that the majority of post in it were not "within reason" there were a large number (so we were told) of posts flaming Auran & other people, and that moderating it became a full-time+ job. So it was removed so that there wouldn't be people posting rude, mean stuff & so that the community moderators we have (and had at the time) could spend their time in other sections of the forum dealing with what needed dealing with.

That being said this all happened back before N3V, back in the days of Lance & Alan; maybe Chris might be up to trying it out. Although I am doubtful, as most likely it'll just become a place full of people trolling, flaming, flooding, arguing about politics & religion. In the end not really a place becoming of this community.

peter
 
I have to admit I did have that "Beer is Brainfood" thread a while back now. I'm not sure how but trains were mentioned in there at certain times though it was generally irreverent and I think, taken in the light hearted way in which I meant it. Probably explains why it didn't get locked (I hope mods?).

I think the notion of an Non Trainz forum is good but for the fact that it would need far closer moderation than a Trainz related one. I think that Zec, and co have been copping enough flak lately to be taking on an additional forum which presents so many problems. All I could suggest is that a specific CoC is adapted from the current one to prevent flamewars in some way. As sniper says, nil politics or religion for starters and there would be many other topics which may cause strife. Football (soccer)?

Nice idea though.
 
Both Sniper & Ron have solid points!!

And thank you for your posts, guys!!

Let's just hope Auran allow us to continue to express our opinions on this issue, like you two guys, who have solid points! Still, there are so many avenues we can go here, and I hope people express them constructively!

On sniper post -- Yes, for such a forum to exist it must be strictly moderated, which should not be so hard to do since all of the off-topic subject would be there, under one banner!

Ish
 
pfx said:
As sniper says, nil politics or religion for starters and there would be many other topics which may cause strife. Football (soccer)?

Nice idea though.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Which we should be honest about ... these topics are the real issues! If we can keep these topics off the table, then there should not be a problem!

I just hope Auran sees that there are folks here that do other stuff beside trainz; For example, I read lots of science fictions books, and I have come across a few folks that like that type of subject; And, like me, they too like trainz, so why not have both issues discuss in the same place!

I am sure there are more examples out there that you guys and girls can come up with!

Ish
 
SUBWAY125 said:
We need this! I have so much to say about real NJ Transit, and now we don't have stuff we can have for it :'(
Click to expand...

Wouldn't that be actually in Prototype Talk?

I do agree that perhaps a trial run of an off-topic panel might be in order. If it gets out of hand, then kill it again. Forewarn everyone about this action and see what develops.

Bill
 
I too would like to have an off-topic forum, but I can understand N3V's reluctance to do that. Those things always seem to gravitate towards either politics or religion and that's a sure fire way to get peoples dander up and start flame wars. I belong to an organization that's been around a very long time and there are two basic things that are not allowed to be discussed and you probably guessed it, religion and politics.

Mike
 
"nil politics or religion for starters and there would be many other topics which may cause strife. Football (soccer)?"

There you go, a political argument - soccer is a sissy furriner's game that girls play, football is a real man's game with helmets and shoulderpads and stomping the other guy into the ground. :hehe: And then the rugby players would say THAT is real football, Americans are a bunch of sissies with all their rules and time outs to clean up the blood.

Seriously, how many people even read the header for forum types before they post anyway? "Freeware announcements" gets zillions of questions, wish lists, gripes about the DLS server, I'm "announcing" that I have a question? Surveyors, Operators, & Engineers plus questions about why my activation code isn't working? One guy even said he posted requests for help in the screenshot forum "because more people look in here". Not much point in even having special forums if everyone posts whatever he wants wherever he wants, all the "I'm leaving trainz forever again, don't try to talk me out of it!" threads properly belong in this forum rather than General Trainz since it has to do with community and nothing to do with Trainz itself.

Main upside to an off topic forum if people would actually use it is that all the nonsense threads could go in there, but then again those who post nonsense to begin with usually can't read anyway. :sleep:
 
I don't agree with the need for an Off Topic forum, as I spend far too much time on the forums as it is.
It's a challenge to insert the occasional off topic comment now without overdoing it, and requires a little finesse. Then you wait to see the reaction, or infraction (if you really tried to be creative). The whole process currently has an inviting aura of mystery to it.
I doubt I would gain the same satisfaction by screaming in a room with a hundred others screaming as well.
 
I would agree with an "Off Topic" forum within certain parameters - at least all the people wanting to discuss RSC's Scenery Simulator :o would know where to go.

I do tend to agree with Jim part of the problem is poor sorting of topics on the boards as they are at present. Whether this is down to users not having a clue which section they should post in or a lack of guidance on the forum headers I don't know. Of course even if the latter got fixed, the gimmie kids would probably still ignore and post their demands in bold type/block caps/mis-spelled text speak. :confused:

While appreciating the work the mods and admin do, there perhaps needs to be more done to sort posts into the correct section - I posted some thoughts about TS12 the other day which fortunately morphed into a reasonable discussion but the first response in the thread had to be yet another poke at the DLS.

Some sort of age restriction on an Open Forum might be desirable too though of course there's no way of policing it and stopping the nine year olds from passing themselves off as adults.
 
Vern said:
I would agree with an "Off Topic" forum within certain parameters - at least all the people wanting to discuss RSC's Scenery Simulator :o would know where to go.

I do tend to agree with Jim part of the problem is poor sorting of topics on the boards as they are at present. Whether this is down to users not having a clue which section they should post in or a lack of guidance on the forum headers I don't know. Of course even if the latter got fixed, the gimmie kids would probably still ignore and post their demands in bold type/block caps/mis-spelled text speak. :confused:

While appreciating the work the mods and admin do, there perhaps needs to be more done to sort posts into the correct section - I posted some thoughts about TS12 the other day which fortunately morphed into a reasonable discussion but the first response in the thread had to be yet another poke at the DLS.

Some sort of age restriction on an Open Forum might be desirable too though of course there's no way of policing it and stopping the nine year olds from passing themselves off as adults.
Click to expand...

I absolutely disagree with age restrictions. If N3V implements this and deletes the section in the CoC forbidding profanity then talk about loads of garbage on the forums! There are many users around here who circumvent that rule anyway by censoring the profanity with symbols, whether using plain asterisks, leet-speech, or whatever, if at all, which I feel should be prohibited also as profanity by the CoC, because that is just what it is. If this becomes an "adult" forum filled with profanity and what have you, then I, and likely others, will leave.

Just what would we discuss in an off-topic forum, anyway, that would not break the CoC or lead to CoC-breaking? I can certainly agree that it would be a job for the moderators to keep under control. We already have a "Prototype Talk" forum for discussion related to real railways, etc., and a "Trainz Community" forum for discussion about community-related topics, so what else do we need? Has the Trainz Community not moved along on these forums for over 4 years just fine, without an off-topic forum?

So, in my opinion, an off-topic forum could be a recipe for garbage to be dumped right in front of us, not to mention a possible/probable burden on the moderators' shoulders. Do you want the bear to come and dump right in front of you, instead of in the woods? :eek: I sure do not.

Ron's point is a good one and probably goes along well with my poins above. The likelyhood of "adult" garbage being dumped into an off-topic forum is very well there. (Note: "adult" is such a fake term for such stuff, anyway. The correct term is "sinful". Plain and simple, and regardless of age. Oops, I went off-topic there. :p)

Regards.
 
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The old off topic forum went for some time before it was taken of the forum.I also think we need it to be returned.

It used to be one of the most popular forums we had where most of us gathered to have a good joke without being too serious about Trainz 24/7 & I think most of us who were there at that time will probably agree.

This was the way many of us got to know each other a little better as well as change our Avatars to were we wanted them in those days whether by genuine help or waffle power.

As far as content goes there could always be instant bans for unacceptable behavior as part of using it.

Dave
 
I absolutely didn't mean "adult" in the sense of allowing swearing or swapping links to porn sites etc. I meant as a means of avoiding some of the more juvenile dross that tends to permeate the other boards and IMHO is often a total turn off for using this forum.

Other forums such as UKTS or Overclockers UK still manage to operate a general discussion in a family friendly manner, though if you've ever browsed the "Speaker's Corner" at OCUK things can get quite heated. Even I fear to tread there!
 
Memories of Rajy's "Please Ignore" thread that developed into the greatest mega-thread of all time. Funny days.

Consider me indifferent on the idea. Don't care whether the Forums have one or not. Question is however, if there is a "need" to talk off topic why not do so on the already existing myriad of online Discussion Boards/Forums?? Fair question... and just curious.
 
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