GameAmp: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

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Evil Geek

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Joined: 10/18/2005
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Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

So last week we had the sneak peak, today we saw the launch of Anets finest piece of work yet (IMO) and theres been the Black Moa Egg intrigue. There are a million and one things GW related to talk about.

Everytime I've refreshed my page over the last week I've seen a minimum of 1 and up to 4 off-topic posts in the top 5.

My question is - aren't we supposed to be a GW fansite and as such shouldn't the majority of posts be game related? Or are we just turning into a community where anything goes?

I totaly see the sense of having an off-topic section as far as community building goes but on the other hand I don't think it does us any good when it comes to attracting GW players to the site and keeping the committed players here, like me they are probably gonna get frustrated when not enough GW stuff is around. Is what I'm seeing the 'serious' players leaving because of this and we just get more random 'fun' posters ?

When a plea for GW help is requested it's always answered quickly and in a friendly way, we have some interesting debates and ideas about builds and gameplay but lately there has been less of those appearing or they have been disappearing quickly because 'hey look at this funny video'.

My personal plea is that people would control that urge to overwhelm us with what they think is funny and spend more time posting about GW, if you haven't got anything to contribute about GW there are plenty of other places to share your sense of humour.

I joined amp to be part of the GW community, not any old community :)

08/31/07 13:13

eiirish

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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

Yeah I think this discussion has been before, and I keep the same oppinon, which is that I think that off-topic posts shouldent be on top 5, so if you wanna post there, you have to make two clicks on the screen instead of just seeing it right there on top5.

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08/31/07 13:17

Master Delphi

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Joined: 05/18/2006
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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

QUOTE

/Agree.

I'm too sick of all the people who are making those "Off-Topics". Well, Sick isn't maybe the right word because sometimes those topics are really fun.

I think AMP got 2 choices.
1.Don't let people make Off-Topics.
2.Make an specific place for those Off-Topics.

I also agree that this site is GW related and not all-around.

And i also joined AMP for the very nice community and the knownledge the people here have for GuildWars.

~Delphi

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08/31/07 13:18

Varon Searer

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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

I agree as well. I personally don't mind the Off-Topic posts, but i do think they should have they're own seperate place to post in, so that when one is posted it is not seen in the top 5 list and if we want to read or see something about other things we simply go to the "off-topic" forums.

08/31/07 13:31

maddog199

Posts: 27
Joined: 10/02/2005
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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

Gonna be the one contradicting this.

This all sounds great and stuff, but how many people will REALLY go thrue the trouble to do those 2 clicks?
If you really want to, off course.
But I also think alot of people, like me, stick to the hottest 5 items shown. How many of you guy's from time to time go have a look in the old topics and do a revive on it?

Perhaps I'm wrong, perhaps you guy's are right we should we ban off-topic related topics off the 5 hottest items.
But it also can be that GW:EotN is still a bith TO new to have such a spam off topics regarding it, many have still to face story and more.

08/31/07 13:42

Keo

Posts: 10
Joined: 06/12/2006
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

Hmmmm....

I think that treating OT like the R&R forum would be going a little too far but I agree that taking it off the top 5 would keep some more relevant topics in the light a little longer. I'd still like to see a Top 10 rather than 5 but I realise that would require quite a bit more work.

The community can't be all business tho, that's not how a community works. OT is like the village pub where you can kick back and talk about that local football team. I wonder how many people started playing together in game because they found they shared the same humor rather than just an interest in GW?

But as you point out, I don't come here to watch funny vids or take part in random polls & I would like to see the interesting GW posts stick on the Top 5 a little longer.

^_^

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08/31/07 13:47

Hijaru Ta

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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

/DISagree

i was a co-owner on a forum once, it was a pretty good running forum but the owners was a b*tch, all the things should be forum related she said. so all off topic posts got deleted.

that was the stupidiest thing she could ever do...
due to the off topic posts the forum had life in it, else it would be soooooooooooooooooo boring.

GW.IGN: Hijaru Ta CoH.IGN: Hijaru

08/31/07 13:48

Evil Geek

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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

QUOTE

that was the stupidiest thing she could ever do...
due to the off topic posts the forum had life in it, else it would be soooooooooooooooooo boring.

No offense but I would rather see a lower frequency of posts that were on-topic than a tonne of posters who cant keep on-topic. As I mentioned earlier there are plenty of 'lively' forums you can go to post other kind of stuff. This forum was and can still be a very alive forum without a tonne of off-topic posts.

Did I say ban them? Nope. What I did say was kill the frequency, I can think of a few ways to do that straight away: two or three threads that off-topic content HAD to be posted in, for example 1 thread for videos, another for humour and another for 'other off-topic' posts, any new threads outside of those can be bumped off the front page (an admin power) then locked by an admin when they see them with a simple note explaining why.

I tried to create a thread for videos and when someone posted a new thread for a video, another member informed the OP about my thread, the OP's attitude was 'so what, its not a law', which says alot about some peoples attitude - membership of a community relies on the ability to be responsible, some people it seems can only be considerate of other members 'because its the law'.

• Guild Wars: Mutants [MU] • Age of Conan: Black Lion Company •

08/31/07 14:12

mwpeck

GameAmp Staff
Posts: 26
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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

I have been the owner of a few large communities(not as large as AMP, but a few thousand active people), and I say a forum is not a forum without an off topic section. I say at most, remove off-topic from the top 5 like what was done with the trading section. That way its still accessible if you want to see some funny posts and what not, but its not completely gone.

EDIT: Its ashame we don't have sub-categories, such as, you would click off-topic, which would have off-topic posts, but also has 1 level deeper, sections for videos and other funny things. That way, the videos and funny things could be excluded from the top 5, while the other off-topic posts, still show up in the top 5.

If your not sure what I mean, something like Guru's "The Campfire" section, that has its own posts, but it also splits into sub-forums, for each character class, and a few other things. This would allow us to have those new sections, without taking any more space up on the forum page, on the same note, I don't think gameamp was designed for something like this, so it would take a lot of work to get it implemented.

Another solution, is take Off-Topic out of "Guild Wars Miscellaneous", make a new section called Off-Topic, then 3 forums under that, Videos, Funny Junk, and Other off-topic(for all other off-topic that doesn't belong in one of the other 2 areas)

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

Update in whenever I dont feel lazy.

08/31/07 14:18

hat-of-doom

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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

Off topic is there for a reason, to have off topic posts in it. Those posts show up in the top 5 due to the forums design, it can be changed if necessary I guess. But if yourself and others are too lazy to click "forums" and then just go to the sub forums then thats you're own fault, dont complain about something that isnt even a big problem.

even if we got rid of off-topic from the top 5, half of it would be filled with topis that start like this

"Some guild Is Recruiting"
"WHAT IS BEST XXXX??!??!?!!?!?!??"
"GENERIC THREAD NAME WITH CAPS"

Off topic at least adds a crack of diversity to a somewhat generic top 5.

You're entitled to you're own opinion, then again; so is everyone else.

When the chips are down, these, uh…civilized people, they'll eat each other.

IGN: Mike Hearts You

08/31/07 14:59

Hijaru Ta

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Joined: 07/31/2007
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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

@evil geek, yeah okay, more on topic posts would be nice yeah.
and it was really dissapointing to see, that someone made such a video topic and people just didn't post in it :S
2 minutes after that topic was made, there was another one with a video ¬¬

GW.IGN: Hijaru Ta CoH.IGN: Hijaru

08/31/07 15:21

Vicky the merchant

Posts: 6
Joined: 02/04/2006
Credibility: 10 pts

RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

Take it off the top 5.

simple solution, seems fully appropriate.

08/31/07 22:50

Belshazaarswrath

Posts: 6
Joined: 12/29/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

On the one hand off topic does bring in good discussion and quite a few interesting topics. On the other hand whenever I try to post a build or tell everyone about a farming spot or what have you I am usually outshined by a few dozen off topic threads...and my effort seems to be forgotten.

08/31/07 23:03

Toa Hahli

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Joined: 02/14/2007
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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

Well, if they didnt have a 'Top 5', like most Forums, this wouldnt be a problem. And yet youre contributing to the problem youre complaining about.

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

08/31/07 23:08

Vicky the merchant

Posts: 6
Joined: 02/04/2006
Credibility: 10 pts

RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

QUOTE

Well, if they didnt have a 'Top 5', like most Forums, this wouldnt be a problem.

hmmmm
well what are you gonna put in that empty square, a shoutbox?

08/31/07 23:12

Toa Hahli

Posts: 0
Joined: 02/14/2007
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

QUOTE

Well, if they didnt have a 'Top 5', like most Forums, this wouldnt be a problem.

hmmmm
well what are you gonna put in that empty square, a shoutbox?

Make it Like Regular Forums? Click on Off-Topic, Shows newest posts in Bold Letters, Click on General GW Discussion, Newest in Bold Letters Etc....

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

08/31/07 23:15

Belshazaarswrath

Posts: 6
Joined: 12/29/2005
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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

QUOTE

Well, if they didnt have a 'Top 5', like most Forums, this wouldnt be a problem.

hmmmm
well what are you gonna put in that empty square, a shoutbox?

Make it Like Regular Forums? Click on Off-Topic, Shows newest posts in Bold Letters, Click on General GW Discussion, Newest in Bold Letters Etc....

So change the entire format of the forum?

08/31/07 23:28

mwpeck

GameAmp Staff
Posts: 26
Joined: 11/24/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

QUOTE

Well, if they didnt have a 'Top 5', like most Forums, this wouldnt be a problem.

hmmmm
well what are you gonna put in that empty square, a shoutbox?

Make it Like Regular Forums? Click on Off-Topic, Shows newest posts in Bold Letters, Click on General GW Discussion, Newest in Bold Letters Etc....

It seems you do not know much about forums.

Not every forum is created equally.

www.gamersvault.net Look on the right hand side, they have a "latest threads", eequivilent to our top 5.

www.d2sector.net/ Oh look, they have a top 7!

And any site I have personally made, has always had a top 5 section(as well as "show all posts since my last visit").

My point is, there is no such thing as a "regular forum".......and actually, if you go to http://guildwars.gameamp.com/forum/showForums that IS a regular forum. What you see at guildwars.gameamp.com, is whats commonly called a "Portal" or a Splash page. Both of which, used to display a summary of the website(such as latest posts, latest news, etc), as well as being able to access most of the other sites features. While clicking on "GW Forums" (or just Forums on other sites), takes you to the "Regular Forums".

What your sugguesting is we remove all the info guildwars.gameamp.com has on it, and display strictly a Forum, and thats it. Now, I dont know about you, but if that happened, I would probably leave amp.

Now, I hope this all doesnst sound too harsh, but I just want to clarify that this site is no different than any other site, because every site is different in how they display their splash/portal/main page.

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

Update in whenever I dont feel lazy.

08/31/07 23:33

Toa Hahli

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Joined: 02/14/2007
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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

Well all im trying to point out is Sites have Off-Topic for a reason, We arent all seriously addicted to GW to complain about a forum that should only be GW oriented. Off-Topic is there for a reason, Idle Conversation.

08/31/07 23:39

mwpeck

GameAmp Staff
Posts: 26
Joined: 11/24/2005
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RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

QUOTE

Thats why I say we remove it from the top 5 list, exactly like what was done to the trade forums, that way, we still have a top 5 list, and its not flooded with off-topic stuff.

Update in whenever I dont feel lazy.

08/31/07 23:40

Belshazaarswrath

Posts: 6
Joined: 12/29/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

QUOTE

Well, if they didnt have a 'Top 5', like most Forums, this wouldnt be a problem.

hmmmm
well what are you gonna put in that empty square, a shoutbox?

Make it Like Regular Forums? Click on Off-Topic, Shows newest posts in Bold Letters, Click on General GW Discussion, Newest in Bold Letters Etc....

I would say this site is more organized and attractive to the eyes thanks to the setup actually The "regular" forum format is rather boring in my opinion.

08/31/07 23:41

mwpeck

GameAmp Staff
Posts: 26
Joined: 11/24/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

QUOTE

I would say this site is more organized and attractive to the eyes thanks to the setup actually The "regular" forum format is rather boring in my opinion.

Thats the purpose of the portal/splash/main page I was saying most sites have. They usually make the site easier to navigate, and look better.

Update in whenever I dont feel lazy.

08/31/07 23:48

Belshazaarswrath

Posts: 6
Joined: 12/29/2005
Credibility: 0 pts

RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

QUOTE

I would say this site is more organized and attractive to the eyes thanks to the setup actually The "regular" forum format is rather boring in my opinion.

Thats the purpose of the portal/splash/main page I was saying most sites have. They usually make the site easier to navigate, and look better.

Oh....*looks around* I guess I didn't understand what you said all the way then.

08/31/07 23:50

Mordakaida

Posts: 287
Joined: 07/05/2006
Credibility: 2 pts

RE: Time to kill Off-Topic? A rant

I say just take it off the gw top 5 and make off topic have it's own top 5. Because if you remove off topic you will just kill the forum.

There are plenty of people who love gw but will only talk in off topic. Most reasons for off topic posts more than gw talk.. Because most of the members here know where everything is and does not need to post new threads about where things are. Yes you get the occasional new member asking this and that which is quickly answered and then onto off topic with the people who answered.

I would rather have that then know nothing on guru. :P

09/01/07 00:17

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