Time to recogize!

[Gotien]

The whole "Topic please" issue has gotten way out of hand in way too many threads to be ignored and to keep the scimishes off of the other threads I figured I'd set the battle in the appropriate board.
<deep breath>

Ok, the point of a forum is bring people from other parts of the world on the internet together. To talk and relate in a helpful enviornment, where they can converse and chat about things that they relate on, within a forum that they all share a common bond with. For majority of the members on this forum, it is a truth that they decided to join becuase they wanted to see information about PSO; or to ask a question that was not featured on the base site of:

Code:

www.ragol.co.uk

However the strict regulation of "Topic" within the boards of "The Void" and "General Chat" presents an ironic situation that is puzzling to me; as in, if you are "generally chatting" then there is no current, steady topic. When I talk with my friends, I start with a question or event that needs talking about, then the topic leads elsewhere and conversation continues (however I understand that this should only vary within reason, and not jump to things inappropriate in relating to the topic)

Althought even if the topic, for example, starts with talking about weapons people have and branches to what they do for a living the fact that there is a chain of conversation (weapons>>how to pay for weapons>>what job do you have?) then there is no reason to regultate the conversation further as it is flowing smoothly.

So long as no one is inherently asking a question that is brushed off, there is no reason for the administrators to jump in and say "Topic Please" (Which by the way makes all of us feel really small and feel like we have done something politically incorrect or something of that nature. It hits us harder than you know.)

I can understand you position in that if someone were to ask a question about(keeping with the "weapons' thread" example) weapons to get or what-not, and were to be ignored because the present conversation would be interrupted then there is cause for concern. However, anyone who had ever asked a question in a thread that I have been involved in has always been promtly answered by either me or another helpful member here.

And so with that I humbly ask that the administrators tone down the "Topic Please" and instead if the conversation needs redirecting toward the base topic then mearly comment or question at the original thread statement. This way the comfort level of the forum can be balenced again as during the past month or so there have been numorus members (remaining unknown) who have talked to me expressing that the forum is growing strict. I can assure you that give the fact that people send their "free time" here does not mean that they wish to feel like they are in a class room being limited with their words not only by the politcal correctness of others but also the tight restrictions of the staff.

I thank you for you time in reading this. Be well.

[Lee-yoshi]

The reason for the words 'Topic Please' is to make sure the thread stays on the lines of how it started. By doing this, it allows any members, old or new, to have a say in the thread about the topic. If the thread is becoming old and has gone way off-topic, new members coming in to have their say notice its not about anything they expected anymore, and perhaps decide to keep it to themselves as it may seem silly now, or maybe just start a new thread altogether which may result in duplicate spams!

The forums are not an alternative to MSN Messenger, and were created with Phantasy Star Online in mind. Therefore, the above paragraph mainly applies to any topic within all PSO threads, or threads in other specialist categories (E.g. Consoles, Films, Music, etc.). If the topic starts wondering again into something about working, or what you saw on tele, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the original topic, you'll be asked to get the thread back on topic, so all users can enjoy it as above, or have it closed in the creation of spam.

General Chat is the discussion of items un-related to PSO or subjects not summarised in other Boards on the forums. Threads with topics such as 'What do you do for a living?' for example should stay on that topic so everyone can have their say and not get lost in the world of unrelated spam. Even The Void is the same, it must stay on topic for the benefit of all of Ragol.co.uk forums users.

[Anti Hacker]

Although not an alternative to MSN, the "Topic" situation is getting out of hand. Far be it from me to accuse anyone of attacking freedom of speech, but sometimes a bit of "Off - Topicness" can get a conversation going quite well. Ok, so if there has been four or five comments completely off topic, something needs to be said, but the odd joke dosen't (usually) harm anyone does it? If you simply make another post that is on topic, you will find most people will take the hint and will carry on a more related discussion. Telling people constantly to keep on topic can be demoralising (odd as that may seem) and many people will feel mods are using this power to have a crack at newbies to the forum, not that they actually are. I'm not asking for anarchy, but err, take a chill pill?

[Gotien]

The fact that the forum is not MSN messanger is not what I was debating.. However if you treat this to be only a place to post questions and answer them; every once in a while talking about the topic in normal conversation... there is a limit of the amount of ways a topic can be extended to and if you pursue the course of topicness you have been then you will only be able to hold so many topics and eventually you will loose mass numbers on members. I say this because I have seen it happen to so many forums already, order is held, then topics die, the admins try to revitalize the site by loosening topicness but it is too late and there are less that 1,000 members left before it shuts down. I am just trying to stop it before I have to leave..

[Lee-yoshi]

The point i was making in my original post is that topics are made to stay on topic so all users can enjoy the thread and have a related say on the topic being discussed. When a thread goes off-topic, it turns into a general conversation, 99.9% of the time involving a max. of 2 - 3 people, chatting about random items, leaving the place empty for improvement by anyone who wanted to have a say on what the topic was about.

When a thread starts getting converted, surely its not a bad way to start a new conversation, but something that can be continued in E-Mails or Private Messages, yes? Thus leaving the thread room for continuing posts about the original topic, from either returning members, or new members.


...However, i have noticed myself that the amount of threads suddenly becoming closed has increased considerably on these forums. I honestly have to say i dont close threads all that often at all, because i believe leaving threads open allows new users to bring the thread back to life at anytime if they need to continue the discussion on from its original topic (Resulting in less mirrored threads opening) - of course if they havent resulted in long off-topic discussion. This only applies to PSO related topics though - I dont highly browse over General Chat areas, because they're far to popular for my slow connection to handle in one night! -_-

If at anytime you think a topic has been closed for all the wrong reasons, and you've got a good case for having it re-opened, contact an administrator or moderator in charge of the area the thread in question is in, via. PM, so it can be looked into further ^_^

The forums are supposed to be a place where all PSO fans can come to chat happily amongst one another on PSO related subjects - so remember, although there's a General Chat, Ragol.co.uk doesnt have as much free space as a search engine, hence having to keep topics to topics.

[Gotien]

I'm glad that you are thinking about the big picture, however I am sure the Sol could increase the amount of space avaliable if we were to perhaps make a donation, then could the mods and admins lighten up a little? I have no problem makeing a donation to the "Lighten up" fund when I get back from boot camp in May. That sound good?

[Lee-yoshi]

Lol, i hope we wont have to come to the day when we need donations from our own members to stay alive!

All im saying is remember what your discussing, keep the forums a clean place so everyone knows whats where and where they can post what they have on their mind, instead of generally chatting in niche topics where it could easily be finished off in a nice PM session between yourselves ^_^

[Gotien]

I am.. The point I am making here is that from what I have observed here in the boards I frequent is that unjustified inturruptions by moderators(IMHO) have been frequent and if this is because restrictions on topicness have increased due to lack of space then I personally will donate to make sure that that isn't the case. I consider myself more than a member at this point as many a member looks up to me and I hold certain renown in this forum. I must set an example and in this case, I must say what I feel has been said "behind the scenes" till now.

[Lee-yoshi]

The forums here are not in need of space at the moment, we're fine as far as i know at the moment, im just saying that holding off-topic conversations in threads can easily build up the amount of pages the thread has and will lead to uncontrolable levels if it wasnt dealt with properly in the first place.

Some moderators here i suppose can see that a thread is moving in the direction of off-topicness early and catches it out with a quick 'Topic Please' in order for it not to continue running into a huge debate about something which isnt supposed to be debated in the place its in! The moderator is correct to do so, it's a small reason for why they're around, but i can agree with you that having it said repeatedly does make you wonder what you can say. Once it's finally been taken noticeably, with threads containing discussions on the topic it evolves around, then all is fine in the world.

Its just a notice to ask you all to make sure all off-topic conversation is kept to a constant minimal.

[Gotien]

Understandable, but (no offense) some people aren't as smart as others and when I might understand the reason for an admin/mod saying "Topic Please" because we are joking around, another member might not and if no one in the thread understands that "Topic Please" is a way of saying "lets talk about something more appropriate" rather than "Stop talking if you can't say something completely on topic' then people fail to post some relevant facts and as you may have missed in my first post because you were skimming (I hate repeating myself) it would help eternally if "Topic Please" was more often something more... ON TOPIC! Make a statement towards the topic or just ask the question, "What was the topic again?" and the conversation will fix itself. Telling people "Topic Please" is irritating when heard too many times and I have been the but of it a lot of times because before when I was still new to the forum I used to spam with Lionheart. However I do not and complain little so please understand that the fact that if I am complaining about this, many others are as well.

So all in all I am not denoting the use of "Topic Please" as more of trying to reform it into something more appropriate and appealing to the other members.