A modest proposal for boards.ie

Melange · 29-05-2009 01:00AM #1

I love the idea of After Hours; a forum in which all the threads/conversations which would have no other home in any of the other specific fora belong. It does have one major downside, though: the reality of AH that I've observed so far is that the contributions of a respectable number of decent and intelligent posters are drowned out by the idiocy and juvenility of the AH horde.

What I propose is that an alternative AH forum is set up - an AH in which topics of all kind can be rationally, intelligently and thoughtfully discussed, and in which the typical rubbish of "yore ma", "Irish women are pigs" and "I hate dem Brits" is not tolerated. It'd make sense to do this, IMHO, because I'm kinda tired of looking at the thread list on AH, thinking "ooh, this looks interesting!", only to find that the discussion is of a playground level. I'd be up for keeping the original AH as it is: after all, there ought to be a home for what I've just given out about.

Thoughts? I'm sure I'll get pilloried for this, but it was worth trying.

29-05-2009 01:01AM

Such a forum exists. Nobody goes there. Humanities I believe it be called.

AlmightyCushion · 29-05-2009 01:01AM

Do you want me to move this to the forums forum? That is the place for suggesting new forums.

Sharpshooter · 29-05-2009 01:02AM

Feedback is your friend.
No.
AC is right.
*slaps wrist.

Latchy · 29-05-2009 01:05AM

Glad somebody mentioned it and I for one agree with OP 100 %.Banter and piss taking is one thing but you somtimes feel posters have other motives for starting ' some' type threads .

johnnyskeleton · 29-05-2009 01:07AM

Random wrote: »

Such a forum exists. Nobody goes there. Humanities I believe it be called.

The only threads that do go there are the ones that are too bad for PI! Everyone wants a new forum, no one wants to make the existing fora work.

sub-x · 29-05-2009 01:09AM

AH is a brilliant forum,all the other forums I have to try hard not to be myself as most people would not appreciate it,here I can be myself without be judged(much)

useful_contacts · 29-05-2009 01:09AM

Sharpshooter wrote: »

Feedback is your friend.
No.
AC is right.
*slaps wrist.

Ya baby harder:eek:

oh no wait you said wrist..... never mind:(

javaboy · 29-05-2009 01:12AM

Melange wrote: »

the typical rubbish of "yore ma", "Irish women are pigs" and "I hate dem Brits" is not tolerated.

For the record, none of those remarks are generally tolerated here.

As for the rest of it, yeah sounds good but the forums for more mature discussion of most topics already exist. People are just reluctant to use them because of the traffic AH gets and also perhaps because they like the lighter posts interspersed with the more serious ones.

29-05-2009 01:13AM

I agree with the OP. Maybe a trial run of a "before hours" forum or something like that. Just After hours, but without the "I'll try to say something funny so people will thank my post" attitude.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 29-05-2009 01:15AM

Deleted User wrote: »

but without the "I'll try to say something funny so people will thank my post" attitude.

Yeah, I hate those people.

Sharpshooter · 29-05-2009 01:15AM

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

The only threads that do go there are the ones that are too bad for PI! Everyone wants a new forum, no one wants to make the existing fora work.

I got the feeling that the OP likes the topics that are brought up in AHs but would like a forum that he/she can post seriously about them.
Did I read that wrong?

minxie · 29-05-2009 01:16AM

Sharpshooter wrote: »

I got the feeling that the OP likes the topics that are brought up in AHs but would like a forum that he/she can post seriously about them.
Did I read that wrong?

Quite correct

My name is URL · 29-05-2009 01:20AM

How about a 'Middle Ground' forum, where serious subjects that don't fit in any other forum can be discussed in a more mature way than the lovely AH method of semi-trolling... (only reason I come here tbh, for now)

Would be win imo

Latchy · 29-05-2009 01:22AM

Originally Posted by Sharpshooter
I got the feeling that the OP likes the topics that are brought up in AHs but would like a forum that he/she can post seriously about them.
Did I read that wrong?

Thtat's what I thought to .

Melange · 29-05-2009 01:23AM

Sharpshooter wrote: »

I got the feeling that the OP likes the topics that are brought up in AHs but would like a forum that he/she can post seriously about them.
Did I read that wrong?

Nope, you read that exactly right.

K-9 · 29-05-2009 01:23AM

javaboy wrote: »

For the record, none of those remarks are generally tolerated here.

As for the rest of it, yeah sounds good but the forums for more mature discussion of most topics already exist. People are just reluctant to use them because of the traffic AH gets and also perhaps because they like the lighter posts interspersed with the more serious ones.

QFT.

There are existing forums for most threads that are posted here.

El Siglo · 29-05-2009 01:24AM

It's a decent idea alright, AH is great for a bit of banter it is one of those forums that you can have a laugh on, and it is good to have some serious stuff on it mixed with the funny stuff every so often, but it would be good if there was a forum set up so that AH doesn't get too serious as some other forums have, I won't name anything particular but you can use your discretion and common sense on that one.

orestes · 29-05-2009 01:26AM

That forum exists on boards already.

Actually, a couple of hundred of them do.

Melange · 29-05-2009 01:27AM

Deleted User wrote: »

I agree with the OP. Maybe a trial run of a "before hours" forum or something like that. Just After hours, but without the "I'll try to say something funny so people will thank my post" attitude.

My name is URL wrote: »

How about a 'Middle Ground' forum, where serious subjects that don't fit in any other forum can be discussed in a more mature way than the lovely AH method of semi-trolling... (only reason I come here tbh, for now)

Would be win imo

Yep, that's exactly what I'm proposing. The problem with the argument that forums already exist for the different topics you'd see on AH is that it misses the point that AH is like a grand meeting place for anything and everything - which is arguably its greatest strength. What I'd like to see is an intelligent and mature version of that.

K-9 · 29-05-2009 01:27AM

El Siglo wrote: »

It's a decent idea alright, AH is great for a bit of banter it is one of those forums that you can have a laugh on, and it is good to have some serious stuff on it mixed with the funny stuff every so often, but it would be good if there was a forum set up so that AH doesn't get too serious as some other forums have, I won't name anything particular but you can use your discretion and common sense on that one.

Then who decides the line between, AH the take the piss forum, the half serious forum and the dedicated serious forum?

Seriously?

Latchy · 29-05-2009 01:33AM

As somebody mentioned and has being mentioned many times before ,it only takes on post to f---k up a good thread and that thread doesn't even have to be a serious topic one .But if one see's another spewing ( for want of definition ) ' shyte' just for the sake of it , then it's like a pile up and some intresting posts get lost in the mess .But that I suppose it is the culture of AH and it's the mods jobs to decide what is and isn't acceptable .

orestes · 29-05-2009 01:33AM

Melange wrote: »

Yep, that's exactly what I'm proposing. The problem with the argument that forums already exist for the different topics you'd see on AH is that it misses the point that AH is like a grand meeting place for anything and everything - which is arguably its greatest strength. What I'd like to see is an intelligent and mature version of that.

A catch all forum for every subject would just result in dilution and people jumping from topic to topic and giving their opinion on stuff that they aren't really informed upon or aren't interested enough in to take seroiusly, so it would end up being diluted in half-baked opinions and piss-taking until it got to the point where everything is considered fair game for a bit of a laugh and nothing is taken really seriously. Sound familiar?

You could say AH is either the end result of that process or just skipped the nastiness and went straight to the end result.

abouttobebanned · 29-05-2009 01:34AM

AH is a medium for people to try and be funny and get as many thanks as possible by taking the piss out of others. They especially love to be the first in to berate a thread starter. love it when it back fires on them and the next few posters agree with the op

29-05-2009 01:34AM

I'm curious, where are all these "interesting" topics on AH that don't fit in anywhere else? The only ones that are remotely serious from the front page are about Church abuse and the US vs North Korea, both of which would go in other forums

m5ex9oqjawdg2i · 29-05-2009 01:35AM

K-9 wrote: »

Then who decides the line between, AH the take the piss forum, the half serious forum and the dedicated serious forum?

Seriously?

I don't think it would be that difficult to differentiate between the two tbh.

Having another forum where people are obliged to take topics seriously is a good idea. The same criteria could be applied to the new forum which is in place in AH, "A place that holds posts that do not belong to any other specific forum".

Great idea OP, I am definately in support of this idea.

easyeason3 · 29-05-2009 01:38AM

Melange wrote: »

I love the idea of After Hours; a forum in which all the threads/conversations which would have no other home in any of the other specific fora belong. It does have one major downside, though: the reality of AH that I've observed so far is that the contributions of a respectable number of decent and intelligent posters are drowned out by the idiocy and juvenility of the AH horde.

What I propose is that an alternative AH forum is set up - an AH in which topics of all kind can be rationally, intelligently and thoughtfully discussed, and in which the typical rubbish of "yore ma", "Irish women are pigs" and "I hate dem Brits" is not tolerated. It'd make sense to do this, IMHO, because I'm kinda tired of looking at the thread list on AH, thinking "ooh, this looks interesting!", only to find that the discussion is of a playground level. I'd be up for keeping the original AH as it is: after all, there ought to be a home for what I've just given out about.

Thoughts? I'm sure I'll get pilloried for this, but it was worth trying.

Hey OP...YORE MA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My uptake on AH is that you post a thread questioning something & you get good, bad, ridiculous & damn funny replies which will make you tear your hair out, realise other people think like you, freaks walk among us & laugh so hard you think you may have p!ssed a little but not enough to make a visible stain.
Some people take it too seriously, others take it too lightly.
That my friend is life.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

liah · 29-05-2009 01:39AM

To be honest, if you just made a sub-forum of AH where the topic headlines could be duped and all the "punny" folk could go and get the puns out of the way and keep them out of the main thread, you'd have a perfect system.

Actually, just remove the puns from AH and already it'd be 80% better. Make a damn pun forum ffs! :pac:

DirkVoodoo · 29-05-2009 01:41AM

Yeah I don't understand this.

I mean I do 90% of my posting on the cycling forum, I know a lot of the folk there so the banter is all nice and friendly and they talk pretty much about cycling. Someone suggested a while back that they split the forum into a "racing" forum for the serious cyclists in lycra and a "commuter" forum for people who just plod along the bike to get to work. Obviously it didn't take.

What I like about after hours is that it is a pretty balanced mix. You have some pretty interesting threads/posts and then obviously the "yore ma!" variety. filtering the two would remove a lot of what makes after hours so appealing: that people can speak their minds.

Why can't you just ignore the posts you don't like, have a laugh at the genuinely funny ones and reply to the ones that you think are pretty intelligent/serious? If you are as intelligent and mature as you claim, you should be able to filter out the idiocy with ease, instead of looking to create a new forum.

On a side note, it sounds like "intelligent and mature" is just another way of saying that you want a forum that is heavily moderated and probably devoid of free speech. Back to cycling, what I like about the forum is that nearly everybody there talks the way they do when you meet them in real life, there is no beating of the PC drum.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 29-05-2009 01:41AM

liah wrote: »

Actually, just remove the puns from AH and already it'd be 80% better.

I thought you were cool liah.

K-9 · 29-05-2009 01:43AM

Clyde Scruffy Sportscast wrote: »

I don't think it would be that difficult to differentiate between the two tbh.

Having another forum where people are obliged to take topics seriously is a good idea. The same criteria could be applied to the new forum which is in place in AH, "A place that holds posts that do not belong to any other specific forum".

Great idea OP, I am definately in support of this idea.

Grand. Take a few threads from the first page, take out the take the piss posts and we'd have it?

Why not just ignore them and engage with the serious posters on a particular thread?

A modest proposal for boards.ie

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