Subform consolidation and closure

Crooked Jack wrote: »

Where did I suggest banning people for an opinion??

Im talking about taking a stricter view of things that are clearly not discussion. Deliberate attempts to wind up, insults, accusations that others are "bots" etc... basically all the stuff that takes the debate off into trench warfare territory.

Threads on NI typically don't fall into the trench warfare mindset - they begin there. Its not as if someone opens a topic on British collusion with loyalist terrorist groups for a broad, interesting debate and exchange of ideas and examination of evidence. They're begun to open up a new front in the trench warfare to exchange the same windups, insults, accusations that others are "bots" etc.

That's fine, but in my opinion the NI forum was useful in that it created a "Thunderdome" arena for it. It also protected the involved posters by giving scope for a separate charter that allowed for the more bitter clashes between posters on those topics. If you're going to merge the NI threads back into the wider politics forum one of two things are going to happen: the "trench warfare" of the NI threads will set the tone for the rest of the forum, or the posters most interested in discussing NI topics will pick up a lot of bans and cards, feeding a persecution complex that is already rampant.

Though with the Politics Cafe now existing, its possible that the trench warfare will simply move to that arena instead, if it hasn't already.

Sand wrote: »

Threads on NI typically don't fall into the trench warfare mindset - they begin there. Its not as if someone opens a topic on British collusion with loyalist terrorist groups for a broad, interesting debate and exchange of ideas and examination of evidence. They're begun to open up a new front in the trench warfare to exchange the same windups, insults, accusations that others are "bots" etc.

That's fine, but in my opinion the NI forum was useful in that it created a "Thunderdome" arena for it. It also protected the involved posters by giving scope for a separate charter that allowed for the more bitter clashes between posters on those topics. If you're going to merge the NI threads back into the wider politics forum one of two things are going to happen: the "trench warfare" of the NI threads will set the tone for the rest of the forum, or the posters most interested in discussing NI topics will pick up a lot of bans and cards, feeding a persecution complex that is already rampant.

Though with the Politics Cafe now existing, its possible that the trench warfare will simply move to that arena instead, if it hasn't already.

The cafe is a disaster because of a handful of posters who have no desire to debate or discuss and are simply there to hurl insults. That's why discussion on the north (which generally encompasses all-Ireland issues, there are very few northern only issues) should be brought back into the main politics thread, where it can be properly moderated.

The "thunderdome" idea is bullshit. Moderate a thread properly to stop it from descending into that nonsense. If there's a topic you have no interest in simply dont click on it. I dont see how it's going to contaminate the rest of the forum.

The northern sub forum is wrong for two reasons. Firstly, it makes no sense as it is comprised mainly of all-Ireland issues.
Secondly, the entire vibe of it is "piss off nordie scum, this forum is for real politics." I mean if youre concerned about people developing a persecution complex there's your number one cause there

Forum move/merge has completed.
Any issues please contact your mod team or report the post in question.

Thanks all.

Can you unfollow it if you goto your User CP menu

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/usercp.php
Instructions below.

Thanks...didn't spot those unfollow links when I looked in the control panel earlier. Nice one.

How do you decide on tagging with "Northern Ireland" threads given that there is obviously a huge overlap.

Just bumping this as it's relevant again, particularly Taltos's post about unfollowing forums above.