The Condition of the Expanded Universe Community Forum

I brought this up with many users of the EUC forum via PM and an off-site board, and they were all in agreeance that the EUC forum is not as fun as it once was.

So, we all "signed" a message to Genghis with some ideas. He replied saying he shared some of our thoughts, etc. So the idea of a focus group was tossed around, he said he had to get some things cleared up, and it was never really mentioned again.

I tried to bring it up in Comms when a question was asked of the whole JC by Gandolf the Grey, but Genghis just kinda let it go in the thread and ignored the main points I tried to bring up; saying it was off topic.

Then it was discussed in the Admin Announcements thread, but still nothing was decided. The problem was that only some of the posters of the forum were present, and therefore the ideas of the forum as a whole were not presented. Many posters did not think that such a discussion was going on in that thread.

So here I am, bringing this up in front of the whole forum. I want as many of you who are interested to reply to this and see if we can figure out what the regular members think is best for the forum.

It seems that the amount of off-topic posting has greatly increased lately. There are way too many social threads, considering this is "EUC", not just "C". The point of this forum is to hold the EU discussions that are not needed in the Lit forum, and therefore I think the EU should be discussed.

I like socializing with friends in this forum as much as the rest of you, but there is a limit on how far it can go. I log in and see all the social threads and off-topic posting in the EUC forum and find it hard to post on topic anymore. The forum is beginning to seem so much like JCC, it's somewhat hard to tell a difference, other than the people posting here are much better people (for the most part).

So I think a limit needs to be put on the social threads like there used to be. Genghis lifted the limit to allow for a test period of how it would work. It was fine for a while, but now it is getting out of hand. There are just too many social threads in the EU forum. The Star Wars Community forum only has one social thread, and it fits the forum fine. I think 3 is really being pretty generous.

Of course, deciding which three to leave open would have to be a forum wide discussion, but I think the that The Prancing Bantha and Skylark's Jungle Cafe should stay open, and a "Newbie Social Thread" be opened, which is restarted much more often than the usual 10k posts, so that n00bs can come into the forum and get settled in before moving out into new places.

Like I said, this is the Expanded Universe Community forum, not the Community forum. If you want to socialize like there's no tomorrow, go to the JCC forum. They'll welcome you with open arms (probably). If something is resolved with the social thread limit, talk to one of the JCC mods about possibly relocating your thread there and see how it works out.

Then is all the RPGing going on. Is it really necessary? I know Genghis' take on it, but I wanna know other people's true opinion. We have an RPG forum, what's wrong with that? These new RPG/chat threads are nothing but going against what this forum was created for. Take the RPG action to RPG, I'm sure the RPG mods wouldn't have a problem with you moving your threads there if they stayed on topic.

This is the main point that was evaded by Genghis when brought up before: He needs a co-mod. This is what I tried to bring up in comms in response to Gandy's question. Genghis should not be expected to be here all the time, which is why he needs someone else to help him out in the forum. Since he's not online a lot, he can't keep the forum under his power, and by the time he gets to things they are getting out of hand. Someone needs to take the position of co-mod and help get the forum to the way it should be.

The content in some threads is not appropriate for the forum, and should not be allowed. But it all slips by Genghis b

 

Mods use ban, edit, and lock buttons, not sticks.

In all seriousness, perhaps this is something you should have brought to the EU Senate. They're there for a reason. And if you feel that Genghis is ignoring your concerns (concerns I mostly agree with), that should have been the next logical step.

Any EUS members wish to address this?

My preciousss...

 

Ousley, your best bet is probably to bring this issue up to the Senate. Genghis seems to give them a lot more merit than they've received in the past. I also agree with your concerns, and tried to address them a while back, but nothing panned out. It would be nice to see the EUC as fun as it used to be.

Boba

 

Alright, I posted a link to this in the Senate, I'm not familiar with their procedures on discussions, so I'll find out how this works.

 

Yeah, this place definitely seems to have lost something. Though it's not something I think I can describe. But I think the EUS, and the trust Genghis puts in it, would be the best chance for any sort of reform.

My preciousss...

 

I would like to comment, just because I am partial leader of one of the "RP/chat" threads. A major part of the Dark Side thread is dedicated to the EU and discussion about Sith/Dark Aspects of the force/other fav villians ect...but we have a long history (dating back to the days of DA, and before my time) of falling off track a lot. So really we are the only Dark Side discussion thread in the EUC, we are just very bad at staying on topic.

Part of the problem is this, I have not read much EU material so I cannot keep it on track that well by myself. We are currently trying to find ways of involving the EU in all our posts as well as the RP aspect as well, so hopefully our thread will not be an issue much longer.

One thing that I would like to see is more assistance from the Senate, for example helping threads get on topic and actually find out what the community wants. I think that the Senate would gain much respect from members of the EUC by doing things that are helpful to the community, as it is not I cannot figure out what they actually do that is benificial (and that would be the reason for my thread being in the Senate for 2 weeks before withdrawing).

 

IMO there shouldn't be any RP allowed here, even in social threads where people mess around.

If there are too many consecutive posts involving RP (say 3 or 4), there should be mod intervention and it should be stopped asap because RP becomes the driving force behind a thread very quickly, socially or otherwise. People stop turning up to chat with people about EU and start turning up to RP against them.

When RP isn't discouraged in a Community forum it becomes very prevalent because people se it happening in other threads and join in , take it to other threads and even start new ones dedicated to it.

 

One of our solutions was to create a sponsered thread in the RP forum, but for some reason the majority of the thread members don't want to do that.

 

If RP were moderated properly in EUC, they wouldn't have a choice.

RP belongs in the RP forum.

 

Wasnt the RP forum started because of euc rpg's? It should remain there.

 

Yep, and DA modded it for a while until turning it over to PoT. At least I think that's how it worked.

 

Have you no life outside of the JC? This is unbelievable. I'd use a roll-eyes emoticon on you if we had one. But since we don't, I have to settle for

Oh, yeah, and tl, dr

 

I like socializing with friends in this forum as much as the rest of you, but there is a limit on how far it can go. I log in and see all the social threads and off-topic posting in the EUC forum and find it hard to post on topic anymore.

So do I. I mean, even though I requested to be put on Reserves in the EUDF and I've taken a leave as Admiral of the NJOFC, so I don't visit as many threads as I used to here, I still find it a bit more difficult to find my way around than when there was a limit on social threads and clubs.


The Star Wars Community forum only has one social thread, and it fits the forum fine.

Well, we're a bit smaller over there in the way of consistent posters, so having just one is a bit more justified in the way of how it works smoothly, but that doesn't mean that 10 is ok for a slightly bigger forum. I would say no more than 2,3, maybe 4 at the most. Efficiency, conciseness, and more structured socialization, no to mention a more organized forum board-wide.


and a "Newbie Social Thread" be opened, which is restarted much more often than the usual 10k posts, so that n00bs can come into the forum and get settled in before moving out into new places.

Yeah, I brought this up and it was discussed for a bit in the Admin Announcements thread, but eventually it kind of fell through. Hopefully it can get set up, now...


Then is all the RPGing going on. Is it really necessary? I know Genghis' take on it, but I wanna know other people's true opinion. We have an RPG forum, what's wrong with that? These new RPG/chat threads are nothing but going against what this forum was created for. Take the RPG action to RPG, I'm sure the RPG mods wouldn't have a problem with you moving your threads there if they stayed on topic.

Well I know that Yuuzhan'tar RP's a lot, as I RP in it a bit myself, but when I want to really roleplay, I use common sense- RolePlaying Forum. As much as I would be a bit sad to see it go away from Yuuzhan'tar, I think that it's necessary forum-wide if we want to achieve this "clean-up" idea.


He needs a co-mod.

If the Star Wars Community needs two mods, the EUC needs at least that. Perhaps transfer one of the "less busy" moderators, if you will, to help cover the time Genghis can't. That's what Quix has done for Obi Anne, and so far it's worked out great.


Along those lines, I think it's kind of ironic how this situation came to be, and its parallels with the Star Wars Community forum just a few months back.

At that point the SWC was going through something similar- Quix was added as another moderator to help Obi Anne, and that helped a bit, but redundant threads ran rampant, fan clubs of the same character rose and sunk, rose and sunk, rose and sunk, and newbies kind of ran wild as if it was a playground to "play" in after they registered, thinking they didn't need to stop in the WNU forum or even read the TOS.

I wrote something similar to this post that ousley did here, and suddenly the entire community began to chip in and make it better.

Since then the forum has improved a tenfold, and everything's been going great.


If the Star Wars Community forum can do it with the few regulars that are there, I could probably say for fact that the EUC could do it in half the time, what with the members I know here.


Ken Kenobi- And you have a nice day

 

I'd agree with what Ousley said. I admit, I enjoyed the multiple social threads, the off topic posting, and pushing the rules, but...*shrug* I dont know, the Forum seems to have lost something. I agree with everything ousley said, especially the RPing part.

 

I will tell you the state of the EUC, IT SUCKS! Too many pointless social threads, two was fine. N00bs do not need to pos social threads, older more experianced posters are there for a reason and have alreayd made such threads. Social chatter is best left to those places, and in order to keep people happy combing social threads would be better then random things with the same purpose. Random fan clubs have also become a problem, we do not need a fan club just because there hasnt been one made for a character yet. "THAT ONE GUY who licked Lukes boot that one time Fan Club", that is STUPID. RP is to be in the RP forum, thats hwy its there. AND IM SPENT

 

Well, I'm pretty sure I've made it clear that although social threads are nice, this is getting ridiculous.

On the subject of RPing...

A little bit is fine, especially if it's used to emphasize part of your post.

For example:

*hugs random user*

I know, that scene always makes me cry too.

or even the occasional *thwack* etc.

I'd set the threshold slightly higher in the social threads than the fanclubs, since dancing etc. is to be expected. I wouldn't want it too much higher though because that's when things start to get a bit out of hand.

The fact of the matter is that we have an RP forum, so we don't need two.

YubYub and TG- Protecting fangirls from hormonally gifted fanboys since 2002

 

in the OC days, one of the things taht made the EUC exciting was the background RP and fights and things

maybe i just belong in RP, but i know those are some things that made the EUC what it once was

 

There's a difference between the occasional RP post in a social thread and a thread where half of what's going on is RPing.

 

Inf: People in this EUC seem to be intent on having a dry, dull community. Our time has passed, my old friend. Our time has passed...

 

Have you no life outside of the JC? This is unbelievable. I'd use a roll-eyes emoticon on you if we had one. But since we don't, I have to settle for

Oh, yeah, and tl, dr

Ok, since I CAN'T bring it up here, I'll just say please try to keep criticism constructive and be less of a twit.

 

Or maybe, Valyn, some of us would like to use the forum for what it is intended to be used for.

 

Inf: People in this EUC seem to be intent on having a dry, dull community. Our time has passed, my old friend. Our time has passed...


Valyn I remember the old EUC of yore, It seemed to work a lot better then the one nowadays, the hangar worked, and there was only 2 or 3 social threads. Only the EUDF as a organization and some decent fan threads about prominant characters and people who felt for them, we can have the old one back if we try hard enough.

 

where's the whack RP/social/discussion board then?

it wasn't the occasiona RP either
it was deep

remember the clone thing?

epic RP, frequent duels, mysterious socks...
it r0xx0r3d


even the battles between jaina/jag people and kyp/jaina people were fun


all of that's shut down now

 

There's a difference between the occasional RP post in a social thread and a thread where half of what's going on is RPing.

I can accept that.

I don't think that the EUC will ever be without RPing, there are many threads that incorporate RPing in them, some just more than others (there has always been RPing in the Dark Side and it always will, sorry but it is true). Threads like mine just need to remember that we also have to discuss the EU more often that we are currently doing, as long as we do that I don't see a problem.

 

i think it's stupid to discuss EU just to appease the rules

threads that arent entirely EU discussion related shouldnt pretend to be

and maybe they should shove off if they arent, but this is a community board, and maybe a better solution would be to have a 'generic EU discussion' board and an EUC


and shouldnt this reading cafe thing be locked

it seems redundant... we have a lit board

if you want to discuss books, go there, if you want to socialize, come here