Off-topic thread closed WHY?

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

Some of the guys, who are calling the shots, have to adhere by the TOS, but at times, tend to frown down on those who are not long time members or those who don't post with the same clarity as their e-friends.

I can tell you 100% that it's not true. Just because you are a long-time member or a donator or whatever does not mean you will receive preferential treatment, trust me.

[headrulz101]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

So, from what I've read, it's ok to make a "What are you doing this weekend?" thread, every weekend?

Some posts in here have spoken about members who come here for the community. I am one of them, considering I don't even have a gaming console at the moment. Yes, when I first joined I was a "Madden newbie," but as I grew older I started visiting OS for its community.

But then again, you guys gotta keep things clean and it does says "DEDICATED TO SPORTS GAMING" on the banner. So, who cares about the community.

[Millennium]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

I can tell you 100% that it's not true. Just because you are a long-time member or a donator or whatever does not mean you will receive preferential treatment, trust me.

This man speaks the truth. I could give you a laundry list of people put in the cell under my watch that were long time members/donators.

One thing you can be sure of: I treat EVERYONE on these boards the same. Donators, Regular Members, Mods, even Developers.

[duke776]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

So, from what I've read, it's ok to make a "What are you doing this weekend?" thread, every weekend?

I actually remember there being threads like that weekly. I'm not 100% sure, but I think they were "What are you doing this weekend?". There may have been What did you do this weekend, but I can't remember. So, I'm going to guess those threads would be find(obviously abiding by the TOS).

[ThreeKing]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

This man speaks the truth. I could give you a laundry list of people put in the cell under my watch that were long time members/donators.

One thing you can be sure of: I treat EVERYONE on these boards the same. Donators, Regular Members, Mods, even Developers.

I can attest to this.

[NC State-31 UNC-27]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

I think the bigger question here is why does OS still ask people to donate?

This place has obviously grown a lot, is it not making money?

Because if it's making even a small profit, asking members to donate without having any say in matters such as this is just flatly wrong.

[DTX3]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

Nobody is asking for anything.

[23]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

I think the bigger question here is why does OS still ask people to donate?

This place has obviously grown a lot, is it not making money?

Because if it's making even a small profit, asking members to donate without having any say in matters such as this is just flatly wrong.

Please show me where anyone on the OS staff asked you to donate as a requirement to be here.

[23]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

BTW, asking to create a seperate forum altogether for a select group is not in the best interest of the whole when

1. its more work to create maintain and moderate unnecessarily

2. there is an entire neighborhood forum to post in

3. there is a pm system, an arena blog, a quick reply feature in there

which leads me to come to the conclusion that there really isnt a reason to make an exception because one thread was locked.

One thread! If you look around there are hundreds if not thousands of threads on this board which are the majority and sports gaming related that shows you the crux of what this site is built upon.

[Brandon13]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

One thread! If you look around there are hundreds if not thousands of threads on this board which are the majority and sports gaming related that shows you the crux of what this site is built upon.

Though the NFL and College Football boards have more posts in them than any of the video game boards. But the base of the site is definitely sports gaming.

[JohnDoe8865]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

What about if guys created a huge chat room in AIM or YIM, or another messenger every day and posted this link to get in and just left it open to the OS public so people could drop in, shoot the bull, and drop out whenever?

It would be like a OT thread. Just instead of an OS "sponsored" thread, it would be a big AIM, YIM, MSN group chat.

The only thing I'd be worried about is if there is a cap of the amount of members in a group chat. Maybe we could all find a chat room somewhere that required a password (keep it simple like OS_1)?

Maybe OS could bring back the chat room? It was great during the NFL draft in years past.

I think, even if it requires putting the heads together here, we can find an alternative, even if it's another site that offers a unregulated, or semi-regulated OT type forum.

[Slymm]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

So I can make an "Off topic blog" and people could just post and reply in it?

[callmetaternuts]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

Figured i might as well chip in my opinion on the OT thread since i essentially lived in there. First off, i obviously haven't donated, so I dont think it was a haven for OS members to get away from the noobs. That thread was more of a "wahts on your mind". I dont want to start a thread to say "Im at work" or "Its Friday" type of thing, no reason to.

I cant speak for anyone else, and I agree that some of the content probably did cross the line, but why punish the group when certain people cant keep their thoughts straight?

Like some people have said, that was the thread i visited the most. Reason being, that thread gave this place a sense of community. I dont get a sense of community in the Madden, NCAA, NFL2k, MLB 2k, SCEA forums. It's kind of hard to have a conversation or respond to a post in an intelligent way with all the newbies, jerks, flamers, and defenders. All the "OMT please help" or "Ian answer please" threads makes it hard to decipher what's going on. The OT thread (and to a lesser extent, the Neighborhood) made this place seem like a bunch of people gathered together to discuss various items.

I felt like i could go into the Off Topic thread and find out about boom's day at work, or SPTO's latest movie he was watching. We could find out how Longhorn's short story review came out or who was joining the police academy.

Now, im not a member, so maybe my opinion doesnt count, but i dont want the Neighborhood, or any other thread to have 18490238 threads opened for no reason. Go look in the last 2 weeks at how many threads Mannyblue2008 opened. He had something like 10 opened in one day and it was ridiculous. That couldve been housed in one thread, or asked in a different way.

I know that i now have less interaction with anyone here, which kind of sucks. It helps get me through the work day, i dont know when anyone updates their arena, and im not gonna stalk anyone on there. Im terrified to venture into some of the other forums due to the sheer idiocy going on there. I think the "Twitter-like" feature is average at best. I dont want to subscribe to 100 people's twitters or arenas just to keep up with some interesting people when it was all in one place and could flow like a normal conversation.

It is what it is, it sucks that it got closed, but while im not saying to re-open or re-do the OT thread, I think those in charge here need to remember what makes the site great and keeps people coming back. For some, its the interaction with the developers, but how long will that last with the insane sub-forums? Other people come back for the community, the fact that you get/got to know people on a somewhat personal level.

Just sucks from my point of view, as we get more and more posters, it becomes less "fun" to be around.

[Joey P]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

I think those in charge here need to remember what makes the site great and keeps people coming back.

That would be the video game news, previews and discussion.

[slickdtc]

Re: Off-topic thread closed WHY?

That would be the video game news, previews and discussion.

For some.

Personally, I don't go to the OS homepage that often. Partly due to the fact that I wasn't interested in the new games (I didn't have a PS3 until about 2 months ago) and partly because the forums were just addicting.

Yes, OS was built on sports video games. But it has grown from that, turning to real world sports discussion, entertainment and technology discussion, and in the OS Neighborhood, general discussion. I think the "Other" forum has become a pretty big part of the site.

What I don't like is that the administrators and moderators said this decision has been coming for a while. But we weren't warned of it. Yes, the OS OT 09 thread had stuff that was against the TOS. But why wasn't it dealt with when it happened? They let everything slide and so the posters thought it was okay to post that stuff. Then all of the sudden (at least to all of the regular members), they decide that it's too much trouble to maintain. It sure didn't seem like it.

I'm not saying that moderators and administrators didn't give out warnings when things got out of hand. But I don't recall them always being in there, giving out warnings and infractions everyday. It was a huge thread... of course there are going to be a few warnings when you have over 1700 pages of posts combined in the old OT and the new OT threads.

The moderators and administrators should've enforced the rules instead of letting it run rampant and then deciding to close it. They let people talk about drugs, sex, or whatever. So the people thought it was okay to do. Then they decide that it's not okay and shut it down for everyone. Which I think is just stupid. It's not like everyone was posting inappropriate things, so why punish those who followed the rules?

I just think it could've been handled better. And I think if we give it another try, it will be done a lot better especially knowing that the thread isn't invincible and can be closed. I'm sure the people who really enjoyed the thread and don't want to see it closed again will do a good job of policing it themselves.

I know that the moderators and administrators say when you give OS a chance, they always blow it. And Millenium (if I recall correctly) said it will not be reopened. But I think it's worth giving the community another try. Consider this a yellow card for the whole thread and if things get bad again, close it down for good. Then we'll know for sure that the OS OT thread just isn't right for this place.