Stop locking general discussions

[Mahitto]

I've noticed this happening quite a lot and I can't help but say that general discussions should not be locked unless they're either inactive or made for troll purposes. They shouldn't be locked if someone (or a group of people) derail them and they shouldn't be locked if OP wants them to.

 

If people are derailing them towards something unrelated or toxic, it's usually a rather small group of people doing it - a forum moderator should intervene and bring it back on topic, the person or group should have their replies hidden and be warned/barred form taking part in that discussion if they keep it up. There are some great discussion that ended up being locked and archived simply because some people couldn't be civil and I don't think that's a productive way to approach this issue.

 

Obviously - nothing against people who do lock discussions, since that's the standard right now. I'm simply suggesting a different approach that might yield better results for the community.

[imi]

I think it'd be better if they just deleted the obvious trolling posts instead of just ending the conversation there 😶

[KreacherBE]

Yea just delete them.

[PeopleKind]

Stop making general discussions that have been posted & reposted thousands of times & serve no purpose other than to rant or talk shit about someone or something & they wont be locked, end of

[knppel]

It's not that simple: Even with honest intentions, for once some topics are overchewed and having three related threads per week to focus on a different aspect won't bring anything productive.

 

On the other hand, it just so happens sometimes a thread then evolves into an argument quickly, and if two people fill a whole page with exchanging point of views, no matter how valid, the idea of the forum to server as platform for the broad playerbase to discuss things doesn't work out (by that point you can't expect people to read up anymore, either).

 

Sometimes people forget the forum is no chat.

Edited November 10, 2021 by knppel

[Mahitto]

19 minutes ago, PeopleKind said:

Stop making general discussions that have been posted & reposted thousands of times & serve no purpose other than to rant or talk shit about someone or something & they wont be locked, end of

 

I, personally, am not. However, that wouldn't be possible if one discussion was active - there would be no posibility to repost it, only to duplicate it, which should obviously get locked while the original one remains. Rants and such should obviously not be accepted. What I am talking about is legitimate discussions on whatever topic.

 

15 minutes ago, knppel said:

It's not that simple: Even with honest intentions, for once some topics are overchewed and having three related threads per week to focus on a different aspect won't bring anything productive.

 

On the other hand, it just so happens sometimes a thread then evolves into an argument quickly, and if two people fill a whole page with exchanging point of views, no matter how valid, the idea of the forum to server as platform for the broad playerbase to discuss things doesn't work out (by that point you can't expect people to read up anymore, either).

 

Sometimes people forget the forum is no chat.

 

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm suggesting here - if people take over a discussion to troll/derail it/argue/etc., hide their comments and you, as the handling forum moderator, bring the discussion back on track. This work is already being done but instead of letting the discussion continue, it is locked and archived because of a few bad apples.

 

I don't think that the point of these discussions should be productivity - let's say this should be the goal in the suggestions forums, but the point of a discussion is to, well, discuss - it is, after all, a chat. No one is bothered by people discussing a specific issue that's of interest to them. Otherwise, what's 

 

Yes, some topics are definitely overchewed - but have you wondered why? Why do so many people complain of poor robberies and have been doing it for literal years, why so many topics pop up on this subject (and they will continue to) - because it's a hot topic, a real issue, something of interest to people. Why, instead of 100 new threads a week that all get locked, rinse and repeat, can't we simply have one thread titled Robberies where people can freely discuss? Let people talk about it, as much as they want to, and as a forum moderator, supervise the discussion and make sure it doesn't go south, as you would anyway - and if it does, don't lock it but rather filter it and let it go on.

[Peak.]

This thread should be locked..

 

Nah, agreed - just delete them! 🙂

[FJ]

You're making admins look bad. Lock and archive. Also, I'll warn your forum profile.

[mj2002]

Definitely supporting this suggestion. Forum moderation involves actually moderating a discussion as to avoid them being derailed, not just waiting for them to be derailed and then locking the thread.

[Daquan Kingston]

I’ll have to agree.