We have been having a discussion in the mod forums as to whether or not the WDT's should remain open or shut down M-F. With BD being all grown-upey now, what with kids and a wife, it's become my deal so the final decision is left up to me. I waivered on polling this or not and in the end, obviously decided to poll it. Vote and let us know your thoughts. Everything will be taken into consideration when the final decision is made in a couple days.
I like it open because it allows for the discussion of random shit and responses from others. It also helps keep focused threads on topic better.
I'm a fan of shutting it down M-T. In addition, I would love to see only 3-4 new threads opened up during the week. Last week I hadn't signed in for a few days and when I came back there were 7 new threads open. Even though I wanted to comment on a few of them, I refrained because I didn't have the time to comment fully on each one as well as keep up with each thread once I actually commented. Maybe a format like, one serious thread, one constant weekly themed thread, two misc threads and then the drunk thread on Friday. Just a suggestion.
I really think it should be open Friday morning to Monday morning - just before to just after the weekend. It gets a little too casual when it's always open, and just generally uninteresting to read through. If we limit it to 72 hours a week we might get more of the highlights of everyone's random thoughts rather than a constant unfiltered stream of consciousness. We're sort of used to always having it, so yes, there might be more meandering during the week in other topics at first, but I think we can adjust. With Nett's return, as the prophecy foretold, there's some new life in the board and we no longer need to rely on a 24/7 drunk thread to keep this place sort of afloat. Just my four cents (I'm twice as important as everyone else).
Eh I don't see the point of shutting it down. Since it's an aimless thread by it's very definition (or whatever the theme du jour might be) it's a good place to just fuck around and also to discuss topics that might be interesting but don't have enough substance to be made into their own thread. I don't see how it affects the greater number of actual topic threads we have now. If anything having only those threads open during the week limits posting to just those topics. Granted people might ask "why not just propose a new topic" but as I mentioned it might not have enough substance to merit their own thread. I don't see any negative from simply leaving the WDT open.
I know my opinion doesn't count for much around here but I think leaving it open is a good idea considering the majority of posts occur in the WDT. I think it if goes away during the week you'll see a general lack of activity. I know I don't have many things I like to post about more serious topics so I tend to stay out of those. But with the WDT there's a freedom there to post whatever, which has an appeal. If you look at the views for every topic I think its generally a good narrative of what would happen if it were closed during the week. I know if the WDT was closed for the week, I'd probably be out of here.
E) Shegirl, since you've been doing this, I assume the choice to "leave it open" means leaving it open, but then starting a new one every now and then? Not only do most of the post occur in the WDT, many other threads (some really good ones, I might add) are spawned from a post in the WDT. Had the meandering and stream of consciousness post not happened, that thread might not have either. (And, apparently, if RotN gets run over buy a bus, there won't be any new threads anyway.) Honestly, I don't get the comments about the WDT being too cluttered or too much to read through. You know you don't have to read it, right? I mean, you'd miss some funny shit, but you don't have to read it. Anyway, it looks like the top two choices are running neck and neck. If it ends up that way, you could always compromise and close it every Monday afternoon, and reopen it Thursday night. I prefer to open a new one every week or two.
Re: E) Yes, if it does get shut down during the week there would always be a new one open by Friday afternoon for the upcoming weekend. Good stuff so far guys. Keep it coming.
I would prefer a new WDT start on Friday morning and end Monday morning except if it is a three day weekend then extend it for that. I also really enjoy the extended WDT from Thanksgiving through New Years. But that is it. If a great topic comes up during the WDT it can be started as a topic on that Tuesday morning. If a person has earth shaking news during the week, put it on the Rant and Rave thread. If a female needs to say something, well that is what the Boobie, Bootie threads are good for. I will read your post after looking at the picture, I promise.
Isn't the whole purpose of having multiple threads to have individual topics, so that each member might have something to contribute? Not every member will have something to contribute to every thread.
What if I'm drinking on a Wednesday? i.e. Tomorrow. I think wing night might be a weekly thing. I might actually make it into the men's bathroom at some point and want to share. And where else will I share the important news of finding a shirt I had never worn WITH TAGS STILL ON on a Monday night/Tuesday morning? Someone must know my joy at that. How is it even possible to keep something like that to myself? I voted for leaving it open.
Let me try to clear up what I meant. When you open up 7 new threads a week, you dilute the discussion between all of them. If you limit it to 3-4 new threads and a drunk thread, you allow enough variety where everyone has something they can comment on, while also not having too many open threads. Just look at the threads that have been open over the last two weeks. There are a few that have over 3 pages and a lot of them are barely over 1 page. The drunk threads are always in the teens or twenties. To me, that says there are too many open threads that people aren't commenting on because it's easier to post quickly and follow the conversation on an anything goes, always open thread. Perhaps that's not the case, but that's my impression. For the WDT, maybe it can start in the General Discussion thread FSS and then move it to the permanent threads for the rest of the week so it's not on the front page.
Not that I post enough any more to really give many fucks, but I feel like closing it up might be might be better. Leaving it open means people just use it as unfiltered stream of thought, which could take away from the other focused threads that built the original forums up in the first place. I like the idea of having a place to keep the drunk nonsense over the course of the weekend when most of the vagrant degenerates here are wasted, but we already have enough places for people's unfocused musings. If something is really worth discussing that much just make a new thread for it and the people that want to carry on the discussion can do so, which is actually kind of how I remember it being. My ₦0.02.* *Figure it out.
It doesn't really dilute the discussion in them, there's been more board traffic since we started bumping more new threads. People will contribute as much or little as they want regardless. A few years ago when Frylock was bumping threads he was doing 3 per day. We're not quite doing that frequency, but the bumpage will flow with the traffic. Basically you guys need to decide what you guys want the WDT to be. It can be either a weekend-specific shenanigans thread or it can be an ongoing stream of conscience for the board.
I say leave it open. Being able to have meandering conversation about day to day shit that doesn't necessarily have a focus is, I think, a good thing. Y'all are likeminded enough for me that it's enjoyable reading and conversation, and I'm not worried about 'zomg am i on focus...'
I have a really hard time understanding how the WDT actually takes away from other threads. If I have something to say in the topic threads, I would say them whether the WDT thread is there or not. Most of my posts happen in the WDT thread simply because I have literally nothing to contribute to other threads. If the WDT thread isn't there, the void isn't going to result in me being able to miraculously pull a topic-related post out of my ass. The only result is that I just wouldn't post as often. Which is no big deal, I'd still read what other people are saying.
I voted to shut it down M-F. I think at most open it late Thursday night and then close it Monday afternoon to allow for time zone variances. Otherwise I feel like it turns into a meandering thread of randomness. I can think of multiple times I where something was mentioned that I'd like to talk about, but was 6-9 pages ago and bringing it back up is pointless as the thread has moved on to other topics. If it's shut down during the week I think it'd help to drive more individual threads with specific focus.
I don't understand the problem with this. There are often threads bumped that, for whatever reason, aren't a huge draw for people to post in...which is fine, because the people who do and can and have something to offer that's on topic/relevant/whatever keep those threads going. Lots of people have connections here that aren't dictated by the focused threads. I don't understand why multilayered conversations are necessarily bad. Isn't that what message boards are for?
Personally, I don't think a 24/7 WDT takes away from the rest of the board, and I don't even dislike 24/7 WDTs... I just think three day WDTs are better. I like actual "weekend drunk threads" more than "random" threads, which is what WDTs currently are. I think it's sort of cool to look forward to, and on Fridays people exchange stories about their week, what they'll be drinking that night, etc. I seem to remember a bit more energy in the threads when they were only open on weekends, but maybe that's just me. And like I said, for a while there I was in favour of not closing them because the board slowed down quite and we didn't have much else. Now I feel like we've got better participation, better moderation, and are generally able to keep ourselves entertained during the week with "normal" topics. As long as we can do that, I think drunk threads are more fun if they don't stay open all the time. (Especially when it comes to the holidays... I remember the month-long Christmas drunk threads being fucking awesome and hilarious a few years back, but now since drunk threads are open all the time anyway... who cares?) $0.06