Is the General Discussion sub-forum Forum a special breed of animal? Discuss and banter!

[Love Zhaoying]

6 hours ago, Modulated said:

Agreed, its squarely into beating dead horse territory now. 😆

I have a working theory: I think, before we are done, every active forum member will create at least 1 thread about the "changes". 

[Love Zhaoying]

6 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Just to change it up a bit, how about a thread discussing why we shouldn't have discussions about discussing things in General Discussion?

 No. Most of these threads are NOT serious. The very wording isn't serious. 

The topic was already covered in other threads.

The people who want to complain will get another chance to complain.

The people with arguments one way or the other will get another chance to present their arguments. 

It's the same thing, over and over, and over. Just like "0 second Orbs" or "Navigable waters" or "We don't have enough SSP threads so here's another" or "Bellisseria is so darn interesting that we need a 37th thread".

[cariboustag]

39 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I have a working theory: I think, before we are done, every active forum member will create at least 1 thread about the "changes". 

Me? Make a thread?

Bold of you to assume I won't just vaguely browse each already created one and make stupid jokes/post meme gifs without properly addressing the topic.

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, cariboustag said:

Me? Make a thread?

Bold of you to assume I won't just vaguely browse each already created one and make stupid jokes/post meme gifs without properly addressing the topic.

That should be explicitly allowed, nay - ENFORCED even! Anything but the constant groaning and gnashing of teeth. Woe is me. Let me fall on my sword. I am gravely injured. Kiss me before I die, because I've never known true love. Death be not etc.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

17 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

 No. Most of these threads are NOT serious. The very wording isn't serious. 

The topic was already covered in other threads.

The people who want to complain will get another chance to complain.

The people with arguments one way or the other will get another chance to present their arguments. 

It's the same thing, over and over, and over. Just like "0 second Orbs" or "Navigable waters" or "We don't have enough SSP threads so here's another" or "Bellisseria is so darn interesting that we need a 37th thread".

Love, you're being a bit of a ****-disturber here.

Seicher's thread is as much or more about the communities we've created in this and other versions of the forum. Look at the OP.

8 hours ago, Seicher Rae said:

I’ve been posting off and on in the GD Forum for over 12 years, almost as long as I’ve been in SL. I’ve dipped toes into other sub-forums, but when I post, it is usually here. There are others who have been here longer, but, 12 years has been long enough to go through a myriad of iterations. There have been educated trolls we’ve loved to hate and grudgingly hated to love at times. There have been crazy what-the-??? trolls, since... ever. We’ve had virtually no moderation, absent moderation, sporadic moderation, iron-fisted... There have been AR wars. Ther have been Great Alt Hunts, complete with forensic scrutiny of vocabulary. There has been more drama than you can shake a stick at. There have been epically long and torturous threads, the stuff of legends. There has been political speak from all corners of the weirdness. People riding in to save others, others saying “we don’t need no stinkin’ saving.” There has been warm camaraderie where people consoled others in need of a hug. In short, it has been a vibrant, weird, obnoxious, fun, entertaining, educational... community.

In fact, virtually the only people here referencing changes to this forum are you and Sam.

I'll quote Seicher on page 2, responding to Sam:

6 hours ago, Seicher Rae said:

Except this isn't about forum changes, not overtly anyways. It is about the GDF, is it or is it not "just another" sub forum, or is it different.  I typed in my OP about what the GDF is to me, asked if others view it the same or not. Yes, the changes come into play, if you want (and I did mention them), but that isn't "what this thread is about." Plus: platypuses, yes or no? 

But if that is too onerous, by all means, make a pass on it.

Now, why don't you contribute your own insights into the "communities" that we have, and can, build here, rather than berating people for this being the kind of thread that it, in fact, isn't?

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by Scylla Rhiadra
Added stuff

[Ceka Cianci]

27 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I have a working theory: I think, before we are done, every active forum member will create at least 1 thread about the "changes". 

I'll be the kink in that theory. Because i hardly ever make threads.. hehehehe

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 hours ago, Seicher Rae said:

Are there really oldbies who miss the "good old days" and I'm thinking back 8-10 years ago? Maybe longer. I can't remember exactly when the doo-doo hit some of those fans. I certainly can't say I miss them.

Yes, there are. Although most of them aren't here anymore.

3 hours ago, Seicher Rae said:

But, and perhaps this just IS nostalgia, it seems like when things were good they were very very good (and when bad, horrid). Lots of fun and truly I felt the community. Something had to be "ok" or there wouldn't be as many folks from then still hanging about now. Now, I am noticing quite a few people who were here 2 years ago are no longer here now. I don't really know what, if anything, that "means."  Something besides just boredom drew me back, too, and I don't accept it is because I like seeing my own posts or that I'm a drama queen.  So it had to be something else. And that was: Despite the folks one wants to muzzle (as @Rolig Loon put it), I find the chat was fun, educational, and a few other things. Plus, yes, I've been bored out of my mind this week (I rarely get bored, but this week ... ugh).

It was the best of time, it was the worst of times . . .

One thing I do kind of miss that was a regular feature of earlier, less well-moderated versions of this forum, were the joke threads. The Undying Thread was one of those. So too were my Richard Parkes' threads, my "I want to be modal!" thread, and, of course, that infamous time when I discovered my boyfriend had been cheating on me with a bisexual furry skunk. They were all, essentially, tongue-in-cheek open narratives that everyone could contribute to, with just pure silliness and fun as their only function.

I don't think that kind of thread would fly anymore. I'm not sure the mods would tolerate it and . . . I'm not entirely sure that most of the people posting here now would be into it. Although I might be wrong. Maybe I should start one . . .

[Love Zhaoying]

5 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Seicher's thread is as much or more about the communities we've created in this and other versions of the forum. Look at the OP.

Thank you for posting a version that does not blind me.

So: It's just fine if the title doesn't relate to the original post? 
 

5 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Now, why don't you contribute your own insights into the "communities" that we have, and can, build here, rather than berating people for this being the kind of thread that it, in fact, isn't?

So much drama and accusation: you mistake my OWN complaining for "berating". How mean!

I tried to address the italicized, bolded, underlined bits: 

The communities aren't broken. Nothing has really changed. The fact the "thread that won't die" is still active, still allowed, and you yourself shared it, is a perfect example.

The assumption and context of the thread topic is written from a perspective, where those same threads no longer exist and our community (composed of those threads) is under dire threat. If that's not what it's about, then it sure seems like a "bait-and-switch" (get the thread noticed, get people talking about other stuff instead; banter).

If threads like this are needed to build and preserve our current, existing, communities, while we have perfectly good active threads that prove those same communities still exist, whole, and built, can you help me understand why?

I think you're enjoying complaining about my complaining about the complaining. 

If the magic word "communities" makes it different then oops! My bad. Thanks for pointing it out. And for cursing!

Edited August 4, 2022 by Love Zhaoying
*sigh* This was my best analysis but no reply at all!

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

RA was pretty darn good and had a lot of good people. There was no moderation other than the people in RA and they did pretty good job of it as well as, soon as anyone came in for help they were answered very quickly..then there is the forum cartel that came from there and there is still the undying thread that has been carried over since back then all the way through every version and into these forums..

The versions in between were much rougher than RA, but RA I think there was much more coming together than any version really.. Even forum shopping trips and trying to cross both in world and forums together.

A lot of good things were carried over from then that are still around.

Yeah, the RA was pretty special. It could be a teeny bit "cliquey" at times, but what redeemed it was that it was a very welcome and inclusive clique: it really wasn't hard to gain entrance. I remember the sense I had of having "arrived" when someone DMed me -- maybe Lindal? -- to invite me to the Forum Cartel hangout for the first time. And of the course, the Cartel has always been really welcoming.

I think one of the reasons the RA worked so well was that it used, as you note, rez mods. I know that that kind of moderation can be dangerous, because it can become very cliquey, but that didn't really happen there: instead, we had mods who had a good sense of the community and its individual members, and a stake in making the place work well because they were a part of it.

And of course there were some wonderful people there, a few of whom -- like you -- are still with us. I could populate quite a long list of people I miss from that forum . . . topped by Chris, I think.

[Ceka Cianci]

49 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I added a photo of what it looks like to me in Dark Theme.

Either A) You have some type of color or background set, even if you think you're using the standard settings,

Or B) You pasted the original post some original editor and "kept" the settings as "Rich Text" (without clicking "paste as plain text instead" like in the second picture).

I edited and added a picture to show an example. 

Even though I use "Dark mode", this has happened to me also, where people had to tell me that my text was unreadable / eye-gouging in Dark Theme.

 

 

I just thought of something..

I made my forum avatar the color of the dark theme to make it invisible.. Then realized it will be the opposite in the normal theme.. hehehe

It was good while it lasted.

[Love Zhaoying]

8 hours ago, Seicher Rae said:

Is the General Discussion sub-forum Forum, different than the rest of the SL sponsored Forums? If so, how, in your opinion? 

@Scylla Rhiadra- the "serious bit" wasn't part of your question. Sorry, that's why I didn't address it. I really can't read the original without eye pain.

[Ceka Cianci]

3 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

@Scylla Rhiadra- the "serious bit" wasn't part of your question. Sorry, that's why I didn't address it. I really can't read the original without eye pain.

I flipped over to the normal theme earlier and I honestly don't know how I stood it for so long.. it's like looking into the sun.. The dark theme is so relaxing on the eyes.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Just now, Love Zhaoying said:

@Scylla Rhiadra- the "serious bit" wasn't part of your question. Sorry, that's why I didn't address it. I really can't read the original without eye pain.

Seicher's point, and the focus of the majority of the discussion here, is what makes the GD different and special in terms of the kinds of communities and discussions that it has always generated. That's why talking about previous iterations of the forums is relevant: they are models (good and bad).

No one is here "complaining." We're talking about how we use this place, how it has generated (or not) a sense of inclusion and community, how it has been "fun" in a way that other subfora here are not. The title of the thread is entirely on the money: "Is the General Discussion sub-forum Forum a special breed of animal?"

The conversation happening here is entirely unlike that happening in any other threads about the GD. Why do you insist on suggesting that this is redundant, when it is about an entirely different approach to the forum?

[Ceka Cianci]

7 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Yeah, the RA was pretty special. It could be a teeny bit "cliquey" at times, but what redeemed it was that it was a very welcome and inclusive clique: it really wasn't hard to gain entrance. I remember the sense I had of having "arrived" when someone DMed me -- maybe Lindal? -- to invite me to the Forum Cartel hangout for the first time. And of the course, the Cartel has always been really welcoming.

I think one of the reasons the RA worked so well was that it used, as you note, rez mods. I know that that kind of moderation can be dangerous, because it can become very cliquey, but that didn't really happen there: instead, we had mods who had a good sense of the community and its individual members, and a stake in making the place work well because they were a part of it.

And of course there were some wonderful people there, a few of whom -- like you -- are still with us. I could populate quite a long list of people I miss from that forum . . . topped by Chris, I think.

That was my first version of the forums.. They set the bar for me.. I'm really glad they archived them..

I remember they archived another version of the forums, but I think they got rid of them.. I can't find them anywhere no matter how deep in a search I go..

It would be interesting to see those as well.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

That was my first version of the forums.. They set the bar for me.. I'm really glad they archived them..

I remember they archived another version of the forums, but I think they got rid of them.. I can't find them anywhere no matter how deep in a search I go..

It would be interesting to see those as well.

A whole lot of stuff, especially from the GD, disappeared, I think, in 2017, when they went to the current software. There are posts that date back to 2009, but the vast majority of GD content starts now in 2011. So, for instance, my furry skunk thread has disappeared (much to my eternal sadness).

[Love Zhaoying]

5 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

"Is the General Discussion sub-forum Forum a special breed of animal?"

You asked! Opinion: No, it is not a "special breed of animal". With our current and previous excellent moderation, and topic drift, the same interesting, undying, "miss it when it's gone" discussions can and will happen in any sub-forum Forum. Because, as it was in the beginning, it is now and ever shall be. Second world, without end. 

The opposite is often true: topics are created in GD which belong elsewhere, and live forever. Those topics would have been fine elsewhere ("It's All about me" threads in "My Avatar", for example.) This thread would have been fine in "Forum Feedback". Being in "General Discussion" doesn't affect its DNA and create a super-species of forum animal. 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

2 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Being in "General Discussion" doesn't affect its DNA and create a super-species of forum animal.

Thank you.

You're wrong. But at least you're wrong in an on-topic sort of way.

🙂

Edited August 4, 2022 by Scylla Rhiadra

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Thank you.

You're wrong. But at least you're wrong in an on-topic sort of way.

🙂

Here, I explain any "confusion" on my part:

1) Part of the confusion: in my reply I state, "my opinion". In your reply to me: "you're wrong".

2) Another part of the confusion:

43 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I'll quote Seicher on page 2, responding to Sam:

If we have to take our cues from "page 2" onward on "what the thread is really about" (I couldn't find your statement to quote it, sorry) - that makes it extremely difficult for anyone to follow. And hopefully, anyone either "Reporting" what they think is "off-topic", or those moderators reviewing such reports, take the entire discussion  into context. 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Just now, Love Zhaoying said:

If we have to take our cues from "page 2" onward on "what the thread is really about" (I couldn't find your statement to quote it, sorry) - that makes it extremely difficult for anyone to follow. And hopefully, anyone either "Reporting" what they think is "off-topic", or those moderators reviewing such reports, take the entire discussion  into context.

/me facepalms

Ok, Love. Whatever.

[Garnet Psaltery]

7 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Do we really need yet another thread on the platypus?

We could talk about pickles, if you like.  

Seriously, I'm glad the horrendous political arguments have gone, but I am a bit worried that things have gone too far, and I'm hoping the mods will be lenient with the harmless fun topics, like cats and music and games.  They're mostly what I come here for, but I do make use of informative topics as well.  I don't know, perhaps a General Discussion Forum for SL-related subjects and a sub-forum called 'Have At It' or something for everything else is a really good idea.

Edited August 4, 2022 by Garnet Psaltery
Missed a word.

[ValKalAstra]

To me, the general discussion forum reminds me of family dinners. You know most of the people there in passing. You've probably met them elsewhere (other subforums) and they were the sweetest and kindest people.

And so it comes to the family dinner and it starts well. People genuinely try to be nice and welcoming. That is until the creepy uncle/aunt figure speaks up. Almost immediately plates start flying, barbs and veiled attacks are flung back and forth. Some of the fights have got this musty old feel to them, like they're unresolved conflicts from years of family dinners.

Some people continue the dinner unfazed with this look on their face that says this is a regular occurrence. Sooner or later security shows up and pulls people apart because they've started tossing the sharp silver.

That's my perspective as an outsider. The general discussion forum is very much a community. However it's a storied one that lends itself to surprising volatility and outbursts. To me it feels very different from the other subforums. There's a culture and history here that is maybe lacking in the more specialised forums.

[Luna Bliss]

8 minutes ago, ValKalAstra said:

To me, the general discussion forum reminds me of family dinners. You know most of the people there in passing. You've probably met them elsewhere (other subforums) and they were the sweetest and kindest people.

And so it comes to the family dinner and it starts well. People genuinely try to be nice and welcoming. That is until the creepy uncle/aunt figure speaks up. Almost immediately plates start flying, barbs and veiled attacks are flung back and forth. Some of the fights have got this musty old feel to them, like they're unresolved conflicts from years of family dinners.

Some people continue the dinner unfazed with this look on their face that says this is a regular occurrence. Sooner or later security shows up and pulls people apart because they've started tossing the sharp silver.

That's my perspective as an outsider. The general discussion forum is very much a community. However it's a storied one that lends itself to surprising volatility and outbursts. To me it feels very different from the other subforums. There's a culture and history here that is maybe lacking in the more specialised forums.

haha, good analogy. Perhaps we sometimes pay a bit of a price for freedom.

[Seicher Rae]

5 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I added a photo of what it looks like to me in Dark Theme.

Either A) You have some type of color or background set, even if you think you're using the standard settings,

Or B) You pasted the original post some original editor and "kept" the settings as "Rich Text" (without clicking "paste as plain text instead" like in the second picture).

I edited and added a picture to show an example. 

Even though I use "Dark mode", this has happened to me also, where people had to tell me that my text was unreadable / eye-gouging in Dark Theme.

 

 

Thank you! For taking the time to show this and also let me realize what the problem was. You are correct. I wrote that in a word processor and cut/pasted because I hadn't yet figured out how to get spell check back in the forums. I'll see if I can fix it.

ETA: Just wiped it out and replaced as plain text. Hope that helps. Lesson learned!

Edited August 4, 2022 by Seicher Rae

[Seicher Rae]

@Love Zhaoying
It has been a long while since I've had a white knight in these forums (or anywhere), and usually I can speak quite adequately for myself, but this time "what she said." @Scylla Rhiadra covered it nicely.

I understand there was a problem in readability now, and have corrected it. Thank you. But...

sheez

Just one thing that I don't think Scylla hit: There was no bait and switch in the title. "Is the GDF a special breed of animal?" Is just another way of saying "Is the GDF just another sub-forum or is it its own thing?" Which is what the body of my OP also said. If it is, to you (the general public) then why? Why do you post here? Etc. I talked about what it was to me and why I returned. It is true that I did mention the changes, saying I thought our special animal was threatened. I mention the concept of moderation. I tend to like to write my (rare) OPs broadly so people have room to discuss on topic more freely.  But, no, you didn't have to go to page two to find the "real" subject. I think I put it in the OP just fine. Obviously your mileage varied. 

So hopefully Scylla clarified and the snark can end. Or not. Btw, I didn't take your "burn your eyes out" as snark. I truly had no idea of what you were speaking.

[Seicher Rae]

5 hours ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

We could talk about pickles, if you like.  

Seriously, I'm glad the horrendous political arguments have gone, but I am a bit worried that things have gone too far, and I'm hoping the mods will be lenient with the harmless fun topics, like cats and music and games.  They're mostly what I come here for, but I do make use of informative topics as well.  I don't know, perhaps a General Discussion Forum for SL-related subjects and a sub-forum called 'Have At It' or something for everything else is a really good idea.

Funny, an inworld group and I just had a long discussion yesterday about "pickle pizza" and how it is becoming a thing. 🤢

I don't mind political discussions, at all. But the arguments that were here in the past, yeah, don't miss. They got very personal and attacking.  "Harmless fun" is a good description of this place, at times, and I agree that it is a draw for posting. "Have at it" is funny.