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Post by Duskglimmer on Jun 27, 2006 12:39:50 GMT -5
Dusky told me she was still looking at the points system, don't know what she's lookin at, I think she should just put it in already. That might incourage people to post more in the lit. forums... The points system doesn't work the way we want it to. With the coding you gave me, it's impossible to make it so that you gain points in one forum and spend them in others.
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Post by MH Mijolnir on Jun 27, 2006 12:42:49 GMT -5
Well...it's still a points system
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Post by Duskglimmer on Jun 27, 2006 13:33:42 GMT -5
Yes, but it won't help our situation.
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Post by Snoink on Jun 27, 2006 23:31:08 GMT -5
Well, it could technically work, but in that case, you would have to delete most of the lounge forums, and that would be bad, no?
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Post by Duskglimmer on Jun 28, 2006 9:19:15 GMT -5
I'm trying to avoid that, yes.
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backgroundbob
Senior Writer
A befitting emblem of adversity
Posts: 188
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Post by backgroundbob on Jun 29, 2006 7:27:01 GMT -5
The only problem I see with this measure is that it's based on a bad assumption: that is, that if people post less in Randomness and Lounge topics, they'll post more in Literary Sections. I'm really not sure where this has come from - there's no logic behind it: people will just post less overall, with exactly the same amount in Literary Forums.
So, with that out of the way:
The other reason we support this measure is because "we are a writing site" and "randomness has no place on a writing site". The simple fact is that we are *not* a writing site. We are a community of writers; we aren't just here for the one and only reason that we want to share our work; if that were so, we could scrap usernames, signitures, blogging, profiles, everything, and just post pieces of work for others to critique. This, however, is not the reason we come here - we come because we enjoy the company of other writers, and that's something that's very difficult to get except in world-wide community.
So there's two logical fallacies that our anti-randomess/lounge stance is based on: one, that it will increase emphasis on writing topics, and two, that it is against our philosophy as a writing site to have such a section.
Understand that the function of this place is not purely for writing; it is for the social ease, understanding and pastoral care that comes with associating with people like you, in a way that is not possible in our real-life communities. To that end, we should be attempting to make this site as sociable as possible - I see that in blogs, in usergroups, in lounge topics, and in randomness, where we let off steam in an amusing and intelligent way. There is no reason to cut down on the "unwriting" side of things; that's as much a part of YWSR as anything else, and it won't help increase critiques; that will come of its own accord, probably with different times of year.
That's my stance; thanks for your time.
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Post by Firestarter on Jun 29, 2006 11:47:24 GMT -5
*nods at bob*
What I was saying, but I was less eloquent.
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Post by Snoink on Jun 29, 2006 12:17:10 GMT -5
But that's lounge stuff. The Randomness section usually contains "__________ above you!" threads that are hardly community-oriented. The posts are usually one word only. So what's so important about them?
Also, it's not the assumption. The logic behind that is admittedly faulty. It's the psychology involved. The randomness threads are unimportant and can be deleted easily. The literary forums, on the other hand, are standing. Since we are a group of writers, we can easily see the symbolism in that, no?
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Post by MH Mijolnir on Jun 29, 2006 14:28:18 GMT -5
You can delete the Literary forums just as easily...
*Here Here, Bob*
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backgroundbob
Senior Writer
A befitting emblem of adversity
Posts: 188
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Post by backgroundbob on Jun 29, 2006 16:15:15 GMT -5
Symbolism? In what - realising that randomness threads are less important to us and easily deleted? The symbolism and importance I see is what comes from my memories of the last few posts at YWS - what did we love and remember? The 'goodbye' threads were filled with people saying "wasn't it funny when we pretended to be pirates" or "remember this hilarious event, hah" or "I'll never forget when we played this joke around the boards." There weren't a whole lot of "I remember this amazing piece from such-and-such." Do you know why that is? Because while the everyday business of posting and critiquing work is excellent for increasing our skills as writers, what makes this more than a proof-reading centre is that we care about one another and try to support one another. That, for me, is what randomness and lounge topics are to us: those little quirks and in-jokes that are one of the few ways we get to know one another.
So, I say that the only symbolism is what's important; I think that how we interact as a community is equally important as how we hone our literary skills. I don't think that we *should* be deleting randomess topics, because I don't think we should be seeing them as unimportant.
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Rulke
Senior Writer
Loyal and will always ♥ Elizabeth and will always remain faithful to her.
Posts: 125
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Post by Rulke on Jun 30, 2006 3:50:11 GMT -5
Here Here Bob too right.
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Post by Crysi on Jun 30, 2006 21:41:51 GMT -5
*raises hand*
Mr. Bob sir, I have a question...
Are you implying that without the randomness section, we would cease to be a community? Because honestly, I think that's quite faulty reasoning. I rarely visit the Randomness section unless I'm making sure a certain topic doesn't get out of hand. (No, not out of hand with randomness... You know what I mean.)
I believe what Snoink was trying to say is that those threads aren't the basis of our community. Yes, they can be amusing, and I'll admit that sometimes it's funny to see how far a certain wacky thread will go. But if you want actual substance in your conversation (which, in my opinion, is what truly forms a community), the Lounge actually stays on topic.
Oh, and have we forgotten about PMs?
Actually, I've made quite a few friends on here by reading the work of someone I never even knew was part of the site. Then I critiqued the work, he or she contacted me about it, and there you go. Adding to the community.
The fact is, YWS was made for writing. Yes, there's the community too (and here I'll try to explain what I meant by the statement "this is a writing site" *glares at Jack*), and yes, that is important. But writing comes first. The mods from the original YWS should know how many times Nate said he wanted to focus more on the writing... That's the whole reason for the points system, kids. Or have we forgotten?
It's fine to have fun. Really, it is. It's encouraged. Yes, we want this to be a community for writers, and a close-knit one at that. But if we're not focusing on writing, then we're just a community of people who all happened to, at one time or another, have writing as a hobby. And I can promise you that was NOT the intent of the site.
And I agree with 'Reida - it's a bit silly that people are arguing over this. It's set in place. It's not really a big deal. You're making it sound like we're only leaving the Lit forums now. We're not even taking away the Randomness section, for Pete's sake! *shakes head*
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backgroundbob
Senior Writer
A befitting emblem of adversity
Posts: 188
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Post by backgroundbob on Jul 1, 2006 2:47:57 GMT -5
Rubbish Mill says civilized debate is the only way to progress society, and I'm inclined to agree with him. No; I am suggestion that it would weaken us as a community. And, you see, I have some serious issue with this. Because I've got a long history with internet writing sites, and I've invariably found that the ones that stick together are those don't try and dictate what their members post. The longest-lasting site I've ever been a part of (and still am) is headed for ten years, and like all the others that I've seen make any kind of progress, it has no moderators and no censorship/topic alteration/whatever you want to call it. It lets people get on with having a laugh, and I have to say that the quality of work there is the highest I've ever seen on an Internet board, bar none. What I'm saying right now is that the 'intent of the site' is outdated and a bit naive; not only that, but the very policy of dictating how, when or what kind of post your members can or cannot make is verging on hypocrisy for a writing website.
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Post by Crysi on Jul 2, 2006 1:49:25 GMT -5
And yet we're not doing what you claim.
We're not dictating anything... Merely suggesting that people try to focus more on writing than on randomness. We're not banning anyone from posting randomness or having a good time. You can write whatever you wish.
I'd like to make a suggestion... If you wish to continue debating this, then bring it up in the D&SD usergroup. I won't continue it (even there, since I'm not a member of it and don't wish to be), but maybe you can find more people to debate it with. Or PMs are also good.
But the deal is done. Really, I think you've made some good points here, but for now I suggest you just accept the fact that the randomness topics will be deleted every week.
And that's all I got to say about that.
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backgroundbob
Senior Writer
A befitting emblem of adversity
Posts: 188
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Post by backgroundbob on Jul 2, 2006 3:43:33 GMT -5
Accepting, m'dear, is in neither my nature nor my vocabulary, but I've said my piece and I'm satisfied with my argument, so that'll do for now.
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