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Posted by: TOM T 117
No, the real reason i say no is because i want to be able to read about the ARG when it is gone. Otherwise the forum will meet an end like the beta forum where all discussed is lost.Oh I wouldn't worry about that. There are at least 6 groups or sites that I can name off the top of my head compiling every scrid of detail as it happens.
The reason WhiteRaven119 and I started the big ARG group was to draw some of the constant posting away from the Halo 3 forum. The instant AR's first post went up, I think that most of us who visit b.net on a regular basis foresaw the overload of activity in the Halo 3 forum to some extent -- though perhaps not completely, in all of its sheer awe-inspiring overwhelmingness.
In some ways, I think that the groups and other sites created for this ARG have helped the overactivity in the Halo 3 forum, and in other ways, I think that they have made it worse. I'm sure you can figure it out but I'll quickly explain -- after constantly reading the Halo 3 forum and many other sites for almost a week and a half now, I have begun to recognize and remember some user names. I can say without a doubt that some users have been content to post only in the CI group, args.bungie.org, or unfiction. In that way, these various sites and groups have helped to keep the overactivity in the Halo 3 forum down to a not-so-dull roar, as posters who would normally post in the Halo 3 forum have somewhere else to vet their theories and thoughts.
Unfortunately, I have seen that many Halo 3 forumgoers have become obsessed with posting every theory that they see on another site -- almost as if they want credit for it. I think that CrazyBoy3's discovery of halo3.com/comic/ was great, but that IGN's printing of his name in an article about it was devastatingly effective in making other people want the same recognition. Now, I can guarantee that every thought, whim, theory, or discovery posted in any group or site devoted to this ARG will be posted on the Halo 3 forum within minutes -- sometimes within seconds (often without any credit to the original post and instead a claim that they found it on their own - but that's beside the point). Conversely, every theory posted on the Halo 3 forum that is not pure spam and has some merit finds its way into other groups and sites within minutes. While the spreading of information in an ARG is most certainly a good thing, in this way, the idea that drove the founding of my group and some other sites devoted to the ARG has backfired.
I guess that all of this goes to my final point, which is that although I can see the arguments in favor of having a separate forum devoted to the ARG, I am unsure as to whether it would be a gain overall in the end. Yes, it could be woven into the storyline with relative ease. I am, however, unsure of the technical effort that would be required, which, with Halo 3 fast approaching, would make it certainly understandable and perhaps even wise for Achronos not to create a new forum.
Another potential reason not to create a new forum exists, though. We should be clear that a new forum would serve only one purpose -- to make it easier to discuss Halo 3 in the Halo 3 forum. A new forum would most likely cause an increase in spam and other bad posts -- or at least no decrease -- in that new devoted forum. This would make the forum ninjas' job harder by adding another forum to patrol and creating the necessity to lock or move posts made in the Halo 3 forum about the ARG. We all know what a ridiculous mess the new forum would be -- take the H3 Beta forum's spam problems and double them, and you'll have a good estimate. This is not to mention the flaming (just try posting an ARG discovery that's more than a half-hour old in the H3 forum now), plaigiarism, Rick Rolling, repeat posting, bumping, double/triple/quadruple posting, and general mayhem that occurs in so many ARG threads.
The only question, of course, is whether people are willing to take these potential detriments along with the potential benefit of finally having the Halo 3 forum dedicated to Halo 3 once again.