- SilentStorm20
- |
- Exalted Heroic Member
I don't want to join your group.
"In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite." - Paul Dirac
I've had this idea in my head since this afternoon, and I think it's interesting enough to at least discuss it. It's a way of dealing with all the excruciating repeat threads that everyone complains about. Bear with me while I state the obvious to put my idea in context:
Everybody here knows that there are certain topics that pop up again and again, day after day. Topics that have been answered before and were pretty boring the first time around. They clutter the forums and hide anything new and interesting.
There are a few ways that we as a community react to said threads. We have some large, comprehensive posts sticked on the right-hand side of the page; but lots of threads are started by someone who doesn't post here regularly and only has a quick question (and likely a short attention span). No matter how hard we wish it, most people simply will not take the time to read through things like that (in fact, there are people who have already stopped reading this "wall of text," I guarantee it). It’s not a jab at the community; few people read disclaimers, contracts, EULAs, etc. Instant gratification, yadda yadda, I won’t digress.
Another popular reaction is flaming, which solves nothing. A simple, honest reply would end the unwanted thread faster than the flame; but people seem to have a negative emotional reaction against that, as if an answer would somehow legitimize the clutter.
People seem to be particularly fond of telling people to “use the search button.” Too late, the thread already exists, and just as people are too lazy to read a sticky, they are also too lazy to search through mountains of old threads. Besides, people really only take the time to post something if they think it’ll be read, and probably think that a posting in an old thread will be ignored. And they’re mostly right.
And so these threads continue to be created, and regular posters here continue to be annoyed. But I think I know a way to fix it.
Bungie creates a new ninja (an “answer man,” if you will) with the special task of responding to these threads. It wouldn’t be difficult; a list would be created with a number of canned responses to all common threads. The answer man goes through the forums (majority of time spent in the halo 3/optimatch forums) and answers each thread with the appropriate response from the list in a polite, friendly manner, and then promptly locks the thread. The lame poster gets the answer (which is all they really wanted), and the post is quickly whisked away from the forums.
A new ninja doesn’t even need to be created; maybe just a dummy profile, accessible by any of the ninjas/employees that can be used when necessary. Or maybe the ninjas switch off being answer man for a day/a few hours, since it would be a rather thankless task and would require a lot of time. I think that if this idea were committed too, these forums would be a much better, cleaner place. Thoughts?