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Posted by: Puma Knight
Very specific thread topics can lead to the death of a thread or a discussion. Most people can only talk about music or math for so long. However, the open endedness of the LNF allows for new discussion to appear. People once talking about music or math in the same thread can come together and talk about the math behind music in ways that neither group would have thought of separately. The LNF allows for more of a holistic conversation.The "death of a thread" is a natural result of the discussion forum structure. If the community at large is not interested in a thread's topic, they stop posting in the thread and it sinks to the bottom of the page. If people are interested, they continue discussing it and the thread remains at the top of the page. This is the way of discussion forums and is the reason that they are such a popular medium on the internet. Conversely, the "Late Night Flood" and other post-whatever-you-want threads circumvent and defeat this forum structure by having no particular subject matter, allowing the thread to remain at the top of the forum for as long as anybody feels like spamming it.
What about Say the most random fact to win a prize! and Flood Funny Sayings threads? Those topics cannot make for any conversations, yet they are pinned topics. Yes they have pages in the hundreds, but as you said this is not evidence of discussion. The Say the Most Random Thread has been around since I first came here (2008) and the Funny Sayings thread has been around since 2009. Also, the last page of Funny Sayings is just the OP bumping the thread. If they can have pinned threads that generate no discussion, why can't we have a thread every once in a while that generates multiple discussions?They are not pinned threads, they are top forum topics. Pinned threads are pinned by admins/moderators. Top forum topics are the result of the community. Neither of these are "post whatever you want" threads. One is "post random facts" and the other is "post funny sayings by other members." These may be broad topics, but they are nowhere close to being as open-ended as "post whatever you want." Furthermore, their sheer age, size, and the fact that the threads do have a somewhat focused subject matter differentiates them greatly from Late Night Flood or other post-whatever-you-want threads.
To be honest, I have a hard time disagreeing with you here. Yes, the Flood is far from the most mature forum on the site. I do also recognize that it is your job to not trust us to behave. That is why moderator positions exist, and it is very hard to trust people on the internet to behave. However, the time that the LNF appears is during a daily lull in activity when most of the trolls have gone to bed. Mostly mature people a enter the LNF to have these calm discussions. There are the occasional trolls, but they tend to be ignored there.You can't have it both ways, man. You can't claim that individual threads die quickly late at night in the first part of your post, and then claim that there is a lull in activity in the second part.
For what it's worth, I agree with the second statement: that Late Night Flood threads tend to appear during a daily lull in activity. But this is all the more reason to create focused threads on individual subject matters. Good threads created late at night in the Flood stay active for hours, not minutes, and frequently go on during the next day.
The problem is, IRC channels do not have the same quoting capabilities as bungie.net (at least, not as far as I am aware). Also, we would all need accounts on the exact same site. Why do that when we are already here? Also, we would then need to schedule dates to meet up to chat. That is against the very nature of the LNF. The LNF is just a casual thread that every once in a while someone goes, "You know, no one has made a LNF thread in a while. I wonder how everyone is doing". Then it is made and lasts only the night. The LNF isn't a scheduled thing, nor does it occur regularly. It is spur of the moment. Very casual. Also, having a group for this purpose limits who will join the conversation. Only people who know about the LNF will even search for the group and that leaves any new people out in the cold. We want to hear from our old friends, but we also want to hear from the people who just wandered into this site. It is a breath of fresh air to hear somebody new's view points. Also, the LNF never last for more than a night. When the dawn comes we all disperse, going back to our own lives in this wide world until we feel the need to gather once more.
Look, we are not trying to tell you how to do your job. Far from it. Most of us respect the mods to much to even try. We just want equality with threads that produced less discussion than the LNF and, yet, are allowed to remain. We want to have a talk about whatever comes up with anyone who wishes to join. We just want a small sanctuary in a usually crazy place that is open to everyone. Can't we have this?Once again, all of this can be accomplished via other methods. If you want casual discussion and to hear different viewpoints, that's what individual threads are for. If you want to meet new people, try reading those threads and talking to them. If you want to find out how your old friends are doing, message them -- people message me all the time to ask what's going on and how I'm doing. If you want a sanctuary from the Flood, go to private groups like everybody else does. There is even a very popular private group called "The Flood's Sanctuary."
I'm sorry, but at the end of the day, a thread mostly filled with folks posting "actions" in between asterisks and lists of their favorite movies, bands, or TV shows is not the kind of thing that is necessary. 50 replies of *sits at fireplace and sips coffee* is not quality discussion, and there is no differentiation between this and any other "post whatever you want" thread.