As a holdover from the days when gaf lost its search function and the ability to see what threads you posted in still have my subscriptions set to any thread I post in. So the stuff like the anime thread that Iusually lurk gets pushed out of sight really quickly.
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How do you feel about the growth and fragmentation of GAF?
- Thread starter Milchjon
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This is GAFs biggest problem the last couple years, imo. As someone who's been here since 2003, I'm not sure the signal to noise ratio has ever been worse. Gaming side more so. Every topic seems to get a couple hundred replies at minimum and 75% are one sentence "I wanna say something too even though I have nothing interesting or unique to say about the subject!" It's like an IRC chat room.
If it wasn't for adding every thread I post in to my subscription list then I'd never go into those threads either. My subscription list is the only reason I read/post so much in the Toronto OT thread.
Raonak
Banned
Thats pretty fucking brilliant.
It's not a perfect solution, but it makes sense. Looking at the community sections, I can safely say that I don't care to see 90% of those threads. I don't watch most sports, I don't care what the dweebs in the Halo thread are saying. It makes sense to tuck those threads out of sight, since they're clogging up the works for most of us.
The downsides are that it definitely has made most of the big communities even more insular and uninviting, and it kinda sucks when an OT for a lower profile game or subject gets moved since that's usually the kiss of death. I use subs to keep up with community threads, but when they don't have an already established and active user base, they tend to wither away quickly after being sent away.
It has it's ups and downs, but I don't really have an better ideas. Whatever.
The downsides are that it definitely has made most of the big communities even more insular and uninviting, and it kinda sucks when an OT for a lower profile game or subject gets moved since that's usually the kiss of death. I use subs to keep up with community threads, but when they don't have an already established and active user base, they tend to wither away quickly after being sent away.
It has it's ups and downs, but I don't really have an better ideas. Whatever.
samus i am
Member
I've found that the people that post in community threads are obsessed. Not the funny type of obsessed either. It's the creepy weird one.
crazy monkey
Banned
same.
Community forums have eliminated so much trolling.... D3, WoW, DOTA, Smartphones and whatnot are all so peaceful in the threads on the OT. But anything topics like D3 or something ends up the subject of a thread on the main board, its chock full of nonsense. That not as many people visit the Community tabs is a blessing in disguise.
Shalashaska161
Member
You guys are right that the Community Boards suck. I think a better solution might have been some kind of a hide thread feature. A checkbox or something, that would hide the thread from the main page if checked. It still allows those threads to exist in some kind of spotlight, so that the community lurkers and less frequent posters can still see it and remember that it exists.
Canis lupus
Member
What? Are you implying that I have nothing interesting to say just because of my high post ratio? I never brought that up, if it was possible I would hide it from my profile.
AlimNassor
Banned
But, gaming OTs always pepper off and die. Even if they aren't moved to community. Why is it when it moves to community, you refuse to post anymore? it's absolutely ridiculous, because, you refuse to subscribe or search, it may as well be dead to you.
Generalizations that are based off nothing.
So, because, you're too lazy to click or search, that means it's dead to you? Or is this some kind of protest in which a thread is somehow tainted because it touches community and all those who post in it are "corrupted"?
Because hardly anyone else posts there. I checked the shogun 2 thread after seeing this thread and my post from late July still doesn't have a reply (or another post at all for that matter), not that I am looking for one any longer because by now I've stopped playing it.
samus i am
Member
What a strange phrase to use. Based off nothing? You're one of them aren't you!
Have you ever been to OT Community? Some of the most enjoyable, funny threads are in there.
The Anti-Monitor
Banned
Girlgaf is k, though it's boring most of the time.
Only check communities for that.
Only check communities for that.
samus i am
Member
That was a real assessment. Do you have any links?
No, sorry, didn't mean to single you out. But at the same time I don't think there's enough self-editing here on average, ie., "Is what I'm posting worth someone's time to read?" There's a lot of me too-ism here lately. A thread appears, a dominant opinion is often established, and then 100 people very quickly add their 2 cents just to feel like they belong or something. Again, gaming more than OT. It's noise.
Well, it depends on your taste. But I love NFL-gaf, and it seems like NBA GAF, while a bit crazy, is also great. If you're in the right mood, try Pop GAF or Wrestling GAF.
Sure, all of those are a bit crazy. But they're also consistently fun.
crazy monkey
Banned
go to offtopic community tab and see how many are active . on first page you will see thread that have been not replied to for days. secondly i do come to gaf for community. I come here to interesting news and views and some time goofy stuff. They all are in regular side
I haven't noticed a ton of fragmentation (seemed like there were always subgroups in the 7 years I have been on the forum), but I have noticed a few trends in recent years:
A) JRPG GAF is dying. There is still a lot of people who enjoy those games here (especially the older stuff), but a lot of the more prominent jrpg enthusiasts either left or rarely post. We used to get some good jrpg topics, but now most of them focus on how people don't play the games anymore.
B) It seems like there is more negativity than there was previously. I know people have always complained (it is the internet), but I think there are less positive threads balancing things out. Especially on the gaming side. When I was new here, I was being turned onto a ton of awesome games like Crackdown, EDF 2017, etc. Now people mostly complain about big releases. For instance, I'm pretty sure the number of Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, and Diablo 3 hate/compaint threads are in the double digit count now. Hopefully this is just a symptom of the console generation being long in the tooth, and things will be more positive in a year or two when we have new shiny toys.
I have only been more active in the off-topic side during the past 2 years or so, so I can't really comment on things here.
A) JRPG GAF is dying. There is still a lot of people who enjoy those games here (especially the older stuff), but a lot of the more prominent jrpg enthusiasts either left or rarely post. We used to get some good jrpg topics, but now most of them focus on how people don't play the games anymore.
B) It seems like there is more negativity than there was previously. I know people have always complained (it is the internet), but I think there are less positive threads balancing things out. Especially on the gaming side. When I was new here, I was being turned onto a ton of awesome games like Crackdown, EDF 2017, etc. Now people mostly complain about big releases. For instance, I'm pretty sure the number of Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, and Diablo 3 hate/compaint threads are in the double digit count now. Hopefully this is just a symptom of the console generation being long in the tooth, and things will be more positive in a year or two when we have new shiny toys.
I have only been more active in the off-topic side during the past 2 years or so, so I can't really comment on things here.
Canis lupus
Member
I agree. It happens a lot on community related things, you'll find those posts more likely in OTs discussing the games. Happens in Vita thread, talking about the small things.
Tokubetsu
Member
Yeah, as long as you're into whatever said com thread is about, it's a fun time all around.
samus i am
Member
I'm a huge football fan and I find nfl gaf horrifying. Different strokes I guess.
Broder Salsa
Banned
No, because I don't just stumble upon games I like OTs when something is posted there, if I had something I really wanted to share about a game I would search and find the thread. When it's now split up into four and both community tabs are pretty inactive compared to the normal ones, you just start not checking them as often and end up missing stuff when something new is finally posted.
Really? Any reason?
But yeah, some of the community threads can be a bit of an acquired taste.
SouthernDragon
Member
I think the Community areas are great. I just subscribe to the ones that interest me anyhow!
IrrelevantNotch
Banned
I hate subforums. Just turn 'em into regular forums so I can easily navigate to them on the front page.
CornBurrito
Member
I don't get it.
Why can't you just... click on community?
Anyway I know some of the threads in the Community forum are really insular. Some of them even have their own hidden IRC channels. Knowing that, it would feel kind of odd trying to actually be a part of the community.
They always slip my mind until I click them by accident
CornBurrito
Member
My favorite part is when a mod is part of those Community threads, and just gives not a fuck (and sometimes contributes) about the massive derailing in subject matter.
Well, that's a symptom of the overall growth. GAF has become so big that you usually only "know" a few of the guys you're interacting with in any given thread. Since the threads in community follow one topic over a long period of time, you get to know the people there. You know their opinions and views, their habits and behavior. So when there's some downtime (offseason for instance), you talk about different things because you feel like you actually interact with people that are less anonymous than the other people on GAF.
If that's what you mean.
I said the same thing, word for word.
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Anyways, I think it's fine. If there is big news most community members are smart enough to know it's thread worthy. Sure, some stuff gets missed here and there, but I'm happy with how things work here overall.
The only thing I'm not so happy about is the current status of OT. There used to be fun hypothetical threads all the time, questioning things and getting members to think. Remember Dr. Pleb? I loved those threads. At least meta threads are allowed to survive for more than a day now. I think OT has too many long time posters. There is a group that knows each other that always shows up for discussion, and I feel it poisons them.
A Pretty Panda
fuckin' called it, man
I don't get this, why?
Alligatorjandro
Banned
I like GAF.
Haha, gaf=life. It will go down next month when college starts.
I have never been... that... active on GAF (well I think I had a week where I averaged 50 / day once!), but I was definitely like that in high school on other forums.
As I understood it, the reason that the Community threads were created was because there were certain threads that had become fixtures on the first pages of Gaming / OT. They seemed to be taking over those pages such that most of the discussion on the forum was taking place in those topics and the subcommunities had become more insular and it seemed to prevent the creation of new topics on the subject.
I am not sure exactly why the decision was made - better to ask someone who was actually paying more attention or privy to the internal discussion - but I think it was just about clearing out the primary two forums due to the effect those insular mega threads were having on OT and Gaming.
CornBurrito
Member
It doesn't create a welcoming community. Newer people can't jump in when the subject is something entirely different than what the OT is supposed to be about.
Even worse when a few of the more prominent members are part of an IRC channel and allow subject matter from IRC leak into the thread. That goes double when said IRC isn't posted in the OP.
Gaf-Hop is pretty consistent.
Kane is just an over the hill wrestler.
If this is the biggest reason then it hasn't been fixed in my opinion. I still get tired of seeing a million OTs clog the 1st and 2nd page like the numerous phone, OS, and other random OT threads.
I agree. NFL-gaf is in the community forum and magic the gathering OT is on the front page of OT...Which has wider appeal?
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