Yeah ok, seriously guys, STOP MERGING THREADS FFS

[Lancehead]

As for the megathreads, I don't find them difficult to navigate. If I was away for a few days and need to catch up, I simply scan the pages for quotes, links, and images for new information, and follow relevant discussion if it interests me.

Then you go away for a weekend. You return to find sixty new pages in the Project Eternity mega-thread. So you give up and just start scanning the little News posts forever more.

Well, not quite. I always read threads with an aim to first find the information released, then follow on to discussions. It's just that when I'm actively following the P:E thread, I have the luxury to also read every post. But that is never really necessary; it's rare for any discussion, be it in a mega thread or in a small specific thread, to have a good noise to signal ratio. Probably what Infinitron means by "tuning in".

 

[Absalom]

I think you might be on the wrong forum, then.

Ironic, coming from the person who wants to "streamline" everything.

 

[Infinitron]

Exactly. Just looking at these made-up topics makes me want to read them and see what people have to say about them.

Vault Dweller: That's one way of reading a forum. Look for stuff that looks interesting, participate in it casually. And I totally understand that.

But to other people, that posting pattern is a nightmare, because instead of one thread to watch, they now have 10 (20? 30?) threads to watch. Some people don't want to go looking for information. They want a place where the information - all of it - comes to them, in a systematic fashion.

 

[felipepepe]

But to other people, that posting pattern is a nightmare, because instead of one thread to watch, they now have 10 (20? 30?) threads to watch. Some people don't want to go looking for information. They want a place where the information - all of it - comes to them, in a systematic fashion.

That may work for "Heavy-Users" bro, that log in everyday and want to follow everything, but if you stay a couple of days out of a thread like that, there will be 20 pages for you to read to get back into discussion, and that kills any motivation to read it...

 

[DraQ]

I think that for justice to be served DU must now merge mod's accounts.

:ulricthejust:

 

[Infinitron]

But to other people, that posting pattern is a nightmare, because instead of one thread to watch, they now have 10 (20? 30?) threads to watch. Some people don't want to go looking for information. They want a place where the information - all of it - comes to them, in a systematic fashion.

That may work for "Heavy-Users" bro, that log in everyday and want to follow everything, but if you stay a couple of days out of a thread like that, there will be 20 pages for you to read to get back into discussion, and that kills any motivation to read it...

I agree that there might be a tragedy of the commons kind of thing going on here, where the heavier users are ruining things for the lighter ones. Personally, I'm fine with the status quo of megathreads + newsposts, but maybe I need to check my privilege.

Speaking of which, I should get to work on today's newspost.

 

[Black_Willow]

I should get to work on today's newspost.

Don't forget to merge it with the "Infinitron's News" megathread.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Vault Dweller: That's one way of reading a forum. Look for stuff that looks interesting, participate in it casually. And I totally understand that.

It's not about participating in something casually. It's about participating in and/or reading focused discussions dealing with one-two topics not with everything at once.

But to other people, that posting pattern is a nightmare, because instead of one thread to watch, they now have 10 (20? 30?) threads to watch. Some people don't want to go looking for information. They want a place where the information - all of it - comes to them, in a systematic fashion.

I visit the Codex not because that's where the information comes to me (there are sites that do that better) but because I like the discussions. Megathreads killed it (for me) and I stopped reading them a long time ago.

 

[Niektory]

Yet another Infinitron vs. everybody else discussion. This seems to happen a lot. I wonder why.

 

[Infinitron]

I visit the Codex not because that's where the information comes to me (there are sites that do that better) but because I like the discussions. Megathreads killed it (for me) and I stopped reading them a long time ago.

Obviously, discussions still occur in megathreads. Otherwise they wouldn't be so large, would they? They're discussions about what's going on right now with a game, rather than discussions about something that's written in the title of a post.

Clearly the format works for some people, and doesn't work for other people. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do know I wouldn't want to disturb the Codex's most dedicated, hardcore readers by killing the megathreads.

 

[felipepepe]

I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do know I wouldn't want to disturb the Codex's most dedicated, hardcore readers by killing the megathreads.

Lol, what?

 

[Infinitron]

I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do know I wouldn't want to disturb the Codex's most dedicated, hardcore readers by killing the megathreads.

Lol, what?

That may work for "Heavy-Users" bro

 

[861129]

Vault Dweller: That's one way of reading a forum. Look for stuff that looks interesting, participate in it casually. And I totally understand that.

But to other people, that posting pattern is a nightmare, because instead of one thread to watch, they now have 10 (20? 30?) threads to watch. Some people don't want to go looking for information. They want a place where the information - all of it - comes to them, in a systematic fashion.

There would still be merged threads for generic updates as they come in, without drowning specific discussions in the Ganges of the megathreads. Those who want a feed of information will still get it from the megathreads.
All of the information, however, doesn't come to the megathread users because the format stifles discussions that would spark such information in the first place.

at "systematic fashion" vis-à-vis the megathreads. It's not hard to get all the information from several clearly delineated topics, and I can't see how that is less "systematic" than several years' worth of bickering, circlejerking, newsposts and aborted discussions thrown together in a thousand page heap. The newspost megathreads would still be there for those too "casual" to bother reading the specific discussions.

Obviously, discussions still occur in megathreads. Otherwise they wouldn't be so large, would they? They're discussions about what's going on right now with a game, rather than discussions about something that's written in the title of a post.

Clearly the format works for some people, and doesn't work for other people. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do know I wouldn't want to disturb the Codex's most dedicated, hardcore readers by killing the megathreads.

Discussions still occur in the megathreads because you can't discuss these topics anywhere else.

 

[evdk]

I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do know I wouldn't want to disturb the Codex's most dedicated, hardcore readers by killing the megathreads.

Lol, what?

That may work for "Heavy-Users" bro

You don't need to fear disturbing the "heavy users" as they are quite obviously already disturbed.

 

[Internet]

I find generic megathreads too diluted, reading them becomes almost a chore.

Personally, I can't understand why anybody would find them useful.

 

[Infinitron]

Discussions still occur in the megathreads because you can't discuss these topics anywhere else.

Says who?

 

[felipepepe]

I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do know I wouldn't want to disturb the Codex's most dedicated, hardcore readers by killing the megathreads.

Lol, what?

That may work for "Heavy-Users" bro

I know, I just didn't really believe that you said that killing megathreads would be bad because "it would disturb the Codex's most dedicated, hardcore readers"... A guy always online isn't "dedicated", he just have more spare time/internet acess. A ocasional poster that has great insights/ideas and know how to debate is way more important to a forum, and that kind of people are being left out. There's no reason to devote yourself to create a solid post on a important topic when your post will be lost in a huge mess of topics going on in a single thread that was fused together just so heavy users could more easily be aware of every single post being made on the Codex... especially when there's a "What's New" feature that perfectly shows you any new post/thread going on.

Besides, who are these hardcore members that would be disturbed anyway? Some of the highest posting members are here, asking for megathreads to end...

 

[Infinitron]

There's no reason to devote yourself to create a solid post on a important topic when your post will be lost in a huge mess of topics going on in a single thread that was fused together just so heavy users could more easily be aware of every single post being made on the Codex...

You would think that, but actually it's not how these threads work in practice. Go to other forums that use megathreads, read them, and tell me if you don't see plenty of quality posts.

There generally aren't "20 discussions going on at once" because people are always focusing on the latest news. You guys are describing these threads as some kind of incomprehensible godawful mess, and I honestly don't see that, at all. It makes me think that you aren't even trying.

I don't know, perhaps the purpose of megathreads would be more easy to comprehend if we renamed them to "Project Eternity News Thread", "Wasteland 2 News Thread", etc. People understand that news is something that's always coming in and that it lends itself to a linear, feed-like thread structure.

 

[evdk]

Not even continuing stream of news does necessarily warrant its own megathread - it's difficult to read, it's difficult to search, it's completely unfocused and due to the special nature of this place it's usually completely off topic. You can just look at the P:E thread that has for some reason got a "funny" new title because of some esoteric antics hidden in the depths of the 600 pages. You can't just easily "tune in" because there are (in spite of your claims to the contrary) six different discussions parallel rants going on, often for ten pages or more.

 

[EG]

I see quality posts buried in shit, rarely ever to see the light of day without excessive dedication or very specific searching.

It's basically reading an IRC log or a mailing list archive.

But they do serve their purpose: They provide a general place for people to chat about a broad topic, in a relatively free-form manner that tiny little topics don't allow (or at least discourage because it requires more initiative to create a topic rather than post in one). I'm stating the obvious again, particularly after your post, Infinitron.

I don't think anyone here (beyond the sake of lolz) is arguing that mega-threads don't have a place . . . Just don't merge every single new thread into one. Let them happen organicly (like obsessively following new news blurbs for Project Eternity).

 

[felipepepe]

I don't know, perhaps the purpose of megathreads would be more easy to comprehend if we renamed them to "Project Eternity News Thread", "Wasteland 2 News Thread", etc. People understand that news is something that's always coming in and that it lends itself to a linear, feed-like thread structure.

I agree, but this whole debate wasn't caused by News thread, but rather a Wizardry 6-8 playthrough being fused into a huge Wizardry thread. And that makes absolutly no sense.

And even on news thread that won't always work. There is still discussion going on about inventory in the "Wasteland 2 Inventory Update" thread. It's a news thread, but if it was merged into a Wasteland 2 megathread, you would have multiple topics going on, or even kill that entire inventory discussion due other news burrying it deep. InXile or any other person interested can easily see what the Codex thinks about W2 inventory since that news got its own thread, but no one would even find that burried among 600 pages of a Megathread.

 

[Infinitron]

To be clear, I'm not advocating merging ITT.

no one would even find that burried among 600 pages of a Megathread.

Well, if dicussion is still ongoing, it's not buried. It's at the top. BTW, inXile (ie, Brother None) read our thread every day. Actually, I wonder what he thinks about our megathread.

 

[Alex_Steel]

I don't know, perhaps the purpose of megathreads would be more easy to comprehend if we renamed them to "Project Eternity News Thread", "Wasteland 2 News Thread", etc. People understand that news is something that's always coming in and that it lends itself to a linear, feed-like thread structure.

We have a whole news forum and it works just fine. I can use search on it and find all the news I want. But even if you want to keep the megathreads as some sort of news-feed for specific topics, there is still a better solution. Multiple threads and a sticky for every topic that has constant news (Wasteland 2 News Feed or something). The OP of this sticky will be used to post links to the different news threads, sorted by date.

 

[evdk]

But if dicussion is still ongoing, it's not buried. It's at the top. And btw, inXile (ie, Brother None) read our thread every day. Actually, I wonder what he thinks about our megathread.

Appealing to authority already?

 

[Scroo]

Before reading this thread I thought Infinitron would be a cool and normal guy. Now I think he's a bit crazy, defending megathreads and telling everybody how great they are and that everyone needs to realize that they are the new and better way of reading forums while almost everyone else thinks they're shit.

This is so insane I can't believe Infinitron is not trolling.