Homestar Runner Wiki Forum

Edit: Srsly, vote in the poll, you guys

I'm not sure who said this, but they sure got it right when they did: Random Thoughts is a reservoir of fail. Despite everyone's best attempts to keep spam out of it, to keep it just for things that won't fit an another thread, it's still cliquish and unfriendly. RT wasn't meant to be a chat thread, but that's what it's turned into.

My proposal is this:

OPTION 1

• Lock RT and sticky it in the spam vault. This makes sure that this important piece of forum history is still here for people to look back on.
• Create a new RT with special rules, supplementing the normal forum rules, clearly outlined in the first post. Make sure that there is a notice in the thread's title to read the first post outlining the rules.
• Link to the old RT in the new RT thread.
• Enforce the RT rules. They're just as important as the regular ones.
• Sticky the IRC thread! In fact, make it an announcement in the Off-Subject forum. This
  will keep the chatting in RT at a minimum and make IRC more popular.

OPTION 2

• Keep the current RT, and edit the special rules into the first post. Make sure that there is a notice in the thread's title to read the first post outlining the rules.
• Enforce the RT rules.
• Sticky the IRC thread.

SPECIAL RT RULES
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1. One-word posts are considered spam. Likewise, posts that are nothing but *actions like this* should also be considered spam. Things like "QFT" (quoted for truth), posts that are nothing but a modified quote of a previous poster "fixed" to conform to your personal opinion, posts that just say "gay," "GTFO," "kill yourself," tl;dr, a facepalm picture, are also spam.
If you don't have anything useful to contribute, don't post. Every post should contain at least two complete sentences, subject and predicate. Remember, quality of content takes priority over speed of response.

2. If the topic you want to discuss already has a thread, don't post it in RT! Random Thoughts is only for snippets of information that are too insignificant to warrant their own thread. We don't need legitimate thread topics cluttering up RT as well. Also, if the topic warrants its own thread, but doesn't have one, don't post it there, make one!

3. Please try not to start any drama there. Don't flame, troll, or insult another user. Seriously. Just, don't.

4. Random Thoughts can only be as good, or as entertaining, as you make it. Demands to be entertained will fall on deaf ears unless you can add something more meaningful to the conversation.

5. RT isn't a conversation where you might have missed what's going on and can't look it up. When the thread is moving exceptionally fast, don't ask what happened. It's still there, you can just go back and read it. Also, don't make any stupid comments on how fast or slow the thread is moving.

6. Remember, RT isn't your personal chatroom or IM client. If you want to talk with a specific member, PM them, find them on IRC, or just get their IM details from their profile. This thread is for random discussion, not random chit chat. There is an IRC chat set up for that sort of thing. Not only will you not annoy the people, you will also help increase the popularity of the IRC chat. It's win/win/win!

Oh, and if a mod thinks this should be merged with the "should we lock RT forever" thread, that's fine.

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Do this,

Add a poll maybe? "Option 1, Option 2, None of the above" as options?

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I don't mind if we have a new RT or keep the old one, but we do need one, or at least somewhere to put little off-topic things. (where else would our hippie high day have gone)
The new rules are a very good idea, RT is full of spam and annoying pointless posts and we need to fix that.

Maybe if we got a new RT it wouldn't be called "Random Thoughts". Call it something new, so people realise it's a whole new type of off-topic thread.

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SIBHoD.

Maybe we could also link to certain threads in the first post? Like...

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I'm liking Option 1 (throw the current Random Thoughts in the Spam Vault), but I'd like to comment on one thing with your proposed rules:
It should probably be noted that we have a "Catch-Up Thread" in Getting to Know You to ask anything related to what has happened in Random Thoughts.

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^You could combine that with my proposal. Ie:

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I believe Option 2 is the better choice. I mean, I agree that RT has been on the skids the past several months with new members cluttering it up and old members devolving to cavepeople, but starting over isn't the best way to fix it. I'm sure all of us love RT for what it is, but if something we love isn't up to snuff, we just throw it away and replace it? I completely don't mind having RT rules at all until everyone follows it by heart like the good old days. I completely will let my post be the rules post now.

I just don't like the first option. We lost one RT due to Jello, we can't lose another from idiots spamming it up. And not all of us are perfect. According to the rules being proposed, everyone must have broken at least ONE of them, with some breaking it at a regular basis.

C'mon, guys, we still have a chance to fix it.

I also propose a potential new board just for RT, and have membership. Those who break the rules regulary are out. I don't like the idea myself, but if it can reduce the amount of fail, then it must be done.

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Or maybe make RT a privileged only topic instead of making a new forum. There has to be some mod for that in phpBB3, right?

I honestly don't care whether we lock this one as a monument or not, I just want these new rules and stuff.

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While I kind of do care for admittedly childish reasons, I also want new rules.

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The Fanstuff has this ideology.

Is it really that big of a deal if we start over, though? All that will happen with the old Random Thoughts is that it'll be moved to the Spam Vault for later viewing. It may be better to start over in this situation, so everybody can be on the same page with things.

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I would really like that, but somehow I don't think the mods will agree.

Most of us are trying to stop the new people from spamming up RT, but the mods' reason for wanting to lock it is different. They don't like the regular users to act "cliquish" and, well, a "privileged only topic" would allow for even tighter cliques and isolate the new users.

Wow, I feel like a school counsellor or something...

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SIBHoD.

If a person is abusing the purposes of RT and using it as their lamedump then they should be blocked for it. I don't see how that's cliquish.

The name "RANDOM THOUGHTS" should be enough to bring it back to its original purposes: random thoughts that pop up in your head. Not :im going to maryland heres a 3 page essay on why". Not "GUITARGUITARGUITAR". Not ":awesome:BARRELROLLBRIANPEPPERSLOLWUT:awesome:". And I hate to say it, but probably not even



We need to get more literal with the term "random thoughts". And by that I don't just mean "Sheep gooplecorn!" either.

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By default, everyone would be entitled to RT, and if a person is being stupid in it too often, they're banned. I believe the AXA Forums have a similar system with some of their boards, where breaking the rules too often in a privileged board kicks you out of said board.

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^Um, yeah. That's my suggestion just more better kind of.

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Oh, sorry Noid. I misunderstood.
I thought you meant people would have to earn the right to post in RT, which would be a bit of a strange system now that I think about it.

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SIBHoD.

I'm adding a poll.
I'd like to see some modmins' opinions on this, too.

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I'm actually in favor of adding those rules and starting over. Let us have a more structured and more interesting RT.

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Well, I'd like to just lock RT completely, but I'd be willing to give this a shot first.

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For the last funking time, you ninnys, RT is not the whole forum! Stop caring about it! If you don't liek it, don't funking post in it! Post your crap elsewhere then!

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Terrible thread. Get rid of it. Sticky it in the Spam Vault or something.

The reaction I recieved when we locked it for a week was very positive. Locking it breathes life into the rest of the forum. Too often, without thinking, people just dump things in there when there is already an existing thread, or one could be made. I know because I not only see it, I do it too. We lock RT, all the other threads get better.

Also, for the argument "but the spam will spread to other threads"...it won't. We're not going to let it.

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Of course. If BTG hadn't unlocked it the first time, we'd be doing fine (Hell, better) without it.

I say we wait a week or so before locking it, we don't wanna do it suddenly.

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I voted the third option. Lock it, and don't start a new one.
I just feel like we would spam up the new one once it was made, just like we did to this one.
I don't post in the existing one at all anymore, but I do read it from time to time. I agree with Ace, if we got rid of it, the other threads will get better.

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I think I'm gonna change mine to Option 3 too. Ace is right, we need to get rid of the thing.

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So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain. Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell?

I might change my vote to 3, but we must then make the final page AWESOME

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Bloody Nora! Is everything my fault?

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yeah pretty much

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Here's my opinion. Who cares? Everything is fine. Nothing needs to change.

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Well, you went and unlocked it because you said a week was up. If you had consulted the council of the elders after taking an ounce of Peyote and sexually gratifying a goat, we wouldn't be in this situation!

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Option 1 is the most reasonable, but I'd like to hold on to the original RT...
Meh, just lock it and sticky it. Nothing else to do with it to this point.

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Changed do option 1. It would be nice to have an RT, but with rules imposed. A fresh start always helps.
Still, I think we can do without an RT, at least for a couple of weeks.

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