Kevin's Watch

I'm taking a short vacation from the Watch.
Frankly, such emphasis on post count disgusts me. And what are these post wars? This is not the Watch I once knew. Rarely do I post in TCTC since obviously people think on a much higher level than me...
Knowing me and my 16 month (or so) addiction to Kevins Watch, I may be back soon. Maybe.

Which was the Watch you once knew?

I see two possible elements that may have resulted in your dissension : Non-core material (eg 'post wars' and the material that contributes to same), and flippancy in core discussion (eg such extrasquare suggestions as my chlorination of the Earthblood thread).

Post counts and 'Post wars' for me just seemed to be an amusing lowbrow diatribe of little value but definitely of nominal negative impact, especially as long as such gamesmanship is confined to non-core sections such as the Games in the forum down below (can't remember the forum's title) and general talk sections such as this one. If you keep it 99.9% away from the core discussion forums, then where's the harm?

'Post wars' material is one thing, and can of course be tempered by forum policy and Terms of Use if a concensus deems such to be purposeful, but flippancy is another matter.

I for one not only tack openly between solid serious relevance and imagination-runs-wild flippancy on some extrasquare thoughts, but also hold that its vital to positive agitation in discussion material to indeed test the waters with anecdotal references and comparisons. Layering perspectives and attitudes from other arenas over the relevant core raw material always manages to dig out new points that are more difficult to engender without something tangential to trigger it.

I would be sad to see you take on a self-imposed hiatus due to over-use of non-core prattlings in other forums, or due to flippancy in discussion. If I'm one of those responsible for your disposition, shoot me a PM and I guarantee you a fair response.

(on the other hand, if this is all a bout of fishing, well spank my scales and leave me dangling, because I fell for it)

Post count is the very meaning of life!!! Why if I wasn't neck-n-neck with Infelice, I'd probably be...

......

See? I can't even think of anything else to do!!!


Don't worry though, Mhoram's just feeling the pressure of the ALCS.

ALCS?

American League Championship Series. This year it's the New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox. He's in Boston, where a curse has been in place for close to 100 years. Tomorrow's game decides who goes to the World Series, and I imagine all of Boston is feeling a little jumpy.

I think I understand your feelings, Mhoram. I used to grouse a little bit, and I still stick by my original statement that "You are not your post count," but I think I've learned to kind of let it slide off me.

(*Eh hem*, however, it would be nice if a couple of threads didn't get eaten by the kudzu, y'know? Just suggesting. )

Don't worry. I'll make sure nobody steals your seat while you're up.

Syl wrote:Don't worry. I'll make sure nobody steals your seat while you're up.

Not even me?

Hey, when I say nobody, I mean nobody.

thanks for explaining ACLS, I always love an underdog so go redsox!

now, next, what's a kudzu?

Hurry back Mhoram

Heh. Yeah. Posts are a silly thing. But yeah, if you feel like you need a break, it's probably a healthy thing. Like Landwaster was saying, though, at least all of these "post wars" happen outside of the main TC Discussion. I mean, as long as these "post wars" are in good fun, then I don't see the harm. Are there ways we should discourage them?-jay

kevinswatch wrote:Heh. Yeah. Posts are a silly thing. But yeah, if you feel like you need a break, it's probably a healthy thing. Like Landwaster was saying, though, at least all of these "post wars" happen outside of the main TC Discussion. I mean, as long as these "post wars" are in good fun, then I don't see the harm. Are there ways we should discourage them?-jay

The one issue that 'post wars' brings to a forum is how you can get people posting irrelevant dribble just to get their post counts up.

That's best fixed by building a creche a sub-forum where games and general stuff are based. This leaves the topical ones free. Of course if it also happens on the topical ones, then sometimes a wrist or two needs to be slapped. I am a moderator on a huge football board where this sort of thing happens, and, as is the case here, there's general talk areas, and ogg-topic stuff in a topical forum can just be moved to the general board, and sometimes a moderator jumps onto a topical thread to tell people off for 'hijacking' it, sometimes even pruning posts off it. Seems to work ok.

The other alternative is to not show post counts. That can be done because I know another forum which uses the same software as this one, and they have post counts turned off. This wouldn't work here if you want to do the $WG thing, though, as the attention would turn to money instead of posts

Ahh I'm definitely guilty of mucking around a lot especially in the games/user literature board, I can keep an eye on my methods in future, no probs.

Note though that as I passed other Users on my insane climb, I didn't say a word. The only time I initiated an arrogant post rate thread was when I started to creep up on F&F, and that is purely because I saw him having fun with another poster on the same subject. So I did respect that the subject bores or annoys some, and therefore only brought it up with a person I knew didn't mind having fun with it.

( I have both extremes, post-count drivel and over-explanatory drivel )

Please come back soon

HL Mhoram - I have one thought for you - ignore the dribble!
Post on subjects that move you, disregard the rest.
It does make it a bit tough to sift through a lot of the off topic (SRD related) stuff, but I just look at it as everyone is enjoying themselves, so let them have thier fun.
I may never hit 500 posts, but I will post on topics that interest me.
Don't let it bug you too much - come on back when you can & continue to contribute as you have in the past.
Earthy

You will be missed LM

can i come? i wanna watch the... thingy... that ur going to see... that i cant remember what is it, but it's better than sitting at home doing nothing... or worse... COLLEGE!!

heh... *feels like such a freak*

Many of us have been a little irked by the post-wars even some of those involved in them have been irked. Somebody reminded me the other day that the purpose of message boards is to have fun-and that's something I tend to forget sometimes.

Earthy I see what you're saying, but I think the real problem, lately, is a recent spate of non-stop goofiness that is sidetracking many topics that Mhoram or anyone else might be interested in. Thread bending is expected but when a whole bunch get bent at once--it does get a little weird...

Its a difficult one on Kevins Watch as I've also found that some of the best relevant, topical discussions are actually borne of side-issues from other topics ... recently an Oath of Peace thread has evolved to take in conversation re how TC sits with the whole 'guilt panorama'.

Many topical threads tend to start with "we started talking about this on the {insert hijacked topic here} thread so I thought it deserves a thread of its own.

Some forum software has options for mods to split a thread, this can be really handy.

I think I've asked Vain b4 if it could be done and I believe the answer was no. Some1 might want 2 doublecheck

Hey, I hadda come back after the Sox lost (I'd probably be here even if they won)!