First, let me make it clear that shutting down OTC altogether would not harm the wiki's mission in any way. It is being hosted solely out of courtesy toward the interests of tropers wanting to have a conversation.
Secondly, if OTC regulars don't start to report derails and stop falling for troll bait, in short, become more self moderating and participating more in bringing in moderation help when needed, I'll have no problem at all with shutting it down.
Thirdly, I'll underscore that falling for troll tactics is the fault of the fish. This forum is expected to be more savvy, not less. Stop being made fools of.
2024 update:
There is a list of banned OTC topics here
. Please read it. We take these rules seriously.
Edited by Mrph1 on Mar 29th 2024 at 11:08:22 AM
It was locked because it bogged down in a flamewar. Madrugada was going to look at it over the weekend and issue thumpage as needed but I don't know if she did that. I certainly am not going to reopen it — the last page alone proves how out of control things got.
edited 15th Nov '11 9:59:06 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"She said she'd open it on monday after everyone cooled down, but she hasn't.
A case of true love has the same redeeming power as a case of genuine curiosity: they are the same.Be patient — mods have lives, too.
edited 15th Nov '11 11:26:00 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Probably in the elections thread, although I wouldn't consider it wildly off topic in either one.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Personally I'd prefer the Elections thread. Purely because replies can go on two different kinds of tangents - discussing the broader policies of the candidates, and discussing the broader subject of the debt crisis. Positing that the former is more likely, the election thread is less likely to be subject to off-topic conversation as a result than were the same issue discussed in the Eurozone thread.
Just my non-mod two pennies anyway.
My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.Really though, what's happened to OWS? There were instances before where threads were supposed to be closed for cleanup, not permanently locked away, but we haven't heard of them since.
Now using Trivialis handle.I'm sure you can get the mods to spend more of their time here if you offer them a paycheck. I know I could spend significantly more of my time here and put six hours a day into TRS and IP if I got a paycheck from TV Tropes.
Fight smart, not fair.I dispute that.
I've gone to official message boards linked to sites, hiring mods that can't do the job properly.
However, I've seen volunteer moderators actually care about the community because they're part of it.
Now using Trivialis handle.The combo of yours and Deboss'. The forum is so entirely off-point for the wiki, the proposal (as you point out) that we suck money away from supporting the wiki hosting to maintain the forum is ... giggle-making.
Pretty sure that was Deboss joking.
ninja'd
edited 17th Nov '11 11:18:04 PM by FastEddie
Goal: Clear, Concise and WittyYes, I was in the sense that I don't expect one, but if you offered a half minimum wage job just to move trope pages and change wiks, I'd quit my day job and take it.
Fight smart, not fair....And FE points out the best possible reason why we tropers ought to self-regulate. Because the forum doesn't really need to exist, and nuking it is always an option if it becomes a large enough pain in the ass for our leaders.
Just throwing that out there.
If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~This forum's need for existence is no different from some of the others we got. It serves the function of distinguishing the level of discussions. Its purpose is to give a place for more civilized discussions.
edited 18th Nov '11 10:54:15 PM by abstractematics
Now using Trivialis handle.Sure the forums supplement a site, but that's for any site. The forums are for the community to talk amongst one another and discuss topics. Getting rid of forums for no good reason is an unwise move and there's no need.
Now using Trivialis handle.@abstract: forgive the imprecision of my statement. Certain parts of the forum probably need to exist (the parts having to do with the maintenance of the wiki) but the rest (including OTC) are being provided as a privilege to users. They aren't necessary for the mission of Tv Tropes. If they become a big enough pain in the mods' collective ass, we could very well see the end of them.
Mods, check me? Forums are a privilege, not a right?
If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~My point is that the site has a community, and a community typically enjoys having a place to be one. Many sites have community message boards as supplements to the site so that the people viewing the site can be people, not just visitors or editors of the site.
You want to take the meeting place of the community away? I'm sure this place will become less attractive as a whole.
This is just stating the obvious at this point: the forums supplement a site, the members should behave, and the staff are members that help keep the place in order. So what are we arguing about?
Now using Trivialis handle.

Occupy Wall Street. Although we have a subtopic of it already due to the eviction of the people camped in Wall Street. It was supposed to reopen after some maintenance period.
Speaking of which, another feature I can suggest would be to have a timelock, so that a thread automatically opens after a certain period.
Now using Trivialis handle.