For debate........ Contains a new propasal while we are waiting

I vote number 2, Meowth.

No, then you'd just be closing it for the sake of it.

 

I agree with this. I kind of suggested it yesterday about having a lawless off topic thread, because you will never keep everyone under control. It comes down to people and what they feel is their "freedom of speech". I know life isn't quite that simple but if people want to say whatever they want regardless, then let them, just have it in a thread where if you don't want to hear it, you don't have to read it. Also we could call it the "outside thread" so when people want to have a spat on a normal thread you can politely say "take it outside guys" or if someone pisses you off you can feel all hard and say meet me "outside"

 

Sorry, but freedom of speech isn't an excuse to act like a dick.

 

During the summer I have to admit that I was driven away from using the site due to the constant in-fighting that was going on. However, with the new season I decided to try and get posting again so I may be a little out of the loop on some of this discussion. Having said that after reading most of what has been said I dont really have much of a view on how the off topic thread stuff should be set up...but if it can help to stop the ruining of thread after thread through needless off topic debate and argument then I am all for it.
Lets be honest we all know who the usual people are that go off topic in threads or have major dissagreements (and for the record I have nothing against these people - it is just a forum with a vast range of people posting at the end of the day) but these people should be the ones who get the main say on this off topic thread idea. As it will undoubtably be them who use it most. It is then up to you mods, not the rest of us, to decide how far that off topic thread can go e.g. how important a feature you want it to be for this site.
If an off topic thread can help to get the site back to pages dedicated to purely Saints news where someone can click on a thread and easily catch up with what is going on and join in a good discussion (and yes hopefully some heated debate!) then that would be great. The only danger I can see is that these regular off topic posters slowly force the forum toward simply becoming a general chat forum where people can openly abuse and insult each other. If it goes back to this way, that it started going during off season in my opinion, then I would expect a huge number of people (myself definantly included) to leave the site. I hope this doesn't happen. And actually I should say that the mods from the Saints pages actually always seem fair to me so I don't think this will happen but it is a risk that has to be considered.

 

Curious isn't it? Back in the prem for a couple of months, and the squabling starts

 

I know that. You know that but some people have a little growing to do before they too know that but so what, give them a place to be whoever they want to be. If it's in a saints GC style thread great. Whover is annoyed by it (and I am mildly peeved with it all, to be honest) just stay away from it.

But in the same breath as not letting the "troublemakers" forcing us off the site, I also don't want to force them off it. Many of them seem very intelligent and knowledgeable people that offer alot to the site. Unfortunately they also seem to have an inability to bite their lip when someone with a seemingly lesser intelect says something stupid or inflammatory and jump on them. I understand that. I have read many a thread where some one has said something stupid that has made me want to rip them to shreds but I also try and remember that for all I know they might be 15.

I do think the site suffers by the fact that people don't really take in to consideration the age of the people they are arguing with and we can't expect everyone to act like fully grown adults with many years of life experience when they are not and they haven't. Also, some people should know better but they don't seem to, so live and let live I say. This site spans many generations of people, so it will never run totally smoothly. It just can't.

Lets just make it as easy for EVERYONE as possible.

 

The frog talks sense.

 

Yeah, that's a wise input.

 

Quite a ribbeting post, he sure toad everyone.

 

Hi all, have had a little thought and I reckon the off topic sticky thread idea is a good one at least on a trial basis. The main problem for me over the summer has been threads going wildly off topic, which I don't care about personally because it's Summer and I'm a student, and I only leave my computer to go and get more super noodles, so I don't miss too much. But I can understand how if you log on once every few days to have a quick browse, it can be irritating.

I'm all for a quick joke, a btw or a did you know, but if it starts to get beyond a few posts then I think it's best to take it to another thread. I am sure we will all be able to work out when something is going too far off course though. Everyone is accommodated, no one needs to leave and find another forum, and we still have the best Saints chat by miles. That's the most important thing really and we need to make sure we are always attracting new members, otherwise the board is gonna die, and quickly. So for me, set up that thread, keep it within normal rules (non abusive and so on), and see how it goes.

Just one other little thing which is that the mods need to be respected, I doubt it has been a fun week for them and they have not deserved the stick. But anyway, everyone's had the chance to have their say so that's all good.





PS: Should you argue on the internet?

 

You're talking about DevonFRATTONiser aren't you?

 

I can see that these might work, but I do have a concern shared by others who have already posted. There are two basic issues at stake; of-topic threads and off-topic posting on football threads is the first and it might be hoped that an arrangement on the first might eliminate the latter. The other is standard of debate. This is a seperate issue and the one which I think has driven more posters away than anything. The mods send out PMs to people who get too aggressive or result to personal insults. Most people accept this advice and cool it, but some have never accepted that they were out of line. "I was only joking, anyone could see that" is a typical response. Some are advocating a less strict moderation policy in the off-topic thread but think about for a minute. How could we have one board with two standards of moderation and expect the one not to bleed over the other? We have to resolve these issues, but the basic idea is certainly worth a go.

 

My suggestion would be to flip the idea of a GC but instead have a thread for purely news which is handled by the mods.

With the current state of the official site and the fact they would never post news like the recent Guly indiscretion I think a lot of casual posters and viewers would find a thread which gave 2 or 3 headlines a day useful.

As a hybrid of this for the next transfer window then maybe a mod or a regular poster like DTLW could keep a locked thread up to date with the various rumours but without any discussions. This could run in conjunction with the current style transfer rumour thread which can stray off topic without the complaints that people are missing out on interesting gossip or tit bits.

 

1 O/T just for general chat would stop all the random convos in threads. That would stop a hell of alot of the complaints that threads go off topic. Then as I said early 1 Thread for a O/T subject. Simply just having O/T threads on one or two subjects would not work.

 

Was just thinking the same thing when I came across you comment.

Have to express the view that I really don't understand what this is all about - other than note over the past 6 months this site has degenerated somewhat - maybe a little longer now I think about it. What I liked about this site when I joined after leaving 606 was the intelligent discussion and the friendly banter that went on. I also liked the way the mods kicked off those who were WUM or disrespectful to others. Regrettably, both the tone and the overall quality of the threads and posts have dropped to such a juvenile level; that I often cannot bring myself to post on here – although I do often look to see for items of enlightenment, as used to be the case.

So I am in favour of any option that allows those challenged to have intellectual discussion and debate have their stickered thread and allow those of us who believe that courtesy and respect costs you nothing to engage in open and meaningful discussion about our beloved Saints.

 

On the specific question asked here I think an off-topic thread would be a good idea but I don't think it would necessarily solve the problem of off-topic posts in threads. I seem to remember a couple of pages of posts in the Saint Gaston thread about Calippos or something. It started off with a reasonably on-topic post about "my mate's cousin's brother's dog saw Messi in a petrol station near St Mary's" style rumours and then spiralled out of control. I don't see how an off topic thread would stop that kind of thing. I do like the idea of a general transfer thread for discussion and a locked news thread that gets updated somewhat regularly, particularly during the off-season. That way if you're happy to read pages of vaguely football-related chatter interspersed with updates you can do so in the discussion thread and if you just want to see whether Ramirez has finally signed you can check the locked news thread.

 

Small point, Beddy. Why is it that the Server/Forum time is at least 5 minutes ahead of normal time..? I often find that when I come across posts that have obviously only been written in the last couple of minutes, they show up as two or three minutes into the future. I often find I'm doing a time check with Windows or Linux and my PC's are bang on time. Has anyone else noticed this..?

EDIT: My PC is saying 10.07am for this post, but the server/forum says 10.16am

 

I think an off topic sticky sounds like the best idea while we wait for a sub forum. I've been disappointed recently with the way threads have been deteriorating so quickly. I come on this particular forum to chat about Southampton FC and I generally avoid threads not on this topic. I belong to other forums to chat about many of my other interests.

But I don't think that the problem here is having on and off topic threads. As long as the thread is obviously on or off topic I can choose to read it ot not - its when threads go off-topic that is the issue. I'm not entirely sure how to amend this - more guidelines and you get accused of over moderating and no rules creates chaos.

 

Noticed that as well TSS. When I'm at work it's at least 5 minutes ahead of real time!