Thirith on 21/11/2015 at 13:58
I don't think we have the necessary number of posters or the momentum, but I really like how the Penny Arcade forums handle this. Check out one of their movie threads: (
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/196147/movies-watch-edge-of-tomorrow-bitch-about-it-repeat/p1). Once a megathread reaches 100 pages, it's closed, and one of the regulars starts a new thread. A good first post can trigger new discussion quite effectively.
Also, their mods are pretty strict with respect to separating out discussion. If there's already a thread for it, people are asked to take their conversation there, and if necessary posts are moved and knuckles are rapped. It doesn't always make sense to me - e.g. there's a Marvel Cinematic Universe thread, and sometimes when a conversation relating to general movie things touches upon the Marvel movies, people are asked to move it to the MCU thread, even when it still links to a more general topic - but by and large it's handled well by mods and posters, it avoids the pitfalls of megathreads and keeps things going smoothly. Generally you get the same posters being as active in the megathreads as in the more specific threads.
faetal on 21/11/2015 at 14:16
In my opinions, megathreads are useful for hearing about games which aren't being played simultaneously by enough people to reach the crystallisation point of having its own thread. There's a Fallout 4 thread / GTA V thread / Witcher 3 thread etc... because a lot of people are playing them at one time.
But we don't always play the currently popular games and I sometimes get a lot of interesting snippets of other games I end up playing from the megathreads.
but I agree that people discussing Fallout 4 in the megathread isn't the best use of the keystrokes.
Thirith on 21/11/2015 at 15:34
I think that's exactly it - added to which I find it depressing to start a thread about a game that then gets two replies and that's it. I used to start more game-specific threads, but with the level of activity we have here these days perhaps one in ten gets more than half a dozen posts, if even that. Of course you never know, and there's an element of defeatism to this, but after having gone "Guys, anyone interested in talking about XYZ?" nine times followed by some tumbleweeds rolling past I simply don't feel like doing it a tenth time. Activity begets activity, and vice versa.
I don't think or expect that this is what it's like for everyone, but it has shaped my posting behaviour here.
Starker on 22/11/2015 at 23:26
I've fought against megathreads in the past on forums where I moderate, but I've never had any success. In the end, a lot of people will want to take the more convenient road when possible and it seems to outweigh all the advantages that separate threads offer.
Quote Posted by Thirith
I think that's exactly it - added to which I find it depressing to start a thread about a game that then gets two replies and that's it.
I've posted threads that haven't gotten any replies *cough*Titan Souls*cough* and I'm not discouraged. In fact, posting in a megathread has even less chance of getting noticed and replied to, as it gets buried faster and less people read those threads.
Nameless Voice on 23/11/2015 at 00:39
I almost never read the megathreads because I feel they have too high a barrier to entry.
There's a kind of feeling that I need to have read the entire thread up until the current point so that I know what's all been said and can follow the conversation.
It's pretty much ingrained in forum culture that you read a thread before replying to it, otherwise you might just be repeating something that someone else has already posted - but you can't really do that in a huge megathread.
In theory, I know that's not so much the case in a "what are you playing now?" megathread, because it's based around the current moment (or, not too far in the past), but even then it still continues on from earlier discussions.
In the case of something like the "what are you making?" thread, it's even worse because that thread has a lot of different peoples' projects mixed in together as they progress over months and years. I find the concept of that thread interesting, but there's just too much to read in there when some of the projects actually span the entire timespan of the thread, making following the full conversation difficult.
I think splitting out megathreads into forums might make sense. Instead of a "What you are making?" thread, which is really a lot of long intertwined conversations, instead create a "What are you making?" forum, where each person making something can make their own thread about whatever they are working on.
I'm not sure how that would work for the "What are you playing?" thread, though. Maybe a "discuss what you're playing" forum, as opposed to General Gaming which also covers upcoming games, games people are interested in, discussions about gaming in general, game design, etc.
Megathreads also hide the forum activity. I recently made a thread about game design in Gen Gaming, and was surprised at how many people came there to post thoughtful replies. I hadn't expected that much activity because I thought Gen Gaming was deader than that, because there aren't that many new threads in there usually. I guess everyone is hiding in the megathreads most of the time?
Thirith on 23/11/2015 at 09:54
Quote Posted by Starker
I've fought against megathreads in the past on forums where I moderate, but I've never had any success.
In the end, a lot of people will want to take the more convenient road when possible and it seems to outweigh all the advantages that separate threads offer.To be honest, comments like the bolded one tick me off a tad, because there's a note of "Lazy people...!" I absolutely understand that megathreads 1) aren't for everyone and 2) shouldn't subsume all conversation, but I wish that those who don't like them at least *try* to understand why there are people who like them and why they like them. I think it was faetal who mentioned that they're like slow-motion IRC, and for me that's very much it: ideally a megathread is like chat, and the discussion in a general(ish) chat is different in kind from a topic-specific discussion. It's more associative but less deep, by and large, though then it can branch off into specific discussion (which should then be taken to a new thread, if necessary with the mods' gentle encouragement). The dynamics are very much different. Don't like 'em? Fine, but being dismissive about the fact that different kinds of threads fulfil different needs that may well be valid even if they're not *your* needs makes me more prone to dismiss your needs as well, because then the discussion feels like it's about "Here's why I don't want them" rather than understanding what they do well, what they do badly, and how this can be improved without dropping something that meets the needs of some posters.
Quote:
I've posted threads that haven't gotten any replies *cough*Titan Souls*cough* and I'm not discouraged. In fact, posting in a megathread has even less chance of getting noticed and replied to, as it gets buried faster and less people read those threads.
Possibly true, but also somewhat beside the point. If megathreads are like general chat, which I'd argue they are, my own posting threshold is lower. Starting a new thread that dies on the vine is something I find frustrating; mentioning a topic in ongoing chat that isn't picked up, well, that's the nature of chat. Some things are picked up on, others aren't. Another topic comes along momentarily.
faetal on 23/11/2015 at 13:44
Mega threads are like Twitter or an irc thread - they're just snippets of general stuff. It's like an "and the rest in case you missed it" section of Gen Gaming, where the separate threads cover larger points of interest. I'm just repeating myself to an extent.
Starker on 23/11/2015 at 21:31
Quote Posted by Thirith
but I wish that those who don't like them at least *try* to understand why there are people who like them and why they like them.
Well, a lot of times the reason that has been given to me is something like "it's a hassle to make a new thread every time" or "searching for old threads is a PITA". If your reasons are different, then that's fine, but it doesn't change the fact that it is pure convenience for a lot of people.
Judith on 24/11/2015 at 08:40
I don't have anything against megathreads, like some of you said, they're like chat channel, but slower. That's why their nature seems somewhat contradictory to me. I mean, typically you need to read the last page, or last 2-3 pages to be up to speed, just like in a chat. So, what's the point in keeping the older pages? Especially threads like 'What are you X right now' are full of ad-hoc discussions, and fast-changing topics, where search function is pretty useless anyway.
(Might not apply to 'What are you working on right now' topic, where people could actually see their progress over months or years, although I think that's something most authors do on their own anyway.)
faetal on 24/11/2015 at 11:18
For those of us who keep the forum in the background more or less continually while online, it's a simple case of clicking the icon to read only unread posts.
It's no hassle at all to keep up with mega threads and I'd be baffled if anyone sought to read the whole thing from start to finish.
