General/Off-topic Discussion Forum

[coolh5000]

I know this is a Harry Potter forum and at the moment all the sub-forums are specifically catered to different things in the HP fanfiction world. However I think it would be quite nice to have a general discussion type forum where absoultely anything can be talked about but without it having to be too formal. For example threads at the moment would probably include things about the US election to the economy and other current affairs plus probably a few more random, less serious topics. When I say discussion I don't mean in the form of questions and long response etc but just random thoughts and opinions which anyone could post.

Obviously it would need to be moderated so that it doesn't end full of random rubbish but a place where we could just talk about anything we wanted would be really good, in my opinion. Our common room is to an extent but I would like to have a forum where the whole boards can talk about things.

However it the mods are keen to keep the boards HP only then that's absoutely fine - it was just a random thought :) .

[bertiebott12]

I imagine that this has been discussed before. Honestly, I think that PMs and IM chats with MNFF members can be used for the same purpose. This is a writing site, and I think that SPAM would increase if a SPAM forum was created. But, I'm open to changes. :)

/Claire

[Marauder by Midnight]

This has been discussed before and, in fact, forums like the ones you suggest actually existed way back when. We took them down because things got REALLY ugly in those forums, especially in topics that discussed sensitive issues, i.e. politics.

However, we'll consider this forum's revival.

[Inverarity]

There are a zillion other places on the Internet where you can discuss the U.S. elections or other topics.

Open up discussions like that here, and they will go thermonuclear, guaranteed.

[Euphrates]

I visit a site where they're debate section - where they discuss serious topics - is always being closed because things just get...bad. (I don't understand why the keep reopening it. Every time they do, something bad happens.) But the rest of the site, off-topic, lighter discussion and all, works fine. I support this idea only if there's no 'debate' section. Honestly, it causes a lot more trouble than its worth.

--Kate

[A.H.]

What I liked MOST about this forum when I first joined last year, is that it is solely dedicated to writing. If there were an off-topic forum, it would take away focus on the Help Threads and the other HP FF related topics.

Not only that, but it would attract a lot more members; that's not exactly a bad thing, but it would attract the types of HP forumers who do nothing more than spam up boards with rubbish posts, and compete for post count because it makes them so CoOlyEAh!.

I do enjoy discussing things other than writing and such, but there are a ton of other forums out there where that could be done. It would make me cry myself to sleep for several nights in a row if the entire point of this forum were diminished, even in the slightest way.

(On a completely different topic, I just hit my two hundredth post! I'm so CoOlyEAh! :))

Arianna

Edit: "Diminished" sounds a bit dramatic... I only meant that it would be... diminished, in a slightly less dramatic way.

[moonymaniac]

Please add my name to the list of those who would rather not see this sort of forum resurrected. Having been here at the time we did have it, I know it proved to be very distracting in a negative way. I come here to escape real life. The Marauder vs Severus debates are about as much controversy as I care to experience here. ;)

[NikkiSue]

Aside from sending PMs and organizing AIM chats, the Excerpts of Murlap has the Restricted Section hiding in there. That's where we have discussions on more sensitive topics. We keep them in relation to HP fan fiction but still, things can get interesting in there.

~Nicole

[Euphrates]

What if you had to be sorted to post in this General Discussion/Chatting area? Waiting for the test and subsequently the results would deter a lot of spammers and trolls, imo. They don't want to wait. They want to join, log in, and post.

--Kate

[apollo13]

I went on a fan site for a time where they had a debate section. At first, I was very excited, because I love debate. However, there was one very controlling person on there who made very strong points about something I didn't believe, although not always backed up properly. When I began to back my points up with solid evidence, he quickly got very angry, and very rude. Nothing was done, however, because he was actually a mod. Yeah, I know.

Things got very personal, and not just against me, but at many people. Ship bashing threads appeared, and even a threads debating on the morals of homosexuality, politics and even, at one point, Islam, which was incrediably nasty and racist at times.

I am sure that if such a forum was placed on MNFF things would not be allowed to get this bad. But debating with people over the internet is very different from debating people in RL, because people are not so afraid to say what they think on the internet, and people tend to say the most extreme opinions to make their points.

Even starting these threads and heavily modding them may lead to deeper and darker debates through PMs, and I don't want anyone getting offended or upset.

So, if you haven't guessed from my ramble, it's a no from me.

~Evie

[butter_beer_drinker]

What if it was more like a "How was your day?" thread as in you could post that you are very excited because you aced your algebra exam or that your down in the dumps because your dog threw up in your favorite shoes. :p

[Euphrates]

Yeah, it doesn't have to be a debate forum. I believe the creator of this topic was aiming more for an 'Everything Else' section where people could just...talk.

[apollo13]

But the thing is, it would turn in to a debate forum. Even if it is heavily modded, idle chatter can turn in to a debate so slowly you don't even realise.

~Evie

[A.H.]

*pokes head in*

And if people are debating or even idly chatting, then who's going to care about little Lucia Jones in the OC forum? Or the Title that's needed for that tragic Dramonie? Or.. *sniff* that dreadful excerpt that really needs some grammatical guiding.

Personally I love debating; there is one forum where they are such topics lying around, where religion, politics, whatever have you can be discussed, and it doesn't get half as hot as the Severus Snape: Good or Evil? thread. In fact, Sev's thread is the one that's most highly modded...

My point is that the idea is totally doable. Most members who've been around here for a while are mature enough to handle a little controversy and some good ole fun debating. However, I just don't think it's at all necessary. This is a Fanfiction board, dedicated to helping authors hone their skills and yadda, yadda, yadda. Why change that?

Arianna

[Kcharles]

I think it would be cool to have an off topic board where there would be "How are you feeling?" threads and such. As long as it was heavily modded, I think that it could be a good idea.

[CakeorDeath]

The problem with a debate forum here is that we need to have a lot of trust in some of the other members. What would happpen to the beta thread if two members had a big disagreement about politics? I might cause serious issues and the great spirit of MNFF might be comprmised.

After all, there are many other places online where you can debate politics.

[lily_evans34]

Just to toss in my two cents, I think this is more common-room and chatter talk than anything. Whatever group we identify with on the forums [our house, SPEW, SBBC, whatever]... I think we would go there if we were stressing about an algebra test or discovered a cool new TV show [which would probably lead to a PMing discussion when you find someone else who shares your favourite show].

So, case in point, I really don't think a general chatter thread is necessary. Even if it were heavily moderated... I still don't see the point. If the topics have to be moderated to the point where politics and the US economy are rooted out and it leaves 'how are you guys feeling today? Who's your favourite character on Lost?'... that just brings us back to our common room and PM talk.

/$.02

[coolh5000]

*cowers in fear*

so this was clearly a well received idea :rolleyes:

I hadn't realised that MNFF had tried something like this in the past which seems to be why people are so against it.

I think my original idea was for it to be more chat than debate but I suppose debate would be inevitable. I like to think that the people on MNFF are mature enough to handle it but I suppose if people have had bad experiences it will put them off. (this thread turned into a debate so who knows what would happen)

I would still like to have a more relaxed place to chat about non-related things sort of a house unity common room area, but if everyone is very much against the idea I will stick with the Slyth CR, which is afterall a fun place to be!

Nicole's Edit: Darn Tootin' it's a fun place to be . . . and don't you ever forget it! :D

[Euphrates]

I don't think debate would be inevitable, but nobody here agrees, and I don't want to keep throwing fuel onto the fire.

(^ Just realized this whole discussion is a debate. ;)).

Anyway, yeah, I don't want to start anything, so...

<3Kate

[Kcharles]

What about an all house common room typed thing? It would let us meet new people, and it would be sorta like a mini anouncements board (say people want to have a chat on MSN or AIM, they could post a topic there) and it could have a tower and I Challenge Thee board and such.

[house-elves anonymous]

This does sound like a good idea, as long as people are mature enough not to debate. *Glances at above posts* Oh...whoops.

Still, I like this idea. Perhaps we could restrict certain topics(Like Roxy banning Twilight-related idiocy in the Hufflepuff forums) such as the debate-causers like POLITICS!!!:eek: *cue evil music*

Well, that's my opinion, which is why it matters so much.:rolleyes:

-Josh-

[apollo13]

When DH came out, the mods played a cruel trick on everyone and tried to convince us the forums were closing. We had a section called Sparkly-Poo, if I remember correctly. :D In there was an all house CR, and everyone loved it. I remember at the time people were asking whether we could keep it.

So that's a possibility, right? Rather than an entire new forum?

~Evie

[James Jameson]

I think that the sparkly-pooh forum would be great!
And we could also have different thread in that section according to topic, so people can choose what they want to hear!:)

Tine

[Marauder by Midnight]

We will not be creating a General/Off-Topic Discussion forum. Our bosses up at Mugglenet have made it clear that the server is to be used for Harry Potter only :)