# Game Threads in The Game Room **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 17, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775 "2014-09-17T23:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/81 "2014-09-19T16:22:25Z")
Agreeing with **Fenris** and **SenorBeef** - don’t move thread games to Cafe Society. It’s not the subject matter or content, it’s the _type_ of thread that matters, as **SenorBeef** eloquently explained back on page 1. It might seem odd that Cafe Society mixes food threads with movies and TV shows, but the cross-pollination works. I visit CS always hopeful for threads on wine and beer, but I still sometimes get involved with a movie thread that catches my eye. But I would never randomly decide to join a game thread - I come to read about interesting topics, not play a game.\* I would peruse the Game Room more often for interesting threads on sports, but I never do because it isn’t worth the time to scroll through all the games. It has nothing to do with how many days of posts I’m viewing. I fully understand that I can keep scrolling and eventually find a thread from a day ago that was pushed down. But I, and most other readers, don’t do that. We scroll a little ways and then move on. - And I disagree with **Blank Slate**. I have nothing against game threads, and people who enjoy them should be able to play all they want. Every single thread on this board is mundane and pointless to someone. But let’s separate game threads to make it easier for both sides. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/82 "2014-09-19T16:26:43Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > - And I disagree with **Blank Slate**. I have nothing against game threads, and people who enjoy them should be able to play all they want. Every single thread on this board is mundane and pointless to someone. Ditto on this. There’s absolutely nothing wrong or bad or pointless about Thread Games. The only problem with them is that, by their nature, they get a ton more posts-per-thread than discussion threads which pushes everything off the front page. It’s not the posters in the Thread Games threads that are the problem–they’re playing the games! But the Thread Games threads simply don’t play nicely with discussion threads. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/83 "2014-09-19T16:26:47Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Why are you guys so against something that effects you exactly zero? Like you’re only being contrarian because you can be? At least on my end, it seems like a fuss over nothing because I was under the impression that I am not unique in only browsing the board via new posts. Whether game threads are in their own forum or part of the game room or whatever means nothing to me as I only see threads ranked as a function of their popularity across the userbase as a whole. I will be interested to see, though, if there is a change in forum layout, how much of a bump or decline the different thread types will see. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/84 "2014-09-19T16:37:53Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > - And I disagree with **Blank Slate**. I have nothing against game threads, and people who enjoy them should be able to play all they want. Every single thread on this board is mundane and pointless to someone. But let’s separate game threads to make it easier for both sides. But you just agreed with me. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/85 "2014-09-19T16:43:07Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > At least on my end, it seems like a fuss over nothing because I was under the impression that I am not unique in only browsing the board via new posts. Huh–I’ve never browsed the board that way. For me, I just go to the forums I’m interested in and look at the first page or two of threads. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/86 "2014-09-19T17:16:17Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > So “I don’t want one more subforum cluttering up my forum list” is simply petty compared to “I don’t want 20+ variably named, always moving threads cluttering up my thread list” This is what I was trying to get at earlier. If you don’t see the need for it, fine, but other people clearly do, and are the costs of change really so great that it’s better to stick with the status quo than do what a lot of people clearly want? > [@BigT](#): > > I almost never participate in thread games. But I’ve also not found the Game Room to be a problem. So the fact that some of you avoid the forum because you find it too hard is not a compelling argument for me. I think it _should_ be a compelling argument for you. This isn’t science. We don’t need statistical proof. It’s not some big project where we need a cost/benefit analysis and a strong case to justify the change. Enough people saying they don’t like it this way should be a perfectly sufficient argument, since the costs of a change are almost zero (I assume - correct me if I’m wrong). > [@SenorBeef](#): > > If the concern that the game room doesn’t have enough content to exist on its own, with just sports/game/etc talk, well, then it doesn’t have enough content to exist currently anyway. The thread games are not adding to its content, they’re cluttering it up. Sure, they add to some arbitrary “post counts in the game room per day” number, but that doesn’t indicate health, it just indicated clutter. That’s a really good point. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/87 "2014-09-19T17:24:41Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > But you just agreed with me. Eh, just feeling contrarian, like I have to disagree with something. You’re right, we do agree on what we’d like to see implemented. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/88 "2014-09-19T17:45:42Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > I don’t have much of a dog in this fight, as I rarely visit the Game Room, but it does seem like making a separate forum for sports discussions would make sense. Why not stick it down in Side Conversations? I’m sure more people would use it if threads didn’t get overwhelmed by game threads and it could potentially draw traffic to the board without swamping an existing forum. Why would you (a) separate Sports when the problem is the activity of the game threads overwhelms discussions of any type? And (b) put _anything_ in Side Conversations? Side Conversations is for non SD material - like Ed’s side project on his book. Game threads _might_ be considered non SD material - it’s not discussion - but we keep MPSIMS in the Main segment, so there’s precedent. > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > At least on my end, it seems like a fuss over nothing because I was under the impression that I am not unique in only browsing the board via new posts. Whether game threads are in their own forum or part of the game room or whatever means nothing to me as I only see threads ranked as a function of their popularity across the userbase as a whole. Part of browsing by New Posts is that the board doesn’t accurately track what is new. I browse by forums, but I can pop to a forum page and there will be a few marked new, then there may be a couple threads that have been updated since I last read, but looking elsewhere on the board updated my cookie, so they are shown as not new. Does that affect New Posts? Plus, why would I want to wade through a list of game threads or politics threads when I can browse the forums in which I’m interested? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/89 "2014-09-19T18:23:55Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > I can only speak for myself (duh), but I never visit The Game Room forum. I don’t visit it precisely because of this exact issue – I’m not interested in game threads and there’s too.damn.many of them. It’s hard (not VERY, since I’m talking about reading a message board instead of, say, ditch digging :D) to pick through all the titles to find non-game threads. _And_ the game threads quickly push other threads off the first page, which stunts or outright kills attempts to get a discussion going. > > If game threads had a sub-forum\*, I would actually go to The Game Room. As it stands now, though, the game threads keep me away. > > - and seriously, it’s just adding a sub-forum! It’s not as momentous as a new Pope being chosen or as difficult as negotiating a treaty. 😛 Moderators can’t make new sub-forums, though. In the old days, Dex or Tuba could create one, but now Jerry is the only admin. And as we repeatedly keep getting told, he’s just too durn busy. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/90 "2014-09-19T18:33:08Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Moderators can’t make new sub-forums, though. In the old days, Dex or Tuba could create one, but now Jerry is the only admin. And as we repeatedly keep getting told, he’s just too durn busy. Creating a new sub-forum in vBulletin literally takes ten seconds. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/91 "2014-09-19T19:33:55Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Creating a new sub-forum in vBulletin literally takes ten seconds. This is a really nasty sound bite that is totally untrue. That’s like saying that it only takes ten seconds to roast a turkey, because that’s how long it takes to take the cooked bird out of the oven. First, having created new forums (and renamed forums) in the past, no, it’s more than ten seconds. But let’s start with the need to read the email explaining what we want done and why, then signing into the Admin section of the boards with username and password, then clicking through menus to the place where changes in forums are made (it’s not like he does it every day and so can zip right to it), then waiting while the $\*#@(ing thing loads up, then creating the new forum (that’s the step that you think is ten seconds but you’re wrong), typing in the name and descriptive paragraph, checking that there are no typos, then hitting the SEND button, then waiting while it works ('cause these Boards ain’t whatcha call speedy) and then checking that it did what was wanted. No, it’s not hours, but it’s nowhere close to ten seconds. And he’s swamped, totally and utterly. It’s time that he doesn’t have. Heck, just telling him that it will “only take ten seconds,” takes more than ten seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/92 "2014-09-19T19:47:29Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I was under the impression that I am not unique in only browsing the board via new posts. You’re not, just so you know. I use this way to browse the board a good 90% of the time I come here. I used to it forum by forum, but after using the “new posts” way a few times, I grew addicted. As far as I know, there’s a lot of people who do it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/93 "2014-09-19T20:09:38Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > This is a really nasty sound bite that is totally untrue. That’s like saying that it only takes ten seconds to roast a turkey, because that’s how long it takes to take the cooked bird out of the oven. Come on, you’re acting like no one here has experience with vBulletin. Ten seconds may have been an exaggeration, but a few minutes is not. If an admin can’t spend five minutes administrating the board then they need to share that power with other people. Learning how to delegate is like Management 101. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/94 "2014-09-19T20:10:48Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > In the old days, Dex or Tuba could create one, but now Jerry is the only admin. And as we repeatedly keep getting told, he’s just too durn busy. Is there a reason why there’s only one administrator now? Yes, I know it came about because the board got hacked, but that was almost a year ago. And if Jerry’s too busy, what’s preventing him from granting temporary admin privileges to a moderator who can create the forum? (And fix the goddamn rolleyes smiley while you’re at it?) ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/95 "2014-09-19T20:24:20Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > You’re not, just so you know. I use this way to browse the board a good 90% of the time I come here. > I used to it forum by forum, but after using the “new posts” way a few times, I grew addicted. > > As far as I know, there’s a lot of people who do it that way. As someone who also browses this way, we probably shouldn’t advocate it, since it uses the “Search” function and is much more hamster-intensive. I also regularly search posts by user using my own username in order to get a list of threads I’ve posted in, ordered by most recently bumped. I often feel guilty of hamster abuse when I do that, but I’ve also grown addicted. :o ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/96 "2014-09-19T21:06:18Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > This is a really nasty sound bite that is totally untrue. That’s like saying that it only takes ten seconds to roast a turkey, because that’s how long it takes to take the cooked bird out of the oven. > > First, having created new forums (and renamed forums) in the past, no, it’s more than ten seconds. But let’s start with the need to read the email explaining what we want done and why, then signing into the Admin section of the boards with username and password, then clicking through menus to the place where changes in forums are made (it’s not like he does it every day and so can zip right to it), then waiting while the $\*#@(ing thing loads up, then creating the new forum (that’s the step that you think is ten seconds but you’re wrong), typing in the name and descriptive paragraph, checking that there are no typos, then hitting the SEND button, then waiting while it works ('cause these Boards ain’t whatcha call speedy) and then checking that it did what was wanted. > > No, it’s not hours, but it’s nowhere close to ten seconds. And he’s swamped, totally and utterly. It’s time that he doesn’t have. > > Heck, just telling him that it will “only take ten seconds,” takes more than ten seconds. If it takes more than, and I am being very generous, four minutes then I would be surprised. Source: I have done it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/97 "2014-09-19T21:20:23Z")
Being sixth in the list of threads in a forum is not “cockblocked”. If it were, then we’d have to create a new forum for every thread. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/98 "2014-09-19T21:27:26Z")
Subforum. Call it “The Playground,” problem solved. Boom. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/99 "2014-09-19T21:50:18Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I also regularly search posts by user using my own username in order to get a list of threads I’ve posted in, ordered by most recently bumped. Or you could use your subscribed threads under control panel. Of course, you might have to set the feature to automatically subscribe to threads you post in, but then it works automatically. ---
**Author:** ![Krav\_Manga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krav_manga/32/3153_2.png) [@Krav\_Manga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krav_Manga)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775/100 "2014-09-19T22:43:29Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > This is a really nasty sound bite that is totally untrue. If you think that’s ‘really nasty’ then you are borderline hysterical. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-threads-in-the-game-room/698775.md?page=6)