# Mods. do you condone this thread idea?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [September 10, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678 "2003-09-10T03:40:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/1 "2003-09-10T03:40:25Z")
I have an idea for a thread, the title…
If you open this thread you must post
A more ‘interesting’ idea is the same concept, but with a different subject. such as…
Open this thread
The idea being…
… to act as a trap. "ah ha, now you MUST post!
I know the answer is probably “NO” but I thought I might as well ask, to be sure.
Feel free, dopers, to use this thread to ask Mods if they condone _your_ idea(s)
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/2 "2003-09-10T03:43:24Z")
This has been tried before. We gave up, because it never succeeded.
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### Author:  [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/3 "2003-09-10T03:49:29Z")
I’ve seen a couple of these threads requesting a 1:1 post to view ratio and they never seem to work.
Damn Dopers. Don’t know how to follow directions…😃
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### Author:  [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/4 "2003-09-10T04:18:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by Ruby_
> I’ve seen a couple of these threads requesting a 1:1 post to view ratio and they never seem to work.
Doesn’t the view counter increment by one even when a poster merely previews his or her reply? Since each post requires at least one viewing\* and some Dopers will preview their replies to check for coding and spelling errors, it seems that the inequality
number of posts { \< or = } number of views
will favor strict inequality more often than equality.
- It could be argued that some Dopers might copy the thread ID number from the URL without actually opening the thread, and then point their browsers to [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?threadid={some\_number}](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?threadid=%7Bsome_number%7D) to post a reply. If this method does not increment the view counter, the above inequality could in theory be violated, but in practice this scenario is highly unlikely.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/5 "2003-09-10T05:04:29Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by amore ac studio \*
> **Doesn’t the view counter increment by one even when a poster merely previews his or her reply?**
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t. But that’s easy to check. Find a thread buried deep on the board someplace that no one is likely go digging up and preview a few times without posting and see if the number of views changes. I’d do it, but I’m off to bed.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/6 "2003-09-10T05:07:57Z")
The problem with attaining a 1:1 ratio is that for non-members, all threads are ‘read-only.’ If a person who couldn’t post read the thread, it would foul up your goal of 1:1.
Happy
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### Author:  [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/7 "2003-09-10T05:52:26Z")
No offense, but how does this help wipe out ignorance?
Not that anything in MPSIMS does. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/8 "2003-09-10T10:42:59Z")
**rsa** since you asked.
Games make people happy and puts them in a good mood (so does forced creativity, i.e. thinking of a witty reply when forced to reply)
When people are in a good mood they are probably more likely to accept new ideas and more willing to listen to criticism
accepting new ideas usually equals reducing ignorance.
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### Author:  [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/9 "2003-09-10T11:03:21Z")
Yeah, it [sure doesn’t](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60777) work. When anybody posts to the thread, the view counter will increment once for when they read it the first time, and once for when they view their post after posting. Later, if the thread reaches page two, the view counter will increment for each poster’s view of the first page, the second page, and their post.
So, during the first page, you can hope for a views-to-posts ratio of 2. After that, it just gets worse.
Some workarounds are discussed in the linked thread, though.
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/10 "2003-09-10T12:41:26Z")
Ooh! How 'bout a thread on “If pirates using 1920s style death rays wrote the LOTR whilst riding in horrible Star Trek blimps, would that prove the existence of God?”
The board just would not be the same without Lobbers, you know? 🙂
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/11 "2003-09-10T22:42:49Z")
I didn’t intend a 1:1 replies:views thread. just a thread where if you’ve opened it (clicked it from the forum page) you have to reply.
The idea was to force people to come up with a witty response/ and to hear from people who wouldn’t normally reply.
And I just saw **NCB** ’s post. Aw, I’m all embarrassed now. I hope you mean it in a good way.
**NCB** =:cool:
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/12 "2003-09-10T22:43:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Lobsang \*
> \*\ ***rsa** since you asked.
>
> Games make people happy and puts them in a good mood (so does forced creativity, i.e. thinking of a witty reply when forced to reply)
>
> When people are in a good mood they are probably more likely to accept new ideas and more willing to listen to criticism
>
> accepting new ideas usually equals reducing ignorance. \*\*
However, pointless threads make some people annoyed and put them in a bad mood. (And even as a game, its a pretty pointless one.)
They also upset the hamsters.
This has been tried many times, and it never works. Aside from multiple views by people who do post, and some people who open the thread and don’t post because they think it’s stupid, some people will deliberately view the thread repeatedly without posting just for mischief.
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### Author:  [@Harli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harli)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/13 "2003-09-10T23:08:58Z")
**NoClueBoy** , shouldn’t that be “If pirates using 1920s style death rays wrote the LOTR whilst riding in horrible Star Trek blimps, would that prove the existence of God _vs. Batman_?”
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/14 "2003-09-10T23:53:56Z")
So, **Colibri** and **rsa** , are you suggesting **MP** SIMS should contain factual and useful information only, no _Mundane_ or _Pointless_ threads?
I know this (you must post) idea is flawed. But I don’t think all ‘pointless’ threads should be done away with.
They are fun, and anyone who says they are annoying/a waste of time comes across as a little prudish
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### Author:  [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/15 "2003-09-11T02:14:17Z")
It’s definitely a better idea than [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=210087). Which I refuse to post to in order to complain.
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/16 "2003-09-11T15:14:45Z")
The exercise would be pointless because there is no way to force someone to post in a thread. You would just end up with another thread with pointless one-liners. I would vote against it.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/17 "2003-09-11T17:56:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Lobsang \*
> \*\*So, **Colibri** and **rsa** , are you suggesting **MP** SIMS should contain factual and useful information only, no _Mundane_ or _Pointless_ threads? \*\*
No at all. That’s not what I said. But threads should at least _try_ to be interesting and entertaining.
Many other “game” threads have been amusing and required creativity. The one you proposed does not.
I mean, c’mon, all you are asking is for people to post for the sake of posting.
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-do-you-condone-this-thread-idea/200678/18 "2003-09-14T23:56:21Z")
Well… My idea hoped that it would bring out the creativity in all, poster and lurker alike. Those people believing that they should at least try to be creative as they have just been challenged to post to a place where posts get ignored unless they stand out in some way.
But I am drunk as a skunk so blah blah nothing I say is worth note.
wibble wibble my mother is a teacup,