Thanks Tuba . Keep up the good work.
Cool. For the record, I thought this was going to be sort of extraneous (“we need a forum just for sports? whatever”), but now that I see what it’s going to encompass (sports, + video games, and our pub quiz thread), I get it. Very nice.
God knows. Our categories have never been crystal clear and distinct anyway. My initial thoughts are that it would depend on the content of the thread: something about the GAME itself would go in the Game Forum, something about the SHOW would go in Cafe Society.
Thus:
- “Did you see JEOPARDY last night?” would go in Cafe Society
- “Shouldn’t the JEOPARDY rules be changed to accomodate hand-held blackberries?” would go in the Games Forum.
My second thoughts are, those are basically SHOWS rather than GAMES and so put 'em in Cafe Society as a general rule.
Those thoughts might not be particularly well thought out.
thus:
- “Did you see the Raiders game last night?”
- “Did you see the same game as the refs last night?”
I’m under the impression that both those would be proper Game Room thread OPs and your misunderstanding of the situation makes the new forum a little ridiculous. I mean, Cafe Society (Your forum) is exactly where they are trying to draw sports threads away from and you still are confused?
We’ve got no problem with sports belonging in the new Game Forum. The question is TV-game shows: are they games or are they TV shows? They are quantitatively different from televised sports, seems to me. However, I’m happy to be convinced.
The real question is: if there’s some newcomer who wants to discuss “Truth or Consequences” or “Let’s Make a Deal” or the 1950s scandal about “The $64,000 Question”… which forum would that person expect to find such discussions?
Personally I’d stick them into CS, but that’s just me. You’re the people who have to decide, but that’s what we pay you for, right? All those mugs and stuff - you must be rolling in them.
You also might want to think about where to put threads that argue the merits of sports coverage on various media, by which I mean debates such as comparing commentator’s styles, how to get the best coverage with the fewest cameras etc. Things to do with the broadcastng side of sports broadcasting.
I think these type of threads should go here. I don’t think a non-sports fan is more likely to have insights into what you described than a sports fan. I would hope that things are kept simple and all sports just go here.
Thanks for the game forum… great addition.
When I first started in on getting a sports forum a couple years ago, I suggested it would include all games and reality shows. The idea being that they are competitions, as opposed to scripted entertainment.
Game shows and reality shows like American Idol and Survivor have two reasons to go in the new game forum. Not only are they actual honest-to-god games, but along with the videogame threads, moving them out of the Cafe would serve to raise the level of the Cafe. I mean, really, do you want discussions of literature bumping up against the philistines going on and on about Survivor? Yeah, didn’t think so.
Having said all that, I agree with your instinct that game shows and reality shows belong in the Cafe. If a newcomer wanted to start, say, an Amne$ia thread, I think the forum descriptions would lead them to post it in the Cafe. Why fight the tide?
One justification for keeping them in the Cafe is that being a television show is their reason for being. If American Idol or Survivor lost their contract, they aren’t going to still hold the games. As opposed to actual sports, where the tv aspect is secondary. Hell, the NHL basically did have their television broadcast cancelled and yet they still play the games.
Huzzah!
Thanks, I think this expresses it very well (better than I could formulate.) Gets to the basic nature of the beast.
Just out of curiosity, which of the high class literary discussions are you afraid threads on Survivor are going to taint: the one about “Zombie Strippers”, “Star Wars” or “A Song of Ice and Fire”? 
hehheh, that was a scattershot dig at pretty much the whole board, not the least of which was directed at me for being a regular participant in the Survivor threads.