# Proposed: Move thread games back to MPSIMS where they're a better fit. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 1, 2014, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060 "2014-10-01T05:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/201 "2014-10-03T19:52:38Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’m ALWAYS straight up, dude. > > I’ve seen the post-padding party rule before, but I hadn’t thought about it in this context. I appreciate your bringing it up, because it applies, and gently suggest that you can bring such things up without implying that other folks are dishonestly not thinking about them. It wasn’t something I thought up. **SenorBeef** had posted substantially the idea right before your post to **twickster**. I figured you saw it since it was an idea posted in this thread (although not as clearly as some of the others) right before your post and posted in other threads you’ve participated in. That, along with some polarizing language you’ve been using in these threads, gave me the impression you might not have been genuine in your response, so I asked. I honest-to-God got a note from someone a short while ago about your level-headedness in ATMB threads when I wasn’t discussing anything about you. Because of that, I was taken aback by your response. Sorry for posting this so late. I realize the discussion has moved past this. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/202 "2014-10-03T19:56:03Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > As for the new proposals since then (moving to MPSIMS, moving to CS, closing down ones seen as truly pointless by some members), Cochrane put it fairly well in his post above, in post 183. It would be a real pity if Cochrane’s description of people guarding their individual fiefdoms is accurate and prevents a good, sensible compromise from being adopted. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/203 "2014-10-03T19:59:54Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > Umm… I don’t know what my “UX” means. User Experience. Sorry, it’s a recent neological abbrev. in my field that I really hate. > [@](#): > > Also, if you’re this angry about NFL football, maybe you shouldn’t go to a forum whose stated purpose includes sports. And by the way, I’m not a huge fan of the NFL, either. I like college. War Eagle. Point is, I’m not angry about the football threads - I just ignore them. Can you explain why you can’t ignore a silly game thread in the same forum - right where the description says it should be? ---
**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:** [October 3, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/204 "2014-10-03T20:00:06Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > Where is the limit, **Idle Thoughts**? Please explain to me how a thread asking for posters to run through the alphabet is something other than an exercise of “let’s see how long this thing lasts”? It’s not asking for posters to run through the alphabet if you really want to start a discussion about it. It’s for posters to cleverly come up with ways of starting sentences that begin with the next letter…which is a far cry from “just post the alphabet” which is what you seem to be summing it up as. But to answer your question: It’s the Game Room. It’s the forum those type of threads were made for. I’m fine with letting any game in there go on for as long as it’s liked and played. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/205 "2014-10-03T20:00:58Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > It wasn’t something I thought up. **SenorBeef** had posted substantially the idea right before your post to **twickster**. I figured you saw it since it was an idea posted in this thread (although not as clearly as some of the others) right before your post and posted in other threads you’ve participated in. That, along with some polarizing language you’ve been using in these threads, gave me the impression you might not have been genuine in your response, so I asked. > > I honest-to-God got a note from someone a short while ago about your level-headedness in ATMB threads when I wasn’t discussing anything about you. Because of that, I was taken aback by your response. I genuinely hadn’t seen it elsewhere or noticed it; while I try very hard to be straight up, I admit sometimes I have to read things several times in order to catch all nuances. As for using polarizing language, I have tried not to do so–the post I edited away was an unfortunate and ill-advised attempt to riff on **Tubadiva’s** remark about ghettoizing game threads, and didn’t look nearly as funny once posted as it sounded in my head. As I said, I try not to post polarizing things, and if I’ve done so, I apologize. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/206 "2014-10-03T20:03:33Z")
> [@Nauplius](#): > > From [Forum rules and FAQ for the Game Room](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=456581) > > :dubious: Okay, well…I just took that part out of that rule thread, since I’m now mod of that forum. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/207 "2014-10-03T20:09:51Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Ideally they would have their own sub-forum, but it looks like that isn’t happening. I’m loathe to suggest they should be banned, because people seem to like them. I’m also loathe to suggest that they’re banned, because even though I’m not interested, I don’t care if they have their little post padding parties. **So long as it isn’t harming anyone else** , but it is. The problem is we’re proposing progressively less optimal solutions as our suggestions are turned down. Separate forums? Clearly best solution for reasons already covered at length. No go. Split the load up based on topic for multiple forums - relieves the problem somewhat and potentially saves a dying game room. Not as optimal, but better than the status quo. If that’s turned down, and we keep getting compromise solutions rejected, eventually “ban the particularly bad post counting parties thread” is going to be the suggestion. Not because people are being vindictive and trying to squash the fun of others, but because our much more optimal solutions that are better for everyone, including the game players, were rejected. But at some point you have to realize that a dozen or two people are **killing the game room** , which is read by orders of magnitude more people. A couple dozen people are dominating the forum to such a degree with their low content stuff that the people who go there for the discussions, who _vastly_ outnumber them, are just giving up and leaving. So we are trying, quite desperately, to find a solution that leaves everyone happy. That solution is available, but pre-denied by administration even without really hearing us out. So we’re going to have to move on to progressively less optimal suggestions. > [@](#): > > Not sure why a dedicated sub-forum is such a bad idea. I know TPTB don’t want to split the board into too many fora, but in this one case, where there are threads that some people really like but other people hate, it really would be the best solution. Can anyone other than Jerry do this? There is far more reason to split off game room discussion from game threads than there is to even take video games/sports/card games/etc. out of café society. Discussing those forms of entertainment is **far** more similar to the rest of the content in café society than it is to thread games. > [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > The post padding rule doesn’t apply to The Game Room…it’s only a note in MPSIMS, so that people know that pointless has limits. The Game Room doesn’t have such a limit. So I want to make this clear: MPSIMS, the thread created for mundane pointless frivolous stuff, has a standard that keeps excessively pointless stuff from being put in their forum. Even our lowest forum, in terms of discussion requirements, cannot withstand the utter inanity of threads like ABCD, One Word, and Free Association. But the game room, for which the discussions are more like Café Society, which is a less inane, pointless, and frivolous forum, paradoxically does not have any sort of standards for content, and so it can serve as a dumping grounds for content that flunked out of MPSIMS for being too pointless for even them. Could that possibly be healthy for the forum, or suggest in any way that those who administer the boards have any respect for its content? > [@](#): > > That being said, if you posted a pointless topic in any forum, other than the Game Room, it will probably still get shut down. Even in the Game Room, if you just posted a “Post Padding Party” it might get shut down as not really being a game… Honestly, has this ever happened in the history of the game room? I would really be curious what thread got shut down for being too pointless when ABCD (which you created), free association, count to infinity, one word, etc. exist. > [@](#): > > …however, if you wanted to disguise it as a game, even a pointless one–in your opinion–as “Let’s count to a million”, that’s fine. … Really? Okay, could you give us a hypothetical example of some content that wouldn’t qualify? > [@](#): > > This has been mentioned before, both by some mods and some posters, but The Game Room was made, specifically, for all of those extra, seen-as-pointless, let’s-get-it-out-of-the-other-forums, stuff that most other people don’t care for or like to see (I’m referring to the board game threads here, not threads like sports or talking about games–those two category of topics just have the luck of being in the same topic genre, thus, they’re in the same forum). You should’ve kept games, sports, and related discussion in café society then. Thread games and discussions are simply not the same kind of content. This is immediately obvious to pretty much everything. Threads on sports, video games, RPGs, a myriad of topics have nothing at all in common with ABCD, free association, one word, count to infinity. They aren’t the same topic. They aren’t the same kind of topic. They do not cross-pollinate or mesh together. And they don’t even work the same way. The thread games work in such a way that a handful of posters can drown out thousands of people discussing things. > [@](#): > > But when the majority among staff is, “We don’t see the need for a change right now”, that’s the decision that was made. It may not be liked and it may not be agreed with, but that’s what was asked about (originally) and the answer was “no, not at this time”. And does that decision stand in the face of compelling argument, and popular support, and growing evidence that the game room is dying? I mean, the decision was made before anyone listened to any of the users, and is it going to stand throughout that no matter what we say, how many people support this idea, or what happens to the game room? > [@](#): > > As for the new proposals since then (moving to MPSIMS, moving to CS, closing down ones seen as truly pointless by some members), Cochrane put it fairly well in his post above, in post 183. What? Cochraine isn’t saying that the idea is poor because it’s not a good solution to our problem and not that it doesn’t improve things on the board. He merely says that the other moderators recognize that game threads are toxic, and are using their greater-than-game-room clout to keep them out of there. That is not a rebuttal to my proposal, and it is not something that is in the best interests of the board. It is literally simply admitting that the moderators are happy to keep the game room as a dumping ground so they don’t have to deal with that headache. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/208 "2014-10-03T20:10:09Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > But to answer your question: It’s the Game Room. It’s the forum those type of threads were made for. . No. It’s not. That’s what you are not getting. This is the first time I’ve ever said this, but, you need to step down as moderator. You’re just not good at it. You’re a nice enough guy, but the Game Room has become a mess largely because of you. sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/209 "2014-10-03T20:11:14Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Okay, well…I just took that part out of that rule thread, since I’m now mod of that forum. … so the main result of this thread is going to be that, when reminded about the one rule to reign in the most egregious of we’ll-call-them-games-even-though-by-no-reasonable-definition-are-they-games post padding threads, it was promptly deleted by fiat? Between the sentiments and the flippancy of how it was done, at best, this looks terrible. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/210 "2014-10-03T20:12:33Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Okay, well…I just took that part out of that rule thread, since I’m now mod of that forum. You… just took out the rule in the game room that was set up when it was created that specifically discouraged and banned post padding parties that aren’t games, thus codifying it as a non-problem, actually taking an active role in working AGAINST the interests of the people in this thread and the users? That rule has been ignored for too long, and starting to enforce it is a viable way to start making this board better, but you went ahead and sabotaged that potential tool for improvement. Why did you do that? Why do you insist that you’re our advocate amongst the staff on this issue? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/211 "2014-10-03T20:17:53Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Okay, well…I just took that part out of that rule thread, since I’m now mod of that forum. Seriously? ---
**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:** [October 3, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/212 "2014-10-03T20:22:35Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Okay, well…I just took that part out of that rule thread, since I’m now mod of that forum. I can only imagine you did this in order to make the problem so bad that the other moderators are forced to address it. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/213 "2014-10-03T20:24:29Z")
At some point I think we’re being toyed with. Edit: And by “we”, I mean people who are honestly doing their best to make this board the best place it can be. The lowest of the low. I shudder to think what needs to happen for this to actually get on the radar as a problem that needs to be addressed, if it isn’t obvious now. I’m thinking Robocop style Detroit perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/214 "2014-10-03T20:25:58Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > I’d like to add (but the edit window will have closed by the time I’m done) all of you who are miffed that the thread-based games make it difficult to find your discussion threads: Imagine that the first page of the forum was 70% discussion threads and a bunch of thread-game loving Dopers complained that they couldn’t find the cool thread-game threads because you Discussers were taking over the forum. When the tglDopers propose that discussion threads belong in a different forum, how would you feel? The SDMB is a discussion board, not a game board. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/215 "2014-10-03T20:26:13Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > So I want to make this clear: MPSIMS, the thread created for mundane pointless frivolous stuff, has a standard that keeps excessively pointless stuff from being put in their forum. Even our lowest forum, in terms of discussion requirements, cannot withstand the utter inanity of threads like ABCD, One Word, and Free Association. Actually, it’s more like: Those are games, and they belong in the Game Room, not MPSIMS. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > … Really? Okay, could you give us a hypothetical example of some content that wouldn’t qualify? I already did in the same post you’re quoting. Here it is: > [@](#): > > Even in the Game Room, if you just posted a “Post Padding Party” it might get shut down as not really being a game. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > You should’ve kept games, sports, and related discussion in café society then. Thread games and discussions are simply not the same kind of content. This is immediately obvious to pretty much everything. Threads on sports, video games, RPGs, a myriad of topics have nothing at all in common with ABCD, free association, one word, count to infinity. They aren’t the same topic. They aren’t the same kind of topic. They do not cross-pollinate or mesh together. I’m not really sure why you’re telling me this, other than because I’m the current mod of that forum. The Game Room (and the decisions of what kind of topics to put in there–which seems to be what you’re talking about here) was created before I was a mod. > [@armedmonkey](#): > > No. It’s not. That’s what you are not getting. This is the first time I’ve ever said this, but, you need to step down as moderator. You’re just not good at it. You’re a nice enough guy, but the Game Room has become a mess. > > sorry. I fixed your coding. > [@Kiros](#): > > … so the main result of this thread is going to be that, when reminded about the one rule to reign in the most egregious of we’ll-call-them-games-even-though-by-no-reasonable-definition-are-they-games post padding threads, it was promptly deleted by fiat? Between the sentiments and the flippancy of how it was done, at best, this looks terrible. I deleted it because it no longer applies to that forum. Most games will look like post padding topics, because game threads are mostly to play games in and not have long discussions in. I kept, if you’ll notice, the first part of the rule, which says: The topic in question must have rules and a theme. This makes it different from a pointless thread. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/216 "2014-10-03T20:27:38Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I fixed your coding. Everything else aside: well played. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/217 "2014-10-03T20:35:09Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Okay, well…I just took that part out of that rule thread, since I’m now mod of that forum. I’m curious about protocol here. Can one mod change the rules of a forum without passing it by the committee of mods? If cosmetic changes to the title of a thread required approval by all the mods, twice in this case, then it seems like a changes in the rules of a forum would require the same kind of committee mod approval. What’s the rationale for allowing one type of change without committee approval but not the other? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/218 "2014-10-03T20:35:11Z")
FWIW, if the rules for a forum aren’t matching how it’s actually been moderated for a long time, I do think it makes more sense to make the rules reflect the moderation rather than vice-versa. And to be totally irritating and patronizing, if folks can set aside personal feelings about moderators and stick entirely to dispassionate arguments, I suspect ultimately those arguments will stand a better chance. The mods really have all the power here; antagonizing them is not something you should do unless you’re absolutely convinced there’s no chance they’ll listen to you. At which point, I recommend comparing them to trapeze artists with wardrobe malfunctions. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/219 "2014-10-03T20:36:20Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Okay, well…I just took that part out of that rule thread, since I’m now mod of that forum. What the fuck? Seriously? Worst moderation ever. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060/220 "2014-10-03T20:36:51Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I fixed your coding. My coding was fine. Scroll up and read it again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-move-thread-games-back-to-mpsims-where-theyre-a-better-fit/700060.md?page=12)