Game threads, and discussion of game threads are getting shut down left and right, and it’s unfortunate that we’re left to go elsewhere.
Can we just have a game forum and be done with it? Things move at a glacial pace around here but really…
Seconded. 
What game threads are you talking about? I think there are a couple open within the last week in Cafe Society. Have I missed something?
Until a Moderator or Administrator shows up to provide better information. I PM’d TubaDiva about this recently, she was kind enough to give me a little information. She did not ask me to keep it to myself, so I hope this is okay to relay.
Briefly, a Sports and Games Forum is under discussion, but currently the Administrators are concerned with resolving whatever underlying problems are existing that was causing the search related board outages. Once they have resolved this issue, they will seriously consider the idea of adding a forum. The good news is that it appears to be a real possibility. In the recent past, the idea was rejected. Therefore, progress is being made for us Sports and Games dopers.
I hope that this will happen, I think there is more than enough interest to justify the new forum and with the new server, it should be able to handle the demand. I hope a resolution to the database issues will be found and I of course realize this is not Jerry’s #1 priority.
Jim {My post was at least half disclaimer wasn’t it?}
In MPSIMS, there’s a Werewolf and two Mafia games plus the peanut-gallery threads for each game. I revived a thread discussing the two active Diplomacy games, and it got locked. The “Outrageous Lies” thread is, I think, still going strong. Just wait a week, and a few other game threads will probably try to get started.
I understand, now. You are talking about threads that themselves are games, or which are related to an ongoing thread-embedded game.
On what basis would such a thread be closed? That is, what rule of the Board do they violate? 
Mods option. Recently a mod* went through and closed a bunch of active game threads on the reasoning that there were too many game threads in MPSIMS.
Here is the Pit thread asking for more information from the Mod. Please look at his reply.
Post 27 & 29 has more info.
Note post 32 mentioning the possibility of a games forum.
Franks post #40 allows that the forum would be Sports and Games.
Jim
- Skipmagic
Just to nitpick, there are three active Diplomacy games. We’re just a really sneaky and quiet lot in the third game.
Lots of stuff is being discussed behind the scenes, including a “Games forum” that would include both playing of games, and discussion of games and sports. We’re thinking through the pros and cons, we’re glad for input; one big question mark is whether this would attract droves of teenaged-nerd-gameplayers who do nothing else. A related question is how much server time such games might slurp up.
You say that like it’s bad thing.
I’m just curious, but besides not acting like jerks and coughing up money, is there something specific that you hope that the members of SDMB will do?
I don’t think this will happen however, because I think the forums attract Cecil Adam fans more than they attract fans of the forums themselves.
Another question I have is whether an new forum will mean more games will be allowed to be played at one time. If not then I don’t really see a point, I really don’t mind seeing games in MPSIMS.
I think teenaged-nerd-gameplayers go to other sites devoted to teenaged-nerd-games, you will mostly get ex-teenaged-nerd-gamers and sports fanatics in the new forum.
Considering we actually have some very high-quality Baseball & Football discussions and we appear to the ability to include cricket, it might pull in some more smart sports fans willing to fork over the membership fee for a place to talk sports without moronic trash talk.
Of course that is all just my opinion,
Jim {Of course I am both a sports fanatic and an ex-teenaged-nerd-gameplayer}
I admit to being a little irritated about the closing of the Diplomacy thread. I’ve been hosting Diplomacy games on my own server for SDMB players using my own bandwidth. The one in question had been in play for more than 4.5 months with approximately one page per month worth of postings for strategy, bickering and such. That’s hardly a huge waste of resources, in my opinion.
In face, let’s check…
Diplomacy Thread (locked): 137 days, 152 posts = 1.1 posts per day
Werewolf Thread (open as of this post): 53 days, 3947 posts = 74.47 posts per day
Backseat Hitman (open as of this post): 52 days, 604 posts = 11.61 posts per day
Which of these things is not like the others?
And, also, the Diplomacy thread repped three active games and appeared to be closed at a whim.
Just chiming in to state that I support Johnathan Chance.
Diplomacy is unique in a lot of ways, and the game is not actually being played via the SDMB at all. We’re just using the SDMB as a way to taunt each other, and to allow other dip players to laugh at me.
Dex: In the meantime, perhaps we could encourage mods not to lock these threads in an arbitrary fashion? One of the few valid complaints about a message board is inconsistency among moderator decisions. If there is a specific rule being violated, fine; otherwise, in the absence of either an abuse of the system or a temporary decision banning all such threads, it would seem that they should be allowed.
One of the issues with which we’re wrestling is that MPSIMS is not a game forum, and is not meant to be a game forum; in light of that, the question is how many games do we allow at any given time? We could open the gates and allow as many as people want to come up with, but the truth is that some of the games are pretty silly and are, essentially, post-padding; also, game threads take up more than their fair share of server resources and front page real estate–they tend to push down those threads that are MPSIMS material.
We could ban all the game threads, but I doubt that’d make people happy; so, we close the threads that have gone on for months, or have no real ending, or are being kept alive by the same few people, or some combination of all the above. We probably don’t notice all the game threads and, thus, some are left alone and are seen as not being treated equally, but we try to draw the line as fairly as possible.
That said, Cajun Man and I do need to work out a revision of the game sticky in MPSIMS to bring it up-to-date; however, we’re holding off until a final decision is made about the game forum.
Also, I’ve re-opened the Diplomacy thread–the reasons for doing so being given in my post there.
Dammit, Skip! I worked for an hour compiling data for this post I’ve just had to edit out of existence!
Figures, dunnit?
Hey, if I can get you to waste your time, my job as a message board moderator is done.
Let me be another person who is annoyed by the arbitrainess of these decisions. I can live with a policy forbidding game threads and a policy allowing game threads. But I don’t like the existing policy which appears to be “whatever game threads the moderators feel like”.
I don’t start many game threads. But I did start one two years ago. It wasn’t anything that was overwhelming the board. And it had a built-in ending. But one of the moderators decided, after the thread had been running for two weeks, to close it about four hours before it would have ended anyway. His only explanation was that he had decided that day that there were too many game threads going on. Fine, but was there a reason he couldn’t have just waited a few hours and let that one end on its own rather than close it down right before its final results could be posted? It was like he had waited until he had the opportunity to use his authority in the most punitive fashion.
Well, I’m certainly not saying it didn’t happen, but a quick search of threads you started in MPSIMS (or Cafe Society-I checked just in case) didn’t show a closed game thread (which probably means that particular thread has been purged). So, I can’t speak for why the thread was closed so close to the end, but I know that I try not to close games that have a definite, recognizable end.
If I make a mistake, anyone is welcome to shoot me an e-mail or PM asking for the thread to be re-opened and explaining the reason(s) why. I’ve no problem re-opening a game thread in that case.
You heard it here first!