Other Topics: Yay or Nay?

[hornist 1,261]

Yay!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

I think you're disappointed it wasn't a party with Ren. That's ok but impractical.

Finally someone who understands me here! Jesus Christ!

[Uni 307]

It has been, and ever shall be Uni-Bomber.

I . . . don't think so.

My full name is Entish, so it takes a couple of days to pronounce it properly. It's acceptable to use different sections of it at different times, depending on either my own or the speaker's mood. For instance, on days when I'm feeling a bit hyper, it's Unihemidemisemiquaver.

- Uni

[gkgyver 1,647]

What's this discussion about?

John Williams is for John Williams, General Discussion for other scores and films, and Other Topics for EVERYTHING else.

If there is a forum that it superfluous, it's the review section.

[Ollie 1,375]

I think you're disappointed it wasn't a party with Ren. That's ok but impractical.

Finally someone who understands me here! Jesus Christ!

don't I get credit too?

There's a lot of junk in the Off Topic forum but I think it's fine the way it is.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

You and Joe get my unreserved credit and support ( minus Gia worship).

The rest needs to fucking earn my respect.

[Datameister 2,586]

I've never been a huge fan of the General Discussion/John Williams split, but it ultimately doesn't impact me that much - and I'm with those who say that it really has nothing to do with the existence of the Other Topics forum, which continues to be useful.

[KK 3,313]

Since the split, I've lost track of the Williams related posts here, but I suppose thats more my fault.

[Incanus 5,890]

...and I'm with those who say that it really has nothing to do with the existence of the Other Topics forum, which continues to be useful.

Exactly.

[Quintus 6,496]

You and Joe get my unreserved credit and support ( minus Gia worship).The rest needs to fucking earn my respect.

Heil Hitler!

[Incanus 5,890]

Gesundheit!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

Hitler would have agreed with the way Jason rearranged this MB!

[Thor 9,362]

I think 'other topics' always has the potential to be interesting -- especially if there are threads about universal, human issues that all of us can relate to, no matter where we live. The more niche, 'nerd' topics about various films and stuff don't interest me that much.

So yeah, it's well worth having in a separate forum, even though I don't often find threads that interest me enough to contribute. The potential is there.

[Quintus 6,496]

Yeah, the religious and political debate there is always a hive of interesting activity.

[Jay 46,244]

I think there are 2 things people need to understand about separating John Williams discussion out of General Discussion

1. It wasn't JUST my decision. Ricard and I had a lot of discussion about it, and we BOTH agreed it would benefit the site to do so. We came to this decision after carefully weighing the pros and cons together.

2. It wasn't JUST because there were a lot of Tolkien threads one day. That lead to coming up with the idea, yes - but the main reason for the split was that we felt it would lead to more discussion about John Williams related topics than there had been in a while, and we were right! Since the split many threads about some specific Williams related thing get more posts because they stay on the first page of the forum for longer, not getting buried behind a bunch of random topics about all manner of music, movies, and tv. And, many lurkers have come out of the workwork and started contributing great, fantastic discussion about the ins and outs of Williams work and his composing style.

Since a lot of the members who write a lot of posts that would tend to scare off new comers mostly post in GD and OT, they aren't creating havoc in the JW forum and people feel more comfortable there discussing John Williams music without getting annoyed with random side discussion.

It's all working out great!

Now, to the topic at hand - keeping GD and OT separate or merging them.

I think there are 2 main types of people who read JWFan:

1. The regulars who are here all the time and read the majority of all threads and post a lot.

2. The casual readers who pop in from time to time, and like to read about some specific thing while here.

For those second type of readers, I strongly feel that the current setup - JW, GD, and OT - makes the most sense. They can click on the forum that they are most interested in in reading at the moment, and more easily find a thread that interests them because they are separated out in those specific ways.

For us regulars - I have been trying to say that the segregation DOESN'T MATTER! Those of us who are here all the time, it shouldn't even matter what threads are in what subforums. You're doing it wrong if your bookmark is for Page 1 of General Discussion, you should be bookmarking this page:

View New Content

Then every time you visit JWFan you are presented with a nice list of threads - from any subforum - that have posts you have not read. Click the ones you are interested in the most, read them, go back to the View New Content page, open some more, etc. until you have no more threads that you are interested in reading. It's the best!

There is even a filter on the bottom left where you can purposely tell it to leave out certain subforums if you so desire.

So to summarize: Having 3 main forums is for the benefit of the casual JWFanner. And it shouldn't affect the heavy JWFan user, because you can easily find new posts to read if you are willing to embrace the small change of updating your 10 year old bookmark.

If any change should be made, it should perhaps be to re-name the threads in question. Maybe something like this:

General Discussion becomes "Movies, Music, and TV"

Other Topic becomes "Anything Goes"

Thoughts?

[BloodBoal 8,711]

Maybe we should create a "View New Content" subforum...

[Thor 9,362]

I agree with Jason. As someone in his 'second category', I think the current set-up works great. I'm mostly interested in the John Williams section (especially about his older/more obscure/less talked-about topics), and occasionally some off-topic thing about a universal condundrum.

[Brónach 1,330]

I think 'other topics' always has the potential to be interesting -- especially if there are threads about universal, human issues that all of us can relate to, no matter where we live. So yeah, it's well worth having in a separate forum, even though I don't often find threads that interest me enough to contribute. The potential is there.

Hey, if you want to talk about something, feel free to bring it up!

The more niche, 'nerd' topics about various films and stuff don't interest me that much.

Look who's talking.

[Quintus 6,496]

Jason is right. And what I have seen of the JW forum, there is definitely a nice semi-spike of Williams-centric discussion in there, both specialist and more broadly speaking. It's healthy for the board and should continue to be promoted.

The 'Anything Goes' idea though, while great, won't work - since we all know how that isn't actually allowed. But I'm not about to complain about the management's continued desire to restrict/stifle debate on contentious topical debates at the expense of activity and traffic, since, well, it's a waste of time and I for one am not actually bothered about it at this point either way. The board is what it is, and that means it will probably continue to hover somewhere between hustle and bustle highs and graveyard shift lows, the latter of which could potentially be lessened with the slackening of some rules, but never mind about that.

Just the other day I was going to start a thread on North Korea, but immediately remembered the protocol.

[Brónach 1,330]

The protocol is bullshit. If I open a thread questioning Caesar's motives for the invasion of Gaul no one will give a damn.

[gkgyver 1,647]

Frankly, I'm mostly avoiding the JW section since a handful of people started analysing the beejesus out of Williams' music, which reads like WW II cryptography.

And I'm not interested in concerts I can't visit anyway.

[Quintus 6,496]

Still, they have every right and should be encouraged to come to the board from a more analytical angle. But I know what you mean.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

Those threads are a no-fly-zone for me, much like the gaming thread on OT.

[Quintus 6,496]

Yeah I'm the same with anything Star Trek, Doctor Who, and increasingly, The Hobbit. But even though those musicians Williams threads are mostly a foreign language to me, I do still have a quick look for interesting snippets whenever I actually remember to check that part of the website.

[Ollie 1,375]

I don't visit the JW section that much because I'm not that interested in delving into his personal life, I feel I know too much already. I'm not musically trained to engage in certain conversations and I've pretty much said and heaped as much praise on / about John Williams as I can.

I don't know what else I can say.

I've talked about all of his music and really don't feel like repeating it every year.

[KK 3,313]

I actually find the musical discussion in that subforum very interesting. It's just I keep forgetting to check the subforum often and don't take the time to participate as I'd like.

[Thor 9,362]

The list of stuff that does NOT interest me here is very long (or already covered by other film music forums I frequent). However, once in a while there's a gem, and more often than not it's in the John Williams section.

[Brónach 1,330]

, and increasingly, The Hobbit.

Me too.

[Wojo 2,458]

I love TLOTR but I'm beginning to wish PJ had never tackled The Hobbit.

[KK 3,313]

I've been wishing that for a while now. I wish he took a different project.

[Quintus 6,496]

del Toro...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

Only Nixon could go to China

[Brónach 1,330]

del Toro...

William of the Bull is doing a sort of haunted house film now with Cumberbatch and Emma Stone, by the way.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

I say leave it like it is. I never read most of the JW threads when they were in GD anyway so now they're out of my way. OT had some weird stuff that would feel weird next to the more typical fair.

[Hlao-roo 390]

I liked it better when this site was dedicated to illegal MP3 downloads.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,387]

Its why i joined up.

[Naïve Old Fart 13,023]

Keep it. One cannot live by JW, alone.

[BloodBoal 8,711]

You've clearly never met KM.