A modest proposal for boards.ie

The Pontiac

Melange wrote: »

Yep, that's exactly what I'm proposing. The problem with the argument that forums already exist for the different topics you'd see on AH is that it misses the point that AH is like a grand meeting place for anything and everything - which is arguably its greatest strength. What I'd like to see is an intelligent and mature version of that.

That's exactly why it's a grand meeting place, nobody wants to take anything too serious.

Anyway, lots of fairly serious topics discussed on AH in the last week....

There's hundreds of other forums on boards if you want to be with fellow 'intellectuals' and 'mature' persons, i.e. if you want to get bored off your tits.

kumate_champ07

if fag is a bad word why does it not appear like this **** ?

liah

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

if fag is a bad word why does it not appear like this **** ?

Don't know, those things can kill ya.

entropi

Looking for somewhere the AH regulars wont turn a decent thread into pure sh*t or a good laugh? Is that not where everything else goes on boards? (does not include TCN or Prison:P)

4zn76tysfajdxp

liah wrote: »

Sorry! I just hate going to threads about a child getting molested or something and people are going mad over puns. Otherwise I don't mind them, but.. some things should just not be punified! :pac:

I don't know, I think people tend to have enough common sense in here to know whether or not a pun is acceptable. Personally, I certainly haven't seen any in thread where they're offensive, yet.

liah

I've seen threads where it's been very tasteless, at least in my view, which is that cruelty to children and animals are off limits. But, that's just my view. By no means should it apply to anyone, and I just ignore those threads because I hate, hate, HATE seeing someone make a pun just to get lulz after reading a horrible story about a child being raped or abused.. just makes me feel dirty. And I have seen threads like that here. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

marcsignal

Melange wrote: »

What I propose is that an alternative AH forum is set up ...............

Thoughts? I'm sure I'll get pilloried for this, but it was worth trying.

myself and a group of friends meet in a beer garden from time to time, we'd love you to come and speak for us:)

i'm in :pac:

kumate_champ07

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

if fag is a bad word why does it not appear like this **** ?

'coz most prople smoke 'em, not fuck 'em :pac:

I used to think that AH should be split into serious and not so serious sections but, I now think that the variaty makes it what it is.

Anyway it's good to post (****) from time to time

Ponster

Is this what you're talking about OP ?

3qsmavrod5twfe

easyeason3 wrote: »

My uptake on AH

Uptake.

*snigger*

dr.bollocko

liah wrote: »

To be honest, if you just made a sub-forum of AH where the topic headlines could be duped and all the "punny" folk could go and get the puns out of the way and keep them out of the main thread, you'd have a perfect system.

Actually, just remove the puns from AH and already it'd be 80% better. Make a damn pun forum ffs! :pac:

No. No sub-forums. Everyone's answer is always to create sub forums and now we have ruined music by doing that. Needless sub-fora destroy good discussion.

Gummy Panda wrote: »

STOP TRYING TO CHANGE AH!

Thank you.

/remdmbers good aul days of Dudess, Julep and Karoma (who hated us all)

I hate you all.

liah wrote: »

Sorry! I just hate going to threads about a child getting molested or something and people are going mad over puns. Otherwise I don't mind them, but.. some things should just not be punified! :pac:

Report the posts. All of them. I need an excuse to ban people. Quarterly quotas need to be fulfilled.

themadchef

Christ are we getting old or what?

Looking for a different type of AH is like changing your local, i'm comfy here thanks very much. Like the local, i can laugh at the muppets and hope the door men do thier job when the scangers come in.

Dear God don't do it.

Dyr

What I'd like is some way of knowing if a thread has been started by some noob with less than a year under their belts so I can ignore it.

kthxbi

Sharpshooter

I don't think the OP wanted to change AHs though chef.
He basicially wanted a similar forum for the topics he see's here where he can have serious discussion.

That's just my take on it.
I would hate AHs to change in the same way I hate to see clouds on a sunny day.

Quazzie

Sharpshooter wrote: »

I don't think the OP wanted to change AHs though chef.
He basicially wanted a similar forum for the topics he see's here where he can have serious discussion.

That's just my take on it.
I would hate AHs to change in the same way I hate to see clouds on a sunny day.

But taking out any serious topics that do survive would kill it and eventually it'd have to be merged with TCN.

Its the mix of serious, stupid, funny etc that makes AH what it is. Its the very fact that it contains bit of everything is the reason its the most popular forum on Boards. Subsectioning certain topics would ruin it. The mods do their job to keep it to what it is, a finely tuned machine of chaotic chatter.

easyeason3

Kaelyn Clean Caterpillar wrote: »

Uptake.

*snigger*

Care to explain the *snigger*?

themadchef

Sharpshooter wrote: »

I don't think the OP wanted to change AHs though chef.
He basicially wanted a similar forum for the topics he see's here where he can have serious discussion.

But, but, but....

Isint this place full of "serious debate" places already? AH is...well, AH? Why in Gods name should we start taking ouselves seriously now. We can have civilised, serious and funny all in the one place. We just need to pull the trigger on muppet posts.

Really don't see the point. Just take your "this thread is too serious, and i can't handle the piss takers" somewhere appropriate.

Sharpshooter

Quazzie wrote: »

But taking out any serious topics that do survive would kill it and eventually it'd have to be merged with TCN.

He wasn't asking for the topics to be moved though imo.
Just a similar more serious forum on those topics.
/I know I'm not explaining it very well.

Maybe the OP will when he comes back to the thread.

Queen-Mise

the trolling and puerile (sp?) does get annoying though.

You see sometimes discussion being lost in spamming type posting.

Its hard to keep a serious discussion going through two pages of tripe though.

But then i also love the humour and puns of after hours.

Queen-Mise

if it is a modest proposal - should we not be arguing to eat the muppets to solve the problem.

Would cannibalism be a step too far for AH's :-):-)

Quazzie

Sharpshooter wrote: »

He wasn't asking for the topics to be moved though imo.
Just a similar more serious forum on those topics.
/I know I'm not explaining it very well.

Maybe the OP will when he comes back to the thread.

I know what you are trying to say, There should be a subforum called 'After Hours - Serious' or something similar, and I agree to a certain extent, but I think that would leave AH with less posters willing to contribute in a serious way, and thats what would kill AH.

Most topics here have serious forums for 'proper' discussions but AH is the only place on Boards where people can come with a question, get it answered and find out hows its the Roma gypsies fault.

Some posts that are appropriate take a serious tone and tends to, (with moderators help) stay that way, but there are others that were never meant to be serious and its the mix that is the magic.

Please people stop trying to kill AH by dissection.

Capt'n Midnight

Perhaps have a mod or baeyseian filter that moves threads based on keywords / phrases and drops them into TCN ?

General Zod

AH is fine as it is.

I used to have an account on this around 2002/2003 that I didn't really use much and in the end forgot the password, but AH actually USED to be just a place to discuss everything that wasn't full of muppetry.

This seems to be a new phenomenon really where everyone tries to out-dick each other in their attempts to be funny.


I guess it's like everything - the more members/popular a site gets the more it'll attract the LCD.

Zascar

OP - I 100% agree with you, and so do many others - this very topic has been done to death many many times - see the 17 page thread on "How can we improve after hours" where many people argued to the hills that a change is needed to try to separate the decent discussion from the idiotic bullcrap. It's not going to happen. The boards.ie Gods like it the way it is - full of nonsense and childish jokes - and they are petrified of any type of change.

javaboy

Zascar wrote: »

OP - I 100% agree with you, and so do many others - this very topic has been done to death many many times - see the 17 page thread on "How can we improve after hours" where many people agrued to the hills that a change is needed to try to seperate the decent discussion from the idiotic bullcrap. It's not going to happen. The baords.ie Gods like it the way it is - full of nonsense and childish jokes - and they are petrified of any type of change.

It's up to the users to change things. Mods/admins can only do so much. If we were to start dishing out bans and infractions for people who tried to make jokes, we'd have far more complaints on our hands.

Quazzie

Zascar wrote: »

OP - I 100% agree with you, and so do many others - this very topic has been done to death many many times - see the 17 page thread on "How can we improve after hours" where many people agrued to the hills that a change is needed to try to seperate the decent discussion from the idiotic bullcrap. It's not going to happen. The baords.ie Gods like it the way it is - full of nonsense and childish jokes - and they are petrified of any type of change.

Can you point out the "many people" that argues for the changes.

Also who are you referring to as the "baords.ie Gods"? Devore? Cloud? regi? or is that a snide made at the mods of AH?

General Zod

The AH mods have a huge amount of work moderating the busiest forum in the busiest board in Ireland. AH does have a slightly laisez-faire attitude (within the scope of the rules, of course) and in order to make the changes you feel are necessary would basically involve a huge amount of time and effort, not to mention the impact it would have on the "feel" of AH. AH isn't terrible, in fact it's one of the best fora on Boards. Serious discussion can still happen, and does happen, and IMO is actually helped by the "stupider" posts. If you can't look at a situation and try and see all aspects of it, you're denying yourself scope to think. There's other fora for "serious business", AH is a unique look at the issues that arise in the day to day lives of Irish society, be it unemployment or what biscuit is best to have with a cup of tea the morning after a rake load of beer. in AH, both these issues are delt with on an equal level and IMO that's what makes AH great.

Professey Chin

General Zod wrote: »

The AH mods have a huge amount of work moderating the busiest forum in the busiest board in Ireland. AH does have a slightly laisez-faire attitude (within the scope of the rules, of course) and in order to make the changes you feel are necessary would basically involve a huge amount of time and effort, not to mention the impact it would have on the "feel" of AH. AH isn't terrible, in fact it's one of the best fora on Boards. Serious discussion can still happen, and does happen, and IMO is actually helped by the "stupider" posts. If you can't look at a situation and try and see all aspects of it, you're denying yourself scope to think. There's other fora for "serious business", AH is a unique look at the issues that arise in the day to day lives of Irish society, be it unemployment or what biscuit is best to have with a cup of tea the morning after a rake load of beer. in AH, both these issues are delt with on an equal level and IMO that's what makes AH great.

Youre making more sense then I feel comfortable reading on the interwebs:eek:

stovelid

Melange wrote: »

IWhat I propose is that an alternative AH forum is set up - an AH in which topics of all kind can be rationally, intelligently and thoughtfully discussed, and in which the typical rubbish of "yore ma", "Irish women are pigs" and "I hate dem Brits" is not tolerated.

It wouldn't do to throw out the baby with the bathwater though. The thread motifs that you cite are annoying, but I wouldn't want to see AH reduced to a humanities forum, of which one exists already.

Also, the most interesting threads can sometimes stem from the most inauspicious and inane starts. The idea of an AH where 'rationally, intelligently and thoughtfully' discussed threads were enforced would bore the sh&t out of me; the idea of an AH where 'rationally, intelligently and thoughtfully' discussed threads often emerge despite the scatology is great, and it's what already exists.

There is already an effective method of avoiding threads you don't like: ignore them

General Zod

Ultimate Chin wrote: »

Youre making more sense then I feel comfortable reading on the interwebs:eek:

If you want I can expand to great lenghts why Prince was actually talking about the Y2K bug when he wrote "1999" and not Nuclear war.

Afctually, that will be something to discuss at the AH beers.

togster

Depends on the subject of the thread. There was a thread about hunting not so long ago and it was free for the most part of trolling etc.

I fail to see how some threads can be debated in a "sensible" fashion.

tbh

It's really a tough one because while I appreciate that both types of posting have their place, some people will insist on being serious in what is intended as a light-hearted thread, and others will insist on cracking jokes in a more sombre thread. It'd be great if people could just engage with the posts they find interesting, and just ignore the posts they don't (if you think someone is behaving inappropriately, for example). that way, the tone would be dictated by the most regular posters in that thread.

The mods hands are kind of tied as well because for all the other forums, there's usually one off-topic thread, where you just have to watch for people sniping at each other from time to time, but the line is much more black and white so the call is way easier. Fair enough, there are a lot of AH mods and while I'm sure they are all in regular contact, they are still removed from each other and so it's inevitable that there's sometimes inconsistency in the way threads are handled. I'd have sympathy the odd time when someone gets slapped for something, that, in another thread might have gone unnoticed, but Ah runs grand 99% of the time, and I think that's more than could be reasonably expected.

anyway, in summary, if you don't like the content, then just generate more of the stuff you like, and filter the stuff you don't.

Zascar

I truely just don't understand why the powers that be are just so against the idea, and are perfectly happy that the biggest, most popular and prominent forum o the site, containts mostly complete and utter b0llocks.

Call me what u want but if I ran a forum like this I'd put up with a certain amount of it in parts, but for the most part I'd be aiming for higher quality.

My name is URL

Zascar wrote: »

I truely just don't understand why the powers that be are just so against the idea, and are perfectly happy that the biggest, most popular and prominent forum o the site, containts mostly complete and utter b0llocks.

Call me what u want but if I ran a forum like this I'd put up with a certain amount of it in parts, but for the most part I'd be aiming for higher quality.

Surely that's one of the main reasons that AH is so popular..? It's escapism at its finest.

stovelid

Zascar wrote: »

I truely just don't understand why the powers that be are just so against the idea, and are perfectly happy that the biggest, most popular and prominent forum o the site, containts mostly complete and utter b0llocks.

Maybe they accept the possibility that it just may be the 'biggest, most popular and prominent forum' precisely because it contains 'mostly complete and utter b0llocks'.

The most popular forums on the site seem to be ones like AH or soccer, both of which are sure to bring on an attack of arched eyebrow from the average 'thinking poster'.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Who summoned this from the pits of hell??? O.o

K-9

Zascar wrote: »

I truely just don't understand why the powers that be are just so against the idea, and are perfectly happy that the biggest, most popular and prominent forum o the site, containts mostly complete and utter b0llocks.

Probably because it's so popular.

Zascar wrote:

Call me what u want but if I ran a forum like this I'd put up with a certain amount of it in parts, but for the most part I'd be aiming for higher quality.

There are existing fora if you want a more serious or reasoned debate. That isn't to say you can't have one on AH. You can, if you ignore the silly posts and engage with the serious ones.

Quazzie

Why ruin AH by leaving it as just a cesspool of trolls and idiots. If the forums keep getting subdivided like they are it'll ruin the whole site.

Part of the appeal of AH i the diversity and the broad spectrum of user. Why ruin tha for a Humanities II forum?

galwayrush

It's very easy to ignore threads and posts that we may not like and just as easy to report the ones that offend.:rolleyes:

dr.bollocko

Zascar wrote: »

I truely just don't understand why the powers that be are just so against the idea, and are perfectly happy that the biggest, most popular and prominent forum o the site, containts mostly complete and utter b0llocks.

I would disagree quite strongly with that part. Firstly there is no magical super user that can change a forum's complete content forever. AH is what it is because it is let to flow to a certain extent. More people are probably banned from here than any other forum yet the rules on most things seem pretty clear to everyone. The users and mods interact well and people get what the place is about pretty quickly.
Now lets look at the wording you used.

The biggest most popular and prominent forum on the site.

Your words. Thrown out there without any thought as to what these words mean. This prominence, you presume it happened by accident? Or despite AHness? AH continually changes its rules due to feedback and asks the users what they want and tries to work with those that post to keep the essence of what they like about AH. And guess what, AH is only gaining in popularity day by day. 10% of all boards posts.
So this:

containts mostly complete and utter b0llocks.

is an opinion I am inclined to completely ignore because neither stats nor the users we ask seem to think that. So that is a load of elitist crap. A well ground axe. An adage I am sick of hearing and even more fed up of trying to argue against.

Call me what u want but if I ran a forum like this I'd put up with a certain amount of it in parts, but for the most part I'd be aiming for higher quality.

Higher quality of what? AH seems to have the broadest appeal on boards from what I can see. It also appears to have the most users and be the most popular forum on boards.
Now you can ask everyone to take off their shoes and not spill the cognac all you want but all you'll get in the end is an empty forum that used to be cool once with a few people talking about the weather. The reason why AH is so popular is precisely because certain things are let go that wouldn't be let in other forums. Because there are enough posters to keep threads interesting. Because unlike many other forums, instead of sub-dividing it to ruination at every users whim people have persevered, took it by the throat and really tried to keep as many people happy as possible. Sub-division, 90% of the time is pointless, does more harm than good, confuses things and pisses off everyone.

After Hours has a bad reputation going back years before I got here.
That fact is inescapable. The perception of AH amongst many older users, mods etc. is dirt and has been for a long time. There are numerous reasons for this.
It appears to have a rep for Paedo jokes (We get rid of them everywhere we see them. People get banned for posting them.) Stupid memes (Yore ma is dead) misogynist sentiment (again, also clamped down on) and racist posting (also not acceptable.)
Controversy is courted by certain threads and because we are talking about current affairs plenty of the moderation is re-active rather than pro-active mired in shades of grey where 50% of users are delighted and the other 50% vocally incredibly pissed off. But to say that most of the content is utter bollocks. Well.
That's just utter utter bollocks bordering on a cheap shot IMO.

orestes

Zascar wrote: »

I truely just don't understand why the powers that be are just so against the idea, and are perfectly happy that the biggest, most popular and prominent forum o the site, containts mostly complete and utter b0llocks.

Oddly enough I think that might be the very reason it's so popular, it's Irishness at it's finest

Diabhal Beag

orestes wrote: »

Oddly enough I think that might be the very reason it's so popular, it's Irishness at it's finest

Sans farmer's tan

Quazzie

dr.bollocko wrote: »

*text missing*

And that folks is why he was made AH mod:D

Wertz

AH in as long as I've been here has been a melting pot for users from across the forum and I assume it was like that before I ever got here. I've been a member of other off-topic forums in the past and they all fair out like this one, threads on subjects from the benign to the nonsensical, filled with smart arse remarks, intelligent tidbits, trollish crap and al manner of stuff.

It's that nature which appeals and makes it more popular...it's like wandering into a big room full of people of all ages and from differing backgrounds/places, all with their own little take on what's being discussed, all with maybe something funny or sensible to say or sometimes with nonsense to blather on about, all being able to hear and be heard (in so far as it falls within the rules of posting).

I fequent a few other forums on here, but you won't get away with saying half the sh*t on there that you would here...take for instance politics; we've had at least 3 politically toned threads on AH today...had they been posted in politics, they'd be long closed by now (or moved over here :pac: ) and there'd be a few people waiting out a 3 day ban...and probably rightly so. Any member here is entitled to have a view on something serious like politics, or something nonsensical like Planes colliding with lawnmowers...it's where that actual view and the resultant post fits in...those with a passing interest or a cynical view on politics would probably do well to stay out of the super serious and strictly modded forum...so where do they go to air their views, albeit perhaps half-cocked or misinformed views.
Similarly there's an Aviation & Aircraft forum...undoubtedly there's a thread on there about the near miss with the ride on mower too...but I'll guarantee you it's not full of crappy puns and thanks whores...but yet, the story is in the news and people that have little or no interest in aircraft or airport safety procedures are entitled to discuss it somewhere.

Personally I like the laidback feel to the place, I like that there's a place I can come on and have a semi-serious discussion whilst in the very next thread I can poke fun at another poster/their post, make a snide semi-trollish remark or just post nonsense, all whilst managing not to get banned or have my post edited because I'm off topic/not being serious/not contrbuting in apositive way; something which can and does happen in some of the more serious forums on here.
The OP is just going to have to learn how to filter out the sh*te, get to grips with the ignore user feature or move on...

dylano_k

I think OP might be better off creating BH(before hours) where they can talk about barney the dinosaur and finger painting:D

Gummy Panda

hmm... the title of this thread has bothered me for some time. It reminds me of someone. "A modest proposal for boards.ie" sounds like something Enda Kenny would say if he posted here :eek:

Therefore the OP is infact Enda Kenny who is really a lizard!!

Professey Chin

Quazzie wrote: »

And that folks is why he was made AH mod:D

It wasnt those photos he "mysteriously" came across?

Zascar

Gummy Panda wrote: »

hmm... the title of this thread has bothered me for some time. It reminds me of someone. "A modest proposal for boards.ie" sounds like something Enda Kenny would say if he posted here :eek:

Therefore the OP is infact Enda Kenny who is really a lizard!!

Great Post!

K-9

Funnily enough the thread on AH about the Criminal Justice Bill is a relatively decent, mature discussion.

The one that was moved from Politics was and is, a train wreck.

Go figure!