# Please Ease Up on OT Posting



## EricNoah (Jul 4, 2003)

Hi folks!  

Off-topic posting, now and then, is a normal and expected (and often fun) part of the EN World experience.  It is now time, however, for our semi-annual "ease up on the OT posts" post.  So ... here it is!  

Guidelines for OT Posting (I'm pulling these outta the air, I may think of more )

1)  When you're considering posting an OT post here in General, take a look at the topic list and do some counting.  If you can see more than 4 or 5 or so OT posts, please hold off unless it's a quick question/comment that can be easily resolved.  

2)  General is the only forum where you should be posting off-topic stuff.  What's off-topic for General is really, really off-topic for Rules or Plots & Places, etc.  

3)  Check the other forums -- sometimes what seems like an OT post actually would be on topic in the right forum.  Meta and Movies/TV are two examples of forums that actually developed because they are a type of OT post that actually have a home here.

4) We're always happy to see birthday or birth announcement or "I'm getting married" type posts, but don't be offended if we move them to somewhere like Meta after a bit of celebration has taken place.  

5) Label your OT posts as such -- helps people not waste their time if they're not interested.  In the same vein, keep in mind that General RPG is for all RPG-related conversation -- it's not OT to discuss non-D&D RPGs etc. in General.  

That's all I have for now.  Let's let a few of the current OT threads disappear before starting up new ones.  Thanks!


----------



## Thaumaturge (Jul 4, 2003)

OT was nerfed!


Someone had to say it.

*sigh*


Thaumaturge.


----------



## blackshirt5 (Jul 4, 2003)

Doesn't this belong in Meta?  I hope a mod comes along to move this soon, otherwise people'll start complaining about the blatant favoritism towards this guy.  I mean who the hell is EN, anyway?  It's not like the site is named after him!

Oh wait...


----------



## Angcuru (Jul 4, 2003)

blackshirt5 said:
			
		

> *Oh wait... *



Lets not go down that path again....


----------



## blackshirt5 (Jul 4, 2003)

Hey, you were the one who went down that road more than me.

BLACKSHIRT AND ANGCURU!

A pair of teenaged superheroes with the amazing ability to derail ANY board post!  Even one of Eric Noah's!

TREMBLE!!!!


----------



## Angcuru (Jul 4, 2003)

*Slaps forehead.*
I"m gonna go get something to eat.

I think things should stay the way they are, EN, but we should put up a sort of unwritten rule.  Y'know, like one hivemind thread at a time.  Only so many OT threads at a time.


----------



## randomling (Jul 4, 2003)

I hate to say it Angc... but wouldn't that actually have to be written down for people to know about it? (I mean, I don't want to phone up 12,000 people just to tell 'em about it! )


----------



## Angcuru (Jul 4, 2003)

you got a point there.  so we'll only write it ONCE.


----------



## randomling (Jul 4, 2003)

Fine by me!


----------



## Lela (Jul 5, 2003)

Everyone, thanks for reminding me why I come here.

You're all even more insane than I am.  Espeacally that EN guy.


----------



## MEG Hal (Jul 5, 2003)

randomling said:
			
		

> *I hate to say it Angc... but wouldn't that actually have to be written down for people to know about it? (I mean, I don't want to phone up 12,000 people just to tell 'em about it! ) *




I am waiting for my call...
*taps fingers*
I am not going out for the holiday, just so I do not miss my call.
*still waiting*


----------



## William Ronald (Jul 5, 2003)

Perhaps another guideline would be whether or not the subject is something that might benefit someone's game or gamers in general.  For example, the recent thread on that strange animal carcass that washed ashore in Chile made me think of Call of Cthulhu.  A lot of the off topic subjects seem to have little to do with the general theme (gaming) of these boards.

Of course, for political discourse there are many places to go.  You might want to try Church and State on Nutkinland.


----------



## Eternalknight (Jul 5, 2003)

People can always just come into the biggest OT thread of all, the Hivemind....  c'mon, we don't bite....


----------



## robaustin (Jul 5, 2003)

How about a separate "Off Topic" Forum.  Lots of other boards do this, the off topic is a hang out place to talk about anything BUT the board's main purpose- which is what GENERAL seems to have almost become.  Shouldn't we be deadling with D20 STUFF IN GENERAL on general board, rather then OT stuff?

--*Rob


----------



## Dinkeldog (Jul 5, 2003)

William Ronald said:
			
		

> *Perhaps another guideline would be whether or not the subject is something that might benefit someone's game or gamers in general.  For example, the recent thread on that strange animal carcass that washed ashore in Chile made me think of Call of Cthulhu.  A lot of the off topic subjects seem to have little to do with the general theme (gaming) of these boards.
> *




Plots and Places.


----------



## Dinkeldog (Jul 5, 2003)

robaustin said:
			
		

> *How about a separate "Off Topic" Forum.  Lots of other boards do this, the off topic is a hang out place to talk about anything BUT the board's main purpose- which is what GENERAL seems to have almost become.  Shouldn't we be deadling with D20 STUFF IN GENERAL on general board, rather then OT stuff?
> 
> --*Rob *




Please go to Meta and check the thread on that topic.  The short answer is the subject comes up and the answer is always "no".  The rationale is in the Meta thread.


----------



## The_Gneech (Jul 5, 2003)

Thaumaturge said:
			
		

> *OT was nerfed!
> 
> 
> Someone had to say it.
> ...




Yeah ... "OT posts got the shaft" is _so_ 2001...

   -The Gneech


----------



## BVB (Jul 5, 2003)

This thread absolutely positively without a doubt needs to be moved to the Meta forum. I've never seen a more blatant disregard for specific forum purposes. This is obviously a thread that discusses other thread topics -- i.e. "meta." I can point to at least a zillion other examples of threads like this that were moved within seconds after initial posting. 

... But not this one.

Hey, D.Dawg, why haven't you moved this thread yet?


----------



## William Ronald (Jul 6, 2003)

> Originally posted by Dinkeldog:
> 
> 
> quote:
> ...




Perhaps it might be a good idea to stress that such items might best go in Plots and Places.  A lot of the OT subjects might be better off in that forum. The problem now would be getting the word out to the community.  Hmm, maybe a tag line.

"If it's real, put it in Plots and Places.  That's the deal."  

Okay, not too catchy but I don't work at an advertising agency.


----------



## Lela (Jul 6, 2003)

William Ronald said:
			
		

> *
> 
> "If it's real, put it in Plots and Places.  That's the deal."
> 
> Okay, not too catchy but I don't work at an advertising agency. *




I liked it.  We should go with that.

(It's got my vote.)


----------



## EricNoah (Jul 6, 2003)

Thanks, everyone!  As this is a somewhat cyclical thing (the number of OT threads in general) I'm gonna move this over to Meta for safe keeping so I can dig it up again  in a few months if we need it.


----------

