When Things Get Heated -- An Experiment?

[Reichu]

This is meant to divert CitizenGeek's concern (about his subs/dubs thread being locked needlessly, in his opinion) out of the "group think" thread. There is too much material to quote it all here, so I'll just start off with the post I would have made to the other thread.

...sometimes people get frustrated and annoyed, and sometimes people react in a hostile or aggressive way. It's a fact of life - it happens, it's almost always a knee-jerk reaction and always not intended to be insulting.

This is true, and I'm fully guilty of it.

To go around locking threads where such 'normal' reactions occur is just mechanical, impractical and demostrates a lack of understanding. Well, IMO, anyway.

If it makes any difference, I've locked my own threads when they went out of control. Fufufu...

Some locks are done on account of the thread just being stupid (see e.g. the ork Rei thread) or going irretrievably off-topic, but some are (as we know) performed when people start becoming "unpleasant" and the discussion descends into chaos. But exceptions might occasionally be made for the lock to act as a "cool down" period for whatever "heat" had been stirred up, and after a little while it might be unlocked and given another chance.

Feasibly, we could use your thread to test the concept. But it depends on what the other mods think. 3 out of 4 is majority.

[Ornette]

I'm fine with that, I wasn't the one that moved it to the graveyard.

Another thing I should add. Threads are sometimes split (I was about to split the dogma thread but couldn't find a place to cut off the posts nicely) when the topic goes off but the discussion still had merit (i.e. it wasn't spam), like the van halen thread. Sometimes the spam is just split and sent to the graveyard. But if people continue to post spam, after warnings, after splits, the thread is locked. If someone really wants to continue the discussion, there's no problem creating a new thread, linking to the locked one, and carrying on. One thing that we can't do in phpbb2, is merge 2 threads.

[Reichu]

One thing that we can't do in phpbb2, is merge 2 threads.

Are there any mods for this?

[Mr. Tines]

The mod is called phpBB3

[Sailor Star Dust]

Rachel, thanks for at least giving a heads up on some of the reasons threads were locked. I knew that usually it's because of people taking things too seriously (I've been guilty of that, too.) but I didn't realize sometimes it was just as a cool-down period.

[Reichu]

Rachel, thanks for at least giving a heads up on some of the reasons threads were locked. I knew that usually it's because of people taking things too seriously (I've been guilty of that, too.) but I didn't realize sometimes it was just as a cool-down period.

Locks have never been a "cool-down period"; they've almost always been quite permanent. I created this thread to propose an experiment in which locks might be treated as such.

[CitizenGeek]

Obviously, I'm all for it. I don't agree that mods should have to lock threads in order to force a "cool down period". They should just let whatever minor heated exchange is happening run it's course, that way any problem both parties have will work itself out. In my experience, that's how it's worked. Also, mild anger leads to more energetic participation, forcing a cool down period completely kills this.

Anyway, I appreciate what you are doing, Reichu and I realise that I'm not a mod here and my understanding of forum administration is limited.

Rachel, thanks for at least giving a heads up on some of the reasons threads were locked. I knew that usually it's because of people taking things too seriously (I've been guilty of that, too.) but I didn't realize sometimes it was just as a cool-down period.

From what I gather, such "cool down" periods don't exist - Reichu is just proposing that concept now.

[Hexon.Arq]

I was browsing the forum and came across the locked "Kaworu is gay" thread and thought, Boy, I can sure see why this got locked. Seeing a locked thread sit idle for more than a few weeks gives me a feeling similar to what happens when I don't wash my hair for several days and my scalp gets all itchy and I scratch it and water starts to come out of my skin and turn into bone--it just doesn't feel right. So naturally, I thought of moving it to the Eva Graveyard. But then I paused and said aloud, "Some n00b is just going to start an identical thread at some point in the future, so why not just leave this POS here for them?" I assume that's why it remains there; it is of good size after all, and discussion of Kaworu's homotastic traits tends to be of a cyclical nature, or so I would gather from midair. But to leave it locked? Just sitting there? My fingers mindlessly began to wander toward that spot behind my left ear--the one that spells out "regret" on my morning pillow and a prayer for an early death under the diabolical nectar of the shampoo bottle. It must be unlocked, I heard from just behind my ear, for the sake of the appearance that all goings on here are of unsullied if slowly considered relevance. DO IT, NAO!

And I did.

But I didn't enjoy it.

Is there such a thing as a cooldown from stupidity? From irrelevance? From irreverence? From flatulence? Should the ship be made to sink or the cancer merely pruned? There are the questions.

[Reichu]

Also, mild anger leads to more energetic participation

In my several years of experience at these NGE fora, when people get riled up, a thread starts to lose any sense of purpose. In other words, it starts to suck, and anything resembling reasoned and intelligent conversation DIES. If you enjoy the sort of "heated atmosphere" the admins seem to unanimously frown upon, this probably isn't a good forum for you...

[Trigger's Elysium]

Yeah, first of all, for the sake of the oh-so-sacred topicality, thank you for saying your piece in the groupthink topic, Reichu. The triangle of hatred is annoying and stupid. Not that I haven't personally got into arguments with CG. I have. And it's pointless.

For the "heated atmosphere" thing; I fully admit to being that kind of guy. You've all seen it. I drop the f-bomb here and there and whatever, sometimes for better (lulz) and sometimes for worse (drama, like that one argument myself and CitizenGook got into). And I pretty much agree with Reichu in that intelligent conversation seems to die a messy death whenever people start getting butthurt over speculation and that kind of crap. But how much real "intelligent conversation" can even occur in discussion of Eva anymore, really? You guys have all said it yourselves: the time for the real discussion and theorization of Evangelion died long ago along with the ANF Eva board. So what else is there to do but get into "heated debates" about the validity of the already thought of theories and whatnot? But your point still stands, I think. Even if that's the case, there's no excuse to be a jerk about it.

[Sailor Star Dust]

You make a good point about "What's there left to discuss about Eva?", that certainly gives me something to mull over in my noggin. However, I'd say there ARE still things to discuss, seeing as new members join all the time, and theories are either proven wrong or we get new information about the show, such as Classified Information.

[Trigger's Elysium]

Oh, sure. There's plenty of new Eva stuff to discuss. Like Webuild. The manga and where it's going. The LA movie that'll never happen. But I think the population of people who arrive here to fanwank brand new theories about the existing series is very low. The people who do that have been around Eva fandom for a while, or they instead discuss and argue preexisting theories, or are just plain weird.

[Reichu]

Trigger, your response to the Group-think bit seems to have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque...

[Trigger's Elysium]

Uh oh, I said something stupid again, didn't I?

[Reichu]

Uh oh, I said something stupid again, didn't I?

Most of your initial post is about group-think and the conflict between "factions" -- the subject of a different thread.

[EvaCub]

I haven't posted as much in the middle of heated debate because even If an Intelligent remark is brought up, It is usually immediately ignored or ran over because people rather continue arguing the way they were,
My experience thus far also is that when things get heated in an Eva debate they have a hard time settling down.

[CitizenGeek]

My experience thus far also is that when things get heated in an Eva debate they have a hard time settling down.

I would disagree, I think if a debate gets heated and hard feelings develop between two or more members as a result, it should be allowed run it's course and usually the members will solve the problem. Locking the thread just makes the hard feelings build up and spill into other threads (as can be seen in how Trigger's Elysium still thinks poorly of me as a result of the debate in the subs vs. dubs debate that was unresolved). I don't think any forum should be afraid of heated debate.

[Mr. Tines]

Heated debate is one thing, flaming shitstorms are another.

[Anonymous_Evafan]

And flaming shitstorms should be killed mercilessly. As has been said several times now there is always the pm system.

[Sailor Star Dust]

Flaming shitstorms should be killed...with fire! :mrgreen: /Lame joke