Why doesn't Stars have an official thread?

[Mike Haven]

Personally, I can't see any problem in winging through a few dozen posts in an official thread, the topic of which I am interested in, (or even, not), every now and then, to see if anything new has been covered.

I can honestly say that in the eight months we've been running the WSEX monthly thread you are the very first person that I can remember that has complained about the principle.

It keeps everything neat, tidy and easily accessible for those that want to learn about WSEX, and, particularly importantly, the WSEX GM knows exactly where to go to read the things players are saying about his site, rather than having to waste his time searching through dozens of threads of no concern to him. As others have said, the initial reason it was started was because of the spammers that even the GM thought were doing more harm than good. Thankfully, most of them have gone bust and disappeared, but as the thread has been so vibrant and successful, we've carried it on. The people that don't give a toss about WSEX are happy, too, as they don't keep having to open badly titled posts to find that it's another "Did you know you don't pay rake at WSEX?"

Similarly, when the Neteller disaster occurred, every other thread was about them, mostly saying the same thing, and it was wrecking the readability of the forum. Hence, the Neteller thread.

A few other "official" threads have popped up, and, again, no regular Zoo reader has complained.

Occasionally, a new angle relating to one of the topics of the official threads is posted about in a new thread, and the mods are entirely happy to let these run. If, on the other hand, a poster doesn't have the respect to other readers to read the stickies or scan over the first few pages of the forum to see if their simple question has already been asked and answered, and asks "Who uses ePassporte and is it any good?" then the mods, (with the regular readers' blessings, I believe), will certainly lock or delete such selfish threads.

The reason we don't have an official thread for FTP is because one of their reps here asked specifically that we didn't create one. It suits him to spend a lot of time here, and I guess he likes seeing their name bandied about.

In the case of Pokerstars, this is such a big site with so many people asking questions and commenting about it on so many different aspects that any official thread would become totally unwieldy within a few days. I guess it would be possible to pick some topics about it, every now and then, to direct to official threads, but, as a constant reader of the Zoo, I haven't really picked up on any necessary subjects in this regard, to date.

I hope this helps you to see our pov. If dozens of people start complaining, then obviously we will reconsider our current strategy. It's the readers' forum and the mods are only here to try to help it move along in a popular and well-received manner.

[Bobo Fett]

Well said.

[Niediam]

Personally I think having 'official' threads for anything sucks.

[Guthrie]

Then get rid of the Wpex "official" thread and see if anyone complains.

Let people actually use the forum as gasp, a forum.

[Mike Haven]

[ QUOTE ]
If dozens of people start complaining, then obviously we will reconsider our current strategy.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Then get rid of the Wpex "official" thread and see if anyone complains.

Let people actually use the forum as gasp, a forum.

[/ QUOTE ]

For "dozens", read "several".

[BluffTHIS!]

[ QUOTE ]
Then get rid of the Wpex "official" thread and see if anyone complains.

Let people actually use the forum as gasp, a forum.

[/ QUOTE ]


Guthrie,

The problem was, despite as I said above the WSEX GM asking posters not to spam for the site, they just kept doing it. So one thread is the only way to stop that. And having one such thread for that or a handful of other topics doesn't stop people from using the forum as a forum. It does stop multiple threads on the same topic clogging up the first page of threads. And note that while you or others might not like those "official" threads, no one has really offerred any complaints showing official threads stop posters from being able to discuss a single topic thouroughly. Indeed for those who don't frequent the forums 24/7 like some of you, they are a very handy one-stop way to keep up on many topics.

[KurtSF]

Meh.

WPEX official thread was good in reducing "ZOMG no rake" posts. I like.

Next was the NETeller thread. This was really great in consolidating all 2+2 information about a rapidly changing situation. Two thumbs up.

Then MyWebATM. Very effective at getting together all the info on their suckitude. Again, a good official thread.

And then there was the ePassporte thread. I actually think this one didn't work so well, as there were so many different issues it was a little hard to follow. But as cc0 said, if 10 people use epassporte there will be 9 threads about an epassporte problem. That would clutter the forum, so eff it, its gets a thread.

Then the Official Paytru thread. I haven't read it because I don't use Paytru, so I'm going to call this a success as well keeping all that outta my way.

Then there are various other "official" threads, or should I say quasi-official threads, that were started by users. The fact that these took form is a testament to the "official" thread model; people are using it of their own free will.

Sometimes I think there should be more leeway given in letting new issues that may overlap a bit get their own threads, but overall I've liked the consolidation of information. But I am getting pretty good with search after all this time, so meh.

[Bobo Fett]

Yes for example, I started the "eWallets for Canadians" thread, and it has worked VERY VERY well. Partly because I've taken ownership of it and try to continually update the bulk of the important information, but mostly because everyone seems to keep their posts in that thread, and on-topic. I haven't had to ask MH to delete a SINGLE post, and there's hardly been any posts on the topic outside of the thread. I've heard NO complaints that this is anyway stifling anyone's posting.

Of course, "offical" threads could become a problem if one was started for every popular topic, but I think if they are used selectively, they can be VERY effective.

[Jim Kuhn]

I think Mike summed it up very well. Mike does a great job organizing the stickies, deciding what merits an official thread and being reasonable in taking a second look at his decisions. I think he does such a great job that I just try to follow his lead. The 2+2 owners also appreciate Mike's dedication and hard work and have expanded his modding to the 'about the forums' and the 'mod discussion forums'. I also think that if the 'official posts' were not working there would not be so many forum users creating and utilizing these 'official posts'.

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4u
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[Guthrie]

People use the "official" threads because they have no other choice. If they attempt to make a post about Wpex, it is immediately locked, then deleted, and the poster scolded for daring to challenge the moderator's authority.