No more forum word games, please.

[DGMacphee]

This is just a polite request to ask to give the forum games (like the word association and story games here) a bit of a miss.

They're hard to manage and there are probably a lot of other webpages that are specifically designed for such games.

I'm not pointing fingers at anyone, but if someone wants to be part of a game here, there's always plenty of stuff happening in the competition forum.

Once again, it's just a polite request.

Thanks.

[SSH]

Hard to go cold turkey on the Moderating, eh, DG?

[DGMacphee]

I'm not a moderator.

I'm just a simple-minded user making a request to other users.

I'm not really into the whole "forum games" thing nowdays.

[Nacho]

I agree with DG, but I slightly agree with SSH in his latest post about "look who´s crawling back to the UN"

http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=8340;start=40

So, don´t take this as something personal, I don´t like word games, but I am not taking part for or against someone, please don´t start a fight about that. I respect DG as a moderator, but also SSH, he has been kind with me, warm in the welcome to my girlfriend and...

I love his "games for my Spanish wife" and his crazy avatars... ^_^

[Timosity]

I agree



WORD!!

[Andail]

I don't think we're running out of options when it comes to starting threads, really...just use your imagination, or write in another thread

[Nellie]

Well...

If this was a request to stop the word games because they eat precious bandwidth, then I'd agree wholeheartedly.  I was surprised when Chris the-bandwidth-payer himself posted in the word-association thread (a notoriously bandwidth-eating type of thread).  I guess he just couldn't resist the Pamela Anderson-silicon gag.

(I was going to say 'he couldn't resist the Pamela Anderson-silicon crack', but that would be dangerous wording.)

Anyroad...

I'm replying here because this thread is another indication of an issue that came up on the forums a few weeks ago.  That is, when a person/group of people doesn't like a particular type of thread, they ask for it to go away completely.

Now, I'm with you, DG.  I find word-association and continue-the-sentences threads as boring as hell.  But I've always dealt with that by simply ignoring those threads.  The way I see it, I dislike the threads, but there are other people here who don't dislike them (as can be seen by the number of unique users who participated in the word-association thread).  And if they like to post in those threads, then...  it's no skin off my nose.  I can just continue to ignore the thread, as always.

So I'd like to make my own request (again) here to everybody.  If you, as a user, or a group of users, dislike a particular type of thread, would it be possible for you to just ignore it and let others have their fun?  Is it really so irritating to you that this type of thread exists on the board, when you can simply choose not to read it?

Thanks for listening.
(copyright Dr Frasier Crane)


P.S.  If Chris were to indicate that those threads were putting the squeeze on his bandwidth, I'd be first in line to blow a large raspberry at any member who tried to start one up.

[SSH]

Nellie: wise words. +10 on my respectometer

(by the way, I saw a shampoo advert yesterday that claimed to make your hair 3 times more sleek. How the heck do the measure sleekness? Do the shampoo companies possess "sleekometers"?)

Farlander: Thanks for the kind words. I wasn't trying to attack good ol' DGMacphee, just hoping to point out that he was being a bit of a grumpy old man. Oh, and there's another of my "games for my Spanish wife" coming soon, as it's our anniversary in 10 days.

[Nacho]

Oh, and there's another of my "games for my Spanish wife" coming soon, as it's our anniversary in 10 days.

\o/ Another game for (Marian?) sorry... I can´t remember the name... : Congratz... Lorena´s Anniversary is at September 13th .

I´m glad to read that you´re not trying to "poke" DG, but bad stories start like this in AGS... A  post where you don´t-completely-agree with a member follows to another and another... And we finally have a mess  

I just wanted to point that, but I also had in mind that both of you are mature members and that was not going to happen.  

About Nellie´s post... Mmm... He exposed his opinions very well, but, mmm... I  believe that for a person who started a post with a lot of illusion, a post he hoped to be interesant and participative,  seeing that that "word games" posts are allways at the top, it can be a little annoying.

BTW, his conclussion (If you don´t like it, don´t look it, no problem with word games while they not bring problems with the bandwith...) has no possible answer  .

If it really is a bandwith problem, the "experts" must say it... I am a mere n00b!  

[Captain Mostly]

I like the shampoo advert that sais:

If Panten can make your HAIR this shiny, just THINK what it could do for YOU!!!



Makes me laugh a little every time. (But then I go drink a bottle of panten just in case it's not just bad wording. Plus, Panten contains trace halucenagenics, and if you can get past the massive stomach upset you might get a little bit high off of it!)

[Nostradamus]

Well sorry for trying to do something for the fun of the community.

[Scummbuddy]

No, you were fine, and so was Chris when he posted in the thread.  It was a sensible and fun thread then... but when 5 posts in a row are different variations of the word penish or something else quite as stupid, the thread gets lame.

[Darth Mandarb]

I am not a huge fan of word game threads, however ...

Q: What is the difference between 'word game' threads and 'talk like a pirate day' threads?

A: Perception of what is fun.


cheers,
dm

[MillsJROSS]

I don't think banning word games is quite a necessary thing. As far as bandwidth is concerned, if CJ thought is was eating up too much bandwidth he'd tell us. Word games are fun.

Now I personally haven't participated in any recent word games, because of lack of time. But it doesn't take me long to realise what thread is for and whether or not I want to relpy to it. What about the Haiku game? No one really complained about that, everyone thought it was a wonderful idea.

This is the gen gen forum, for people to have a little fun. We allow people to compete with photoshop and microsoft paint in the other forum, which takes a lot more bandwidth than a string of words. I really don't see why this is an issue.

Now, if people are just being stupid and wasting post with penis joke after penis joke, like Scummy said, I can understand trying to deter from that. So, perhaps what we should do is when participating in games like that, think whether or not this post adds something of interest or thoughtfullness before posting. You can be funny, just don't go overboard.

-MillsJROSS

[Shattered Sponge]

I like the shampoo advert that sais:

If Panten can make your HAIR this shiny, just THINK what it could do for YOU!!!



Makes me laugh a little every time. (But then I go drink a bottle of panten just in case it's not just bad wording. Plus, Panten contains trace halucenagenics, and if you can get past the massive stomach upset you might get a little bit high off of it!)

Thank god!  I thought I was the only one who found that funny!
 I'm always laughing when it comes on the TV, and in the unlikely event that there's anyone else in the room at the time, I get a lot of strange looks.

[makri]

We allow people to compete with photoshop and microsoft paint in the other forum, which takes a lot more bandwidth than a string of words. I really don't see why this is an issue.

I don't have an opinion on this topic, but I'd like to correct that Photoshop Phriday/MS Paint Game takes no more bandwidth from the site than a word game. Images are hosted elsewhere.

[Pumaman]

If this was a request to stop the word games because they eat precious bandwidth, then I'd agree wholeheartedly.

I think it's time I clarified the bandwidth situation - it has become a bit of a "Think of the children!!!" type excuse which some people are using to back up their arguments.

"The Bandwidth" was a big problem back at September-time last year. This website was almost up against its monthly allowance for a couple of months running, so I asked people to cut down on posting.

However, since then a new version of the forum software has been released, which has reduced bandwidth use considerably. Coupled with that, the web hosting account monthly bandwidth limit has been increased.

At the current time, bandwidth is fine and is not an issue.

[Evil]

I liked the AGS mad lib idea...  :'(

[Pesty]

I am not a huge fan of word game threads, however ...

Q: What is the difference between 'word game' threads and 'talk like a pirate day' threads?

A: Perception of what is fun.


cheers,
dm

No, the difference is that a lot of word game threads cause a million bajillion short, few word posts. It's hard to keep up with them, while threads like the "talk like a pirate day" thread generally require more thought out posts.

Think of the children's bandwidth!!!1!

[DGMacphee]

I respect DG as a moderator

But I'm not a moderator.

I quit, remember?

Now, I'm with you, DG. I find word-association and continue-the-sentences threads as boring as hell. But I've always dealt with that by simply ignoring those threads. The way I see it, I dislike the threads, but there are other people here who don't dislike them (as can be seen by the number of unique users who participated in the word-association thread). And if they like to post in those threads, then... it's no skin off my nose. I can just continue to ignore the thread, as always.

So I'd like to make my own request (again) here to everybody. If you, as a user, or a group of users, dislike a particular type of thread, would it be possible for you to just ignore it and let others have their fun? Is it really so irritating to you that this type of thread exists on the board, when you can simply choose not to read it?

As Chris later stated, there's no problems with bandwidth, so I guess there's no reason to complain -- I only did it cause it seemed like the recent words and story games here were bit of failures (the word game was locked and the Yarn game was over by the second post).

Normally people start them cause they're bored, even though there are plenty of websites that cater to this kind of thing.

But if people find them fun, who am I to argue?

I wasn't trying to attack good ol' DGMacphee, just hoping to point out that he was being a bit of a grumpy old man

I am a grumpy old man, you young whipper-snapper!  

Like I said, it was just a polite request -- not trying to be grumpy, just making a polite request on something I've noticed.

Don't worry, I know you weren't trying to attack me.

No, you were fine, and so was Chris when he posted in the thread. It was a sensible and fun thread then... but when 5 posts in a row are different variations of the word penish or something else quite as stupid, the thread gets lame.

Aye, Nostro -- It's not your fault, it's just that some people don't take them very seriously and they get out of hand.

I am not a huge fan of word game threads, however ...

Q: What is the difference between 'word game' threads and 'talk like a pirate day' threads?

A: Perception of what is fun.

Well, there's also the fact that Talk Like A Pirate Day is an actual upccoming event and a word game isn't.

Also, the fact that talking like a pirate is Monkey Island related and word games aren't really related to Monkey Island (I can't remember if there was a word game in Monkey Island, but I don't think so, unless someone can tell me.)

And that Talking Like A Pirate also relates directly to one of our members, Pesty, who regularly talks like a pirate.

Did you want a full list of reasons?



Look, everybody -- I didn't want to tread on people's toes.

I'm just alerting people to something that pisses off others before they cause a riot, like when kikme started a crapload of posts on word games.

I'm just bringing these things to attention before they turn into bigger problems.

[remixor]

Without trying to sound like a suck-up...
CJ: If I were to have created something like AGS and run a forum devoted to it, I don't think I could ever hope to achieve your level of fairness and patience.  Friggin ludicrous.  Good job.

[Gilbert]

Actually in my opinion such word games can be fun






IF DONE RIGHT.

The problem is that they are hard to manage and they become repetitive and boring/messy soon afterwards. One of the reason is that the rules are not strictly enough. For example in the word association game, I'd suggest two more rules for it to work:
1. each single member can only post one reply there within 24 hours
2. words that had been posted before cant be used again

However the situation was that it's quite hard to make people in a large community to follow rules (like the M$Paint game, but as finding/making a pic to post is considered technically harder than just typing a word, that game is still in control), for example people would be too tempted to post A LOT in the thread, thus breaking rule 1, for rule 2, it's quite hard to keep track of old words when the second page had been reached. So basically we still get a messy ending.

So my suggestion is, unless you come up with a REALLY ingenious idea (with working rules), just keep this forum free from these kind of games for now.

[MillsJROSS]

I don't have an opinion on this topic, but I'd like to correct that Photoshop Phriday/MS Paint Game takes no more bandwidth from the site than a word game. Images are hosted elsewhere.

For the most part this is true, but quick download of word game pages vs. pages full of pictures shows that there is about a three to four KB difference. While this is nothing remarkably different, over time this difference may add up, that and I want to be difficult. However, as bandwidth is not a problem there is no use arguing either one.

And pretty much word games are fun, but be responsible. Simple as that. A 24 hour rule, I believe would also be a good idea. I get more annoyed when I see three or four people on one page posting back and forth to each other, within an hour. However, if it game like these annoy people, they simply have the option of ignoring them.

So yeah...and gilbert's post is pretty much accurate to what should be. And DG's anger at these word games is not unjustified. The end.

-MillsJROSS

[12431]

sure. I'll respect the wish of a veteran. I knew this would come to an end.

[AGA]

sure. I'll respect the wish of a veteran. I knew this would come to an end.

Hmm... you do, eh. In that case, I wish you would steal me several cars, and rob some banks for me!