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Split photo contests / games into separate board

Started by Mr. Matté, April 29, 2022, 10:30:02 AM

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on_wisconsin

#25
Quote from: Rothman on May 03, 2022, 06:57:27 AM
I think I'm for reincarnating the games board and getting all the games in there. The years-long experiment to limit games threads has failed.  "Cluttering" is an appropriate term since they're everywhere on the forum now and it's annoying.

I do most of my forum-surfing through Tapatalk, so I don't scroll through the boards -- just unread posts.  And having that board classification helps me skip posts I'm never going to be interested in personally.

I see this benefit with the Fictional Highways board already.  Imagine if all that crap was spread across the boards.  Games are cluttering up boards that really should be devoted to actual information or questions about such.

^This. 100% agree with Games (incl. "Guess the" threads) having there own area of the forum again.
"Speed does not kill, suddenly becoming stationary... that's what gets you" - Jeremy Clarkson


mrsman

Quote from: on_wisconsin on May 04, 2022, 06:35:14 PM
Quote from: Rothman on May 03, 2022, 06:57:27 AM
I think I'm for reincarnating the games board and getting all the games in there. The years-long experiment to limit games threads has failed.  "Cluttering" is an appropriate term since they're everywhere on the forum now and it's annoying.

I do most of my forum-surfing through Tapatalk, so I don't scroll through the boards -- just unread posts.  And having that board classification helps me skip posts I'm never going to be interested in personally.

I see this benefit with the Fictional Highways board already.  Imagine if all that crap was spread across the boards.  Games are cluttering up boards that really should be devoted to actual information or questions about such.

^This. 100% agree with Games (incl. "Guess the" threads) having there own area of the forum again.

I also agree.  And if there is any distinction between a board and a sub-board, in my mind it should be easier to place all games as a child board of the General Highway Talk (the same way that Traffic Control and Road Related Illustrations currently are).

GaryV

Quote from: JoePCool14 on May 04, 2022, 01:58:59 PM
If we're talking math, I wonder if we could have a 3-4-5 Triangle game, to find roads that make a 3-4-5 triangle.
Don't you need the Hypotenuse to do that?

paulthemapguy

.....Sorry.

I didn't think there would be so many other game threads started on top of the 1-2-3 challenge.  The idea of separating them into a separate sub-board sounds favorable in my opinion as well.
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7/8

As someone who likes these threads, I'd appreciate having them all in one board (I'm good with mrsman's suggestion of a General Highway Talk child board).

webny99

Quote from: Scott5114 on May 03, 2022, 08:26:05 PM
Quote from: webny99 on May 03, 2022, 07:52:31 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on April 30, 2022, 09:54:37 PM
I'm somewhat reluctant to endorse adding a new board, as there are already 24 of them for most logged-in users, not even counting sub-boards.

Is there any chance my suggestion of using "Photos, Videos, and More" as a location for all game threads would work instead of a whole new board?

This would work for the games where users are required to post their own content (like the city name photo game), but not for the guess-the-location type games (since those often operate on non-user-created photos, i.e. Street View).

I'd say the guess-the-location type games could still fit under the "More" part of that header..

formulanone

Looks like the admins are choosing the No Build option.

Rothman

Quote from: formulanone on May 20, 2022, 11:51:27 AM
Looks like the admins are choosing the No Build option.
I suppose they think it didn't have a sufficient b/c ratio.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

vdeane

I guess the question is... are the mods/admins anticipating that a lot more photo contests/games would appear if they got their own board?  Because as someone who does at least look at what threads have new posts in every board every day, I don't see why simply having them in a different board would make more work assuming the amount of total forum content each day remained unchanged.

If it's just "we don't want to increase the total number of boards" in and of itself, Travel and Road Trips seem kinda redundant with each other.  Heck, most of Travel seems to be overrun with games as it is.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

kphoger

Quote from: vdeane on May 20, 2022, 12:49:49 PM
I guess the question is... are the mods/admins anticipating that a lot more photo contests/games would appear if they got their own board?

As has already been pointed out, games have been a part of this forum since before I joined.  It's reasonable to assume they'll continue to be a part of it.  With that in mind, it makes sense to put them on their own board–preferably invisible to non-members.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

vdeane

#35
Quote from: kphoger on May 20, 2022, 01:45:11 PM
Quote from: vdeane on May 20, 2022, 12:49:49 PM
I guess the question is... are the mods/admins anticipating that a lot more photo contests/games would appear if they got their own board?

As has already been pointed out, games have been a part of this forum since before I joined.  It's reasonable to assume they'll continue to be a part of it.  With that in mind, it makes sense to put them on their own board–preferably invisible to non-members.
Right... what I was asking was whether the mods/admins think that giving games their own board would double/triple the number of active games threads or something.  Because if not, I don't really get the "more forums is more work" complaint.

EDIT: Browsing the forum today, I noticed that it's not just Travel, but also Traffic Control as well... so both boards that have games are basically majority game threads at this point (at least for threads that show up with new posts on any given day).  Having the games split into two boards while both boards are theoretically about other things but in practice not really does not seem very logical.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

mrsman

Quote from: vdeane on May 20, 2022, 08:09:47 PM
Quote from: kphoger on May 20, 2022, 01:45:11 PM
Quote from: vdeane on May 20, 2022, 12:49:49 PM
I guess the question is... are the mods/admins anticipating that a lot more photo contests/games would appear if they got their own board?

As has already been pointed out, games have been a part of this forum since before I joined.  It's reasonable to assume they'll continue to be a part of it.  With that in mind, it makes sense to put them on their own board–preferably invisible to non-members.
Right... what I was asking was whether the mods/admins think that giving games their own board would double/triple the number of active games threads or something.  Because if not, I don't really get the "more forums is more work" complaint.

EDIT: Browsing the forum today, I noticed that it's not just Travel, but also Traffic Control as well... so both boards that have games are basically majority game threads at this point (at least for threads that show up with new posts on any given day).  Having the games split into two boards while both boards are theoretically about other things but in practice not really does not seem very logical.

There are games in each of those forums.  In many ways, the games do dilute the focus of those forums and it would seem that segregating the games would allow the existing forums to go back to their normal focus.

As others mentioned, there seems to be a decent overlap between Travel and Road Trips, even though the original focus tended to divide the two subject matters as being road and non-road.  Perhaps a merger of those two threads would then allow room for a new board to handle the games.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the successful games do create a lot of traffic.  If you are interested in Traffic Control, but not in the games on that board, often the only new messages are from the game threads.  For people who don't care for games, they would probably not want to keep checking the traffic control board if the only new posts are from games.  Separating the games would allow for people to better gage when new substantive content is available.

webny99

I agree that Traffic Control is overrun with games. I sometimes don't even bother checking that board, or check the games I'm interested in and glaze over everything else.

It can be a challenge to find the non-game threads in that board - to the point where on more than one occasion, I've considered putting a new thread in Traffic Control but decided to put it in General Highway Talk instead, knowing it would remain visible for longer and have a higher chance of generating sustained discussion - which is a tremendous irony when you think about it.

I suppose the same could be said of the Travel board, but there's generally fewer games and less other discussion going on there, plus I tend to have a higher interest level in the games in that board.

kphoger

The opposite is also true:  sometimes I'm looking for a game thread, but I can't remember if it's in Travel or in Traffic Control.

Also...  let's be honest...  route shields don't "control" traffic.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

Rothman

Quote from: kphoger on May 25, 2022, 10:25:44 AM
The opposite is also true:  sometimes I'm looking for a game thread, but I can't remember if it's in Travel or in Traffic Control.

Also...  let's be honest...  route shields don't "control" traffic.
But...Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices...
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

hbelkins

I don't find the boards to be cluttered with games at all. Especially not the way I read the forum -- which is to click the green arrow next to each board on the home page to read new posts since my last visit. I can scan the topics and if there's nothing that interests me, I just hit the back button on the browser and scroll down to the next board.

That being said, I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other about the games, but it seems as if TPTB have decreed that there will not be a separate "Games" board, so I don't understand why the discussion is continuing.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Scott5114

I mean, I've just given the reasons why I don't really care for the idea. None of the other staff members have stated an opinion one way or another, here or anywhere else, so far as I know.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

Rothman

Quote from: Scott5114 on May 25, 2022, 05:51:33 PM
I mean, I've just given the reasons why I don't really care for the idea. None of the other staff members have stated an opinion one way or another, here or anywhere else, so far as I know.
Well, the forum certainly isn't a democracy.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

JoePCool14

Quote from: Rothman on May 25, 2022, 07:39:13 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on May 25, 2022, 05:51:33 PM
I mean, I've just given the reasons why I don't really care for the idea. None of the other staff members have stated an opinion one way or another, here or anywhere else, so far as I know.
Well, the forum certainly isn't a democracy.

No, it's a republic!

:) Needs more... :sombrero: Not quite... :bigass: Perfect.
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MCRoads

I'm so sorry. Pretty sure half the games on here are my fault, because I started the "guess the..."  trend over in Bridges. At least everyone seems to like the concept!
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*/** indicates a terminus/termini being traveled
° Indicates a gap (I.E Breezwood, PA.)

more room plz



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