Thoughts on megathreads for specific content?

Magically Clueless

Administrator
Staff member
We're still refining the rules, and one topic that came up was regarding let's plays and streams. I did specify that advertising typically is not allowed on the forums, however some people do just want to share their content. What are your thoughts on creating megathreads (probably in general discussion) for let's plays and streams? What kind of limits would you want and why?

This question applies to other types of content too, anything you might find relevant/worth giving a big thread for.
 

Paranoic

Sodbuster
My view on the topic is: I'm behind any kind of encouraging content creators, since SDV is already a pretty content/community driven game, and making such threads might help some of the content get visibility. And, well, this answer applies to any kind of SDV-related content, as long as it generates no revenue it seems like fair game to me, since there's nothing in for the creator other than making something for the community.
 

Odin

Moderator
Staff member
as long as it generates no revenue it seems like fair game to me, since there's nothing in for the creator other than making something for the community.
Many let's plays and streams do generate revenue though, but also if it's limited to one thread it can be easier to keep track of how often people are sharing something.
 

Paranoic

Sodbuster
Yea, fair. I was mostly thinking of small creators, this content doesn't really generate relevant money. And yea, keeping the share to 1/let's play would seem reasonable, there's no point in everyone spamming over and over.
 

kohlrak

Farmhand
We're still refining the rules, and one topic that came up was regarding let's plays and streams. I did specify that advertising typically is not allowed on the forums, however some people do just want to share their content. What are your thoughts on creating megathreads (probably in general discussion) for let's plays and streams? What kind of limits would you want and why?

This question applies to other types of content too, anything you might find relevant/worth giving a big thread for.
And our profiles we can advertise our websites. Where's the line drawn? Can we put our stream info or commercial sites in our signatures? Or, from another angle, why specifically do you want to curb this content, and why are you considering allowing it in a megathread? I can't really give you any of my thoughts without first knowing yours regarding the prerequisits.

On the face of it, a pinned megathread for something like "matchmaking" is less spammy than 20 threads per page of people asking for match making or a certain type of mod or something. However, things can get lost really easily in a single thread, maybe leaving someone behind depending on the content. Megathreads are great for making outlets for things you don't want to outright ban, but do want to discourage, like "shipping." Let's you keep a lid on something without being called a Nazi for not allowing something on a site.

Some things, however, have loose boundaries and you can no more throw them in mega threads than you can ban them outright. Politics for example, is something that, fundamentally, cannot be banned or excluded. Politics is all about person X arguing with person Y regarding policies on how X, Y, an Z should conduct themselves both in public and in private, which includes A through W. In other words, Stardew valley is political among the right X and Y. With the right X and Y, lollipops are political, even. I've seen politics in ice cream. As a result, a "megathread" for politics would inevitably either require all posts on the site to be in the megathread, or they would find ways to "well, this isn't as political" so it would escape the thread, and if "excused" long enough, people would just push the Overton Window of guidelines for what is and isn't political, offensive, etc. Same with "18+" material, because how much clothing is necessary or excuseable before it becomes "not ok outside of the thread"? There are things i've seen in the game (without any mods or multiplayer) which are too racey for me to feel comfortable showing in the forums given the rules. But the takeway is, how do your draw a line in the sand regarding the nuance between certain topics of what should and should not be in a megathread?
 

Magically Clueless

Administrator
Staff member
And our profiles we can advertise our websites. Where's the line drawn? Can we put our stream info or commercial sites in our signatures? Or, from another angle, why specifically do you want to curb this content, and why are you considering allowing it in a megathread? I can't really give you any of my thoughts without first knowing yours regarding the prerequisits.

On the face of it, a pinned megathread for something like "matchmaking" is less spammy than 20 threads per page of people asking for match making or a certain type of mod or something. However, things can get lost really easily in a single thread, maybe leaving someone behind depending on the content. Megathreads are great for making outlets for things you don't want to outright ban, but do want to discourage, like "shipping." Let's you keep a lid on something without being called a Nazi for not allowing something on a site.

Some things, however, have loose boundaries and you can no more throw them in mega threads than you can ban them outright. Politics for example, is something that, fundamentally, cannot be banned or excluded. Politics is all about person X arguing with person Y regarding policies on how X, Y, an Z should conduct themselves both in public and in private, which includes A through W. In other words, Stardew valley is political among the right X and Y. With the right X and Y, lollipops are political, even. I've seen politics in ice cream. As a result, a "megathread" for politics would inevitably either require all posts on the site to be in the megathread, or they would find ways to "well, this isn't as political" so it would escape the thread, and if "excused" long enough, people would just push the Overton Window of guidelines for what is and isn't political, offensive, etc. Same with "18+" material, because how much clothing is necessary or excuseable before it becomes "not ok outside of the thread"? There are things i've seen in the game (without any mods or multiplayer) which are too racey for me to feel comfortable showing in the forums given the rules. But the takeway is, how do your draw a line in the sand regarding the nuance between certain topics of what should and should not be in a megathread?
The line in the sand is pretty much anything that explicitly breaks the rules. We wouldn't add megathreads for politics because we do not want political discussions here. When we use the word "politics", we're referring to real-world discussions about governments, laws, etc. It's a case of using common sense, so of course you can have serious conversations about ice cream!

As for in-game topics, while the game certainly can get into heavier topics, we just ask that people keep it lighthearted. Shane has a drinking problem, and you can talk about that, but it starts to cross the rules when you go into details about abuse. We all have different thresholds, and even just "Shane's drinking problem" might be too much for some people. However, we won't remove anything that stays in the spirit of the game.

We opted to remove advertising because it can get a bit spammy and we want people to engage in the forum beyond self promotion. We want people to be able to share and express themselves, but this is not a place to solely advertise your work. However some things are a gray area, like let's plays and streams, which are often done for fun and may not even be monetary, but can still take over the forums if we allow them but there is no specific place for them. For that, we wanted to know if anyone would support the idea/find it better than not allowing them at all :)

Though we have rules, we want the forums to stay laid back and a lighthearted, fun place. So, that is also our goal and what we look for in suggestions as well.

I hope this answered your question!
 

kohlrak

Farmhand
The line in the sand is pretty much anything that explicitly breaks the rules. We wouldn't add megathreads for politics because we do not want political discussions here. When we use the word "politics", we're referring to real-world discussions about governments, laws, etc. It's a case of using common sense, so of course you can have serious conversations about ice cream!
Ben and Jerry's ice cream?

As for in-game topics, while the game certainly can get into heavier topics, we just ask that people keep it lighthearted. Shane has a drinking problem, and you can talk about that, but it starts to cross the rules when you go into details about abuse. We all have different thresholds, and even just "Shane's drinking problem" might be too much for some people. However, we won't remove anything that stays in the spirit of the game.
I can think of one scene in particular involving Emily that is clearly passed the line, and cannot be discussed here. And let's not even get into Haley, and that's just the first two that come to mind. The spirit of the game precludes a lack of discussion of certain parts of the game that might be confusing to some. There seem to be things that are very implictly discussed, without anyone saying "that's a stretch."

We opted to remove advertising because it can get a bit spammy and we want people to engage in the forum beyond self promotion. We want people to be able to share and express themselves, but this is not a place to solely advertise your work. However some things are a gray area, like let's plays and streams, which are often done for fun and may not even be monetary, but can still take over the forums if we allow them but there is no specific place for them. For that, we wanted to know if anyone would support the idea/find it better than not allowing them at all :)
Megathread would be precisely what you want, then. Megathread for such things keeps it fairly contained. The argument from people wishing to get away from the problems of getting drowned out would then be "but people are saying they're having trouble finding my post in the megathread." The response to that is simple, "exactly why we didn't intend to allow advertisements in the first place. What's the diffrence between 20 posts per page of a thread and 20 posts per page in a forum? Either way, you're going to oversaturate things and things are going to get lost. There's a lesson to be had, here, and we prefer it not come at the cost of people trying to discuss things other than what certain people want to advertise." Without a megathread "but what if i needed to show someone my stream to show them something that i'm talking about?" It's harder to defend against this, and if you allow it, people will find problems in the game, etc, to have excuses to post their streams. I saw this on gamefaqs where people were posting streams of a guy that answered someone's problems, and this guy was known for taking advantage of this to win in-game contests that ran on a "like" system (Dragon Quest Builders 2).

Though we have rules, we want the forums to stay laid back and a lighthearted, fun place. So, that is also our goal and what we look for in suggestions as well.



I hope this answered your question!
Good luck. I'll check myself out when it gets close to going boom boom.
 

Anodyne

Farmhand
I think a megathread is a good idea for both, however maybe there could be some sort of distinction between streams that are live and let's play content? I could definitely see live stream posts getting buried in let's play videos, which wouldn't be ideal for sharing content like that.

Maybe at the top of the thread having links to the profiles of streamers so people can watch/follow if they choose? Only downside to that though is it'd have to be updated semi-frequently.
 
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