new forum section for chatting and/or off-topic
kiheikid
Posts: 2,168 ✭✭✭✭✭
@hpwulola - can we please have a new section or area on this thread for off-topic discussions and/or chatting (not directly related to HPWU) between or among players ? this would be very helpful as long as we do not have in-app communication and private messaging on this forum. otherwise, we are only going to see an increase in thread-jacking where threads starting off about a particular HPWU-related topic get taken for a tangent or detour. it is inevitable as this forum becomes more social and folks want to just talk ... so i am hoping you see the wisdom in creating a separate space here on the forum for chatting or off-topic discussions.
mahalo !!
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I disagree with the "inevitability" that you mentioned.
i’d be disappointed in you if you didn’t 😉
We're always presented with restrictions. Isn't it our strength to turn a challenge into an opportunity? If you're not allowed to do something in a certain place, why not find (or create) a place where you are allowed to do that?
Take https://community.harrypotterwizardsunite.com/en/discussion/1337/true-community-forums#latest for example, that's one way to do it without presenting your opinion as "evidence based facts".
no idea what that meant
Bleh I hit the wrong button.
Shortly after the forum launched, we were asked for suggestions on how to set up categories and navigation. What's in place seemed adequate at the time, but I do agree that it could use some updating. As far as thread-jacking is concerned, I don't think a new category for off-topic posts will prevent that. Even one of those posts will eventually drift away from the original topic in the comments section, and that's fine. When herding cats, it is wise to let the cats do whatever they want, because that's what they'll do anyway.
@Acumen - there will inevitably be off-topic chatter that drifts from an original topic. (insert cat reference here.) but if there is a special section for off-topic threads or chat threads, then someone who STARTS an off-topic chat could do so in that special section rather than in whatever thread she/he happened to be in when the thought occurred.
Oh no was that me? I remember making a cat comment. I'm so sorry!
Surely anyone starting a topic is inherently on-topic?
@Li11ee -lol, no, i meant the herding cats reference! (see post #7 above in this thread)
@OriginalCaruso - not if it is wrong section
@kiheikid - Are we having a conversation within this topic? And if so, conversations ebb and flow mostly straying from the starting point
I don’t see what the issue is... mountains and molehills spring to mind
i could ignore you and wait for @hpwulola to answer, since my request was directed to her
I like cats.
Hi there, this was requested by a lot of users when we first launched the Community. However, since this is a meant to be a Wizards Unite based forum, we want it to be organized in a way that keeps the general discussion revolving around the game. That being said, it totally makes sense that a lot of conversations will stray and we don't mind that at all - one of my favorite threads here started about Werewolves and ended up bringing in quirky and funny commentary from tons of our players!
We will continue to look into where we can continue to expand the Community to allow for more insightful discussions!
Cats are pretty great. Cute little killers.
i like cats too, but it doesn’t mean this place should become a feral cat colony
@hpwulola - i appreciate your responding, even though the answer was not what i had hoped or expected to see.
@kiheikid Being the owner... Or rather employee... Of two cats, I promise you that all cats are feral. Miss Weasley is currently biting my little toe.. Not that I can feel it, because it is the fourth toe on my very broken foot.
@Magpie31 in absolute agreement with that statement about cats. Mine are little monsters at times!
I have two cats and I suppose my Jaguars count as felines, they roar from time to time too
I love all of the cattery commenting...love it.
Let me ask the stupid question here, why would HPWU not want us to communicate? The purpose of this game and PokeMonGo was to get people out and active and meeting people instead of being another sedentary game you can play from your couch 24/7. So I get the company standing of needing to be game related yadayadayada corporate stuff. But since we don't have a way of communicating within the game/app itself, we are forced by the developers to come to this site as this is supposed to be the single point of contact for the game. Which gaming companies smaller then Niantic have the ability to communicate within an actual app so I don't understand why that isn't possible. I would love to ask people more personal questions based on things said within these threads but feel it would be inappropriate.
This game has SUCH AMAZING potential and the developers have done an AWESOME job with literally everything EXCEPT the communication from the game maker and the lack of communication between players. I never played Poke or any of their other games as i am a Potter-Head to my core. So that is the only reason I started this game. But if the company doesn't change their communication to us and or provide a way for players to communicate one on one, then this lack of communication may be what sinks this game. Just my opinion.
@ClairabusGryff - Ingress, the grand-daddy game has comms built in so all the infrastructure exists and has been well tested
I’m sure in game comms will happen, personally I’m expecting a new version / major release soon...
@OriginalCaruso maybe this new version/major release soon will be our ultimate Christmas gift from HPWU??
i share @ClairabusGryff ’s opinion and hope but ...
the track record so far has not been pretty.
Love the cat tangent. Totally necessary. I know that when I really want to make a fun, off-topic, maybe HP related but more on the let’s just chat side, I struggle to put it into a category and seeing none, I just give up. I have a good story I’d like to share.
But. Yeah, we’ve got a specific category and a few different posts for friend codes, but people still post them everywhere, I imagine it must be a headache for the mods to wrangle everything into cohesive groups.
@hpwulola what you say is fair, but ‘off-topic’ could also have things like the ‘name’ post or memes or things like that. And thanks for adding the Gifts category. There will always going to be posts and questions about gifts. I for one, keep forgetting who likes what gift! Especially now that the 12 tasks of Christmas is almost here.
a different perspective: someone new might come to this forum and look for an answer to a specific problem or for guidance on preparing for an event. detours and tangents in the otherwise relevant thread, including cats and dogs, and arts & crafts, and planning local get-togethers, and discussions of local history, and (as we are fond of saying here,) “whatnot”, might either convince the newcomer to stay because he/she had found his/her tribe here OR drive them away because the thread-jacking interferes with quickly & easily finding the answers or guidance being sought.
i like chatting with folks here (well, most of them, lol) too but feel bad if it threadjacks.
@hpwulola - please just give us a catch-all place to put our posts and threads that do not directly pertain to specific aspects of the game - that’s all we’re asking. (and just because the earliest forum members voted for one way based on the more limited experience and information available way back then, that’s not an excuse to set the forum sections and subsections in stone and not evolve and grow the forum in a more organized, and organizing, way)
@OriginalCaruso Well tested, yes... but the Ingress ingame "comm" has had more than just its fair share of toxicity. Name-Calling, insults, stalking, threats - you name it, it has happened.
That's why I'd assume that we'll never see such kind of feature ever again in a Niantic game.
As for the "offtopic", why not start your own community out there - independantly of the forum?