Off Topic : Good or Bad?

[Kenny]

Personally, I really don't care about the off-topic.
The only forums I go to are Tactical Equipment, Bolt-action and Snipers, Killbucket's Custom Projects and Community General Discussion.

[Fluffy]

I like OT. And for those who don't, they can not go to it. I like to be able to talk about local issues etc with people who are both local and cool.

[CommonSnipe]

If we were to move OTF to another site try any other solution it personal problems and OT references would still spill over into the rest of the forum. And as others have stated OT posts would run rampant in the rest of the forum.

My solution for the OTF would be to make people earn the right to see or maybe just post in OT. Post count should not be the only way to earn your way in. I think you must ask to get in or should be invited in. If you have proven yourself worthy you are allowed in, otherwise you continue to wait. If you become overly annoying or start picking fights you can be suspended from OT for a period of time.

I will even volunteer to be one of the gate keepers or moderators.

[Bass Masta]

No, it needs to stay. It gets more than most as far as views and posts on the site, and often has intersting things or is just funny as hell.

[Peaches]

I like OT. And for those who don't, they can not go to it. I like to be able to talk about local issues etc with people who are both local and cool.

Agreed, I like to talk about things that aren't always related to each other, and it's pretty funny sometimes

[Nightshade]

The real problem with off-topic, as I see it, is that it used to be a place where smart people went and acted like retards but now it's just retards doing what retards do best, which is be retarded.

[Jester316]

Is there a way to make a new comer area? A place they can post, and learn the rules, and after a certain post count they get permission to view OTF? Arnies has something like that for their classified section. Just another suggestion.

[Matt]

Yeah but it's not the new people in off topic who are causing problems.

[Jester316]

True, but if they learn the etiquette of AP, than they would be less likely to make a mistake that sets off one of the elders. You can't change the people who have been here forever, but you can change the new person to mesh with the old.

[shogun]

I don't really care. If i don't like it ill ignore it, this is just a forum. I do read off topic and post in it, however it is one of my least favorite forums because i have to sift through so much useless junk, to find a post actually discussing something.

While i voted i don't really care, I'll give Matt my personal advice on the matter, because if he didn't need some opinions he wouldn't have asked

Personally i think having a place for political discussions, talking about the most recent news story, a funny joke you heard, that website you think is the shit, or that upsidedown up stuff that happened at work today is a good idea, it brings the community closer together.

Letting people run around and post absolute nonsense means its not an off topic forum... its a NO topic forum, so just because its OT doesn't mean it cant be more heavily moderated.

the other thing to consider is, airsoft pacific is a business and off topic can reflect poorly upon it, especially to news organizations, parents, and govt organizations that may visit one of the worlds largest airsoft communities to learn more about airsoft.

hiding the forum is a good idea, maybe a user group that requires a certain # of posts to join, like 100 or 200 (not to encourage postwhores) but simply to make sure that its not your first stop when you join the site, keep you posting in the moderated, and respectful areas until you have learned the ropes and know everyone if you will.

[Matt]

Well, my style of browsing AP is to click on "posts since your last visit." I will then read topic titles and open each topic that sounds interesting in a new tab. The rest get ignored. Whether it's in off topic or not, I only read things that interest me. I generally don't get involved in political debates, so maybe I'm just not as annoyed by OT as other people.

I agree with you that Off Topic may not always reflect AP in the most positive light, however you have to also remember that OT is not available to anybody who is not logged in. So, any parent or random person checking out AP to just "see what airsoft is about" won't see those topics... Unless they register.

I think more moderation is a healthy step towards making Off-Topic more useful and more interesting to outsiders, but we would also need to involve our most active veteran posters in that decision. If they aren't behind it, we'll just have more problems. If they get behind it, the community can police itself as it always has.

[shogun]

i guess im just old skool, i log in, and click forums, them click on the forums that tend to have topics im interested in, i never click introductions.

i usually hit community general discusion, team talk, retailer talk, the games forums, and OT, sometimes i click aeg's and tactical gear, but very rarely anymore... one more WUT SHULD I GIT post and ill explode

and i totally agree, good moderation i think is the best solution to the perceived problem here.

i dont think people should be censored but OT should be a place where you dont have to see 5 posts about nothing on a daily basis(5 may be a conservative estimate)

[Charlie]

If OT where gone, I geuss that it could really effect the website by taking away teh ability to talk about things other then airsoft. I wil agree that sometimes it will get distracting, and being a straight forward guy, I don't like that. But, my little pet peeves shouldn't rain on what other people like to do. I think that we should keep OT.

[Switch]

For me the Off Topic Forum has no use for me. Because if its not about Airsoft, then i wouldn't really even think about reading any of the topics that is listed. Most off topic forums i have been in are just full of Drama and people trying to sound smarter from the next guy.

[Victory]

What's the purpose of OT?

It's a Drama Generator.

Then again, so is AP as a whole.

-Vic