serious discussions(news, events, etc)

and non-serious(jokes, lameness, etc)

Couldn't be more against the idea.

I think it should stay the way it is.

Me neither. It is the mixture of both that gives the Otter Farm much of its allure. That, and Jules's 'fro.

I can see why people would be for it, and I can certainly see why people would be against it. Lately the amount of serious discussion has been a little sparse, so I don't really think it's necessary. Everything seems to be running pretty smoothly.

There are times, when people get the padding bug, where serious discussions fall apart because they are mixed into an environment of non-serious banter. However, I haven't really seen this as of late.

I used to strongly favor this, but the forum has improved, plus I don't read it as much anyomre so I don't really care. Getting rid of post counts and padding has helped a lot. Some members left and others just quit posting so much banal crap. I would just like to see Music put into it's own forum as the music threads die off quickly in other, likewise with the DVD Music video threads in DVD Talk. Plus it would be a place to discuss DVD-Audio.

The last time this issue came up I posted that infact we have split the other forum.... The Other used to be all things not DVD. And we've spun off these 'new' forum areas from it:

- Book Talk
- Video Game Talk
- TV Talk

Also a while back, I promised to add a Music/DVD-Audio forum. I still plan to add this. Just have been focusing on bringing on a new batch of mods. After that's all done we'll get the Audio forum up..... Which I'll commit to having up by the end of Sept if not sooner.

True Dat!!

We still have "book talk"????

Thanks Geoff!

You're right...it has been split. I took awhile to iron out all the creases, but I think that the other is better than ever right now.

Glad to see that the next change will be music/dvd-audio. This does sound like perfection.

toss me in as another vote against a serious/joke split

although future music and sports forums arent a bad idea

Sports can be included into TV forum. Maybe the mature things can be made into a new forum.Other than that we have a lot of forums already.

putting sports in tv might be a bit of a stretch.. but thats a whole different story

and as far as a mature forum.. isnt that what adultdvdtalk is for?

No, actually. www.AdultDVDTalk.com is a website/forum dedicated to the discussion of DVDs from the adult film industry. Because they have an age warning to get into their site, they likely have much more liberal content standards than we do, but please don't go there just to use them to discuss "mature" topics.

The founder of the site, however, is a longtime DVDTalk member and associate, StephDunn, and she's done some great stuff over there. I encourage you to visit them if you want the latest on DVDs from the adult film category.

Thanks.

Sports forum might be a nice thing to have separated...

We're just bringing on a good number of new mods. One of the issue of creating a new area is having the man/woman power to look after it. I've commited to the Music/DVD Audio forum area this month... Let's get that up and see where were at later this month.

If one of my new mods or old ones is interested in moderating a sports forum, and there's enough interest on the site, we can look at it...

you da man!

If the objective is to kill the spirit of what we now know and love as the Other Forum, by all means keep requesting additionally granular forums.

It certainly makes sense to have a DVD-Audio forum. It is a continuously growing facet of the DVD revolution. However, I personally do not look forward to seeing all music-related topics become off-topic in the Otter Farm. Those fun Sade threads, the "what's your favorite ????? song" polls, gone. Now some want to weed any sports-related topic out as well?

Not as a moderator but as a long-time DVDTalk member and Otter, please don't.

we still have tons of chat in the other forum regarding dvds, movies, computers, etc.... seems the line is pretty thin, and the mods have always done a pretty good job of patrolling it..

while I think having a music or sports forum would take away some traffic from the other forum.. the same was said about the tv forum, and it never really has..
rather, I think those particular forums would draw alot more people that are looking to only discuss music or sports.. so I think it would open people up more for alot more music or sports chat, that currently people dont want to do, because they feel bad having too many sports or music topics in the other forum at one time.

it would take a whole lot to hurt the other forum.. and unless the mods got extremely picky, i cant see that happening.

It has been my observation over the past year+ that when topics are moved/banned from other the same amounts of traffic occur. It is analogous to when a freeway expands in lanes...typically those new lanes get just as busy. The extra space is soon filled.

It has happened with TV Talk and Book talk. I remember when both of those, especially TV Talk, were created people were pretty nervous about what it would do in Other. The exact same reactions occured in regards to video game talk.

People also go upset when Geoff halted padding. Yet, I think that there is just as much posting. People just come up with more substantantive things to speak of.

No, the problem isn't what will happen to other. I think that is pretty obvious, because the problem is what will happen to these specialized topics. It seems that book talk gets pretty little traffic. I also notice less tv comments. I don't think that either of them are dead. I just think that many otters don't really go to other forums besides otter. The one that seems to thrive on its own would be, video game talk.

The music talk forum would be a wonderful idea. I think that it would attract many people from the other places besides the otter farm. It will most likely be a highly populated area--especially as this form of dvd is about to really take off.

On the contrary, I sort of worry about how many people will utilize a sports talk forum. It doesn't seem to have the same immediacy. However, I think that it very well could be a good idea. These are just my thoughts.

I'll be happy when the Music Forum comes up, but I really don't know if there is a need for a sports forum. I definitely don't feel like sports threads are buried in Other. They get plenty of attention. Perhaps if non-sports fans in Other are annoyed with the amount of sports threads in Other, then a Sports Forum would be a good idea.

you could be right..

but with the NFL about to get in full swing.. the college students starting back to classes... NCAA football season currently running.. Baseball playoffs just around the corner.. the 20 or so fantasy football leagues that are running within dvdtalk right now.. and before long, everyone will start talking basketball again (not that kenwood ever stops )

I think over at least over the next few months, will be an extremely busy time for sports talk.. and this may end up as clutter in dvdtalk, depending on how diverse the threads get

well that.. and i think there is alot of sports talk that doesnt get mentioned.. just because its not worth posting in the other forum (not that we have any standards ) I think a sports talk forum would encourage alot more people to talk about more sports topics that they normally wouldnt.. but thats just my opinion of course.

not again

actually I understand why some want a music forum- I do think it will not have that much traffic- close to video games i bet. I worry that all music related threads will become taboo in other except for those that are purely joke threads.

I do think that posting volume has dropped in Other since the changes. this new music forum change will decrease it some more. If the Moderators were stricter on padding type fun it would fall more. Thankfully the Moderators try to balance the fun and even allow padlike behavior in moderation which has kept Other a good place to hang out. Balancing fun with more serious discusssion a bit better than before. I still like a more fun less serious forum but you win some you lose some

I do think that splitting the forum in two would basically kill the forum- I could be wrong; however this is what i believe would happen.

yea.. splitting the forum into serious and joke forums would horrible.. quick death to the other forum