Expressing my dislike for "One and Only" threads
 

First off, a big thank you to Geoff and all the moderators for doing an outstanding job here at DVD Talk. I appreciate all your hard work. Thanks guys & gals.

But, I'm finding the "One and Only" threads to be very annoying. Take the Star Wars Phantom Menace thread for example. Last time I checked it had over 270 replies. So, I read through the first hundred or so, find something of interest at 110 and post a message at oh say number 190 and then hope that the person back at 110 takes the time to read up to my thread and post a reply at 271. That's not very efficient in my humble opinion. It would be much easier to scan through the forum reading the subject headings and post a reply to a relevant message. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm whinning too much-smile-but I don't think I'm the only one thinking this way.

Thanks for your time

I've always agreed with this idea (no one and only threads).

I think for some topics, a '1 and only' thread works out well. Some topics are too big for only 1 thread and quickly grow to such a length that any usable info in them is lost.

i do 'one and only' threads.. but only in the matter of sports discussions in the other forum
and this is done because it was made clear awhile back, that we wanted to keep the sports discussions isolated in specific threads.

i can see some points where they are not necessary.. but unless you want the other forum over run with individual sports threads (or you want to give me my sports forum :D ), I think they are a good idea in these cases

I agree, sometimes it seems pointless to reply to a message at like 86 when there are 200+ posts.

Good points.

I think it would be fair to say that there is some positives and negatives with the One and Only threads. Without them, the forum can (and has) get filled with threads about one subject. It's a similar complaint from people who are not interested in one subject.

Perhaps the answer is, on extremely popular issues, to have more than one "One and Only" thread?

Like for example... "The One and Only Problems with Shrek" thread... and "The One and Only Shrek case and sticker problem" thread? It would be a compromise for most.

I think this may be a good solution, the problem will be how do the moderators decide what goes where.

The "problem" threads have worked out well, and perhaps allowing a couple other subjects would work. But then you run the problem of making sure people are posting in the right one and only thread! :)

What about starting the Part 2, 3, 4 at quicker intervals? Say once the one and only thread hits 50 posts or so it's closed down and the "sequal" is started. That will make reading each thread a little less daunting, and may allow for new topics to be brought up with a greater likelihood of being seen.

-David

As it is now the big titles like Star Wars and Godfather have two "One & Only" threads. One is for general DVD discussion, the other is for discussing problems people are experiencing with the discs. I think this is adequate as personally I'm not a SW fan and I always hated seeing half a dozen SW threads on page one in the main forum.

Perhaps Geoff could open up some new short term "forum areas" that cover entire topics, such as The Phantom Menace. He could delete or change the topic of the "forum area" when the interest in The Phantom Menace dies down. I believe the DVDFile.com forum has/had something like this.

Thanks for the replys so far.

randyc- I also think some one and only threads do work when they are specifically titled like the examples you listed. When they don't work is when there is a "blanket" one and only thread. That's when things get really mucked up. So many different issues going on in one thread makes it hard to keep track of what's being discussed. I've never moderated a board before but it seems to me it would be just as easy to oversee 4 different threads each containing 40 replys as it would be to supervise one thread with 160 replys. I don't see why it is a problem to have multible but different threads about a single movie or disk. The problem as I see it is when people post the SAME topic multiple times, right? This can only be solved by the search feature.

Blade- starting sequels might work but I still think it is easier to find a topic of interest when the header tells you what's inside.

codefree- Ahhh, now we see why you like one and only threads. Letting your personal prejudices ruin everyone elses fun? -wink- -smile-

with something like Ep. 1 there could be
one and only sound
one and only special effects
one and only bonus features
etc

I'd agree with this case. A "One and Only World Series Game 5" thread is much better than "The Diamondbacks are Gonna Win", "Kim is a Dead Man", "Brenly Must Be On Crack", "Jeter is Mr. November", "This Must Be Fixed", "How Can This Be The World Series Without Pujols?", etc.

<small></small></small>Great idea! I am certainly very happy in implementing such a proposal. I'll have a tidy up over the weekend; time permitting!

Many of the one and only threads are too damned long. I have no patience or desire to read 200+ posts in one thread- the "Episode One" thread is a good example. A thread gets over 4+ pages, forget it for me. I think the others' ideas of splitting some of these REALLY big threads into a few - not a lot - threads on specific topics is a good idea. We're getting TOO efficient at combining this stuff together for my tastes - I think it's good to close the 842nd "Just got Episode I' thread but I think, for instance, the Shrek sticker comments vs. Shrek content could be two different threads easily. Just my 2¢

[unhelpful wishful thinking]Too bad the forum software doesn't allow a tree structure, where there could be one main heading for a movie and then seperate subthreads that you could expand if desired.[/uwt]

Hmm, looks like about time to start a "One and Only Express Your Dislike for Something" thread. ;)

I also am not a fan of the "one and only" threads since they are just way too long and contain too much information. Different main subjects should be allowed different threads.

We now have a movies forum, so the traffic in the DVDTalk forum is much less than it used to be, I just don't see a few threads on one topic as being a problem. The problem I see is that there are fewer interesting threads in DVDtalk, partly because each movie is delegated to one thread which I don't read (when I see any thread with 200+ replies, chances are I am not going to read it simply because of the time necessary to wade through it).