Superficial vs. Thorough

[CioccoLatte]

Shay Straylight

Pirate Captain Sushi

Unless I have a deep connection with the topic, I choose not to make a post going too indepth. If for some reason I do, I risk winding up talking about stuff I don't really don't know about, which leads to me look like a complete uneducated moron... which is very VERY often.

Also it takes me about half an hour to make a paragraph of organized comprehensive thoughts, so there's the whole "do I really wanna waste ALL this time making this post?" deal I put myself through.

This is the story of my life.

*raises hand* me too...
this uneducated moron would like to attempt at seeming not-so-uneducated:

Aren't some posts better off "short-and-sweet" rather than "long-and-dragging"?
Short posts/replies do not necessarily mean that they are superficial (if done well--> which can be really difficult)
Unless it's very well written (engaging), for long posts/replies, i confess that i skip down to the tl;dr part... cat_sweatdrop

And about spoons: aren't they bullet-form summaries of the post?
then, don't they make thread-reading efficient? (But some spoons summarize too much...and don't completely give the sense of what the OP would like to convey)

Or perhaps people get tired of thinking too much and just put in whatever comes to mind at the drop of a hat rather than give a post/reply which looks like it was given more thought (some people are really good at this though, and at the drop-of-a-hat, are able to give well-thought-out opinions/replies/posts).
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*rereads post*....... cat_confused
.....gaaaaaah.....even i don't understand what i'm trying to get across... cat_gonk

[Senti-du-Bon]

Personally I'm just lazy and don't usually feel like reading thorough everything. On the rare occasion that I do, I try to add to arguments and it can be enjoyable.

I just usually can't be assed.

[Catena Carswell]

Sometimes I just don't have that much to say to the rest of you people. I mean, ultimately, I'm here to keep myself entertained, and possibly a couple other people along the way. The instant that cuts out, my attention is gone, and I am watching Thundercats in another tab.

So I suppose my reason for not talking to people here is the same as it is in real life: be more interesting and I'll talk to you more.

[Voievoda]

Is it sad that this thread reminded me of the Fanthread outrage....(was that last year or the year before...?)
Either way, I sure am glad to see those days gone.
Depending on the day, I'm digging the mellowness. Other times I'm cursing it, because the GCD is boring and slow.

I don't miss the debates of old, when people were ripped apart. Every time that happens I find I lose respect for the participates. But I do miss the nicely constructed threads about the plot or the world of gaia. There were two just recently. I want to post in them....but now it feels too late emo .

As for interaction: well, just lately I've been finding people more inclined to quote and carry on a conversation. Did I get more interesting emotion_kirakira . I dunno if I'm a good judge though, I don't get enough.

*ends rambling senslessness*

[User 4385700]

nubhorns

Mmm, I agree. We did have a lot of really useless threads, a lot of repeats, and people would start fights over them or b***h over the spoons, but if you waded through that you would find a carefully crafted thread that brought out the best (or worst) in everyone.

And sometimes they even brought it into the more basic threads.

I remember some of the most BEAUTIFUL fights. They weren't just bitchfights. They were fine crafted debates that tore each other to ribbons until little bits of either side were the only things left to type.

It was wonderful.

But yes, I'm getting off officially for the night and I really hope that... I don't know, the current regs come in and talk a little. I'd just really love to see that, I guess. Old GCD style!

These new "regs" know nothing of precision and finesse when it comes to verbally ripping eachother to shreds, but with some sort of honor involved. Those days are as good as dead, mate. Trust me, any hope of revival of the ol' GCD is lost. emo

[nubhorns]

Oh Miss

We are not required to do so, and most threads, like this one, are not worth the bother.

See, I don't get that attitude.

Why join the forum that has discussion plastered in it's name and then be okay with just sitting around?

I mean, I'm not criticizing you, it just honest to god confuses me!

I joined the GCD so that I could talk to people in depth and because I really liked the atmosphere and the pace. I don't understand why anyone comes into the GCD and is content to just post in mostly hit n' run threads.

I'm also really confused because... well... these were all things that were trying to be fixed when I left! So seeing this place in this state is exactly what the old regs NEVER WANTED.

I just kind of want to know how it happened. And I want to see if the new regs even cared about how things were, y'know? Why this place is called a discussion forum.

I mean, discussion is DEFINED as:

"consideration or examination by argument, comment, etc., especially to explore solutions; informal debate."

By ARGUMENT. By COMMENT. To EXPLORE. And to DEBATE.

[nubhorns]

Warwood

nubhorns

Mmm, I agree. We did have a lot of really useless threads, a lot of repeats, and people would start fights over them or b***h over the spoons, but if you waded through that you would find a carefully crafted thread that brought out the best (or worst) in everyone.

And sometimes they even brought it into the more basic threads.

I remember some of the most BEAUTIFUL fights. They weren't just bitchfights. They were fine crafted debates that tore each other to ribbons until little bits of either side were the only things left to type.

It was wonderful.

But yes, I'm getting off officially for the night and I really hope that... I don't know, the current regs come in and talk a little. I'd just really love to see that, I guess. Old GCD style!

These new "regs" know nothing of precision and finesse when it comes to verbally ripping eachother to shreds, but with some sort of honor involved. Those days are as good as dead, mate. Trust me, any hope of revival of the ol' GCD is lost. emo

Regardless, I think I'll be sticking around. Who knows, maybe things will change again. Regs are always changing and people are always coming in and out, that's one thing I learned from years in here.

[nubhorns]

CioccoLatte

*raises hand* me too...
this uneducated moron would like to attempt at seeming not-so-uneducated:

Aren't some posts better off "short-and-sweet" rather than "long-and-dragging"?
Short posts/replies do not necessarily mean that they are superficial (if done well--& which can be really difficult)
Unless it's very well written (engaging), for long posts/replies, i confess that i skip down to the tl;dr part... cat_sweatdrop

And about spoons: aren't they bullet-form summaries of the post?
then, don't they make thread-reading efficient? (But some spoons summarize too much...and don't completely give the sense of what the OP would like to convey)

Or perhaps people get tired of thinking too much and just put in whatever comes to mind at the drop of a hat rather than give a post/reply which looks like it was given more thought (some people are really good at this though, and at the drop-of-a-hat, are able to give well-thought-out opinions/replies/posts).
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*rereads post*....... cat_confused
.....gaaaaaah.....even i don't understand what i'm trying to get across... cat_gonk

Oh yeah, I TOTALLY AGREE with that. Some threads are meant to be short and sweet, if everything was heavy then the GCD would just give people a headache! Like I said earlier in the thread, we aren't the ED, hahah.

My main point is more, there aren't many threads with substance, and even the ones that have a little more than most, it gets skipped over in favor of the more obvious 'top coat', as it were.

If that makes sense?

Also, about spoons. Nothing is wrong with spoons! They can help to pull a thread together. But when your thread is just an anecdote with spoons strapped to the bottom, well that's a piss poor thread in my book. When I was early GCD I did a lot of them, and honestly I'm ashamed of it. You should always be able to remove the spoons and still have the thread. The spoons are there if you want to use them, but in the end, the thread is finger food anyway, if you get my metaphor.

[nubhorns]

Anti-Ling

I just kind of bitched about this in another thread but I totally feel this

As mellow as people appear there's a sort of seriousness to "debate" now I never saw back when
maybe it's rose tinted omission but people didn't seem as hung up on every little thing gaia did
announcements were big
but it was more selfish than...newsy
we wanted to see what we helped to do.

obviously the devs still pay attention to this place
but it's more individuals yelling loudly and people nodding than any collaborative effort

I'm still convinced moving the projects to a separate forum killed it
yeah alot were crap and sunk under other threads
but collaborations right beside the other topics gave a way more active, artistic mentality than what is essentially the long lost site feedback twin with theories and fanthreads.

but it's kind of stupid to blame the site
I mean this place is ultimately as customizable as our avatars
and there have been a few things done on the gcd's part
I just think alot of people could stand to have a little more fun with it
It's painful to hear people always griping about their "hard work"

Oh hey, I totally remember you! How's it going?

I agree, though, especially with the end here. Like, everyone didn't discuss because it was something that HAD to be done here or anything silly like that. They got into debates and everyone got fired up because it was fun. People had fun doing it. They had fun theorizing, and suggesting things in the AtAs; had fun collecting new items and seeing everything new and shiny coming out.

Not to say that everyone here ISN'T, I'm just not feeling that same vibe. And I really can't say it's because the old regs aren't here anymore, because honestly I remember when they started to clear out and a new set started to take their place late in the game for me. And they had the SAME energy (and the same bitchiness hahah).

Also, I'm not totally sure it was the projects... since I think that happened around the same time as the fanthread crisis (if I'm not mistaken, please tell me if I am! my memory is failing me with old age). And even through that everything was pretty much the same.

[CioccoLatte]

nubhorns

CioccoLatte

Oh yeah, I TOTALLY AGREE with that. Some threads are meant to be short and sweet, if everything was heavy then the GCD would just give people a headache! Like I said earlier in the thread, we aren't the ED, hahah.

My main point is more, there aren't many threads with substance, and even the ones that have a little more than most, it gets skipped over in favor of the more obvious 'top coat', as it were.

If that makes sense?

Oooh.....
Firstly, thank you for understanding!

Ahhh...i get it: some "long" threads =/= substance; also,
heavy/esoteric threads ("ED-ish" threads) = "too much" substance for the GCD to handle XD
*is shot* [/attempt at joke]

Then, thinking it over: don't short-and-sweet threads also mean that there was probably nothing much to talk about in the first place? Hence the lack of substance?
I admit, the only threads i get excited about nowadays are threads about new items...

Quote:

Also, about spoons. Nothing is wrong with spoons! They can help to pull a thread together. But when your thread is just an anecdote with spoons strapped to the bottom, well that's a piss poor thread in my book. When I was early GCD I did a lot of them, and honestly I'm ashamed of it. You should always be able to remove the spoons and still have the thread. The spoons are there if you want to use them, but in the end, the thread is finger food anyway, if you get my metaphor.

Ahhh....removing spoons (from the term "spoon-feeding", right?)...i sometimes like to eat with my hands...or perhaps chopsticks, which i think requires a bit more effort.....did i get your metaphor? :3

ahhhh....size 9--&so cute =w=

[Kodushomu]

J 4 C K

I usually just get "tipped". I haaaate it. Instead of saying you agree or like what the person said, you just do a simple click and it's done. Conversation squashed. I think the tip feature takes away from so much...

This.
Thisthisthisthisthis.

I can't stand it when people cut off a decent conversation with a tip. It's like writing someone an e-mail or a text-message only to get a "k" in return. Like, really, it's not so hard to cut off a conversation with a polite comment or something similar.

GCD's a really, really difficult forum to talk with people in. I didn't really realize it until I moved away from the GCD, but there's just no opportunity for conversation 85% of the time. People post their opinions, which tend to be pretty...standard, if that's the right word, and there's never really a person that I absolutely disagree with. I've noticed that whenever people do tend to disagree with others, they express it in a really snappy way that just doesn't work for discussions.

[Miss Mary Muffet]

I'm a chronic abuser of hit and run tactics, and tipping people without actually responding to their post. Often times, I would like to have a discussion, but I either have nothing to add other than "I agree", or my mind flits around to other things, and I forget what point I wanted to make, and... oooh, pictures of kitties all over the internet!!!1



Yeah.

Like this thread, for example. Gabby, you sent me the link to this thread right after you posted it, and I was working on a response, but then I got distracted, and forgot what I was saying... but! I came back the next day, because this is an intriguing topic. It has inspired me to try and make more conversation in the future. I'll start now.

Ridley has a good idea, that as an OP, you should be actively urging the discussion along in your thread. 3nodding

Pirate Captain Sushi

Also it takes me about half an hour to make a paragraph of organized comprehensive thoughts, so there's the whole "do I really wanna waste ALL this time making this post?" deal I put myself through.

Gahhh, I feel the same way. Seriously, I put much more time into this post than I should have, and it's not even evident when you read it. I think I have been in this thread for an hour, mashing garbled sentences onto the screen in between trading Pokemon and chatting with my boyfriend on facebook. xD

[Ping of Death]

I don't think it's necessary to have in depth conversations unless the topic calls for it. Most of the topics I've seen can be answered with one sentence.

[meep12345meep12345]

IMHO, the answer to why this is, well, a lot like the answer to why some GCD'rs reveal what they're wearing and some don't cat_stare
I mean, you're going to get those who want to share information and those who want to only leave an opinion. cat_neutral

Of course, sometimes, it is easy to keep a discussion going, especially if its speculation, but other times the only response anyone can give is their take on the subject and, beyond that, there isn't any reason to drag the conversation out further (largely because much of what is brought up in the GCD these days isn't very speculative and, when it is, it usually results in either a select few having a conversation while the rest are left out, because the opinions of those in said conversation is very, how would you say, of a limited perspective/opinion, or everyone simply giving their thoughts on a particular matter, where no real conversation beyond "I agree with what they say" would occur...) cat_rolleyes

Add on top of that the more vengeful antics of the friends of other GCD'rs, sort of like an unseen nepotism that punishes those who might be even slightly 'critical' of certain individuals, and, well, you get... cat_stare

...Lack of discussion cat_neutral


In many ways, I feel the superficiality of some responses has to do with how unpopular opinions are not allowed (like the view that the Zodiacal is worthless piece of overrated, overpriced, and highly inaccurate piece of shite cat_stressed or that GCD is fill'd with some of the most arrogant, and ignorant, arseholes with regards to Gaia, because they can't simply accept that another forum, like z!F, might know something before them cat_xp ; But these are merely some of the worst examples...) and, if you hold one of these said unpopular opinions, you've got to, more or less, walk on eggshells when posting in the GCD cat_xp

Anyhow, that is just my 2gs worth of opinion on this matter... cat_stare

[nubhorns]

Ping of Death

I don't think it's necessary to have in depth conversations unless the topic calls for it. Most of the topics I've seen can be answered with one sentence.

Well that's sort of my point.

The quality of threads ALONG WITH the quality of the responses.

Is the thread worth being posted if it gets ten pages of "I REALLY LIKE *BLANK*" or "THIS HAPPENED TO ME TOO AND IT WAS AWFUL/GREAT!!!"?

I'm saying that it isn't, but, again, this is a discussion thread. If you think that the GCD is better the way it is now, tell me about it. If you think threads like that are worth having around, tell me about it. I appreciate your opinions, of course.