just count the number of posts in this thread right now and see what percentage of them have no Dominion content whatsoever and you'll see how lighthearted remarks can come at the expense of Dominion content.
Like, this is exactly my point, that this is not the case. It is not as the expense of Dominion content. If those posts weren't there, there would not be less Dominion content, there would just be less of the lighthearted posts. I guess you can say you're reducing the density of Dominion content. But to me it's like, you read a thread, someone makes a (quite possibly lame) joke, you either chuckle and move on or ignore it and move on. No harm done.
It is exactly my point that it
is the case, and I feel like you aren't getting it. Perhaps I have communicated my point suboptimally, so allow me to attempt this again.
Let's take a thread with X posts that are all about Dominion, with zero of them off-topic. Every post is relevant to the discussion or to Dominion or whatever. Now let's pepper in Y posts that are one line each, with a little quip that isn't related to anything, but generates a nice, hearty chuckle for some, who then press the +1 button. Let's also say that Y does not exceed 1/5 of X, this number is arbitrary but it just means that we still have more Dominion commentary than quips. There are now X+Y posts in the thread, and we still have our X posts about Dominion, which we didn't change, so we didn't take away from the Dominion discussion. Yay! An argument could be made that in this ideal case, we have not lost anything Dominion-related, and we added in our chuckles and +1s while nobody really minded our quips because they were short, sporadic, and easily ignorable by everyone who cared about discussing Dominion. I don't necessarily agree with this argument (I haven't really decided) but let's just give you this: let's say this is not harmful.
But that's not what happens here, and let me outline the key differences.
1. Many of the little quips are overused, to the point where some people find it irritating to read Scout jokes. They are no longer funny because they are overused.
2. Many of the little quips are about being pedantic, which can often have some uncomfortable effects. These effects include personal offense being taken by someone who was quoted out of context or whose words are being misunderstood and being made light of; and also they can sort of look like they're on-topic but can begin to move the discussion in a direction that can either be very far from what the OP really wanted to talk about, or worse, onto something not related to Dominion at all. So one post goes partially off-topic, and the next one goes even more, and 5 posts later in this chain we're talking about something completely unrelated.
Some would say that if the OP is upset about a change in topic or takes personal offense where none was intended that "lol this is the internet, just get used to it or gtfo, don't be so sensitive." I realize I may be in the minority in saying this, and my argument here isn't the most compelling thing ever, but here it is: Really? Are you serious? What the H? Is that really the image you want this community to give off? Especially in someone's first thread, when we can't respect what they ask for? Yeah this is the internet but jeez, have some decency. At least try and to be open-minded enough to realize that not everyone shares the "dwi or gtfo" mentality and maybe we would be a more welcoming place if we didn't end up doing that to people who are new here?
3. The quips are not evenly peppered in, they come in deluges of 5-10 posts made in like an hour's time. This is significant because after one of these little tangents, it's harder for someone to come in and read that and just go back to talking about Dominion. It's even harder when they do so only to have their posts nitpicked by even more posts that are off-topic. It's even harder when the short posts where little thought went into them are rewarded by +1s while the posts that someone spent a while thinking about and had thought and *gasp* actual Dominion insight or questions don't get nearly the same treatment. I spent 15 minutes typing up something I think is thoughtful and I see 5 one-liners were posted while I was typing that have completely changed the subject, now I feel weird making my post and even weirder when it vanishes in a sea of getting made fun of or indifference to all of our lovely quips! Quips are so great!
4. The number of these posts is greater than 1/5 of X. I don't know what the number in this thread was, and I don't know what the right number is, but suffice it to say that the people who think similarly to what I'm describing wish they were less in number than what they are. Maybe zero isn't the perfect number for Y, but golly gee it's probably less than what it is now; enough so that it's not taking more value away from these people than the quippers could possibly be getting.
Even if you don't agree with these, can you at least understand why someone out there could feel like the quips are taking away from the discussion at hand? If you at least recognize that someone out there could possibly feel differently than you do, then is it too much to ask to respect that person's wishes when they ask for the quips and nitpicks to stop?
The answer I've seen from this community so far has been "yes, that is too much to ask." I will refer to my previously mentioned "Really? Are you serious? What the H? Is that really the image you want this community to give off?" argument.
adam, everything you seem to be looking for would be much better accomplished on twitter were it not for the fact that hardly anybody here uses it. you would expect the character limit to hurt your chances of quality discussion, but that's more than made up for by the extra options you have to regulate things (blocking, etc.). every twitter thread is basically its own mini-forum where everyone has mod powers that only apply to their own experience there, and i think that's a huge boon to [serious] stuff; there's a reason black lives matter originated on twitter and not a forum.
Umm, pardon my ignorance. You are clearly much more well-versed in the Twitters than I am (you saw my attempt, it was pathetic, I felt like a fish out of water). I was thinking more along the lines of Reddit, a very large community where [serious] tags are respected and lots of really, really great discussion takes place as a result. If this is not a valid comparison then please tell me, because I'm not sure whether or not I agree with you.
buuuuuuut the eurogame world is 5 years behind the times here so i can understand why you keep holding out hope!
I don't think you meant any offense by this, but it doesn't quite seem appropriate. If I asked you to not make comments like that would you do it? Maybe I'm just missing the point? I don't think I'm that far behind the times, am I? I'm pretty hep with what the cool kids have to say, cowabunga! Bee's knees! Bully for F.DS!