Themia Devia - Too much spam?

[Guy]

After not viewing the TD for what seems like an age, I happily clicked on there today to see what was new. After click 1 thread, I soon relised, there are more smilies than words... most of those smilies are;

and

Now as things appear, people seem to be swearing alot and forgetting things (...laugh?) but it is vastly becoming a spam forum. I prey this is not just because we have a million and one new members due to the E:TW release, but it's not good. Look at these posts, all taken from one single thread;

How the is STREET SHARKS! and Extreme DINOSAURS! and Beast Wars not in this muthaa?

I used to watch beast wars you ing !

BEAST WARS <3333333

Beast Wars was the best ever.

Now I'm missin Digimon.

Digimon was ing awesome too.

ROFL so true

When I joined back in 2006, if I was caught doing that, Ian would slap my wrists!

Can't we try and cut down on this spammy posting?

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

It's the Thema Devia, calm down. Everyone needs a place for spamming afterwhile.

[Thanatos]

It's the Thema Devia, calm down. Everyone needs a place for spamming afterwhile.

Yes and no. The TD was never as spammy as it is now. The level today is just obscene.

[Augustus Lucifer]

I've always thought the TD has gone downhill gradually since 2-3 years ago. The vast majority seem to think that "talk about anything" is leave to create silly threads and provide responses not worthy of discussion. There's no place set out for Business/Finance, Crime/Law(non-political), Cooking, and other topics of this nature. If I see something interesting in one of those topics, generally I'm going to rationalize to the best of my ability where I can put it other than the TD based on some fleeting association(Transportation -> Technology), so it doesn't hit Page 2 in a matter of hours under the weight of useless threads like:

Word Association
Rate the Profile
Rate the Signature/Avatar
Corrupt a Wish
4 Word Story
Animal Fights

One of the few threads worth any thought, Oscy's So I've decided to become a registered nurse, probably is better off in the PH&A. Nothing is going to change unless moderators get together and take a hard-line stance on spam in the TD, closing threads at the first sign of lack of substance or digression. You could say, yeah, the forum description says no Spam, but if I read a forum description that says no Spam, and then go in and see a 2,000 post thread on Word Association, why should I as a new member believe the description and try to make threads or posts of substance when lack of substance is not being cut down on. It's like saying the Constitution of the US is still technically in place in Fallout 3, and trying to stick to it as opposed to adapting to the barren radioactive wasteland. Barren radioactive wasteland, coincidentally, also a fitting analogy for the TD.

[gambit]

Word Association
Rate the Profile
Rate the Signature/Avatar
Corrupt a Wish
4 Word Story
Animal Fights

But without the Animal Fights thread, how would I know that Chuck Norris would win a fight between a bear and a lion?

Honestly it's true, I only joined in 2007 so I dunno what it was like but it is fairly spammy. I dont mind that much, it's generally something that everyone enjoys or enjoyed in the past (Like the 90's kid thread, that was quoted from in the OP) Spam doesnt bother me if it's just everyone speaking how much they agree, but it does become a strain after the 50th "How old are you" thread, or the 900th "Cats vs Dogs" thread.

Seriously, goldfish are so much cooler.

[Pontifex Maximus]

I would love to make it so smilies don't count as responses.

[Celsius]

In the Thema Devia, you can talk about anything. Even though it clearly says no SPAM, porn, or warez.

I will become a moderator for it I you need one

[Thanatos]

It would be great if all of those threads, and any like them, were closed. And after a reasonable grace period of however long, people who did those would be notified at first, and then warned. I'm sick of seeing the TD as something of a joke of its former self.

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

If I see something interesting in one of those topics, generally I'm going to rationalize to the best of my ability where I can put it other than the TD based on some fleeting association(Transportation -> Technology), so it doesn't hit Page 2 in a matter of hours under the weight of useless threads like:

Word Association
Rate the Profile
Rate the Signature/Avatar
Corrupt a Wish
4 Word Story
Animal Fights

It would be great if all of those threads, and any like them, were closed. And after a reasonable grace period of however long, people who did those would be notified at first, and then warned. I'm sick of seeing the TD as something of a joke of its former self.

Wait guys, what's the problem with people having fun? Okay, it's silly, so what? We don't expect members to conduct academic discussions in the VV, in fact, most of the discussions seem to be "Napoleon was so much better general than Julius Caesar! W00t!". Why so serious in the Thema Devia? Its subtitle says

Off-topic area. Here you are allowed to talk about anything. No spam, porn or warez.

Anything is anything.

Currently there is a lot bigger spamfest going on in the ETW due to the newly registered users, who like to start new threads on every possible bug they encountered during gameplay. (I find the term 'spam' a little bit misleading btw, as it means unsolicited commercial message.) Sure, there are a lot of responses that are too short to be called as 'posts', but closing threads just because they generate too many posts would be a bit odd.

[Viking Prince]

I do not post much in TD. Some recent posts there were to a couple of Cat threads that did not get the usually censored smilies and were pretty light hearted threads. TD is an escape from the rest of the fora and not a very organized place.

As for some topics, well there are other forums better suited to dealing with my chicken enchiladas suiza recipes than TWC. Why would I post a recipe here?

[Augustus Lucifer]

Why would I post a recipe here?

So that I can try it?

Any forum with a sense of community should really have a Culinary area, since you interface with the people so you're willing to trust that the little bit of Arsenic in the recipe is for flavor.

Also, this should be in the SYMPOSIVM, why is it here? Just noticed.

[Viking Prince]

So that I can try it?

Any forum with a sense of community should really have a Culinary area, since you interface with the people so you're willing to trust that the little bit of Arsenic in the recipe is for flavor.

Also, this should be in the SYMPOSIVM, why is it here? Just noticed.

If I post a recipe "just for you" will you promise to not let the other heathens to the site try it out?

Seriously, this is the kind of spam on TD, some sarcasm, a smilie or three and a bit of lightness. It has its place there. If I have somehing that I want to be somewhat spam free or at least moderated to some degree, I have never had a problem finding another place to post it.

EDIT: If you have 4 or 5 high volume threads that are worthless, it is still only 4 or 5 lines reducing what else is on page one. For me, page two on most fora are still interesting reads.

[Noble Savage]

*sigh*

Yes,the Thelma Davis is getting rather spammy but it's not getting narky or aggressive . Spam is fine if it is kept in the correct place and that place is the Thelma Davis. The site has changed (for the better in my opinion) and as such so has the membership.

Bottom line is,if you don't like it don't go there.If we were talking about the D&D I would be concerned but in my opinion as long as a topic is semi-relevant and isn't insulting anyone ; let it be.If you look at the "Say Cheese" thread there are many,many posts by the "Elite" of the site which really don't contain anything intellectually viable.

If it's yellow ,let it mellow. If its.....

[Thanatos]

Granted, there are a few worthy threads to post in, but a good majority of it is just plain ol' spam for the sake of spamming, it seems like.

[Desperado †]

It is quite spammy. The increase over the years was probably due to the increase in our community size. Also, Citizens, who tend to be good quality posters in TWC, use the Symposium rather than the TD.

[Thanatos]

Well, with the enormous influx of new members brought by the onset of Empire:Total War, the Symposium has been getting more traffic lately, but for all the wrong reasons.

[Thanatos]

Well PowerWizard, you weren't here a few years back. Trust me, the TD was someplace nice to go to, to relax. Just because it was an off-topic area didn't mean that it was filled with all sorts of threads about retarded topics that only people with some growing up to do would care about.

There's fun to be had, and then there's just plain silly, and that's what the TD has degenerated into. When people wanted to be silly back then, they would just go to the Say Cheese thread. For a while, that was pretty much the one "silly" thread that you could do kind of whatever you wanted to do, within reason of course.

Things like Osceola's thread about joining the medical profession was what the TD was intended for, not "Rate the Profile" games.

[Guy]

Well PowerWizard, you weren't here a few years back. Trust me, the TD was someplace nice to go to, to relax. Just because it was an off-topic area didn't mean that it was filled with all sorts of threads about retarded topics that only people with some growing up to do would care about.

When I joined back in 2006, if I was caught doing that, Ian would slap my wrists!

Exactly. Me and Thanatos both joined in 2006 so we've both been there. The TD was a nice place. was. If we look in the Archives, maybe we can make a comparison.

I seriously would LOVE to be a Moderator, just for one day in the TD. I'd virtually close the forum!

[Garnier]

I just use the Symposium. If we had less members and it were feasible, a backroom style forum like the Org has would be great, but we have so many people here it would be a nightmare to try to decide who can be there and who can't. Which is why we have citizenship and the Symposium.

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

I believe you Thanatos and agree with you, but the site had less members 2-3 years ago, prior to the M2TW release. That game was marketed mainly for teenagers and caused a massive influx of very young members, whose attitude and posting style didn't necessarily fit the standards of TWC's golden age. Closing those 'silly' threads wouldn't solve any problem, as people would simply keep on restarting them until the mods get tired. 60-70% of TD threads basically have no substance, so it would be a tough call to go nuclear in the Thema Devia, and decide which thread to close which one not.

Another solution would be to restrict the posting rights of new members for their first few weeks, which is out of question at TWC. Yet another solution would be to create a 'hidden' forum for experienced members like the Backroom at the Org, where the discussions are a bit mor relaxed. But we have our own Symposium for that purpose.

Just my 2 cents.