| Should we create a new forum for general history discussion that is not specifically related to arms or armour? |
| Yes, I like this idea |
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20% |
[ 5 ] |
| Yes, I like this idea, but would not use it myself |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| No, I do not like this idea |
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79% |
[ 19 ] |
| I don't have an opinion |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
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| Total Votes : 24 |
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Craig Peters
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 Posted: Mon 03 Jul, 2006 8:44 pm Post subject: Splitting the "Off-topic forum" |
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Nathan,
Would it be possible to create an Off-topic subforum dealing with generalized questions relevant to the Roman/Medieval/Early Modern Period? The reason I ask is that many of the people here at myArmoury have far better knowledge of these periods than most lay people, and this forum could be a useful place to field the questions that we all have from time to time about general history.
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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| Posted: Mon 03 Jul, 2006 8:58 pm Post subject: Re: Another New Forum Suggestion |
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| Craig Peters wrote: | | Would it be possible to create an Off-topic subforum dealing with generalized questions relevant to the Roman/Medieval/Early Modern Period? The reason I ask is that many of the people here at myArmoury have far better knowledge of these periods than most lay people, and this forum could be a useful place to field the questions that we all have from time to time about general history. |
This is part of what the off-topic forum is already intended to be.
I don't want to bring people together on the site and then separate them all into special-interest niches.
Please read This Announcement to understand.
The way I see it is this:
1) DIscussions regarding historical arms and armour go into the "Historic Arms Talk" forum
2) Discussions regarding general history, medieval warfare, daily life of the ancients, etc., etc., etc. go into the current "Off-topic Forum"
3) Other discusions related to the arms and armour community go into the current "Off-topic Forum"
Let me make sure I understand you: Are you proposing I split #2 and #3 in the list above?
If so, we'd have:
1) DIscussions regarding historical arms and armour go into the "Historic Arms Talk" forum
2) Discussions regarding general history, medieval warfare, daily life of the ancients, etc., etc., etc. go into the "General History Talk Forum" (Or whatever name we call it...)
3) Other discusions related to the arms and armour community go into the current "Off-topic Forum"
Am I understanding the proposal?
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Craig Peters
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| Posted: Mon 03 Jul, 2006 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, you are understanding the proposal. However, the only reason I made it was because I didn't realize that general history questions were appropriate for the Off-topic forum. The description of the Off-topic forum currently reads "Discussions that do not belong in the other areas that are still related to the arms and armour hobby", which meant to me that ostensibly general history questions in the Off-topic forum were "off topic" so to speak.
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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| Posted: Mon 03 Jul, 2006 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Craig Peters wrote: | | Yes, you are understanding the proposal. However, the only reason I made it was because I didn't realize that general history questions were appropriate for the Off-topic forum. The description of the Off-topic forum currently reads "Discussions that do not belong in the other areas that are still related to the arms and armour hobby", which meant to me that ostensibly general history questions in the Off-topic forum were "off topic" so to speak. |
Basically the off-topic is supposed to be about anything that does not fit into the other forums so last as it is still on-target to an audience focused on the arms and armour hobby.
This means discussions that are not about: historic weapons, historical armour, product announcements, site features, for-sale notices, test topics, etc.
General history is still related to our arms and armour hobby and so is good to go in the off-topic as it stands now.
Having said that, I like your idea. Perhaps we've grown enough to have a separate forum for history-related topics that are outside of discussions of arms and armour. There will, of course, be arms and armour as part of these discussions, but they aren't necessarily the topic's main subject matter. This is where these subforums get all confused, though...
As it stands, people often still don't get what we're about (see your message above), despite only have a couple of forums. If there are addition ones, then it is likely to be more confusing and people will be left either not knowing where to post something or afraid to explore new territory in a topic because it's outside of a forum's focus.
I'd be open for further discussions about this...
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Craig Peters
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| Posted: Tue 04 Jul, 2006 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Nathan Robinson wrote: |
Having said that, I like your idea. Perhaps we've grown enough to have a separate forum for history-related topics that are outside of discussions of arms and armour. There will, of course, be arms and armour as part of these discussions, but they aren't necessarily the topic's main subject matter. This is where these subforums get all confused, though...
As it stands, people often still don't get what we're about (see your message above), despite only have a couple of forums. If there are addition ones, then it is likely to be more confusing and people will be left either not knowing where to post something or afraid to explore new territory in a topic because it's outside of a forum's focus.
I'd be open for further discussions about this... |
Nathan,
I know that it is possible to have a fairly large number of forums and subforums with people not being confused about where to post. For instance, have a look at the Whistlestopper Political Forums main page: http://www.whistlestopper.com/forum/index.php? WS functions just fine, even though it has a total of 18 forums and subforums, plus another 4 that you cannot see, and that's ignoring the moderator forums. So it can be done.
Personally, I think a general history subforum would be a good inclusion for the Off-topic forums. Since myArmoury isn't restricted to any time periods or cultures, the same should hold true for the history subforum. This forum can be a place to field historical questions or discussions that are not specifically relevant to arms and armour. And even if there is some cross-over, it doesn't really matter too much. But I don't think there would be that much really, since "General history not arms and armour related" is fairly clear.
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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J. Bedell
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| Posted: Tue 04 Jul, 2006 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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I think it would be a great idea. It would be nice to have a sub-forum to talk about the more domestic matters of history; political and econonic systems, evolution and advancements in colthing, technology, etc., that don't deal with arms and armour. Most people on myArmoury know a great deal about history and it would be wonderful to have a place to share our knowledge of general history.
Just my thoughts,
-James
The pen may be mighter, but the sword is much more fun.
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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Jason Daub
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| Posted: Tue 04 Jul, 2006 6:42 pm Post subject: |
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Perhaps just expanding the description of what is expected and allowable on the off-topic forum would be enough? I don't really care for the way many forums have an innumerable amount of sub-topics. The way that the discussions here are quite free-wheeling and broad based are part of the reason that I stop on the forums.
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Chad Arnow
myArmoury Team
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| Posted: Tue 04 Jul, 2006 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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My preference is to keep it the way it is. I don't think adding more forums will really help. Perhaps the OT forum needs a sticky like many of the others have that would describe what it's for.
Since this is an arms & armour site, general history is related to, but off that topic. I think it's perfectly appropriate in the OT forum. If that kind of stuff is removed from the OT forum, I think the OT forum will either stagnate or we'll see posts that are entirely off-topic to this site and its focus.
I personally don't care for an abundance of sub-fora. I don't think it benefits a community, I think it fragments it in many cases.
ChadA
http://chadarnow.com/
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Craig Peters
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| Posted: Tue 04 Jul, 2006 9:13 pm Post subject: |
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Well, whatever decision is made, I think it would help to clarify the description of the off topic forum. I see hardly any posts about general history there, and my guess is that it's largely due to the forum index description of what is appropriate in the OT forum
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Wed 05 Jul, 2006 6:47 am Post subject: |
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I sort of like better the idea of including general history into the Off Topic Forum as some have suggested.
Keeping two Off Topic Forums one dealing with weapons related subjects and one with just general history would be very difficult to keep distinct: If someone starts a topic on history and some weapons related posts sneak in or a post on weapons and some history starts getting mentioned will the moderators have to say: Oh, no this is the history Forum or Oh no this is the off topic Weapons Forum and start having to move posts around to the right forum ?
In any case weapons ( WAR ) and history are so interrelated that mentioning one without the other is at some point almost impossible.
Maybe the poll should have an extra question: Do you want the Off Topic Forum to include general history subject ?
( Oh, that might drift in and out of weapons related posts as the discussion evolved. ) To that question I would say YES.
The way the poll questions are now I would have to choose: YES and NO  
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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Jonathan Blair
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| Posted: Wed 05 Jul, 2006 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Perhaps "General History" should be a subforum within the "Off Topic" forum, similar to how "Suggestions and Requests" is a subforum of the "myArmoury.com Features Talk" forum. That way the general history questions remain in the "Off Topic" forum where they belong, but are segregated from the rest of the pack.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I don't like the idea, even though I originally voted that I liked the idea.
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." - The Lord Jesus Christ, from The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, chapter x, verse 34, Authorized Version of 1611
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Wed 05 Jul, 2006 7:37 am Post subject: |
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| Nathan Robinson wrote: | | Jean Thibodeau wrote: | Maybe the poll should have an extra question: Do you want the Off Topic Forum to include general history subject ?
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Off-Topic already includes general history. |
Good! But from some previous comments this may have been misunderstood, so maybe the description of the site might explain this " better " ( Or maybe we ( I ) just need to go back and re-read the description again.   )
In that case I guess I will vote NO to having a new forum category ! Will go vote right after I submit this post. 
But this topic discussion will have been useful bringing this issue to the fore.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Steve Grisetti
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| Posted: Wed 05 Jul, 2006 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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I would rather not split off a general history forum or subforum. I think that this would be a turn in the direction of fragmenting the community.
"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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J. Bedell
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| Posted: Wed 05 Jul, 2006 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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After reading the responses and rethinking this idea I would have to say it would probably be best not to split it. No need to split up a forum that already works quite well.
-James
The pen may be mighter, but the sword is much more fun.
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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| Posted: Wed 19 Jul, 2006 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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I wasn't really sure how my own opinion on this landed, but I guess it didn't fly with the few that voted on it.
Regardless, it shows a need to further explain the intended purpose of the "off-topic" forum. I feel that many people come from other sites and superimpose their structure onto ours. When this site first launched, we found that the "Historic Arms Talk" forum was used much like Sword Forum's "General" forum and our "off-topic" forum was used like their "Family Pub". I still find this happening and, simply put, this is a bad assumption.
I've further refined the description of the "off-toipc" forum like this:
| Quote: | | Discussions that do not specifically fit into the other areas but are still on-target to our audience of arms and armour enthusiasts |
I should put a note topic further explaining it. Once I find the time to write it up, I will.
Any further suggestions are welcome.
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Craig Peters
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| Posted: Wed 19 Jul, 2006 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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Maybe "Discussions on general history and miscellaneous arms and armor topics"? You could also add "...arms and armor topics not appropriate to the other forums".
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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This is a standard topic
