Poll: Originality on the Escapist

[Jirlond]

Hey guys,

I have noticed a lot of clone threads popping up or a lot of the same arguments re-surfacing over time. What I want is your input as to why this happens?

There ARE original and insightful posts on here but they can die all too quickly in favour for another Halo3 is the greetest evar!

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

Original ideas are hard.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I have never seen a Halo 3 is good thread. I've seen many "Halo 3 is shit threads". People think they are right regardless of how many times they have posted it. They are, but we already know.

 

[EeveeElectro]

I don't know what to say.. so..

*facepalm*

 

[Trivun]

There should be an 'other' option on the poll. Generally I haven't noticed anything like that and I've been here a good while. Admittedly some posters can be idiots, but if they troll or flame they're soon punished and if they're simply idiots they don't post much anyway. Overall, I haven't seen many repeated posts except when people simply share the same opinion, and often they'll quote and say "I agree, because..." and so on. As for repeat threads, that's a different matter. Repeat threads that are repeats of newer ones soon get locked, and it's better to necro some threads (only rarely though) if there's something new to add to the discussion (and only for a very good reason, nilcypher seems particularly averse to necros, I've noticed). But as for the practice of repeating old threads? That happens because this is a very large forum and a lot of threads have been done already, so there's very little scope for new threads to be able to exist that haven't been done before, unless they're about a completely new topic (such as a new game, or some sort of news thread). Generally though, I don't feel it's much of a problem.

 

[Space Spoons]

Threads that are often repeated are typically soapboxes for the poster's opinion. Even if the thread's been done before, the poster wants their opinion to be read, not buried beneath a sea of older posts.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

People are lazy. Original posts take effort. Ergo, we get what we deserve, in a way.

And you could have come up with an original topic in the time it took you to post this, and thus been part of the solution. Just an observation.

 

[Debatra]

Where's the "Nobody uses the Search Bar" option?

 

[Arkhangelsk]

Threads will pop up again, cause soon enough, the new members want to discuss what older members already have. Also, coming with original ideas that haven't been used before is hard.

 

[Woem]

Please use the Search bar, this has been done before.

Also all the poll options are not mutually exclusive.

Exactly. And the most correct option in this poll would be "Because people don't use the search bar enough.

 

[Ultrajoe]

For the record, the guidelines have been updated concerning thread necro/search bar rules.

Educate yourselves.

 

[Jirlond]

For the record, the guidelines have been updated concerning thread necro/search bar rules.

Educate yourselves.

Noted and Read - use google to search the escapist if you cant find threads similar.

OT: Original threads have a hard time being promoted/recognised, but the repeats don't why is that?

 

[lenin_117]

Original ideas are hard.

He (I assume) is right. Thinking isn't as easy as it used to be. Now the collective hive-mind is overloaded with useless crap and porn. The two being distinctly different.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

too many people can't think of their own ideas or they see someone's idea and then make their own cause it's "original"

too many people can't think for themselves and when they try it's brain hurtingly bad. i've found too many people that don't have a basic understanding of the english language or what it's words mean so they make up crap

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

too many people can't think of their own ideas or they see someone's idea and then make their own cause it's "original"

too many people can't think for themselves and when they try it's brain hurtingly bad. i've found too many people that don't have a basic understanding of the english language or what it's words mean so they make up crap

You know what it really is in my opinion? You want to know why no one actually thinks up an original thread more often? The Escapist provides you with thought provoking content week in week out, in the form of it's weekly magazine. I honestly believe that if many more people read those, they would have something interesting to discuss. But I also think that a fraction of the community actually read them.

 

[fix-the-spade]

People think that they are right regardless of how many times they have posted it before they must post it again.

Often these people believe what they are discussing is a burning political debate on par with fixing the world economy (start by summarily executing all CEO's who have needed government bailouts for their company, execute the previous CEO as well just to be sure, and the vice CEO and their secretaries, then Have Bernard Madoff flayed alive, in fact, flay the entire management of all companies that have had government bailouts, and their workers union bosses too, no-one will dare trade non existant money after that).
Often they're also too convinced of their originality to use the search tool, usually because they're new and think no-one on the internet discussed anything before they arrived.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

My vote is for, "They'd rather post than read."

 

[Berethond]

My vote is for, "They'd rather post than read."

It's the same thing in real life too. They'd rather talk than listen.
It's a shame, really.

 

[Dancingman]

I just get a bit disenfranchised arguing on this site because as a general note, if people believe hard enough that they're right, than no amount of logic and evidence against can prevail. And I don't have all the answers, Hell, I probably assert my views too much. Though it's usually those who do pretend to have all the answers that can't be convinced otherwise.

Frankly, this site is of such better quality than other forums I frequent, it operates on a whole different level than your average forum.

The reasons for it are this...

1. We tend to run out idiots right quick, our mods can be restrictive, and downright authoritarian at times, but it's ultimately a necessary evil. Also, being a mod is probably the most thankless job in the world, and I hate to think what these forums would be if the admins didn't run as tight a ship.

2. Fanboys and their various behaviors are looked down upon. Sure, as a community, we seem to have more hatedoms than fandoms; on almost any given day there will be posts bashing Twilight, the Inheritance Cycle, or some other garbage that belongs on Fanfiction.net. People who are fans of stuff argue constructively here rather than the usual excrement-flinging howler monkeys that you see on less respectable sites.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

You know what it really is in my opinion? You want to know why no one actually thinks up an original thread more often? The Escapist provides you with thought provoking content week in week out, in the form of it's weekly magazine. I honestly believe that if many more people read those, they would have something interesting to discuss. But I also think that a fraction of the community actually read them.

there is that option but really it's that not too many people can't think up something original. i can see how people can be stimulated by the content on the site and it might want people to start a topic, however most people like routine and don't really like thinking beyond the borders of what they know or do.

doing something original is a very hard and risky thing, given the choice most people will go with that they know, hence a lot of repeat topics