Off topic forum

[lemon_squeezer2]

I was wondering, could an offtopic forum be created? They are great and I see them on alot of other sites.

[SavaTheAggie]

This is my opinion, and is not necessarily shared by the other admins here at C-C.

I think an off-topic forum is a very bad idea. We are trying to make a place that is safe for children, and many off-topic forums that I have seen are heavily abused.

For example, recently a pair of anti-war flash animations with graphic pictures of deceased fetuses and deformed children was posted to the FBTB.net off topic forum.

In my opinion, off-topic forums only bring about heavy arguing and political debates. I say let's keep all the non-LEGO talk on non-LEGO forums.

--Anthony

[Glencaer]

I agree with Anthony - I'd recommend either the fbtb off-topic forum or the lugnet.off-topic.debate - both of which are quite popular.

This is a lego site, and all off-topic discussion belongs elsewhere.

-Lenny

[lemon_squeezer2]

Tou do have a point there. That is practically the last thing I want to see on this wonderfully clean site. I just would like to see a forum where clean jokes could be told, iteresting news items, and the like.

[Troy]

When I set up the forums, I purposely made sure that there was NOT an off-topic forum. I think it is important to keep the conversation here on topic, and that topic is LEGO.

As cited above, off-topic groups can and will lead to things that we do not want here. By their nature of being off-topic, it becomes increasingly hard to police them.

Also, heated discussions in off-topic groups frequently lead to bitter disputes that have a tendancy to "bleed over" into other groups. That's the last thing I want to see here.

Specifically to Lemon:

Who determines what is a "clean" joke? A perfectly "clean" joke can still be offensive to some people.

The same thing goes for "interesting news items". What you may find interesting someone else may find offensive. Link to an anti-war story (even without the gross imagery mentioned above) and you possibly offend people in the military, veterans, and supporters of the war.

I think that in the end, it just isn't worth the hassle.

Troy

[lemon_squeezer2]

Sorry.
I did it again
Talking before I thought