Read the damn thread.

[Sheizenhammer]

I've been on the forums for over a year now. And I can't remember a single time (however short)during any of it where everyone actually READ the threads they posted in. When I go back through old threads from years gone by, I don't really find it to be much better in this respect either. There appears to be a depressingly large portion of the community here that is solely interested in posting as much as possible, while reading as little as would ensure they don't get banned for it.

Seriously, every third thread I see has at least some degree of repeat questions, obvious +1'ing, or other blatant examples of people only reading the title and / or the first post or two before posting in them. This makes absolutely NO sense at all to me, for one simple reason:

Think about it. By only reading the first post (if even that much), what you're basically saying in your reply to it is that you either don't like, or can't be bothered, to read anything beyond what is totally unavoidable. And if you don't like reading, what the fuck are you doing spending your time on a text-based internet forum?

If that wasn't nonsensical enough, I'd be willing to bet that at least 90% of all the good posts on this BBS are not OP's, or even anywhere close to the start of the threads they're in. Ergo, by only reading the first one or two posts in any thread, you're effectively denying yourself the vast majority of the entertainment value the forums were supposed to be all about in the first place.

And for what? For the sake of some arbitrary, inconsequential post-count number on the side of your posts? If you think obsessing over that'll get you anywhere, you're doing this whole forum thing wrong. Very wrong.

Bleh; I could go on and on until even the most patient reader (the ones this really ISN'T aimed at) would lose interest, so I won't. I'm not even sure this is an argument and not a rant anymore. I know it'll attract stupid TL;DR responses, and most of the people who would benefit from reading this are exactly the ones who probably won't, but screw it; it's better here than in a news post no-one at all will read. If it gets one decent, well thought-out reply, even if said reply proves all of this wrong, it was still worth posting. Quality > quantity, any day.

And this is just my opinion on why it's stupid, not if or why it should be against the rules. But you already knew that, because you READ THE FUCKING THREAD, didn't you!

[AlphaCentauri]

There is a middle ground, you know. If it is a serious thread with serious discussions, I agree with you, and honestly, if you don't read through you will probably end up saying something dumb and embarrassing yourself. However, these threads rarely get past two pages and its really not a bother to read through, especially because if you are posting in it, it is probably of interest to you.

The one you showed as an example, however, is not serious, and I would not, (nor would I expect anyone else to) read that entire thread. It was a spammy joke, full of more spam and worse jokes.

In conclusions, dick jokes, 5 page+ threads aren't worth the time to read all the way through, in my opinion, at least.

For me personally, to begin with, I find reading the posts in can in a thread to be the best part of using the forums here. I don't always end up with different things to reply to. On some topics, what the user said to begin with will be the consensus, but it's areas where my own view is not the consensus that I'm honestly most interested in, because I think I'm offering that's relatively new, at least to that thread. Other times, I can refer to other posts if I think they've half-covered my point, as is the case here.

I know what you're getting at, absolutely. I don't mean to insult anyone as I say this, but there are times where it's necessary, and actually incredibly helpful and enlightening to read the whole thread. I know 'the BBS is terrible' and all that other cynical nonsense thst people like to spew, but people are still in the process of speaking. My advice, if that's the right word? Challenge them. Give them an argument that's worth fighting against. My personal recent example is this thread, yet no one took me up on it. In that case however, I actually blame something else for that pattern, but that's my own socio-philosophy at work.

Again, I don't wish to piss off anyone here, but I receive far too many response along the lines of, 'that post was very long, you must be very clever'. I'd much rather if that (in this case, imaginary) person engaged with what I had to say, even tear it apart, because then we can have a discussion.

Entertainment, cool. I'm casual here like anyone else. It's really possible to read a 'long' post in the space of a few seconds. You maintain being casual anyway.

[Sheizenhammer]

Ahh, there we go. This thread was now worthwhile.

At 2/19/10 07:37 PM, AlphaCentauri wrote: There is a middle ground, you know. If it is a serious thread with serious discussions, I agree with you, and honestly, if you don't read through you will probably end up saying something dumb and embarrassing yourself. However, these threads rarely get past two pages and its really not a bother to read through, especially because if you are posting in it, it is probably of interest to you.

That's kind of the point; if you're wanting to post in it, and it's not even a couple of pages long, there's really no excuse for not reading the whole thing. I can honestly say I've seen people ask repeat questions in non-joke threads after less than 5 replies into the thread. That, along with all the other crap people like to pad their post count with, is the main reason this was brain-farted out onto the BBS.

The one you showed as an example, however, is not serious, and I would not, (nor would I expect anyone else to) read that entire thread. It was a spammy joke, full of more spam and worse jokes.

It may not be serious, but the joke was still explained within the very first post, and wasn't even subtle. Getting caught out by something like that is stupidly lazy, even by the lower end of the standards around here.

In conclusions, dick jokes, 5 page+ threads aren't worth the time to read all the way through, in my opinion, at least.

If it's not worth reading, it's not worth posting in. The logic works both ways, I suppose.

[Fro]

Wait what thread do you want me to read? The one that you linked to us? It was probably locked for a reason and there isn't any need to bring up locked topics again. Try PMing some people you know to read it instead of making a new topic about it.

End joke

Seriously though that's why we have mods man. The people who just go through and post real quick don't bother you if you ignore it. Why let something bother you like that anyway? It obviously does if your here making a thread about it. The respected users do what you're saying already and the other users end up being forgotten or catch on sooner or later.

In a small comment of that thread you linked to it's obvious to tell how many of those people were just joking and actually knew what the thread was about. They were just playing along. It's kind of funny when people think they're serious about being oblivious though.

[draco889]

I'm sorry did you want me to read ALL that before mindlessly posting this smartass comment?

[Tony-DarkGrave]

At 2/19/10 07:58 PM, draco889 wrote: I'm sorry did you want me to read ALL that before mindlessly posting this smartass comment?

Touche good sir.

that's fun.

[Sheizenhammer]

At 2/19/10 07:40 PM, Scarab wrote: My advice, if that's the right word? Challenge them. Give them an argument that's worth fighting against.

Hmm. I have tried that myself before, but unfortunately most of the people who engage in the aforementioned behaviour are not exactly brilliant at arguing coherently (It basically degenerates into a 'NO U' contest). It has worked for me before, but it's also gone so horribly wrong that it would've been better off left as a dumb +1 thread.

At 2/19/10 07:56 PM, Fro wrote: Seriously though that's why we have mods man. The people who just go through and post real quick don't bother you if you ignore it. Why let something bother you like that anyway? It obviously does if your here making a thread about it. The respected users do what you're saying already and the other users end up being forgotten or catch on sooner or later.

I don't find it annoying so much as entirely counter-intuitive and confusing, really. And the thing about mods dealing with it is a bit of a grey area, in my (albeit relatively limited) experience. Sometimes people end up banned for it, sometimes its ignored. I've not seen much of a pattern in determining which happens at what point.
I mean, obvious spammy +1ing is usually gotten rid of, but there seems to be a pretty damn big grey-area between posting because you read something interesting and posting primarily for the sake of a post count.

In a small comment of that thread you linked to it's obvious to tell how many of those people were just joking and actually knew what the thread was about. They were just playing along. It's kind of funny when people think they're serious about being oblivious though.

Some people did actually get banned for that (I remember one of them crying in a news post about it :P), so I don't think it matters too much if you know what you're doing is off-topic or not here.

[Spunky6666]

I read most of the time.

[Celtic-Tiger]

Most people here are only interested in increasing their post count, and don't care for what they say.

It sucks.

[FireWOLF109]

At 2/19/10 07:31 PM, FBIpolux wrote:

At 2/19/10 07:27 PM, Sheizenhammer wrote: And if you don't like reading, what the fuck are you doing spending your time on a text-based internet forum?

Damn... I thought the BBS was meant for lulz and spam.

Guess I was wrong. Thanks for enlightening me.

they ban spammers...

[tox]

i can see what you are talking about.. i see.. like 4 responses that are actually intellectual discussions in them selves... and then it all hits the fan and chunks go everywhere... its a simple process that people get into that is hard to get out of.. some people bound around like me... from the intelligent to the stupidity, and then back again... others are completely inspired by the idea that their post count must be huge to make their time worth while. while others are at the point that it doesn't matter how high the post is as long as the ideas that they produce are of sound judgment. and validity.
i cant blame the bbs for a place that people go to blow off steam or blow chunks all over the place. but the idea, the idea, of a place that you can choose the people that are actually going to give you a decent response. as apposed to garbage, or something off the shelves of fuggle mart... its a place that we all go to , for intelligence, stupidity, an trash, updates, and or to waste time.
i cant think of anything else.. so i wont continue, but i do respect you for standing up and reading all the stuff that people post up, because no matter what, they did try hard on that post, and it always deserves to be seen or read.

[Grizzli]

At 2/27/10 12:41 PM, Tateos wrote: I don't read the thread if it has 15+ pages.

Am I a bad person?

Yeah you're pretty darn horrible. Anyways.....

I always read the OP in every thread, although i have skipped this rule now and then because i got the gist of the thread from the title like "OMG Winter Storm", i dont need to read Wade freaking out over weather patterns to be able to post a pic of the snowstorm outside my house, and provide a interesting or relevant point/discussion. The only time where i dont at least try to read the posts in either ones i wont post in and just lurking for lulz (and reading old, funny locked threads), or really really long threads in where the only relevant discussion is at the end. Because theres no point yelling at someone who posted crap in 06 when its almost 5 years later, no point will be proven to anyone except maybe you're desperate to get your opinion out there.

Fuck, i just noticed this is a throwback from February.......oh well.

[Lost-Chances]

Sometimes, you have to actually ask yourself: "Why the fuck even bother reading the entire topic?".

[Rude-Awakening]

Yes I agree.

[ElectricToothbrush]

Too long; didn't read. I mean, who really cares that there are all these tl;dr anyway?

Oh shit I just gave it away that I DID read it

[BleedingAppleJuice]

well...i dont know wht to say. i agree with you and you pretty much got everything bithout-outable bitched out

[Sheizenhammer]

At 4/22/10 08:28 PM, Grizzli wrote: The only time where i dont at least try to read the posts in either ones i wont post in and just lurking for lulz (and reading old, funny locked threads), or really really long threads in where the only relevant discussion is at the end. Because theres no point yelling at someone who posted crap in 06 when its almost 5 years later, no point will be proven to anyone except maybe you're desperate to get your opinion out there.

Yeah, I agree there's always exceptions to stuff like this, although if you're going to post in a thread, even if it's really obvious what it's about, it pays to read it (or at least skim-read it) from start to finish unless it's absolutely huge (and let's face it, if it's in General and too big to read it's probably just a crappy +1 post dump with little actual discussion going on anyway). The reasons for reading it all are quite simple:

1: Most importantly, how do you know what you're posting hasn't been posted already? If you're asking a question, how do you know it hasn't already been answered?
Various things along those lines of "how do I know I'm not making an idiot of myself here?"

2: If you're interested enough in a particular topic to post (properly) in it, there's a fair chance of some other posts proving interesting to you as well. Ergo, it makes more sense to at least have a quick look through them before making your point in a thread.

Fuck, i just noticed this is a throwback from February.......oh well.

Meh; still relevant (as I'm sure the million unfunny cunts are busy proving as I'm typing this out).

At 4/22/10 09:13 PM, Lost-Chances wrote: Sometimes, you have to actually ask yourself: "Why the fuck even bother reading the entire topic?".

No matter how long it is, there's always the chance that someone will make a post that's actually funny or interesting on some level to you. The more you read, the more likely you are to find such posts, and the more worthwhile this place gets.

1,038 views... Seriously, who still thinks F5'ing shit is funny anymore?

[Deathbybible]

At 2/19/10 07:27 PM, Sheizenhammer wrote:

And for what? For the sake of some arbitrary, inconsequential post-count number on the side of your posts?

Well what do you gain from posting an actualy important and fulfilling post? Moderate satisfaction? Temporary delight? No, you forget about it in 3 seconds after you go to the next thread. The fact of the matter is, people skip half the OP and half the comments because they simply aren't worth reading, and we dont have the time. We come to newgrounds to kill time and enjoy ourselves, and reading every single cock-joke filled post isnt exactly entertaining for all of us. Being frank here - correct me if im wrong - but most OP's aren't discussable in the first place. It consists of A + B = Discuss. For example, a post i was just looking at was similar to this :

This artist and That artist are singing together
Discuss.

Now of course this simple topic was spread across many, many paragraphs of text. It states the obvious in a long winded fashion, without really providing any good topics to talk about. We dont read the comments and most of the OP because they are majoritarily complaints, or posts that just quote something and say "this." (that pisses me off so much)

IF YOU DIDN'T FEEL LIKE READING THAT, HERES A QUICK VERSION
stop bitching and moaning. no one cares about every post and every comment.

[iamgrimreaper]

Gah, fuck you and your long as paragraphs.

TL;DR

[CagedSilhouette]

At 4/23/10 02:23 AM, Deathbybible wrote: IF YOU DIDN'T FEEL LIKE READING THAT, HERES A QUICK VERSION
stop bitching and moaning. no one cares about every post and every comment.

Maybe you didn't understand what he was saying. You probably didn't even read any other posts either. The point is if you don't want to read, then don't post. If it's a thread that isn't worth reading, don't read it, but don't post either. If you see a thread that, as you say is simply "A+B=Discuss", and the majority of responses are shit, there's no use posting in that thread. You're the one who seems to be bitching and moaning here...

You don't forget what you post 3 seconds later after you move on to a new topic. That'd only happen if you post shit like "TL;DR" or "yeah i totally agree." or maybe "you're fucking stupid" or something, meaningless posts like that. The thing people get out of posting "important and fulfilling posts" isn't "moderate satisfaction" or "temporary delight". It's conversation.

Lastly, I like to read every response, so long as the topic is interesting. So you're obviously wrong. Some people do care.

At 4/23/10 02:34 AM, iamgrimreaper wrote: Gah, fuck you and your long as paragraphs.

TL;DR

Is it just me, or is this guy some sort of dip-shit?

[BoobyDaBunny]

I always read the thread topic, however, its threads like yours that make me sigh with complete bordem -.-"""

[Noonga]

It's kinda like:
*someone says something stupid as the title and focus of his topic*
*someone says why he is wrong and/or swears at him or acts like a smartass*
*five other people point out the obvious thing that someone number 2# pointed out and/or in the same sarcastic manner for the 1+ post*

[Gagsy]

I have just read the OP and that's it. I feel I don't need to read the other replies but they don't concern me in this is particular thread.

Is that wrong? I don't think so. I've read what you think and I know wish to reply to that and nothing else.

Your example thread. Well all I can say on that is that a mod should have locked it up sooner. Actually to me that should have been deleted. But what can you do?

Also I hate this fucking notion about +1 posting. I think it's a tired concept, and I find it personally insulting if people accuse me of doing such a thing. The fact is, we don't need to make through out posts every single time. If we want to fool around, we CAN and we do. I think you're being the super serious one here, but just over thinking spammy topics. I didn't post in that topic. Why? Because it was terrible, simple as. Sure many other users appear to have disagreed with me on that but so what? It's not my business. If they want to have fun posting in terrible topics with lame replies until it gets locked down then that is up to them.

All YOU, or any of us should care about is the quality of our own posting. Well, I think personally I'm a terrible poster but I don't care because I enjoy how I post. Be it a serious reply like this one be a typical one liner gag. It doesn't matter to me how I post just as long as I enjoy it.

I got off topic a bit I think. Oh yeah some people will be jerks and NOT read the whole thread, and especially do the whole 'tl;dr' thing I hope that if a mod is about and notices these things then the user in question should be banned so that they know they are wrong to just not read the topic. I still though think that some topics don't even require us to read all the replies, not when you know what they're going to be.

[Sheizenhammer]

At 4/23/10 06:40 AM, Gagsy wrote: I have just read the OP and that's it. I feel I don't need to read the other replies but they don't concern me in this is particular thread.

Umm... how do you know if you haven't read them?

All YOU, or any of us should care about is the quality of our own posting. Well, I think personally I'm a terrible poster but I don't care because I enjoy how I post. Be it a serious reply like this one be a typical one liner gag. It doesn't matter to me how I post just as long as I enjoy it.

Hey, don't get me wrong, the 'quality > quantity' thing works both ways here. If you CAN in fact find a way of putting a decent amount of humour, interest potential, or relevance into one line, it's actually better to keep it simple in doing so. Like others have said, why bother padding it out with half a dozen paragraphs if all it needed was one line?

However, this was primarily about people who don't read threads they post in, and (in your example of posting witty one-liners) if you're going to do the short-but-sweet thing, there's only one way to know if you're making the most of it. How do you know there's not something even more exploitable elsewhere in the thread? Like I said, the vast majority of "good" posts are not at the start of the threads they're in, so it never hurts to at least skim-read through for any that stick out as 'better' than the rest.

Oh yeah some people will be jerks and NOT read the whole thread, and especially do the whole 'tl;dr' thing I hope that if a mod is about and notices these things then the user in question should be banned so that they know they are wrong to just not read the topic.

At this point I'd like to point out (to all the stupid kids that think the act of thoughtlessness itself is funny) that this thread has been purged of at least 10 such responses already, and most of the idiots who posted them have been banned.

I still though think that some topics don't even require us to read all the replies, not when you know what they're going to be.

That's the thing: people can be 100% confident about their assumptions and still be 100% wrong. While the chances of something good being posted in certain threads is VERY slim, it's never 0. Of course, I wouldn't normally waste my time wading through such threads either, but then again I hardly ever post in them anyway. If it's not worth reading, it's not worth posting in.

[AlexThreeKsKeller]

Lmao, awesome title, imo.

[mrty]

Uncle Billy Bob made bitter chocolate chip cookies.

Ahem sorry, the thread was about...?

[TheGrim]

Wow I stopped reading after the third paragraph

[NerdLiife]

I could've said "I LOVE PASTA!" laughed and came up into a ban before doing this, but i won't. Instead, I'll walk away.

[TheGrim]

At 9/16/10 07:34 PM, Jerrid22 wrote: I could've said "I LOVE PASTA!" laughed and came up into a ban before doing this, but i won't. Instead, I'll walk away.

Good job. You've passed the test.