The Light and Dark Sides of OT - Splitting of the OT, A Proposal

The old proposal to come up with a new 'Current Issues' subforum to house all the politics, debates and other weighty, contentious threads was axed due to (very) loud objections from a score of the very veteran OT regulars.

Now that most of these people don't seem to be very active anymore , I hereby propose a new idea - splitting the OT into 2 equal halves. To be named - the Light Side of Off-topic, and the Dark Side of Off-topic respectively. Light will house all the lighter funnier threads, while Dark will house all the debates and very contentious threads.

For the time being, Light will be atop Dark, but I'm looking at switching around which forum lies at the top of the Colosseum every now and then, depending on which forum having the greater volume for the moment (?). So Dark can be the 'dominant' forum, if there's heavy traffic in there, as well as Light.

Or we can just switch around as we like, or depending on the forum 'theme' for that period. I'll have to check with TF whether this is technically feasible, but logically shldn't be a problem... I think, in rearranging forums.

'Sides, I have always wanted to use the phrase 'Walk in the Light', fr Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, in my posts.

What do you guys think? Good for a joke, at least?

OT sure needs a breether. However, we should debate on the names a bit. How about:

Serious vs. Trivial

Hardcore vs. Softcore

Do it.

Originally posted by Aphex_Twin
OT sure needs a breether. However, we should debate on the names a bit. How about:

Serious vs. Trivial

Hardcore vs. Softcore

Click to expand...

I thought I got the names quite well.

Light is for light; Dark is for where you'll feel 'dark' emotions like anger, resentment etc. You know - the Star Wars thingie.

Meh, go for it.

Well, personally, I am opposed.

I have a tendency to join the controversial devates, and the thing that drives me to participate in the trivialities is the fact that they are together and easily avaiable.

Go for it. But two forums at the root would be better than a sub-forum IMHO.

Originally posted by XIII
I thought I got the names quite well.

Light is for light; Dark is for where you'll feel 'dark' emotions like anger, resentment etc. You know - the Star Wars thingie.

Click to expand...

I was just making a suggestion

Why don't we scrap the names and place smilies instead... like this:

- the "light" place

- the "dark" place

Whatever you do, XIII, don't name one Humor & Jokes.

Its worth a try.

No.

Really, I don't see the need. Is there one? Is there even a reason for doing this?

I don't see any advantage at all in having two seperate off topic forums. It'll just kill off topic completely.

Good idea.

I've always seen Off-Topic as a great constant in the universe - no matter what happens in Civ, there is always OT. Keep it as it is. It is a source of great comfort to me.

I like it the way it's now. And if you check it once a day, the active threads seldom goes in to the next page (at least not with my settings).

If yes wins, however, I think the naming should mirror the content of the forum and not the importance of the discussion. Maybe just add a new one called politics, and keep OT for all other subjects. I also think, as someone mentioned, that there should be two forums under Colosseum and not one dominant and one sub.

NO WAY! Of course not........

I am really annoyed by such a proposal. So far in this thread, I have seen not a single advantage of a split-up. Could anyone explain?

The very reason I never come into H&J and rarely in History and Sports, is the simple fact they are seperated.

But that is not the relevant. So far, I fail to see the advantage of a split up.

So far in this thread, I have seen several valid objections (Funxus, Zulu, Fred), but all pro split-up mebers just say: "Yes", "Do it", or "Give it a try"..... That sais enough, doesn't it!

do it do it!

it was my idea, i came up w/ it loooong ago

Originally posted by stalin006
do it do it!

it was my idea, i came up w/ it loooong ago

Click to expand...

But why? It serves no purpose.

I say don't do it. I like them all lumped together. What FredLC, phoenix_night and Stapel said.

Otherwise you're just making the 'debate' side much more polarised (this is the nature of debate, after all) and there will be (I think) shades of an unpleasant undercurrent. Whereas the light bit would just be frothy.

At the moment I think the mix is a happy one. At least presently you can have serious debate at loggerheads with someone, and in the next post you can laugh along with them.

Seriously, don't do it.

Originally posted by phoenix_night


But why? It serves no purpose.

Click to expand...

is a more efficient way, otherwise why not have the jokes and history forums merged into the off-topic also?

Originally posted by stalin006
do it do it!

it was my idea, i came up w/ it loooong ago

Click to expand...

Care to explain why?

Edit: We posted at the same time...

Your reason makes no sense to me. Why will things get more efficient? Once again: please explain!

Sports, jokes and history are different topics. A division in heavy & light or dark & bright make no sense at all......