Lets jettison the insane asylum!

[The Last Legionary]

Take the entire Study, toss it. Every political rant, every agenda, all of it. Spin it off into it's own site "crazytinfoiltalk.com".

Who's with me?

:hmm:

 

[Steve]

I'm in.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Tames D]

Why hasn't this been done already?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

ok I'll byte.

Suggestion:
Spin off the entire Study and subsections onto stand alone site.
All "Study" type topics are banned from MT. Want to argue politics or social issues? Sign up over there.
All existing threads will be moved over to new site.

Any current MT/KT supporting member who also registers at the new site will receive a 1 yr. supporting membership there.


I need to raise $500 to cover the costs of the software license, domain name (tbd), and hosting setup.


Anyone donating money to fund this will receive an extension of SM status on the new site comparable to the amount spent (ie $125 gets you a lifetime SM there)


No money now. I'll take pledges until we raise $500.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Take the entire Study, toss it. Every political rant, every agenda, all of it. Spin it off into it's own site "crazytinfoiltalk.com".

Who's with me?

:hmm:

While I can understand the desire to clean up the festering pile of refuse that is the Study, I think that, realistically, any active forum will need something like it. It keeps (most of) the crap confined to a limited area, and allows those (like me) who are generally uninterested in the sort of futile mud slinging that goes on to easily ignore it.
I'd be more inclined to get rid of posters who only post in the cesspool (which might be a better name for the Study...) without contributing to discussions about martial arts, since that IS the purpose of the site.

 

[shesulsa]

Bob,

Seems you've entertained this possibility before. There are a lot of opportunities out there to rant politic. What really sucks are the people who come here for the limited, captive audience and NEVER post in the arts forums. I almost wonder if there could be an option to limit the percentage of posts a member can post in the Study alone?

I think you have a handful of martial artists (plus one or two others) who keep the Study active ... but likely not enough to really seed a political forum to financial success. I think you'd be happier leaving the Study here.

 

[ballen0351]

Or even better if you don't like the stuff posted in the Study then don't open the threads and read them. Pretty easy right.

 

[Sukerkin]

:lol: If only it were that easy

 

[elder999]

. I almost wonder if there could be an option to limit the percentage of posts a member can post in the Study alone?
.

Better yet, limit the number of threads that a member can start in the Study, not the number of posts. Say to 5 a month or so......maybe even 2.....that way, you're not limiting discussion......

 

[ballen0351]

Better yet, limit the number of threads that a member can start in the Study, not the number of posts. Say to 5 a month or so......maybe even 2.....that way, you're not limiting discussion......

Why? If you don't like what someone posts don't read it. Its really not a hard concept

 

[elder999]

Why? If you don't like what someone posts don't read it. Its really not a hard concept

Just to ratchet down the volume a bit-it's not as though this is a political forum. I post quite a bit in the Study, and think most of the threads I've ever started are there, but it's still less than half of the total volume of my posts (I think-it was pretty steadily that way when MT regularly offered the information).

Limiting the number of threads a member can start in the study might be a step towards limiting the Study to quality threads of original thought, or interesting information and viewpoints.

 

[jks9199]

While I can understand the desire to clean up the festering pile of refuse that is the Study, I think that, realistically, any active forum will need something like it. It keeps (most of) the crap confined to a limited area, and allows those (like me) who are generally uninterested in the sort of futile mud slinging that goes on to easily ignore it.
I'd be more inclined to get rid of posters who only post in the cesspool (which might be a better name for the Study...) without contributing to discussions about martial arts, since that IS the purpose of the site.

I kind of agree. Maybe add a two-tier supporting membership. Give 'em a cheaper one that gets them into The Study, maybe one or two areas, for like $11 a year (about half a normal SM). No privileges for ads, just access to a few areas. ('Cause I don't want to deal with "gets one ad a year" meaning we have to track it...)

 

[Tgace]

Over at M4Carbine.net, a weapons centered discussion forum; new members cannot post in any of the "study-like" forums until they have made 200 posts in the sections the forum was created for (firearms/tactics/etc.).

 

[Tez3]

Why? If you don't like what someone posts don't read it. Its really not a hard concept

It can be easy not to read a thread started by someone but you can get 'ambushed' in a thread where a discussion is going along fine and someone will post something that you really cannot agree with or that you think really needs rebutting. Putting someone on ignore may save the blood pressure but also allows the other poster free rein to say what they like about you!

I like the idea that as this is a martial arts site one should post on martial arts before one can post in the Study, that is maybe all it needs either to cut down on the endless one sided political ads or to make sure the site fills it's primary function and the Study is just an interesting sideline. I don't think I'm the only one who hits the new posts button when I arrive here, at the moment political threads are the most prominant making it look as though we don't actually discuss martial arts!
The Study does have uses, it shows us the ways that people from different countries can view things, it can generate some very interesting discussions, ( for example the American Presidential election is very different from elections in other countries and it's interesting to have 'real' people's views rather than just what we see on our news, it is covered here but not extensively) it would be a shame to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

 

[ballen0351]

Seems like a lot more work for the staff here. If political threads are the most popular then so be it that's what people want to talk about and brings traffic to the site and money to the owner. To cut it out or limit its use would be like cutting off your nose to spite your face. The only reason I became a supporting memeber is because of the large amount of time I spend on the study. Martial art conversations are OK but there are only so many debates you can have on the proper knife defense or listen to teenagers tell us how they broke up armed robbery at a 7-11 with a death stare

 

[Steve]

Bullshido has a separate, sister site for political conversation called sociocide, so the concept of setting up a seperate political forum is one that works. They are also a lot quicker to relegate irrelevant posts or blatant trolling to trollshido. I think that also works very well. Trolling posts aren't deleted. They're just put in the right subforum. The result is that decent conversation remains decent, and the rest is removed from site unless people want to go into the troll area and have some fun with it.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Ahh the Study...it use to infuriate me.... but it no longer does

You know... This topic comes up every now and then and I even brought it up a few times myself and I even had the study hidden from my view as well at one point.

These days my opinion of the study is simply…it is what it is…. and if I am in a more of a Monty Python mood it tends to be…The Study…let’s not go there it’s a silly place.

It is interesting from time to time but mostly I avoid it…you have to simply realize that in some case, When you are talking about The Study that Mark Twain was right when he said

Do not argue with an idiot they drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

You may also want to take into consideration what William Hazlitt said

The world dread nothing so much as being convinced of their errors.”

 

[ballen0351]

Bullshido has a separate, sister site for political conversation called sociocide, so the concept of setting up a seperate political forum is one that works. They are also a lot quicker to relegate irrelevant posts or blatant trolling to trollshido. I think that also works very well. Trolling posts aren't deleted. They're just put in the right subforum. The result is that decent conversation remains decent, and the rest is removed from site unless people want to go into the troll area and have some fun with it.

Just seems like more work and money for a problem that if you don't like you just need to ignore it. That costs nothing and requires no work for staff

 

[Steve]

Just seems like more work and money for a problem that if you don't like you just need to ignore it. That costs nothing and requires no work for staff

Ultimately, you're right if the only consideration is simply the administration of the site. There are other considerations. For example, is the Study what this site wants to be known for? Does the activity in the Study reflect positively or negatively on the rest of the site? Do the conversations in the Study positively or negatively impact the entire community?

It would be different if there were debate in the Study, but I disagree with you. There is very little actual debate occurring in the Study. What occurs in the study, on both sides, isn't debate. It's not even discussion. It's two parallel rants that seldom intersect. There's no exchange of ideas. It's about two things: who can yell loudest, and who can yell longest.

Hasn't always been that way, and it doesn't really need to be that way now. Suggesting that it's something that people should just ignore is like saying that there's a tumor growing on your arm, but just ignore it and use the other one. Like a cancer, it needs to be addressed. Whether that's to get it under control or to excise it completely is a matter to discuss. But, IMO, ignoring it is not an option.

 

[ballen0351]

Ultimately, you're right if the only consideration is simply the administration of the site. There are other considerations. For example, is the Study what this site wants to be known for? Does the activity in the Study reflect positively or negatively on the rest of the site? Do the conversations in the Study positively or negatively impact the entire community?

It would be different if there were debate in the Study, but I disagree with you. There is very little actual debate occurring in the Study. What occurs in the study, on both sides, isn't debate. It's not even discussion. It's two parallel rants that seldom intersect. There's no exchange of ideas. It's about two things: who can yell loudest, and who can yell longest.

Hasn't always been that way, and it doesn't really need to be that way now. Suggesting that it's something that people should just ignore is like saying that there's a tumor growing on your arm, but just ignore it and use the other one. Like a cancer, it needs to be addressed. Whether that's to get it under control or to excise it completely is a matter to discuss. But, IMO, ignoring it is not an option.

I disagree that its a cancer on the site. I also disagree that's what this site is known for. Its a martial arts forum first. That's how I found it. I was looking for information on karate and found this and many other sites. I joined a bunch at the same time. This is the only one I still visit. Mainly because I like the ideas presented in the study. I can get martial arts info anywhere but the people here do put out good ideas you just need to ignore the spam attacks and the nonsense crap. Not hard to do. You spend a little time reading you learn who to read and who not to. To create an entire new forum for it would hurt both this site and that site causing less traffic for both sites