OK there seems to be some confusion as to what the off topic area is and is not about.

 

This is what I see off topic as being. I'm prepared to add to the list if you see it as something else

 

Off topic IS:

• A place for topics that don't fit elsewhere
  
• A place for topics that are not related to cars
  
• A place for fun threads
  
• A side act to the main show (the rest of the forums)
  

 

Off topic IS NOT

• The main focus of the forums
  
• A place where you can take a thread 4 billion miles off thread, just because you feel you can
  
• A place where you can ignore the rules and abuse other members, etc
  
• A place where can just chat to your mates in a thread with another purpose (I could be persueded to have a chat thread with some conditions if things improve)
  
• A place that should take up 80% of moderators time and attention
  
• A place that ends up with me having to warn/suspend/ban members
  
• A place that has feuds spill over into our out of
  

 

 

I think off topic has a lot of potential to be a great fun place for all. Unfortunatly at the moment it seems to be doing nothing but causing a huge amount of grief for myself and others.

 

Please, pick up your act or you may lose off topic...

I'm also interested to hear your views on this.

i don't read every thread so i am not sure what lead up to this but i think your suggestions make perfect sense.

I don't think it was a single thread, I think it was alot of things culminating with the "OMG guess what happened today" thread being closed due to a bunch of ramblings.

 

I'm honestly, yet to find a forum where everyone agrees on what "off topic" is actually for.

 

I always see it as somewhere that all the weird internet happenings (eg: stupid peoples actions on other forums that become internet sensations), any personal sort of stuff (like the post your face thing) and the general sort of stuff that doesnt fit anywhere else.

 

But with everything, I suppose there needs to be a limit to what goes on, someone just needs to define the happy medium.

I'm completely disagreeing with one thing. "Off Topic is a side act to the main show".

 

You have to remember, half the members of this forum may not be as mechanically minded as you or i, therefore not having much else to contribute but their personalities. this is the corner of rollaclub for them to feel like they are a part of rollaclub, to contribute something other than what you feel you designed this forum for.

 

Edit: Basically I'm just trying to say, attention gets turned to this section of rollaclub because alot of people may not always have anything insightful to say anywhere else. This section may seem more lively tthen anywhere else, but it keeps rollaclub going. cause it would be much slower otherwise.

Edited March 10, 200917 yr by andro0o

I think that's true. I'm not exceptionally mechanically minded but I want to knid of keep in touch with other corolla owners and stuff like that. Its a way to get contacts so that if you need something you can pm someone and ask "hey do you have a spare..." because you think they might.

 

Also, would it be incredibly wrong to have a general conversation thread? Like the "omg geuss what happened today" thread except you can talk about what happened and stuff related to it without getting in trouble?

You should've seen this chick today. Man she was hot.

 

 

^

 

That's off-topic

Edited March 10, 200917 yr by Rich_Rolla

I totally agree with Andrew and Lexxi. Some of us arn't as knowledgable with corolla's as others on this forum. So off topic is a great way to feel like you're part of the club. If we had a chat thread that would be great. Keep it out of the On Topic forums and just stick it in there.

I don't like the idea of a chat thread. To me that thread wouldn't have a meaning and would fill up several pages of convos in a day compared to the omg thread where the topic was what happened in your day.

Chat thread would be better in the form of an IRC channel or simply using an Instant Messaging program.

Edited March 10, 200917 yr by Mybowlcut

Maybe we should be asking ourselves this "How many times have certain mechanical topics been started and then shut down because they've already been covered, therefore the replication of the same questions being asked happens over and over again?" and my personal favourite "Why does this keep happening?"

 

Maybe there is only so much you can do with a K motor to an extent that there is an abundance of information out there that results in people not creating so many technical topics these days, therefore resulting in rambling in an off-topic thread being produced or other threads being taken off-topic to compensate with the younger generation on here having a short attention span to the topic at hand and generally getting bored because they're not learning anything new.

 

Maybe, just maybe, the region leaders need to get off their bums and organise working-bee's for these people that lack mechanical knowledge to give the younger generation something to talk about and discuss rather than having them go off-topic on a thread that they obviously know nothing about.

 

We're all here to learn right? Why not take a pro-active approach and help the younger generation in a physical environment rather than the forum?

 

Automotive repair days would be a good start. It gets them off the forum and learning in a practical environment and also gives them something to talk about and discuss with their mates on the board.

 

To combat the problem you have to find a solution to it.

 

My 2c anyway.

 

I'd like to hear peoples views on this as well.

Edited March 10, 200917 yr by Raven

+1 for Ravens working Bee idea. Bloody good idea.

 

A time for younger members to learn something if they wish. I know i would be up for something like that.

Maybe we should be asking ourselves this "How many times have certain mechanical topics been started and then shut down because they've already been covered, therefore the replication of the same questions being asked happens over and over again?" and my personal favourite "Why does this keep happening?"

 

Maybe there is only so much you can do with a K motor to an extent that there is an abundance of information out there that results in people not creating so many technical topics these days, therefore resulting in rambling in an off-topic thread being produced or other threads being taken off-topic to compensate with the younger generation on here having a short attention span to the topic at hand and generally getting bored because they're not learning anything new.

 

Maybe, just maybe, the region leaders need to get off their bums and organise working-bee's for these people that lack mechanical knowledge to give the younger generation something to talk about and discuss rather than having them go off-topic on a thread that they obviously know nothing about.

 

We're all here to learn right? Why not take a pro-active approach and help the younger generation in a physical environment rather than the forum?

 

Automotive repair days would be a good start. It gets them off the forum and learning in a practical environment and also gives them something to talk about and discuss with their mates on the board.

 

To combat the problem you have to find a solution to it.

 

My 2c anyway.

 

I'd like to hear peoples views on this as well.

Absolutely spot on Raven

 

I'm prepared to show a few members how to replace a cylinder head and how to rub back some panels in a learning situation as I'm currently doing this to the KE25.

 

Also if your not fussed about offtopic leave the area the way it is or if you don't like offtopic remove the section.

Yet again someone mentions OFF-TOPIC and it's full of SA members going off topic, This is why you should stick to MSN.

Yet again someone mentions OFF-TOPIC and it's full of SA members going off topic, This is why you should stick to MSN.

Does this mean you would like rollaclub to be QLD access only ?

 

A irc channel has worked before, this would free up all the offtopic if that is a considerable option