A little less haste merging threads on here (respectfully!)

[Gods]

I don't know about anyone else but I find the vigour with which some threads are merged on here a little unsettling.

Case in point just now someone started a "Butland wins the England U21 player of the year" award thread.

Now there was a long standing thread on here already called rather unimaginatively "Jack Butland" which no one with any sense will have looked at for at least a week since it dissolved into the usual petty squabble about something or other between 2 people either of whom could comfortably start an argument in an empty room.

I can understand why it was tempting to merge the 2 Butland related threads but my suspicion is that as a result many folks will not even notice that Jack won this prestigious award.

At the same time I appreciate the need not to have dozens of threads about the same topic but it is surely possible indeed desirable that at times we should be allowed to discuss broadly the same theme but different aspects of it in different threads.

I think my polite request is for just a tad more consideration before merging on occasions, a kind of common sense agenda, topically you might say a little less impulsive waving of red cards!

Now I know if I don't like it I should probably 'piss off up the Vale" but I have something here don't I ?

[nutterpotter]

Bang on.

I've been thinking the same for the past week or so but didn't have the courage to make my own thread on this topic!

You've put my thoughts down perfectly.

It makes it much harder to keep up with the latest news as Gods says.

[WoodbineWright2@]

True, it's far to assume that just because a new thread is about, say, the same player as on another existing thread for instance. But by doing that in such a way as to merge multiple threads means decent discussions can get lost among less interesting threads, or just the usual bickering. A little less haste would be good.

[ohbottom]

I agree, if a thread has dropped of the first page then don't merge in new threads which may only have a tenuous link.

[Paul Spencer]

Have to echo God's comments.

There's nothing worse than people starting multiple threads about the same topic and admin do a great job of merging them quickly.

However in the last week there appears to have been a change in policy.

RAWK is a horrible message board to navigate as is the Newcastle one because they've got threads there that have lasted years.

Every piece of discussion about a player is kept on one specific thread, often resulting in threads that are 100's and 100's of pages long.

I always thought it was excellent how the Oatie admin managed to keep the balance just right in merging multiple threads about the same topic, whilst at the same time not creating uber threads like those found on RAWK.

Something seems to have changed in the last week?

[Deleted]

Think I'd respectfully add that I'm not a big fan either. Is it a New Years resolution or something?

Other than the potential to miss stories such as Jack's award, there's increased activity from the usual suspects, dredging through old posts for their hit of 'told you so' superiority.

And I don't like change.

[Deleted]

Jan 5, 2016 15:06:50 GMT ohbottom said:

I agree, if a thread has dropped of the first page then don't merge in new threads which may only have a tenuous link.

I agree, in fact I don't look at stuff more than 1/3 of the way down page 1.

TOSTMM

The Oatcake Stop The Merge Movement

[StoKeith]

I bet there's a thread called "Issues with the message board" that this will get merged into soon.

[Robo10]

I thought I had started a perfectly good thread on Sunday about fans being outraged and the irony of Stokies getting het up by Pulis teams orc actions

Had good interaction, 3 pages of replies and debate (maybe more), then all of a sudden it was 'merged' into the post match thread and never commented on again!

Understand the purpose, and if multiple posts have little to no interaction fair enough, but if a thread is alive and has traffic surely leave it be?


Not a criticism, know its hard to keep on top of a busy board, but it is frustrating.

Its the 2nd or 3rd of mine to 'disappear' into the ethyr (unfairly I thought as they were good debates) recently!

[Deleted]

This thread is to be merged with one called "Der Management" =)

[numpty40]

"Butland wins the England U21 player of the year" is surely deserving of it's own thread rather than lumping it in with other banal posts!!

[Olgrligm]

I agree. I think the balance was right before, whereas it now seems that anything tangentially related to a topic covered on another thread gets merged.

As others have said, the continuous massive thread method used on other boards is just awful. Sure, if you have ten different threads on Cameron's red card then they should merged together, but they shouldn't all be lumped into one big 'all things Cameron' thread.

[Robo10]

Probably more than a discussion on hip flasks :-)

[raythesailor]

Totally agree.
I was typing a reply this morning to something or other and whilst doing it the thread disappeared. It had taken me some time to type and so I just gave up. I was not going to do it all again.

[Sergeant Muttley]

Don't mess with Marky

[potterblade]

We need thread merging but it depends what you consider to be worthy of its own thread and that is a very subjective consideration indeed.

However this news about Jack entirely justifies it and that is an objective FACT.

Just my opinion of course.

[Will_75]

completely agree with the OP.

I get completely lost in those massive threads that usually descend into two or three one-eyed obsessive nutjobs accusing each other of being one-eyed obsessive nut-jobs.

Like Robo10 above I have lost track of a few interesting debates and just given up. Chill out a bit admin - the shit threads will just disappear off the page on their own.

[foster]

Jan 5, 2016 15:01:14 GMT Gods said:

I don't know about anyone else but I find the vigour with which some threads are merged on here a little unsettling.

Case in point just now someone started a "Butland wins the England U21 player of the year" award thread.

Now there was an existing thread on here already just called rather unimaginatively "Jack Butland" which no one with any sense will have looked at for about a week since it dissolved into the usual petty squabble about something or other between 2 people both of whom could comfortably start an argument in an empty room.

Now I can understand why it was tempting to merge the 2 Butland related threads but my suspicion is that as a result many folks will not even notice that Jack won this prestigious award.

At the same time I appreciate the need not to have hundreds of threads about the same topic but it is surely possible indeed desirable that at times we are allowed to discuss broadly the same theme but different aspects of it in different threads.

I think my polite request is for just a tad more consideration before merging on occasions, a kind of common sense agenda, topically you might say a little less impulsive waving of red cards!

Now I know if I don't like it I should probably 'piss off up the Vale" but I have something here don't I ?

I agree.

Aside from the all things Pulis thread which works out well.

[stokesaint1]

I'm with Gods on this one. Far too quick merging threads that do deserve to run as standalone. I have this vision, based on current moderator action, of a message board with around thirty threads. One for each player, Mark Hughes, Tony Pulis, Main board, Transfers, Match day thread, Getting out of the car park and one for anything else. Each will contain thousands of enteries and no body will bother contributing or reading any more. Come on moderators, calm it down a bit.

[FullerMagic]

The Great New Year Merge is obviously well intentioned, but can only agree that these big threads can get a bit unwieldy and non-user-friendly.

As Paul says, some boards are really clunky when everything to do with every squad member gets hoovered up into some gigantic multi thousand post beast.

I thought there was a nice balance before the Big Push of a few days ago

[bayernoatcake]

Agreed, some of the merges in the past month have been horrendous.

[k]

Another vote to return to the old style, or something similar to it.

Can see the sense of merging general post match discussion, songs for certain players, etc. However, it's become too well enforced.

A thread title should provide an introduction to a new topic/news story. I would have had no idea about this Butland U-21 story as I would not have clicked on the Butland thread.

[k]

...in addition, which poor sole actually has the time to do all this merging?!

[michelle1863]

I agree - the Geoff Cameron red card being rescinded is a prime example, it makes it much harder to enjoy the oatcake for me!!

[winston]

Jan 5, 2016 15:34:42 GMT Robo10 said:

I thought I had started a perfectly good thread on Sunday about fans being outraged and the irony of Stokies getting het up by Pulis teams orc actions

Had good interaction, 3 pages of replies and debate (maybe more), then all of a sudden it was 'merged' into the post match thread and never commented on again!

Understand the purpose, and if multiple posts have little to no interaction fair enough, but if a thread is alive and has traffic surely leave it be?


Not a criticism, know its hard to keep on top of a busy board, but it is frustrating.

Its the 2nd or 3rd of mine to 'disappear' into the ethyr (unfairly I thought as they were good debates) recently!

Yep. And spread across the same pages will be which pub to go to. Why not just have a single topic called Stoke? ????

[partickpotter]

Jan 5, 2016 16:55:47 GMT michelle1863 said:

I agree - the Geoff Cameron red card being rescinded is a prime example, it makes it much harder to enjoy the oatcake for me!!

Been thinking the same thing. One of the strengths of this board has been the absence of never ending threads on a generic topic - usually a player.

This is a very good example of an unwarranted merger.

I appreciate it ain't easy - but until recently the balance was very good. That's shifted recently for sure.

[PotterLog]

Agree, it's got a bit over-zealous for me too.

[Clayton Wood]

Is this why I keep getting notifications of new posts on threads I've not been on before? Or is that some other skulduggery a foot  

[djduncanjames]

Jan 5, 2016 15:34:42 GMT Robo10 said:

I thought I had started a perfectly good thread on Sunday about fans being outraged and the irony of Stokies getting het up by Pulis teams orc actions

Had good interaction, 3 pages of replies and debate (maybe more), then all of a sudden it was 'merged' into the post match thread and never commented on again!

Understand the purpose, and if multiple posts have little to no interaction fair enough, but if a thread is alive and has traffic surely leave it be?


Not a criticism, know its hard to keep on top of a busy board, but it is frustrating.

Its the 2nd or 3rd of mine to 'disappear' into the ethyr (unfairly I thought as they were good debates) recently!

I wonder what happened to that thread


The premier league on KODI thread got merged into Joe's weekly #where to see it# thread. Two totally different topics.

[blurtonboy]

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