Kincaide
Legend
I have to say, I'm not very happy that this thread exists. In the other thread on this topic, I made it very clear all the reasons why polling the userbase was not the proper course of action, and I feel like you ignored that. I have also posted in recent times that many of these threads end up having no function but to further fracture the community as people are constantly having to repeat their reasons why "they" are not like "us" and all that comes with such attitudes.
Let me make something absolutely clear to all of you. This has also come up very recently in the 19s section so it's worth repeating here. Twink Info is a platform for communities to communicate, but it is not a tool for defining or running those communities. The communities are in-game. We are happy to have those communities utilize these forums for discussion, but the number one purpose and function of this website is the collection, organization, and dissemination of information. Therefore, who you think belongs in your community, or doesn't belong in your community, is not relevant here. All that is relevant is how information should be organized.
Your poll is attempting to influence the site's organization of twink information based on arbitrary and opinion-based views of in-game communities. All we're concerned with is where to put information so that those who are interested in the information can readily find it. The fact that you use the communication tools on this site to talk about organizing wargames, or who is the best ____ in __ bracket, etc, is great, but it is not part of our primary mission statement.
Some 20-29 information applies to everyone in the bracket. Some applies to only a small set of people. However what you all must realize is this: with the changes Blizzard has made to the way subscription-off works, it is possible and even likely that the majority of people who play this bracket are going to change their account types, and therefore change which set of information applies to them, many times over the course of their twinking career. Therefore, using a subforum as an information hub for a particular set of needs, and using the subforum as a platform for only a specific community of players, when the players may switch many times, are two ends that are at odds with each other. "The best mail legs for a level 20" is a stable chunk of information, but the -people- who will be interested in that chunk of information will change constantly. This is why our focus must remain on organizing by information, not by community.
And since people's need for information in this bracket will change as their account status changes, I feel (and the staff and many users who have spoken on this topic agree) that the best solution moving forward is to re-incorporate the entirety of the bracket into one 20-29 forum. Maybe this month you need information on the best P2P enchants, maybe next month you're a veteran and need information on how to use the addon to simulqueue for battlegrounds. Should you have to change communities all the time just to get to the information you need? No, you shouldn't.
And as a last reminder, although you hear this expression too often and it always sounds oppressive, I do feel that I have to remind that this is not a democracy. Even we as moderators sometimes have to remember that this is Shane's vehicle and he is the benevolent ruler of all. he does what he wants, based on how the staff advises him, and the staff advises him based in part on their own reasoning and in part on input from you guys, which I think I've been very open about receiving. But please don't think that because you make a poll (that doesn't even include all options), that that means "majority rules" and we are obligated to follow what you said. In fact this is one of the very major pitfalls that I argued against when first explaining why I thought polling was a bad idea.
I'm closing this thread. The world does not need another avenue for people to bicker back and forth about the definition of communities. As far as I am concerned, there is one community--the 20-29 bracket community--and any subdivisions below that are in the hands of you guys as players and leaders and activists, but from an informational standpoint they don't need to be segregated further on this informational website.
Shortly, I'm going to open a new thread specifically for feedback on what I've just said. But for now, this thread is closing.
Let me make something absolutely clear to all of you. This has also come up very recently in the 19s section so it's worth repeating here. Twink Info is a platform for communities to communicate, but it is not a tool for defining or running those communities. The communities are in-game. We are happy to have those communities utilize these forums for discussion, but the number one purpose and function of this website is the collection, organization, and dissemination of information. Therefore, who you think belongs in your community, or doesn't belong in your community, is not relevant here. All that is relevant is how information should be organized.
Your poll is attempting to influence the site's organization of twink information based on arbitrary and opinion-based views of in-game communities. All we're concerned with is where to put information so that those who are interested in the information can readily find it. The fact that you use the communication tools on this site to talk about organizing wargames, or who is the best ____ in __ bracket, etc, is great, but it is not part of our primary mission statement.
Some 20-29 information applies to everyone in the bracket. Some applies to only a small set of people. However what you all must realize is this: with the changes Blizzard has made to the way subscription-off works, it is possible and even likely that the majority of people who play this bracket are going to change their account types, and therefore change which set of information applies to them, many times over the course of their twinking career. Therefore, using a subforum as an information hub for a particular set of needs, and using the subforum as a platform for only a specific community of players, when the players may switch many times, are two ends that are at odds with each other. "The best mail legs for a level 20" is a stable chunk of information, but the -people- who will be interested in that chunk of information will change constantly. This is why our focus must remain on organizing by information, not by community.
And since people's need for information in this bracket will change as their account status changes, I feel (and the staff and many users who have spoken on this topic agree) that the best solution moving forward is to re-incorporate the entirety of the bracket into one 20-29 forum. Maybe this month you need information on the best P2P enchants, maybe next month you're a veteran and need information on how to use the addon to simulqueue for battlegrounds. Should you have to change communities all the time just to get to the information you need? No, you shouldn't.
And as a last reminder, although you hear this expression too often and it always sounds oppressive, I do feel that I have to remind that this is not a democracy. Even we as moderators sometimes have to remember that this is Shane's vehicle and he is the benevolent ruler of all. he does what he wants, based on how the staff advises him, and the staff advises him based in part on their own reasoning and in part on input from you guys, which I think I've been very open about receiving. But please don't think that because you make a poll (that doesn't even include all options), that that means "majority rules" and we are obligated to follow what you said. In fact this is one of the very major pitfalls that I argued against when first explaining why I thought polling was a bad idea.
I'm closing this thread. The world does not need another avenue for people to bicker back and forth about the definition of communities. As far as I am concerned, there is one community--the 20-29 bracket community--and any subdivisions below that are in the hands of you guys as players and leaders and activists, but from an informational standpoint they don't need to be segregated further on this informational website.
Shortly, I'm going to open a new thread specifically for feedback on what I've just said. But for now, this thread is closing.