ID:1794245
 
This is a silly and unnecessary change, methinks.
>inb4 deleted
Stay on topic man!!!! lol
I'm not trying to be a dick, it's just this seems so spontaneous. lol
The Discussion section didn't really serve any purpose and I think Tom was right in saying it should be merged with Off-Topic.
How did it not serve a purpose? Any site/program related questions would go there. No newcomer is going to think, "Ah, I need to post my questions in the On Off Topic board!" It's just confusing to put the BYOND related stuff where the unrelated banter goes.

If anything, the 'Beta Testers' board deserves being nixed, if not merged into a sub-board of, "BYOND Discussion". This is probably bothering me more than it should, but yeah.
How did it not serve a purpose?

It mostly turned into a "This is why BYOND is bad and I shouldn't be have to watch ads to support a free service." discussion board. Not like the rest of the forum isn't filled with that too. Honestly I think everyone would be happier if the entire non-development/resource oriented forums just magically disappeared.

Or maybe they'd be just as unhappy, but silently. Who knows?
In response to Ter13
"It mostly turned into a "This is why BYOND is bad and I shouldn't have to watch ads to support a free service." discussion board."

At what ratio?
The questions about BYOND amount to:
* How can I make BYOND do this? [BYOND Help]
* BYOND isn't doing this right. [Bug Reports]
* I want BYOND to do this. [Feature Requests]
* I made a BYOND game and marketed it off BYOND! What next? [You are a unicorn!]
* Someone from BYOND is abusing X [probably none of our business but support contact might be appropriate]
* BYOND flat out sucks [Reddit]

Seeing the low activity and high lock-post-ratio, I don't think making this the topmost forum here is so useful.

I agree the the Beta Testers is sort of unnecessary right now so we'll merge those forums shortly as well.
Moderators are people too. But people bash on them for having feelings and opinions.
In response to Tom
Eh, I guess you have a point but why merge with Off Topic rather than delete the contents?
Well, I was thinking we'd just delete all posts prior to the bug tracker (since the important ones got moved into the feature requests where they could be ignored for perpetuity already), and then merge the remainder with off-topic as a sort-of general discussion area. But you are probably right that it's better to have a separate section.

The main thing is that this forum is one of the least-used and it was right at the top (for historical reasons, since it used to be the most frequented forum), so I just wanted to move it down with the other discussion sections. "On Topic" is a bit silly and we can always change it back to "BYOND Discussion" for all I care, but I don't think it makes a heck of a lot of difference given how infrequently it is used. Much ado about nothing, really.
I'd just rename this on-topic board to General, or General BYOND, and be done with it. I agree with merging the beta testers section. I understand why this one needed to be listed lower, and it may not see the most activity, but keeping it separate definitely is the best option.

It's a pretty trivial change that warrants little reaction positive, or negative in my opinion. I think it just bugs some people because it's a change to something rarely changed, and changes to things like that naturally irk some types of people.

People should probably use this section for discussing games that aren't up in game updates yet, or anything else BYOND game related that doesn't fit into game updates on top of the usual stuff. Not sure they will, but that would give it more value as it's own section separate from off topic.

I think off topic usually gets those kind of posts currently, which I've always found weird. An example was a review of one of my games when its hub forum was closed, and its off-site forum wasn't noticable enough to people on the BYOND forum.
Announcements - BYOND Help - Developer Help - Art & Sound - Tutorials & Snippets - Classified Ads - Design Philosophy - Project Updates (with categories in them to switch between game, demos, or libraries) - Contests & Events - Linux Talk - Off Topic - Bug Reports (with categories in them to switch between beta and stable) - Feature Requests

How it'd look:

Announcements - BYOND Help - Developer Help - Art & Sound - Tutorials & Snippets - Classified Ads - Design Philosophy - Project Updates - Contests & Events - Linux Talk - Off Topic - Bug Reports - Feature Requests


Do we really need anything more or less? If you have a question about something in BYOND in terms of how it works or why it was added or anything similar to that... it fits under the word "philosophy."
In response to Tom
Tom wrote:
* I made a BYOND game and marketed it off BYOND! What next? [You are a unicorn!]

lol
Can I just say I love that Tom and Lummox are actually talking to people on the forum again? I mean, I suppose they never really entirely stopped, but they certainly weren't very vocal for awhile.

As an added bonus, they're actually speaking their minds now instead of trying to be 100% polite.

Edit: Also, I've never been met with any negativity posting about BYOND on Reddit. Really, the only time I see us mentioned is when someone is talking about SS13.
In response to Unwanted4Murder
As an added bonus, they're actually speaking their minds now instead of trying to be 100% polite.

It's the internet. You need tough skin to be here otherwise you'll be eaten alive. But, some people just can't do that... I was actually talking about this with a Twitch streamer yesterday with 700 other people in there. The discussion? Youtube comments. Haha. I'm pretty sure you know what our opinions on Youtube comments were. Everyone shares the same view if you've actually read the comments section.

But, I feel as if when a person (especially someone widely known **Tom**) drops all formalities/shows some humor that they essentially become closer and viewed more friendly. Some may say it's "unprofessional". But, who wants to live their life dressed up like a monkey in a business suit? Express yourself. But don't act like a total dick either. Nobody likes a dick.
In response to Xirre
Xirre wrote:
Nobody likes a dick.

I know a few guys that are into that kind of thing.

In response to Ter13
Ter13 wrote:
Xirre wrote:
Nobody likes a dick.

I know a few guys that are into that kind of thing.

I never thought of it that way. I'll use that next time this statement is said. Good one.