"Official" topic groupings

[AuntieM]

I agree with spam-vt. And while I like the analogies here, I have to agree that in this case at least the table of contents, i.e. first page of a post, sometimes does absolutely nothing to answer a question about a topic.

And even with the purpose of the forums being interactive, those of us who don't have the time to keep on top of the discussion page by page frequently get told by those who do to: read the posts. Or "this has been discussed elsewhere." So I don't think the analogy about asking a question that has already been asked is like asking the librarian for help without checking because:

(a) we're talking about a bulletin board, not a book. The bulletin board might have a sign saying: This bulletin board is for the discussion of wombats only. Do not post questions about other subjects. The main things you need to know about wombats are: Wombats live in Australia. They are about the size of a large dog. There are three species of wombats. Wombats are nocturnal. But that of course doesn't answer the questions about their breeding habits, which might be what you really want to know about.

The discussion about wombats might center on the etymology of the species names for the first 25 posts, then veer into whether they make good pets for 10 posts (combined with the occasional post about the first topic), then get really random like "I saw a wombat once." The last 50 posts might cover a range of subjects from wombat colors and feeding habits, where you can find stuffed wombats, and famous wombats in popular culture. But you can't find breeding habits in any of those posts despite the fact that breeding habits were covered in posts 100-125, 136-47, 201, 216-225, 300-317, 396, 400, etc. on and off.

(b) You might spend 20 minutes looking through the tacked-up notes on the board, and even using the mighty powers of the board to scout out certain words that would magically become highlighted on these thousands of notes of various wombat-related topics, not find what you want,

(c) The libarian and some die-hard fans who watch the board and contribute a lot would probably be pretty on top of it. So rather than get upset with people who post something on the board that's already there, they might look at the board, which has grown to 20x20 feet and is now covered with hundreds of little notes, and take pity on those who can't keep up and don't provide as much to the discussion. These folks love to sit around and jaw about their beloved topic, like old-timers frequenting the general store, contributing their wisdom and knowledge to the board frequently. It would be nice if they could be somewhat lenient with those who straggle up to the board every week or so and miss a lot of the discussion. Or those who come up to the board for the first time, take the time to read the first 25 posts, and the last 25, but look at the other 500 and realize they just do not have time to look through them.

Some of you folks obviously spend a lot of time on the boards, whether you are mods or not. And you have my admiration and thanks for providing fans with a great place to talk and find information about a subject we love. I'm just hoping that you can understand the frustration others of us feel with the limitations of the search engine for these forums and the sheer volume of posts and allow us to start a new bulletin board (or section of a bulletin board) about breeding habits.
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[Cutriss]

Okay - I've deliberated on it some, and I've decided - Fine, go ahead and have a Mission Mode thread.

You really can't say that I'm all hardcore about having one thread for all things Extreme. Looking in Consoles right now, we have the Extreme thread. a thread about fixing the Dance Play options, and another thread about someone having timing issues in his game. I just haven't felt (until now) that Mission Mode was really that deserving of its own thread. There's already a very thorough FAQ for Mission Mode on GameFAQs, so any leftover discussion would be small. No reason that can't go in the Ex thread...
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Sentient Mode is capable...