what makes a quality thread?

[Flock of Moosen]

Alright, I'm gonna try and clear this up even further. I'll be honest, I looked at the links provided and no offense (I'm included) most sucked.

Take a look at these. I am providing six links, two pages of Off Topic circa 2001, two pages of Off Topic circa 2002 & two pages of The Junkyard.
Now, before you go and say "You can't compare OT to the JY" or "But they didn't post those in Off Topic", I say wrong. Most of the topics you are going to see in The Junkyard started in Off Topic where they didn't belong. I'm hoping FTL backs me on this one since he spent plenty of time having to move them all like I did and getting bitched out for it by the members. At one point the members went completely nuts and filled the 1st page of OT with the garbage normally belonging in the JY.

Off Topic
7/1/01 - 7/3/01
7/3/01 - 7/6/01
7/1/02 - 7/5/02
7/5/02 - 7/10/02

The Junkyard
6/29/02 - 7/17/02
6/13/02 - 6/27/02

Now, notice the difference in posting style. Forget about the time, this is not about going back and reliving the past. This is about posting style.

Note the first two links for Off Topic. I'm not saying they are all great and I'm not saying there isn't shit thrown in there, but for the most part they have substance. They took thought to post and they made you think to respond. They required a modicum of intelligence, they weren't filled with inane jibberish just for the sake of seeing your name up on the board. There's a name for people like that and it's called Attention Whores. Last I checked, they aren't too welcome whether it be here or any other board.

Now, you move to the 3rd and 4th link under Off Topic. There is still a bit of thought put into it, but for the most part people gave up trying. It's roughly half and half at this point. Half trying to save a fledgeling board by actually posting real topics and the other half posting any and every brain fart that came to them.

Then there is The Junkyard.
Like I said, a lot of these were in OT and FTL, I & some of the other mods had to move them. What did we get for our efforts? We caught shit for it. :mad:
No offense meant to those names in that forum, but those are utter crap. The crap Alkey & FTL didn't want on this board, but within a few months that's what was starting to flood Off Topical.

If that's the type of posting you live for, there is another board for that. That's not meant as an insult to them, it's a fact that many others have stated as well.

I hope this clears things up a little. If not, I'm sorry, but it's the best I can think of to help.
I would like one thing though. If the admins and mods read this and this is exactly what you want out of your members, say so here. If it isn't say so as well. I don't want to overstep my bounds. I'm just trying to help the best I know how.