Off Topic Unclear:

[tkitch]

So if you look at the guidelines to post in Off Topic:
 

 

It says it's a Tech Forum, and topics should be related.  And threads are locked saying "This has nothing to do with Tech."

But the forum itself says:

 

"Non Tech Related Content Only Please!"

So...  does OT have to be Tech?  Or Non Tech? 

[Cyberspirit]

General Discussion is for random tech talk and Off Topic is for random talk that isn't about tech.

[dizmo]

I never really understood that either, and I've seen threads locked that, really, shouldn't be. I get that it's a tech forum, but to completely ignore other aspects of life (I know there are threads that have managed to survive that aren't strictly tech), it's really not a way to foster a healthy community. Very few people talk tech and only tech.

 

The only thing I can think of is that they don't have enough people to properly moderate it.

[Tan3l6]

Catch 22 logic?

[Cyberspirit]

Quote

Also, adding to the confusion, offtopic can no longer be used as Yahoo answers unless its tech related. I was also going to make a thread about it.

Interesting. I don't really browse off topic so maybe I'm wrong but I remember it always being just random stuff. Mostly non-tech related since we have general discussion for that.

Is this a recent change or has it been like this for a while now?

 

On one hand I can understand why they would want to cut down on random posts and questions since it's just one more thing to moderate but I think it's nice to have a place where you can just talk whatever.

[CT854]

+1 to this.

 

The ruleset for Off Topic seems to be very inconsistent and I've been put off making topics on there because it's so confusing. I've always been led to believe that General Discussion is where the tech stuff goes, but I guess not?

 

More than anything I think it'd just be wise to once and for all clarify what exactly Off Topic is for.

[Dedayog]

For Offf-Topic, isn't the largest threads about cars and guns or something?  That's not Tech, as generally understood.

 

I get they don't want this place to be Reddit, but make the rule clearer.

[tkitch]

6 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

For Offf-Topic, isn't the largest threads about cars and guns or something?  That's not Tech, as generally understood.

 

I get they don't want this place to be Reddit, but make the rule clearer.

Or the MOTF forum, any of the game threads, or anything else like that.

 

[LogicalDrm]

There has been some internal discussion for adjusting rules. General idea would still be that overall this is tech forum and while Off Topic allows other threads, the posts should be conversational, with a point and such. No ramblings, outer space things and so on.

[Spotty]

6 hours ago, tkitch said:

So...  does OT have to be Tech?  Or Non Tech? 

The Off Topic section is for threads that are not related to technology or any topics that aren't already covered by other subforums. In most cases threads should not be locked for being not related to technology if posted in the off topic section, however there are uncommon situations where a topic is so far beyond relevant to this forum that it's too off topic for off topic - though these would generally fall under topics not appropriate to discuss on this forum.

 

While the off topic section is for off topic posts, you have to remember the heart of this forum is for tech. This means that it might not be practical to have 5,000 different threads in off topic to discuss cars and motorcycles, so instead we will have one megathread dedicated to that discussion. It's a tech forum not a car forum.

 

The off topic section is for productive threads. Even though it's off topic posts should have a point to them and have some basis for discussion amongst the community. Just because it's off topic does not mean it's a place for post spam, shitposting, etc. You should use the off topic section the same as you would any other section, only for topics not relating to tech or the other subforums.

 

6 hours ago, tkitch said:

It says it's a Tech Forum, and topics should be related.  And threads are locked saying "This has nothing to do with Tech."

If you see a thread that you believe is unfairly or incorrectly locked please report it or contact a moderator via PM and we will look in to it. I believe I know the threads you are talking about and those messages should have already been updated to better reflect the reason it was locked, but since they're locked and rather pointless I opted to just remove the posts now instead of updating the lock message.