Hello, in most threads 2 people go out on tangent and it becomes annoying for others to read even they don’t speak up about it.
So my request is to implement a character limit on each reply to a topic, maybe 200 should suffice. That should be enough to say if you are for or against what the thread is about or provide additional info etc. in most cases while still leaving room for others.
There will be situations where a person responding legitimately need more than 200 characters even if he tried his hardest to compress his response, so it will not be perfect. But it will likely be superior to what we have today where every thread almost immediately turns into wall of text that are not constructive because nobody reads them
So to the powers that be, lets try a 200 character limit on each reply to a thread
Hello this comment is exactly 200 characters long. You can verify it yourself by copy pasting it into a character counter. All my replies in this thread are 200 characters or less btw. Have a nice day
Current situation is only fun for a few you can tell because its the same few in every thread. They are still welcome but only 200 chars per reply so more people get a chance to be heard.
Implementing a character limit of 200 characters on an open forum can potentially hinder the exchange of detailed information and nuanced viewpoints among users.
In complex discussions or debates, participants may struggle to present their arguments comprehensively within such a constrained space, leading to oversimplification or incomplete expressions of ideas. This limitation can impede the sharing of valuable insights, as users may feel discouraged from providing thorough explanations or supporting evidence for their viewpoints.
Moreover, discussions that require in-depth analysis or detailed explanations may become fragmented across multiple posts due to the character limit, disrupting the flow of conversation and making it harder for participants to follow and contribute meaningfully.
Ultimately, a 200-character limit risks diminishing the quality and depth of discussions on the forum, potentially limiting the engagement and enriching exchange of ideas among users.
It is important to consider that enforcing a strict character limit could also potentially serve to control or censor the content shared on the forum, limit the diversity of perspectives and voices represented, or restrict the depth and complexity of discussions taking place.
Sounds to me like “it” has better arguments than you have.
Even if you did this, it would just kick the can. After, you have to solve the problem of people making multiple posts in a row to skirt the limit. Then making multiple alts to make posts in a row, or put on an act as if they’re just adding to or bringing up new points of their own.
Once you’ve tamped down on every possible abuse with Byzantine rules people are going to be flummoxed trying to express themselves within those rules.
There are plenty of people on the forum I disagree with making long form posts, but I prefer that they take the time and thought to make a thorough presentation. If they couldn’t, then I wouldn’t be able to gain as good of an understanding of their position. I mean, the forum software is called “Discourse”, which has the connotation that one is speaking or discussing a topic at length rather than concisely.
Going off topic is a breach of the rules and you can ask a mod to clean up the thread. If you don’t like what a person posts and want to censor them, put them on your ignore list so the rest of us aren’t affected by what you don’t want to see.
Thats not a good scenario either, considering a lot of folks prefer to keep the alt identities secret. By doing what you suggest, which i disagree with as well, if people have to use alts to get point across then they’d stop posting.
Imagine that char limit stopping csm or ccp from typing.
CSM or CCP barely type anything as it is. A character limit could raise the level of discourse and make CCP and CSM feel more comfortable participating.
That I can tell, it seems he thinks people who create lengthy posts don’t ‘leave room’ for people who make shorter posts. There is further dialog that suggests that long posts intimidate people into not posting, particularly that one reason CCP and the CSM don’t post is because of some of these long format posts crowding them out before they’ve had a chance to say their piece.
There are reasons I can imagine the CSM or CCP not wanting to interact on these forums, but the post length isn’t one of them. People do say ‘less is more’, but that doesn’t apply to everything. We don’t think less is more when we get paid, and we don’t think less is more when we look at evidence to support an argument. By this absolute logic, saying nothing is the optimal strategy, since you can’t say any less (or ‘more’) than that.
If you cant get a point across in 200 characters or less that seems like a problem because it should be possible in most cases and its also a public forum so any posts should be as short as possible.
BOB here. While detailed posts have merit, forums overflow without limits. 200 chars force focus, sparking concise ideas over walls of text. Imagine the endless scrolling! Plus, complex topics deserve dedicated threads, not buried in mega-posts. Let’s keep discussions lively and accessible, not intimidating tomes. #ForumClarity#ThinkTwiceTypeOnce
