Forum News discussion/feedback thread

[Shrdlu]

Hey, just wanted to say, I've been getting a lot of SQL errors tonight. Four so far. Error 2006 every time.

Yeah, I just dropped in to say the same thing.

[Thakowsaizmu]

Aw, come on. Really? I liked the sound change game.

[Aevas]

The SC game is still there, and as for the Orthography game, I'd suggest simply merging the rules of the two threads into the one remaining!

[masako]

Just wanted to say how odd I find the deletion of the game threads while the spam thread is still a free beast.

Just sayin'.

[Visinoid]

I was thinking the same thing, actually, sano.

[Aevas]

Because there's a difference between a thread where you post one word posts after one another, and a thread where you chat with other members.

[Ceresz]

Maybe it would help to think of it as some sort of combination of the ZBB's Random Thread, Venting Thread and Happy Thread? It's pretty much just a thread for general discussion. You're reading too much into the name. I guess we could always delete the old Spam Thread though. I doubt anyone's ever going to read that monster. I would probably lose a few thousand or so posts, but I honestly don't care, but it's all up to the higher powers of the CBB .

[masako]

Because there's a difference between a thread where you post one word posts after one another, and a thread where you chat with other members.

I am fully aware of the difference, but I am also aware that this "chatting" you speak of is not a constant and does quite often fit the title of the thread very well.

Maybe it would help to think of it as some sort of combination of the ZBB's Random Thread, Venting Thread and Happy Thread? It's pretty much just a thread for general discussion. You're reading too much into the name.

Those threads are not like the spam thread in that they have a specific purpose and the majority of the time that purpose is adhered to, while conversely the spam thread is far more random than the random thread could ever hope to be. And, no, I don't think I am reading too much into the name, I am looking at the content and the fact that the first one almost reached 2000 pages and the second one is close to 300. None of those threads that you mention on the ZBB can say that they have come close to a combined 2300 pages. Collectively they are only ~800 pages...less than half of the nonsense in the two threads here.

Also, comparing the ZBB to here is not always a good idea as they are run very differently and the mores and norms can be - at times - extremely different.

[Ceresz]

Either way, don't you think it's better to have a single thread for pointless posts and discussions instead of cluttering EE with threads like this? If the SPAM thread concept ever becomes a problem for the forum and a lot of people start complaining, Aszev and his modsquad could always just delete the threads. It's an easy fix, but so far I don't really see any problem in having an all around discussion thread.

[masako]

Either way, don't you think it's better to have a single thread for pointless posts and discussions instead of cluttering EE with threads like this?

No. Frankly I don't see a need for pointless posts...after all, they are pointless, as you say yourself. The thread you link to is an ok example but I wouldn't necessarily call it pointless as it is discussing a recent addition to the vernacular and that directly relates to the overall theme of the board; language.

If the SPAM thread concept ever becomes a problem for the forum and a lot of people start complaining, Aszev and his modsquad could always just delete the threads.

Well, yeah, no one is suggesting otherwise, but why have them in the first place. They are pointless, aren't they.

It's an easy fix, but so far I don't really see any problem in having an all around discussion thread.

But it's not an "all around discussion thread", it's a collection of pointless posts.

One of the members here has even gone so far as to admit that they were only posting in the spam thread to increase their post count. All by itself that admission is enough to call into question having such a thread IMO.

[Ànradh]

It's either that, allow pointless discussion to occur in other threads (more so than the current 'keep it to a minimum' level) or simply not allow non-linguistics related posts.
The second option will just clutter other threads and, while I wouldn't leave the forum because of it, I'd be fairly irked (I doubt I'm the only one) if the forum went from 'casual' to 'clinical'.
The spam thread concentrates pretty much all of the small talk into one thread.

[masako]

It's either that, allow pointless discussion to occur in other threads (more so than the current 'keep it to a minimum' level) or simply not allow non-linguistics related posts.

Well, that's just boring as hell.

I am not suggesting that non-linguistic discussion be made off limits, but to have a thread that is expressly designed for spam and contains copious amounts of what can legitimately be labeled as nothing more than spam seems to be a far cry from normal discourse and productive discussion on any reasonable level.

[Xing]

The new ranks looks so much better than the old. And they actually have something to do with language.

[masako]

The new ranks looks so much better than the old. And they actually have something to do with language.

I completely agree. I would have called "hieroglyphics" medu-netjer, but I understand the reason behind the use of hieroglyphics.

[Solarius]

The new ranks looks so much better than the old. And they actually have something to do with language.

[Golahet]

I get this (or similar) message frequently:

"General Error
SQL ERROR [ mysqli ]

MySQL server has gone away [2006]

An sql error occurred while fetching this page. Please contact an administrator if this problem persists."

[Solarius]

I get this (or similar) message frequently:

"General Error
SQL ERROR [ mysqli ]

MySQL server has gone away [2006]

An sql error occurred while fetching this page. Please contact an administrator if this problem persists."

These seem to be getting more frequent as of late.

[Ànradh]

The SQL errors seem to be escalating yet further.
I have to refresh the page multiple times each time I click a link.

Any idea what's causing them?

[masako]

The SQL errors seem to be escalating yet further.
I have to refresh the page multiple times each time I click a link.

Same here.

It's really annoying.

[Hakaku]

Haven't been getting them, but then, I log in at odd times. Seems like the board is having trouble communicating with the MySQL database server, causing it to throw that error. If the board is on shared hosting, it's possible another hosted user or website is taking up a lot of resources during peek hours, creating lag for everything.