Wolfshade
08-29-2012, 02:37 AM
There are two fundamentals here:
Do not derail threads as it is against your Ts & Cs
No one talks about de-railment
What is De-railment?
De-railment is the term used to express that the topic being discussed is not that of the original poster.
Is De-railment a bad thing?
Arguably.
Can I de-rail threads?
You can just sign up now and be taught the magic and mysteries!
__________________________________________________ _
When considering de-railment, one must first consider how we view a topic thread. The school of thought that says that replies to a thread must directly relate to the topic discussed by the original poster. So if the original post is "Why Trukks are the best Ork vehicle" then the debate is limited to the discussion as to whether or not this is the case, though arguably discussions about the merits of Killa Kans would then fall outside of the original posts thread. I believe that such view is far too restricitive, and that topics are conversations, so while discussing why Trukks are the best vehicle in the right circumstances it is possible to compare the merits of Killa Kans, the points efficiency of Ork vehicles, or even if the best Ork vehicle is one that isn't picked as boyz are the best option! It is this broader approach which I believe to be the best as you can get some rather interesting debate, unfortunately, there are many an interesting rabbit hole to go through which other posters may consider not to be pertinent to the matter at hand.
A bad derailment is spam, it has no place on the thread.
Example (thread about bad luck):
I have the worst luck, my cat knocked over my titan and it landed on my Terminator lord and retinue
I'm going to buy all the space marines
A good derailment is the opportunity to discuss wide ranging topics
Example (thread about bad luck)::
I have the worst luck, my cat knocked over my titan and it landed on my Terminator lord and retinue
How to reply to this can open a huge range of possibilities
What is your cat's name?
What sort of cat do you have?
How did you repair the titan/termies?
How did you touch up the titan/termies?
This can then spiral out into a discussion of:
pets names
pet ownership within the wargamming community
cats and their relevance to today's society
cats and their role in the internet
how to repair damaged models
tips for patching/sculpting with green stuff
green stuff and its alternatives
how to touch up paint jobs
luck/probability/possiblity
exestential influences on dice rolls
None of these are technically on topic, but all of them are of interest and directly related to the previous post.
The best sort of derailment is one where you set up the derailment and let other people take it off topic for you.
Do not derail threads as it is against your Ts & Cs
No one talks about de-railment
What is De-railment?
De-railment is the term used to express that the topic being discussed is not that of the original poster.
Is De-railment a bad thing?
Arguably.
Can I de-rail threads?
You can just sign up now and be taught the magic and mysteries!
__________________________________________________ _
When considering de-railment, one must first consider how we view a topic thread. The school of thought that says that replies to a thread must directly relate to the topic discussed by the original poster. So if the original post is "Why Trukks are the best Ork vehicle" then the debate is limited to the discussion as to whether or not this is the case, though arguably discussions about the merits of Killa Kans would then fall outside of the original posts thread. I believe that such view is far too restricitive, and that topics are conversations, so while discussing why Trukks are the best vehicle in the right circumstances it is possible to compare the merits of Killa Kans, the points efficiency of Ork vehicles, or even if the best Ork vehicle is one that isn't picked as boyz are the best option! It is this broader approach which I believe to be the best as you can get some rather interesting debate, unfortunately, there are many an interesting rabbit hole to go through which other posters may consider not to be pertinent to the matter at hand.
A bad derailment is spam, it has no place on the thread.
Example (thread about bad luck):
I have the worst luck, my cat knocked over my titan and it landed on my Terminator lord and retinue
I'm going to buy all the space marines
A good derailment is the opportunity to discuss wide ranging topics
Example (thread about bad luck)::
I have the worst luck, my cat knocked over my titan and it landed on my Terminator lord and retinue
How to reply to this can open a huge range of possibilities
What is your cat's name?
What sort of cat do you have?
How did you repair the titan/termies?
How did you touch up the titan/termies?
This can then spiral out into a discussion of:
pets names
pet ownership within the wargamming community
cats and their relevance to today's society
cats and their role in the internet
how to repair damaged models
tips for patching/sculpting with green stuff
green stuff and its alternatives
how to touch up paint jobs
luck/probability/possiblity
exestential influences on dice rolls
None of these are technically on topic, but all of them are of interest and directly related to the previous post.
The best sort of derailment is one where you set up the derailment and let other people take it off topic for you.