Sticky threads for the "Endless Debates"?

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Should we create sticky threads for the endless debates we see all the time? I'm referring to debates like "who is the strongest between Pure Boo & Evil Boo", or "was Gohan a SS or SS2 in Boo arc". Endless debates that start all the time, and will always start in random threads (like it just happened in the Unpopular DB opinions thread). So, if some guys were to start a debate about Pure Boo vs Evil Boo, they would leave the random thread that has nothing to do with this, and they would continue the debate in the "Pure Boo vs Evil Boo" thread.

[VegettoEX]

I find that doing something like stickying those types of things encourages the "endless" nature of the discussion. I'd rather not do so.

There's always going to be new people that discover the series and will naturally want to discuss similar things that have been discussed in the past. No need to burden them with hundreds of pages. If someone wants to jump in and add some of the discussion from the past for some additional context, so be it.

[Tzigi]

Now that's the one thing I really dislike about this forum - the lack of stickies for common debates combined with the strict necroposting rule and an unwillingness to merge similar threads. When someone spends several years on a board (I've been a lurker here for like 4 years before I even registered - and even this was 6 years ago), they get frustrated whenever they see the very same topic brought up yet another time.

Evageeks has a great and reasonable policy when it comes to this:

It is always better to post in a preexisting thread than to create a new one. Always check to see if a thread satisfying your specifications has already been made. This means familiarizing yourself with the Search tool. (Or even just glancing at the first one or two pages of threads in the relevant subforum!) In most cases, the creation of “redundant threads” can be easily avoided, due to the fact that most species of thread are characterized by predictable key words. Checking the Forum Thread Lists is highly encouraged.

If, for example, you intend to create a thread asking people about their favorite character(s), more than likely the key words "favorite characters" will produce the preexisting thread. Sometimes, when it's not as straightforward, you have to think a little harder and attempt to "predict" the key words that would turn up in topic titles or posts on a particular subject. This is part of database search technique; learning the various tricks of the trade is thoroughly recommended to anyone with access to a (usually) computer and an Internet connection.

If you have a general question, you should, beyond simply checking if one or more relevant threads already exist, see if your question is actually answered anywhere. While bumping an older thread is, as per above, considered preferable to creating a new one, why bump it at all to post a question that it could well fully address and answer (possibly within the first couple of pages)?

[VegettoEX]

As someone who's been doing this since 1998, I certainly understand... I wouldn't say the "frustration"... but rather the having-to-deal-with-the-prevalence of certain subjects coming up.

But I think there's two schools of thoughts on that. The one we practice here is "there are always new people and you shouldn't hinder/burden them with decades of prior discussions if they want to ask a simple question". There's also the "there is an expectation that you will do your homework and read everything before even asking a simple question" viewpoint.

Both are valid. Both can work.

I believe that you should let new people jump in without having to sift through everything that every dude and dudette wrote on a forum fifteen years ago just to ask what may be a simple question. If all it fosters is an answer and that's it, great. If it fosters a larger conversation, great. If it brings people in from the past to share their knowledge, great. If people dig up links to prior things to point to, great.

Part of what separates us here is that we have the entire website as a resource. Kanzenshuu isn't just a forum. It's a whole website. There's lots to point to and refer to beyond old discussion threads.

I dunno. I have a photographic memory of things and know what to point to if need be, and I have canned responses written up that I can re-paste and link back to. That doesn't annoy me in the least, and cross-referencing things across the website and all of its facets (forum, podcast, etc.) provides a nice, rich, deep network of interconnecting links of valuable information with lots of different viewpoints over time. That sounds amazing to me.

I think if you're that easily frustrated by new people and them showing enthusiasm for the thing that you also supposedly love (just by seeing the same thing pop up a lot), perhaps you're not in the best position to be dictating what they discuss. I want happy, friendly, well-spoken people contributing for years to come with new blood always coming in. Personally, I think overwhelming them with hundreds of pages of a single subject could be very counterproductive to that.