With the recent unlocking of the Discussion category to Members, I have noticed that one same topic has been reposted consistently with changed wording. The nature of these threads “asks” if a certain game genre or trend on Roblox is just made solely for the money.
Much like these threads complain and ridicule the genre they are talking about (it’s blatantly obvious where the OP’s opinion lies), these threads are following the same repetitive formula of raising a genre, talking about its negatives and then “asking” if they are just out there for the money.
We already had a decent discussion regarding an ongoing trend, simulator games, created by @TheCarbyneUniverse which can be found here. Since then, many similar such threads have been popping up and it’s getting redundant. While Carbyne’s thread should stay true to discussing only simulators, that’s not to say the same is applicable to other game genres.
I want to flag these repeat posts but I’m not sure what options I would specifically choose. I’m banking on Something Else, but what would I convey there so Developer Relations actually knows to lock such threads? I don’t want those flags being dismissed and the thread staying up, because now that says that Discussion is okay to get cluttered with these threads.
For reference, although I do not intend to call people out, I’ve found these threads with a quick skim of the category with activity in the past few days matching the criteria. It corroborates what I’ve raised in the thread and I think this needs to be quickly stopped before it gets further out of hand.
Not to brag, but the thread got a lot of attention, which is why people are wrongly trying to jump in on the action. Ironically, cash-grab games do just that, so there’s that…
Ever since we opened the flood gates, we’ve been met with nothing but harm. In such instances where the title/the entire topic becomes repetitive, I’d think that that is spam. They always have the same answer and just replacing X in “X is becoming a cash-grab” isn’t a topic worth discussing.
I think discussion topics should be worded in order to promote discussion and views from both sides, not prove the one view that you agree with.
While they are generally infuriating, are they really bad?
I don’t personaly think that posting these types of posts warrant forum warnings, as they are generally NOT “offensive items”.
Sure, they maybe were over-posted a bit, but why would they warrant forum moderation actions such as warnings?
Discussion is meant to contain open-ended questions about Roblox development, which all of these threads satisfy.
I do think that warnings are handed out like candy right now, and adding another warn reason isn’t really helpful.
I appologise for making the thread, however I wanted to hear other people’s opinions. I wasn’t aware of how many similar threads there are. I didn’t intend my post as spam. I felt as if café games are cash grab games. (Not all mind you) I wanted to make both sides opinion’s known.
DevRel wants to scale out the forum so this was going to happen eventually. It’s not the best place if you’re looking for dedicated discussion between power or advanced users of Studio or further into development. So in that respect, a different solution has to be found to just locking the category.
I don’t agree with category locking because there are some members who contribute very valuable information to discussion, it’s not just Regulars. It just so happens that a good lot of our member community is also of a younger audience or have some other kind of intention for posting. It may just be genuine curiosity without realising the points can be linked back to another discussion.
The only option to keep Discussion clear right now is to continue to move out posts or flag insignificant threads. That’s why I want to know if these repetitive threads can be flagged with feedback or suggestion that a different thread - your thread - can hold the same answer. DevRel may not think the same in thinking that our developer community is capable of making that link-back and may just leave the threads up, thus contributing to a cluttered and once-helpful category.
I would just want to make it clear, I didn’t make a thread concerning and or relating to @TheCarbyneUniverse’s thread concerning Tycoons Vs Simulators, the idea why I came up with this thread is the fact that I’ve got an off-topic discussion with developers in another #discussion thread, which resulted for me in making a new thread in the #discussion category, to avoid more off-topic replies coming out of the past thread, and the other reason I’ve made this thread is because I want to hear Developer’s opinions concerning about what there main point in developing is, whether it be financial benefit, and user or own entertainment, as the developers who made an off-topic argument in that #discussion thread, tend to fully state that developers don’t have other reasons, but for business which is why developers are creating games or content, which I want to justify being wrong by placing a poll, and hearing about other developers opinions concerning about the issue.
I also tend to apologize if you find it similar to @TheCarbyneUniverse’s though I didn’t intend for it to appear similar to his thread.
No it’s fine, you don’t have to apologise. It’s not that I’m upset with the posters but rather the actual threads themselves and how it speaks to where Discussion is headed. You’re curious about a certain topic, but the thing that isn’t sitting well with me is that most of these threads are of the exact same nature with just a different scope they’re being turned to.
I think that one general discussion thread is better than honing in on a bunch of genres in the same light. Eventually, if these threads keep getting left up, it’s going to turn to a point where developers start asking about niche things too and then it becomes a constant loop.
Like how Game Design Support became the catch-all for threads because we don’t have other categories people can ask their questions in, Discussion will once again become a catch-all for asking short, repeated or otherwise insignificant questions. Discussion is meant to invoke thoughtful, lengthy conversations about general aspects of Roblox development.
But aren’t these also “thoughtful, lengthy conversations”, just similar to ones already posted? The Simulator thread didn’t cover café or obby games for example.
Your thread is fine (and in fact better than all the ones I’ve linked) because it is a very generalised question about whether people develop specifically for the money or because they have other thoughts in mind. I prefer your thread far more and this is how Discussion should be, so thank you for that.
Generalising discussion tends to lower the amount of repeated threads and it gives an easier venue to redirect to when flagging threads of the same nature: you can ask the content to be redirected over to your thread which discusses making games for money or otherwise. It helps centralise discussion between common topics, which is nice for keeping it all clean and accessible.
Why your thread was listed in the OP was because I did a quick skim of the Discussion category looking for threads matching the criteria of “thread discussing the practice of a game genre solely for money”. That being said, that’s not to say I dislike your thread; again, I would much rather prefer developers start doing this in asking generalised questions about Roblox development, because that’s how we intended the Discussion category to be used.
I agree with your points. I believe that I threw my thread together quickly, I will put more thought into it. Normally, I would have made a thread that was more cogitative. Thank you for the feedback, and taking the time to explain your thoughts.
Yes, that’s why I made this thread pointing that out. The Discussion category should be used for said thoughtful, lengthy conversations, but not repeated questions which can just be addressed by a differing thread. In that capacity, it’s not too thoughtful.
The simulator thread doesn’t cover other game or group genres explicitly, but it implicitly does in the sense of “is X being done just for money”. The principles are applicable both ways. The thread opens with a genre of target, discusses its pitfalls and then leaves it on a cliff. It just sounds like a smart way to ridicule specific developer practices, except for the threads actually encouraging discussion and leaving the OP nonpartisan towards a certain view.
For discussions like this that have multiple branches, one general thread is sufficient enough to have that “is X for money or no” conversation. It may not have a focal against a specific genre but at the very least it keeps everything to a single thread instead of flooding the category with those same types of posts.
Honestly, I agree with you, but, since the Developer Forum allowed access for members to start creating topics in #discussion, some inexperienced and new ones tend to make topics that are sometimes repeated and normally off-category.
I mean I respect the idea of members allowing them to post topics in #discussion, but won’t this add to the serious problem of making almost-duplicate question threads that can be address in one single thread.
What do you mean “by a differing thread”?
We shouldn’t make a new topic due to what you specified here, but we can’t also reply with a different question as that would be flagged and you would be given a warning for “off-topic reply”
That depends on what you’re posting to the thread. Raising the existence of certain group and game genres being “for the money” is not off topic to a thread directly asking about if developers make games solely for money. It can be used as both a personal experience or a point of discussion. You’re getting improperly flagged if that is the case.
Off topic reply means off topic reply in that what you’re raising to the thread isn’t related to what is being discussed. Commenting on existing game genres, so long as it doesn’t get too far out of hand and detract from what the thread was originally discussing, is not off topic.
I think everyone would much rather appreciate not getting flagged and not seeing so many repeat threads in Discussion (which will in turn lead to further Discussion complaints on Forum Feedback). You can raise these topics in a general thread, there’s not necessarily a need to make several dedicated threads to calling out common trends and how they’re “bad” or “just a cash grab”.
This means the members cant see their own posts, and i remember a dev engagement team member say that the team wouldnt move posts over to #lounge by members, and that they would just be unlisted. Can that still be the case?