What you need to do before making a thread [WIKI]

General Discussion
1

Hey there,

I have seen many threads make some fatal mistakes around the forums and learned quite a few lessons making mistakes of my own. I wanted to make this thread to help forumers make the best threads they can.

What you should ask yourself before and during creating a thread:

  1. What will people most likely say about and in this thread?
  2. Is this a joke thread that has a good chance at offending other forumers or the moderators?
  3. Is this thread appropriate?
  4. Is this thread appropriate for the OFFICIAL OVERWATCH FORUMS :tm: ?
  5. Is this a good time to be creating this thread?
  6. What is the GOAL of this thread? If it has no goal you need to discard it.
  7. Does this thread infer something that is against the COC?
  8. Will I end up regretting this thread? If you think you will, chances are you should discard it.
  9. Am I making this thread to rant about something that forumers believe does not matter? (you may not need to discard it, but make sure you have a compelling argument. Remember that this is a list of things to think about before and during the creation of a thread)
  10. Will people see this thread as a troll thread or a thread for attention?
  11. Is this a good-bye thread? If it is, consider discarding it if you think you will come back because of it.
Details on #11

Goodbye threads are mainly for saying goodbye to the other users you liked, and the users that liked you.

If you plan on leaving, consider your capability to control and cut off you access to the forums.

If you think you are able to do that, and you do want to make a goodbye thread, then do it. If it’s gonna be your last post, then be honest. You’re not gonna need to worry about what people think of it. The biggest goal of your goodbye thread should be to deliver a thoughtful farewell, as well as explain why you’re leaving.

However, if you doubt your ability and/or do not feel the need to say goodbye to anyone, don’t bother. At the end of the day none of these people matter to you and your life and you don’t owe any of these randoms a goodbye if you don’t think you do.

If you want to learn my preferred way to leave this forum (when I inevitably reach that point lmao), CLICK HERE (not yet, that will be in a different thread I make later today, so just wait)

Be Formal

None likes a poorly written thread. Make sure you are at least using proper grammar and rereading your thread several times over before posting. Make sure you aren’t unintentionally insulting or being rude to a person or group of people. If you want to make a criticism, you can, but do it in a way that is constructive. For example; You should not make a thread about how “balancing sucks I hate this game”, but rather talk about the specifics and bring up evidence about why you are right.

Don’t over-format or be silly

It’s cringey-- please don’t. Example of this:

(Yes that was me, I had just started on the forums and found out about formatting tricks that day)

Make a Powerful statement in your thread

We all want our threads to succeed in life (yes that is a bad joke), but to get them to really make an impact and get people agree with what you are saying, you will need to have one or some of the following elements:

  • Brief, interesting title
  • Write humbly or strongly, depending on what your thread is about.
  • make sure your tone matches what you are trying to say
  • make sure you stay on topic in your thread
  • Saying Hello can make the tone more light hearted and can get people to agree with you more. (Hello, [thread])
  • Make your thread look organized and appealing-- not appalling.
  • If you are lvl 3, add an image or gif to make it more interesting.
  • If you have a very long thread, consider splitting it up (by paragraphing or formatting) or using “Hide details”
  • Make sure the topic is something you can defend easily without needing to bend the truth.

A few really good examples of some of this:

Sarcasm

Sarcasm is an ameizing tool and can get you alot of likes, but typically at the cost of less comments.

Example:

Lastly,

I do plan on changing and adding to this guide, but if you think I missed something important feel free to comment on what I should add or change.

5 Likes
2

Here’s an extra thing to consider before making a thread:

Have 50 threads discussing this exact same topic already cropped up in the past 20 minutes? If so, discard thread. Reduce forum clutter. Please and thank

3

Though this is a good argument, I think it is fine if the original thread is not focusing in an area that the thread you want to make is about.

4

If this is the case, why write an essay on thread etiquette? Nobody here matters, go ahead and just make a thread how you want to make it then. Maybe you should have evaluated your steps a little more carefully?

5

Well, now wait a second-- If you are leaving, then none here should matter, but if you are sticking around then you should write your threads so you can get the most likes/comments/agreement.

6

I think you, and just about everyone who gets triggered at leave threads, fails to understand the intent of those. People aren’t leaving because they hate the game or want to be exiled from the community, rofl. They are disappointed in a direction for a game they deeply care about. This thread is about thread making advice, but I personally feel it is just as important for the reader to take some responsibility and not click on threads that offend them. It can’t always be up to the author to moderate what people find acceptable, especially when it breaks no rules.

2 Likes
7

This is all about what will help the author-- not the people reading said thread

8

Exactly, and someone leaving doesn’t need to consider the reader at all therefore making your advice useless. That was my point.

Think about it carefully, why does someone leaving need likes and comments? They don’t, but they will get plenty of responses from people who “don’t care.” In fact, those threads often do far better than relevant ones because of all the lack of care. Maybe there is something there to consider… Hmm.

1 Like
9

That’s one way to use a forum, I suppose.

Personally, I prefer to make my posts useful. Sharing information or ideas that others have not, responding to common questions/confusions, providing insights about game development, bringing attention to other helpful resources, etc. Most people just read it, maybe add a :heart:, and rarely reply, and that’s perfectly fine with me.

1 Like
10

That whole part was about how they will be temped to come back to look at what was said in their goodbye thread, which was mainly my point.

11

Agree with everything but this. Who are you to tell someone how they handle leaving the forums? Personally, if I was fully leaving, I’d want to make a post to let people like you, Electro71, Tatianna, and other regulars know. I think that there’s no correct way to do a goodbye thread.

But everything else is really good :+1:

1 Like
12

And so I have included recommendations for the best way to do that.

It’s not just for the likes. It’s about communicating to the reader.

13

And how is that an issue? Most of them are leaving the game and have no reason to stick around on the forums, they are not fleeing. If they want to stick around to read some responses before ultimately leaving, that does not contradict leaving.

14

So that’s what brought me to the conclusion that one should not do said goodbye thread(s).

So yes, I agree with this fully, but as someone who has been addicted to these forums, the best option if you want to stay gone is to just leave and do other things.

15

I agree. But leaving is not easy for everyone and people can get temped to come back.

1 Like
16

That is fair enough, I just think you are fixated on it from your perspective, which is 100% good advice in that context. I just don’t believe it is universally applicable where most of the other criteria was.

2 Likes
17

Just because there’s no correct reason doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do them at all.

I think making the people I care about aware of my decision is more important than the possible lapse of self control.

And if you truly wanted to leave enough to make a full goodbye thread, then you would be able to leave in the first place, regardless of possible notifications IMO.

Don’t take this is me hating, just providing some feedback :blush:

1 Like
18

Of course! and you and others are welcome to (within reason ofc)

The only reason why I say not to make goodbye threads is because I wanted to leave the forums myself, but I made a good bye thread and came back to see the responses. Then I started reading posts and stuff again and made other threads. OFC people noticed that I said I would leave and was really still there, so that became embarrassing. The point of this thread was to help others avoid being embarrassed by silly mistakes they overlooked.

1 Like
19

Good Lord. It’s just a forum. Make a thread about whatever the hell you want

2 Likes
20

I think at that point, it really depends on the person. A person with good self control (not to throw shade or anything, just saying) should probably be encouraged to make a goodbye thread, if they want to.

I think it’s important to stress that in your post, that if you have good self control, make one if you want. But if you fear getting hooked back in, you should not make one.

1 Like