What would get you discussing cricket?

[MattW]

Something that we come across a lot on the forums, particularly in the Don Bradman Cricket section, is the 'off topic' discussion of cricket.

Because some of the posts you get like this are often really good discussions, it's something we try to avoid moderating, because instead of the discussion moving to a more appropriate thread after a mod would point them towards another discussion in the cricket discussion forum, it'd just stop and the thread might go back to its original topic, but the good 'off topic' discussion usually just stops.

Perhaps one explanation is simply that the new members we've gotten (or more active older members) are directly because of the interest in the Bradman game, so it's just the only section of the site they visit.

Otherwise, perhaps the correct places to discuss cricket seem too fractured - attempts to create distinct categories of discussion like the Your Cricket forum and the separations between domestic/international cricket might just make it too confusing to find the right spot to post.

I know that things like general threads for each country have come up as ideas in previous discussion of the section - for example - instead of discussion being split across a 'Australian Domestic' thread in one forum, a 'Big Bash' thread in another one and several other ones in the main discussion section based on particular news stories, would discussing all aspects of Australian cricket in one thread be better or be too hard to hold a conversation?

I'd like to hear your opinions...

 

[SpitfiresKent]

Personally I find it easy to navigate around the forums, It's not hard to find the right place to post stuff.

 

[asprin]

One factor which I think is making people discuss topics related to cricket and not the game in DBC'14 section is the number of views that the section receives.

As of now I see 167 people inside the DBC'14 category and only 9 in the "The Ashes 2013-14" category. People obviously want more attention for their posts and that makes DBC'14 a hot place to post.

Another factor could be the start of a debate. Person A makes a point which Person B doesn't agree on and feels the urge to put forward his case. From there on, the ball is set rolling and before we know it, it stretches to 2 pages.

I'm not sure if creating a separate section for each country would help as it would basically come down to one thing - Which category is the most viewed currently? And at this moment it's DBC'14 if I'm not wrong.

 

[MattW]

I'm not sure if creating a separate section for each country would help as it would basically come down to one thing

I was thinking more a single thread per country for everything to do with that country's cricket - with the idea that if the discussion is spread less, there might be a higher appearance of activity out of the posts we do get, which might help the chicken and egg problem of supposedly no one posting because no one else is posting.

Obviously we can't just make everything else a sub-forum of the DBC section - so how would you get people looking at the cricket discussion section to make it more active?

 

[asprin]

so how would you get people looking at the cricket discussion section to make it more active?

Isn't there an option to move a post/thread to a different category? I think most forum softwares have that feature if I'm not wrong. So any post which seems to fit in as "cricket related" could be moved to the appropriate section and anyone wanting to extend that discussion would naturally have to go that thread.

 

[MattW]

Isn't there an option to move a post/thread to a different category? I think most forum softwares have that feature if I'm not wrong. So any post which seems to fit in as "cricket related" could be moved to the appropriate section and anyone wanting to extend that discussion would naturally have to go that thread.

In most cases the discussion just stops if we try to force it to move by shifting the posts. The thread might get back on topic, but the people wanting to discuss the off topic posts don't follow them to the correct place.

 

[puddleduck]

Any forum that flourishes in terms of post counts has to allow a certain degree of off-topic posts.

Conversation flows naturally. Essentially posts that are quite obviously duplicate threads should be merged into the existing thread. However if any thread is derailed from within it, it's normally best to let it play out. It's not like discussing the original point can't continue in that same thread.

Always feel a reply button that alerts the person someone has responded to their post is handy as well. This may already exist...

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Another thing is that arguments need to be left to play out more often that not. Once it gets obviously abusive and needlessly rude then by all means it should be stopped, but until that point they provide entertainment for plenty of observers ha

I'd quite like to be able to just click on where it says Cricket discussion and see all new cricket related posts. I generally just click new posts and comment on anything within the first page that I feel like being a cynical trolling bastard to. Far too much rubbish being posted in forums I couldn't care less about.

 

[Biggs]

My ten cents: I'm just lazy.

It's a cricket games forum first and foremost so I always make a move for the DBC forum. See what's news there, then I check out my 'comedy' forums for some laughs (Feedback, One or Two others) and then bail.

I don't think I'm much different than most.

I've dabbled in some other forums and from time to time it's been good, but often doesn't stick because I either forget to go back or (more likely) I'm just lazy.

I also simply just talk cricket shop with my mates or occasionally twitter and the games with you folks... But nobody wants every DBC thread devolved into discussion on whether or not Tendulkar will come out of retirement, but I think you guys strike the right balance these days.

If you wanted to drive cricket discussion about real cricket to the appropriate forums, the easiest way would be to have a rolling ticker tape or something with 'hot topics' from the 'IRL' cricket world scrolling by in the other forums?

As with any website it just comes down to the number of 'clicks' you want to make to access the content. If I'm already making half a dozen in the DBC forum every other minute, I'm unlikely to back out and go through the same procedure to chat about how much better at winning Tests NZ is from the English...

Citation; laziness.

 

[Samuels]

First things first. The members should be expected to post in the correct places and not create every other thread, a junkyard. Second, if a cricket discussion starts out of nowhere, the mods can let them complete the talk and then transfer the whole bunch of posts in a more suitable thread and if possible leave a note saying 'transfered to the appropriate thread' and link the apt thread in the note for the poster to see where it should be posted from then on. Lastly, if you are facing this 'off topic' discussions popping in a particular part of the forum, more often, you can have a point written about where to post cricket discussions in a courteous manner may be just over the message box beside this by making a fifth column.

 

[Spickery]

I like Matt's idea of separating countries into different threads. I have found when reading threads on the Ashes section of the forum that there is a lot more posts about England than Australia. This means it will be less likely for me to post because the ongoing discussion is about England and I am not interested in posting about England. Having a dedicated thread for different countries means people can post about their country's cricket team and other people from the same country can have discussions with them.

 

[barmyarmy]

Trouble is I doubt the people who only post in the DB14 forum are reading this thread either.

 

[MattW]

Trouble is I doubt the people who only post in the DB14 forum are reading this thread either.

"What would get you discussing what would get you discussing cricket?" coming soon to the DBC14 forum.

 

[asprin]

Trouble is I doubt the people who only post in the DB14 forum are reading this thread either.

Pin this thread in the DBC forum maybe?

 

[blockerdave]

I think as someone else said above, for me it's the conversation element. If someone has said something (on topic) that suggest an off-shoot to me (off topic but relevant to what they have said) I want to post it next to the post that prompted the thought, where it makes sense as a conversation (and is also more likely to generate a response).

 

[grkrama]

One of the things i have noticed that has gone down in planet cricket is quality articles on cricket.the only articles that are made are often only about cricket games or Australian cricket.if planet cricket wants more members to actively participate in cricket discussions,there should be more content related to that stuff not just forums.that way people will have the need or get attracted to talk on a hot topic,you can have an article and link it to the appropriate forum.
I also think some satires with cricket players fake fb walls, would grab interest and be fun.
I do realize that the editors and admins cant them-self do all that so may be post and grab volunteers to write articles ,make them submit and greenlight the good ones.

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The question should be why do most people come to planet cricket ?
Its a niche site for cricket game discussions and mods.

Now we have a pool of people interested in cricket,though they have come for cricket games, how do we get them to discuss cricket other than just cricket games or passing by discussions on cricket.

certainly planet cricket is no cricinfo ( if you remove game threads i doubt only a handfull will visit the site) and , so it cant become a cricket news site but a few quality articles and some attentions grabbing niche in cricket genre like satire or jokes, involving community will go a long way i think