Forum:Removing Discussions

While Wikia/Fandom have stated in the past that Discussions isn't being removed and is now a mandatory addition I feel the time has come for us to discuss how much we want it. It's been a few months since we bastardised it and I would like to look at how that's worked out for us.

Firstly, and the most pragmatic thing to look at it is how many users we have gained. At this point, the answer is none. Despite being told in the forum where the feature was added that we should "give it time" and that it may well attract users, it hasn't. In fact we had one user trying to find an admin so they could get moderator rights. When they were contacted about the matter on wiki, they didn't even reply.

Secondly is the mater of moderation. As of right now, the page is not moderated. I did so for a while, however nearly every day new policy violation content was being added. And often by users that put one comment and don't come back.When we discussed bastardising it Fandom agreed to help moderate it. This has not happened. And there have been no users on Discussions that have shown themselves trustworthy enough, and active enough to be given the rights. This gadget requires constant attention which is just a major drain on resources for something that isn't even benefiting the wiki.

Thirdly, and springboarding off my last comment is that this feature does not, and has not benefited the wiki. So far, the extent of discussions of the feature have been nothing more than option questions (what's your favourite map etc.) and looking for players. Neither of these in any way benefit us. While it is granted that we bastardised it and generally don't talk about wiki stff there, on the times we did I linked those users talk pages so they could discuss the issue, they never followed though. One user even told us about pages they felt needed images twice.

From these 3 points alone, I don't think the feature has helped us and think we should have it disabled as right now it's nothing more than an unmoderated wasteland. None of us on the Wiki use it, and none of those that use the feature use the wiki. Personally, I think this should of been a wiki option like chat or article comments so each Wiki has a choice if they have it on. Instead we got it turned on without anyone talking to us and got told "tough shit, you have it now, like it". It's been several months, none of us like it, please take it round back and shoot it. 11:32, May 17, 2017 (UTC)

Discussion
Devil's advocate: It's not a detriment. I say leave it there if it really has no effect on the wiki. I'm sure there would be at least some people somewhere that would be upset to see it go. Joe Copp 13:47, May 17, 2017 (UTC)
 * There is one small detriment. Checkuser rights don't work there. So it can attract sockpuppets and the only way to get confirmation is to get VSTF or Staff to do a check. Within the first month we actually had a user have about 10 socks. Also while it has our name it mean that every time someone does osmrthing against policy or negative it reflects badly on us. I mean this post gives out the impression we have users being a nuisance on other wikis, even though I doubt it was any of our users. 13:57, May 17, 2017 (UTC)

Although my initial reaction is "Hell yes!", I do have question. Another benefit Wikia Fandom said was that it would draw more people to the wiki itself. Have we seen an uptick or even less of a drop off after release day since the Discussions feature was added? Conqueror of all Zombies (talk) 16:48, May 17, 2017 (UTC)
 * I've noticed no change to be honest. I'm not sure if the bastardisation is involved, but the wiki and discussions have been like two separate communities. That being said, as noted above, when people did mention something with pages they would never follow though with editing. Even when linked talk pages. 16:51, May 17, 2017 (UTC)
 * Same here, I don't think it really affected the activity of the wiki itself. 17:11, May 17, 2017 (UTC)
 * Alright, just making sure there wasn't anything that I had missed. Conqueror of all Zombies (talk) 20:06, May 17, 2017 (UTC)

Wikia really stepped out of line by forcing it on us without asking. However now they are rolling it out so we should be able to get rid of it, or it will be compulsory for all. Either way it will still remain bastardized, if we wanted to go meta we could have a forum mocking the best posts because some of them are brilliant. I say yes to removing it, and Wikia have lost a lot of credibility with this one. Heck, if they'd have even asked us first, I'd've actually supported it. 18:26, May 17, 2017 (UTC)
 * Yeah...I don't think that going "meta" and mocking the posts on Discussions is a good route to go in the slightest. Conqueror of all Zombies (talk) 20:06, May 17, 2017 (UTC)

- Considering that the main thing that they did say that it would bring more editors in.. And it didn't. It's just plagued with rather stupid questions and the such, Most of them can either be answered by a Google search or checking on the main site. 19:42, May 17, 2017 (UTC)


 * You should really hold off on voting until the actual voting process begins. This is for discussing the proposal and not voting on it. Conqueror of all Zombies (talk) 20:06, May 17, 2017 (UTC)
 * Can't be arsed. Just want that.. Stain removed. I had a more eloquent way of saying that before, Just swapping it over to that because I'm tired. 20:12, May 17, 2017 (UTC)

As a side thought. And for the sake of "fairness", who thinks I should post this forum in Discussions itself to see if we get any users from there? I mean, if none of the users from discussions come here to state why they don't want it shut down, it somewhat proves a point. And if they do come here then maybe we can at least see some kind of benefit to leaving it on. 21:50, May 17, 2017 (UTC)

The problem with Discussions (and why it isn't bringing in users) is that it was made more as an extension of the mobile app then the wiki itself. While Wikia did allow it to be cross platform, there isn't actually any proper interaction between Discussions and the wiki. Hell, Discussions itself only uses the mobile skin.

This also could explain why it hasn't brought in editors; the mobile version is awful (same for Wikipedia), and people browsing the wiki on their phones and iPods are usually in that 11-15 age bracket (which is even more likely considering the sort of content posted on there).

That being said, I agree with Joe on this one. What's the point in disabling it? While the fact that Checkuser doesn't work on Discussions is annoying, we decided to leave it alone and not moderate it. Right now they are two clear entities that don't interact, and unless issues from there actually cross onto the wiki, it won't ever effect us. Capt. MillerTalk 02:55, May 18, 2017 (UTC)