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Topic: Hobbies and Whatever (Read 43875 times)

Hobbies and Whatever

In order to broaden our appeal and attract new blood, I suggest we have a new Category in addition to

  • DnD Central

  • The Lounge

  • Browsers and Technology


(which are now the only categories that a Guest can view)
namely Hobbies where such things as Music, Literature, train spotting, guns, photography etc could be discussed.

The purpose of this thread is to test out the idea before it's implemented to see whether the membership likes the idea and how much support it would be likely to get.

I think the addition of such a category would give added attraction for the site. Although I'm not a Hobby person myself, many are and I think it would provide a useful outlet.

Any comments?

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #1 –
How about "Hobbies and Games"? A thread like this would belong there.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #2 –
How about Hobbies and Entertainment?

Personally, I would be happy with just two fun categories:
- Central
- Lounge
in addition to the serious non-fun Forum Admin, but since we already have also
- Browsers and Technology
all new categories should, imho, follow the spirit. Make it a two-word naming convention or such.

Hence Hobbies and Entertainment. Frenzie's games also have a place there.

And we have already some threads to move there, right? Such as maps.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #3 –
@ersi - Classification can be done in different ways certainly, but the idea is to give these things a place to live and attract people who don't want, initially at least, to blunder around in the middle of people discussing the great affairs of State and Religion.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #4 –
Sorry, haven't read up all that. I don't think that for now, further specialisation's needed. Apart from our 35ness, there's the thing that, trying to procrust topics into narrower categories leaves many ambiguous in that taxonomisational sense.
I used to participate in a Russian forum that had such fractioned sectioning. And often I thought that many human issues are not and cannot be so specifically subdivided.
Frans - in the first days - told us that he would create a new board as long as there'd have emerged a good bunch of sensible topics on a certain field. I got that and I tend to hold that.
Apart from that, as I've already noted, we're 35 yet - a handful of which are not even active enough, and I reckon we should
  • brainstorm and reiterate our supposed attempts to allure new guys here, and
  • stop mumbling and start creating sensible topics and keep ourselves self-responsible about not getting those threads pumped out with loads of unrestricted veering-off.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Frenzie – on
How about "Hobbies and Games"? A thread like this would belong there.
That rather goes to a "blog" category.;)
Quote from: ersi – on
Hence Hobbies and Entertainment. Frenzie's games also have a place there.

And we have already some threads to move there, right? Such as maps.
I created that thread not for fun.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #6 –
The Whatever was a place-holder so could be another word of course.

Hobbies and Entertainment?  Hobbies and Games?

Hobbies and Distractions?  Hobbies and Relaxation? Hobbies and Diversions? Hobbies and Pastimes?

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #8 –
Josh - I would not call having four topics as being excessive splitting.

If we have small ambitions that is precisely what we will remain.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #9 –
Quote from: string – on
I would not call having four topics...
They are boards.
Quote from: string – on
If we have small ambitions that is precisely what we will remain.
That's not about bumbitions - but about constructiveness.
Do you have an idea how those over"splitted" forums work? And we already split discussions into threads - are we ok following them? ???

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #10 –
Well it will be interesting to see what people think about the idea and the rationale behind it.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #11 –
Quote from: string – on
Hobbies and Entertainment?  Hobbies and Games?

Hobbies and Entertainment.


Don't know if there would be many posts about hobbies but you never know as that covers such a large field. Would you for instance class an interest in computers and all things PC as a hobby or are they a necessity in this day and age?


Entertainment is good as it covers all media e.g. Movies, music and games (as in video games that is, not the word games from the lounge)
The start and end to every story is the same. But what comes in between you have yourself to blame.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #12 –
I was also thinking about, for instance, boardgames. Although I don't know how much interest there is in that.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #13 –
Quote from: Frenzie – on
I was also thinking about, for instance, boardgames. Although I don't know how much interest there is in that.

I did think about boardgames  but couldn't decide if they would be classed as hobbies or entertainment.
The start and end to every story is the same. But what comes in between you have yourself to blame.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #14 –
Quote from: Luxor – on
Would you for instance class an interest in computers and all things PC as a hobby or are they a necessity in this day and age?

If it were, I doubt you'd see pieces like this: http://coding2learn.org/blog/2013/07/29/kids-cant-use-computers/

Quote from: Luxor – on
I did think about boardgames  but couldn't decide if they would be classed as hobbies or entertainment.

It hardly matters when the board's dedicated to both. :P

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #15 –
@Luxor, Frenzie - Initially I reckon it would take time, unless they were lucky, for people with similar hobbies to find their way to "Hobbies". But I think it would be easier than in the past. I noticed, in the old D&D, that obscure subjects (minority interests) tend to get lost on the plethora of subjects that mainstream DnD produced, Possibly (and ironically because the subject itself has been controversial) guns could be a popular subject since I know there are are at least two people who like them and collect them in the forum. Cooking maybe also - it appears as as a sort of debating valium in D&D/DnD then there are the various sports - football (of any type) -- many possibilities.

One Thread per Hobby is what I think would evolve for the idea to work.

Computers? That's difficult to decide - my instinct is not to have that as a Hobby subject because it is so linked into the Browsers & Technology arena.


I'm a bit lukewarm of putting a title that has some sort of Game inference because I don't want to detract from The Lounge which is very productive and a good focus. Maybe a discussion of computer games - which is best and so on but interactive stuff more properly I think left in the Lounge I think.

But that's something that could be tuned, initially on a case by case basis.

Maybe Hobbies and Pursuits would be OK? 

But then the accompanying description can give more guidance.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #16 –
Our site is a hobby.
Media may mean
  • techlogy,
  • interest,
  • politics (!), etc.
    It is bullshit. If you wanna discuss stamps -- start a "Stamps" topic in the 'Lounge'. I can't see any NEED in SPECIAL board for hobbies. While "entertainment" is often closely tied with culture, society, politics, whatnot.
    You have no idea what you're about to awake.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #17 –
You're full of piss and vinegar today Josh - lighten up!  :)

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #19 –
 ;D

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #21 –
Quote from: Frenzie – on
It hardly matters when the board's dedicated to both.

That's true right enough. I was thinking that maybe they were going to be child boards under another category. My bad as they say.

Quote from: string – on
Computers? That's difficult to decide - my instinct is not to have that as a Hobby subject because it is so linked into the Browsers & Technology arena.

I would leave computers under Browsers & Technology too, I was just thinking aloud there really.
Blame my wife who still tells people "computers" are my "hobby" even now after more than 30 years of using them.
The start and end to every story is the same. But what comes in between you have yourself to blame.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #23 –
Quote from: Josh – on

What IS a hobby, anyway? The "definition" of each particular one would be subjective.
Everyone knows what a Hobby is. But what exactly is your point? Maybe I did not make it clear that underneath the blanket of Hobbie & TBD would be a number of threads, one for each Hobby or pastime, not one single thread encompassing all such activities. Each would be an area where people would exchange ideas or explanations or tips about facets of their hobby.

Re: Hobbies and Whatever

Reply #24 –
I say "Hobby versus General Knowledge".
There are ACTIVITIES! And each one particular guy considers a certain activity subjectively.
And after all, separating any dedicated area makes sense after a crucial number of potential participants has achieved. While for now - what do you have? Is there any at all group of users here to hold a similar interest in whatever other than politics or joshing at each other?;)