"What 'Supporting a New Board' Means To You..." Topic

You were asked – TMP link

How Do You Determine If You Would 'Support' a New Board?

32% said "by supporting, I am promising to read those topics"
27% said "by supporting, I am promising to participate"
10% said "I oppose all new boards"

Wow! So only 100 people voted? Not much support for the "supporting a new board" poll.

Maybe there has to be a better way to draw attention to the polls before they close and the results are announced.

Dan

So does it make sense to make new polls asking whether members would "support" such a board? Would it be better to ask oone of the following:

- Whether they would regularly read topics on such board OR
- Whether they would actively participate in discussions on such board

I'd suggest that many who didn't vote actually belonged in the "no new boards" group. For the record, I voted.

I only vote to support boards if I would participate in them.

Winston Smith: +1

I'm confused. If there's a board request for something that is of interest to only, say, 10% of gamers, but a bunch of people who constantly watched the polls but played something else voted on that poll and said no*, is that it then? Dead in the water?

Why, if it's not their thing, would they vote in the first place is confusing also.

Anyway, combined with how unaware most people are of the current polls, that's just a sure way for a handful of poll-watchers to shoot down almost anything new, right?

And are board requests poll results really the final word, or does the Editor have veto power?

I'm just curious, is all.

Dan

Anyway, combined with how unaware most people are of the current polls, that's just a sure way for a handful of poll-watchers to shoot down almost anything new, right?

On the contrary. It's a sure way for a handful of poll-watchers to ensure that those privileged free Basic members will have to display which country they live in in due course. It won by just two votes IIRC.

If Bill wants something to happen he should just do it. Enough of this faux democracy rubbish. A tiny proportion of the membership takes part in these "polls" and any result that initiates a change, or prevents a change, in TMP based on that level of participation is pretty much bogus, as you allude to above.

If there's a board request for something that is of interest to only, say, 10% of gamers, but a bunch of people who constantly watched the polls but played something else voted on that poll and said no*, is that it then?

My understanding is that the no votes are not taken into account on whether a new board is created, but the decision is instead based on the absolute number of "supporting" votes. With the required amount being 50 supporting votes – which according to this poll may correspond to mere 25 persons actually contributing to the discussions.

And are board requests poll results really the final word, or does the Editor have veto power?

I think the good Editor gets to make the choice whether the new board suggestion goes into a poll in the first place.

"No" votes are irrelevant. Or more accurately, "I would not support this board" votes. They're just to gauge opinion.
The only thing that matters is if the proposed board gets 50 "Support" votes.
You could have 53 votes to support and 124 not to support. The proposal got more than 50 so it passes.
If the supporters of Black Powder get 50 votes when the poll comes up, they win, even if 167 will not support.
I'll probably vote "I will not support", not out of ill feelings, but because I would have nothing to contribute. I wish them luck. And my vote will not count!

When the Support option was first given, the bar was set at 25, I believe. Well. That just unleashed mischief makers like Connard Sage (and myself I'm sad to say) to propose ridiculous boards. Some of them passed. I'm pretty sure that's what got the bar raised to 50.

Thanks. Helpful explanation.

Dan

I thought in the discussion of "support" the standard was "I will post at least once a month, on average." That is, I will substantially contribute. That's what I use to gauge my vote.