New section for discussion of main anime characters

[Bluelatios]

Seeing as how discussions of Ash, Misty, Brock, Jessie, James, Meowth and the like are fairly popular, wouldn't it make sense to make a separate board for past and present main anime characters? It just seems simpler to do that than to lump them in with general and debate threads, and would facilitate more organized discussion toward the bread and butter of the anime. I'm thinking that there should be sticky threads for general discussion of each character, where anything goes and conversations have ample room to fluctuate. This would help compensate for the fact that more specific threads about a character often sway to discussion about other aspects of that character. Below the stickied general discussions would of course be more specific topics about these characters. Perhaps their could even be sub-sections for each Pokemon they owned, or a sub-section for often recurring characters like Delia and Prof. Oak. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Iteru]

@Bluelatios;

Could you please elaborate on what would go into these threads? (Preferably with examples.) Also, how they would differ from debate threads on characters? (Again, in the context of an example.)

I personally feel like I need to hear more about the overall idea in detail before I can come to an opinion of yes or no.

I do think that stickying every main character thread would be unnecessary however considering they'd likely be more popular than other threads and remain on the first page of such a forum with their activity alone. Plus that would be a lot of stickys, not including a possibly needed rules sticky. Generally I like to think that 6 or 7 stickys is the maximum amount any Anime (sub-)forum should have.

 

[Bluelatios]

Well for starters, having general character discussions is different than comparing 2 opinions, which is what debate threads are for. These threads would be dedicated to virtually anything about a specific starring character. For example, the Misty thread could start by someone describing what they liked or disliked about her, go on to more details about her personality, shift to an episode which she had a prominent role in, discuss dialogue and voice acting, speculate about ways she could be portrayed/developed differently, and go back to step 1 and everything in between. It doesn't have to be a "why or why not" debate thread. This could also clear up and prepare the debate and general boards for more topics about other anime aspects to fill them up. Same for each Pokemon that was owned, since they all had some amount of development, even the ones hardly featured like Kingler have room for speculation. BMGf has threads for every episode, even random filler episodes, so I figured why not each main character and their Pokemon?

 

[Iteru]

Hmm, I personally think that sounds a lot like some of the character fanclubs in the Social Groups.

Some of the other Anime staff may feel differently however. I'll wait for them to offer their opinions and discuss with them.

 

[Bluelatios]

With all due respect, I feel that most social groups tend to be greatly overshadowed by discussion on forum boards. Even popular topics can get buried if inactive for a brief while. Plus they generally appeal to either fans or haters, while a topic appeals to anyone wanting to drop in and chat.

 

[Iteru]

With all due respect, I feel that most social groups tend to be greatly overshadowed by discussion on forum boards.

With that in mind I think taking social group material away from the groups and into forums would make that trail of thought even more apparant and leave social groups in a worse position than before.

Plus they generally appeal to either fans or haters, while a topic appeals to anyone wanting to drop in and chat.

Actually, fanclubs are designed sheerly for the fans of a character, so that it creates an environment free from those who don't like that character (or "haters", a really stupid term that gets applied to those who may simply dislike a character rather than detest them).
Though that really does make me unsure what you're aiming for. Debate threads allow either those who like or dislike a character to join in.

 

[Bluelatios]

With that in mind I think taking social group material away from the groups and into forums would make that trail of thought even more apparant and leave social groups in a worse position than before.

The reason social groups are overshadowed is because they are mostly for niche topics that would fill up too much space elsewhere. Its only natural that it would have less attention than the normal forums. Since they don't need big topics to survive, I thought it would be better if major topics like this were put more into the open.
Take for example the Ash club: The Ash Club - Bulbagarden Forums
and the anti-Ash club: Anti Ash - Bulbagarden Forums

See there are 2 groups that talk about Ash, but in a thread it would be only one group for everyone.People wouldn't have to actually go looking through the groups to find discussion about Ash if they could easily notice the general character anime sub-forum. And its fine to talk about both likes or dislikes in a general thread.

I guess what I'm trying to say about why this is different than debate threads is how its presented, and how its more organized.

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/f555/did-you-like-brock-takeshis-role-show-126821/ This thread is presented as a question; "Did you like Brock or not?" followed by in-depth reasons. A more general thread wouldn't be strictly for debate but just whatever was on your mind relating to Brock. Its just a different way for people to discuss him and to further organize the thread list, which will surely grow longer as time passes. So yeah, there is a lot to consider but you and the anime staff can discuss it and decide if its worth implementing into the forum.