Ideas for new Boards

[Yannick]

Hello, I will try to answer to all your remarks and propositions. Sorry if it is looong, it has taken 3 hours to write!

I'm also not so sure about boards for other languages - what would be there to discuss? SSSS? Why not do that in english?

If they read SSSS, I'd say they have a good grasping of the English language!

Well, first I will present my excuses for the present level of my english :
I can read english to 95%, as I read many comics and novels, but writting it is truly hard, as I have less experience and need to think each world (50%).
I manage it, but it is hard to see this as pleasant. (and the more rapidly I try to write, the worse it is to read for others I fear!)

So I thought there might be other readers with the same problem, who can read the forum but are not feeling good writing inside.
As I think a forum you just read is not truly a true forum.

Four boards are enough, not too many, not too few, one for each esigence. why have a new board that will just confuse everyone?

Well, here is one with 19 boards, ok it is a little extreme as example, but possible.
http://forum.hardware.fr/
Nothing force you to read the parts you feel have no interest to you. it can still have use to others.

Introducing yourself is a short matter, to have a discussion there are the other threads

Ok, let us keep it as a single topic for the next months and if need arise it can always be expanded later.

That would also require mods who know those languages... Just  in case, you know. (I am not against other mods, just... for every language..)

I know you can be mod for only a part of the forum, I can help with the french part, and to begin with spanish.
Nordics languages won't be a problem as there is a large pool.
And for the really few used languages, there is google traduction.

we have two or three native French speakers, one or two Italians, one or two Spanish speakers, couple of Russians, then Finns, Danes and Norwegian for the most. Do we

really need that many boards just for a few people?

The idea is only 1 board, for all languages.
Other readers who will want it may come tomorrow.
And you will not attract more if they can't find more contents they like.
(like chineses tourists go to Paris, so vendors learn to speak Mandarin, and it attract more chineses)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtuous_circle_and_vicious_circle

1 board with 20 or 30 topics will not bring that much problems.

You could probably lump Danish, Norwegian and Swedish together in one board though. Might be interesting for all those who have expressed a desire to learn these

languages if they want to practice.

I had not though of the "learning languages" part, and there are others who might bring new ideas.
We can wait 1 or 2 weeks to have more replies.

Perhaps some kind of threshold should be used - as in "if 10 or more people request a thread for this and that non-English language it can be made".

it is a good idea, but... where will those 10 spanish speakers request a new topic, unless inside a specific topic.
And it would be best to let all those "request topics" to be together... in a group... maybe a board?
And 10 is an hight level to reach: a lot of topics have less than 5 replies

If a member post a message in Swahili, we can always wait a few months and delete it if there is 0 reply.

As you can see here http://sssscomic.com/journal.php?entry=11
Minna has readers in many nationalities, and I think even only 1 post in their native language could allow some others to find this forum accidentally on google, then begin to read her comics.
As an example, I can write a small paragraph to speak of SSSS in french, using http://sssscomic.com/index.php?id=about
and with the goods keywords, some comics fans might find it from 29 countries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_territorial_entities_where_French_is_an_official_language

I can make a board with sub-boards inside of it, so that more regular threads can be made.
- SSSS Board
- aRTD Board
- General Discussion Board
- Forum and Website Board
- Other Language Board

Other Languages (Board)
     > Norge (sub-board)
          --> NO - SSSS (Topic)
          --> NO - aRTD (Topic)
     > Español (sub-board)
          --> ES - Hablar SSSS (Topic)
          --> ES - Hablar aRTD (Topic)
     > Français (sub-board)
          --> FR - Parler de SSSS (Topic)
          --> FR - Parler de aRTD (Topic)
          --> FR - Au sujet de Lalli et son rôle (Topic)
     > Other (sub-board)

I had an idea - the overall SSSS board seems to have two kinds of posts:
1. Creative stuff ABOUT the comic (art, music, poetry, etc)
2. Discussion about the world/characters etc

As Eich can make a board with sub-boards inside of it, maybe just 2 sub-boards inside the SSSS board

[Solovei]

As Eich can make a board with sub-boards inside of it, maybe just 2 sub-boards inside the SSSS board

I didn't necessarily mean having separate boards, just a sticky post with links to commonly-asked-about threads and such.

[Yannick]

OK, I understand, sorry
I just tought it would take you a lot of time and produce little more help than the search engine.
And you would need to update it evry month?
so I tried to propose a similar solution but more easy to make.

Maybe your post with "links to commonly-asked-about threads" could go to the future FAQ
http://ssssforum.pcriot.com/index.php?topic=132.0

[noako]

I had an idea - the overall SSSS board seems to have two kinds of posts:

1. Creative stuff ABOUT the comic (art, music, poetry, etc)
2. Discussion about the world/characters etc

So, I was thinking, would it be OK if I made a thread (could also be stickied, maybe?) that would be kind of like an index of the  other threads? Like, it would just have links to useful threads organized by category...

That sounds good to me. Go ahead.

[Nimphy]

This i mostly about the language board. I feel the need to specify that I think that one board for foreign languages is a very, very, very good idea. But please, read the following long-ish post to understand why it's also a very, very, very bad idea (according to me, that is).

Hello, I will try to answer to all your remarks and propositions. Sorry if it is looong, it has taken 3 hours to write!
Well, first I will present my excuses for the present level of my english :
I can read english to 95%, as I read many comics and novels, but writting it is truly hard, as I have less experience and need to think each world (50%).
I manage it, but it is hard to see this as pleasant. (and the more rapidly I try to write, the worse it is to read for others I fear!)

So I thought there might be other readers with the same problem, who can read the forum but are not feeling good writing inside.
 

About speaking English: do I look like a good speaker to you? Maybe. Had you seen my posts ten months ago, you would have seen a messy confusion of English vocabulary and some semblance of grammar. I had no problems, absolutely no problems in understanding the language, but when it came to speaking it I was a disaster. I struggled to find the right words, to put them in the right order, to make a decent plural form of nouns. Then I decided I'd speak English with natives. On Google Plus, on SSSS, on random webcomics, everywhere. By summer, English was more natural than Italian to me. Do I speak it very well? No. But I'm better at it than before - so instead of running away because you struggle with English, and finding some French speakers to have a chat with, I'd invite you to speak English as actively as you can. Sure, you're making mistakes, but you're wrong in thinking that we're "frustrated" - you're a part of the community, and communicating with you is a pleasure, not a frustration!

The idea is only 1 board, for all languages.
Other readers who will want it may come tomorrow.
And you will not attract more if they can't find more contents they like.
(like chineses tourists go to Paris, so vendors learn to speak Mandarin, and it attract more chineses)

Okay, THIS was what I meant by saying that who reads SSSS must already have a good knowledge of English. "They will not be attracted if they can't find contents they don't like"... SSSS is not a commercial center or something! It's a comic! No one needs to be attracted.Even if someone comes on the foum because of the foreign language boards - which is highly improbable - they couldn't read the comic if they didn't know English.

1 board with 20 or 30 topics will not bring that much problems.
I had not though of the "learning languages" part, and there are others who might bring new ideas.

I actually support the languages board just for this reason. But it should be a way to learn languages and have fun, not run away from English! Still, I'd love to have a place where I can butcher the German and Norwegian language and get better at speaking (and thus worse at butchering). Who knows, maybe I'd finally even take a liking to French!

it is a good idea, but... where will those 10 spanish speakers request a new topic, unless inside a specific topic.
And it would be best to let all those "request topics" to be together... in a group... maybe a board?
And 10 is an hight level to reach: a lot of topics have less than 5 replies

This is a thread for suggesting new threads! They may ask for a board in their language here.
And 10 is actually not a high level to reach: most topics have tens of replies here. I did say that having an entire thread for Spanish speakers was superfluous if there were only three of them, of course they won't reach 10!

As you can see here http://sssscomic.com/journal.php?entry=11
Minna has readers in many nationalities, and I think even only 1 post in their native language could allow some others to find this forum accidentally on google, then begin to read her comics.
As an example, I can write a small paragraph to speak of SSSS in french, using http://sssscomic.com/index.php?id=about
and with the goods keywords, some comics fans might find it from 29 countries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_territorial_entities_where_French_is_an_official_language

See my reply about attracting readers who can't read English.

As Eich can make a board with sub-boards inside of it, maybe just 2 sub-boards inside the SSSS board

I prefer it this way because I can easily find the discussions without searching on various sub-sub-sub-boards and stuff, but it's just an opinion (just like everything else I said

Okay, so my main points about language boards: if they're created to run from troubles in English it's a horrible idea. First of all, it WILL divide the community. The discussions wouldn't be the same and we'd inevitably lose some valuable members. We're a multinational community and we come from all over the world - if everyone were to be divided by nationality then we could say goodbye to our wonderful community. BUT, if the board is to encourage communication, to let the other forumers (is that even a word?) know how beautiful a language is, and give them a place to learn a new language, a new culture, to create an even more multinational community, then it may be just about the greatest idea that an SSSS fan ever had

[Eich]

Awesome post, Nimphy.  Two points, very well made.

Personally, I'm wary of the idea of separate language boards; division seems to be the more likely outcome, to me, partly because I've had a hard time with languages in the past...  and for anyone who either doesn't have the time or desire to learn a new language, it would effectively lock them out of a section of the forum.  However, I think it would be worth trying for, at the very least, a solid month, so we could see how much they take on.  That means we'll need temporary mods for each language, people will have to help me set up multilingual swear filters, etc. etc... but a lot of that could wait until after a trial run is completed.

Should I put up a poll to vote?

[Yannick]

Thank you Nimphy for reading my long post and making a long answer

I'd invite you to speak English as actively as you can. Sure, you're making mistakes, but you're wrong in thinking that we're "frustrated" - you're a part of the community, and communicating with you is a pleasure, not a frustration!

OK, I am ready to take this challenge.
Dividing the community is the last thing is want

"They will not be attracted if they can't find contents they don't like"... SSSS is not a commercial center or something! It's a comic! No one needs to be attracted.

Hum, I am pretty sure Minna would not mind if we managed to attract new readers

Even if someone comes on the foum because of the foreign language boards - which is highly improbable - they couldn't read the comic if they didn't know English.

Even if you can easily read english, you obviously make google shearches in the languages you are the most comfortable with. And only if you find nothing, you switch to english.
I often found webcomics thanks to 1 comment in french with the keywords I used.
"highly improbable" if you multiply by the vast number of google users can still make a lot.
Even if it doesn't work I think it is worth trying, to maybe attract new readers (I have more posts wainting in my head on this subject)

I actually support the languages board just for this reason. But it should be a way to learn languages and have fun, not run away from English! Still, I'd love to have a place where I can butcher the German and Norwegian language and get better at speaking (and thus worse at butchering). Who knows, maybe I'd finally even take a liking to French!
...
if the board is to encourage communication, to let the other forumers (is that even a word?) know how beautiful a language is, and give them a place to learn a new language, a new culture, to create an even more multinational community, then it may be just about the greatest idea that an SSSS fan ever had

Yeah it was like that I was seing it (alas even writting in french I am frequently misunderstood)

[noako]

Awesome post, Nimphy.  Two points, very well made.

Personally, I'm wary of the idea of separate language boards; division seems to be the more likely outcome, to me, partly because I've had a hard time with languages in the past...  and for anyone who either doesn't have the time or desire to learn a new language, it would effectively lock them out of a section of the forum.  However, I think it would be worth trying for, at the very least, a solid month, so we could see how much they take on.  That means we'll need temporary mods for each language, people will have to help me set up multilingual swear filters, etc. etc... but a lot of that could wait until after a trial run is completed.

Should I put up a poll to vote?

Poll seems good to me.

I wouldn't be worried about your english level, Yannick - I'm making grammar mistakes all the time, and I'm a mod here! English is old and fancy language, but you don't need to speak it perfectly to get your point across - besides, you only learn things by doing them, over and over again.

[Nimphy]

Awesome post, Nimphy.  Two points, very well made.

Personally, I'm wary of the idea of separate language boards; division seems to be the more likely outcome, to me, partly because I've had a hard time with languages in the past...  and for anyone who either doesn't have the time or desire to learn a new language, it would effectively lock them out of a section of the forum.  However, I think it would be worth trying for, at the very least, a solid month, so we could see how much they take on.  That means we'll need temporary mods for each language, people will have to help me set up multilingual swear filters, etc. etc... but a lot of that could wait until after a trial run is completed.

Should I put up a poll to vote?

Why not try? Right now I could see boards for French (duh), Spanish, Norwegian and Danish (not sure if a single board would do, as they're so similar). And maybe other languages? Well, a poll seems a good idea.

P.S: I'm not very convinced that our community may remain intact, but it's still worth a try!

Thank you Nimphy for reading my long post and making a long answer

Heh, I love reading and answering to long posts, especially because you do have some pretty good points.

OK, I am ready to take this challenge.

That's excellent! We'll be very happy to help you!

Dividing the community is the last thing is want

Yup, I'm sure your intention was never to divide the community.

Hum, I am pretty sure Minna would not mind if we managed to attract new readers
Even if you can easily read english, you obviously make google shearches in the languages you are the most comfortable with. And only if you find nothing, you switch to english.
I often found webcomics thanks to 1 comment in french with the keywords I used.
"highly improbable" if you multiply by the vast number of google users can still make a lot.
Even if it doesn't work I think it is worth trying, to maybe attract new readers (I have more posts wainting in my head on this subject)

Hmm, you do have a point here. Well, trying won't cost us anything and we may gain some newmembers, so I vote "aye!"

Yeah it was like that I was seing it (alas even writting in french I am frequently misunderstood)

Nah, I'm the misunderstand-people type of girl.

So, now that I've made my points, I'll step back (hopefully) and let the rest of the community decide very democratically (*waiting for an epic web-fight*).

[RumbleRose]

I am the most fluent in English and Dutch and I know there most likely won't be a Dutch forum, but I do not need a Dutch forum .

I would like it if there were discussion boards in other languages, because I like to try reed and learn that language! I think the forum world won't fall apart, there must be enough people like Yannick and even some which do not join the forum because they do not feel comftable with talking english.

I can't find any harm in the boards and I know some people like Nimphy are afraid of the change it will cause, do not fear the most interesting ideas will most likely be placed on the English board since most of the people here will still be active on the english boards, because of hte people/community outside their language they have taken a liking to.

Yup that's my opinion+motivation for today. And if I stated something which you actually aren't I am sorry I can't see your face expressions in a text.

[Nimphy]

I am the most fluent in English and Dutch and I know there most likely won't be a Dutch forum, but I do not need a Dutch forum .

I would like it if there were discussion boards in other languages, because I like to try reed and learn that language! I think the forum world won't fall apart, there must be enough people like Yannick and even some which do not join the forum because they do not feel comftable with talking english.

I can't find any harm in the boards and I know some people like Nimphy are afraid of the change it will cause, do not fear the most interesting ideas will most likely be placed on the English board since most of the people here will still be active on the english boards, because of hte people/community outside their language they have taken a liking to.

Yup that's my opinion+motivation for today. And if I stated something which you actually aren't I am sorry I can't see your face expressions in a text.

I'm not afraid of the change - I welcome change, and as I said I'd love a languages board to get to practice my poor poor German/Norwegian/whatever else skills. What I wouldn't really like to happen is the community dividing. Let's put it this way - Yannick, (who actually seems genuinely eager to try and speak with us, and I'm taking just as a general example to avoid using XXXX for names) feels uncomfortable with his (or her?) English with us. Having a French board, he mostly talks about whatver he wants to talk about in French with other francophones, thus avoiding potentially embarrasing mistakes in English (which of course we don't mind, but most foreigners will know the feeling). Rollo and FrogEater (who are also French I believe) are people who can make really interesting conversations, and thus the combination makes our example-Yannick more comfortable in his little French spot. We thus lose a member. Now, ThisCat, our Norwegian poet, likes writing in Norwegian - there, we also lost some poems. Entire conversations, wonderful arguments , even some correct guessing about the plot may be lost between the various languages. Sure, someone may report them later in all the threads, but it wouldn't be the same.

Now, I'm not against it, for the hundredth time, I'd love such a board - my only concern is that it may divide the community. Oh, but we'll never know unless we try, will we?

[Eich]

Alright, there's a general consensus so far.  Let's give it a go.

Now, what would be considered a large enough group to have a board?  Obviously, it only takes two to have a conversation, but it's also true that only two people with an entire sub-board all to themselves will likely not be on at the same time, unless they coordinate what times they want to talk.  Even something like 5 people would be kind of low.  Heck, the forum has ~200 members and, even with that many, there are still times when nobody is on.  I'll post a big, red sign up at the news thing (where the comic link is, right now) telling everyone to check out this thread and give their thoughts.

Also, could I get some language names listed out in... their... language?  Like, in English, we say "French," but in French it's, "Français," I think. 

[Fimbulvarg]

Also, could I get some language names listed out in... their... language?  Like, in English, we say "French," but in French it's, "Français," I think.

Uh, Norsk, Dansk and Svenska.

[Panzer_Engel]

I would have to agree with Nimphy. I love the idea of 'learn a language' threads, but I worry about the division of our fledgeling community if duplicate boards are set up.

As for embarrassment. . . Well, yes. But we don't seem the sort of people to mock someone for their efforts in a foreign language, do we?

[Eich]

I would have to agree with Nimphy. I love the idea of 'learn a language' threads, but I worry about the division of our fledgeling community if duplicate boards are set up.

As for embarrassment. . . Well, yes. But we don't seem the sort of people to mock someone for their efforts in a foreign language, do we?

It's just a trial run.  We'll try it out for a while and, if it works well, the boards get some consistent usage, and everyone's happy, they'll stay.  If they cause problems, or aren't ideal, we can make some adjustments or, if they fail utterly, then we can remove them.  This little test run will last at least one month, unless the fail utterly thing happens (but I doubt it will come to that). 

And, no, we don't have anyone here who would mock someone for imperfect writing.  I mean, half of the things I write don't obey any English grammar rules.