The Video Game Critic

Just curious.. why don't we have a "General" conversation forum, that relates to topics outside of videogames? I think it would be fun to discuss other topics with the various members I have grown to know over time on here.

Any thoughts about this? Does this have merit? Dave?

Great idea! I find myself wanting to post about movies all the time, only to realize that we don't have a general forum.

I do find the community here small enough that we interact with each other on a regular basis, so of course we want to know if our friends we discuss video games with have opinions on current tv shows, comics, music, movies etc. There are also times when a community member wants to announce something, like graduating college. I can see this getting out of hand though, especially as there have been heated discussions just on video game topics. I don't think any of us would appreciate too many threads on topics outside of pop culture and technology. Good fences make good neighbors, and good boundaries probably make a better forum.

I think it's a fun idea and there are often times where random threads get created in the Video Game General forum anyway for things people want to announce.

I think we get heated discussions on video games because for a lot of us, that's what we are passionate about. I know that I usually try and stay away from debates (although I have had a few over the years, but it's pretty irregular). Still, I know a lot of people aren't like me and they find them fun and engaging (I usually just get stressed about it), so perhaps Scotland is right. Political debates, religion, and other things are definitely not what the VGC wants but since most of us are a bunch of video game nerds it may never come down to that. It could be worth a shot. Worst case scenario the VGC pulls the thread and it joins the high score forum in neverland.

I like the idea of an "Off-Topic" forum, especially if the goal is to keep personal discussion off of the main boards. The problem with allowing just any convo on main boards is that it clutters up discussion that was intended for video games. Yet sometimes, it's interesting to talk about something other than games.

Yeah I would be a little nervous about opening up a forums to any topic whatsoever.
However, maybe there's room for an "other media" forum that would let people discuss movies, music, and stuff like that.
At least then we have some control over the subject matter.
Once the forums are more stable I might consider something like that.

I like this idea, even if it's a general pop culture board. I've always wondered what the VGC Forum's taste in music, movies, TV, etc. is like.

Yeah I'd be down for an off topic board of some sort. Sometimes I'm not always playing videogames, but I'd be more apt to browse/stick around in the forums to talk about other stuff. I think it would get more people involved.

There are probably people chomping at the bit to discuss Daredevil on Netflix or recent Game of Thrones episodes.

scotland wrote: Good fences make good neighbors, and good boundaries probably make a better forum.

100% agree. If we put politics and religion in there, we might find people harbouring bad feelings towards each other before too long. In real life, it is easy to discuss these things in a heated way and then remain friends. There is room for nuance, humour, and judging of moods in real life in a way a forum cannot match. Discussions of certain topics on forums can easily escalate before anyone can do anything about it. The next thing you know you get someone saying "well of course you like Mario! Bowser is clearly a Libertarian moron, just like you! "

VideoGameCritic wrote:However, maybe there's room for an "other media" forum that would let people discuss movies, music, and stuff like that.

I think an "other media" forum would be a lot of fun. It would be fun to talk about horror movies, music, or whatever. I'd definitely enjoy a place to talk about horror movies or something (my second passion).