This just came up in another thread, and it's a thought I've had before, so I figured I'd just try to take the temperature on it in case it helps with mod action.

Would you like to see the number of photo threads on this board corralled? It's struck me since joining that discussion threads tend to get bumped quickly off the first few pages due to the sheer number of photo threads (and people posting in every overlapping thread their photos might be relevant in). This hurts discussion on the board, as topics tend to not get noticed before being pushed off, and we're left with only a handful of (mostly negatively tinged) mainstays like "Unpopular Opinions" and "Rants" for actually talking about preferences and observations on the toys.

I like photos too, but we're missing out on some of the main points of being on a forum with the current system. I think a reasonable number could stay, but do we really need a "CHUG Appreciation" and further ones for "Legacy," "Legacy Evolution," and "Legacy United." Is there a substantial need for both "Dynamic Poses" and "Cool stuff?" Usually when I have new photos I wind up arbitrarily choosing between one of like five active threads they could correspond to.

Food for thought, and interested in seeing where the vote goes/if there could be any traction on it. Fewer photo threads would also help more people actually see each other's photos, because I'm honestly not clicking through all those threads on a regular basis.

 

Probably.

 

I do agree. Kind of unlikely that it happens, but I get where you're coming from. Would also prevent the same posts being reposted in all of the threads that it applies too.

 

Yes, and while we're at it, stop turning news threads into picture threads when yours shows up.

 

Actually, sometimes I wished we had the ability to only look at images in a thread. Like in WhatsApp. Then, jump to the post of the image. Particularly in the figures feedback, when I’m looking for relevant pics of an issue.

 

This would seem to be one of the exact things pushing discussion threads off the first few pages before their time. If enough people are posting to every thread their photos might apply to each time, you wind up quickly cycling multiple overlapping photo threads back onto the first page, which means discussions quickly get pushed off.

And the incentive to do so is strong, because only posting to one thread reduces the chance of people seeing your photos...also because of the current allowance for overlapping threads. Since most people won't actually click through five different photo threads, people will feel the need to post to all five to try to get their photos on everyone's radar. But also five overlapping photo threads is exactly what's preventing people from seeing photos only posted in one spot in the first place (too many to click on). We could both help photos be seen and avoid pushing off discussion threads by having fewer threads with broader groupings: one CHUG, one UT, one Beast Wars, one G1, one movies, one misc., etc.--with maybe just a small handful of other off-beat ones like "pairs," "battle scenes," etc., but which have really distinct themes and clear purposes.

My .02. Just seen too many of what I thought were interesting discussions disappear to like page 6 one day later (and definitely before people'd had the chance to see them) while multiple nearly identical photo threads have been rotated back to the top. If I want to discuss, rather than look at or post, pictures of, toys here, I basically just wind up searching for wherever "Unpopular Opinions" is sitting, because that's the only one with a broad enough theme to have staying power to compete with the photo deluge. Kind of a shame.

EDIT -- Another solution might be to reduce threads here and open up an additional photos subforum, where members could maintain their own threads as fanworks. Might reduce the impetus to bombard the Toys board with them, and there are also individuals whose threads I'd happily keep up with if something like that existed.

 

I guess I am in the minority in that I don't see the issue at all. The threads are sorted by post time. When I get on the board the first thing I do is go to the last date and time I was on (generally less than 24 hours) and read titles from there to the most current to see if any of those bumped are threads I have interest in. For example right now everything from midnight on is starting at page 3 (only two threads on that page so far) and goes to page 1. If I wanted to see what people are talking about it is easy enough to see by the date and time posted.

 

MOAR! MOAR! Moar~. MOAR!
photo threads please.

 

It's a pretty big forum. I like the option of being able to choose between threads for the specific type of figure I'm photographing. I don't see why you'd need to limit one of the main reasons this forum exists. If something were to be done to limit the photos, I'd be irritated to the point I'd probably find another less restrictive forum to post on.

 

I think some degree of consolidation would be nice. Having one topic each for Legacy, WFC Trilogy, and Prime Wars Trilogy would be beneficial, especially since the latter two don't get anywhere near the number of posts that they used to.

Everything else is fine. Studio Series and Studio Series 86 really need to be separate threads, CHUG is useful for older figures whose lines whose appreciation threads died out a long time ago or never had one in the first place, and super-specific ideas like head sculpt appreciation and dynamic poses are cool.

EDIT: Maybe I'm just misremembering something, but I seem to recall a mod stating there was some technical reason why merging threads like the WFC Trilogy ones either wouldn't work or would be very difficult. If that's the case, I suppose they could always lock the previous threads and start a new one for each group, although I'm not sure how well that would be received.

 

I feel limiting photo posting to two threads is fair and logical. I'm not a fan of posting the same pics in three to five threads as it not only pushes actual discussion off of page 1, but it is also obnoxious to see the same pics posted several times.

I mean, we all get it. You really like your pic or your little joke you came up with. But just because you have a Legacy figure in there doesn't mean you should post it in the Legacy, Legacy Evolution, Legacy United AND CHUG threads. And oh! You also had a T30 and an SS86 figure in the pic, so you better post there, too! AND in all those figures' own feedback threads, as well, even though your pic has little to nothing to do with feedback.

It's all obnoxious and exhausting IMO. I've been asking for some kind of limit on this for a while now, and it doesn't seem like anyone really wants to do anything about it as there aren't technically any rules being broken. And while that may be true, there are clearly more people, like me, who feel that this issue has gotten out of hand.

 

Yes a thousand times. It's no fun to see the same crap every which way you go and when you post something of your own it immediately gets swallowed up by the majority of someone else's postings like that. That's one of my main reasons why I've quit posting many of my pictures here myself. It used to be enjoyable and a passion for me to post on here, but not anymore because of this very problem.

As a photographer myself yes I want my content to be seen and appreciated by folks on here, however not when it's being forced into every single thread on this forum. That's just overcrowding what's already there.

 

I was thinking this same thing before jumping back into this thread. Now that I think about it, the collection showcase forum kinda does this, though with an emphasis on the display space rather than just a series of lightbox photos.

 

Honestly I think the amount of threads are fine. Most of them have different topics. Those that are similar are usually merged or locked already.

Yeah good luck with that one

 

I’ve put several users on ignore so there’s not quite so many…

 

Totally agree with this. I love the photo threads, and for the most part have no issue with the amount of them. But it can be a bit disappointing when you see three or four threads being bumped up, going in expecting lots of cool and different photos, only to see the same photo or two by the same user. I get wanting to get your photography out there, but moderation is key.

Sometimes I think there's merit for it, like with the Prime Wars trilogy where each line was specifically built around different gimmicks and play patterns. But I was quite grateful to see that no-one has felt the need to make a "Legacy: United Appreciation Thread", especially given that Legacy: United's toys are aesthetically identical to the previous two Legacy lines.

Any chance we can just scrap the Legacy: Evolution thread?

 

I voted no as I like having threads for specific things like the Fembots or the Bordeaux threads because they tend to have some unique posters and themes that wouldn’t be as cool if diluted.

However I also do understand the other side as well, so either works.

 

I would be down for condensing some of them. Like I think we could use one thread for each trilogy, we dont need three threads for Legacy, united and Evolution. Same with the studio series threads. I’d just like one studio series thread. Right now there’s a Transformers One thread with 19 posts in it. Just get rid of that annd gamer verse annd SS86 and make one studio series thread. Or You could do a live action studio series and a non live action if need be.

You mean this thread right here? lol.
Legacy United Appreciation Thread

But yeah I think we should just have one Legacy thread, one WFC thread, one Prime Wars thread, etc

Though it would be cool if a mod would go into the first post of each of these and clarify what toy lines the trilogy contains and the years they ran for, that could help newcomers.