06-11-2022, 09:41 AM
As you're probably aware, we have three sub-forums: "Screen and Stage" for anything you watch, "Music and Audio" for anything you listen to, and "Reading" for anything you read. However, there is a problem: a lot of franchises fit into multiple categories! So, what do you do here?
One option would be to just make different threads for each specific work. And, this does make sense for larger and more popular franchises (where there's too much to discuss in just one thread anyway). But it doesn't make sense to take this too far: for example, we don't need every book to have one thread in Reading, and another thread in Music and Audio for the audiobook, because there's very little to discuss that applies only to the audiobook. We want to put topics into the appropriate sub-forums (so that they're easy for fans of that kind of media to find), but we also want to keep topics appropriate in scope: not too broad, and not too narrow.
So, with that in mind, here are some guidelines to follow when starting new threads about a specific franchise:
1. Major tent-pole franchises spanning many works (and sub-series of works)
For the biggest franchises (such as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings), it's best to start a thread for each individual work (or series of works). For example: each individual Star Wars film, and each individual TV series, is worthy of its own thread in the "Screen and Stage" sub-forum. Similarly, each book can have its own thread in "Reading" (although, if there's a series with multiple books, it might be more sensible to make one thread for the entire series). Even the franchise's music might be worthy of its own thread, in "Music and Audio". Doing it this way keeps the scope of each individual topic manageable: there's simply too much material to cram into a single "Star Wars" thread.
2. Smaller franchises, with only one or two popular works
Not every franchise is Star Wars: they don't all spawn vast expanded universes. Perhaps there are multiple works - but only one or two will achieve mainstream popularity. In these cases, it's better to have one thread for the entire franchise. When you're choosing a sub-forum for your thread, base it on whichever work you think is the most popular. For example, The Queen's Gambit started out as a book, but was adapted into a hugely popular Netflix series. Any discussion in this thread would most likely be dominated by the Netflix series - and thus, the thread would go in "Screen and Stage". (If people want to discuss the book, they can do that in that thread too - but if book discussion begins to become a significant part of the thread, then this will likely be split off into a separate thread, which will be placed in Reading)
If there's one thing that the above example should make clear, it's that it's largely irrelevant which work came first. If we went solely by "which work came first", then a thread about The Shawshank Redemption would go in Reading (because that movie was adapted from a book); a thread about Orange is the New Black would go in Reading (because that show was adapted from a book); and Reading would turn into a place where we just discuss TV shows and movies that have been adapted from books. That's useless: it wouldn't help book fans (who would have to wade through lots of TV and movie discussions to find what they're really looking for), and it wouldn't help TV or movie fans (who wouldn't find these threads when looking for them in Screen and Stage). However, if it's not clear to you which work is the most popular, then it's fair to go by which came first.
3. What doesn't go in a sub-forum?
Of course, not everything has to go into a sub-forum: there are threads that are just in the main 'Entertainment' forum. For example, some threads are about comparing two different types of media (e.g. "Do you prefer the Harry Potter books or movies?"). Discussion of the books would normally go in Reading, and discussion of the movies would normally go in Stage and Screen - but here, the thread is about comparing the two, and it's not fair to pick one over the other when placing the topic. So, something like that would just go in the main 'Entertainment' forum.
Also, there some threads that aren't tied to any specific franchise or medium. This is particularly true of character-based threads, such as "Character deaths you never got over" and "Minor characters you wanted to see more of". These threads just go in 'Entertainment', because they bring in characters from all over media: from TV, from movies, from books and comics, and even from video games (while the 'Entertainment' forum doesn't cover gaming, it is fine to talk about video game characters in these threads. The alternative would be to start video-game-specific versions of these threads in The Gaming Table - and really, that's a bit pointless: it goes against the "Keeping topics appropriate in scope" principle that I described at the start of this thread!)
If you have any questions, then feel free to ask them here. But otherwise, enjoy discussing your favourite media !
One option would be to just make different threads for each specific work. And, this does make sense for larger and more popular franchises (where there's too much to discuss in just one thread anyway). But it doesn't make sense to take this too far: for example, we don't need every book to have one thread in Reading, and another thread in Music and Audio for the audiobook, because there's very little to discuss that applies only to the audiobook. We want to put topics into the appropriate sub-forums (so that they're easy for fans of that kind of media to find), but we also want to keep topics appropriate in scope: not too broad, and not too narrow.
So, with that in mind, here are some guidelines to follow when starting new threads about a specific franchise:
1. Major tent-pole franchises spanning many works (and sub-series of works)
For the biggest franchises (such as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings), it's best to start a thread for each individual work (or series of works). For example: each individual Star Wars film, and each individual TV series, is worthy of its own thread in the "Screen and Stage" sub-forum. Similarly, each book can have its own thread in "Reading" (although, if there's a series with multiple books, it might be more sensible to make one thread for the entire series). Even the franchise's music might be worthy of its own thread, in "Music and Audio". Doing it this way keeps the scope of each individual topic manageable: there's simply too much material to cram into a single "Star Wars" thread.
2. Smaller franchises, with only one or two popular works
Not every franchise is Star Wars: they don't all spawn vast expanded universes. Perhaps there are multiple works - but only one or two will achieve mainstream popularity. In these cases, it's better to have one thread for the entire franchise. When you're choosing a sub-forum for your thread, base it on whichever work you think is the most popular. For example, The Queen's Gambit started out as a book, but was adapted into a hugely popular Netflix series. Any discussion in this thread would most likely be dominated by the Netflix series - and thus, the thread would go in "Screen and Stage". (If people want to discuss the book, they can do that in that thread too - but if book discussion begins to become a significant part of the thread, then this will likely be split off into a separate thread, which will be placed in Reading)
If there's one thing that the above example should make clear, it's that it's largely irrelevant which work came first. If we went solely by "which work came first", then a thread about The Shawshank Redemption would go in Reading (because that movie was adapted from a book); a thread about Orange is the New Black would go in Reading (because that show was adapted from a book); and Reading would turn into a place where we just discuss TV shows and movies that have been adapted from books. That's useless: it wouldn't help book fans (who would have to wade through lots of TV and movie discussions to find what they're really looking for), and it wouldn't help TV or movie fans (who wouldn't find these threads when looking for them in Screen and Stage). However, if it's not clear to you which work is the most popular, then it's fair to go by which came first.
3. What doesn't go in a sub-forum?
Of course, not everything has to go into a sub-forum: there are threads that are just in the main 'Entertainment' forum. For example, some threads are about comparing two different types of media (e.g. "Do you prefer the Harry Potter books or movies?"). Discussion of the books would normally go in Reading, and discussion of the movies would normally go in Stage and Screen - but here, the thread is about comparing the two, and it's not fair to pick one over the other when placing the topic. So, something like that would just go in the main 'Entertainment' forum.
Also, there some threads that aren't tied to any specific franchise or medium. This is particularly true of character-based threads, such as "Character deaths you never got over" and "Minor characters you wanted to see more of". These threads just go in 'Entertainment', because they bring in characters from all over media: from TV, from movies, from books and comics, and even from video games (while the 'Entertainment' forum doesn't cover gaming, it is fine to talk about video game characters in these threads. The alternative would be to start video-game-specific versions of these threads in The Gaming Table - and really, that's a bit pointless: it goes against the "Keeping topics appropriate in scope" principle that I described at the start of this thread!)
If you have any questions, then feel free to ask them here. But otherwise, enjoy discussing your favourite media !
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