The Deck Help Forum
TappedOut forum
Posted on April 1, 2015, 11:49 a.m. by 6tennis
(I don't know if this is in the right forum, but I think so.)
Hello all,
I'd like to talk about what the Deck Help Forum has become. We want it to be a place where people can ask for feedback on their decks, and I think that's great. That said, there are some threads that don't really ask for feedback; there will just be a link to the deck, and nothing else. Sometimes, the thread will say "Need feedback", but nothing else. If someone wants feedback, they should specify what kind of feedback they need. For instance, say someone had a Gruul Aggro deck that wasn't fast enough. Rather than typing,
"Gruul Aggro deck need suggestions"It could be something like,
"This is my Gruul Aggro deck. Right now, I've been doing fine against midrange and control, but I don't think it's fast enough to compete with some of the more popular decks in Standard. Suggestions appreciated."Does this make sense? I think that putting more depth into each feedback request makes it easier for us to give constructive criticism.
I also want to point something out: the Deck Help Forum is NOT Deckcycle 2.0. If you want to advertise your deck, then Deck Help is not the place to do that. Just Deckcycle if your intent is to get other people to see your deck, and not to get help with it.
That's all I have. Thoughts?
( Or rather, how would we stop it from being Deckcycle 2.0? )
April 1, 2015 11:56 a.m.
OtakulordAndrew says... #4
I agree with you 6tennis I tend to avoid the deck help forum section as it is mostly just posting links to deck lists if more people used the forum as a means to ask for specific help such as asking for advice on whether to put one card in a deck over another card or to ask for advice on how to specifically make their deck function stronger against certain match ups or improve a section of the deck such as the 1 cmc creatures it would be a great forum to go to in order to try and get a quick response for improving decks and giving helpful information.
April 1, 2015 12:24 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
It's already something I've brought up privately with yeaGO, but I don't think there's really a clear solution. We can't write something that automatically detects bad posts and kicks them. The closest we could feasibly get is a minimum word count, I guess.
There's also the question of whether it's our (the admins'/mods') job to control the quality of the posts being made to the site. I don't feel like spending my time enforcing arbitrary QC standards in Deck Help. It's bad enough I have to move threads to and from DH daily. In a sense, this ties into the larger discussion going on right now about the quality of the discussions across the site.
Ultimately, my biggest complaint with DH is that it's just improperly used and takes up space on the home page. We can't really justify removing it from the home page because that takes away almost all of its potential (how many of you would actually go to DH and read through these threads?). We can't force people to use it properly. I guess I'm grudgingly content with allowing users to use it improperly and see no returns until they learn. I don't think I've ever made a single DH thread that didn't get traction, but that's because I know how to write a productive and enticing call for help. Is it really our job to make sure that everyone else does?
April 1, 2015 3:58 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #6
I also refeature my deck help article every so often, but I have no way to really gauge how much it has helped the community as a whole.
April 1, 2015 3:59 p.m.
Epochalyptik Yes, I see. You make some interesting points. A minimum word count might be interesting. But how would a minimum word count be implemented? Would it need a special format? It raises a whole bunch of questions. A possible change in the description of the Deck Help forum might be useful too. But even then, I understand that there's not much we can do, even with your article (lovely article, btw). I think all we can do at this point is just try to raise awareness of the current situation. Not sure how to go about that, though.
April 1, 2015 4:13 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #8
You see the problem, though. There's no good solution.
And I've long since been disillusioned regarding the forum descriptions. The users, to put it bluntly, cannot be trusted to read information provided by the site. Look how many people routinely post in the wrong place. If there's no hard control preventing them from misusing the site, or if there's no oppressive administrative team banning or infracting people for misuse, then the problem is nigh unsolvable.
Kralug says... #2
I'd +1 this anyday.
But even so, the only way anyone would be able to get results like this, is if it was ENFORCED. Most people wont bother with trying to explain in detail what it is they want help with, rather just have people look over it, and leave suggestions. Or, as you so nicely put it, Deckcycle 2.0 .
I do like that idea, infact, that's how i have always done it. ( Excluding once, i think?) And i think everyone should follow this example. I do like helping out people to give ideas for their deck to be somthing THEY want it to be, but i dont want to be the one sitting down making it for you.
But with that said, now the biggest question is: How would we make the Deck Help forum a better place?
April 1, 2015 11:54 a.m.