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Community-building posts just for the fun of it.
June 16, 2004 12:42 AM Subscribe

Does anyone else think that we need to have a little more fun together on a regular basis? Opportunities to be creative, silly, funny, loony, just for the hell of it, can really disperse tension, and might help us vent negative energy. Certain FPPs come along with a game everyone can play in the comments. People love those, but they're rare. I thought this was a pretty enjoyable spontaneous outpouring of randy energy, but, again, rare. Other sites have Photoshop contests, or other games/challenges. Those seem a bit puerile for us. Getting drunk at meetups is fine, but not practical for all of us. Suggestions? Is this a totally lame line of thought?
posted by scarabic to Feature Requests at 12:42 AM (84 comments total)

I've had more rewarding interactions with people since AskMe launched. It's edifying to help solve a simple computer problem with someone you know you disagree with politically. It gives you something you can work on in common. This is along the lines I'm thinking, it's just that AskMe is (by design and for good reason) a functional forum, and not always loads of fun. Fun is the word here.
posted by scarabic at 12:55 AM on June 16, 2004

#mefi is insane like dfowler nearly 24 hours a day.
posted by eddydamascene at 1:18 AM on June 16, 2004

I find the idea that people might release their 'randy energy' into MeFi quite repulsive.
posted by biffa at 2:33 AM on June 16, 2004

Yeah, I think it's the IRC you want, for randy energy.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 3:49 AM on June 16, 2004

Cease, decease, increase the kelp aviary. Whack those categories, there's Cossacks in the gourd!
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:07 AM on June 16, 2004

I'm for the continuing to meet up and get drunk.
posted by bingo at 5:12 AM on June 16, 2004

it's a good idea, but how? what?
posted by amberglow at 5:23 AM on June 16, 2004

we could start an exquisite corpse thing, or communal story...
posted by amberglow at 5:24 AM on June 16, 2004

We could all get together this weekend and dispose of a corpse. But I suppose they do that on IRC every day.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 5:29 AM on June 16, 2004

I think it's a great idea. Anything to get people to lighten up a bit. But what? Photoshopery is always fun but I'm not sure how that would fit into the theme here.

On another message board I'm involved in the best threads are always the ones where people get creative together

collaborate.metafilter.com?
posted by bondcliff at 6:35 AM on June 16, 2004

I used to use irc, but gave up because DALnet frustrated me. Is the #mefi room very busy? Any unwritten rules? Do you allow lurking a bit? Just curious.
posted by FunkyHelix at 7:03 AM on June 16, 2004

#mefi is entirely different to any other IRC channel I've been to, in so much as it's good. No unwritten rules. Idling for a week or so will get you kicked, but you can always just come back.

Sadly it's very quiet during GMT daytime.

It also has significantly more quonsar than most channels.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 7:09 AM on June 16, 2004

Ooh, Exquisite Corpse.
posted by cortex at 7:10 AM on June 16, 2004

Cheddar gorge?
posted by Pretty_Generic at 7:22 AM on June 16, 2004

I think it is a great idea. . . so long as I don't have to do any actual work.

All fooling aside, the 'game' threads are always fun. What about a set thread on a weekly basis? I don't know.

I know there are a lot of musicians here, whatabout some kind of photoshop like contest with a song file or something?
Thought, that wouldn't work for everyone. . .
posted by Quartermass at 7:39 AM on June 16, 2004

Everybody enjoys different games and has different skills. I enjoy watching the photoshop contests, but alas, I have no skillz. We don't need a single game to stick to; if you have an idea, find a link to justify its existence and post it to the front page. Those who want will gladly participate, I'm sure.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:51 AM on June 16, 2004

I always thought that ask.me was the fun everlasting trivia game around here.
(except for the regular, "how do I fix my computer.." questions - those aren't as much fun)
posted by milovoo at 8:05 AM on June 16, 2004

We have nuclear war brewing between Migs and EB - what more fun could you possibly want?

That said, I did really enjoy some of those threads that turned into word games.
posted by CunningLinguist at 8:14 AM on June 16, 2004

Didn't we use to have a contest, like, every year. I remember one user sponsored it and gave away a prize. I forget. Someone refresh my memory.
posted by jpoulos at 8:20 AM on June 16, 2004

Also, and I'm not trying to stir shit here, I think things became a lot less fun when the cult threads were killed.
posted by jpoulos at 8:21 AM on June 16, 2004

I agree that steam-blowing-off opportunities are a good idea. It's hard to think completely ill of someone else after he has cracked you up with a good joke, or bought you a beer, or whatever. Actually, maybe what we need is pub.metafilter.com. ;)
posted by kindall at 8:42 AM on June 16, 2004

I think everybody needs to download "Enemy Territory" (it's free), meet on a designated server, and blow the hell out of each other.
posted by keswick at 8:44 AM on June 16, 2004

What J-po said. Particularly as the cult threads died mainly from the completely baseless feelings of exclusion from some of our more unbalanced members. Harshed my Metabuzz in a way that still kind of puts me off this place a tiny bit.
posted by dong_resin at 8:44 AM on June 16, 2004

We could all get together this weekend and dispose of a corpse.

*dramatic pause* There's been a meficide.
posted by eddydamascene at 8:45 AM on June 16, 2004

dong_resin, good to see ya, even if it is grudgingly. (Does the email on your user page work? I sent you something I thought fer sure you'd get a kick out of, but never heard back. Waaaa!)

And as for thread games, didn't ed kind of promise to come back and do that "cinco"-type thing up right next (i.e. this) year?
posted by soyjoy at 8:54 AM on June 16, 2004

i know! let's get matt to code something that will make us all huggy and cuddly!
posted by quonsar at 9:13 AM on June 16, 2004

Didn't we use to have a contest, like, every year. I remember one user sponsored it and gave away a prize. I forget. Someone refresh my memory.

Are you thinking of the "Find the coolest thing online for less than $X and I'll buy it for you" contests? I thought it was rcade that ran those, but I was wrong. Who the hell was it? People found some really cool shit out there.
posted by Ufez Jones at 9:19 AM on June 16, 2004

Metafilter: Harshed my Metabuzz : >

that Google answers post about the listing of states in some mysterious order was good too.

Maybe we need a game.metafilter.com--like littlefluffy.com mixed with those riddle posts?
posted by amberglow at 9:20 AM on June 16, 2004

We could always do a Web Scavenger hunt.

Or do each others' hair.
posted by orange swan at 9:32 AM on June 16, 2004

Does this mean scarabic will find something else to do and stop posting in every MT thread now?! ;)
posted by The God Complex at 9:36 AM on June 16, 2004

that Google answers post about the listing of states in some mysterious order was good too.

That's still unsolved, right?
posted by dash_slot- at 9:50 AM on June 16, 2004

We could always do a Web Scavenger hunt.

Find the following items:

pancakes
ponies
"Best of the Web"

Use your judgement. Good luck!
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:22 AM on June 16, 2004

Actually, I solved it a few months ago. However, it gave me such a feeling of superiority that I've found myself unable to share the solution with anyone, for fear the smug satisfaction should wane.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:23 AM on June 16, 2004

Find a bizarre news article - one a week or day - and let the members tear it apart using their comments to vent. The comments could be over the top and mirrored at other members. With the added note; "this was all in fun, get over yourself."
posted by thomcatspike at 10:24 AM on June 16, 2004

that's a good idea, thomcat (but you go first)
posted by amberglow at 10:32 AM on June 16, 2004

maybe relax.metafilter.com - just like metatalk, only no-one is allowed to be remotely serious. 9622 without the quality control.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 10:38 AM on June 16, 2004

I think we have too much fun here already.

We should stop that. It interferes with the spate of spite we've been spitting forth of late.

(Mmmmm. Spite. With a hint of lemon. For the open wound in all of us.)
posted by chicobangs at 10:38 AM on June 16, 2004

There's always image-captioning contests, too. Or just punchline contests where you're only allowed to respond to a link with a punchline, no commentary.
posted by dhoyt at 10:48 AM on June 16, 2004

And as for thread games, didn't ed kind of promise to come back and do that "cinco"-type thing up right next (i.e. this) year?

Yes.
posted by ed at 10:48 AM on June 16, 2004

One up, one down.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 10:53 AM on June 16, 2004

Lots of good ideas here. According to posting ettitquette right now, though, I would hesitate to put up any sort of explicit "game post." It just doesn't seem to be something acceptable. Example:

FPP:
81 year old German man, accused of rape, resists "potency test." (link).
[respond with a haiku]

It might be fun, but would that really constitute "something people will want to discuss," not to mention "best of the web?"

I just fear such things would be deleted. I guess I started this thread to encourage they be allowed to live, at least a little more.
posted by scarabic at 10:59 AM on June 16, 2004

Or there could be some kind of debating-society McLaughlin-Groupish thing, where everyone has to discuss something weighty, like, oh:

Ketchup on ice cream: an idea whose time has come? Discuss.

or:
Moneys, Pirates, Hamsters or Ninjas: Which is the new black? Discuss.

or (one more, just to say I tried):
Who had the biggest effect on culture: Blue Cheer or Blue Oyster Cult? (Or Deep Blue Something?)

There are a few ideas here that have the capacity for what all you sexy metageeks call "fun," eh?
posted by chicobangs at 11:06 AM on June 16, 2004

You know, scarabic, this is why I posted that online creativity test. I thought it was kind of a lame test but it did provide something to share.

Maybe what we need is another common enemy. Hey! Let's post something about Little Green Footballs! Nope-too political.

How about MetaFilter Declares War On RatherGood?

And where is Spoon? I miss Spoon.
posted by y2karl at 11:15 AM on June 16, 2004

meficide ... my mind flashes to "Homicide (Life on the Street)", the episode with the "Internet Killer" and Det. Bayliss' prehistoric blog with one of my alltime fave domain names: inplainsite.com (which NBC still owns but is doing nothing with, harrumph).

I'm surprised nobody yet has pointed out such non-IRC places for MeFites to monkey around as 9622net and the cult-thread-tolerant MonkeyFilter, where I personally rebirthed the BlogStop Game, and there's the All-Powerful Turkmenbashi Thread, although for some strange reason, while I was off-line for a while, they have been doing an All-Urine Theme Day. (The risk you take for being Less Serious than MeFi).

I've offered a couple times to open up my "MetaLifter" domain (don't go there, CSS broken) to become a MetaPlayground, but all the response I got was crickets, beautiful crickets...
posted by wendell at 11:52 AM on June 16, 2004

can't believe I almost overlooked this straight line...
y2karl, There Is No Spoon.
posted by wendell at 11:54 AM on June 16, 2004

Are you thinking of the "Find the coolest thing online for less than $X and I'll buy it for you" contests? I thought it was rcade that ran those, but I was wrong. Who the hell was it? People found some really cool shit out there.

jbushnell.
posted by thirteen at 12:25 PM on June 16, 2004

Someone posts a punchline, everyone else makes up the joke for it.

"So I said, I don't think you're a fishmonger's daughter, I think you've just done a plop in the wrong lavatory."

Bonus points for anyone who can get the film that's from...
posted by humuhumu at 1:09 PM on June 16, 2004

We could have a bizarro Metafilter where an op-ed is posted and we all have to respond posing as another member, the goal being to capture that person's writing style and sensibilities without disclosing their username while everyone guesses who you're trying to impersonate. I think after all this time we've each built a pretty identifiable posting style.

yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda.

yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda.

yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda.

yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda.

yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda yadda.

Can you guess who it is yet?
posted by biffa at 1:51 PM on June 16, 2004

troutfishing?

Though if those yaddas were copy-pasted, I'd have to guess y2karl...
posted by dhoyt at 2:07 PM on June 16, 2004

I think some of your paragraphs are too short.
posted by mdn at 2:08 PM on June 16, 2004

on preview: assuming you meant EB. y2karl would include lots of links and < small> tags.
posted by mdn at 2:10 PM on June 16, 2004

and the cult-thread-tolerant MonkeyFilter, where I personally rebirthed the BlogStop Game,

and where you're being trashed for having done so in the very thread you linked to... not sure how "cult-thread-tolerant" the community there wants to be.
posted by mdn at 2:13 PM on June 16, 2004

Hooooo! And we're back to hounding EB again, in a MeTa thread about new ways to have fun. Try harder.
posted by scarabic at 2:28 PM on June 16, 2004

mdn: assuming correctly; as to length I just don't like to go on.

scarabic: Humour can be inclusive as well as exclusive. And this was topical too!
posted by biffa at 2:46 PM on June 16, 2004

New MetaBlue - Snark-free for 49 comments.
posted by squealy at 2:49 PM on June 16, 2004

Now I feel all cheap and mean.
posted by biffa at 3:02 PM on June 16, 2004

All in all a good day then.
posted by biffa at 3:03 PM on June 16, 2004

Hooooo! And we're back to hounding EB again, in a MeTa thread about new ways to have fun. Try harder.

yeah, fair enough. I should've mentioned, with the paragraph length he went with, biffa might've been parodying me.

Sorry EB, no hard feelings - I generally like your posts, although - well, yadda yadda! you've heard the critiques before :)
posted by mdn at 3:03 PM on June 16, 2004

I'm not saying you can't have fun by parodying other members, just that EB has taken a lot of shit recently, so teasing him isn't much of a *new* idea. That was all.
posted by scarabic at 3:26 PM on June 16, 2004

And where is Spoon? I miss Spoon.

y2karl, There Is No Spoon.

My Spoon Is Too Big.
posted by onlyconnect at 4:00 PM on June 16, 2004

This is only semi-related, but since so many of us have our own websites, I'd love to see a MeFiteFilter, where the best work of our own members is pointed to in a constantly-updated front-pagey 'Best of The (MeFites Only) Web' kinda way. There are some fantastic sites out there -- the best of the web, by crikey -- that are created by our very own. And it'd be nice to bring back more of the webloggery-floggery-community feeling of the place, maybe.

But then feelings would no doubt get hurt, given the general level of snark...

[Just an idle dream, of course.]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:38 PM on June 16, 2004

Also, if it were troutfishing being parodied, there'd be horizontal rules every paragraph or two. Man, I hate me them HR's.

*eyes bulge out, spit flies*
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:41 PM on June 16, 2004

Metafilter: For the open wound in all of us.
posted by piskycritter at 5:33 PM on June 16, 2004

Metafilter: Salt for the open wound in all of us.
posted by quonsar at 5:51 PM on June 16, 2004

So I must post light entertainments.
posted by trharlan at 7:59 PM on June 16, 2004

Enter next to Emmy right though an intertwined net matrix ending next to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
posted by jmd82 at 8:17 PM on June 16, 2004

Stupid users! People, even repeating cheap arduous linguistic iterations for ridiculous amusement (God I love it!) sacrifices their initial creativity. Extra x's probably (I assume) lay on difficulties others cannot integrate or use seriously.

Props to Civil_Disobedient
posted by trharlan at 8:23 PM on June 16, 2004

If I understand you, tharlan, my idea wasn't to make you post more ha-ha entertainment. It was to generate ideas for active things we can all engage in that will be a good time. Reading ha-ha posts won't cut that. That's something we more or less do each of us in our own little cell, even if we do meet up again to debrief about it in the blue. I'm talking about something creative that we can all engage in together, ideally playing off and building from one another. I realize I'm sounding like a dumshit teambuilder, but I don't know how else to describe it.

There's so much hardcore debating going on here, so much hostile sniping, and so little tomfoolery. Changing the character of the posts isn't really what I had in mind, just changing how we spend our time together. Anyway, this conversation seems to be dead. I have gotten a few good ideas from it, and perhaps the best thing for me to do is just float a post or two along those lines, and see how it goes.
posted by scarabic at 8:25 PM on June 16, 2004

scarabic-- I was trying to start another Blogstop thread.

I agree with the tenor of your post completely.
posted by trharlan at 8:33 PM on June 16, 2004

Come on, merry people, let everthing titillate everyone, loving yourselves!
posted by scarabic at 9:03 PM on June 16, 2004

sorry, tharlan, I am a cheerless troll; I actually tried like the devil to remember how to find that thread but couldn't - it's a perfect example of what I mean
posted by scarabic at 9:05 PM on June 16, 2004

Your oeuvre urges resourcefulness! Silly endeavors lure various entertaining shenanigans.
posted by trharlan at 9:38 PM on June 16, 2004

pub.metafilter.com

Kindall, that's brilliant. I love that idea. Of course, I don't have to do any work to make it happen...

Or do each others' hair. --orange swan

Oooooh, I'm in. But only if we're doing our nails and watching dreamy boy bands too.
posted by dejah420 at 10:01 PM on June 16, 2004

This's overly obnoxious
posted by jmd82 at 10:10 PM on June 16, 2004

Obnoxious? Bah! no overt x's in other understated salvo.
posted by trharlan at 10:41 PM on June 16, 2004

Such a lotta verbiage. Ouch.
posted by arto at 10:56 PM on June 16, 2004

On Uncle Chester's hammock.
posted by quonsar at 11:31 PM on June 16, 2004

How a MetaTalk MetaThread overcomes critical kenophobia.
posted by taz at 12:24 AM on June 17, 2004

Particularly as the cult threads died mainly from the completely baseless feelings of exclusion from some of our more unbalanced members.

Is this me? I was just asking a question so I could join in on the insanity. Insanity is awesome. Go insanity.
posted by 4easypayments at 6:24 PM on June 17, 2004

itmiwjaaqsicjiotiiiagi?
posted by trharlan at 8:08 PM on June 17, 2004

Knowledge effectively neutralizes outragious personalities here. Otherwise, be imaginatively antagonistic.
posted by wendell at 8:17 PM on June 17, 2004

Another noble thread actively goes on now - it's so touching, it's cupping.
____________________________

No, 4easypayments - I'm sure it doesn't mean you.
posted by taz at 11:11 PM on June 17, 2004

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Community-building posts just for the fun of it. June 16, 2004 12:42 AM Subscribe

Community-building posts just for the fun of it.
June 16, 2004 12:42 AM Subscribe