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Roger FedorAIR

It ain't easy being white
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Hey guys, as you can tell, we now have a dedicated forum to talk betting. Things don't look the same way as they did in the heavies, and change isn't always received positively, so I just want to air it out with you guys.

First, the old threads with multiple 1000s of posts per event, were simply just too archaic. I know many of you post here or check here everyday, and for those of you that do, all posts in one single thread is a good format for you.

I just want to make you all aware of the other side of that coin, which is this: Consider a poster that DOESN'T have the ability to get on SD, daily. They have absolutely no chance to catch up in a thread that could easily grow 1000 posts in a matter of days. No one can reasonably expect them to sort through all that to find the discussion they're looking for.

The objective here is to make this forum the best resource possible. The better a resource this is, the more traffic it will generate.

For all of the sharps we have on this board, and all of the detailed and insightful writeups we get from multiple posters on these fights all the time, it really is a massive waste to have those types of things get buried and essentially lost forever, only to be read by a small handful of guys that just happened to be online in that brief period of a day before a couple 100 posts pass by and bury it.


Edit: We're moved into a subforum under fight discussion now, guys. Thanks for all the input.

Still looking for more feedback on how we can make some of our cotent more viewable. Specifically for guys writing detailed in-depth breakdowns and handicaps.
 
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Another format we can try is a main card thread, and a thread for prelim card. Which could end up being a 50/50 split, seeing as how the main card fights draw more conversation.
 
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I appreciate what you were trying to do here and the work you put in to move the posts, but I personally hate this format. I don't feel like clicking through 20+ (potentially 50+ during weeks/months with multiple events) threads for content I could see in 1 thread. For those that need to catch-up, they're still going to have to click through a ton of different threads to see everything that would be in 1 thread. Days where I do fall behind, I can easily breeze through pages of hundreds of posts in a short amount of time. I think there should have been a vote first instead of one single person determining the fate of this. This isn't meant to sound threatening or anything and I know nobody will care, but if it stays like this, I won't be around anywhere near as much as I am now. My OCD is already bad enough checking 1 thread, I can't imagine myself clicking through through 20+ (potentially 50+) threads. There's a bunch of other reasons why I don't like this format, but I don't feel like rambling on so I'm going to leave it like this.
 
I appreciate what you were trying to do here and the work you put in to move the posts, but I personally hate this format. I don't feel like clicking through 20+ (potentially 50+ during weeks/months with multiple events) threads for content I could see in 1 thread. For those that need to catch-up, they're still going to have to click through a ton of different threads to see everything that would be in 1 thread. Days where I do fall behind, I can easily breeze through pages of hundreds of posts in a short amount of time. I think there should have been a vote first instead of one single person determining the fate of this. This isn't meant to sound threatening or anything and I know nobody will care, but if it stays like this, I won't be around anywhere near as much as I am now. My OCD is already bad enough checking 1 thread, I can't imagine myself clicking through through 20+ (potentially 50+) threads. There's a bunch of other reasons why I don't like this format, but I don't feel like rambling on so I'm going to leave it like this.

As of now, just myself and EZ have been involved with the setup, but others have been pm'd to be involved as well. As stated, nothing is set in stone, and how we utilize the forum is up to us.

I would just ask that no one have any knee jerk reactions. There's more than one way to skin a cat. We've just got to decide how we want to do this.
 
This is how I think it should work:

Having a "main" thread for every event, plus additional threads for each fight, is the way to go.

With a main thread, we can do what we usually do, aside from writing breakdowns of fights. Breakdowns of fights would be done in the individual fight threads, that way we know where those breakdowns are, and we can link people back to the breakdowns if they don't already see it for themselves.

(If this is how we're already doing it now with this new format, then that's cool. I haven't looked through everything yet.)
 
This is how I think it should work:

Having a "main" thread for every event, plus additional threads for each fight, is the way to go.

With a main thread, we can do what we usually do, aside from writing breakdowns of fights. Breakdowns of fights would be done in the individual fight threads, that way we know where those breakdowns are, and we can link people back to the breakdowns if they don't already see it for themselves.

(If this is how we're already doing it now with this new format, then that's cool. I haven't looked through everything yet.)
That's a good alternative.

Another one I was thinking; is if someone does a detailed writeup, we could have a thread just for those posts.

Your idea is good, though.
 
Am I done making threads for betting?
 
The only time where the old threads spikes to the point where it becomes a problem is during a live event where we discuss the fights as they are happening. I think the best solution is to have a pre-event thread and a live-thread. No other threads are needed imo. It will only cut down on post counts. Especially those posts that you dont really know where to put.
 
RF asked me to re-write my post last night, so here goes.

Basically, it's extremely difficult to compartmentalise the betting stuff into different threads, because there will be so much bleed over between the two. Separate threads for every fight won't work at all on that basis.

Say right now someone wants to tip a double featuring a main card fight, and a prelim- where does he do it? If he sticks it in the main card thread, and someone wants to comment on the prelim bit, obviously he's going to do so in the main card thread. He's not going to say "Oh, I like the main card bit, go to the prelim thread for my thoughts on the prelim leg of your parlay." Ditto with event props and fight of the night.

Another example, say a really good line comes out on a future fight, obviously this will go in the relevant fight card thread under the new system, which I think will mean that less people see it.

The "live" thread for the event should be absolutely no different than it currently is, in my opinion. To be honest, that's more of a social thing with people updating how their night is going and their live-betting (bets which by the time they're posted won't be tailable), than anything really "useful".

The main argument for the new system is that non-regulars won't be able to catch-up with the current thread as it is. If that's the case, and they want a verdict on a specific fight, there's nothing stopping them asking the regulars what their opinion is. I used to just search the thread for the fighter's name in such instances, but I'm not sure that's possible under the new system.

I also don't really see any evidence that people actually exist who would contribute but are put off by the current massive threads. If they aren't joining in now, it's very difficult to envisage them joining in in the future regardless of what's done.

TL,DR: IMO, a separate thread for MMA, and one for all the other sports. No main card/prelim separation, and no starting the new thread for the next card until the "current" one has passed.
 
Am I done making threads for betting?
Wouldn't be the same without you making them

The only time where the old threads spikes to the point where it becomes a problem is during a live event where we discuss the fights as they are happening. I think the best solution is to have a pre-event thread and a live-thread. No other threads are needed imo. It will only cut down on post counts. Especially those posts that you dont really know where to put.

That was one of my initial ideas. Separating the two would make sense as the pre-fight coversation and fight night conversation are two different types. The thread during fight night basically serves as a pbp thread.
 
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I am vehemently opposed to multiple threads for each fight and am strongly opposed to arbitrarily breaking up the discussion into preliminary and main cards or even pre-fight and live threads. One thread per UFC event is all we need just like before where people can have an ongoing discussion about all the fights and bets on a card and any related MMA or other betting talk. No one wants to be clicking back and forth like a monkey on crack checking multiple threads as they update. It's just so unnecessary and fatiguing to do that. I don't so much mind separating other MMA events like Invicta, Bellator, WSOF etc into their own threads though. These tentative changes to me as they are seem like a classic case of an unwanted solution looking for a problem to justify themselves.

Another issue that doesn't affect the user experience but I still think is worth mentioning is that the move of the betting thread from the usual front page (or second page sometimes) of most popular forum in the UFC "heavies" into its own forum may seem like an upgrade but really it has been effectively ghettoized into a backwater of the Sherdog site where hardly anyone goes. It's the equivalent of moving a retail store from the main entrance foyer of a busy mall near the anchor store to some far back corner spot at the very end of a long hallway. In terms of getting new people to read the thread, it's a killer with much less eyeballs seeing the existence of the betting thread.
 
Wouldn't be the same without you making them

I guess I'm confused then. The thread I made is locked on this forum and then you made an Official UFN 81 Betting Thread that is somehow locked up too. At least I can't post in it. Where are we supposed to be posting our bets for UFN 81 right now?
 
I guess I'm confused then. The thread I made is locked on this forum and then you made an Official UFN 81 Betting Thread that is somehow locked up too. At least I can't post in it. Where are we supposed to be posting our bets for UFN 81 right now?
My bad, unlocked it.
 
Thaks for the input guys, Everything is in one thread for now.

Please keep the suggestios coming.
 
Another issue that doesn't affect the user experience but I still think is worth mentioning is that the move of the betting thread from the usual front page (or second page sometimes) of most popular forum in the UFC "heavies" into its own forum may seem like an upgrade but really it has been effectively ghettoized into a backwater of the Sherdog site where hardly anyone goes. It's the equivalent of moving a retail store from the main entrance foyer of a busy mall near the anchor store to some far back corner spot at the very end of a long hallway. In terms of getting new people to read the thread, it's a killer with much less eyeballs seeing the existence of the betting thread.

I'm working on this, specifically. Thaks for the input
 
For the record, my ideal setup would be a general post your bets thread where we are still free to talk about the fights themselves and sort of justifying your picks. Card could post all of his stuff in there still. There could still be threads for the bigger fights that warrant more discussion, and big "breakdowns" would go in there. There would be a separate thread for other sports and maybe threads for individual big games that warrant discussions. Other events can have their own threads.

With that said, you aren't going to please everyone. Through the years, I've seen a lot of people want a betting forum and those against it. People like how things were, some like being out of the heavies, some won't, some like the other sports out of the thread, some will want them in there, etc. There will never be agreement between everyone.
 
Thaks for the input guys, Everything is in one thread for now.

Please keep the suggestios coming.

Thanks for listening to the input and the quick response. One thread, whew, what a relief.
 
i love how all of this went down in the middle of the night!

Let's try to set it up event by event, go from there. We'll be much more organized. more eyes will be on more specific things, people will find it a little easier to find info on the fights they want to know about, etc

the old way of putting 1 thread in the ufc section and having it get to thousands of posts was definitely archaic. only a handful of people were able to keep up with the thread, so much was getting lost.

there's a middle ground, and i think we can find it
 
For the record, my ideal setup would be a general post your bets thread where we are still free to talk about the fights themselves and sort of justifying your picks. Card could post all of his stuff in there still. There could still be threads for the bigger fights that warrant more discussion, and big "breakdowns" would go in there. There would be a separate thread for other sports and maybe threads for individual big games that warrant discussions. Other events can have their own threads.

With that said, you aren't going to please everyone. Through the years, I've seen a lot of people want a betting forum and those against it. People like how things were, some like being out of the heavies, some won't, some like the other sports out of the thread, some will want them in there, etc. There will never be agreement between everyone.

Thanks for the input, O. And yeah, there have been many varying schools of thoughts on it through the years. Most people that are left posting in the thread now, simply just weren't around to remember when the thread was less cluttered and was comprised of almost an entirely different group of posters before effectively being forced away by massive inudating of one single thread.

For the record, seeing your name in the OP of the threads gives me a nice warm feeling inside. Don't want that to go away.
 
i love how all of this went down in the middle of the night!

Let's try to set it up event by event, go from there. We'll be much more organized. more eyes will be on more specific things, people will find it a little easier to find info on the fights they want to know about, etc

the old way of putting 1 thread in the ufc section and having it get to thousands of posts was definitely archaic. only a handful of people were able to keep up with the thread, so much was getting lost.

there's a middle ground, and i think we can find it
Ah yes, my dude EZ here with the voice of reason...

Yes, there's defiitely a middle ground to be had here.

The way you guys do things over at oddsb is a pretty nice arrangement that I would't be against. Not too different from pretty much any other betting forum, basically.
 
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