[Kjetil Heggelund]

Is it possible to talk about music without comparing and judging?

 

[Ethereality]

No. Okay that settles that. I dislike all these polls too, that's why there's such a thing as making other forums, but I don't feel it's our responsibility to monitor what threads get posted, but to simply click the forums you want to read. I imagine it's not hard to build a good recommendation algorithm with highlighted threads, maybe if you worked for Nokia or something, or to reinstate groups on the main page.

Why people like to judge music, perhaps it's one way to find similar aural perspectives to converse with in this musical desert! Or rather, we can keep track of pieces we want to return to or invest resources in. Not all music is created for everyone equally, and not all communication is words.

I personally make a poll when really wanting to gauge some information about something meaningful and its fan differences. I believe polls can be very important on the main forum but never excessively, nevertheless, I simply don't have to click them. Unless Beethoven is here then we don't need a dictator guiding us to proper discussion and truth (sarcasm.)

 

[Chilham]

This thread should be a poll.

 

[Ethereality]

Don't you think perhaps a poll is in order first? to really know if this thread should be a poll.

 

[Kjetil Heggelund]

Wowie! That sucks.

 

[Scherzi Cat]

The Polls are popular, people like to participate in them. Polls are a good conversations starter. They give people a reason to listen to pieces that they may not have heard before, or have not listened to in a long while. They allow people to express their own opinion of something without participating in a verbal sense if they don't want to. I like the polls. Especially those by HansZimmer and Xisten267.

 

[Kjetil Heggelund]

I usually steer clear of polls and games, so that fails if we are to be included all.

 

[Scherzi Cat]

I usually steer clear of polls and games, so that fails if we are to be included all.

i didn't say ALL people like to participate in them. But many people do. In the words of the great Ricky Nelson, "You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself."

 

[allaroundmusicenthusiast]

As someone who participates in most games, because they are harmless fun? I don't see nothing wrong with them, it's not like the results of the games are used for anything, and all kinds of threads can live together, so I don't really see what's the matter.

 

[Kjetil Heggelund]

i didn't say ALL people like to participate in them. But many people do. In the words of the great Ricky Nelson, "You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself."

Games and polls are overshadowing all other threads here. I can only suck it up in ideas for stupid threads.

 

[Scherzi Cat]

Democracy and community thrive together. I believe the polls are good for the overall membership of the forum. The polls were taken out of the general classical music discussion section and exiled to a section of their own a few years ago. They are back. I suspect for good reason. I actually lost interest in the forum during that period. You can judge that in any way that you like. I like the polls and I'm sure I have lots of company.

 

[Xisten267]

I think that polls and games (and also lists) are harmless, fun to participate and that they can be useful tools of musical exploration. I've learned a lot from participating of them. Also, in my opinion they provide interesting data about the preferences of TC members. I don't see why they shouldn't be done.

 

[Taggart]

Games and polls are overshadowing all other threads here. I can only suck it up in ideas for stupid threads.

This is partly a result of the new software. On the old system, it was possible to filter new posts much more easily. Now you can filter by followed content and then save the filter in new posts

So, go through the site and follow the forums you like. This also brings them to the top of the forum list. Now check the new posts and add the filter. The games should be gone. Now save as default.

Hopefully, this should work.

 

[SuperTonic]

Is it really that difficult to just ignore the threads you're not interested in? No one is making you click on them.

 

[Taggart]

Is it really that difficult to just ignore the threads you're not interested in? No one is making you click on them.

It clutters up the new listings when you get four pages of new, and nearly three of them are polls / games. Far easier to filter and get just over a page all of which might be relevant to your interests.

 

[fluteman]

Is it possible to talk about music without comparing and judging?

I sympathize with your frustration over this, but at least in America, it reflects the structure and marketing methods of the music industry, especially the popular music industry, where rankings and statistics are dominant factors in what gets produced, recorded, downloaded and sold.

Remember that Talk Classical is a for-profit site that is more profitable when it draws more traffic. The ranking and games make classical music more comfortable and less intimidating for listeners who are used to popular music, where ranking and statistics are fundamental parts of the scene and have been for a long time. That in turn makes these listeners more willing to join and post here.

True, some listeners are misled by all the ranking and statistics and attach more significance to them than they deserve. Remember the old saying: There are lies, [email protected] lies, and statistics. The great classical works have earned their status by becoming so permanently embedded in our culture and art that their influence is hard to avoid, even in provocative efforts to reject it. This is hard to capture accurately in simple statistics. But again, it's hard to argue with boosting the traffic that keeps this site afloat.

 

[SuperTonic]

It clutters up the new listings when you get four pages of new, and nearly three of them are polls / games. Far easier to filter and get just over a page all of which might be relevant to your interests.

When I go to the new listings page there are generally only a handful of threads I'm actually interested in reading anyway. Sometimes there aren't any, in which case I'll do something else and check again later. I've never considered this a problem.

 

[Kjetil Heggelund]

Hey! I made a thread that is something other than games and polls 😇 but of course there had to come some comparing and judging...Hakuna matata 🥰

 

[Neo Romanza]

I personally don't care anything about the game threads and my own involvement would be a waste of time since I'm not in the right frame of mind to keep up with them. I don't think there's anything wrong with them and if many members here have the stamina that's required in order to play them, then go for it. I'm not in any position in telling someone how they spend their time on this forum (and elsewhere).

A simple solution is to just ignore the threads and post in the threads that are of interest to you. If you had a serious complaint, then you wouldn't have made a thread about it and, instead, would've contacted one of the moderators and if a solution couldn't be resolved there, then take it up with the site owner. Honestly, I don't see the games going anywhere considering they're high volume foot traffic for the site and one or two complaints isn't going to change the outcome which is there are many members who enjoy participating in these kinds of threads.

 

[Animal the Drummer]

I don't go for the games myself, though I do take part in some of the polls, but IMO both have a place here as long as there are posters who derive enjoyment from them. Why else do any of us come here anyway?