The deal with the thread pruning

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06-26-2002, 08:02 PM
Citizen Bleys

The deal with the thread pruning

Alright; so you're probably wondering what the thread deletion has to do with today's downtime. It's a bit of a lengthy (and somewhat technical) explanation, so I thought it best to leave it out of the announcement in order to keep it brief.

All I tried to do this morning was upgrade the boards (completed in about two minutes) and rebuild the search index in order to improve speed. (The search index is used every time you open a thread, not just during searches). The first step to rebuilding the search index is to delete the old, obsolete index. Thus, once the rebuild is started, it MUST be allowed to procede to full completion; Monkeying around in threads while the rebuild is going on can lead to data corruption (I'm posting this during the rebuild, but I know precisely how far along the rebuild is coming: It's handling threads 11900-11925, and this is thread 20352, so I'm safe).

Rebuilding the index should take five minutes. Dunno if you noticed, but it's taking a bit longer.

Our database is now so huge that the rebuild keeps timing out. There are simply too many old, dead threads cluttering up the works. This has to be done. I've not consulted Scottie or any of the other staff about this--it has to be done, even if everybody doesn't see it.

vBulletin will allow me to prune threads by date of last post--hence, I'll be deleting anything in which the last post was more than 90 days ago. However, it runs through ALL forums, including the archive forums. I don't know a workaround (if you do, please post a reply in this thread ;p).

I'll do a full backup of the database, but for security reasons*, I cannot release the backup to the general public for download

*you shouldn't have to think about that very hard about that one. Everybody's password is stored in the database.

What I'd like to know from you, is
a) How often would most of you be able to handle a pruning operation? Once every month? Once every three? It's got to be done sometime.
b) do you know of any alternatives--Maybe an app that will save the threads? It should be simple enough to write--Just do an SQL dump of the table and then write a php script to parse it...But it's got to be a server-side app, and I have to have access to the source code, so that I can be sure that ALL it's taking from the database is the threads to be saved. We (EoFF staff) are not going to allow even the slightest chance that somebody's password will be taken out of the database.
06-27-2002, 09:31 AM
Griever

I think once every two months would be sufficient.
As for the passwords, i think everyone'll just have to change them more often. Just regular changes, some people might accidently let them slip during a conversation or something. I did it once, but i was stupid back then. :D
06-27-2002, 10:03 AM
Super Christ

Hmm - I have no luck finding any such utility or hack. Perhaps if, just before the pruning, an administrator adds one post to the end of each thread in at least the General Archive forum, and then after the pruning, deletes them. Just a thought. As far as threads in other forums, while there's a thread or two I'll miss, I won't miss them enough to really worry about it. Ahh well, that was just a thought.
06-27-2002, 11:37 AM
Shlup

Thank you, Bleys. =^_^=
06-27-2002, 11:44 AM
Nait

Of course it is sad. :(

Oh, well. C'est la vie.
06-27-2002, 12:02 PM
Squally Leonharty

Hmm, I think there's a way to save the archived threads. I'm not too sure, though.

I believe there's an option to prune threads PER forum, so why don't you do that? It's more work, of course, but at least you're able to save the Archive forum.

I think it's going to take you about 30 - 45 minutes to do all of the forums. Just that in one day. It's not that bad. It has to happen someday, right? Well, yeah... I got an idea how to backup the Archive forum, but I don't think it's possible to write a script for it, since the mysqldump doesn't allow partial dumps of tables (meaning certain threadids and posts). It only dumps the whole tables. I'll look in backup.php and try to get the code from there and edit it.

Edit:

Bleh, I skimmed through the whole code and it looks like it is possible after all. But it's gonna be very hard, and I can't really bother with that. I'm not THAT skilled. :p Oh well. I guess you'll have to prune per forum.
06-27-2002, 02:43 PM
Citizen Bleys

And Squally says the obvious, and it hits me in the head like a hammerblow after a night of hard drinking. Of sake.

Yeah, we can prune by forum. *sheepish look*
06-27-2002, 03:02 PM
Squally Leonharty

*makes fun of Bleys* :p

Just kidding. ;) At least you know it now. :) Have fun with pruning. :D
06-27-2002, 03:33 PM
The Man

Is there any way to save the old threads that get pruned into some external archive so that people who really want to view them can do so? It'd be a shame to lose them all for good.

But yeah, if the index is that messed up, it's probably a necessity. :cry:

Peace
The Man
06-27-2002, 03:37 PM
Squally Leonharty

Well, that's possible, The Man. :p Bleys will skip the Archive forum, so if there are any threads that needs to be saved, an admin needs to move them to the Archive forum. It's that simple. :p

But yeah, it all depends on the administrators.
06-27-2002, 03:39 PM
The Man

Periodically, the staff decide that there are more threads that need to get archived, and if those threads are deleted, there won't be a chance to do that any longer. *shrug*

Well, dunno. One thing I really liked about the boards is that you could go back a year and still have an historical reference point. I was just wondering if there would be any way to save that for posterity... but y'know.

Peace
The Man
06-27-2002, 04:51 PM
Rainecloud

If you really love some threads, and don't want them to die, why not save them to your hard drive? Who knows, there may even be a way to integrate them back into the board after you do this. I'm not sure whether that will work though, as I know nothing about VB.

If it has to be done to keep EoFF working, then go right ahead, Bleys.
06-27-2002, 05:52 PM
Dr Unne

PLEASE Bleys, make a huge board-wide announcement before you prune, and give at least one or two week's notice, OK? We lost some good threads last time the MB was pruned, possibly because people didn't know about the pruning before you did it. I sure didn't know about it. I'm not sure if I was around at the time though. A good idea might be to make an announcement and possibly a thread for people to post links to threads they want moved to the Archives. That'd give everyone a chance to save the threads they want on the MB, rather than downloading the HTML to their hard drives or whatever.

I think once every 6 months is about as often as I could handle a pruning. Not sure if we need to do it more often than that.

If you can prune by forum, that'd be good. Some forums you wouldn't even need to touch, maybe. FF1-4 forum for example. Certainly not the Archives. I hope you make sure the Archives don't get pruned. Prune the heck out of General Chat though, that forum is huge and spam-filled.
06-27-2002, 05:58 PM
The Man

I agree completely with Unne. In fact I wouldn't touch any of the gaming fora. The fact is, in the gaming fora people often link back to past threads that have been dead for a long time, and were those fora to be pruneed, we would no longer be able to do that. There is a forum-wide announcement, but I think there should be a few more weeks before the pruning happens, and I agree with the whole "submit-links-to-your-favourite-threads-for-archiving" dealy.

Also, if the Open Source forum gets touched, I will KILL YOU. Well, not really. But still.

Edit: Maybe the Daily Grind threads should be saved as well. And maybe Bleys should make a backup of the files before the actual pruning happens, and put them online... somewhere.

Peace
The Man
06-27-2002, 07:11 PM
Nait

And the Creative Fora! Save the Artist Galleries and Writer's Corners!
06-27-2002, 07:12 PM
The Man

Yes, yes, Nait's right. Those are the only fora I can think of in which it's acceptable to revive old threads, actually.

And if people wanted to download the database for themselves, would it be so hard to delete all the passwords from that archived database? I really don't see why some app couldn't be written to do just that. Someone please set me straight if I'm wrong, though.

Peace
The Man
06-27-2002, 07:28 PM
Loony BoB

I say keep The Daily Grind, Help Forum, Open Source Forum, General Archive, Writer's Corner, Artist's Gallery and Staff Forum. Everything else can go to internet hell/heaven, depending on how good the threads were.
06-27-2002, 07:32 PM
The Man

I support what BooB said, plus the gaming fora. *nod*

Woteva. It's not really my decision, and if someone can come up with a way to blank out the passwords (or change them all to "blarg" or something) so that Bleys can post the pre-pruned fora online, then I don't think anyone will have any reason to feel upset. But I very much would miss the historically-inclined feel of EoFF, no matter what happened.

There's really no other way to do this? Maybe there's something wrong with the sorting software or something. Have you talked to vBulletin about this? They have their own fora on vBulletin.com, I believe. It just seems a shame to prune the fora now, because maybe in a few weeks we'd have heard of some other solution.

I support the idea of doing some research before we make the final prune decision. But that's just me.

Peace
The Man
06-27-2002, 08:09 PM
Citizen Bleys

The problem isn't the software, it's the physical limits of the server we're stored on. EoFF's database is really, really effing big. We have to get rid of stuff.

Squally: Not entirely up to the admins. Knights can move threads, too, you know. In fact, I've already asked them to do so.

Alright: The creative forums, the Archives, Open Source, Magestar, and the gaming forums don't get touched. General Chat, however, will be a much smaller place in the near future.

Unne: Looked at the announcements lately? :D
I'm not about to create a "we're pruning" thread in every single forum. In fact, I don't even care to put one in General Chat at this point. The announcement is there, *this* thread exists for feedback, and anything more would be terribly redundant.

Of course, if any of you strongly feel there should be a "we're pruning" thread in General Chat, go ahead and make it. I won't close it.
06-27-2002, 08:44 PM
The Man

I am now much happier, now that the aforementioned fora are slated for safety.

Are you sure that there are no solutions for the password issue? Somehow, I think it should be easy to set everyone's password to "Blarg" (or some other common phrase that doesn't actually match the real value of the password string). Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd find it hard to believe someone couldn't write a simple algorithm to wipe clean all password references from an archive of the fora.

Peace
The Man
06-27-2002, 09:05 PM
crono_logical

All passwords appear to be stored encryted in one database, but tampering with the database appears to render the vB unfunctional.

I'd rather a copy of the board not made available to the general public in any form anyway, since it's not only passwords, but other information could also be made available such as private messages, maybe personal calender notes etc. It's far easier if we just don't bother and not make it available.

Bleys knows how to prune without touching particular forums now, so why is this still an issue? :)
06-27-2002, 09:09 PM
The Man

I guess you're right, crono. Could we simply disable logging in to the fora in any form then? I really would like to have a functional copy of the vB board exactly as it existed before the pruning present for all members to view, should they so desire. That's the only reason I'm asking.

Oh, and by the way, I just lost sixty-nine posts about fifteen minutes ago, both in my search results and in my profile. Has the pruning already begun? I thought it was supposed to start sometime in July.

Peace
The Man
06-27-2002, 09:18 PM
crono_logical

No, because the data would still be present, even if the code was modified to disable logging in. You just have to drag-drop the database into notepad and you can see everything clear enough with the odd mysql database formatting around it, since stuff like PMs etc are not encrypted.

And you're still that concerned about your post count, eh? :p
06-27-2002, 09:44 PM
Yamaneko

Hold on a minute, let me get this straight. When the pruning begins and all those threads get deleated, is our post count going to go down for every post lost in this way. I'm not complaining or anything, but is there anyway to save our post count and delete those old threads at the same time? Just a thought for those people that value their post count. *cough*practically everyone*cough*
06-27-2002, 09:49 PM
crono_logical

Not sure. Deleting posts/threads using the edit/delete button will reduce post counts respectively. Dunno if the same works for pruning though, especially on such a large scale - I'd expect not as it would be more accurate that way, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. :p
06-27-2002, 10:27 PM
Relena Peacecraft

First of all, I'd think vBulletin would MD5 hash (or otherwise hash) passwords, so they wouldnt' be in there except as meaningless hash codes. If they don't, they need to get a clue.

But yeah, that still leaves PMs and such. I don't know how vB organizes its tables.. but it should be possible to just backup relevant tables (posts, etc.).. But even then, it would just be a huge MySQL mess (plain text...but very ugly to read) without a program to read it...
06-27-2002, 10:45 PM
Citizen Bleys

See, I never thought of private messages being viewable. What else have I not thought of? It's a somewhat scary thought, and it would be a sod of a lot scarier if the db was available for public download.

No, I think it's a sod of a lot safer if nobody but the admins have access to the database backup.
06-27-2002, 10:50 PM
Scottie

Hashing the passwords was actually something only recently introduced to the VB. I think 2.x or later. I can't even remember. But yeah they're hashed now.
06-28-2002, 01:01 AM
The Man

An idea occurred to me earlier this evening, while I was away. Is there any way to write a program that will convert every thread in General Chat into an individual .mht archive (read: an html file with all the associated images embedded within)? If we could do that, then we could at least leave General Chat up, even if it would lose its searchability. Of course, that could be highly impractical as well, but if we could .mht-ize all the threads in GC and then post them as individual attachments in some new thread, that would severely decrease the number of entries in EoFF's databased.

On another note, I'm apparently not the only one to be affected by post counts drops, as Cute&Dangerous told me in chat that she noticed she lost some posts today (I myself recall her profile saying she had over 1,000 posts, and today that had dropped to 975), crono_logical had gained all of three posts between some point earlier today and 11:15 PM Eastern Time on June 22nd (which is unthinkable for him, especially since I've seen him post far more than three times between those dates), and Dee lost posts during that same time period. Musashius also apparently gained only five posts during that time, which seems unlikely to me as well. Oh, and then Bleys somehow managed to gain something like 22,500 posts during that time, but that's another story. O_o

The post count thingy didn't seem to affect everyone, and I myself only carefully checked the twelve highest posters. It seems very strange, however. It's not just the value in my profile that's off either; the search results decreased by a comparable out. Can anyone explain what's going on? I didn't think the pruning was supposed to have started yet, and I'm feeling very confuzzled. Meep.

Peace
The Man
06-28-2002, 11:20 AM
crono_logical

When the board gets disabled, the whole thing gets disabled for everyone except admins, you can't just disable particular forums, unless you're willing to go around doing each one individually. :p

Why do you want all threads in Gen Chat to be archived like so anyway? If they're really that good, I guess they should be moved to the Archive - PM someone capable of moving them those threads and we'll see if it's really worth it :) I believe attachments are stored as entries in the database too as well anyway :p MHT archives would be biggger than the original threads stored anyway, since they'd also contain images and such within them, many of which may be repeated when you have several archives.

OOC: As for post counts, maybe I really did only post a few times since then - I've been playing FFX a heck of a lot so hardly been posting much recently anyway :D
06-28-2002, 02:09 PM
Citizen Bleys

1) attachments are stored in the database. Even if I knew how to save the whole forum as .mht files (and I don't), it would probably increase the size of the db to do it that way

2) Post counts: I have no idea what's wrong with them, and frankly, there is a reason why they don't show up in people's profiles anymore. We had a lot of senseless, post-count-raising garbage back when we had them shown. If anything, I'm tempted to make them not shown in profiles, as well.
06-28-2002, 03:44 PM
Squally Leonharty

Quote:

Originally posted by Citizen Bleys
1) attachments are stored in the database. Even if I knew how to save the whole forum as .mht files (and I don't), it would probably increase the size of the db to do it that way

MHT files aren't part of vBulletin. :p They're part of IE. File -> Save As -> Select MHT -> Save. ;)
06-28-2002, 05:57 PM
Dr Unne

The heck with post counts. I hope we all end up at 0 again. *nod*

I only wanted to make a thread in General Chat that was an Archive-nomination thread, so people could link to threads (in any forum) and Mods could go through and move all those threads to the Archive (at the Mods' discretion of course, I'm sure a lot of junk would be suggested that doesn't really need to be saved, and I'm sure we don't want the Archives to become overly huge). That's only good if you're not going to prune the Archives though. That way we could say important threads on the MB. I won't make it if you say you don't want me to, or if you're going to prune the Archives anyways. It doesn't really matter to me anyways.

We could always just wipe the MB clean and start over, that'd be amusing. :)

Yeah, I saw the announcement right after I posted. I'm dumb and too lazy to edit my posts.
06-28-2002, 07:53 PM
Citizen Bleys

Quote:

Originally posted by Squally Leonharty

MHT files aren't part of vBulletin. :p They're part of IE. File -> Save As -> Select MHT -> Save. ;)

No, MHT files aren't part of vBulletin. Attachments are saved in the database. They don't take up zero bytes just because they have an .mht file extension :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hans
I only wanted to make a thread in General Chat that was an Archive-nomination thread, so people could link to threads (in any forum) and Mods could go through and move all those threads to the Archive (at the Mods' discretion of course, I'm sure a lot of junk would be suggested that doesn't really need to be saved, and I'm sure we don't want the Archives to become overly huge). That's only good if you're not going to prune the Archives though. That way we could say important threads on the MB. I won't make it if you say you don't want me to, or if you're going to prune the Archives anyways. It doesn't really matter to me anyways.

Good idear. I'll make the thread meself.

Quote:

Originally posted by Dr Unne
Yeah, I saw the announcement right after I posted. I'm dumb and too lazy to edit my posts.

...I want to make some sort of snarky, mean-spirited comment, but I came up with a complete blank this time. *cries*
06-28-2002, 09:13 PM
Squally Leonharty

Quote:

Originally posted by Citizen Bleys

No, MHT files aren't part of vBulletin. Attachments are saved in the database. They don't take up zero bytes just because they have an .mht file extension :)

Heh, okiedokie. I kind of misread your statement in your post. :p
06-28-2002, 09:17 PM
Kawaii Ryûkishi

Right, I just personally went through sixty pages of General Chat bejabbering, picking out and saving all the worthwhile threads. Now I just need to attend to EoEO, The Lounge, General Gaming Discussion, the Staff forum, and the few worthwhile game-specific fora kill me now KILL ME NOW

I mean...what'll be done about Magestar, then?
06-28-2002, 10:34 PM
crono_logical

Why prune Staff Forum? And why on earth move threads from there into Archive?
06-28-2002, 10:37 PM
The Man

I have no idea why the Staff Forum should be pruned (it shouldn't, if you ask me), but the saving and/or archiving of worthwhile threads would happen so as not to lose the data for the sake of posterity.

While we're at it, I'd make the Feedback Forum immune to pruning, as well. Just so.

Peace
The Man
06-28-2002, 10:46 PM
Citizen Bleys

Magestar, we'd better leave. I have a habit of forgetting the names of minor characters.

Such as my character's wife.

That's right, I don't know my wife's name. Therefore I need the old threads from Magestar.
06-28-2002, 10:55 PM
crono_logical

Y'Know, I think the Staff Forum would fit better under Support rather than General - and also means you can leave everything under the Support and EOFF RPG alone - nice way to split up forums which need sorting from those that don't :)
06-28-2002, 11:06 PM
Citizen Bleys

Quote:

Originally posted by crono_logical
Y'Know, I think the Staff Forum would fit better under Support rather than General - and also means you can leave everything under the Support and EOFF RPG alone - nice way to split up forums which need sorting from those that don't :)

That's a bloody good idea--I could temporarily move the Writer's Corner and Artist's Gallery to somewhere else, and then just prune the "General" category with "Include Subforums" selected instead of doing it forum-by-forum.

I'll move it later, after putting an announcement in Staff so that some people don't fail to see the Staff forum in its new location and wonder if they've been kicked off of staff for some reason :p
06-28-2002, 11:38 PM
The Man

Eh... if you did that thing with the creative fora you'd have to make sure that you remembered to do that before every pruning. And then there would we be if someone forgot?

Just for the reference, which forums *are* currently slated to be pruned? I'd like to know so I can go digging through the affected fora looking for good threads and such.

Here's my vote for what shouldn't be pruned:

Daily Grind
Archived Daily Grind
Artist's Gallery
Writer's Corner
General Archive

all Support (Help, Open Source, Staff, Feedback)
all Squaresoft (*too lazy to list*)
all ORPG (*doesn't remember names*)

What's actually getting pruned? Some fora are so wide as per what they encompass that we'd have to send a lot of dedicated people out on missions searching for threads to save; I'm sure there's lots of good stuff in The Lounge and General Gaming that I won't bother to look at and save, since it won't interest me to look at Lounge threads about sports or General Gaming threads about fighting games. And I can't imagine the fora without "Kishi's Visual Guide to Go Go Ackman," even though it's only about a one-month-old thread.

[EDIT] I just realised that it would be a very bad thing to do the pruning on July 6th, as that's when the EoFF Forum Prom is slated to occur. Many people would be very unhappy, were the fora down at that time.

'Course, we could always reschedule it to July 7th if it made the pruning operation seem to have more breathing room or something. But I don't know how other people would feel about that. [/EDIT]

Peace
The Man
06-29-2002, 01:44 AM
Citizen Bleys

At present, I intend to prune everything in the General category save the archive. And I think I might create a new category for archives so that I can do the pruning in one fell swoop.

So the forums to scan for saveworthy threads are predominantly General Chat, Eyes On Each Other, and the Lounge.

EDIT: the Artist's Gallery and any Gaming forum with over 10,000 threads will be subject to some selective pruning--but not from the Control Panel; I'll be reviewing large threads in there on a case-by-case basis.
06-29-2002, 01:47 AM
The Man

So what's the status on General Gaming Discussion and the Writer's Corner, then? If we know that, we'll be all set.

Peace
The Man
06-29-2002, 01:53 AM
Citizen Bleys

General Gaming is subject to the Prune, but the Writer's Corner and Artist's Gallery will be reviewed by hand.
06-29-2002, 09:18 PM
The Man

Amongst the "short answer-the-preceding-question-and-pose-your-own-question" threads from GSS, I would request that the Anagrams thread and the Senseless Questions Game from be saved, as, in my opinion, they are often hilarious. The General FF Carry-On Puzzles can go though; they're way too long.

Should we prohibit the starting up of such threads as "The General FF Carry-On Puzzles," "Describe the Person Who Posted Before You," and "What Are You Listening to Right Now?" in the future? I think it would prevent thread prunings from being quite so necessary in the future.

Peace
The Man
06-30-2002, 03:16 PM
Loony BoB

Quote:

Originally posted by The Man
Amongst the "short answer-the-preceding-question-and-pose-your-own-question" threads from GSS, I would request that the Anagrams thread and the Senseless Questions Game from be saved, as, in my opinion, they are often hilarious. The General FF Carry-On Puzzles can go though; they're way too long.

In my opinion: No. No, no, no. Just because they're funny doesn't mean they should be archived... it's if they're sentimental, or classic. Those ones will be more than easily forgotten and dismissed, imho.

Quote:

Should we prohibit the starting up of such threads as "The General FF Carry-On Puzzles," "Describe the Person Who Posted Before You," and "What Are You Listening to Right Now?" in the future? I think it would prevent thread prunings from being quite so necessary in the future.

Hrmm... I'm tending to agree with the first two. The last one is fine, imho. There's only one, and that's the way it's always been. So it's never been a problem thread. But yeah, the second one... I once started one of those, and made nice long descriptions about people... but no matter how much of an example I would try to give, people would reply with such things as 'Funny.' or 'Weird.' So those posts ruin those threads, and thus, I agree with The Man.

quote:
Some sample questions and answers from the Senseless Questions Game
Q: Why do last bosses when beaten explode in a multitude of fireworks and bright lights which last seemingly an age? -OWA
A: So you know that it actually was the last boss and a random evil bug eyed alien from outer space isn't going to appear suddenly and turn out to be the real last boss instead. -mog42

Q: If store owners have enough money to pay 1.4 million gil for any mastered all materia you happen to have, why do they continue to sell titan bangles and grenades in the slums when they could retire to a tropical island? -mog42
A: Selling bangles of *any* kind is VERY rewarding work on a moral level, thank you very much. Should we all do things just because we can? -Spuuky

Q: how does cid's (from FF7) cigertte never go out? -Maester Auron
A: It's a Flame Cigarette, sort of like a Flame Shield, or a Flame Sword. It can't go out. Most cigarettes here in our world are just Poison Cigarettes, obviously, and so they damage your lungs instead of staying lit. -Spuuky

Q: Who supports weapon/armor salesmen when the "heroes" aren't in town? And why doesn't anyone just sell things like food, in most of the FF games? -Spuuky
A: The villains. And it doesn’t matter; the characters can go for months without eating. -The Man

Q: Why does Cefca look like an angel in the last battle? -The Man
A: Because Kefka *is* an angel, and the point of the story is to prove that even the evil minions of the dark lord, like Terra and company, see themselves as being on the good side of things. -Spuuky

Q: Who is Steve? -The Man
A: Adlai Stevenson. But seriously, who *isn't* Steve? Is there a good way to answer this question? Steve is Kishi incarnate in FFIV. His powers are unmatched - He's impossibly hard to acquire, of course. You need one of every item on the game, and then Cecil, Rydia, Kain, Edge, and Rosa merge into Steve. He can use every spell, including the elusive spell trout creck - which costs 250 MP and does a hell of a lot of damage. In terms of personality... Well, what can you really say about him? -Spuuky

OOC: To this, we might add that one has to use the Hentai book whilst standing in the Programmer's Room; otherwise, Steve will not show up. Also, you cannot possess more than one of any single item in the game for Steve to show up, and you'll need to have one of each item you can possibly collect. *nods* Otherwise, Steve is completely unattainable to mere mortals.

And... just look at his sprites. -The Man

Q: why doesn't the charecters change their clothes???
(a few exceptions in FFVII) -The Black Mage
A: The heroes have other things, like saving the world, that they need to accomplish. Given such an urgent mission, who really can afford the time they'd need to change their clothes under normal circumstances? Granted, when it becomes necessary to change one's clothes either (1) to gain extra skills needed for saving the world (as is prerequisite for learning Jobs in FFV) or (2) to disguise oneself as an identical clone to every other merchant or enemy henchmen for one's own deceitful, but ultimately good purposes (as in FFVI), then the amount of time necessary to change one's clothes can be justified. Otherwise, the outfits the heroes wear are not only easier to leave on, but they're also integral parts of their personalities. Given that, what character in an RPG really would want to change his or her clothes, anyway? -The Man

Q: If the diving helmet that Gau gives the party is really big enough to fit three or even four people, then how is it that the party could possibly be attacked while using it, and how could they possibly fight back using normal means? Wouldn't it be a submarine if it could fit four people? -The Man
A: Don't be silly. The diving helmet isn't a submarine, because they don't ride inside it. It's a helmet - designed for a three headed monkey, mind you, but a helmet nonetheless. The combat part is simple - the bodies detach from their heads to annihilate the feeble opposition they meet. It happens all the time. The fact that you see their heads during combat is a programming error, and nothing more. -Spuuky
I think this should be saved. The Anagrams thread is similarly fun; it begins to get really good around here.

Peace
The Man

07-01-2002, 02:37 PM
Kawaii Ryûkishi

Quote:

Originally posted by Loony BoB
In my opinion: No. No, no, no. Just because they're funny doesn't mean they should be archived... it's if they're sentimental, or classic. Those ones will be more than easily forgotten and dismissed, imho.

I disagree. Threads are usually considered classic because they're funny.
07-01-2002, 03:27 PM
Killy

After deleting all these threads, you could also delete the members who dont have any posts left...
07-13-2002, 02:39 AM
The Man

I've got a question: Since the pruning has been delayed, can we reopen the thread nominations thread? I've got some more stuff that I'd like saved, and I lack the power to nominate it now.

Also, how old exactly is the thread limit going to be? I went through threads to choose which ones to save on the assumption that the oldest thread pruned would be three months old, but I've heard whispers of a two-month limit. I'd like to have this clairified.

Peace
The Man
07-13-2002, 06:01 AM
crono_logical

Quote:

Originally announced by Kishi
So if you haven't yet saved your favorite threads, get on the freaking ball already, 'cause you're working on borrowed time now. *hugs*

I'll have to say no, The Man, since you're capable of IM/PMing us anyway :p

*suddenly has an image of being IMed reams of pages of threads* :D
07-14-2002, 05:25 PM
The Man

I still would like some clarification on the age limit of threads that will be saved. Just so... y'know.

Peace
Darth Manly
07-15-2002, 11:23 PM
Citizen Bleys

We'll be trimming anything that hasn't been posted in for over 60 days.