Not actually being interested in the trope articles

BaronGrackle

This is something I found out about here, which I never really expected. Show of hands; how many of you just don't really care about the tvtropes articles, but really really love the forums? The concept is just baffling to me... there are forums everywhere one could go to instead.

On an unrelated topic, since I'm not editing trope pages or posting in the forums there, but I AM still reading the trope articles, wouldn't this make me a reader instead of a troper? Therefore, tvtropes is written for ME!!!!!! (lightning strikes)

DYRE

-raises hand-

Actually, even more specifically, IJBM is the only board I really care about, so I don't even bother reading the TV Tropes forums anymore, for the most part. (there is exactly one topic I visit the site for)

BaronGrackle

So when you guys talk about Google bans and such... it's not the trope articles you're sad to see disappear? It's access to reading the forums?!

Trash_Vortex

I used to read articles just for the examples. Now, the examples are pretty meaningless to me, unless it's a "I wonder if anyone mentioned X..." kind of dealio. I do read the wiki from time to time, although often only works pages. I feel they give me more information on a work's actual story and details than any other summaries.

MousaThe14

I'm still interested in the pages but I'm not as active in reading them as I used to. They're a sometimes thing. Definitely interested in the forums, though.

DYRE

^^^ For a lot of people, yes.

Vorpy

I like the summaries, the WMG, Fridge and Troper Tales of a page, and SOME  of the tropes are helpful if they aren't stupid.

Also deleting opinions I don't believe in is fun, which is why I like wikis.

RedEyedAbyss

The forums aren't really all that great. Aside from the left side subforums and old IJBM, they're a place where nothing actually happens. It was more interesting when Live Bloginations was hosted there, but they're so ill-supported by the site that Fast Eddie seemed to have put up a system as an afterthought to appease its fans.

In contrast, reading the wiki is very interesting to see the varying perspectives of fictional works, and of course, the recurring elements.

DYRE

Eh.  The wiki is pretty boring too.  Most works pages are even more boring than the threads about works on the forums, which is saying a lot since the forum threads are all just WMGs and fanart spamming (for popular things anyway.  Otherwise it's just like three people occasionally saying what happened in the last episode they watched and not actually having a discussion).

Vorpy

^ (subjective)

RedEyedAbyss

Admittedly, once you've read over them enough, the works pages really can't give a good impression of what the story is like, but only what the basics are. Though I always relish reading articles with names like Dick Dastardly Stops To Cheat and Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him?

Trash_Vortex

The forums are pretty boring now. Back last year there was drama just about every day. I got exasperated, but it was on the whole more interesting. I thought I'd never be able to tear myself away, and it feels weird to think that I actually have.

Vorpy

The forums are boring to me now because of how much we can't discuss over there.

GLORIOUSLeader

Edit Banned was really the only thread I truly enjoyed. It's gone, of course, because... actually I have no idea why it was deleted. 

RedEyedAbyss

Someone took the joke too far.

GLORIOUSLeader

But IIRC, there were only two thumped posts, so what was the big deal?

nohaynicklibre

I like reading pages from time to time.

MoeDantes

I actually quite enjoy the TV Tropes forum, but its true I don't read the wiki itself much and usually only read the works pages.  Usually I don't read the tropes unless someone potholes one in a discussion and I don't know what it means, and in those cases I don't read the examples at all.

I think there's a lot of room for improvement though.  The Works pages in some cases could be more complete.  The My Little Pony one mentions there are three "generations" and then barely talks about any and skips "G2" altogether.  Not to sound egotistical but when I wrote the entry for the King's Field games I tried to put in everything I knew about them, even including alternate versions and availability, and I would hope others would follow that example.  And as for the Trope articles, personally I think half of them need to be deleted entirely, for the exact reason that they are "People Sit On Chairs" tropes.

DYRE

Yeah, I agree with what you said about works pages not being thorough enough.

But then, that's because people are only going to write about what they're familiar with.  It's like how in any page for an anime/manga/light novel, the summary focuses almost entirely on the anime (especially when the original work was a light novel series, since those very rarely get translated) even when the original work was a lot different and had a lot of tropes of its own, just because most tropers aren't going to have read the original work.

Likewise, My Little Pony isn't very popular among the demographics that tropers represent, except for the most recent series.

Chagen

I love reading examples....

BaronGrackle

Sometimes when I see a trope example on a works page, I click the link and try to find the work example listed on the trope page. I love how they're different descriptions, with the best cases being entertaining to read each time.

RedEyedAbyss

As a general rule, I tend to make the works page version of the example more abridged, while the trope page version explains more. That's the impression I get from the way the examples are usually written.

MoeDantes

But then, that's because people are only going to write about what they're familiar with.

Even so, they can still be more thorough. The My Little Pony article could, for example, list all the TV series and direct-to-video movies, even if the authors or editors don't actually know much besides the names.

In my King's Field article, I hadn't played the PSP or Mobile Phone games (seeing as they're Japan-only), but I still mentioned them (and even provided links to the Japanese homepages for the mobile phone ones) and tried to tell what I knew.

DYRE

Yeah, not doing that just indicates a lack of effort.  Though, as it's a wiki, you can always do it yourself, I suppose.

ninjaclown

Recruitment drive for those knowledgeable in the areas where the wiki is lacking>

Stormtroper

Nowadays I don't read trope pages often, and very rarely pages for works I know little about. For works I do know about, I only read them for trivia and the "I wonder if anyone mentioned X" thing. The summaries don't really tell me anything

The more I've been interested in the forums, the less I've been interested in the wiki.

snowbull

I was interested in the wiki at first, but the forums captured my attention far more, and eventually I realized that the wiki along with everything else I liked at the time sucked.

TheMightyAnonym

-raises hand-

I still go on wiki walks from time to time.

Turtle

As I've mentioned repeatedly elsewhere on the board, I liked the wiki until I started seeing Natter, Audience Reactions, and negativity in general being ruthlessly squashed; and SPOON basically begin running the renaming show.

GLORIOUSLeader

-wishes to avoid inevitable derail-

RocketDude

I do have several articles on my Watchlist that I police just to fix new edits.