"Balance of Terror" Line-by-Line!

[Ziz]

Yeah, but it's more fun with lots of people contributing all the way through as opposed to two people running the thread non-stop. There was one of the DS9 threads where two people were going back and forth for literally HOURS at it. I had to pull up the transcript and plan a line to squeeze in almost 20 or 30 lines AHEAD because they were working it so fast.

 

[Vanyel]

Still it's fun, you have to use strategy, plan ahead, find a spot and jump on it. Sometimes, when the post are going at warp speed, I just type in the next line, more often than not I get it in. I did that a lot in the Q Who? thread which was a record breaking thread. Once you get the rhythm of the thread you can post at will. It's rather easy. I don't even use any online transcripts. They're not 100% correct.

Then like in this thread I posted once. I considered not posting in these threads at all when a board member, in another thread in another forum, said I wasn't content to "spam the fuck" out of the line by line. Idiot thing for someone to say, but it didn't stop me, because I wasn't spamming I was playing by the rules set forth.

Some of these line by lines I don't feel like playing so I post once just so I can get a shot at being the next chooser, or I willing give up my chance to post, like I did here.

When it comes right down to it, it's a game. I've been shut out of the warp speed posts, no big deal. Because it's a game. Do you complain if you can't hit a pitch because the pitcher can throw the ball too fast for you to hit? No, you just try.

Yes there a few of us who can play fastball here, and we sometimes get thrown off because some took their shot and beat us to the next post. These lines by line are dog eat dog. Remember what Q said:

If you can’t take a little bloody nose maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It’s not safe out here... ...it’s not for the timid.

 

[Alienesse]

Yeah, but it's more fun with lots of people contributing all the way through as opposed to two people running the thread non-stop. There was one of the DS9 threads where two people were going back and forth for literally HOURS at it. I had to pull up the transcript and plan a line to squeeze in almost 20 or 30 lines AHEAD because they were working it so fast.

Not being able to get a line in has happened to me a lot as well, but I didn't find it all that frustrating. After all, like Vanyel says, it's only a game.

I don't think people who post fast do it deliberately to shut out other possible participants. You just get into the rhythm and go with it. It's part of why this game is fun.

Besides, from what I've noticed, these threads aren't always a constant flux of posts. There are pauses in the posting frenzy when it's easier to participate.

 

[Ziz]

I'm not trying to blame anyone in particular because I know there's different pairings of posters who do it depending on which series the thread is in, people's different schedules and other things like that. My point is that it seems like something that's supposed to be relaxing and fun occasionally gets turned into a competition sport where you have to fight to be involved at all.

I don't expect to be able to run a thread marathon like other people - I don't even WANT to. I would like to be able to get in more than one line per thread is all.

 

[Vanyel]

Ziz, all I can say is, you don't have to run a marathon, the beginning and middle of a episode in a line by line are usually the slowest. Jump in. Throw in a few lines. At most other times you have to plan ahead. For me, that's what makes it fun, waiting to jump in on a line of dialogue I want to post. No one is intentionally shutting you, or anyone, out.

Personally, I find slow threads dull; I enjoy the exhilaration and fun of a fast paced thread. But that is just me. This thread took 9 days, 20 hours and 18 minutes from start to finish. There was plenty of time for anyone to post.

Then once the post is done get in on the fun we now seem to be having after the thread is done, posting random bits of dialogue from other episodes or movies from that series we're posting, or Monty Python. You might have noticed me, posting "Red Alert." once the episode is finished, other pick up on it and continue, or in particularly inventive bit started switching episodes. (Which has given me an idea for a thread, but I haven't thought it through enough to try it out.)

Please, don't misinterpret what I'm saying as an attack on you. I'm just giving you some advise on how and the best times to post.

 

[Vanyel]

BTW, oh Exalted One, Creator of line by lines, most holy thread beginner, CoveTom, is the next thread starting? Or should the other guy, Leadhead, start the new thread?

 

[LeadHead]

I'm "The Other Guy?"

 

[Vanyel]

Hi Mr, Leadhead, sir. I didn't want to say it, some older kids made me.

 

[LeadHead]

Detention!

 

[CoveTom]

I think this is an interesting discussion about the "proper" way to do line-by-line threads, and I'm interested to hear what everyone has to say, but if you all are chomping at the bit to move on to the next thread, we can do so.

And LeadHead, I've never thought of you as "the other guy." Read the threads. You're "my youthful ward."

 

[Enterprise1981]

I'm ready to proceed with the next one.

 

[Vanyel]

Either continuing the discussion or starting the new thread is fine with me.

And Leadhead is CoveTom's padawan.

 

[Admiral Shran]

As someone who quiet often is partially responsible for the warp speed line-by-lines, I can tell you that I'm not trying to shut anyone out. I just like spamming the hell out of them.

 

[Leandar]

Let's get started.

 

[Enterprise1981]

Let's get it started in here. (here, of course, being the ST:Enterprise forum)

 

[CoveTom]

Alright, the discussion seems to have died down, so...

Let's Go!