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View Poll Results: Would you be interested in having rewatch threads for older shows?
I'd rewatch some old stuff, sure. 3 60.00%
I'd watch old stuff I haven't watched before. 5 100.00%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 5. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 2015-10-14, 18:45   Link #1
cyth
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Age: 38
Rewatch subforum

Preamble

Older shows, once they're done airing, have to make way for newly released shows. In a matter of just a couple of years, shows are all but forgotten, with newer generations of fans focusing more on the shows they started out with. Active discussions work in their favor, whereas older shows have existing threads where they've been discussed to death. People looking for anime discussions are therefore incentivized to watch and discuss newer shows.

On AnimeSuki forums in particular, trying to restart an anime discussion as a curious new fan, or even as an older fan trying to relive the experience, forum rules state you do that in existing series threads or subforums. Duplicate threads are forbidden.

If there's interest to rekindle discussions, shouldn't discussing them be encouraged more systemically? Certain topics, for example piracy debates or dub debates, get recycled every few years. Moderators leave what are essentially duplicate threads alone because there's value to restart discussions with new participants at hand, fresh perspectives and years worth of new developments.

I'd argue it's the same for discussing anime. New fans, new fandom perspectives, new shows that build the surrounding ecosystem for discussion.


Proposal

What is a rewatch? A rewatch is an activity of watching older anime shows by old series fans or curious fans alike. I'd like to introduce a new subforum dedicated to rewatch threads, in which people could discuss anime on an agreed upon watching schedule. The rules of discussion would all be predetermined.

Now, I know what you're thinking. This subforum would essentially be home to a bunch of duplicate threads that probably wouldn't generate much discussion in comparison to original ones. Moreover, the resulting threads would negatively impact on search engine indexing. Read on about its organization and what are potential countermeasures against these two issues.


Example

I've recently rediscovered Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~, a TV anime from 2009 that I want to discuss. I could maybe post a rewatch thread on Reddit and possibly see it downvoted to oblivion, or I come to AnimeSuki and make a new thread in the rewatch subforum, asking people to watch it with me. I would do this by following these steps:

1. Open up a new rewatch proposal thread in the rewatch subforum with the show's title and rewatch period information.

2. In post body, type up basic series information and your rewatch thread preferences, such as rewatch scheduling, whether spoilers are allowed, whether discussing other media in the franchise is allowed etc.

3. Before publishing the new thread, set up a poll with two options which other users will cast their votes on to express interest. Basically, the same as I did in this thread.

Say 10 users apply for the rewatch in a matter of two weeks, then the OP is allowed to proceed with the discussion, either in the same thread or in a newly created one, with the current one getting deleted by the moderators or pruned sometime later.

Say 30 users apply for the rewatch in the same period, then each episode gets its own episode thread per scheduling preferences.

Say the thread doesn't get the minimum required users, it gets deleted or pruned after a certain period of time, with no rewatch allowed until another rewatch thread proposal is successful.

4. The rewatch starts if approved by moderators/rules of the rewatch subforum as per agreed upon scheduling, which users can coordinate in the original rewatch proposal thread.

5. When the rewatch schedule ends, the thread gets merged with the original discussion thread in Older series subforum, or in case of rewatch episode threads into original episode discussion threads in their respective anime series subforums. This way we prevent there being duplicate discussions forever.


Recommendations

If this proposal grabs your attention, read on. Negative impact on search engine indexing could be dealt with by preventing search engine bots access to the subforum or setting up a robots.txt. This means that rewatch threads won't be visible on Google. We don't need Google for them anyway and we protect AnimeSuki's PageRank.

As for the visibility of these threads, of course people will have to check out the rewatch forum to know what people want to rewatch and discuss anew. Other than that, moderators could put up periodic forum-wide announcements, giving further attention to certain rewatch threads that are taking off. This is just an extension to the proposal, nothing binding, of course.


I think this could be a feature that's fairly unique in fandom, a subforum that's basically a Kickstarter for discussing older shows. Thoughts? Possible adjustments to the proposed model? Thank you.
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Old 2015-10-15, 22:10   Link #2
Triple_R
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Darthtabby actually did something similar to this for the Mai-HiME 10th Anniversary. You can read about it here. Darthtabby seemed to have some measure of success with it, though I'm not sure he would have hit the numbers needed that's being suggested on this thread (10 users or more).

I certainly like the general idea behind your proposal here, cyth, but I wonder if it's more complicated than it needs to be?

Here's an alternate idea:

1. We have a Rewatch subforum where thread starters can propose older series to rewatch on a set schedule. We incorporate much of your own proposal into this first aspect.

2. Links are provided to old series subforums or series threads for the show being promoted for a rewatch.

3. Old episode threads on older subforums are unlocked by the Moderators, if they are currently locked. Current members participating in the rewatch can just make new posts on these existing episode threads in the event of a set rewatch proposal.


The benefits to my idea here is that it means we wouldn't have to worry about hitting a 10/30 member threshold, and Moderators wouldn't need to worry about creating/allowing new episode threads or eventually merging such threads into the original episode threads.

Your idea has some different benefits to it that are worth considering - Your idea is somewhat more likely to capture that "original viewing magic" that's hard to bottle back up once a show has finished airing - But I also think it might be too ambitious or complex for its own good. Still, I would certainly be prepared to support your idea here if the Moderating staff prefers it to what I'm putting forward here as an alternative.

I definitely see some value in trying to find good old shows that current AS members can watch/re-watch in a way that feels like a live weekly airing.
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Old 2015-10-15, 22:52   Link #3
Dr. Casey
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Triple's more streamlined version sounds nice, though both versions have their appeal. I'm completely in favor of the idea, anything that would allow for renewed Myself;Yourself discussion sounds good to me.
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Old 2015-10-16, 12:02   Link #4
cyth
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Of course those 10/30 thresholds are all arbitrary, but yeah considering how hard it is to get people to agree on a show, at least for starters it could be dropped down to 5? Even setting up a monthly rewatch through an elimination process could be a viable model. But then that would have to get promoted by mods.

The only reason I put some thought into it and made it into this Kickstartery thing with lots of pruning is because I'd hate seeing dead threads everywhere. Of course I like the more easygoing version myself. But I felt like I needed to come up with some protocol first.
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Old 2015-10-21, 08:24   Link #5
ChainLegacy
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I've noticed that weekly rewatch threads are a staple on subreddits for finished series. It seems like a great idea and also a way to promote user participation in selecting what series is being re-watched, etc.

To my eyes it will nicely complement the new reviews subforum. It seems prudent to migrate towards (while not completely embracing) the increased user input model that's currently being promulgated across the web.
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Old 2015-10-21, 11:21   Link #6
cyth
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The downside of Reddit is that those threads are on the front page for maybe two days, then nobody notices them anymore. With an organized, dedicated subforum rewatch threads could actually reach more people.
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Old 2015-11-12, 00:32   Link #7
Darthtabby
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With Macross Delta and a new season of Full Metal Panic on the way, I've been considering trying to do group watchs of Full Metal Panic and/or Macross Frontier. However I was hoping to gear them somewhat towards newcomers.

BTW Cyth, a recent comment of yours is part of the reason I'm thinking of doing an event like this for Full Metal Panic.
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Old 2015-11-12, 09:30   Link #8
cyth
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Okay, here's another possible version.

First thing I have to say is that I misread parts of Triple_R's model. I don't agree with it for the reason he exposed, which is I'd prefer to aim for the original viewing magic. Also I think there's too much work involved in opening up old episode threads. But I do agree that the kickstartery nature makes it too complex, so I propose the following changes:

  • First, let's assume the rewatch subforum is going through a test period where we don't allow episode threads, we allow only full series discussions.
  • The new protocol gets rid of the proposed kickstartery nature. Instead, a success of a rewatch thread can be measured by its activity. If there is no activity for a full month, either organizing the rewatch or discussing the show, threads get deleted or auto-pruned. Only rewatches with a modicum of success get their anime discussions merged back to original discussion threads, while the rest of the thread gets deleted. After a rewatch is complete, organizers ask moderators for help with this.
  • Rewatch organizers are allowed to link to the rewatch thread in old series threads or in "general discussion" topics in old series' subforums. This gives the rewatch threads another advertising avenue.
  • Organizers should also appeal to thread participants that they subscribe to the threads, so as to not forget about them.

In short, points 3. and 4. of the original proposal get replaced by the auto-pruning mechanism, points 1., 2., and 5. stay, advertising of rewatches allowed in original threads.

I think I dumbed it down enough.
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Old 2015-11-12, 20:03   Link #9
Darthtabby
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My suggestion is to have two subforums -one for the rewatches themselves, and one for organizing and promoting them. Each rewatch proposal should have its own thread in the organization subforum. Yes, that may mean a lot of threads, but it will make things a lot easier for the organizers if they're not tripping over each other in one thread. It will also help a lot with generating interest, which is going to be essential for success.

Having a forum for rewatches specifically will also be helpful at generating interest. It will put the rewatches somewhere visible rather than buried in old retired subforums that people rarely check.
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