DocVersusThreadMode

Although it may feel strange to refer to oneself in the third person. It is in the opinion of this author that it is not necessarily inapporpriate.

The author has observed that almost all docs are currently being generated in ThreadMode, this seems somewhat unnatural and strained, especially for the act of creating the body of a document, such as a game night report. Further, I believe that the extensive usage of thread mode (and signed ones at that!) creates "ownership bubbles" and disrupts the collaborative nature of wikis.

I suggest that whenever possible, authors default to DocMode unless threaded conversation is the subject at hand, or a specific credit for an opinion or insight is being shared.

In attemping to stay in accordance with my current perception of the Seattle Cosmic Wiki ethos I have chosen to submit my text in third person whenever possible unless sharing a personal opionion or insight. However, keeping with currently perceived social norms I will continue to sign my submissions. NOTE: this creates an exceptionally strained narrative voice, one in which I am not at all satisfied with - it either makes me appear extremely arrogant or completely loony, possibly both. :-?

I look forward to other SC'ers comments/suggestions.

--JT_Thomas?

Thread Mode seems natural to me. Since SC began appearing as a wiki, I've become very appreciative of the differing perspectives offered by players/commenters. And being able to see the name at the end of the "bubble" enhances my understanding and enjoyment of a particular view.

Sometimes commenters get into an unenlightening back-and-forth, and I would like to see someone going in later and condensing that material. So this is a circumstance where I would like to see Doc Mode used. One of the circumstances for using Doc Mode: "If you write a comment and someone else queries one of your points or wants something clarified, don't write a 3rd comment: rewrite your original to make it clearer. And then delete the question so only your first comment remains." My impression is that only recently have we gotten into these point-counterpoint dialogues.

I would expect Doc Mode to appear more substantially where contributors are collaborating on, for example, a page devoted to a particular game, such as Alien City.

Maybe it's because I didn't grow up in wiki (I'm a fairly new convert) that I view wiki primarily as a communication tool rather than as a cultural or religious ethos. I like the flexibility of wiki, and that flexibility allows one to go well outside the ethos and do what one thinks works well for the communication at hand.

--John_Braley?

I agree that Thread Mode is useful for point-counterpoint style dialogs, and further agree with your observations about refactoring one's (and potenitally others!) comments for greater clarity. I too, am a relatively recent convert to wiki's having only observed [Ward's site as a interesting experiment when it first went online.

I also do not subscribe (at least not yet, not wholly) to the associated culture and implications of the eastern mysticism that appears by association with wikis - by the way these references are usually meant at least partially tongue-in-cheek. However, I do believe that the really truly great power available in a wiki is in moving ownership of communication towards a collective and collaborative public "commons" where all participants (including the originator) can collaborate on its continued growth.

--JT_Thomas?

It's been hard for this author (who is still new to wikis) to get out of the habit of referring to himself in the first person and creating these bubbles of ownership. Howerver, I feel it's worth doing. Yet even a slip-up from third person reference like this, creates a small bubble of ownership.

In some ways, Seattle Cosmic's SCWiki is breaking new ground. In most wikis, having "bubbles of ownership" works against what should be a dynamic living document. In (signed) thread mode it feels like bad manners to go in and change someone else's stuff and that strongly works against the dynamic nature of a wiki.

Seattle Cosmic's !SCWiki however, isn't really like most other wikis in that it's purpose is different. It's not trying to document someting like a software package or a body of knowledge, but rather it's about extending the real world conversations the group had during game night. Figuring out how and where to use Doc Mode vs. Tread Mode is thus, a little tricker. Understanding exactly what house rules we play by in the wiki is a collaborative game (kind of like nomic without the competitive destructive zero sum edge).

It's an ongoing process, but the meta-goal of the game is clear, simply to have a game that we all enjoy playing and no one feels like they lost.

--J_Random_Docmode? (i am no one and i have no ego. Because anyone may change what i say, i therefore speak for all)