[Hobbie]

Because Greece doesn't actually exist.  It's all a conspiracy by the HUKAA (Hidden United Kingdom Australia Alliance) to enact stricter gun control laws.

The soccer ball is more dangerous anyway. An elegant weapon... for a more civilized age.

[Lorric]

The soccer ball is more dangerous anyway. An elegant weapon... for a more civilized age.

Indeed. An unfortunate boy felt it's power recently:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/23446840

And he was just up in the stands where much of the weapon's power would have diminished by the time it hit. These gladiators on the pitch are insane handling a weapon of such power:

[The E]

Lorric, try to stick to the topic, please.

[Lorric]

Now in all seriousness, we have a situation here that I don't think I've seen before on HLP. We haven't actually had a discussion on Greece in this thread. The OP ended up ignored basically from the start. Even the first post by Nakura, while on topic, showed he had turned away from the video in disinterest. No one wants to discuss the video it seems.

[The E]

That does not mean that the thread has no topic. It does not give you licence to post something completely unrelated in response to a joke that someone else made.

Please understand this: Someone making a joke or slightly tangential post is completely fine. What isn't fine is following up on that tangent (unless it's a seriously interesting tangent) without adding something substantial. In this topic, we drifted into conspiracy theories for some reason, with added gun control. We did not suddenly veer off into soccer-related injuries.

[Lorric]

Not even if it's another joke? I'm lead to believe humour is fine on HLP.

[NGTM-1R]

That was not a joke.

[The E]

This is going to be another installment of "Lorric learns proper forum etiquette", isn't it.

Here's how it goes. Someone posts a topic. Then that topic evolves in ways that cannot be predicted, and a real topic people want to discuss emerges. All through this process, people will come and go, some contributing to the discussions, others making jokes and opening up other tangents.

Do note that jokes are not tangents. A tangent is a separate discussion thread that has split off from the main one, and which can be just as interesting (and, in some cases, take over the discussion or be split off into a separate one) as the original thread. What you did here was to follow up on a joke with something not really funny. You posted a link to a somewhat heartwarming news report, and a yt video of people playing with burning balls. Neither of those is in any way related to the actual topic of the thread at the time, which was conspiracy theories.

This is somewhat annoying, and something you do a lot of. It's what we refer to when we say that you are prone to off-the-cuff stream of consciousness rambling, and we'd like to see less of it. Ask yourself, before posting, whether or not your addition to the thread is an actual addition (as in, it furthers the discussion), a joke, or a tangential exploration of something. The first one is OK. The second one too. The third one, only when it's actually opening up other interesting discussions. What you did here was a tangential exploration of a joke, and that is tedious unless done really well.

[Lorric]

Perhaps your sense of humour just doesn't match. I saw it as amusing. I wouldn't have posted it if I did not. I was not trying to provoke some sort of soccer-related discussion.

Hobbie stated that the humble soccer ball had somehow become a weapon of great power. Now, even in sports, if you're going to go for a dangerous ball, the humble soccer ball is going to come low on the list. I saw it as enhancing what he said, trying to make it look as if the soccer ball is indeed dangerous, with an utterly freak injury and an obscure game played with a flaming ball.

[The E]

Hobbie used a Star Wars quote. It was not a literal declaration of "Soccer balls are powerful weapons". It was not an invitation to explore the weapon potential of soccer balls. That's something that you came up with on your own.

Seriously, have you never heard "an elegant weapon ... for a more civilized age" before?

[Lorric]

Hobbie used a Star Wars quote. It was not a literal declaration of "Soccer balls are powerful weapons". It was not an invitation to explore the weapon potential of soccer balls. That's something that you came up with on your own.

Seriously, have you never heard "an elegant weapon ... for a more civilized age" before?

I thought it was just a throwaway nonsense post like that hidden UK/Australian thingy before it. Yeah, I recognise the quote now, it's Obi Wan talking about the lightsabre.

Even if I did though, I probably would have still made the post. I still like the idea of taking something like that and trying to give it form.

[The E]

Even if I did though, I probably would have still made the post. I still like the idea of taking something like that and trying to give it form.

And that's fine if you do it for your own amusement. When posting about them though, you should ask yourself "Is there anyone in this discussion who would be interested in it as well?"
The answer, in most cases (and that goes for everyone, not just you), is no. What you personally are interested in is probably not that interesting to others. If you think so anyway, and if you know that you're going wildly off-topic, consider making an entirely new thread. Noone's going to mind those much.

Or, you know, get a Twitter account. Twitter is perfect for this sort of stuff.

[Lorric]

How am I supposed to know if what is amusing to me is amusing to others or not? If it amuses me, surely it has a very good chance of amusing others? I can't tell if other people will find something amusing or not, only if I find it amusing.

I had no intention of going off topic. I imagined it would be simply a funny post. I was just trying to do something nice.

[The E]

Jokes are highly subjective, it's true, and therefore hard to judge.

But let us compare your post and Hobbie's. Hobbie's post is a simple, elegant line that quotes Star Wars in the canonical way. You, on the other hand, took what he said literally, looked for (or knew about) a news item that had someone injured by a soccer ball (and seriously, that's less funny and more sad, if you think about it), and then posted a video about people doing dangerous-looking things with soccer balls.

There's no punchline there. Hell, there's hardly a good throughline! It's two only tangentially related items grouped together. That's not humour, that's just listing things. The reaction I get isn't a slight chuckle (as in Hobbie's case), but more a "so that happened" kind of thing.

I had no intention of going off topic. I imagined it would be simply a funny post. I was just trying to do something nice.

In cases like this, you seem oblivious to what the topic actually is. You simply post what's on your mind at the time with no thought spared as to how it fits into the thread. All we ask you to do is to take a step back, ask yourself what it is you want to do and say, and whether or not the words you used actually do have the effect you're shooting for, whether you laid out your thoughts coherently, and whether or not your thoughts are relevant to the subject.

[Lorric]

In cases like this, you seem oblivious to what the topic actually is. You simply post what's on your mind at the time with no thought spared as to how it fits into the thread. All we ask you to do is to take a step back, ask yourself what it is you want to do and say, and whether or not the words you used actually do have the effect you're shooting for, whether you laid out your thoughts coherently, and whether or not your thoughts are relevant to the subject.

Do you mean that's what you thought because you didn't see it as an attempt at humour, just a strange post?

The thought process for something like this for me is very simple. Is it funny? I thought so. That's all I need. If others find it funny, great. If not, it's harmless. Jokes fall flat sometimes, but they do no harm.

In a general sense, what you say I do think I'm getting better at. There are many posts these days you do not see that the old me would have posted.

[Luis Dias]

I think that's very true Lorric.

[Lorric]

I think that's very true Lorric.

That is very nice of you to say if you mean you've noticed I've improved.

[Luis Dias]

Yes.

[Lorric]

Yes.

Thank you. It means a lot.

[karajorma]

Getting closer to a destination doesn't mean that you've arrived though. I've got to say that I see a lot of posts that I think are still largely unnecessary. Not just from you, but you are one of the worst offenders.