Coming into this mysterious and crazy place that is known as the Sweet FA, it can be a bit daunting and… well, insane. There are tons of excellent posters and pieces of media that get dropped on the daily. But it’s the new kids on the block that seem to be stealing the limelight in Season 25. So I’ve created a series that celebrates and recognises the up and coming posters; the future of the Sweet FA.
This season continues to live up to the hype about it being one of the strongest rookie classes in SFA history and the feedback from the first Rookie Round Table showed that this is a claim supported by many.
Once again, I’ve assembled a great group of SFA Rookies to join me to share their time and thoughts, and then open it up to you – the wider population – to discuss and offer your own opinions on the topics.
As rookies, we offer a fresh and new perspective – potentially offering new insights and opinions to topics or debates that have raged for seasons. Join us as we discuss our stories and offer potential solutions to make the Sweet FA a little bit sweeter.
We’ve retained the same line-up from Week 1, with the incomparable BLERN, the classy por_please_ya and a killer combo of U2tigers and GotTheGoodes to top it off. I’m just along for the ride.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be adding further talented posters to the line-up and hope to feature more of the excellent rookie crop of S25.
M411: Alright guys, this week's question. What is your opinion on match threads as they are in S25?
BLERN: Well I suppose I’m probably expected to have a few things to say about match threads...
I think there are many different ways to engage and enjoy a match thread and tbh, It doesn’t necessarily have to be all Qooty relevant. It’s difficult at the best of times to stay on topic for a whole week and still be witty, funny, entertaining. It’s possible to engage with people while talking about nothing in particular and draw others into those conversations with Qooty talk flowing in and out of the convo.
The only threads I haven't enjoyed are the ones where people just go into full on insult each other mode. I just don’t understand where the enjoyment in that is.
PPY: I second BLERN's comment about the struggle to be relevant and witty for the entire week, especially when you've got very funny and clever posters on both teams. Then there is also the pace to consider - occasionally match threads churn through five or so pages in one day (20 per day when Dawn to Dark was still here). You'd get home from work and you've missed half of the banter and it's hard to edge your way back into the conversation. Other times, the match thread is so slow and you're yawning and find you're only talking to your own teammates (and BLERN).
When I first joined the SFA I thought ALL match threads were about insulting one another and that was my approach in the first few games. I soon realised there was much more to it than that. In fact one of my favourite Rounds was against the Bears. JoshWoodenSpoon and ArgusTuft were great fun to chat with. There was light-hearted teasing etc but mostly it was just fun conversation about lots of random things, including Qooty. I like those kind of match threads best.
GTG: I second both Blearny & PPY.
I think the criticism of non-Qooty banter & "spam" is a bit OTT given the majority is just posters trying to stay engaged & entertained. Everyone does it differently. But I do agree that the extremes one way or the other aren't ideal.
A match thread where nothing happens is s**t. It's boring unless I engage with teammates. Then we're criticised for being "insular". If you don't post as much one week to another that's cool. People have lives. But if you are consistently disengaged with the banter & match threads then what is your reason for being here? I don't get it. Isn't that kinda most of the point of being here? Even a handful of posts every week or so is still a fair contribution IMO. Just as long as you pop your head in every now & then I don't think that low activity should be criticised. I'm more concerned about posters who don't contribute & have complete inactivity but still want to be on an SFA list & more importantly want to take the important roles (e.g. LG) & positions (e.g. on ball) for their team still.
On the other hand, when there is too much mindless dribble posted then it makes the thread impossible to follow & just as impossible to be included in. I'll raise my hand & say I've been a part of that before & I've learnt that getting 100, 150 or 200 posts in a match thread gave me a weird sense of pride but I know some of it wasn't my best work or particularly engaging or beneficial to the thread.
This leads me into the quality of posting. Quantity isn't quality. Likewise, just because you are quick witted or funny you can still be an abrasive, up yourself, smug douchebag. My most disliked posting is the abrasive stuff. The "banter" that is antagonistic or overly smug. The subtle digs. The underhanded comments. All that reminds me of Boys Club crap of seasons past & is the last thing I want to be a part of. I think Cloud_ & the SFA leaders should give themselves a pat on the back for cleaning up the league a bit this season. Re-introducing fun & quality to the league as opposed to the nasty spitefulness I remember seeing which prevented me from joining sooner in previous seasons.
U2: I will start by saying the only threads I haven't enjoyed are the dead ones. As one of the most active in match threads, if I see a thread go quiet, I always try and get it moving again, by bagging the other team with Qooty talk. As a Ruck person I always try and bring a rivalry into the thread against that particular opposition poster. Sadly though not all match threads will be active.
That’s all good though, everyone has differing amounts of time they can commit, and some are more invested then others, which is fine. This is the most active I have been on BigFooty, and it’s due to not just enjoying the SFA, but it’s also as I have more time on my hands since my youngest just left home. I am filling the void.
The more active the thread the more I love it. Bring on the banter, if everyone cannot take things personally and are able to have a laugh at themselves then that is the recipe for a great thread. But there has also been a time where I have seen spamming at the ridiculous level, which really ruined a thread also. Luckily though that was in the first few rounds, and I it hasn’t happened for a while now.
Lastly, Qooty fatigue is definitely a thing, you can see it now. Sadly at the Wonders it is very noticeable. Hopefully come finals time, my team mates are rejuvenated.
M411: Great answers, guys. I tend to think along the same lines in a way – every match thread is different and changes depending on the dynamic and history between posters and teams. It’s silly to expect a definitive type of thread that has the same, consistent themes and style each week.
Personally, I’ve found myself – due to time and circumstances mostly – disengaged some weeks as there is absolutely zero interesting discussion. At times, I’ve tried to kick start banter and chat and it’s felt like talking to a brick wall (actually, at least brick walls have a purpose #sorrynotsorry).
I subscribe to your method of trying to get banter started U2 i.e. taking on your direct opponent for the week (I try to do this each round) in a Qooty context. That doesn’t happen enough in my opinion.
I’d love to see more Qooty banter, but that’s just me.
The Sweet FA is changing, however and the days of 5-page threads are in the past.
M411: Moving on from this, we've seen BLERN try his hand at it this week. But in your opinion, what role does the preview play and is it worthy in its current form?
PPY: I think the preview does play a role mainly as a conversation starter. A well written preview makes me excited about the week. You always notice the first few comments - "Great summary" or "worst preview ever" haha. Also when you are a rookie you don't know who anyone is, so a good first post has helped me establish who the big players are.
U2: No offense BLERN, but they all look the same now.
I just take a quick glance and then get posting. I would really like to see someone change them up a bit, but I am too lazy to be that someone. To be honest I haven't paid too much attention to them.
BLERN: None taken. I kind of agree. I had some ideas on certain things I could do to make it slightly more interesting but time constraints meant I didn't really do anything overly different and went for the more generic approach.
Funnily enough though with the shitstorm I created by posting them so early and then having them locked for a day, as soon as they did open people did seem to flood into them more than the last few weeks. But maybe I just noticed it more due to the slightly higher number of tags I was receiving.
GTG: The preview can be a fantastic way to kick off the week. It can raise discussion points about things like rivalries, match ups or form. Even the "generic" one's can still have the desired effect. Not everything has to be award level worthy to have its place around here.
Although I think Yakker & JoshWoodenSpoon should team up & bring us their own unique graphical representation of a preview... It could be something amazing.
U2: That would be great to see, someone should put it to them.
M411: Calling Yak and JWS.
I personally think there's huge potential there but due to timing and the fact that they're managed by just one poster per week, the quality is limited.
What do we think about a different poster per preview (up to 8 a week)? Obviously harder to find people for, but the quality would undoubtedly improve.
GTG: Hard to time something like that. You'd get a BLERN who would put theirs up the Sat morning before the round but then you'd get others who might be busy who wouldn't be able to get around to it until Tuesday.
No one likes seeing another match thread kick off while you're stuck twiddling your thumbs (or whatever it is you do in your spare time on the internet... ahem).
BLERN: I agree that it could be a complete shambles if you had 6 different people posting a match thread each. But only needing to do 1 really would cut down the time required to write it up, and would likely improve the quality of them. You would still get heaps of standard threads, but more quality ones.
Maybe the answer to the release timing issue would simply just be a sub forum where they could be posted before being moved into the main thread.
U2: Or each writer of a match thread had a deadline where they had to submit to a nominated mod, say Monday at 1800 hrs.
Writers could write them at their own leisure and send to the mod when they wanted as long as they beat the deadline.
M411: Yeah I like it. It'd be interesting to see this conversation opened up to the wider SFA.
Any final thoughts, team?
U2: A shout out to my opposing ruck this week, CakeEater, prepare to hurt. A Qooty lesson is coming your way.
BLERN: #thestreak
Don’t touch our loss bears. It’s ours!!
Thanks for coming to another Rookie Round Table, guys. Until next week.
Ophidian Old Boys
you'd think that ya'll were texting me!
