Adding a 'WoW expansion leak' section until Blizzcon

[Kuthe]

I use the forum filter where I can, but as of late (and it happens every year) the WoW General Discussions tab runs rampant with fake and poorly written fan-fiction expansion 'leaks', so I was wondering if it was possible to create a new section specifically for them (and for mods to transfer them into there from General) during this time every year when they go crazy.
Not really expecting anything to happen this year as we've only got 3 weeks left until they calm down, but maybe for next year? Because I like seeing the recent General discussions on the front page tab, but not when 2 out of every 3 are expansion fan-fictions claiming to be real.

[Echoherb]

It only goes on for a month or so before an expansion announcement. It's really not a big deal. People are just hyped for the announcement.

[Lochton]

Sounds more wasteful to have a 'leak' subforum that basically would just be deleted later on.

[valky94]

i wouldnt mind this, so i got something to read in the morning while having breakfast

[phealin]

Sounds more wasteful to have a 'leak' subforum that basically would just be deleted later on.

Why delete it after though? Could be fun to have as an archive where you can go back and check once the expansion is released to see how close (or far off) people were when "leaking" information :P

[Nefarious Tea]

Why not just... have mods delete these stupid posts and ban repeat offenders, curtailing the spread of false - and often patently stupid - information.

[Marrilaife]

Hard to "ban them" when it's an inundation of 1-post accounts. But yeah, agreed they should be cleaned up, it's a pile of uncreative copy pasta from each other litter. Constantly the same ideas recycled. Many of them worst examples of implausible wishful thinking.

[Temp name]

Why not just... have mods delete these stupid posts and ban repeat offenders, curtailing the spread of false - and often patently stupid - information.

Because they don't want to close down a thread that ends up being true. So they stay alive until blizzcon and then they close the fake ones

[Splenda]

I can't speak for a dedicated section, but on the topic of deleting them:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...1#post47097397

As said in the tons of other leak threads in Suggestions & Feedback: As a general rule, we allow leak threads.

The moderator team has no way to tell which are legitimate and which are not. We don't want to accidentally shut down a genuine leak thread, and we HAVE gotten genuine leak threads in years past.

Not only do we not want to do delete a real thread, we also don't want to give people false hope with action on a fake thread. We have also have discovered from the past experience that closing or deleting threads also leads to people reading into it overly much and thinking those leaks are real (track record so far from prior expacs: none of those aforementioned closed/deleted have been). There's a thread here recently in S&F as an example. We've also had people make threads of Reddit, etc, reading into the accidental deletion of a thread. Any action we take on these is interpreted by the community as a sign of validity.

People like to speculate. As long as people are having fun speculating and discussing in leak threads, that is a good thing. If people stopped caring and responding to them, they would probably lose their appeal to make when they got no replies and dropped off the first page, and everyone and their mother would stop making BS threads. But so far the community has suggested with their focus and action that they enjoy these.

If you see a "leak" thread that is obviously trolling or fake, report it and we'll review it and close if necessary. And by "obviously fake" I don't mean "this doesn't sound genuine" I mean things that are really, really, really blatantly made up: parodies of other threads, MS paint "screenshots," Dora the Explorer themed, whatever.

[Souflikar]

i wouldnt mind this, so i got something to read in the morning while having breakfast

At the rate they are coming in today, make that breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight snack..........etc. :-)

[Kaleredar]

Because they don't want to close down a thread that ends up being true. So they stay alive until blizzcon and then they close the fake ones

I can't speak for a dedicated section, but on the topic of deleting them:

But... Who cares if it turns out to be true? None of it means anything until Blizzcon, which has far more information than any thread could provide, rendering the thread useless. What's to be gained from a "See this thread posted a month ago?!?! See it?! IT WAS RIGHT!" Sure, great. Where do you go from there? What further purpose does the thread hold?

The thread just gets forgotten in short order anyway as people begin to speculate with some degree of ACTUAL certainty based on information actually released by Blizzard.


Frankly I think "WoW expansion leak" threads should instead be immediately closed and the OPs infracted for posting conspiracy theories because all they do is clutter up space. If someone wants to post their shitty headcannon/be an armchair game developer they can do so in a "What if..." type thread instead, as opposed to asserting it like some certainty.

[MrKnubbles]

I enjoy reading them. It's fun to speculate and to see what kind of ideas people have.