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The Miscellaneous forum was a forum in the Scratch Forums where Scratchers could discuss subjects that have little or no relevance to Scratch.
On January 26, 2012, the forum was closed due to difficult moderation, and was replaced by two new forums: Things I'm Making and Creating and Things I'm Reading and Playing. [1] The two new forums had more specific purposes and were easier to moderate.
If a topic had not been posted in for over two weeks, it closed automatically.
What the Forum Contained
The forum did not exactly have a set subject — it was simply a place to discuss almost anything, no matter the relevance to Scratch. However, some subjects were not allowed (and are still not allowed on the other forums, though are allowed on the main site[2]):
- Politics
- Religion
- Sexual orientation
- Subjects that could be harmful to other users
Chatrooms were and are not allowed either — while the forum was considered a chatroom by some, topics that were simply for chatting were not allowed and were closed by a moderator. However, discussion topics that have a set topic (e.g. Lego) were allowed, but would be closed if they became too chatty.
The full guidelines for the Miscellaneous forum can be found here.
However, some users have complained of unsuitable topics slipping into this forum.[3]
Activity
Most Scratchers that use the Scratch Forums like to chat with others — Miscellaneous had been the perfect place for this. The Miscellaneous forum was by far the most popular forum in the Scratch Forums — many Scratchers even went to the extent of only using the Scratch Forums for Miscellaneous, though this was impossible for newer Scratchers because they would have had the New Scratcher Status and could not post in Miscellaneous.
On typical days, the range of active topics would extend down to the third page of topics (with default settings).
Controversy of Removal
Many users protested constantly against the removal for a while, but it died down as Scratchers adjusted to the new forums. Many New Scratchers enjoyed the removal of the forum at the time, as they could not post in it.[4]
Occasionally in the Suggestions forum, "Bring back the Miscellaneous forum" topics were suggested, but were closed soon after. The Scratch Team has since rejected adding it back because it was difficult to moderate.[5]
