EDIT 3: **Due to some bugs we’re delaying this feature until Lemmy 0.19.6 is released! **

The goal of c/Quarks has always been to help foster a sense of community for StarTrek.website, but it is just a generic “offtopic” community and does not really have an identity of it’s own on the Fediverse.

Thanks to the new feature in Lemmy 19.4, we can create true “local only” communities. And Quark’s can be what it was originally intended to be, a place for our users. This will allow us to better discuss what kind of experience users of this instance wish to have (not just provide) without all the dorks on less cool instances coming here and ruining our weather control network.

Smiling

EDIT: to those of you concerned about missing out on “trek-adjacent discussion” @ValueSubtracted@startrek.website has indicated they plan on loosening the “on topic” rule of /c/StarTrek to include more of that.

EDIT2: If anyone is interested in growing and operating a community on our instance, please feel free to reach out or comment here!

  • deegeese@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    18·
    6 months ago

    On my home instance, the community !meta@sopuli.xyz is for discussing issues specific to the instance, it’s not really relevant to people not using the instance.

    On startrek.website, the Quarks community seems to primarily discuss Star Trek adjacent topics which are of interest to many Trek fans.

    I think it’s great that you guys want a private community for discussing things only relevant to the instance. I just wish you hadn’t chosen to close a community with broad external interest.

    • Value Subtracted@startrek.websiteMEnglish
      61·
      6 months ago

      Thanks for the response.

      We’ll probably relax the rules on c/startrek a bit to allow a degree of Trek-adjacent content that we might have previously punted to Quark’s.

      I’m thinking of stuff like the Paramount acquisition drama, which is off-topic but clearly still relevant.

      Expanding outward from there into stuff like “here’s what Frakes is up to,” we approach territory that can be covered just as well elsewhere in the Fediverse.

      • deegeese@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        3·
        6 months ago

        Trek-adjacent discussions

        Literally the first topic of this community, according to the sidebar. Sales of expired Yamok sauce are also relevant to Trek fans on other instances.

        • Value Subtracted@startrek.websiteMEnglish
          2·
          6 months ago

          And to be clear, Trek-adjacent discussions will continue to be allowed in Quark’s. I just don’t think making the community private will be some great blow to the Fediverse.

          If it helps, we will allow sales of expired Yamok sauce in c/startrek, provided the seller can produce a certificate of authenticity.

          • StillPaisleyCat@startrek.websiteEnglish
            6·
            6 months ago

            I have to say that this makes me rather sad.

            Instead of drawing folks into the fandom tent with adjacent topics or broadening the discussion of established fans, it’s creating less conversation.

            I think that there’s a place for a ‘discuss the health of the instance’ conversation on a separate dedicated community, but also a Trek-adjacent general and open discussion. I consider Frakes’ career as a sci-fi director or the Paramount saga as adjacent.

            As long as it meets the norms of the instance in terms of civility, why not? Are the admins/mods truly being flooded with a high volume of spam from outside on Quarks?

            Last, I would like to note that without Quark’s being open, I doubt we’d have had the interest to create the Dr Who community. I think that it’s cool that it percolated up through the discussion.

            • SysAdmin@startrek.websiteOPMEnglish
              2·
              6 months ago

              I hear you, but “drawing folks into the fandom tent” was not what Quark’s (or the instance for that matter) was created for. Quark’s has always been “General off-topic chat for the crew of startrek.website.”.

              That said, if you or anyone else wanted to create a community with that or a related stated purpose (and promised to grow and actively maintain it in line with instance values) I would be more than happy to entertain the idea. But you can’t have mine lol

          • deegeese@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            6·
            6 months ago

            I just don’t see how closing everyone else out from Trek adjacent discussions helps the community.

            The whole point of federation is letting people with varied interests come together. It doesn’t work if every niche interest makes their “general” board private.

            • Value Subtracted@startrek.websiteMEnglish
              11·
              6 months ago

              I mean, if we’re talking about the sidebar…

              General off-topic chat for the crew of startrek.website.

              But I do understand and appreciate the perspective. It’s in-line with the internal discussion we had when making the decision.

              • deegeese@sopuli.xyzEnglish
                2·
                6 months ago

                But aren’t all Trek-related discussions on-topic?

                If you’re going to ban “outsiders” from off-topic chat, you should also ban on-topic chat from the off-topic community.

                • Value Subtracted@startrek.websiteMEnglish
                  1·
                  6 months ago

                  If the concern is that we’re going to have a sooper secret, members-only Star Trek discussion group, that is not the intent. If we were going to do that, we’d just make the instance private.