Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum

Arkcon · #1 May 29th, 2004, 08:03 PM

Ok. I can relate to the dilemma Shrapnel Games is having. I used to browse the OS/2 Warp forums on an old forgotten Online service called Delphi. It was a good place to find small programs, and discussion. Back in the old days before the web went everywhere. The OS/2 Warp forum was very Microsoft critical, shocking as that may be. It was also highly political, every thread came down hard any just about any US g'ovt policy. It got to the point at which I really felt like any comment I made was going to be shot down by the regulars. Eventually, Delphi changed its policies, and closed the forum, and didn't leave the Moderators much choice for a new forum.

Long story short, I can relate to how off topic conversations can make newbies feel unwelcome. And that could have a negative impact on the usefulness of this forum.

But...

1). Our off topic conversations aren't like those on Delphi. It's not some clique spouting off some personal ideology and drop kicking anyone with a dissenting opinion. We're very diverse here. Not just different political ideas, but a wide range of countries, with their own cultural norms.

2). We don't have hard evidence that anyone feels locked out of our conversations, only a possible supposition. Some people here browse the computer games newsGroups. What I've seen posted (Admittedly, in the past, haven't checked lately) was that is someone had a question on SE4, they should come here, and the forums were friendly and useful. Not the other way around.

3). Horrifying though the concept may be, new players may come to these Boards, read the sticky topics, use the search function, and find all the answers they need, without registering and posting. It seems to many people, not just me, that SE4 seems to attract intelligent, level headed, proficient people. (Incredibly good looks is probably just a coincidence).

4).A further point. If the board is dedicated only to new players, and we have to make it newbie friendly by removing all OT discussions, how far does this have to go? Do newbies really care about new mods, the problems encounter when creating new mods, the latest shipsets, and the like. Perhaps not, are we going to lose those as well, and have the top page full of minelayer and drone discussions?

5). Now additionally, there was the recent OT discussion of the file "siae3123.exe", and I mentioned how it couldn't be found on any Google search. Now if you search Google, our Shrapnel Forum comes up on the first page. That's a little disconcerting, BBegemott is getting emails as an expert, and things like that. At first I was worried about our little group getting linked to the world. But then I realized, how many people have come here looking for that information, realized this forum is about a game, and taken an interest in SE4? More importantly, where's mine, BBegemott's, and pathfinder's share of the increased profits? Just a few percent off the top is plenty, I for one, am not greedy.

primitive · #2 May 29th, 2004, 08:04 PM

I (twenty)second the sentiments of the previous posters

The game is old. On-topic Posts alone will not keep the forum alive and an active forum is a great sales tool.

Is Tims 82nd Airborne a good game ?
Don't know, don't care. The dead forum is such a big turnoff for me I will never bother to invest precious time (or money) to find out.

Ed Kolis · #3 May 29th, 2004, 08:33 PM

If OT Posts are Banned, this forum will go the way of the MOO3 forums at Atari. I'd post a link, but that's pointless because you have to register to even read anything at that hellhole!

Keep the intelligent people in the SE4 forum because if you ban OT Posts, you'll only drive us away and there will be no one around to help the munchkins, meaning that they will get out of control with their "OMGWTFLOL NO1 IS HELPING ME!!!!!

", driving any more intelligent people who might dare to stop by right back out the door. I suppose that would save you money in the short run, not having to maintain a forum, but is that what you REALLY want?

I sincerely hope not, because if this plan is followed through on, I for one will pester Aaron Hall to find a new publisher for SE5... much as I hate to say this after all these years, one which can be counted on to not turn its back on its loyal fans...

Gandalf Parker · #4 May 29th, 2004, 09:22 PM

The conversation was going really good there for awhile but now its getting panicky so lets tighten a few things. The hints to cut back on the OT Posts which are commonly considered not the best subjects for polite conversation is abit far from "banning OT Posts". Lets back up to about the post done by "General Woundwort" which painted a fairly true picture and contine from there.

By the way, things already look much better. Thanks.

Arkcon · #5 May 29th, 2004, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
The conversation was going really good there for awhile but now its getting panicky so lets tighten a few things. The hints to cut back on the OT Posts which are commonly considered not the best subjects for polite conversation is abit far from "banning OT Posts". Lets back up to about the post done by "General Woundwort" which painted a fairly true picture and contine from there.

By the way, things already look much better. Thanks.

So you're saying I shouldn't expect a check anytime soon.

Fyron · #6 May 29th, 2004, 09:25 PM

Threads do stop on their own at some point... your comments did not stop those OT threads (as evidenced by the fact that they continued for a while after your Posts in them, and did not even slow down).

Slynky · #7 May 29th, 2004, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
The conversation was going really good there for awhile but now its getting panicky so lets tighten a few things. The hints to cut back on the OT Posts which are commonly considered not the best subjects for polite conversation is abit far from "banning OT Posts". Lets back up to about the post done by "General Woundwort" which painted a fairly true picture and contine from there.

By the way, things already look much better. Thanks.

I think you realize it's a bit difficult for a group of people who play a game such as SE to NOT want to also "chat and discuss" topics unrelated to the game. Besides, we're all a bit smarter than the average guy (

) and we like exchange thoughts and ideas from time to time.

Not sure how many forums people participate in but I "travel" to a few others and this one is the mildest mannered (the worst being found in Renderosity, IMO). I've mentioned more than once how this forum is just about devoid of personal attacks. That's a good thing. And something the members should feel a bit proud about.

But if it's a problem with bandwidth and space, I guess that's another concern.