Thats why I think there should be something like the Arcadia Battle Academy in CF. Make a phalla one, and a 4e one, ect. That way, there is no war. I do like the idea for there to be recruitment threads for PBP games.
Dissecting up the CF body into component organs is going to isolate and stifle the individual communities, though. Having everything in a mix is beneficial to all, as everyone gets exposure, and people just browsing will be able to easily access the breadth of things that goes on in this section of the forum. Splitting things too thin is a recipe for increasing tensions, really.
MrBlarney on
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AriviaI Like A ChallengeEarth-1Registered Userregular
as far as the PbP thing, I have no clue.... there are options such as public proboards for OOC but I don't know enough about them to know if that would actually work.
As a general rule, if it gets taken off-board it will lose playerbase. If people can't get to it from the forums they will be less likely to participate, much less keep up at a normal pace.
It also destroys the idea of pbp games as epigraph/monument, which has historically been half the point (cf. West Marches.)
I think one of the things Than's grasping at here is that there's no real way to deal with pbp-wide issues like there is the Phalla signup thread - creating a pbp general thread and knocking the 4e tag off D&D general (and loosening any moderation on other threads that could grow out of that) would go a long way towards clearing up some organizational issues and creating more discussion threads.
edit: it may be the elephant in the room, but allowing for CF [chat] as a community builder would go a great way towards encouraging discussion here.
edit2: I think the issues of [chat] here hint at something interesting actually: that CF is expected to work like a general chat forum apparently but is limited by issues of form to working otherwise.
I think one of the things Than's grasping at here is that there's no real way to deal with pbp-wide issues like there is the Phalla signup thread - creating a pbp general thread and knocking the 4e tag off D&D general (and loosening any moderation on other threads that could grow out of that) would go a long way towards clearing up some organizational issues and creating more discussion threads.
But if a thread can be active with a specific topic, it warrants it's own thread. We have a boardgames thread AND a BSG thread, because we love talking about BSG more than we like to talk about catan, doom, and twilight imperium all combined.
What we want is as many threads as there are topics people actively want to discuss. If there actually was enough people that wanted to discuss dark sun all day, they'd be well within their rights to make a thread about it. But there's not, so they don't.
Pruning down threads is just going to make more examples of "General thread where one thing gets talked about all the time and people get all disgruntled and feel claustrophobic talking about other stuff"
PbP games to one thread each will have a dramatic effect on the number of active threads
What will replace them though? Like I explained above, "front page" is a terrible metric for "active."
I think you misunderstand me here. There will be fewer 'active' threads, so the front page will be representative of a higher proportion of active threads. That seems to be the main point of the discussion, to try and reduce the number of 'active' threads so that a higher percentage overall is on the first page, yes?
It appears that most of us are all on the same page here, at the very least, on being against the idea of adding sub-forums.
MrBlarney on
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AriviaI Like A ChallengeEarth-1Registered Userregular
I think one of the things Than's grasping at here is that there's no real way to deal with pbp-wide issues like there is the Phalla signup thread - creating a pbp general thread and knocking the 4e tag off D&D general (and loosening any moderation on other threads that could grow out of that) would go a long way towards clearing up some organizational issues and creating more discussion threads.
But if a thread can be active with a specific topic, it warrants it's own thread. We have a boardgames thread AND a BSG thread, because we love talking about BSG more than we like to talk about catan, doom, and twilight imperium all combined.
What we want is as many threads as there are topics people actively want to discuss. If there actually was enough people that wanted to discuss dark sun all day, they'd be well within their rights to make a thread about it. But there's not, so they don't.
Pruning down threads is just going to make more examples of "General thread where one thing gets talked about all the time and people get all disgruntled and feel claustrophobic talking about other stuff"
Right, which is why I'm saying conflating a general D&D thread with a dedicated 4e thread needs to stop. I know there are some people in other subforums here who have been put off by it, and the sheer juggernaut-like allure of it discourages other threads (especially with the spectre of heavy moderation, real or imagined.) It's a perpetual motion machine running on nerd-tears.
I think one of the things Than's grasping at here is that there's no real way to deal with pbp-wide issues like there is the Phalla signup thread - creating a pbp general thread and knocking the 4e tag off D&D general (and loosening any moderation on other threads that could grow out of that) would go a long way towards clearing up some organizational issues and creating more discussion threads.
But if a thread can be active with a specific topic, it warrants it's own thread. We have a boardgames thread AND a BSG thread, because we love talking about BSG more than we like to talk about catan, doom, and twilight imperium all combined.
What we want is as many threads as there are topics people actively want to discuss. If there actually was enough people that wanted to discuss dark sun all day, they'd be well within their rights to make a thread about it. But there's not, so they don't.
Pruning down threads is just going to make more examples of "General thread where one thing gets talked about all the time and people get all disgruntled and feel claustrophobic talking about other stuff"
Right, which is why I'm saying conflating a general D&D thread with a dedicated 4e thread needs to stop. I know there are some people in other subforums here who have been put off by it, and the sheer juggernaut-like allure of it discourages other threads (especially with the spectre of heavy moderation, real or imagined.) It's a perpetual motion machine running on nerd-tears.
Ah, I must have misunderstood you, I thought you were promoting the combining of threads into super threadzillas.
This is basically what I wanted to bring up, which makes it understandable why Option 1 & 2 seem like the best course of action for...a problem that I personally don't experience, but I can see how trouble is brewin'!
Either way, Option 2 I'm alright with. Option 1 I can't really vote on, since I don't participate in any PbP's.
Again, bein' exclusively involved with just Phalla in this forum (aside the lurkin' of the Warhammer and D&D Discussion threads), I never noticed an issue.
Summary:
-Retain New Campaign Recruiting/Player Replacement Threads on the main page.
-Put the Split IC/OOC threads PbP in a subforum: "Play-by-Post Office"
-Retain Phalla main+~3 mini-phalla on the main page.
Body:
I feel that combining IC/OOC threads is too awkward to be acceptable.
After a campaign finishes recruiting, the population is around six fixed members in the pair of threads. These will be the people interested in that thread and (generally) the only ones expected to post. Lurking after the game starts would generally be done as part of a recruiting post on the main page directing interested potential players to the thread in the subforum. In this case, putting the regular game in a designated subforum will have no effect on the expected fixed traffic of the game threads.
I don't play Phalla, but I have read the arguments and present them here as I see them.
Phalla, on the other hand, sustain themselves on lurkers and have a large player base, which, along with the limited number (Main+3) and relatively short time-frame, justifies their position on the main page.
This should clear up the clutter without affecting the style that people have developed for forum PbP. Good?
Pygmalion on
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Toxic ToysAre you really taking my advice?Really?Registered Userregular
Summary:
-Retain New Campaign Recruiting/Player Replacement Threads on the main page.
-Put the Split IC/OOC threads PbP in a subforum: "Play-by-Post Office"
-Retain Phalla main+~3 mini-phalla on the main page.
Body:
I feel that combining IC/OOC threads is too awkward to be acceptable.
After a campaign finishes recruiting, the population is around six fixed members in the pair of threads. These will be the people interested in that thread and (generally) the only ones expected to post. Lurking after the game starts would generally be done as part of a recruiting post on the main page directing interested potential players to the thread in the subforum. In this case, putting the regular game in a designated subforum will have no effect on the expected fixed traffic of the game threads.
I don't play Phalla, but I have read the arguments and present them here as I see them.
Phalla, on the other hand, sustain themselves on lurkers and have a large player base, which, along with the limited number (Main+3) and relatively short time-frame, justifies their position on the main page.
This should clear up the clutter without affecting the style that people have developed for forum PbP. Good?
I know that the PbP subfourm idea is not on the table, but this is a really damn good idea.
It keeps new games starting on the front page and will free up space for talking about games with out having to play in one.
Toxic Toys on
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I agree with Toxic and Pygmalion on that idea. Than said that it's specifically not an option. However, it would keep the whole CF community together on the main page with the PbP recruitment, tabletop discussion, and Phallas all going on. At the same time, it seems to be the individual PbP threads that are taking up the most space.
I mean it really does seem like the option that would solve the problem with the main page and keep the most people happy / not divide the forum as a whole.
Nocturne on
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TehSlothHit Or MissI Guess They Never Miss, HuhRegistered Userregular
Summary:
-Retain New Campaign Recruiting/Player Replacement Threads on the main page.
-Put the Split IC/OOC threads PbP in a subforum: "Play-by-Post Office"
-Retain Phalla main+~3 mini-phalla on the main page.
Body:
I feel that combining IC/OOC threads is too awkward to be acceptable.
After a campaign finishes recruiting, the population is around six fixed members in the pair of threads. These will be the people interested in that thread and (generally) the only ones expected to post. Lurking after the game starts would generally be done as part of a recruiting post on the main page directing interested potential players to the thread in the subforum. In this case, putting the regular game in a designated subforum will have no effect on the expected fixed traffic of the game threads.
I don't play Phalla, but I have read the arguments and present them here as I see them.
Phalla, on the other hand, sustain themselves on lurkers and have a large player base, which, along with the limited number (Main+3) and relatively short time-frame, justifies their position on the main page.
This should clear up the clutter without affecting the style that people have developed for forum PbP. Good?
I must admit, I'm not really a PbPer, but this makes sense to me. If I'm understanding correctly, we put IC threads in a pbp subforum and basically turn CF into "Let's [Chat] about games ya don't play on a vidya screen". Boardgame discussion, PbP discussion, Phalla, recruitment etc.
I also don't think number two would be problematic, but I don't see it helping out a lot either. It sounds like merging IC and OOC threads would be very uncool to PbPers, and I at a first glance don't think the pbp would suffer if it's IC was moved to a subforum, although I've got no experience with it.
TehSloth, I think the idea proposed was to move both the IC and OOC threads to a subforum, and just keep the recruitment threads for the PbP games in CF.
Edit: That is, I think that was the original proposal by Pygmalion. Not saying your idea wouldn't work, though.
Nocturne on
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Toxic ToysAre you really taking my advice?Really?Registered Userregular
TehSloth, I think the idea proposed was to move both the IC and OOC threads to a subforum, and just keep the recruitment threads for the PbP games in CF.
That's the way I read it too.
Toxic Toys on
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TehSlothHit Or MissI Guess They Never Miss, HuhRegistered Userregular
TehSloth, I think the idea proposed was to move both the IC and OOC threads to a subforum, and just keep the recruitment threads for the PbP games in CF.
Edit: That is, I think that was the original proposal by Pygmalion. Not saying your idea wouldn't work, though.
Oh, well, then I like my idea better, and I deserve all the credit ^_^
Wait, so OOC/Recruiting in the main CF forum, IC threads all in a subforum?
That might just work... it would be a nice way for someone wanting to read through the IC games, they just hit that forum and read away!
Hrmm......
Maybe this should be swapped around. Put all the OOC threads in a subforum. IC threads might actually get read by non players out of interest. OOC not so much.
Whichever way would most work around the "This is not an option on the table" pronouncement.
I merely remark that the main users of the PbP threads, OOC or IC are the six or so players, and so I put them together in the subforum, with recruiting threads sending potential players and general lurkers to check them out. Since PbP doesn't rely so much on lurkers for recruitment, the regular game threads do not need as much main page space as a phalla, and don't need to compete with general discussion.
Pygmalion on
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Toxic ToysAre you really taking my advice?Really?Registered Userregular
Wait, so OOC/Recruiting in the main CF forum, IC threads all in a subforum?
That might just work... it would be a nice way for someone wanting to read through the IC games, they just hit that forum and read away!
Hrmm......
Maybe this should be swapped around. Put all the OOC threads in a subforum. IC threads might actually get read by non players out of interest. OOC not so much.
I agree with this too and have read some IC threads just to see what was happening.
Whichever way would most work around the "This is not an option on the table" pronouncement.
I merely remark that the main users of the PbP threads, OOC or IC are the six or so players, and so I put them together in the subforum, with recruiting threads sending potential players and general lurkers to check them out. Since PbP doesn't rely so much on lurkers for recruitment, the regular game threads do not need as much main page space as a phalla, and don't need to compete with general discussion.
And I agree with this too.
Should the front page be something for more about getting people to play and talk about games? If yes, maybe the games themselves should all go into a subfourm.
Recruitment/sign up threads on the main page and all games in the subfourm, maybe?
Toxic Toys on
3DS code: 2938-6074-2306, Nintendo Network ID: ToxicToys, PSN: zutto
Wait, so OOC/Recruiting in the main CF forum, IC threads all in a subforum?
That might just work... it would be a nice way for someone wanting to read through the IC games, they just hit that forum and read away!
Hrmm......
Maybe this should be swapped around. Put all the OOC threads in a subforum. IC threads might actually get read by non players out of interest. OOC not so much.
I agree with this too and have read some IC threads just to see what was happening.
Also a good plan.
The above idea would cut down on clutter immensely (as again, the PbP games take up the most thread space), while not dividing the posters of CF or breaking off an entire type of game to it's own subforum where the playerbase may whither.
RingoHe/Hima distinct lack of substanceRegistered Userregular
edited August 2009
Should I even try to post here? As you can probably see, the CF frontpage is a pretty scary place for me, the uninitiated. I jumped on SE++'s Augmentos because it was small and thus easier to approach. I also just jumped into both the GV Phalla and the D&D Phalla for the same reason (less so for the D&D one - it was confusing as hell). Anyway, after reading this thread and giving the frontpage a new looksee now that I'm a bit more familiar with what I'm looking at, I'd say I agree with this:
Wait, so OOC/Recruiting in the main CF forum, IC threads all in a subforum?
That might just work... it would be a nice way for someone wanting to read through the IC games, they just hit that forum and read away!
Hrmm......
IC threads are clutter. Why do I say that? Because as a newbie, I come in here looking for two things 1) A thread with a title/topic I recognize and 2) A thread I can ask questions in/contribute. IC threads are generally neither and are actively keeping me from finding something inviting. If you put them in their own subforum, but leave the OOC threads here, you've given me 1) the ability to judge which campaigns are active based on their OOC threads, 2) A place to ask questions about said campaigns, and 3) A better chance of finding other threads in which I can participate.
I'd almost say that Phallas could be moved to the same "Active but Unjoinable" subforum, but it appears like you guys already have a Phalla-Limit to cut down on crowding, and there's no reason to divide a forum any more that absolutely necessary. Nobody wants CF to wither, the community here is really important. It made Edcrab's Exigency game possible!
Well, and again I haven't participated in a PbP so my thoughts here are just conjecture, but wouldn't it be just as possible, and maybe even preferable, to recruit and then have the IC game in the same thread, and the OOC in it's own thread?
Or again, go back to the idea quoted at the TOTP about having the recruitment in the main forum and both IC/OOC threads in a subforum.
Nocturne on
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RingoHe/Hima distinct lack of substanceRegistered Userregular
edited August 2009
I think if OOC threads disappeared as well CF might look dead.
Well, and again I haven't participated in a PbP so my thoughts here are just conjecture, but wouldn't it be just as possible, and maybe even preferable, to recruit and then have the IC game in the same thread, and the OOC in it's own thread?
Or again, go back to the idea quoted at the TOTP about having the recruitment in the main forum and both IC/OOC threads in a subforum.
Having the recruiting threads and the OOC threads be the same thread seems preferable here.
I believe once upon a time Phallas had a recruitment thread then an game thread. Combining the two wasn't too much of a hassle, the GM just has to change the thread title. It helped out a lot, and I think this was even a time when there wasn't really a limit on how many phallas could exist on CF at once (just to draw another analog between the two.)
Uhh, recruiting posts are definitely not IC thread material over OOC.
Here's how it would look, you'd have a thread in CF for every active game.
You recruiting? Put that in the topic!
Have a link in the OP to the IC game thread in the PbP forum that tidies that up separate.
Now everything is mainly discussion, and if I want to browse games I can read a thread IC from start to finish just picking them from the pool.
Both subforums would be active, and CF would be basically just as active as the OOC is usually posted to at least as frequently as IC.
you could even do the same thing with phallas.
let all 'gaming' happen in the 'games' subforum, and the discussion happen in the CF main.
I kind of like that idea. Not to mention if the CF thread is open to questions from people who are not playing the game. "Noobs" wanting to jump in but are afraid of drowning. They can as question in the CF thread and read what is happening in the "game" thread.
Toxic Toys on
3DS code: 2938-6074-2306, Nintendo Network ID: ToxicToys, PSN: zutto
On the Main Page -
-Discussion &c Threads
-PbP Recruitment Threads
-Phalla (Main+3) Threads
In "Play-by-Post Office" subforum -
-PbP OOC Threads
-PbP IC Threads
Non-players aren't allowed to post in the particular PbP IC thread.
Non-players aren't encouraged to post in the PbP OOC thread.
So, these are clutter for most of the forum population and can be put to the side.
Unless there is an active recruitment thread for the game on the main page, non-players are unlikely to casually lurk the PbP game. Nonetheless, the PbP recruiting threads would clearly direct anybody so inclined to casually lurk to the subforum.
Edit: At the start of a game, the recruiting thread gathers the players then is generally obsolete unless a new player is needed. The OOC thread is for players to yell at each other across the table and ask questions of the DM. Just because the tradition is to recycle the Recruitment thread as the OOC thread doesn't mean they're not distinct.
Uhh, recruiting posts are definitely not IC thread material over OOC.
Here's how it would look, you'd have a thread in CF for every active game.
You recruiting? Put that in the topic!
Have a link in the OP to the IC game thread in the PbP forum that tidies that up separate.
Now everything is mainly discussion, and if I want to browse games I can read a thread IC from start to finish just picking them from the pool.
Both subforums would be active, and CF would be basically just as active as the OOC is usually posted to at least as frequently as IC.
you could even do the same thing with phallas.
let all 'gaming' happen in the 'games' subforum, and the discussion happen in the CF main.
Eh, I think this would be a bit much. Phallas seem to work fine the way they are, and any discussion should be part of the game, or post-game discussion that already happens in the same thread.
Again that's why I'm for keeping all Phallas in the main CF forum. They really don't need to take up more than 4 threads max, depending on how many are running at the time.
On the Main Page -
-Discussion &c Threads
-PbP Recruitment Threads
-Phalla (Main+3) Threads
In "Play-by-Post Office" subforum -
-PbP OOC Threads
-PbP IC Threads
Non-players aren't allowed to post in the particular PbP IC thread.
Non-players aren't encouraged to post in the PbP OOC thread.
So, these are clutter for most of the forum population and can be put to the side.
Unless there is an active recruitment thread for the game on the main page, non-players are unlikely to casually lurk the PbP game. Nonetheless, the PbP recruiting threads would clearly direct anybody so inclined to casually lurk to the subforum.
Edit: At the start of a game, the recruiting thread gathers the players then is generally obsolete unless a new player is needed. The OOC thread is for players to yell at each other across the table and ask questions of the DM. Just because the tradition is to recycle the Recruitment thread as the OOC thread doesn't mean they're not distinct.
It seems to be Recruiting/OOC threads should be on the main and IC in a subforum. If you put them both in a subforum, you wouldn't have much on the main. Phallas are fine as is, but if we limit the mini cap to 30, we should have 3 minis and a main. The spreading of the "plague" called Phalla has brought many new players from other threads and that means there are more players fighting for less spots. I would say that no one sign up for more then 2 phallas at a time (1 main and 1 mini or 2 minis) in CF. But no one would like that. There are too many inactive players lately.
samurai6966 on
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
I always have my recruitment threads locked and then keep my OOC thread open for other players or similar. I have not made IC threads for two of my games precisely to reduce the number of threads (I only have an IC and OOC thread for one game I run). Albeit in my case I use maptools/vent so a dedicated thread for IC interactions isn't so important and so these threads aren't as regularly bumped.
I would be most keen on OOC threads remaining in CF and IC threads being moved into their own subforum.
IC threads are clutter. Why do I say that? Because as a newbie, I come in here looking for two things 1) A thread with a title/topic I recognize and 2) A thread I can ask questions in/contribute. IC threads are generally neither and are actively keeping me from finding something inviting. If you put them in their own subforum, but leave the OOC threads here, you've given me 1) the ability to judge which campaigns are active based on their OOC threads, 2) A place to ask questions about said campaigns, and 3) A better chance of finding other threads in which I can participate.
This seems like pretty good and fair logic to me.
Edit: I don't understand why we'd have a phalla subforum but not one for PbP, as it's largely the number of PbP threads that causes the current issue (Phalla threads certainly don't IMO). That's a bit confusing to me.
Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
edited August 2009
I'm very confused as to why limiting Phallas to 1/2 instead of 1/3 is being considered. Seems silly to reduce the number of games to increase the awesomeness of the front page. What's wrong with page 2? I really like having two threads for a PbP as well, though I can at least see the argument that they clutter things up.
I don't understand why a 5 hour turnover is a bad thing, though, or what it means for it to be very fast 'for a forum like this.' As many have said, thread subscription lists make tracking only the threads you want all on one page very easy if you find the turnover to be a problem.
I vastly prefer no changes whatsoever, but the only change that wouldn't leave me scratching my head in abject confusion would be a subforum for IC threads.
Posts
Dissecting up the CF body into component organs is going to isolate and stifle the individual communities, though. Having everything in a mix is beneficial to all, as everyone gets exposure, and people just browsing will be able to easily access the breadth of things that goes on in this section of the forum. Splitting things too thin is a recipe for increasing tensions, really.
It also destroys the idea of pbp games as epigraph/monument, which has historically been half the point (cf. West Marches.)
I think one of the things Than's grasping at here is that there's no real way to deal with pbp-wide issues like there is the Phalla signup thread - creating a pbp general thread and knocking the 4e tag off D&D general (and loosening any moderation on other threads that could grow out of that) would go a long way towards clearing up some organizational issues and creating more discussion threads.
edit: it may be the elephant in the room, but allowing for CF [chat] as a community builder would go a great way towards encouraging discussion here.
edit2: I think the issues of [chat] here hint at something interesting actually: that CF is expected to work like a general chat forum apparently but is limited by issues of form to working otherwise.
But if a thread can be active with a specific topic, it warrants it's own thread. We have a boardgames thread AND a BSG thread, because we love talking about BSG more than we like to talk about catan, doom, and twilight imperium all combined.
What we want is as many threads as there are topics people actively want to discuss. If there actually was enough people that wanted to discuss dark sun all day, they'd be well within their rights to make a thread about it. But there's not, so they don't.
Pruning down threads is just going to make more examples of "General thread where one thing gets talked about all the time and people get all disgruntled and feel claustrophobic talking about other stuff"
I think option 2 is a good one.
I am not a fan of option 3.
I think you misunderstand me here. There will be fewer 'active' threads, so the front page will be representative of a higher proportion of active threads. That seems to be the main point of the discussion, to try and reduce the number of 'active' threads so that a higher percentage overall is on the first page, yes?
It appears that most of us are all on the same page here, at the very least, on being against the idea of adding sub-forums.
Right, which is why I'm saying conflating a general D&D thread with a dedicated 4e thread needs to stop. I know there are some people in other subforums here who have been put off by it, and the sheer juggernaut-like allure of it discourages other threads (especially with the spectre of heavy moderation, real or imagined.) It's a perpetual motion machine running on nerd-tears.
Ah, I must have misunderstood you, I thought you were promoting the combining of threads into super threadzillas.
On your way.
This is basically what I wanted to bring up, which makes it understandable why Option 1 & 2 seem like the best course of action for...a problem that I personally don't experience, but I can see how trouble is brewin'!
Either way, Option 2 I'm alright with. Option 1 I can't really vote on, since I don't participate in any PbP's.
Again, bein' exclusively involved with just Phalla in this forum (aside the lurkin' of the Warhammer and D&D Discussion threads), I never noticed an issue.
-Retain New Campaign Recruiting/Player Replacement Threads on the main page.
-Put the Split IC/OOC threads PbP in a subforum: "Play-by-Post Office"
-Retain Phalla main+~3 mini-phalla on the main page.
Body:
I feel that combining IC/OOC threads is too awkward to be acceptable.
After a campaign finishes recruiting, the population is around six fixed members in the pair of threads. These will be the people interested in that thread and (generally) the only ones expected to post. Lurking after the game starts would generally be done as part of a recruiting post on the main page directing interested potential players to the thread in the subforum. In this case, putting the regular game in a designated subforum will have no effect on the expected fixed traffic of the game threads.
I don't play Phalla, but I have read the arguments and present them here as I see them.
Phalla, on the other hand, sustain themselves on lurkers and have a large player base, which, along with the limited number (Main+3) and relatively short time-frame, justifies their position on the main page.
This should clear up the clutter without affecting the style that people have developed for forum PbP. Good?
I know that the PbP subfourm idea is not on the table, but this is a really damn good idea.
It keeps new games starting on the front page and will free up space for talking about games with out having to play in one.
I mean it really does seem like the option that would solve the problem with the main page and keep the most people happy / not divide the forum as a whole.
I must admit, I'm not really a PbPer, but this makes sense to me. If I'm understanding correctly, we put IC threads in a pbp subforum and basically turn CF into "Let's [Chat] about games ya don't play on a vidya screen". Boardgame discussion, PbP discussion, Phalla, recruitment etc.
I also don't think number two would be problematic, but I don't see it helping out a lot either. It sounds like merging IC and OOC threads would be very uncool to PbPers, and I at a first glance don't think the pbp would suffer if it's IC was moved to a subforum, although I've got no experience with it.
twitch.tv/tehsloth
That might just work... it would be a nice way for someone wanting to read through the IC games, they just hit that forum and read away!
Hrmm......
Edit: That is, I think that was the original proposal by Pygmalion. Not saying your idea wouldn't work, though.
That's the way I read it too.
Oh, well, then I like my idea better, and I deserve all the credit ^_^
twitch.tv/tehsloth
Maybe this should be swapped around. Put all the OOC threads in a subforum. IC threads might actually get read by non players out of interest. OOC not so much.
I merely remark that the main users of the PbP threads, OOC or IC are the six or so players, and so I put them together in the subforum, with recruiting threads sending potential players and general lurkers to check them out. Since PbP doesn't rely so much on lurkers for recruitment, the regular game threads do not need as much main page space as a phalla, and don't need to compete with general discussion.
I agree with this too and have read some IC threads just to see what was happening.
And I agree with this too.
Should the front page be something for more about getting people to play and talk about games? If yes, maybe the games themselves should all go into a subfourm.
Recruitment/sign up threads on the main page and all games in the subfourm, maybe?
Also a good plan.
The above idea would cut down on clutter immensely (as again, the PbP games take up the most thread space), while not dividing the posters of CF or breaking off an entire type of game to it's own subforum where the playerbase may whither.
IC threads are clutter. Why do I say that? Because as a newbie, I come in here looking for two things 1) A thread with a title/topic I recognize and 2) A thread I can ask questions in/contribute. IC threads are generally neither and are actively keeping me from finding something inviting. If you put them in their own subforum, but leave the OOC threads here, you've given me 1) the ability to judge which campaigns are active based on their OOC threads, 2) A place to ask questions about said campaigns, and 3) A better chance of finding other threads in which I can participate.
I'd almost say that Phallas could be moved to the same "Active but Unjoinable" subforum, but it appears like you guys already have a Phalla-Limit to cut down on crowding, and there's no reason to divide a forum any more that absolutely necessary. Nobody wants CF to wither, the community here is really important. It made Edcrab's Exigency game possible!
Well, and again I haven't participated in a PbP so my thoughts here are just conjecture, but wouldn't it be just as possible, and maybe even preferable, to recruit and then have the IC game in the same thread, and the OOC in it's own thread?
Or again, go back to the idea quoted at the TOTP about having the recruitment in the main forum and both IC/OOC threads in a subforum.
Having the recruiting threads and the OOC threads be the same thread seems preferable here.
I believe once upon a time Phallas had a recruitment thread then an game thread. Combining the two wasn't too much of a hassle, the GM just has to change the thread title. It helped out a lot, and I think this was even a time when there wasn't really a limit on how many phallas could exist on CF at once (just to draw another analog between the two.)
Here's how it would look, you'd have a thread in CF for every active game.
You recruiting? Put that in the topic!
Have a link in the OP to the IC game thread in the PbP forum that tidies that up separate.
Now everything is mainly discussion, and if I want to browse games I can read a thread IC from start to finish just picking them from the pool.
Both subforums would be active, and CF would be basically just as active as the OOC is usually posted to at least as frequently as IC.
you could even do the same thing with phallas.
let all 'gaming' happen in the 'games' subforum, and the discussion happen in the CF main.
I kind of like that idea. Not to mention if the CF thread is open to questions from people who are not playing the game. "Noobs" wanting to jump in but are afraid of drowning. They can as question in the CF thread and read what is happening in the "game" thread.
-Discussion &c Threads
-PbP Recruitment Threads
-Phalla (Main+3) Threads
In "Play-by-Post Office" subforum -
-PbP OOC Threads
-PbP IC Threads
Non-players aren't allowed to post in the particular PbP IC thread.
Non-players aren't encouraged to post in the PbP OOC thread.
So, these are clutter for most of the forum population and can be put to the side.
Unless there is an active recruitment thread for the game on the main page, non-players are unlikely to casually lurk the PbP game. Nonetheless, the PbP recruiting threads would clearly direct anybody so inclined to casually lurk to the subforum.
Edit: At the start of a game, the recruiting thread gathers the players then is generally obsolete unless a new player is needed. The OOC thread is for players to yell at each other across the table and ask questions of the DM. Just because the tradition is to recycle the Recruitment thread as the OOC thread doesn't mean they're not distinct.
Eh, I think this would be a bit much. Phallas seem to work fine the way they are, and any discussion should be part of the game, or post-game discussion that already happens in the same thread.
Otherwise though, yeah Infy's idea.
We could have it that if the main phalla wants two threads, then they need to do it in the IC play subforum?
Otherwise, just recruitment/play all in one thread in CF like now.
I don't think I would have ever checked a sub forum for 'phalla', or a 'phalla recruitment' thread even if it was on the main page.
LoL: BunyipAristocrat
But phalla chatter or other mechanics discussion happen...elsewhere. And there's been alot recently.
It seems to be Recruiting/OOC threads should be on the main and IC in a subforum. If you put them both in a subforum, you wouldn't have much on the main. Phallas are fine as is, but if we limit the mini cap to 30, we should have 3 minis and a main. The spreading of the "plague" called Phalla has brought many new players from other threads and that means there are more players fighting for less spots. I would say that no one sign up for more then 2 phallas at a time (1 main and 1 mini or 2 minis) in CF. But no one would like that. There are too many inactive players lately.
I always have my recruitment threads locked and then keep my OOC thread open for other players or similar. I have not made IC threads for two of my games precisely to reduce the number of threads (I only have an IC and OOC thread for one game I run). Albeit in my case I use maptools/vent so a dedicated thread for IC interactions isn't so important and so these threads aren't as regularly bumped.
I would be most keen on OOC threads remaining in CF and IC threads being moved into their own subforum.
This seems like pretty good and fair logic to me.
Edit: I don't understand why we'd have a phalla subforum but not one for PbP, as it's largely the number of PbP threads that causes the current issue (Phalla threads certainly don't IMO). That's a bit confusing to me.
I don't understand why a 5 hour turnover is a bad thing, though, or what it means for it to be very fast 'for a forum like this.' As many have said, thread subscription lists make tracking only the threads you want all on one page very easy if you find the turnover to be a problem.
I vastly prefer no changes whatsoever, but the only change that wouldn't leave me scratching my head in abject confusion would be a subforum for IC threads.