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WotC shutting down its community forum

Started by tenbones, September 16, 2015, 11:58:44 AM

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Warthur

#30
September 17, 2015, 06:29:12 AM
Quote from: Sacrificial Lamb;856221This is bad news for me, as the forums still have useful information for D&D 3.5 that I use for my games. What a shame. :(
Well, you've got over a month to track that stuff down and archive it for later reading, so at least they aren't deleting everything and presenting the world with a fait accompli.

To be honest, this seems to be like a smart decision by Wizards. Why expend the time and energy curating their own forum when they can instead get out there and do AMAs and similar threads on other platforms which a) reach a wider audience and b) are somebody else's problem when it comes to moderation?
I am no longer posting here or reading this forum because Pundit has regularly claimed credit for keeping this community active. I am sick of his bullshit for reasons I explain here and I don\'t want to contribute to anything he considers to be a personal success on his part.

I recommend The RPG Pub as a friendly place where RPGs can be discussed and where the guiding principles of moderation are "be kind to each other" and "no politics". It\'s pretty chill so far.

Willie the Duck

#31
September 17, 2015, 07:30:14 AM
Quote from: Spinachcat;856181Worst.Prestige.Class.Ever.




I can confirm that.

I have been on a consulting contract and its unanimous among the marketing team that forums are "negative assets" and even corporate Twitter feeds are battlegrounds for competitors (and naysayers).

I suggested a curated community wiki, and while many have liked the idea of the wiki, nobody wants the curating to come out of their budget. The end result may be a closed wiki.

I know during the 3.5 heydey, there was an uproar because one of the current heads of design stated something along the lines of 'none of the game designers really frequent the forums. We find that it is unrepresentative of our actual gamer base.' You can imagine how that went over.

Omega

#32
September 17, 2015, 07:31:47 AM
Quote from: Willie the Duck;856244I know during the 3.5 heydey, there was an uproar because one of the current heads of design stated something along the lines of 'none of the game designers really frequent the forums. We find that it is unrepresentative of our actual gamer base.' You can imagine how that went over.
Brutally true though.

Shipyard Locked

#33
September 17, 2015, 12:58:57 PM
Quote from: Mistwell;856148I am slowly moving 5e character build guides over to ENWorld.

Thank you. I find guides like that and the conversations they provoke very useful for my patching and homebrewing projects.

Satyrn

#34
September 17, 2015, 01:27:06 PM
Quote from: Omega;856121Could be the first battening down for the announcement of 6th ed in 2019. :banghead:

I don't think you have to worry about that,  since they're also shutting down the Magic forums. They're probably battening down for a whole new edition of that.


Also, howdy y'all :o

One Horse Town

#35
September 17, 2015, 01:35:18 PM
Welcome Satyrn!

RunningLaser

#36
September 17, 2015, 01:40:01 PM
It's probably a good move on their part.

MonsterSlayer

#37
September 17, 2015, 02:25:57 PM
Quote from: Omega;856121Could be the first battening down for the announcement of 6th ed in 2019. :banghead:

That's based on the drugs you smoked last night right? I mean, they haven't even gotten the treadmill up to half speed yet on 5e.

Won't miss the forums, only time I went to the WoTC site was for the 4e character builder. I thought that was about the most evil genius web traffic driver ever even if it didn't do a very good job of selling books.

finarvyn

#38
September 17, 2015, 02:59:33 PM
I used to really enjoy reading threads on the WotC boards, but not so much any more.

(1) Either they changed their software or it evolved to where my computer had issues with the software. I would click on a link and have it return to some generic entry page. Navigation from thread to thread has been a pain, an issue that I don't have on any other boards.

(2) Their organization is poor, and this was made worse when 3E/4E threads all got stuck into the "out of print games" area. Back in the day I could find OD&D chatter, or AD&D chatter, or any edition I wanted to find chatter. Now they stuck so many threads into a few small spaces that I can never find anything.

I'm bummed that they are shutting down their boards because I hate to lose a nice RPG resource, but I haven't spent much time there since shortly after the launch of 5E. :(
Marv / Finarvyn
Kingmaker of Amber
I'm pretty much responsible for the S&W WB rules.
Amber Diceless Player since 1993
OD&D Player since 1975

Shipyard Locked

#39
September 17, 2015, 03:22:47 PM
Quote from: Satyrn;856280Also, howdy y'all :o

Welcome aboard.

Omega

#40
September 17, 2015, 03:46:35 PM Last Edit: September 17, 2015, 04:15:11 PM by Omega
Quote from: MonsterSlayer;856287That's based on the drugs you smoked last night right? I mean, they haven't even gotten the treadmill up to half speed yet on 5e.

Try again junior.
This is WOTC. They are obsessed with the "5 year plan" business model for D&D. If they keep to that obsession then 5e is already obsolete and plans are being made for 6th. If they follow the usual pattern then design work will start about 2 years before that deadline.

I hope they prove me wrong. But one of the product plan statements from Mearls for 5e goes to 2018. Please prove me wrong WOTC!

But yeah. If they are axing the MTG forums too then its for other reasons the forum is going out.

kosmos1214

#41
September 17, 2015, 04:03:30 PM
Quote from: Satyrn;856280I don't think you have to worry about that,  since they're also shutting down the Magic forums. They're probably battening down for a whole new edition of that.


Also, howdy y'all :o

welcome

Sacrificial Lamb

#42
September 17, 2015, 04:14:56 PM
Quote from: Warthur;856237Well, you've got over a month to track that stuff down and archive it for later reading, so at least they aren't deleting everything and presenting the world with a fait accompli.

To be honest, this seems to be like a smart decision by Wizards. Why expend the time and energy curating their own forum when they can instead get out there and do AMAs and similar threads on other platforms which a) reach a wider audience and b) are somebody else's problem when it comes to moderation?

This might sound dumb, but I don't know how to archive material from forums. My computer-fu is very weak. :(

Omega

#43
September 17, 2015, 04:19:07 PM
Quote from: Sacrificial Lamb;856303This might sound dumb, but I don't know how to archive material from forums. My computer-fu is very weak. :(

1: Good ol' fashioned copy and paste to text. Laborious, But works.

2: Save page as a file. Works usually. But not allways.

3: Save site at a file. Sometimes works.

Sacrificial Lamb

#44
September 17, 2015, 04:22:42 PM
Quote from: Omega;8563041: Good ol' fashioned copy and paste to text. Laborious, But works.

2: Save page as a file. Works usually. But not allways.

3: Save site at a file. Sometimes works.

Maybe I'll start by giving Number 1 a try; that is laborious...but it's easy. :o
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