WotC shutting down its community forum

[crkrueger]

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

Best way to do it would be to use an Offline Downloader like HTTrack or wget.   They download all the files to your local drive so you can browse the site whenever you have time, offline.  However, a lot of modern sites uses aspx or php to dynamically generate links and pages on the fly from server-side code and that you can't copy.

[James Gillen]

Agreed. I'm very curious what "shitlording" is.

Worst.Prestige.Class.Ever.

I think it's from Black Tokyo, actually.

JG

[MonsterSlayer]

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.

"Junior" That's cute cupcake.

I actually see your point and was just ribbong you a bit. But try this: the move to close down the forums, out source adventure modules, emphasis on branding, and stream lining of the design team feels to me like someone higher up in Hasbro is taking a much bigger hand in the running of WoTC.

Maybe we should be thinking of 5e as the first "Hasbro" D&D more than merely WotC.

Maybe the 5  year plan has gone out the window too in the new improved era of Hasbro D&D.

Or maybe my happy pills are just working well today.

[Shipyard Locked]

Maybe we should be thinking of 5e as the first "Hasbro" D&D more than merely WotC.

Maybe the 5  year plan has gone out the window too in the new improved era of Hasbro D&D.

Part of me kind of hopes D&D is about to become like Hasbro's old school classic board games: more static.

Just think, a true evergreen product that's easier for communities to coalesce around instead of the constant churn of uncertainty and splintering.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

[JasperAK]

As much as I love the older versions of D&D and today's OSR clones, I'd be perfectly happy if WOTC never made another edition. I am perfectly happy with 5e.

[Mistwell]

Could you elaborate a bit? What was the subforum and what in their posting style made it....unique?

Here is the story:

The WotC community has been on a steady decline for a number of years.

Once upon a time, I was Crazy Monkey - first a VCL and then part of the community team.

In 2007, the forums were at their height when Gleemax hit the scene, along with a new community management team.  Several changes took place, including several that alienated many of the forums' core contributors, such as the shutting down of Knowledge Arcana, the community fan magazine.  The first mass exodus took place at that point as most of the 3.5 era Character Optimization crowd left and formed their own community.  The Community Manager of that era was let go shortly after Gen Con 2008, but the damage had already been done.

Gleemax was a disaster, as most folks know, and was quietly shut down around the same time.  A new community platform was introduced at the beginning of 2008.  It featured many of the features promised by Gleemax, without the baggage of the Gleemax branding.  Groups became a thing and many of the Play-by-Post communities made the move to Groups, though those that didn't died off.  4E also debuted, which escalated the edition wars exponentially.  The WotC community gained a reputation for being toxic at that point, driving away more users.

When the D&D Next playtest was announced, the edition wars took another turn for the worse.  4E fans were already disgruntled due to the waning support for the edition after Essentials and the failures of D&D Insider.  While the D&D Next playtest brought an influx of new users, it was nearly matched by the exodus of 4E users.  And then there was the OTTer incident.  The Off-Topic Tavern (OTT) was, as its name suggests, an off-topic forum.  The regular users of that forum started to rebel against things like the no poliltics/religion rules, with a few becoming outright hostile toward the rest of the community and the community management team.  They used the groups function to form their own private area from which they could plan trolling attacks and harassment campaigns.  Rather than attempt to ferret out the ring-leaders (who used multiple sock-puppet accounts to get around bans), the higher-ups decided to ban them all and delete their private group.

That was the first wave of "refugees" who landed here at EN World.  

Another change in forum software resulted in a loss of some functionality in the groups section.  This resulted in the play-by-post groups dying off completely.  On the Magic side of things, entire sections of the forums decided to migrate elsewhere due to the second forum "upgrade" - Flavor and Storytelling, Deck Building, and Duels of the Planeswalkers users all packed up and left, making the Magic section of the WotC community a ghost town except for a couple of specific forums.

The only truly active area of the community by this point was the D&D Next playtest.  The community management team dwindled, either leaving the company or being let go, until there were only three of us left.  When the playtest ended, I was let go as well.  The forums limped along after that, slowly losing users, not in a mass exodus, but trickling away nonetheless.

The shutting down of the forums is thus the logical conclusion of a series of events that began in 2007, with Gleemax.

[Satyrn]

Here is the story: . . . [banned WotC users were] the first wave of "refugees"

*reconsiders his custom title*

[Omega]

*reconsiders his custom title*

Once you have been cleared through Pundit Island you will be issued a new name.Like, um, Stan or Sally.
Welcome to RPGsiteania.
Please recite the national anthem.

[Christopher Brady]

As long as they've been at least slightly brushed by that thing we call civilization, I look forward to meeting them!

We're supposed to be CIVILIZED?

AND NO ONE TOLD ME???

*Storms out!*

[JeremyR]

I think it really has to do with a shift in how the internet works. Message boards/forums are passe, it's all about social media.

And the internet is less about computers (which message boards/forums are best for), it's all about phones and tablets and streaming devices.

You're seeing websites being designed not for computers, but for phones. Less text, more big icons and pictures and videos. Mobile websites are no longer an option, but the default. Try using ESPN.com for instance,

[Opaopajr]

The OTTer incident looks like a familiar cautionary tale...

[Warboss Squee]

The OTTer incident looks like a familiar cautionary tale...

No shit.

[Spinachcat]

That's cute cupcake.

I like cupcakes.

Maybe the 5  year plan has gone out the window too in the new improved era of Hasbro D&D.

Everything depends on sales.

RPGs are weird. Most players only need the core books and unless the base of players expands, there is only so many core books to be sold until you have to rinse and repeat.

Here is the story:

Thank you Mistwell. That explained alot.

*reconsiders his custom title*

Welcome!

I think it really has to do with a shift in how the internet works. Message boards/forums are passe, it's all about social media.

True.

Also, forums promote DIY whereas social media is better for product cheerleading.

[GameDaddy]

Message Boards, Blogs, Private Websites aren't dead yet...

There is a group of each I still visit very regularly. I just dropped all the boards and places over the years with total dickheads on them, or boards with mod sponsored dickeheads... Like WOTC for example... RPG.net, or Circvs Maximvs. Getting on to talk about games and just having someone arbitrarily shout you down, be disrespectful, or just by trying to bury you in New Gaming Goodness tm. That got old quick, so those boards were just left behind... plenty to do and see without them...

When the dickes only had each other they just ripped each other apart, and wailed, ...and gnashed their teeth, ...and threw their arms up in despair, ...because they had found themselves in a hell that they had created.

Good riddance to them.

They won't be missed, and we'll just be busy over here carrying on with our awesome tabletop gaming design and adventures...

[Ronin]

Message Boards, Blogs, Private Websites aren't dead yet...

There is a group of each I still visit very regularly. I just dropped all the boards and places over the years with total dickheads on them, or boards with mod sponsored dickeheads... Like WOTC for example... RPG.net, or Circvs Maximvs. Getting on to talk about games and just having someone arbitrarily shout you down, be disrespectful, or just by trying to bury you in New Gaming Goodness tm. That got old quick, so those boards were just left behind... plenty to do and see without them...

When the dickes only had each other they just ripped each other apart, and wailed, ...and gnashed their teeth, ...and threw their arms up in despair, ...because they had found themselves in a hell that they had created.

Good riddance to them.

They won't be missed, and we'll just be busy over here carrying on with our awesome tabletop gaming design and adventures...

This, this right here. I haven't had much used for the WotC boards since the early to mid 3.5 days, if that.