"There are other threads for discussion that I will be monitoring, I wanted to post this poll to get a sense of the numbers. Thank you all for letting us know how you feel!"
Thanks for the hard work.
3 Things about the Class forums:
- You put the class names in the forum names. What happens with new classes? Does the forum names keep getting longer & longer? How will this look after PHB IV?
- Not everyone agreed that the class forums should be split, but most agreed that if they were, it was better to have sub-forums.
- The role descriptions in the Class forum descriptions are not the most relevant info to put there, in my opinion. Class names plus a mention of powers and paragon paths would have done a better job at explaining what the topic is.
Oh, and this transition was relatively painless compared to the last one. There were a few SNAFUs with the automatic notifications, but this seems to work correctly now.
Thanks again.
But what happened to "4e Combat: Tactics, Terrain and Traps"?
Rules Q&A is pretty packed and a Combat rules forum, in my opinion, would result in two manageable forums.
Also, if Campaign & Adventure Workshop is to be edition neutral, the Previous Editions: Adventures, Campaigns & Encounters forum should probably be merged into it.
That said, I think the poll above needed a choice for "I like it about the same as before." I voted "good," but I would really have fallen in the "same as before" category if there were one.
I think that the class names should be in the description of the class forums rather than the forum titles themselves. As time passes and new classes get introduced, those forum titles are going to wind up being a bit too lengthy.
Also, I thought there was going to be a "Other D&D Worlds (including 3rd party)" in the Other Worlds subforums?
A couple of things I would have done differently (which has been discussed at length in other threads), but overall the end result is one I am happy with.
Solice, Michelle and the rest of CM: Thank you for your involvement and continual feedback on this discussion.
I have to admit the transition was much less painful than the previous one, I didn't even notice till I got to the Forgotten Realms board and saw the General discussion forum there.
I too would have liked to see the 4e Combat: Tactics, Terrain and Traps forum implemented.
Bel
HOLY COW!! IT WORKED!!
:D
I like seeing all the homebrew stuff in one spot, and I hate feeling like a jerk when I ask people in other forums to move their stuff to House Rules.
Well done, CM!!
Posting on behalf of Solice, who is experiencing technical difficulties:
"There are other threads for discussion that I will be monitoring, I wanted to post this poll to get a sense of the numbers. Thank you all for letting us know how you feel!"
I think it needs some more work. I'd rather each class have it's own sub-forum for example.
I'm not trying to influence the poll results at all, but just so you know that we aren't completely* insane...we did think about what will happen to the class forum names longer-term, when we have more classes. We decided to put the classes in the forum names and the role explanation in the description for now, so that people new to 4e would have a quick, clear explanation of how the classes work within the new roles. Eventually we'll need to move the class names to the descriptions, also, to keep the names a reasonable length.
*now, about this, in particular...
That's good to know.
Now, about having them as sub-forums: what made you go with this instead? I don't want to sound as if you or Solice are "accountable to us" here, but this organization of class forums seems a bit out of the blue, to me at least.
I had hoped that classes would be subforums, but staying the same isn't a big deal.
I really like the "find players" link.
Thanks!
- consolidated the D&DI forum
- added a forum for various digital D&D tools and online gaming
- finetuned the verbage for each forum (well done in various ways)
- renamed the class building forums to include Artificer and Swordmage
- added a forum for nearby players
I feel that they should be separate, even if there is individually a bit low "traffic," because:
1) It just will be confusing for browsing with the 8 million articles that there will be combined,
2) It will be difficult to use the Search function for things with so many different "false" hits coming up
3) It blurs the distinction between the magazines significantly
4) Players should not have such "accidental" access to spoilerific DM stuff (adventures).
5) Now pretty much every single new thread must be prefaced or postfixed with "DRAGON 367," or "DUNGEON 158," or just the numbers "367" and "158" for instance so people can keep things straight. This makes the forum look very bad.
Also, just look at the Dragon/Dungeon Article Discussion forum. Looks bad, and confusing: "Dragon Dungeon Dragon Dragon Dungeon Dungeon Dungeon Dragon"
Why exactly is there a dragon and dungeon article forum... and then a seperate dragon and dungeon general discussion? That doesnt make any sense. Why not a dragon everything and a seperate dungeon everything.
I do have to echo Kouk's sentiments about the Dungeon/Dragon article discussions. I would really prefer that they were maintained separately.
Other than ease of use, most of the stuff in Dungeon magazine, for example, should really only be discussed by DMs. I know that I'd prefer my players stay out of those threads and it would be less tempting if they were in a separate forum.
Nice going with the whole pushing D&D General to the top of D&D Fundamentals deal. I've now become a habitual reader of the Rules Q&A forum because I'm so set in my ways.
Yeah, this is getting me too. It's annoying.
Beyond that, the move is already resulting in posts that belong elsewhere (Q&A or Homebrew, typically) winding up in GD. If you've got a forum with "General" in the title at the top of the boards, people stop scrolling before they hit where they actually need to go.
- added a forum for nearby players
That forum has existed for years, and was even linked in the description of D&D General before the last reorganization.
Kouk: I have no real problems except for the Dragon/Dungeon merger for the General discussion forums.
In the Dragon/Dungeon Article Discussion forum, its possible to have the posts "sorted" by "Thread Title" via the "Display Options" at the bottom of the page.
That way you can sort them by magazine and issue.
I had thought of starting a thread asking "who's actually in charge of the forums", but I suspect this thread will accomplish my goal just as well.
Been here only a short while, but while I have been here, I have found there is actually more forum here than I can actually digest. Always seems to be some new section to explore.
Thanks
I suspect if I added up all the enjoyment of my remaining online activities not connected to rolegaming or WOTC in any fashion, it would still not get close to being half as interesting as coming here.
I don't venture much beyond the FR Forums, but I found I could navigate pretty easily when I went for a cruise through the D&D Fundamentals forums the other day.
Aw well I guess they were really old (even though I will miss some of them)
some things must end to let some others begin
or something like that, so see you Plasmoids and Rabbitfolks whereever you are I hope you are ok
http://forums.gleemax.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-582065
http://forums.gleemax.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-426175
An other forum, Find Online Players, would also be helpful. Could go in the Fundamentals or DDI secion.
Find Players in Your Area forum ...
An other forum, Find Online Players, would also be helpful. Could go in the Fundamentals or DDI secion.
If you click on the Find Players link, the first forum on the top of the list is Online Players.
Webster: On the Find Players link, the first forum on the top of the list is Online Players.
Huh. So it is.
In the description under the Online Games forum link (currently empty), any chance of saying, "Anywhere."
[INDENT]Online Games
Anywhere.[/INDENT]
Somehow, I think that would have made me noticed it. As is, I was thinking "Area" and immediately went to "East of the Mississippi", my area, without looking at anything else.
Rename it to something like the following?
[INDENT]4e Combat and Skill Challenges
Discuss combat and skills, optimize tactics that require teamwork, design tests, competitions, and puzzles that require skills to solve, plot encounter maps with terrains, hazards, and traps.[/INDENT]
I voted "mostly happy", because I am glad that the various campaign settings have had their subforums within the Other Published Worlds section restored.
But I'm not totally happy because the Other Published Worlds forum, itself, is locked against posting and I'm told the moderators are not able to move the active threads back.
This means that despite the "fix" of the recent forum "damage", people are being prevented from participating in active topics. I can understand a six month old topic getting lower priority, but topics that were getting posts before the forum was locked were keeping that part of the community active.
A few misplaced settings have actually hobbled that section of the forums. I realise you don't want new threads in the Other Published Worlds forum (as it is just supposed to contain the subforums now) but is it possible for the admins to turn the ability to reply to exiting threads back on?
Over time we should be able to get all the other worlds threads back where they belong and you could turn the outer forum off completely, but until the moderators can move out all the active threads we need to be able to carry on replying.
Anyhoo, that is why you didn't get the top mark from me.