Why does this make me feel like I am being betrayed in some minor way?
I realize I haven't posted much here, but I have lurked long before I joined, so I feel a bit like my favorite long-time hobby is letting me down in some way.
Sure, I can, and have played the game regardless of the happingings here on the forums, but really? Eliminate the branded forums because of change?
Maybe WOTC should exam what makes their paying customers go to those 3rd party sites and adopt some of their strategies, make their forums a better place for the customers of theirs products, and not cheap out by passing the resposibility off to 3rd party sites who I didn't give my money to. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Reddit are not passable places to send your customers to discuss your products.
Are you planning on eliminating your version of Customer Service next?
This new direction reeks of laziness, poor company managment and a lack customer understanding.
Summary: So when the world changes, lets take things away rather than evolve in a positive manner.
"Social media has changed significantly over the last ten years, and discussions about games aren't exclusive to company-hosted forums. The majority of community conversation takes place on third-party websites (such as Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and many other fantastic community-run websites), and it is up to us to evolve alongside our players."
It costs them money to run the servers, pay the moderators, pay for the forum program. All for something that generates zero revenue. It's a money sink.
Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and the like are free. And their staff is willing to be caught dead there.
The_Jester wrote:
Palomides wrote:
Are forums really that expensive? These forums have been around for a long time and it's never been thought about in terms of micromanaging budget. It's just a cool spot to talk about d&d. Except now they want someone else to have forums for their product. I am with the OP on this seeming lazy and cheap. Not only that, but it just sucks for the community here. People come to these forums to chat about the product. Yeah people complain, we all know, but there are a lot of good things here too. Things specific to d&d that I won't find on Facebook or Twitter. Like a long list of random characters people have created within one of the threads here. Stuff like that is awesome! I don't think that shutting down these forums is a good idea at all. It's cutting away from the creativity of the fans that have developed things here.
One thing, at least, this has nothing to do with the current (removed) of the planet.
I dont know why 5th editions online resources are so bad, but they are a pretty big change from 4th editions' resources. And no i'm not trying to start and edition war here, I just found the DnD page much better during 4th.
Then yeah, the lack of product. However our AL games at the three local FLGS still have huge turnout.
Everyone is waiting on WOTC to take our money...
And as far as being betrayed? Eh. Enworld is a pretty darn good site.
I dont know why 5th editions online resources are so bad, but they are a pretty big change from 4th editions' resources. And no i'm not trying to start and edition war here, I just found the DnD page much better during 4th.
Then yeah, the lack of product. However our AL games at the three local FLGS still have huge turnout.
Everyone is waiting on WOTC to take our money...
And as far as being betrayed? Eh. Enworld is a pretty darn good site.
Granville7482 wrote:
I've been coming here for so long now (even before the '2003' join date-- as 'Shyhawk').
I've tried Facebook and Twitter. Doesn't do anything for me. Facebook seems to encompass everything social-- and I'm not that social. I mean I like D&D, but not everyone (on Facebook for instance) is gonna understand. Everything I post on Facebook seems to go out to everyone. You guys and gals 'get' D&D though, and when I post I know right who my thoughts are being shared with. (Some people are but) I'm just not comfortable on FB.
Twitter seems too hyper-kinetic to follow (makes me feel slow). Also, tweats are limited to 140 characters --sound bites? Really? And don't even get me started on #hashtags 
. No, not for me.
= = =
I kinda feel left behind, like I haven't been keeping up with the times. I miss Dragon and Dungeon magazine; I was never a fan of D&D Insider (PDFs), nor do I like Dragon+. I miss paperback books; my friends and family all seem to be reading e-books these days. I miss comic book spinners (once found in gas stations and grocery stores everywhere, on every corner). Now days, comics are found in specialty stores, or downloaded digitally. On the plus side: modern comics are very nice, with computer-corrected coloring, slick paper, and in-depth storylines.
All in all, I'm feeling old. But hey, I'm still here, so I guess it ain't all bad .
Artifact wrote:
Artifact wrote:
Orethalion wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Mistwell wrote:
The_Jester wrote:
I have to agree. That they are going to be on twitter and other media is pretty much irrelevant. I didn't come here to talk to WotC, so what they have to say on twitter has very little bearing on what is discussed here. Only those few times where someone here goes to twitter for an answer about something being discussed really crossed that line.
I may go to EN. I have an account, but I don't care much for the look of the site. I may go over to the pathfinder boards. Someone here mentioned those. I don't know.
I can see why WoTC would bail on this, but I do agree that twitter and facebook, etc., don't really serve the same purpose as this forum. Like @Orethalion said I don't come to this forum to talk with WotC. I seek a dedicated community to share with other DMs and players. Keeping the community for WotC would be more of a PR gain rather than a money sink, in my opinion, but oh well.
I like ENWorld just the same, and sometimes, I have to admit, I am torn whether to post here or post there or post in both forums. Now the decision will be easier. I'll jump all into ENWorld since it has the most solid and dedicated 5e forum to date. They do a good job of covering the RPG industry as a whole too, so they have that going for them.
To WotC's credit, Jeremy Crawford, Mike Mearls, Chris Perkins, Greg Bilsland and Trevor Kidd, are all great at responding to twitter tweets. That is certainly keeping fans connected in that way.
Orethalion wrote:
Rhenny wrote:
Orethalion wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
RCanine wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Palomides wrote:
Orethalion wrote:
Keep in mind that the MTG forums are going already and MTG is a darnside more profitable for WOTC than D&D.
The_White_Sorcerer wrote:
I guess in the end you could state a slight loss in community, but the board is for the community's benefit versus WOTC. It is easier for them to take a backdoor presence, keeps annoucements short and to the point, and keep D&D relevant through social media sites. We are only a small percentage of those that actually play the game at the store or at home.
The_Jester wrote:
The_Jester wrote:
Dwarfslayer wrote:
Dashmin_Fleetfoot_02 wrote:
Dwarfslayer wrote:
Tony_Vargas wrote:
Grazel wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
RCanine wrote:
CraggleRock wrote:
Mecheon wrote:
Mecheon wrote:
RCanine wrote:
CCS wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Mecheon wrote:
Mecheon wrote:
CCS wrote:
Well as a Person who nevered used those Media sites now having to force to use them just to keep up with D&D, so now were are going to post a official question for the D&D settings and Homebrew campains.
LW
Sense of betrayal = Sense of entitlement
Neonflux wrote:
moonbeast wrote:
moonbeast wrote:
Neonflux wrote:
I feel the same way, OP. I love this site, mostly because of the activity. Enworld is amazing, but my threads over there rarely get comments. This place just has a lot more people.