Out of curiosity, how do players who ignore the forums get the feeling that if they aren't participating on the forums, that they are being left out? I mean, if they ignore the forums, then how do they know they are being left out? How do they feel that participation on the forums is mandatory, if they never read it? Are people in-game constantly telling their realm-mates to come visit the forums so they can participate? Are they telling the people in their realms that their war strategy will be determined via forum-based discussion?
If they aren't reading it, then how can they develop an opinion that participating in it is so important?
^This.
And, I would like to know also how Forum make worse players as Stue said.
My feeling is that people have a wrong idea that those on IRC or in forum are band wagoning, wagon gaming or whatever is the word (I never remember).
All I know is that since those discussions about forum, magistrates and sinking islands started, I have seen so many players quitting. Old players quitting with no reason.
Is not "the forum" the problem. Is how much importance people give to it, and what is said on it, forgetting that each one of us is a person, that we would like probably very much if we meet in person, because it would be very funny to talk about the game, and about all stories, and because if we choose this game and we like it, we probably have a few things in common.
Seriously, 25 pages is too much. I left the forum because there's nothing interesting FOR ME. I like to read RP's, but most of them are out of context so I cant know what happen before or after and then I stop reading.
I like to read the experiments Artemesia does with his advies. I like to read developments of a war, but stop to read it when the whining start. I like to know when Lilwolf update his book link. I like to know a little more about everyone by reading their posts.
I get to know that Fleugs and Stabbity are sweet guys and that Zakky is not the monster I thought he was when he destroyed my first Realm. I like to know about the couples, the kids, the marriages, the university, the real life of the players around me, as I would be doing if we were around a table and I don't think this is wrong. This is what make me keep a good separation between players and characters. But this is me and NO ONE can or should judge me, or anyone else.
The problem here, IMO, is that people (including me, despite my efforts to not do this) are constantly judging others for what they say, or how they play.
At the end, what I think we should do to stop this is to avoid any and every critic unless it is about something, and not someone, and I invite you to read this (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_criticism).
I truly believe that if you take out forum and IRC, people will open a forum, use skype, msn, gtalk, google, whatever they can find to share OOC opinions about the game, so, removing the forum is not a option, IMO, moderating it, is. Making clear the rules, and I need to say, I never saw before a community that actually follow the rules and accept them like this one of Battlemaster, and I have been saying how much I like this community since the day I started the game.
