stopping ForumMaster from destroying BattleMaster

[Lacedaemon]

For that there is the General Discussion thread on the Forum.
No need for the Locals.
The Locals are the the reason why IC none talks about IC things and why people prefer to talk about it here.

So what we really need, are IC forums!

[Perth]

For that there is the General Discussion thread on the Forum.
No need for the Locals.
The Locals are the the reason why IC none talks about IC things and why people prefer to talk about it here.

1) You really want people to start making topics in the General Discussion for "Lurian-D'Hara War!" and "Barca Thread!" ? I don't. It's not the place for it. It's not organized enough for every island to discuss their stuff there.

2) You clearly have not been listening if you are insisting that the forums deplete IC activity. Multiple people have now testified that the lack of OOC discussion is significantly contributing to a lack of motivation for IC "talk" and events. It is quite the opposite. OOC forum discussion spurs IG/IC activity.

[Indirik]

OOC forum discussion spurs IG/IC activity.

While I do agree with you, we also need to be careful about this. We need to do a better job of making sure that IC stuff stays IC, and that we need to make sure we avoid even the impression that the forum is somehow be used as a surrogate for IC action/discussion.

[Foundation]

While I do agree with you, we also need to be careful about this. We need to do a better job of making sure that IC stuff stays IC, and that we need to make sure we avoid even the impression that the forum is somehow be used as a surrogate for IC action/discussion.

Forum should always be player-player interaction. We rely on mods with clear guidelines to keep it that way.

[Vellos]

While I do agree with you, we also need to be careful about this. We need to do a better job of making sure that IC stuff stays IC, and that we need to make sure we avoid even the impression that the forum is somehow be used as a surrogate for IC action/discussion.

Agreed.

When the locals were removed, you may recall (or may not), I wasn't very vehement against it. They were getting pretty out of hand.

But how things are now is not a solution. It's worse than it was with the locals.

Let me be clear: Battlemaster is not a fun game. I don't mean that pejoratively; I mean that the mechanics of battlemaster, the button clicking, isn't that fun. We all know this; it's rare that players get their primary enjoyment of BM from button-clicking. What Battlemaster is is a really fun framework for an awesome community of storytelling. And removing the locals did a lot to make that a whole lot harder.

ALSO:

I've been reflecting on when I joined BM. When I joined BM, probably 50% of the message chatter in the realms I was in was OOC. We had no forums, but that didn't mean we we did more IC: it meant that in-game interactions were more out-of-character. We gave orders that referred to mechanics, chatted about realm matters in OOC headings, and after-battle banter was as frequently a bunch of drunkass college kids good-naturedly heckling each other OOCly as it was high-minded RPers doing so ICly.

But the last several years have seen a SYSTEMATIC AND INTENTIONAL in-characterization of Battlemaster's in-game experience. OOC chatter is frowned on even outside of Dwilight. Explicit references to game mechanics are not usually encouraged. The in-game OOC component of BM, which could substitute for BM, is no longer a big part of BM culture, and that kind of rapport and habit takes a LONG time to build. So eliminating the forums has left us with an OOC-socialization vacuum we've never had before.

Also, I should say, I think the in-characterization of the in-game experience is mostly a good thing. The problem is that we allowed an in-characterization of the out-of-game experience.

[Indirik]

But how things are now is not a solution. It's worse than it was with the locals.

Did you notice that Tim re-opened the locals?

[Vellos]

Errr.... what? I don't see them anywhere?

[Jaden]

Are the administrative restrictions still in place? Cause i remember when it was closed, some people (including me) could still see the local forums and while others could not.

[Anaris]

Errr.... what? I don't see them anywhere?

Please check now.  :)

[Perth]

While I do agree with you, we also need to be careful about this. We need to do a better job of making sure that IC stuff stays IC, and that we need to make sure we avoid even the impression that the forum is somehow be used as a surrogate for IC action/discussion.

Absolutely.

If it wasn't clear, I simply meant that having a community to talk about things with helps spur people into doing more in the game.

[Stue (DC)]

So what we really need, are IC forums!

exactly!

and i will reveal the small secret... we have them already! they are called guilds.

the main usefulness of this forum board, in my humble opinion, would be to direct players to them.