If you are waiting for replies, why not work on the wiki? There's always work to be done; just pick a topic in the helpline forum and make sure that it's on the wiki. If you want to post a link to the new/corrected wiki page in the helpline topic, I can even lock the topic after the wiki is updated to help you keep track of what you've added to the wiki.
The wiki is boring and feels like work, while the forums is interesting. It's really that simple.
Silverfire,
It sounds like you are far from being the typical BattleMaster player.
I realize I am likely in the top 1% of those who spend time on the game.
But for your more typical player--say someone who spends an hour between the game and the forums--it would make a HUGE difference if they spent that entire hour writing letters instead of spending 30 minutes in the game and 30 minutes on the forum. Imagine what battlemaster would be like if all the effort put into the forums, went in the game. Think about all the interesting plots, religions, etc, that would spring from having that energy redirected. I simply don't have "time" to play the game much because of the time I spend on the forum; and that's bad for the game. My characters are far too quiet. I even have an open character slot because I didn't want to split my "30 minutes" between 4 characters anymore. The people I play with deserve that, at least.
I think though that based upon the simple sheer amount of time I've spent on the game, that to play the higher reaches of the game requires an enormous input of time. A typical player, who spends an hour between the game and the forums, even if they spent it all on the game, could not hope to rule a realm on Atamara at least. If they did, at least one of three things would happen:
1. Their realm would be put in a bad spot diplomatically
2. Their realm would lack internal interest and grow boring from lack of ruler stimulus
3. They or their realm would be taken advantage of by those spending more time on coordinating efforts.
A good ruler provides positive influence within their realm, positive influence outside of their realm, and a stimulating environment for conflict and action for all involved.
I assert that the #1 problem we face is a lack of good rulers.
Relating this statement back to the topic: The forum provides a means for cultivating good ruler players and demonstrating positive things that other players can emulate in what it means to be a good ruler. While I am completely 100% biased, I believe I have made a very decent example of what a ruler character should provide in their realm. I couldn't have done this without interacting with others on the forums and learning from them. Likewise, I couldn't have influence many more players to them begin emulating my own ideas and trying to be more engaging in their own realms. This may sound like a lot of self-gloating, but I have personal messages from many sources in this regard. I could be wrong, but I believe the forums, and specifically the local forums have been a direct cause for this success.
