I'm a Witch Hunter guy, but I do peek in on the Arcanis forums from time to time when I see a thread pop up that intrigues me. I check the forums daily, usually 2-3 times a day, though that's probably borderline obsessive given the amount of traffic. I usually check the "view new posts" link to get an idea of what's going on in the whole of the forums.
Nierite wrote:
What brings you to these forms?
To connect with, share ideas, and be inspired by (and maybe even inspire) other players and GMs.
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What would be required for more public discourse?
No idea. More players? More GMs? More reason for people to contribute outside of the bounds of the living campaigns? I think the recently toe-dipping into the 5e market is going to accomplish some of that on the Arcanis side.
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What do you, the player, wish to see more of?
Well, I'm more of a GM than a player (not that I would turn down an opportunity to play), but I'd certainly like to see tools for creating richer, more vibrant characters and new ideas for interfacing with the setting. I love seeing people take a piece of history and twist and warp it into something grounded in the WH setting. As a GM, I really want to see more people talk about their experiences running the game. I want to read about cool tricks and tools to use at the table. Eric is pretty good about dropping in once or twice a week to tackle weird rules and errata questions.
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Would you, the player, prefer other methods of communication?
I'm pretty old school. The forum medium works well for me. I can't really imagine sharing ideas (other than links) over twitter. Facebook and Google+ are alright, but they have an even worse memory hole problem than forums. Blogs remedy the memory hole problem, but don't foster the same back and forth you can get on the forums. In the end, it really depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
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Why do you believe others do not want to post on the forums/Facebook/Twitter/etc?
Most of your audience are going to be casual players and aren't going to post on any medium you offer up. Maybe a Like or +1, but that's about it. As for the rest, well, I have some suspicions but that's about it.
Eric Hughes wrote:
Anyhow I think, most of us take a breather this time of year because we are between cons and there is no new material out to play, and frankly, most everyone is caught up with the current mods by now.
See, I guess that's the difference between running my own home game and not really being involved in the living campaign. I'm constantly working on my game. I'm never caught up. Even if there's no new material I'm creating my own. But I know I'm in the
minority and this is probably spot on reasoning behind some of the ebbs and flow of the forums.
Eric Hughes wrote:
I am also concerned that there are some who are intimidated by the forums. Mostly those of us that post regularly are in the obsessive category. I've heard second hand that folks that are not obsessive don't post at all, because they don't feel is a community that lends itself to partial participation.
Yeah, that's actually one of the reasons I cut back posting around here. I began to wonder if I was coming off as some loud mouthed know-it-all. That's not who I am or who I want to be, and the last thing I want to do is drive people off. It's probably just my perception — certainly no one has suggested anything like that to me — but I decided to dial things back because of that.
Tom