Wasteland 2 Subforum Evaluation Thread (tm)

[Grunker]

If there was already a thread for this that I missed, then fuck you (i.e. move mah post to that thread). It says on the subforum label that it's an experiment... let's evaluate so far:

Can I just say that I freaking love that forum? It is so easy to browse via topics instead of having to leaf through 2000 pages of edginess. I wouldn't actually mind not having the forum at all but instead simply having all the threads in GRPG (I don't really see why the subforum is necessary, really), but if a subforum is the price we have to pay to browse by topic, then fuck it: I'm in.

I declare the experiment a monumental success with the caveat that for my sake, you could just as easily erase the subforum and dump all the threads in GRPG.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I agree.

Wow it's like the way shit used to work some 3+ years ago was much more productive!!!

I wouldn't actually mind not having the forum at all but instead simply having all the threads in GRPG (I don't really see why the subforum is necessary, really)

Yes indeed.

 

[Infinitron]

I declare the experiment a monumental success with the caveat that for my sake, you could just as easily erase the subforum and dump all the threads in GRPG.

I don't see how that would make things better for you. For one thing, the thread names don't all have "Wasteland 2" in them so it would look like a bunch of random stuff splattered across GRPG, in between other threads.

Also, plenty of people are still posting in the megathread...and after moving all of those threads back to GRPG, the megathread would likely return to being the exclusive place for posting about Wasteland 2 once again, as the other threads died off and went off the first page.

 

[Grunker]

I declare the experiment a monumental success with the caveat that for my sake, you could just as easily erase the subforum and dump all the threads in GRPG.

I don't see how that would make things better for you.

Not better. It wouldn't make any difference at all is my point. Except I guess one less click. Overall though, I don't care. If people like the subforum, let them have it. Small price for topical threads, like I said.

Also, plenty of people are still posting in the megathread...and after moving all of those threads back to GRPG, the megathread would likely return to being the exclusive place for posting about Wasteland 2 once again, as the other threads died off and went off the first page.

Megathreads appeared as a mod decision. Before megathreads, we had 5 million DA:O threads when that game was released. As well as one 100-200 page large thread as the main thread. Just do a bit of searching, people complained all god damned day when a game they disliked was released and they had to suffer the fact that other people discussed it. Unless you want to make the argument that megathreads just suddenly arose from the hivemind and became a thing, you'll have to at least concede that under the influence of little mod decisions, people just posted threads about whatever.

Anyway, I have just been reading through the threads in the subforum, and it's sort of telling that your main complaint about the subforum is that the threads don't get that long (i.e. often only 2-5 pages)... that's the entire point of not having everything pumped into a megathread, you dummie

 

[Infinitron]

Megathreads appeared as a mod decision.

Yes and no. With the rise of Kickstarter, huge threads (not necessarily "mega" in the sense that every single thing about the game was posted in them, but huge) became an inevitabilty. We suddenly had an unprecedently large amount of pre-release information to digest and discuss. Also, in general, the gaming industry and surrounding community supplies more pre-release hype nowadays than it did in the past.

Eventually, it became silly not to have a megathread. Two or three huge 50 page discussion threads, sometimes overlapping, sometimes not, or one 200 page megathread - what's the difference?

Anyway, I have just been reading through the threads in the subforum, and it's sort of telling that your main complaint about the subforum is that the threads don't get that long

When did I say that?

Creating a subforum for Wasteland 2 was my idea. It lets those threads survive. I hope we do the same thing for Pillars of Eternity on the date of its release, so we can just kill the beta megathread and have no megathread after that.

 

[Grunker]

It's pretty dumb of us to argue in either case. I really have no issues (or at least exceptionally minor ones) with the subforum thing.

 

[kazgar]

The difference this time if the threads moved back to exist in GRPG compared to previously, is that the tagging system on xenforo still provides a way to classify/mark them as wasteland 2 threads even it is called something like "character creation"

But I think the tag would need to be more prominent/on the left hand side to make that work properly in GRPG. Subforum does get around that.

Probably no point splitting up current GRPG back into subforums, what's there is there. But creating new ones for the big new codex-friendly releases as they come out makes sense currently. The post release D:OS megathread would've probably been more useful split up on topics.

(what happens with EA or beta's is another story)

 

[Shadowfang]

I like it. It makes things easier to find and i hope you do the same to poe.

 

[Scruffy]

megathreads are bad, mmkay?

 

[Jasede]

I like the WL 2 forum BUT it should be easier to find.

How about having an "RPG Releases" subforum that shows up at the very top, so it's the first thing you see? Whenever a big RPG is released there's a new forum there, just like the WL 2 forum. That way it'd be easier to find. I mean, I wouldn't have found the WL 2 forum if I hadn't seen it mentioned elsewhere.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

The difference this time if the threads moved back to exist in GRPG compared to previously, is that the tagging system on xenforo still provides a way to classify/mark them as wasteland 2 threads even it is called something like "character creation"

But I think the tag would need to be more prominent/on the left hand side to make that work properly in GRPG. Subforum does get around that.

Probably no point splitting up current GRPG back into subforums, what's there is there. But creating new ones for the big new codex-friendly releases as they come out makes sense currently. The post release D:OS megathread would've probably been more useful split up on topics.

The issue is we'd end up with a huge list of sub-forums. The last time I did it, I made sub-forums for every game that had a 100+ page mega-thread and people complained about forum overload.

The ideal solution would be a much more comprehensive tag system that allows people to filter by tags. And instead of browsing traditional forums, you'd see tag groupings and click tags. With tag size denoted by what's popular over the last month or so.

But it basically means re-designing XenForo.

 

[DosBuster]

Or.. we could focus on fixing the many pages that 404.

 

[tuluse]

Maybe have a new releases forum for games out < 24 months?

I too am enjoying the Wasteland 2 forum. One thing that's really nice is being able to browse threads that aren't too spoilery since I haven't finished yet.

 

[Ulminati]

The difference this time if the threads moved back to exist in GRPG compared to previously, is that the tagging system on xenforo still provides a way to classify/mark them as wasteland 2 threads even it is called something like "character creation"

But I think the tag would need to be more prominent/on the left hand side to make that work properly in GRPG. Subforum does get around that.

Probably no point splitting up current GRPG back into subforums, what's there is there. But creating new ones for the big new codex-friendly releases as they come out makes sense currently. The post release D:OS megathread would've probably been more useful split up on topics.

The issue is we'd end up with a huge list of sub-forums. The last time I did it, I made sub-forums for every game that had a 100+ page mega-thread and people complained about forum overload.

The ideal solution would be a much more comprehensive tag system that allows people to filter by tags. And instead of browsing traditional forums, you'd see tag groupings and click tags. With tag size denoted by what's popular over the last month or so.

But it basically means re-designing XenForo.

How about subforums for new/popular releases up to a certain limit? (Say, 4 or 5). When the next big release that warrants one comes around, one of the subforums is nuked. (Whichever has had the least recent activity). All threads in the nuked forum are given a tag with the name of the game and merged back into GG/GRPGD/SG as appropriate. Tag mainly to keep thread titles like "Let's talk about the cover system" descriptive post-merge.
The majority of the subforums threads should be old(ish) at that point and end up on page 20+ and the main forum won't be flooded.

 

[Ulminati]

Also, shunting PoE to its own subforum would probably be a good thing right about now. There's plenty of material to populate it and keep the megathreads from growing.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/will-poe-be-shit.94392/unread
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...-of-eternity-beta-release-thread.93694/unread
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...f-eternity-coding-hacking-thread.94183/unread
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/roguey-vs-the-grognards-thread.94135/unread
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ity-beta-released-go-to-the-new-thread.75947/
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/poe-beta-thread-dis-gon-be-gud.93681/ (r00fles!)
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ave-more-stuff-to-do-in-combat-discuss.93285/
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ternity-will-be-released-in-2014.91911/page-6

 

[Infinitron]

Also, shunting PoE to its own subforum would probably be a good thing right about now. There's plenty of material to populate it and keep the megathreads from growing.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/will-poe-be-shit.94392/unread
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...-of-eternity-beta-release-thread.93694/unread
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...f-eternity-coding-hacking-thread.94183/unread
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/roguey-vs-the-grognards-thread.94135/unread
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ity-beta-released-go-to-the-new-thread.75947/
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/poe-beta-thread-dis-gon-be-gud.93681/ (r00fles!)
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ave-more-stuff-to-do-in-combat-discuss.93285/
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ternity-will-be-released-in-2014.91911/page-6

Not all of those threads are PoE threads, and others are dead. I think it's safe to wait for its release, when hundred of more people will actually be playing the game. Right now it's just a shit-show like the WL2 beta thread was.

 

[Ulminati]

Maybe if everyone isn't posting to the beta megathread there'll be smaller threads with a good signal to noise ratio rather than 2 posts in 3 being "Lol, Grognards!"

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Lol, Grognards.

 

[Sensuki]

I prefer megathreads

 

[Vault Dweller]

The difference this time if the threads moved back to exist in GRPG compared to previously, is that the tagging system on xenforo still provides a way to classify/mark them as wasteland 2 threads even it is called something like "character creation"

But I think the tag would need to be more prominent/on the left hand side to make that work properly in GRPG. Subforum does get around that.

Probably no point splitting up current GRPG back into subforums, what's there is there. But creating new ones for the big new codex-friendly releases as they come out makes sense currently. The post release D:OS megathread would've probably been more useful split up on topics.

The issue is we'd end up with a huge list of sub-forums. The last time I did it, I made sub-forums for every game that had a 100+ page mega-thread and people complained about forum overload.

When everyone's discussing it, it's good to have all relevant threads in one place, but sooner or later people move on and start discussing the next best thing. That would be a good time to move the threads back to General RPG forum and delete the subforum. This way it's about temporary convenience not having a million subforums.

 

[made]

I prefer megathreads

Me too - for games I don't care about, but not when I'm actually looking for info.

Temporary subforums for the popular shit seem like a good idea. You have my blessing to proceed.

 

[Haba]

The difference this time if the threads moved back to exist in GRPG compared to previously, is that the tagging system on xenforo still provides a way to classify/mark them as wasteland 2 threads even it is called something like "character creation"

But I think the tag would need to be more prominent/on the left hand side to make that work properly in GRPG. Subforum does get around that.

Probably no point splitting up current GRPG back into subforums, what's there is there. But creating new ones for the big new codex-friendly releases as they come out makes sense currently. The post release D:OS megathread would've probably been more useful split up on topics.

The issue is we'd end up with a huge list of sub-forums. The last time I did it, I made sub-forums for every game that had a 100+ page mega-thread and people complained about forum overload.

When everyone's discussing it, it's good to have all relevant threads in one place, but sooner or later people move on and start discussing the next best thing. That would be a good time to move the threads back to General RPG forum and delete the subforum. This way it's about temporary convenience not having a million subforums.

Yes, do that. Like D:OS doesn't need a subforum anymore after release.

 

[Brotherman Bill]

I find it cool that whereas in the megathread all you get is a circlejerk, you get more nuanced (negative) impressions in the rest of the forum, with actual discussion as well. Just wondering where all the threads will go afterwards.

 

[tuluse]

I find it cool that whereas in the megathread all you get is a circlejerk, you get more nuanced (negative) impressions in the rest of the forum, with actual discussion as well. Just wondering where all the threads will go afterwards.

All good threads to to heaven.

 

[Grunker]

I find it cool that whereas in the megathread all you get is a circlejerk, you get more nuanced (negative) impressions in the rest of the forum, with actual discussion as well. Just wondering where all the threads will go afterwards.

All good threads go to heaven.

Heaven?