Are the forums quieter than usual?

[Math Mathonwy]

Am I imagining things or are the forums really a lot more quiet than usual? During the last month or so it seems that traffic has died down by quite a bit. But since this is a very subjective view (not stats available), I'm asking your guys - do you have the same impression?

[Slapdrone]

I'm not on Facebook, but I think all the cool kids are doing it.  All the players in my area seemed to have ditched the forums for AWP.  Feeling a little left out, but I'll stay straight edge.

[Fetid Strumpet]

That's my impression as well. I don't do Facebook however, so...

[Shadowfane]

Off-topic stuff moving off the forums means a bunch of people who would ordinarily be here no longer are (at least not to the same extent) and since those people are also people who post quite a lot, that probably adds to the feeling.

[Inquisitor Wall]

As stated, social media (facebook and twitter) have been very busy.  There traditionally also is usually a lull between gencon and Black Friday from what I've noticed.  Could also have something to do with the end of summer, people are trying to do outdoor activities before winter.  

[TehMik]

Am I imagining things or are the forums really a lot more quiet than usual? During the last month or so it seems that traffic has died down by quite a bit. But since this is a very subjective view (not stats available), I'm asking your guys - do you have the same impression?

It definitely does seem that way. Personally, I've stopped coming here more than maybe once a week, the level of interaction has died down. The only reason these days I see to come on is to ask a rules question, but AWP on facebook has that aspect covered too, plus facebook allows for interaction on topics beyond Malifaux.

[Mason]

The Wyrd Place Facebook group has really exploded in the past year, and far more of the discussion that I used to see on these forums has showed up over there as more people join in. I don't really think that's a problem, as Facebook tends to get you fast responses to simple questions, or just lets you show off your newest painted creation to a wider audience. 

[Pyrflamme]

I'd agree on Facebook taking the lion's share of discussion. I think it's also a product of not really having any new material to discuss recently. The wave 3 beta gave us a very detailed look into the final product, and while we did get a new burst of discussions around Shifting Loyalties release, it didn't last too long because, again, we essentially saw the finished product earlier in the year and there was only minor tweaks to talk about.

Not that I think having a public beta was a bad thing, it was great to discuss it and have our input into it, and really, it just shifted when community enthusiasm occurred rather than dampening it altogether. Whichever way Wyrd decides to go with book 4 - public beta or closed so that the community only sees what's in it at release, I think it'll ignite a new round of discussion and enthusiasm on the forums. I also imagine that once The Other Side meat starts coming out, we'll also see a lot of discussion here.

I also kinda wonder if the secret forums for the campaign might also be contributing to an illusion of dormancy. It's not like all the TT faction discussion jumped to the secret TT subforum, but I think there's some items that might have gone into the regular TT faction subforum were it not for Nythera.

Personally, I like that the forums provide a sort of more...permanent, I suppose you'd call it, place for discussion. Facebook is great for quick questions and cool painted pics, but is not conducive to earnest, detailed discussion.

[Myyrä]

The number of forum posts has dropped by half because zFiend and Dirial have pretty much disappeared after the closing of OTT.

[Mason]

I also kinda wonder if the secret forums for the campaign might also be contributing to an illusion of dormancy. It's not like all the TT faction discussion jumped to the secret TT subforum, but I think there's some items that might have gone into the regular TT faction subforum were it not for Nythera.

Very true. That's about... oh, six thousand posts or so that most people can't see.

[PeregrineFalcon]

I think there is still good discussion here. I think the forums is better for discussion where as FB (from what I understand) is better for random thoughts. Here you can expect someone to see your stuff. I don't use facebook and have heard both great and terrible things about the AWP group. So far I've found a good way to interact with the extended community is via Twitter. With that said, I've actually been visiting the forums since the upgrade as I like the new Rules Questions format and the tactical discussion while not riveting, is interesting to see what questions/ideas people have.

If you see the amount of people online regularly there is still a VERY high number. Most other miniature game companies have far less active posters from what I've seen.

[valhallan42nd]

FaceI also kinda wonder if the secret forums for the campaign might also be contributing to an illusion of dormancy. It's not like all the TT faction discussion jumped to the secret TT subforum, but I think there's some items that might have gone into the regular TT faction subforum were it not for Nythera.

Very true. That's about... oh, six thousand posts or so that most people can't see.

Facebook is great for talking about upcoming events and sharing pics. Discussion of any depth, however....

[Philosfr]

FaceI also kinda wonder if the secret forums for the campaign might also be contributing to an illusion of dormancy. It's not like all the TT faction discussion jumped to the secret TT subforum, but I think there's some items that might have gone into the regular TT faction subforum were it not for Nythera.

Very true. That's about... oh, six thousand posts or so that most people can't see.

Facebook is great for talking about upcoming events and sharing pics. Discussion of any depth, however....

Yeah... I hate trying to follow along on A Wyrd Place for any actual discussion. It's fun to see pictures of stuff people post there, but I'd much rather come here to have any type of meaningful interaction

[Vidd]

Well, I'd say part of the reason is that Facebook's better for off the cuff comments and questions. On a forum, it feels like you're cluttering up the place by making redundant threads or committing the sin of threadnomancy if you want to talk about something that's already been discussed.

I hadn't considered the potential problem with the change to Off Topic as well. That's really unfortunate.

[Dirial]

Am I imagining things or are the forums really a lot more quiet than usual? During the last month or so it seems that traffic has died down by quite a bit. But since this is a very subjective view (not stats available), I'm asking your guys - do you have the same impression?

There haven't been any interesting rules discussions lately either. Can't say anything about the rest of the forum.

[SpectreEliteGaming]

Definently noticed this, as well.

Since my desire to actually play the game started dying I've just been coming here for the Monday previews and miniature showcase. The new Wyrd events that pop up every once in a while keep me checking in, as well - can't wait to see Rotten Harvest pics.

I should be updating my paintig thread with the stuff I've done but I've been too busy as of late.

Annnnnnd that's about it. There's just nothing going on here, really.

Edited November 2, 2015 by SpectreEliteGaming

[Math Mathonwy]

It's really a shame. I thought that these forums were one of the best game-specific forums anywhere: vibrant, welcoming, knowledgeable yet whimsical enough. Very friendly to newbies yet offering deep insight as well when needed.

Facebook really isn't conductive to deep conversations. Heck, about a third of the answers in this thread are longer than 99% of the posts I see on AWP.

[mythicFOX]

Ok odd situation here, so I'm going to be as transparent as I can with everyone. 

<modhat>

 I've removed the following one line post from this thread;

It's because the interesting discussions get locked and the mods love banning people.

While I don't agree with the comment that is obviously not grounds for sanction or removal of the comment. 

It has come to my attention that the post was made from a 'sock puppet' account being operated by someone who is currently serving a ban from these forums for frequent and repeated breaches of our rules, which occurred over a long period of time. As such I have to ban the account which made this comment (sanctions apply to users, not accounts).

Had I banned the account and left the comment it might look like I was trying to silence a critic, which I'm not. Similarly I didn't want to just remove the comment for the same reason. As we don't comment on action taken against individual users I also can't give you the name of either account in question.  

As a way round this I hope quoting what was said, but not telling you who said it, is sufficient transparency to allow the comment to stand, but also uphold a past moderation decision.

</modhat>

Trust that's useful, and maybe it also provides a bit of insight into the thought process I go through when moderating.  

As always I'm happy to discuss moderation policy / practice via PM. 

[Rurouni Benshin]

I'll admit that once the OTT was closed, I had less and less interaction on this forum as well, since I was an everyday participant of the OTT for the past few months leading up to it's closure.  That said, I will echo Myyra's sentiments on how the bigger contributors have probably frequented these forums less, because they too were actively involved in the OTT. 

I pop in from time to time when I have questions though, since I'm fairly certain I can get a response quickly, or if there're things on the Trading Forum that I may be interested in.

[Mutter]

One reason I've heard numerous times when the decline of forums overall (not just here) is discussed, and which to me at least makes sense, is that more and more people browse forums on their smartphones, and it's much more effort to post something (especially long, thought-out replies) on a phone than it is on a keyboard.

If this is true, though, it probably means the death of most gaming forums eventually, because less and less people read on monitors, I suppose ...

Edited November 2, 2015 by Mutter

[Rurouni Benshin]

One reason I've heard numerous times when the decline of forums overall (not just here) is discussed, and which to me at least makes sense, is that more and more people browse forums on their smartphones, and it's much more effort to post something (especially long, thought-out replies) on a phone than it is on a keyboard.

If this is true, though, it probably means the death of most gaming forums eventually, because less and less people read on monitors, I suppose ...

On a related note, I remember the phone apps/browsers being rather glitchy.  I recall that I used to not be able to see the letters typed because the background and the text were the same colors, and because of that, would have to switch to the full site version, which I would imagine takes up more bandwidth, and thus be a slower process. 

[Rathnard]

One reason I've heard numerous times when the decline of forums overall (not just here) is discussed, and which to me at least makes sense, is that more and more people browse forums on their smartphones, and it's much more effort to post something (especially long, thought-out replies) on a phone than it is on a keyboard.

Try posting on a phone when you also have to insert the code for making your text pink. I'm a stubborn one though, so I persist.

Oddly enough I've actually had more trouble navigating the regular site than the mobile one, simply because it seems the scrolling is a bit sluggish on my laptop/browser. By contrast I've never had trouble with the mobile site. Aside from typing long replies in pink, that is!

 

Regarding AWP, it has it's pros and cons. I enjoy frequenting it (hell, I'm a moderator there too), and it's a great place for getting instant feedback on painting, tactics or whatever else. But as has already been said, it's much harder to have an in depth discussion on something when you're dealing with Facebook's software. And finding old threads is next to impossible. 

Edited November 2, 2015 by Rathnard

[Nathan Caroland]

Actually the site gets a lot more traffic these days on the whole - but as with every 'after Gencon' (go look it up the last few years) there is always that run up, the discussion, and then of course a bit of a die down as well. Happens in April for some reason as well that I can't quite figure out - huge traffic boost that month for the past three years, then back to 'norm'. The thing that is different this time around is the simple fact that we're not doing an open beta on the next set of releases which would generally bring in a lot of discussion back and forth. 

Yes some active posters have gotten upset over the OTT - happens - not going to debate or apologize about it. Some folks wax and wane on the game as well - also happens. Social media also seems to be a rather large thing though I personally am not hooked into it myself - I just actually activated a facebook account here recently and honestly, that's pretty alien to me, though I have family that apparently lives on it. 

[mythicFOX]

I'd say the closure of OTT has acted as a catalyst to closer align the kinds of conversation people are having and the most suitable platform for that conversation. I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing, it's just different.

As a side note there's an interesting US / UK divide, with the UK seeming more active of Twitter and the US more active on Facebook.

 

Edited November 2, 2015 by mythicFOX

[PeregrineFalcon]

I'd say the closure of OTT has acted as a catalyst to closer align the kinds of conversation people are having and the most suitable platform for that conversation. I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing, it's just different.

As a side note there's an interesting US / UK divide, with the UK seeming more active of Twitter and the US more active on Facebook.

 

Yeah it seems that way. However, I am US based and don't have a FB account and prefer Twitter as it is very concise conversations that you can easily follow (or ignore) if you care/don't care. If a topic needs more than 140 chars on Twitter people usually start a discussion in a DM or post here to have a larger verbose discussion on the topic. Twitter is my preferred social media experience. I use TweetDeck and it easily organizes the different groups/topics I care about. For example 1 stream that just shows #Malifaux posts is easy to stay abreast of.