Does EN World need a change of focus?

[diaglo]

The FREE service end. Ask not what ENWorld can do for you (we already know) ask what you can do for ENWorld. (my apologies to JFK)

Ich bin ein ENWurlder

 

[Sketchpad]

Personally, I don't think EN World really needs a change of focus ... rather that d20 as a whole does. D&D 3e brought me back to D&D after several years of running a few other systems (which I also still run). While I agree that the OGL is a good thing, I think that the glut in the market isn't ... sure, you can choose what you want and don't want, but, in the long run, it gets tiring real fast.
If you're planning on changing EN World's focus, I have a few suggestions:
1- Make it more campaign oriented. Perhaps some fan-content on new campaigns would be good?
2- I like the news page myself ... I don't always keep track of the myrid of companies that do d20 for the above reasons. So I'd like to see it continue.

As for the rant you did Morrus, personally, I think the d20 companies owe both you and Eric more money and respect than you asked for, as this has easily become the one-stop shop for d20 in all of its forms.

 

[Warden]

Gotta say the comments about the ENnies and their value vs. their cost are really speaking to me right now.

There was always the potential for them to create some conflict, because there's competition to get nominated plus people have different ideas about what they ultimately are for (are they for the fans so they can see an entertaining contest or hear about products they might have missed? are they for the publishers, to help us as a community say "well done"? are they an incentive to put out a great product? are they a marketing tool for EN World and/or the publishers? are they a way for EN World to have some sway with the publishers and get them to participate in our community?) and will try to sway the shape of the awards to best fit their needs. And some will take not getting nominated as some kind of backhanded insult.

I hear you on that one. A while back, I thought that the PDF industry perhaps needed its own awards recognition as a shot in the arm... a chance for us to look at ourselves and hand out awards to those who did the best, or something along those lines. But the input that was coming in was crazy and all across the board until it became obvious that no one wanted the same thing. It seemed to come down to "How can we set this up so that I can win?" Not good.

I think that the site works very well and comes across as a massive and open fan site, so perhaps it's because it doesn't feel as fun as a fan site for those involved with putting it together on a daily basis. I check the news page daily, along with the Publishing threads for obvious reasons, but the side column with the latest thread postings and topics has really drawn my attention lately -- that's how I found this discussion, so it works like a charm. Maybe don't worry about the content so much as the focus: who do you want to appeal to do and concentrate your efforts on pleasing? If the fans are happy, then you should be happy. If someone isn't, they can stop coming here.

 

[Umbran]

I don't think that EN World needs a change of focus, mostly because I think it's focus changes organically with changes in the interestsof the bunch of us. Morrus isn't dumb, and he watches, and sees what we talk about, and gets feedback, and occasionally makes changes and stirs the pot to create a bit of freshness that keeps things lively. All good, there.

I think sometimes individual people need to check out their own focus. Morrus and the admins and mods all need to occasionally do a self-check and make sure they are stil doing all the work for the right reasons. The posters and readers need to do a self-check to make sure they're behaving themselves, and discussing constructively. The publishers need to check and make sure that they remember who and what they are working for. And so on.

It seems to me that things here have always worked best when the focus was on new ideas, community, and how really cool and fun the games can be when done well. When the focus of individual shifts away from the fannish roots of everyone involved, things become less nice.

Seems to me that some of the publishers may have forgotten some of that. They'd be better off if they tuned into it again.

 

[William Ronald]

I am pretty happy with EN World as it is, but I believe its true role is as a fansite. I am here for the community more than the news. This community has made my life as a gamer richer.

As for the Ennies, I think the question has to be asked whether they are more trouble than they are worth. I think the suggestion of having the best x of winter 2004 is a bit strange, as I can think of no other annual award that works in that manner. So, I think reviewing the future of the Ennies is an important idea.

I think we do have to be a little more considerate of each other, but there is only so much the moderators can do to encourage this. Umbran's call for self-reflection is important, and this may help to solve some problems. Also, more of us can step forward and support the site in different ways -- including community supporter accounts. Possibly we can have a few "pledge drives" each year, with any publisher willing to do so offering something to people during the pledge drives.

As for E.N. Publishing, I do not see it as greatly changing the nature of this site. In the thread in General Discussion, I likened it to a gift shop at a house of worship. At least one publisher admitted that if he was in Morrus' position, he would be promoting E.N. Publishing more heavily.

Above all, I think we need to keep the lines of communication open. I have learned about products and ideas here that I might not have encountered without EN World. I have made friends because of this site. So, to everyone who keeps this place together.....

THANK YOU!!!

 

[dren]

ENWorld is a neat little corner of the web. I am abundantly happy with the features as they now stand, and will, for the foreseeable future anyway, keep coming back to this place for my d20 needs almost exclusively.

But I don't want a change of focus. Rather than adding new stuff, add value to what we already have. Here are the things I want:
No more slow service.
No more unexpected shut downs.
No more flame wars about useless idiotic pointless drivle.
No more politics.

Give me those things and your traffic site will increase and people will stay longer.

 

[Piratecat]

We have virtually no politics now, and not too many flame wars. We're on our way.

 

[Ashy]

Utopia - HERE WE COME!

 

[der_kluge]

More naked women.
More threads on politics and religion.

Ok, maybe not. But, what I would like to see is more of an attempt at capturing a lot of the creative genius that is here.

For an example, see here:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=100116&page=1&pp=20

All those people that used to go to WoTC's site for maps, can come here. Lord knows we've got lots of maps posted in the gallery thread, but they are buried in threads.

Let's set up formal galleries and ease by which people can post maps, modules, npcs, magic items, rule variants, etc. And then people can download all that stuff, and it will never get lost in the mire of the messages.

 

[Afrodyte]

It seems to me that things here have always worked best when the focus was on new ideas, community, and how really cool and fun the games can be when done well. When the focus of individual shifts away from the fannish roots of everyone involved, things become less nice.

I don't know if it's my place to speak, being that I'm a lowly registered user, but this speaks to the heart of my reluctance to be more involved with EN World. I post my ideas on the House Rules forum every now and then, and I occasionally see something in a thread that I feel I have to respond to, but most of the time I sit and watch and hope for some of the ideas you mention here (new ideas, community, how fun D20/D&D can be) to come more to the fore.

I probably shouldn't say this, but nowadays I wonder if I come to EN World because I really enjoy it and love it as some do, or simply because it's an alternative to the WotC site. It's often very hard for me to take a lot of the things in online communities seriously, mostly because it seems that no one is interested in what I have to say, and it gets tiresome to talk to nobody. Therefore, I tend to observe more than I speak, and I tend to speak only when asked for my input. In the rare event that I initiate something, it's only when I think that what I have to say has not been said too many times before.

That said, I don't really come to EN World for the comraderie. I'm grateful when I find it, but I don't expect it, nor do I deliberately search for it. My primary purpose here and in the chats is to share ideas and experiences with D&D and D20 systems and settings. As a result, the most I do here is read and post to the General RPG Discussion and House Rules forums. With this financial drought that I'm in, the exchange of ideas of this sort becomes more and more integral to my ability to keep doing new things with D20, but it seems that this level of interest or availability is not enough. There seems to be a lot of pressure and guilt-tripping to make me feel like I have to do something (usually donating money) to prove my worth to be among the community. Recently, there's also been a lot of talk about how ungrateful "we" are and not a lot of people asking what EN World means to the people who come here and what they would like to see done or what they would like to do to support EN World. To me, it gives the impression that there is a core group of people upon within whom the entire EN World community is embodied, and the rest are extraneous and not really necessary.

As for my ideas on how to give EN World more focus or to make it work more cohesively, I have some half-formed ideas floating around in my head, and most of them center around solidifying what it means to be a part of the EN World community and how you define supporting that community.