Pathfinder 1E [MERGED] Pathfinder forum complaint threads

[Shemeska]

This I did yesterday.

Awesome! Thank you Morrus

 

[Morrus]

Morrus,

You point out some good reasons for the existence of a Pathfinder forum, which I support.

What bothers me is the (apparent) different standards of moderation for PF and 4e threads. Being somewhat generous and assuming that Dark Sun counts as general interest, I count six threads in General at the moment that are wholly 4e-specific, discussing 4e classes, 4e products, etc. Most of the points you made above, about the efficacy of centralizing discussion about a particular game, also apply here. Why aren't these threads being moved to the 4e forum?

Whether or not the actually division is good or bad (there being arguments both ways), I think the inconsistency is the most irksome part of the whole deal.

That can be explained remarkably easy. New forum created, so quick search and move all to chuck some content into it. That's about as complicated as it gets. You can count threads, provide statistics to imply some kind of deliberacy on my part if you enjoy such things; and if you get something out of such suppositions, then more power to you. But I would suggest you're wasting your time querying possible motives and so forth when there just isn't any answer to give you other than "it was the result of a quick search & move to chuck content into the new forum". It's really that simple, although I appreciate that that explanation is somewhat boring.

There's no point microanalyzing it. I wasn't prepared to read every thread in the General forum and evaluate its candidacy when - in my opinion - the effort vs. benefit ratio was infinitesimally low. So I used a tool the vBUlletin designers convneiently incorporated into the board design.

Honestly, I think you're worrying about something so inconsequential that I'm actually bothered by the amount of time I've spent discussing it!

You can ask "why this?" and "why that?" and "what's the reason for this?" but the questions are based on a premise that there is some kind of motivation you're trying to uncover. Unfortunately, there is not. Honestly, I can't even imagine what such a motivation could be, let alone be in possession of it!

I'll turn all your questions round on you: what motivations are you imagining in the dark of the night as you lay awake in bed? I'm curious and somewhat fascinated!

 

[Roland55]

I guess I'm sorry if this new Pathfinder Forum bugs some folks ... but it certainly doesn't bug me.

If it's a Ghetto, I find myself unafraid to enter and feel at home.

For me, it's just a convenient place to find information ... and discuss ... another version of a game I love. And have loved since about 1974.

I imagine it's also a convenience for people who only want to discuss 4E (I think I've read a few Posts about that recently). This way, they won't have to scroll past Threads they just don't care about.

I'm assuming nobody minds if I shuffle out everyone once in awhile to stay in touch with all the other interesting versions of D&D (I'm a generalist at heart).

Maybe folks have become just a little too sensitive? Why not try it and see where it goes?

 

[Roland55]

1. I don't see a problem with Pathfinder having its own forum. I suspect that after the initial organization, you'll get the usual setup we have for most games- general news threads show up here, miscellaneous discussion ends up there. So threads like "Look at Pathfinder's Shiny New Thing!" will end up in general, while threads like "Sell Me On Pathfinder, What's Changed?" or "Is the Fighter Really Balanced Now?" will end up in the Pathfinder specific forum. The only way this could possibly hurt Pathfinder is if there's just not that much discussion about it, and the Pathfinder forum turns into a slum.

2. The conspiracy theory opening to this thread... frustrates me.

Now, now, Monsieur Cadfan. Let's try "Ghetto" instead of slum. It's so much more ... high class.

Conspiracy theories always used to frustrate me. Then I was moved to Washington DC. Now, they just make me sigh ... very, very briefly.

 

[resistor]

I'll turn all your questions round on you: what motivations are you imagining in the dark of the night as you lay awake in bed? I'm curious and somewhat fascinated!

I actually never thought there was any deliberate malice involved, and I've never subscribed to any of the "conspiracy theories" that claim that you've got an agenda in this. I'm sorry if you got that from my posts, because it's absolutely not the case.

I'm also not concerned so much about the state of the boards at this moment as I am about them going forward. I understand that the all-or-nothing move was a matter of convenience rather than policy. However, it did create the appearance of unequal treatment (again, I understand that this was not the intent), and I care to the extent that I don't want that to be taken as a precedent for moderation going forward. I was completely serious in my earlier post about how the aggressive relocation of 3e-related threads in the immediately-post-4e-release timeframe made ENWorld seem very unwelcoming to 3e players.

As to why I care, I view organizing the boards as being similar to controlling the agenda for a meeting, or to choosing on which page to run a newspaper story: while it doesn't stop anyone from discussing anything, it can and does shape discussion. I don't want to see discussion of any game be discouraged by forum rules consigning threads about it to the virtual back-page.

At any rate, it sounds like we're actually mostly in agreement as to how things should proceed in the future, so I think it's time to let this one rest.

 

[CapnZapp]

I must say, it really irritates me Pathfinder gets its own forum, while people like me who come here for 4E have to trawl through lots of irrelevant threads in RPG general. (Things like 3E, AD&D and non-D&D games)

I understand ENWorld wants to encourage one unified community, bur really, why then a separate Pathfinder forum?

If there can be a Pathfinder forum (which is great, because now I don't need to see all PF threads) why can't there be a general "not 4E" forum too in which everything else but the current edition of D&D can go.

Ideally, the first forum should be about 4E only. That's at least 50% of all traffic anyway; probably much more.

If it is news about other games than D&D I want, there are much better options than enworld anyways (read rpg.net!), so it is D&D stuff I'm here for, and specifically 4E.

 

[lutecius]

Ok, Morrus has no ulterior motive, this is not a conspiracy, not the UN, not a criminal trial. I think everyone gets it now. And now that general discusssion is no longer swamped with pathfinder news i'd love to see that other issue addressed:

You point out some good reasons for the existence of a Pathfinder forum. [...] Being somewhat generous and assuming that Dark Sun counts as general interest, I count six threads in General at the moment that are wholly 4e-specific, discussing 4e classes, 4e products, etc. Most of the points you made above, about the efficacy of centralizing discussion about a particular game, also apply here. Why aren't these threads being moved to the 4e forum?

 

[lutecius]

If there can be a Pathfinder forum (which is great, because now I don't need to see all PF threads) why can't there be a general "not 4E" forum too in which everything else but the current edition of D&D can go.

Oh yes. We definitely need a separate forum for the "which is the best defender" and the "new subscription-only preview is up" threads.

 

[Nymrohd]

I definitely like the sound of a Pathfinder forum. Maybe now I can browse preview threads with ease and everything is not inside a couple of megathreads that are choke full of information and impossible to navigate. By that I mean, maybe now that there is a separate forum, people will fork separate issues more often. Truth be told I am not planning to go to PF but I certainly am curious to see what was done.

 

[NiTessine]

I like that Pathfinder got its own forum. It makes it easier to find the stuff relevant to the game I play and I vastly prefer EN World's forum software to Paizo's.

Now, I wish people will also use it.