RangerWickett
Legend
Do you remember the days when publishers used to hang out in the general forum, pimp their books, and chat about their games all the time? Now they mostly stick to the Publishers forum, just posting press releases.
I was looking back at a thread I posted two years ago, and there were about 80 replies over the course of a few days. A similar topic was posted by someone recently, and it got very few replies.
Where is everybody? I miss a lot of the folks we used to have here, and it seems like there's just not as much activity on the boards anymore. Is it because the server keeps going down (and for God's sake guys, can we please just get the new server? Russ, I'll send you $300 if it'll make things go faster, and I'm nearly broke)? Is it because gaming is not on people's minds as much nowadays (which makes no sense, because the boards were still plugging along fine a year after September 11). Am I just reading too much into a slump period?
I just don't see the same fullness of a community that used to be on these boards. Publishers used to love hanging out with everyday gamers, and people seemed to hang on every announcement about something cool from a d20 publisher. Now, maybe people are just more conservative than before, more wary about buying potentially-bad books, but about the only things I see discussed regularly are WotC books. And I know that third-party publishers are trying their damnedest to put out exceptional products, because the market is so hard. I just don't see people getting excited over them anymore.
I suggest we try this: get rid of the D20 Publishers forum as a place of advertisement. Keep it as a place for publishers to discuss the art of publishing, but put advertisements back in General. Encourage them.
We've still got all the same gamers from before -- discussions of games are still great, rules disputes and house rules and storyhours are strong as always -- but to me it feels like we've lost some of the reason why ENWorld reached its height, the ability for normal gamers to talk to publishers, see how they are cool people too, and get to know each other better. I know it's a lot easier for me to buy a book from Mystic Eye because I know Doug Herring and like him, even if we had a few mild arguments.
I want more people to come here. The more friends we have here, the better the community. Think of all the old names you remember, and wonder where they've gone.
Friends, I'm interested to hear how you feel about this.
I was looking back at a thread I posted two years ago, and there were about 80 replies over the course of a few days. A similar topic was posted by someone recently, and it got very few replies.
Where is everybody? I miss a lot of the folks we used to have here, and it seems like there's just not as much activity on the boards anymore. Is it because the server keeps going down (and for God's sake guys, can we please just get the new server? Russ, I'll send you $300 if it'll make things go faster, and I'm nearly broke)? Is it because gaming is not on people's minds as much nowadays (which makes no sense, because the boards were still plugging along fine a year after September 11). Am I just reading too much into a slump period?
I just don't see the same fullness of a community that used to be on these boards. Publishers used to love hanging out with everyday gamers, and people seemed to hang on every announcement about something cool from a d20 publisher. Now, maybe people are just more conservative than before, more wary about buying potentially-bad books, but about the only things I see discussed regularly are WotC books. And I know that third-party publishers are trying their damnedest to put out exceptional products, because the market is so hard. I just don't see people getting excited over them anymore.
I suggest we try this: get rid of the D20 Publishers forum as a place of advertisement. Keep it as a place for publishers to discuss the art of publishing, but put advertisements back in General. Encourage them.
We've still got all the same gamers from before -- discussions of games are still great, rules disputes and house rules and storyhours are strong as always -- but to me it feels like we've lost some of the reason why ENWorld reached its height, the ability for normal gamers to talk to publishers, see how they are cool people too, and get to know each other better. I know it's a lot easier for me to buy a book from Mystic Eye because I know Doug Herring and like him, even if we had a few mild arguments.
I want more people to come here. The more friends we have here, the better the community. Think of all the old names you remember, and wonder where they've gone.
Friends, I'm interested to hear how you feel about this.
