rpg discussion forum

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc (More info?)

As part of my New Year's resolution to drastically reduce the quantity
while attempting to increase the quality of the things on which I spend
the ever-dwindling moments of my life, I am working on expanding RPG
Library <http://www.rpglibrary.org/>, adding (among other things),
discussion forums, free image hosting, and so on.

I would like feedback on the organization of the discussion area. Here
are three possible skeletal organization structures. I would be
grateful if you would let me know if you prefer one, which you prefer,
and why. Please keep in mind that these are skeletal structures; they
would be fleshed out as time goes on.

Option 1 (by use)

Games
Characters
Settings
Systems

Accessories
Dice
Maps and mats
Miniatures

Articles
FAQs
References

Inspiration
Action/Adventure
Fantasy
Horror
Science Fiction
Superheroes

Software
Character generation
GM utilities
Mapping

Option 2 (by user)

Game publishers
Hero Games
White Wolf
WizKids
Wizards Of The Coast/Hasbro

Game moderators
Mapping
Plots
Settings
Utilities

Players
Characters
FAQs
Inspiration
Maps and miniatures

Option 3 (by genre)

General
Accessories
Articles
FAQs
Plots
Software
Settings
Systems

Action/Adventure
Characters
FAQs
Inspiration
Plots
References
Settings
Systems

Fantasy
Characters
FAQs
Inspiration
Plots
References
Settings
Systems

Horror
Characters
FAQs
Inspiration
Plots
References
Settings
Systems

Science Fiction
Characters
FAQs
Inspiration
Plots
References
Settings
Systems

Superheroes
Characters
FAQs
Inspiration
Plots
References
Settings
Systems

bblackmoor
2005-02-04

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc (More info?)

In article <1107548579.250673.283160@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
bblackmoor wrote:
>
> I would like feedback on the organization of the discussion
> area. Here are three possible skeletal organization structures. I
> would be grateful if you would let me know if you prefer one, which
> you prefer, and why. Please keep in mind that these are skeletal
> structures; they would be fleshed out as time goes on.

Don't bother being so elaborate up front. You will need to moderate
the discussion area anyway, to keep it from turning into a cesspit
(sigh), and so I'd advise starting with a single forum, and then
splitting it as popular topics are identified.

Lots of people, when posting on web boards, will manually write titles
like '[D&D] What class is best?' Support this in the software -- let
users tag posts with keywords in the forum software, putting tags as
an extra optional input field. Since it's easy and has a visible
effect, people will use it, and then you can look through the tags to
identify which topics needs their own fora.

--
Neel Krishnaswami
neelk@cs.cmu.edu

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc (More info?)

Neelakantan Krishnaswami wrote:

> Don't bother being so elaborate up front. You will need to moderate
> the discussion area anyway, to keep it from turning into a cesspit
> (sigh)

Only if you are among the weak. The strong grow STRONGER from this
adversity!




--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Live Journal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/seawasp/

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc (More info?)

Neelakantan Krishnaswami wrote:
> Don't bother being so elaborate up front. You will need to moderate
> the discussion area anyway, to keep it from turning into a cesspit
> (sigh), and so I'd advise starting with a single forum, and then
> splitting it as popular topics are identified.
>
> Lots of people, when posting on web boards, will manually write titles
> like '[D&D] What class is best?' Support this in the software -- let

On the contrary.

The vast majority of the D&D crowd assumes that D&D is the
*only* game in town, and so they will simply post "What
class is best?", and then become extremely puzzled when
people ask them what *system* they are asking about.

> users tag posts with keywords in the forum software, putting tags as
> an extra optional input field. Since it's easy and has a visible
> effect, people will use it, and then you can look through the tags to

People from outside the d20 ghetto will use it, yes. The
problem is, people from outside the d20 ghetto constitutes,
at best, 10% of the population.

> identify which topics needs their own fora.

--
Peter Knutsen
sagatafl.org

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc (More info?)

Here is what I have now, based on the helpful feedback form here and
elsewhere. More feedback is always welcome.

Administration
Announcements
RPG Library (issues pertaining to the RPG Library site as a whole)
Forum (issues pertaining specifically to the discussion forum)

Action/Adventure
Characters (write-ups, illustrations, etc.)
Inspiration (books, comics, movies, etc.)
Systems (game mechanics)
Worlds (plots and settings)

Fantasy
Characters (write-ups, illustrations, etc.)
Inspiration (books, comics, movies, etc.)
Systems (game mechanics)
Worlds (plots and settings)

Horror
Characters (write-ups, illustrations, etc.)
Inspiration (books, comics, movies, etc.)
Systems (game mechanics)
Worlds (plots and settings)

Science Fiction
Characters (write-ups, illustrations, etc.)
Inspiration (books, comics, movies, etc.)
Systems (game mechanics)
Worlds (plots and settings)

Superheroes
Characters (write-ups, illustrations, etc.)
Inspiration (books, comics, movies, etc.)
Systems (game mechanics)
Worlds (plots and settings)

General
Accessories (dice, maps, miniatures, etc.)
Articles (FAQs, references, reviews, etc.)
Software (mapping, chargen, GM utils, etc.)
Systems (universal game systems)

The "Characters" forums will permit image uploads. The initial quota
per user will be 10 MB.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc (More info?)

A while back I created an online gallery for people who ran out of room
on the Hero Boards. I have replaced that with a forum with image upload
capability.

The XHTML is horrific: not valid at all, much less standards compliant.
I will have to go back and fix that all later. But for now it works.
Tell people about it, please.

http://www.rpglibrary.org/forum/

bblackmoor
2005-02-06