The benefits of the Message Board

User avatar
Kruell
Posts: 254
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 10:35 pm

The benefits of the Message Board

Postby Kruell » Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:17 am

A little shock thought for people who post on Discord but shun the board... you can get a better discussion or answer if you post on the board than in Discord. With Discord, you have people who never see your post because there are so many replies, other topics, and general trolling. With the Message Board, you get to organize conversations into these things called "topics" which contain only a single thread. 300+ Discord messages after update complaining or discussing things but everyone avoids the message board so we have several people post about something that is known and has already been answered because they didn't scroll back through the wall of text to try and find the gold. We have people from virtually all over the world and radically different time zones so people can't be expected to know about someone else who posted the same thing 10 hours past while they were asleep.

I get it that there have been toxic people in the past who made the MB hard to use. I know that sometimes topics get hijacked. Moderators can fix some of this. Be very glad that the moderation style has been light over the years or I think a few people would be gone from the MB, Discord, and the game.

I would urge people who want to actually discuss something or express more depth than one or two sentences to use the MB instead of Discord. Doing this would revive a valuable resource for the game as well as rebuild a venue for constructive discussions.
If you look like prey you will be eaten

User avatar
Mort
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 8:36 am

Re: The benefits of the Message Board

Postby Mort » Mon Sep 10, 2018 3:00 pm

I think more people use discord even though it was more toxic then the message board simply because they don't want to wait around for a reply 9 days later. I do like message boards generally but there is not enough happening on here to make me check it daily.

Boon
Posts: 34
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 12:39 pm

Re: The benefits of the Message Board

Postby Boon » Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:51 am

I check for new posts about 2-4 times per day. I love message boards myself, just wish more people liked the message boards.

User avatar
Mort
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 8:36 am

Re: The benefits of the Message Board

Postby Mort » Tue Sep 11, 2018 6:56 am

I don't mind them just saying I need a reason to check them.

User avatar
Ohko
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu May 11, 2017 5:47 pm

Re: The benefits of the Message Board

Postby Ohko » Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:16 am

I personally like the message board discussions more than having discussions over discord. I can step away from a discussion without missing anything especially discord chats move much faster. Discord is better for random short chats for things happening right now. I do check the forums at least 3-4 times a day.
Tivrusky

"The computer’s kaput and we’re drifting through space towards certain oblivion."

User avatar
JadeFalcon
Posts: 383
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 8:29 am

Re: The benefits of the Message Board

Postby JadeFalcon » Tue Sep 11, 2018 3:34 pm

I agree with Kruell - IF properly managed, a forum thread can be more productive because:
1. You can always have much more clarity and focus on what is the problem we are trying to solve
2. You can follow each argument that is being made, and by whom
3. You can vote on stuff
4. You can rearrange the initial idea with more thought out inputs, instead of the usual verbal... incontinence that we get on discord (that includes me)

I do agree that toxic behaviour should be ruthlessly stamped out. Also, threadjacking (im guilty!!) should not be tolerated
Don't take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.

Proud member, Halfling Appreciation Club

HAC Tip of the Week:
Roast Halfling leg with rosemary, garlic and white wine. Ideal for that family dinner!

Terron
Posts: 802
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 11:36 pm

Re: The benefits of the Message Board

Postby Terron » Tue Sep 11, 2018 4:18 pm

thread hijacking doesnt even exist. almost every relevant topic has dozens of valid interlinked causes. people call it hijacking but the shit is all connected. i have yet to see a topic on here actually get hijacked. this is politics lol. cant stomp out people not talking about proposal 1, when section a-z all have there effect on the main subject.
"Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go into the same box"

this game is like sim ant
zerg the red ants with more black ants

anthriel
Posts: 223
Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2017 7:04 am

Re: The benefits of the Message Board

Postby anthriel » Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:24 pm

I also prefer the boards to discord. I just don't have a lot more to say that i haven't already said in previous threads and i'm patiently waiting for some of those things to change.

I will say this however. Posting suggestions or constructively critiquing something is different from 'negativity'/'complaining'! There are many ppl who are very quick to censure people from 'complaining'/'negativity' on boards/discord/globalchat etc when actually its people who love the game, love/appreciate NH's work and just want to help note things that arent exactly working and could be changed to improve the game they love. I know there is an appropriate place for censure of abuse but imho it rarely reaches that before defensiveness occurs. You cant want people to be enthusiastic about message board participation and making suggestions etc when other people accuse them of constant negativity or are super defensive over every time they notice an issue, raise it and suggest some changes they think will fix it.

For example, I saw one such conversation on global chat the other day where the entire active community online at the time was discussing some core game issues (only 5 or so vet players on at that time of night, but from several guilds and even no-guild players). In my opinion this was a wonderful thing where new game functionality was being used in a way that was intended i.e. civil community discussion by people who loved the game and which broke down barriers between different factions etc. It was actually a cause for celebration and progress! Yet one or two participants began getting super defensive (e.g. "stop complaining, if you dont like it just dont play" - and usually these players tend to be staff/staff alts imho who have probably seen alof of abuse and rightly like to defend NH whom they see working very hard for the game, which is understandable) but 'complaining' was not what the others were doing... they were just trying to engage/discuss and get a feel for what others in the community thought real-time. We play a text-based game and use text-based forums/chatrooms to discuss it. It's easy to misread people's tone over text and see them as complaining etc when they are not. More charity of spirit and less assumption of intent is needed.

Basically i'd love to see the boards more vibrant. But for that to happen people need to be encouraged that they are not going to be misheard as 'trouble-makers'/'pot-stirrers'/'complainers' etc and actually be valued as part of the game community with a helpful voice... Otherwise ppl do shut up and lose interest cos they feel everything is decided behind closed doors by an inner staff circle who possibly vilify those who try to passionately point out things that need changing and contribute suggestions to do it.

Perhaps MB moderators need to set some guidelines what is actually 'complaining' and what is actually appropriately passionate behavior when engaging in suggestions/constructive-criticism. And it shouldnt just be as simple as "suggest something once and shut up" etc because debate is actually healthy and people don't necessarily get things the first time etc. Advocacy for change takes time. But imho its worth doing if you care about the game. The problem is that its also hard work, and often thankless work. And that's probably why people who have tried in the past and felt burnt now increasingly dont want to do it. Hopefully we can see that culture changed. Peace all.


Return to “Archive Chat”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 28 guests