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Discussion Forum by Darkaardvark
August 16th, 2007 9:27 AMThis can be implemented: Off-site and on-site.
The benefits of an off-site forum (say, on forumer) is that it's easy to acquire a free one and probably wouldn't take a ton of upkeep. The downsides are that it requires everyone to register on the forum to use it, thus decreasing usage, and would likely be subject to numerous outages. However, with a link to the forum posted prominently somewhere on the main page or even in the top bar, this could still work.
I'm not exactly positive how a forum on-site would work- it might cost more, so let me know if I'm wrong on that. But if it could be integrated properly, people would be able to post on the forum under their permaname (the one on your page's url) immediately, rather than having to go through a tedious registration process.
So, why a forum? We've got comments spots everywhere.
1. Breaking out of cliques and circles of friends: A publicly posted call for collaborators is not only *easier* than sending out a message to a bunch of friends (and figuring out which friends live in the area, which are busy, etc. while sending is) it is also likely to attract people who you wouldn't have talked to otherwise. Not to mention that it could be an invaluable resource for finding a collaborator who you don't yet know exists (Say, for example, you need the help of someone in Toronto with a park ranger's uniform and a whip. Ask on the forum).
2. Deeper discussions of SF0 without clogging up completions: We've all seen great, good, and horrible completions be turned into a battleground for discussion because they're simply the only place we have. If a comment on a completion starts talking about what constitutes a properly-completed task, the only place to discuss it is on the completion itself. The forum would give an outlet for these types of conversations.
3. General fun: Well sure, why not? A forum would simply help SF0, at its heart a social game, to be more cohesive socially.
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I totally agree with this. So many tasks are getting swamped with comments that have nothing to do with the task. If someone has a problem with someone else, or wants to interact with them on a no-task basis, take it to the forum! It will be like "Take it to the bedroom!"Ok, bad analogy... But you get my drift.
we could just call the forum the bedroom
Sounds like a great idea, Darkaardvark.
I'd certainly vote for hosting it locally, although it means a bit more work for the admins. A simple, flat forum using the same architecture as the game comments would work fine, as would any of a number of canned forum packages. Obviously something with threading and decent search that's also tied into the game system would be even better, given time and resources, but that's a lot to ask.
In addition to Darkaardvarks' excellent points in favor of a forum, I'd also offer that it would be a natural place for new players to poke around, ask questions, and get their game-legs. On first landing, there is a lot about the mechanics of SF0 that isn't obvious.
When I was brand new and figuring out what the game was all about, I often missed not having a place to ask general questions. A location where one feels free to ask, "what's a big red X," or "is it appropriate to befriend a stranger with whom I've never interacted," would be nifty. What's more, if old answers are in a place that's easy to find, one might not even need to ask them.
Even now that I've been taught to throw random praxis-clogging text anywhere and have enough knowledgeable folks in my friends lists that it's likely to be seen and answered, I'd love to see a dedicated place for general discussion.
digging through old tasks, finding random threads, piecing it all together. Time consuming, yes. Mysterious, yes. Rewarding, yes. I don't claim to know my history as well as those who lived through it (sam, ian, sean, orion, jackie, ink, cameron to name a few who are still around) But digging through the archives has been a delight and has taught me almost all I know about completing tasks. While there would certainly be some benefit to puting a lot more information out there for new players, I feel like part of the fun for me was that by the time I became an established player (personality?) around here I finally understood what was going on. We must maintain a little (non task post mechanic) mystery. I joined on the brink of the Rubin Invasion and had absolutely no idea what was happening. Some of this mystery can lead to action and involvement. Part of me doesn't want all of the questions to be answered. It makes more of an incentive for new people to reach out to older players to figure out what is goin on. i especially dont want to accidentally see another place for hapless noob slaughter and dissention breeding
If there was going to be a discussion forum, I like Loki's idea of hosting it locally, using the same architecture as the game comments. Keep it simple.
However, I agree absolutely with YellowBear/EvilBear even if he is my one and only Foe. Finding it all out for yourself is really satisfying - and a forum might just end up with a load of crap on it.
I don't think this is something that happens onsite. There was a forum during I.E., and it wasn't well used, and eventually just fizzles and dies. I think we could use this task to higher heights than a forum.
I'm certainly all for greater heights. My concern is that if a forum is hosted off-site, only a few players will register and it'll just die again.
I don't see how it takes away any of the mystery. I know the fun of going through old task completions and discovering things that took place that you never imagined- and a forum doesn't take away from that. At worst, it might organize certain links to old important completions (must-reads?) so that they're easier to find- somewhat similar to what InkTea proposed (though a history museum type thing would still be really cool).
In any event, I'm glad this task is getting people to discuss what's best for sf0.
I whole-heartedly agree.