Is the local Theory Forum for bitching and moaning?

[Blackleaf]

But see, you CAN do that here. There's nothing stopping you. Just start a fucking thread.

Like these?

Reward Mechanics
Medieval Combat
Game Session Length
Traditional GM / Player structure
RPGs: Just for Geeks?
Tracy Hickman: Ethics in Fantasy
"A Game for Making Stories"
Competitive Play
Game Design Glossary
What kind of game is an RPG?
Combat System -- Knife, Sword, Spear
Combat System -- Touch Attacks
Mental Statistics
Collaborative Storytelling vs Virtual Experience
Armour in Games
Fantasy Heartbreaker?
RPGs: War Games and Theatre Sports
Book Excerpt: A Theory of Fun for Game Design
Games and Roleplaying Games Theory
What would you improve?
When is it a Roleplaying Game, and when is it just Roleplaying?

All of these threads were started because of something I was thinking about for the game I'm working on.  They're all game design related.

[TonyLB]

That said, I have tried to suggest that people put less of their effort into attacking the Forge on that forum, and more into working on productive ideas for RPGs. I'd personally prefer it that way, but I'm certainly not going to force people to.

Yep.  We're on the same page.  You tried to suggest that people work more on producing useful stuff and less on criticizing for the sake of criticizing.  Now I'm suggesting the same.  Maybe if enough people hear enough different statements of support, the idea will make better headway.

[RPGPundit]

Like these?

SNIP

All of these threads were started because of something I was thinking about for the game I'm working on.  They're all game design related.

Right, and its awesome that you did.  But that's my point: a lot of those were successful threads. Right now we have, relatively active:

A thread about RPGs simulating drug use
A thread talking about the overlap between gaming genres and pop media
A thread on reward mechanics
A thread of some wierdass thing Grim's going on about
A thread where Clash talks about the design of his newest game
A thread by Jimbob where he complains about Chris Chin
And of course the stickied thread about the Historical Cast project

So of 7 active threads on the Theory forum, there's precisely ONE that's only about complaining about Forge stuff; there's two that have to do with actual products that have been/are being designed; there's 2 that are about actual design of mechanics, one about issues in gaming today; and one that's um.. about Grim.

That's not a bad track record at all.

RPGPundit

[TonyLB]

Well, let's see now ... let's check out what's happened since you posted that.

Looks like a troll have completely derailed GRIM's attempt to get some DIY game-design going by arguing that game design isn't creative, and turning the thread into an argument about that rather than a chance to actually design games.

Stuart's thread appears to be holding up somewhat better:  There is some pulling from people who would like to talk about the way they feel D&D has been misrepresented in the community, but in between people getting sucked into that tangent, a few people are still trickling in opinions about what reward mechanics they enjoy.

Awfully high infant mortality rate among these threads.  In your place I would not be crowing about that track record.  If this is the cost of fighting The War then it's a pretty steep price-tag.

[James McMurray]

Has anyone created spawn threads to deflect the derailment?

[TonyLB]

Haven't noticed any, nope!

[James McMurray]

Well, perhaps people worried about thread derailment should work to stop it instead of just complaining about it.

[TonyLB]

Yeah, I could, but I'm not going to.  I'm sorry if that sounds snippy, but I'm genuinely not interested in becoming some sort of unofficial police-man for the site.

If people want to come together as a community to apply some standards, to themselves primarily, then I think that'd be a great thing.  But trying to create those standards from outside is a lost cause.  The best that can be done (and I'm trying to do it) is to make people aware of the issue, and make people who were already aware of the issue aware that other people are aware of the issue.

[James McMurray]

LOL. Okely dokely then. Just don't expect much sympathy from me. I'm not a fan of cleaning up messes people won't clean up for themselves.

[TonyLB]

And yet you advocate that I should be?

[James McMurray]

You're the one with the problem, or at least the one bothered enough to start a thread. To say "here's a problem, but no, I'm not going to do anything to fix it" is just useless complaining.

[arminius]

Here, I'll offer a theory of my own:

"Theory threads work best when they're about actual design problems, either for modifying a specific game or designing a new game. They fall down to a greater or lesser degree when they try to do the following:

• Present generalized definitions and taxonomies for use outside the current thread.
• Discuss general theories about RPGs as a whole.
• Engage in comparative discussion of the workings of widely-varying games."

Stewart's thread on rewards for example could profit from a little context about the other parts of the game that he's thinking about. That'd make it easier to figure out what types of reward mechanism (and I assume he's talking about mechanical rewards) would work for that game.

[Blackleaf]

Stewart Stuart's thread on rewards for example could profit from a little context about the other parts of the game that he's thinking about. That'd make it easier to figure out what types of reward mechanism (and I assume he's talking about mechanical rewards) would work for that game.

I wanted the thread to be a discussion of people's favourite reward systems, rather than "What reward system do you think would work for my game?"  I've got a reward system in place now, but the discussion is helpful in seeing if there's another Point of View I didn't consider.  That's what happened with the Armour as AC vs Damage Reduction discussions we had a few months ago -- I went back and reworked the combat system based on seeing all the positive comments about DR.

[Kyle Aaron]

Yeah, I could [start a thread defecting the attack], but I'm not going to.  I'm sorry if that sounds snippy, but I'm genuinely not interested in becoming some sort of unofficial police-man for the site.

So you can start a thread complaining about a thread, but can't stand a thread which deflects the other thread? And a thread complaining is being a "police-man", but a thread deflecting is not?

*scratches his head*

[arminius]

Sorry about misspelling your name, Stuart.

Your thread is going okay last I checked. But "reward systems" (even restricted to mechanical rewards) is a lot broader than discussions of armor--I mean the latter presumes that combat will be handled in at least a moderate level of detail, so there's implied context.