Quote from: jrientsIs there something preventing the mods from expressing their disapproval of a policy while also enforcing that policy?  Other than a unnecessary circle-the-wagons mentality?

At a guess - and I hasten to add that I barely keep track of RPG.net these days - I suspect the moderators feel that such a stance would be damaging. It might be their feeling that if a moderator says something along the lines of "I don't agree with this rule, but I intend to enforce it anyway until it is changed", this would the risk of giving the posters in general the idea that that specific moderator is a "soft touch" - or worse, that the moderators in general are going to be reasonably lax about enforcing the rule in question - which is just going to encourage people to either break the rule outright or strain it considerably.

This is the sort of thinking people get into when they regard themselves as the Responsible Moderators and everyone else as the Irresponsible Posting Masses...

Quote from: walkerpWell that's another discussion, but I am not sure how "private" a site whose entire exisence is based on its members is.  As I suggesed, I am probably overreaching with the term censorship.  But as a faithful user of the site, it certainly doesn't make me feel very kindly to the organizers.

And notice how you are free to go elsewhere -- namely here -- and express yourself?

Even as far is it went, the didn't delete it, they just moved it. Not unlike a post about movies or LARPS would get shuttled off to another forum.

That's pretty unlike anything really deserving the term censorship.

Don't get me wrong... there's some things I don't like about the RPGnet decision. But censorship it ain't.

We keep fooling ourselves with the concept that an online forum is a community.  It's a community in that you meet many people with relatively similar interests, and the forum gradually takes on a certain colour.  But it's not a community in that, no matter how groovy the group may be, the forum is always owned and operated by one person or a very small number of persons.  It's not a democracy, it's not consensus-based, it's not any of that coolio bullshit we gamers so love.  

AFAIK, RPGNet belongs to Shannon Appelcline.  The Forge belongs to Ron Edwards and Clinton Nixon.  The RPG Site belongs to a self-appointed pundit.  Gamecraft belongs to Levi Kornelsen.  Story Games belongs to Andrew Kitkowski.  Etc., etc.  Some of these guys are really reasonable, some are pains in the ass.  

But none of these sites are operated by vote, and we just have to get that through our heads.  It took me a while to resign myself to that but I think I got it now.

I guess so... I don't know, seems kind of depressing.  I mean, I'm fine if a forum is going to be dominated by the style and thinking of the person who "owns" it, but there is still going to be some proportion of input by the people who populate it.  It's not quite the same thing as a commercial site, which is driven by the people who sponsor it.  rpg.net gets some money from sponsors, but people also donate their own money.  Doesn't that give them some kind of input power, no matter how small?  I was seriously considering buying a member ship a couple months ago because I made a bit of internet money on eBay.  I'm glad I bought a bunch of games and donated to a bunch of podcasts instead.

All I can say is, I wish.     I used to spend a lot of time on RPGNet (and enjoying your posts, among others) but I got very disappointed with the realization that this was still somebody else's house.

Quote from: walkerpBut as a faithful user of the site, it certainly doesn't make me feel very kindly to the organizers.

Screw RPG.net, you should stay here.  I think your ideas would gain more credence and you'd have more fun here than there.

What bugs me is that this particular decision doesn't make any kind of sense, and I did read Shannon's explanations. I've disagreed with rpg.net decisions in the past, but I do get why they've been implemented.

But to start a d20 forum in 2007? As opposed to 2000 through 2003? Beats me.

I was of the opinion that it might be a good idea, but i've changed my mind in the last week or so. A divide has been noticeable in that time, one that was always there but has now started to widen as there is a very physical divide on the forum. There's more us & them than was obvious before and i can only conclude this is a sympton of the forum split.

Quote from: Pierce InverarityBut to start a d20 forum in 2007? As opposed to 2000 through 2003? Beats me.

Totally agree.  From a strategic standpoint, even if you don't give a crap about community, the timing is really bizarre.  It really makes me think there is more going on than ShannonA is willing to discuss.  Some big sponsor who made a deal with them or something.  I know I'm going to get attacked for making up conspiracy theories (as happened over on rpg.net) but there are just so many holes in his explanation.  And if you see how clearly he communicates on other forum splits, you can tell that this isn't his normal manner of handling his business.

Ah, the RPGNet D20 suburb...  I rarely play D20, I don't like D20, I don't hang out on D20 threads (neither to praise nor to bash).  And yet I'd much rather have all RPGs together in one big forum.  Our hobby isn't so big that we need to break it up into smaller groups, and emphasize splits rather than commonalities.

Quote from: GoOrangeI thought you had to start an anti-RPG.net thread before you were allowed into the inner circle of theRPGsite.

I love RPGnet

I've gotten banned a couple times for reasons I can't remember (probably for being rude).  Each time it happened I didn't feel I was screwed, and couldn't wait to get bock on the site after the ban was lifted.

Guess I don't mind playing by the rules...for the most part I don't even have to check myself to do it.

When the D20 forum split off I ws very vocal about not likeing it (still don't).  Funny thing is I thought it would be the Open forum I would be visiting and the D20 forum would be the big pain in the ass.  As it is, I find all the interesting threads on the D20 forum now (especially with Star Wars Saga being my primary interest and game I'm GMing for the summer, and D&D being the other game I'm currently playing).  I check Open once a day, but have hardly posted there at all anymore.

Makes me wonder if I should just go to Enworld or something?

Quote from: grubmanWhen the D20 forum split off I ws very vocal about not likeing it (still don't).  Funny thing is I thought it would be the Open forum I would be visiting and the D20 forum would be the big pain in the ass.  As it is, I find all the interesting threads on the D20 forum now

Yeah. It seems like -- perhaps unsurprisingly -- the d20 forum has a bit more focus. Yeah, I like to speak about RPGs separate from the system I am speaking of (and I was just about to start such a thread when the split happened), but do find that in the open forum, I do have to wade through dozens of posts about some craptastic game I don't care about to get to that one post about either a game I do care about or of general RPG interest.

Of course, the d20 forum is bit to weed through now too, since the flurry of SW Saga threads hit.

There sure are a lot of current RPGnet posters hanging out over here.  There are a lot of banned former RPGnet posters to.  Most of them are voices that I have missed.

I'm not all that happy with the d20 forum split either.  I asked the mod team for clarification on why Darren was able to move his own d20 thread for purposes of exposure in open and I got the "it isn't what you think" response.  Then they changed the thread title so that it would reduce the bitching about a moderator moving his own D&D thread into open for exposure purposes.  It was a nice dose of inconsistency bordering on hypocrisy really.

I reported the attitude of Darren in that thread to.  I don't feel that there is any need for a moderator to swagger around like John Wayne and threaten the community with punishments just because they are in a bad mood.  Very immature behavior if you ask me.

So yeah, the mod team has been rubbing me the wrong way for a while now.  I realize what a difficult task they have, but I see no reason for the attitudes.  Moderators can do their job without the snark (there are a couple of good ones).  I get along with just about anyone and it takes a lot before I sour on any particular person.  I have one RPGnet poster on my RPGnet ignore list and only because they are the most condescending and arrogant ass that I have ever encountered on the net.  That is quite a feat!

Anyway, hello to all my friends from RPGnet and to those on the RPGSite!

That still doesn't make sense to me.

 Why not have a HERO System sub forum?

 A GURPS  sub forum?

 A White Wolf subforum?

 An Exalted seperate forum? (Oh right they wouldn't do that . No Need)

A RIFTS/Palladium seperate forum??

 I know that D20/D&D is the biggest thing out there...but some of the discussions related to it can also help people with similiar problems in other RPG  system campaigns.


- Ed C.

Hello, Paladin!  Nice to see you.