TheRPGSite

So, due to a new thread and Pundit's suggestion, here's a Poll to decide if theRPGSite should have a better way of keeping track of RPG Kickstarters.

I made it multiple choice, so if you simply agree we need it, but don't care how, you can just vote for all the Yes options or just select the ones you can live with.

Voted yes to all 3, but preference goes to it's own forum. Give a good place to discuss stuff surrounding Kickstarters like Indigogo campaigns, warn people about folks like GNS and Whitman, etc.

Yeah, I would prefer it's own Forum, then you could have a thread per KS to keep it organized, but, like Tristram said, also room for KS-general topics.

"Shana! They have a browser. They know how to use the Internet!

I say, LET 'EM MISS THE KICKSTARTER!
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We'll be watching this poll.

Quote from: TristramEvans;925017Voted yes to all 3, but preference goes to it's own forum. Give a good place to discuss stuff surrounding Kickstarters like Indigogo campaigns, warn people about folks like GNS and Whitman, etc.

Yeah, a sticky for the Whitman Warning Sites would be a public service for most gamers to get the word out about the guy.

Not Another Dime for Ken Whitman (http://notanotherdime.blogspot.com/)

Don't Fund Ken Whitman or d20 Entertainment (http://dontfundkenwhitman.blogspot.com/)

I like the idea of a separate forum. it might be a little sparse, but it would allow for separate threads and for the occasional, well moderated sticky PSAs for KS creators with a bad track record.

I think it would be good; I always find out about the good Kickstarters after they're already over.

I track it here:
https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/202074/kickstarter-rpg-projects-2016/

If it turns out to be a thread, would people want the thread to be purely for posting by the KS organizers and their official promoters, or for general discussion where people could comment?

The latter could potentially be an issue if the thread gets swamped by discussion/flamewars over one specific KS project.

That's why I think it should be a forum, then we could have individual KS project threads, where people could go nuts without spamming anything else, AND we could have the threads about "Look out for this douchenozzle that hasn't completed 20 projects" or whatever general topics we want, concerning KS or other crowdfunding platforms.

If you don't have a forum, go with two threads.  A combination of the first and third poll options.  A thread in Pen and Paper RPGs forum for Kickstarter and Indiegogo discussion, and a thread in the News and Adverts forum for Kickstarter and Indiegogo project announcements.  Just make it plain that people are not to advertise or announce in the discussion thread, and not to discuss in the announcement thread.  Best of both worlds, IMO.

I think if the Kickstarter is about a game that would otherwise be discussed here in the RPGs discussion forum, then discussion of the Kickstarter game should be here. If it's for a video game or story game, then obviously discussion would go in that forum.

I don't want there to be a separation of Kickstartered RPGs in a different forum from non-Kickstartered RPGs. That would be weird - especially since the same game might have a Kickstarter campaign for some things and non-Kickstarter for others.

The sticky thread should just be keeping a list of announced Kickstarter campaigns. Anyone can post to it, and hopefully someone can update the first post to have a compact list.

EDITED TO ADD: I'm fine if the Kickstarter list is in the News & Adverts forum. That would make sense.

Quote from: jhkim;925748I think if the Kickstarter is about a game that would otherwise be discussed here in the RPGs discussion forum, then discussion of the Kickstarter game should be here. If it's for a video game or story game, then obviously discussion would go in that forum.

I don't want there to be a separation of Kickstartered RPGs in a different forum from non-Kickstartered RPGs. That would be weird - especially since the same game might have a Kickstarter campaign for some things and non-Kickstarter for others.

The sticky thread should just be keeping a list of announced Kickstarter campaigns. Anyone can post to it, and hopefully someone can update the first post to have a compact list.

EDITED TO ADD: I'm fine if the Kickstarter list is in the News & Adverts forum. That would make sense.

Wouldn't be a forum for "Kickstarter RPGs" it would be a forum for Crowdfunding campaigns.  That was if you want to have a 1000 post blowout on a Jmal level episode, that can have it's own thread in that forum and nowhere else.  If you want to actually talk about the game itself, do it wherever the game should go.

Hell, throw the forum in the fucking lounge for all I care, but one single thread for every rpg kickstarter under the sun as well as all drama from every rpg kickstarter under the sun will be a thread no one bothers to read due to the mess.

Quote from: CRKrueger;925751Wouldn't be a forum for "Kickstarter RPGs" it would be a forum for Crowdfunding campaigns.  That was if you want to have a 1000 post blowout on a Jmal level episode, that can have it's own thread in that forum and nowhere else.  If you want to actually talk about the game itself, do it wherever the game should go.

Hell, throw the forum in the fucking lounge for all I care, but one single thread for every rpg kickstarter under the sun as well as all drama from every rpg kickstarter under the sun will be a thread no one bothers to read due to the mess.

Gotcha. Then yeah, I'm fine with the separate forum as long as it is clear that it is only for discussion of the Crowdfunding mechanics, reputation, delivery, and so forth - not about the actual games.

Quote from: CRKrueger;925701That's why I think it should be a forum, then we could have individual KS project threads, where people could go nuts without spamming anything else, AND we could have the threads about "Look out for this douchenozzle that hasn't completed 20 projects" or whatever general topics we want, concerning KS or other crowdfunding platforms.

Exactly! It utilizes the advantage of a forum system. The sticky threads are actually difficult to navigate. Things get lost or drowned out by discussion. Also, this could be a good draw of new eyeballs to the site. With a combination of steady announcements AND threads that give real advice on who to avoid, etc. this could become The Place to keep track of RPG crowdfunding projects.

I think maybe the best way to do this is to have a sticky KS thread in the main forum, but make it ONLY for:

a) announcements about Kickstarter projects (either by the people doing the KS, or by members of the site who found out about the kickstarter and want to let us know).

b) Commentary about the Kickstarter project itself, NOT about the game. So you could post about KS updates, problems with the KS, warnings about the people running it or things like that. But NOT about how cool the game is or how bad the game is or discussions about mechanics in the game, etc.  Those could be done in separate (normal) threads on the main forum.

What does everyone think about this?

I like the existing system, where each individual KS project has its own thread in the News/Adverts forum. People can provide announcements, updates and comments for a specific project that are all nicely organized together in one thread. Jumbling all the KS news, updates and comments together in one big thread seems like it would be hard to follow and use effectively. Now, maybe in the News/Adverts forum there also needs to be a stickied "Kickstarter Problem Children" type thread where known offenders can be tracked and discussed all in one place. THAT might be good. Also, if for some reason you want to separate KS stuff from other business News/Adverts, then start a new forum and dump all the individual project threads and problem child sticky in that spot.

Quote from: RPGPundit;927001I think maybe the best way to do this is to have a sticky KS thread in the main forum, but make it ONLY for:

a) announcements about Kickstarter projects (either by the people doing the KS, or by members of the site who found out about the kickstarter and want to let us know).

b) Commentary about the Kickstarter project itself, NOT about the game. So you could post about KS updates, problems with the KS, warnings about the people running it or things like that. But NOT about how cool the game is or how bad the game is or discussions about mechanics in the game, etc.  Those could be done in separate (normal) threads on the main forum.

What does everyone think about this?

Sure, sounds like the second best option.

If a dedicated forum is off the table, then screw it, just go with individual KS threads in the News and Adverts forum.  That should have been one of the options in the poll I guess.

A sticky thread in Pen and Paper...

• Adds to the list of stickies in a forum where half the first page is almost stickies already.
• Will be difficult to browse because it's all in one thread.  How many current KS's going on are complete clusters, not to mention the wonder that was Dwimmermount.  All of that in one KS thread...it will be useless for reference information - the entire point.
• One thread for KS, one thread for game - which of the current mods is going to bother themselves to police that, enforced topicality is not exactly our strong suit.

I don't think it's the second best option, I think it might actually be worse than doing nothing.

On second thought...I think we doing it right already.

Most KS campaigns last 30 days. We don't really need a long lasting record of them.

And as jhkim said, the KS thread should be in the appropriate forum (RPG, not-RPG, etc).

Instead, maybe we just need to encourage anyone who learns about an interesting KS to post about it as early as possible, and maybe we should tag those as [Kickstarter] in the title.

Because that's kinda the goal - tell each other about something cool happening. Perfect use for News & Adverts.

As for discussing the actual game, that's for the particular forum.

I think you're all overlooking the reason why having a dedicated sticky thread or forum for Kickstarters would be good:).

Putting it simply, I'd rather not go to TBP to check what new KS have started;). Not to mention, the comments on both forums might focus on, let's say, radically different things.

Here's my conclusion:

1. I'm going to put up a stickied thread for people to write about Kickstarters, as described in this thread.

2. Publishers can STILL post their own threads about their KS projects in the News & Advertising forum. They'll probably want to do both, and that's fine.

3. Gamers can obviously still post individual threads to talk more in-depth about KS projects or express discussion of the content/rules whatever.

4. To not further clog up the front page of the main forum, I'm going to unsticky the "Master Publisher" thread; it hasn't been posted to since 2009.

Quote from: RPGPundit;928286Here's my conclusion:

1. I'm going to put up a stickied thread for people to write about Kickstarters, as described in this thread.

2. Publishers can STILL post their own threads about their KS projects in the News & Advertising forum. They'll probably want to do both, and that's fine.

3. Gamers can obviously still post individual threads to talk more in-depth about KS projects or express discussion of the content/rules whatever.

4. To not further clog up the front page of the main forum, I'm going to unsticky the "Master Publisher" thread; it hasn't been posted to since 2009.

Thanks, that seems like the best decision from my point of view;).