Other forums?

[Bondbug 32]

I have been having a break from Oblivion, Morrowind, and even Sacred Plus. To fill in I have been looking at a few freebie games, largely German or far-Eastern. "Pretty" games.

 

I have also been looking around in their forums! The majority seem to be for the lower end of the teenage market, though the avatars are fully grown! The forums are appalling! The language is foul; they are mainly bitching at each other, at the game, at the GMs - at everything. Even in the more mature games there is the same irritable atmosphere.

 

It's like a haven of peace here.

 

What experience have people had of other forums? Or is this a forbidden subject? If so I rely on some kindly person in authority to erase it

[gogoblender 3,071]

Great topic, I'd love to hear more about this. I have some feedback for you, but I'm at work, will post some more in a bit.

 

 

gogo

[Timotheus 416]

Most other forums are hard on newbies.

I think the strong and kind community of Sacred is one of the things that kept me hooked on the game that much. If you needed something, or had questions, there always were more than enough members stepping up to help.

 

I haven't found that elsewhere, maybe over at the titan quest forums but I haven't been there since the game was released.

[Bondbug 32]

Could be the good range of age groups and experience here and perhaps support forums like the Creatrix. I agree with Tim. I can't play Sacred 2 but the forum has me hooked!

Edited May 14, 2010 by Bondbug

[DaveO 88]

I'm a member of at least half a dozen forums, and none of them have treated me badly. Part of the reason is that a game series(Might & Magic) I have the most familiarity with is covered on those multiple forums.

[locolagarto 15]

I'm a member of at least half a dozen forums, and none of them have treated me badly. Part of the reason is that a game series(Might & Magic) I have the most familiarity with is covered on those multiple forums.

 

Glad to hear they are not all bad. Leadership of the forum has a lot to do with it I think. There must be a few good apples out there to offset the bad.

[Groosum 1]

I have been having a break from Oblivion, Morrowind, and even Sacred Plus. To fill in I have been looking at a few freebie games, largely German or far-Eastern. "Pretty" games.

 

I have also been looking around in their forums! The majority seem to be for the lower end of the teenage market, though the avatars are fully grown! The forums are appalling! The language is foul; they are mainly bitching at each other, at the game, at the GMs - at everything. Even in the more mature games there is the same irritable atmosphere.

 

It's like a haven of peace here.

 

What experience have people had of other forums? Or is this a forbidden subject? If so I rely on some kindly person in authority to erase it

 

Concur with your comments made about many other game forum sites and this is a paradise in comparison, well designed, moderated and maintained with a lot of civility.

[dreeft 9]

I absolutely agree. I moderate other forums, including one of almost 200,000 users and the general "vibe" of the place is horrid. There are small pockets of people who are friendly, generally those in a sub-forum that is specific to their location or preference of some sort, but there are much bigger areas of the site such as Off-Topic that are particularly deplorable.

 

Very different to a game site, but it's the same feeling I get on almost every forum I join. The only exception I can think of is software forums (although developers can get a bit childish).

 

Dark Matters is an island in a sea of lame.

[Bondbug 32]

Sorry - I forgot to include the Official Sacred forum with Dark Matters. Much in common and some sympa folks who don't often appear here.

 

I don't remember WoW as being bad either.

 

Interesting that Dreeft moderates a baddun. Must be a strain on the patience. I can think of one forum where they keep popping up and closing threads (quite rightly) but also penalising folks for the least breath out of line - and the atmosphere is frightening. Yet some of these forums are for quite good games, and I never know what all the whingeing is about.

 

I still think age group has a lot to do with it, but, as an old fogey, I might well be wronging the ... not younger ... not young ... but very young generation, who seem to blow-up if things don't go their way.

Edited May 15, 2010 by Bondbug

[promatolya 5]

I used to be moderator on a science forum.

There was a pretty good general atmosphere there. Mainly because your random internet trolls don't visit those kind of forums.

Talks about molecules, matrixes, atoms, vectors, etc etc... just isn't their thing.

They can't troll if they don't even understand what it's about

 

other then that, I follow a few forums (or try to). Most of the times is scrolling through pages of rants, to see 1 decent comment.

There are some decent forums out there, but they are harder and harder to find.

[locolagarto 15]

Ugh! I was just reading over at the SIF and it only took about 4 posts to start wanting to Mod some of the remarks I saw. Just so much negativity out there in the world. Its really too bad.

 

It was nice to see some friendly names from FDM over there keeping the place positive and friendly!

[kriv 14]

I follow a good D2 forum but most of the others that I come across are junk.

[Bondbug 32]

Sad. I looked in at the WoW forum today trying to find a bit of info.

 

Used to be a good forum, mature and helpful. It is like mayhem in there now ... couldn't believe it. Seems like the more mature members are moving out of it.

[Stormwing 40]

Bondbug: Maybe they just grew tired of it? Surely, group of WoWers must've changed quite a bit in the years. True to be told, never been there, so I can't be sure.

 

Also, I'm somewhat active member of few other forums and the general atmosphere is nice. Guess I've been the luck one. ^^ But considering what I've heard and also seen other places, DarkMatters is a great place, as others have stated earlier. ^^

But I do remember one thing from the past. Used to be an active at some ROM/RPG- stuff place. Was nice until the admins started to bitch alot. People getting banned I really don't know why and such. Few old peeps back then moved to their own forums, which were much better. But, that's ancient history.

[Bondbug 32]

Bondbug: Maybe they just grew tired of it? Surely, group of WoWers must've changed quite a bit in the years.

 

Could be, but I don't think it is a simple as that. I read quite a lot of threads while I was searching.

 

I think, as you say, it is the general bitchiness that is creeping in. Maybe I pick the wrong games and forums. DM has been very steady on the whole.

[Stormwing 40]

Like the gamers in general have taken a turn to a worse. I've seen that kinda thing IRL much too many times. Been wondering what'll come out of the youth nowadays. Coming and going as they please, bitching the hell outta others. And it reflects to the net, as it's that much easier to be rude and other FECAL MATTER! under the web anonomity. (Was that spelled right? ) Would need some serious troll hunting. Anyways, now that I think of it, I've avoided many boards due to what's stated above. Was glad to find out that DM as a whole is like it is. ^^

Not that made much sense, but try to bear with me. the caffeine hasn't fully kicked in yet.

[Barristan 14]

Heya,

 

in my case, it was usually lurking forums instead of joining. I'd find the info I needed, because I did not really like the atmosphere....

 

That all changed with FDM. Tried Official Sacred forum first, but did not spend too much time there

 

All in all, I cannot say that I know of a friendlier place on the net than here

 

Greetz

[KnightoftheRose 0]

Hmmmm -- other forums. This thread is ironic because Gogo and I were just talking about this the other night.

 

Well for games there are two types -- the "official" forums, and fan based forums.

 

The Official forums I have been a part of; SiF, Sierra/Impressions (Lords of Magic), Gravity (Rush on Seven Episodes) have been pretty good. The company usually has official reps that post, and they do a good job (usually) of getting good community moderators. That is a pretty good mix. I know at the original SiF it was a lot of fun, and they gave us a lot of leeway. Mirko would only come down hard if someone was being really abusive, and he would join in the banter a lot (especially the infamous underwear thread ) The down side of the official forums is the poster to lurker ratio, high turnover rate in the community, and sometimes some evil mods.

 

I have been involved in a few fan forums as well. LOM research was a website for modding Lords of Magic, HeavenGames is where I play Age of Wonders, and ofc Warrior Nation (WN) which is a multigame clanning community. The communities there tend to be a little tighter, but also a little more inbred and surprisingly a little less casual. I think it is because there are more dedicated hard core gamers, and the casual gamer gets ignored.

 

I see DarkMatters as the perfect fusion between SiF and WN. FDM has managed to capture the family and casual approach and successfully merge it with the hard core players. It is not an "official" forum in the sense that it is not patrolled by company moderators, so there is the ability to give solid constructive feed back (criticism) to the game, and to be more relaxed about other issues. However FDM does have a ton of gravitas due to the superior player base and ofc the sacredwiki. And with that gravitas there is a certain amount of order that maintains a level of professionalism and prevents the casualness from becoming anarchy and chaos.

 

I guess that's why I keep coming back. I saw this place in it's infancy (member 26 -- who would have thunk it!) and I have seen it mature into something that no other forum I have been apart of can match. It is definitely Zen Master Rommel's child -- the blend of balance and harmony is the first thing that hits you. And it is nimble and quick -- ready to adapt to new situations in the fast paced online world. Most forums are either too large to qucickly adapt, or are too small to be very relevant. Again, I think FDM has solved the goldilocks dilemma and has found that perfect in-between "just right" spot that eludes so many of the other forums

Edited May 24, 2010 by locolagarto

[Rusto 0]

*Words of wisdom*

[Bondbug 32]

Brilliant KOTR.

[Dragon Brother 619]

Well said.