Warhammer-Empire.com
The Empire at War ... The Gamers Guild => WHFB The Electors' Forum => Topic started by: Captain Dob Van Dwi on October 08, 2021, 07:45:21 PM
-
As of today Friday Oct 8th, 2021:
Dead forums:
TRToB
Ogre Stronghold
The Herdstone
The Underempire
Asrai
Dogs of War Online
Potentially dead/inactive forums:
Da Warpath
Tomb Kings of Khemri
Chamber of the Everchosen
Limited activity forums:
Ulthuan
Bugmansbrewery
Druchii
Active forums:
Warhammer Empire
The Eighth Edition for Life (EEFL) Warhammer Forum
Chaos Dawrfs Online
Carpe Noctem
Lustria Online
The free servers for Warhammer Online: Return of Reckoning are still active
The WTW community is still growing.
**?
Just thought everyone would appreciate knowing about the current state of things.
-
Thanks a bunch! Very good to learn, and appreciate your effort in compiling the list. :icon_cool: :eusa_clap:
Put one on my tab. :icon_lol: :::cheers:::
-
The Warhammer Fantasy battles/Old World discord is pretty thriving. Constant activity in most channels all day, couple hundred people or something.
-
Thanks a bunch! Very good to learn, and appreciate your effort in compiling the list. :icon_cool: :eusa_clap:
Put one on my tab. :icon_lol: :::cheers:::
Your welcome.
The Warhammer Fantasy battles/Old World discord is pretty thriving. Constant activity in most channels all day, couple hundred people or something.
Fantastic. Still it is discord though, I question the overall effectiveness of the platform supporting a new player to the game. But then I have never been on discord so what do I know.
***
Overall thoughts:
I just find it said that for many if not most new players coming in to this hobby, their chosen army/faction is unlikely to have any real online support these days.
TRToB died from management/domain issues. Shame that, there is a good chance that it would still be running otherwise.
TK, Beastmen, WE and OK were never popular armies to begin with. Dogs of War have unsupported since the 90's and O&G to a special/specific type/style of player. So it is not really all that surprising that things went dark.
What really surprised me though was the fact the Underempire (Skaven) & CotE (WoC) went under. Matter of fact TUE has been dead for over three years now! It blows my mind that forums for two of the most popular armies, could not survive the transition to AoS. Hell, Chaos is a main faction in AoS!
What shocked me even more is that LO is getting around two new forum members every month! I'm glad to see Lizardmen are doing so well of course, but it is surprising.
-
Discord is interesting, I'll say that. Very different style than a forum. There's a lot of focus on painting and showing off models, but its not really saved like a plog so its a lot more "In the moment". Several fantastic artists who take it as a chance to show off in progress commissions.
One of the big things it does is link people who want to play online. A ton of people are still playing various editions using a game called tabletop simulator, and the discord links not just the people but all the resources you need to play. I'll be honest, I just cant get into it. its such a different feeling from a casual hang out physical game. But it scratches that itch for a ton of people, and its very popular with new players because they don't actually have to buy anything beyond the base game. Everythings available free online. Want to try a wood elf army? You're good to go in 10 minutes without trawling ebay.
Very different from how we use to do it, but the hobby aint dead yet. Just massively changed.
-
Facebook has probably several channels for each faction/race. More active people there than on the forums.
-Z
-
That might work if a person has a facebum account, and if a person doesn't mind the company's lack of integrity. However, not sure it really serves the same purpose either, especially since it is a media driven platform, and so far it seems to more often than not break socialness down into some of its worst parts, and uses those parts to make money off of people's information that it is gathering, even drawing out more anti-social, detrimental, distorted, and inappropriate behavior's. Not my idea of a good place to be.
-
There may be more active 'fora' than you are aware of. The Oldhammer Forum is still ticking over (http://forum.oldhammer.org.uk/), although a lot of their activity has moved to FB. They had the big 'Bring out your Lead' event in Newark at Wargames' Foundry last weekend, so the community is still active. Lead Adventure has a good few Warhammers in its fantasy sub forum (https://leadadventureforum.com/). Some Warhammer turns up regularly on the Wargames Website forum's Fantasy section (https://www.thewargameswebsite.com/forums/forum/fantasy/general-fantasy/).
And they're just the few I visit regularly.
So ... it is possible that some of any perceived reduction in activity is due to the dispersal of Warhammer players to these many and varied fora!
-
GP, Facebook activity still is a relevant part of the current state of things. Much more relevant than this forum, I'm afraid. Of course then there is Twitter, Reddit etc. All important channels/parts in the WFB/Oldhammer community.
One forum missing from the list is the Classic Hammer Forum. Limited activity. It never really took off, but something is still happening from time to time:
http://www.classichammer.com/forum/index.php (http://www.classichammer.com/forum/index.php)
Surprised to see the EEFL forum going strong. It seemed to be slowly dying some years ago. When the forum isn't that big, the activity of few makes a big difference. Like GP on this W-E forum, writing a third of all messages, running social painting logs and events, and creating new threads. Also, it seems the old fora are more about the community that once existed, with many people who do not seem to actively participate in the WFB/Oldhammer scene (no painting, no games), but who still linger around in a community they once grew part of.
Have you checked how many people actually make these forums tick? I think on W-E, we are 20-30 active ones, a similar amount of semi-active ones, and maybe once more a similar number of inactive ones who still bother to log in a couple of times per year, and maybe write a message or two between long intervals. There might be more followers, who do not log in or never create an account, but still check the site from time to time.
The 9th Age game/forum is of course a big part of the demise of most other current WFB forums: those who like competitive play/tournaments and found the 8th ed passable but in need of improvement moved over there. There's probably more activity over there than on all the WFB/Oldhammer fora combined.
I don't know if Warhammer Armies Project or Warhammer Renaissance have their own fora. Both are very much WFB/Oldhammer. Warhammer Renaissance at least is quite active over at FB, and sees unit and army progress postings in addition to rules discussion and battle reports.
And then there are all the national/local fora, which still see some activity connected to WFB/Oldhammer. They might be more prominent in Europe, with so many non-English native speakers.
-Z
-
I didn't claim facebum was irrelevant or that W-E was relevant, nor one more than the other. It is ok to list them if one wants.
And at the same time, including all the other online communities for the hobby is also good, thanks! :icon_cool: :::cheers:::
-
There may be more active 'fora' than you are aware of. The Oldhammer Forum is still ticking over (http://forum.oldhammer.org.uk/), although a lot of their activity has moved to FB. They had the big 'Bring out your Lead' event in Newark at Wargames' Foundry last weekend, so the community is still active. Lead Adventure has a good few Warhammers in its fantasy sub forum (https://leadadventureforum.com/). Some Warhammer turns up regularly on the Wargames Website forum's Fantasy section (https://www.thewargameswebsite.com/forums/forum/fantasy/general-fantasy/).
And they're just the few I visit regularly.
So ... it is possible that some of any perceived reduction in activity is due to the dispersal of Warhammer players to these many and varied fora!
I had though of that.
However it dose not change the fact that for the vast majority of people who are going to be typing their armires name and it's relatered forum, they ain't going to find much. i mean how many people are even aware of the Oldhammer forum or even of the concept of "Oldhammer" in the first place?
When I type in the word "Warhmmer Fantasy forums" the first restult I get is WE. The Second id DakkaDakka (which is mostly about 40k), The Total war forum (which is where they are most likely coming from) the Fourth is Ulthuan. net and then just a bunch of postsing about random things that have no baring about and paticular army.
People want what they want. New folks coming in will have a hard time getting feedback and support for many of the armies. Most will simply give up rather than scroll te mirad of posts for somthing related to their army on Oldhammer.
This is the point I'm getting at.
-
That's funny, I ran the same search today, and a few more. I was going out 10 pages to see what could be found with the various searches. There just isn't much out there coming up in the way of forums. W-E, Dakka Dakka, Total War, and Ulthuan were the first ones just like Dwi's. Although I did see Oldhammer listed in places, but a newcomer might not suspect that it is tied in with Warhammer. I did have EEFL come up as well, and TGA too.
By the way ... had to go back and look for this, but here is a link to GamersDecide where someone provided their ten best Warhammer forums.
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/warhammer-community-10-best-warhammer-forums
And Warhammer-Empire was listed as 7th. :icon_cool: :::cheers:::
-
I completely agree, captain. And I worded my post badly as I was only suggesting it might be 'another' factor in the situation rather than a major one.
-
For those who might not be aware ... TGA is The Grand Alliance. It seems like a happening place for those interested in W:AoS
Additionally ... I recall seeing Lustria, Carpe Diem, Warseer, Bugman's, and Druchii. That sort of all falls in line with Dwi's list in the initial post. Except Chaos Dwarfs didn't show up for me.
-
New folks coming in will have a hard time getting feedback and support for many of the armies. Most will simply give up rather than scroll te mirad of posts for somthing related to their army on Oldhammer.
This is the point I'm getting at.
I would think most new people who start a WFB/Oldhammer army these days will either be returning oldhammerists or have learned about the game/army from someone who also points them to an internet site where WFB and their army is being discussed.
I'd imagine, The Ninth Age apart, most often that site is Facebook, Twitter, Reddit or the like. You can find discussions for all WFB armies over there. Not always that lively discussions, but discussions nevertheless. And photos of army projects. Pictures are very easy to scroll on those sites, and searchable too if the original poster used hashtags.
The time for traditional discussion fora may simply be past. At least the party moved on to other internet platforms. What would it take to move it back? And would people then find these old sited or simply build new sites?
-Z
-
I'd imagine, The Ninth Age apart, most often that site is Facebook, Twitter, Reddit or the like. You can find discussions for all WFB armies over there. Not always that lively discussions, but discussions nevertheless.
Indeed: not that lively, nor at length or in depth. What struck me at the Warhammer groups on Facebook is that a lot of posters do not really seem to read the contributions of others. True, that happens on "traditional" websites too, but not to that extent. Here it is more the exception to the rule, there it seems to be more the rule than the exception. You do not need 20 people or so to answer that Karl Franz is the current Emperor (non-existent example!).
-
For those who might not be aware ... TGA is The Grand Alliance. It seems like a happening place for those interested in W:AoS
Additionally ... I recall seeing Lustria, Carpe Diem, Warseer, Bugman's, and Druchii. That sort of all falls in line with Dwi's list in the initial post. Except Chaos Dwarfs didn't show up for me.
https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/
New folks coming in will have a hard time getting feedback and support for many of the armies. Most will simply give up rather than scroll te mirad of posts for somthing related to their army on Oldhammer.
This is the point I'm getting at.
I would think most new people who start a WFB/Oldhammer army these days will either be returning oldhammerists or have learned about the game/army from someone who also points them to an internet site where WFB and their army is being discussed.
I disagree, emphatically in fact. Those who left are unlikely to return, heck some of them may have passed by this point. Especially some of the old guard. At least that is the way it seems to me. The likelihood of someone also knowing another someone who can point them in the right direction may be true, but they may not know the forum they are point may be dead. They may not know of any other place to go.
The time for traditional discussion fora may simply be past. At least the party moved on to other internet platforms. What would it take to move it back? And would people then find these old sited or simply build new sites?
If that's truly the case (and it might be) then warhammer (40k, AoS, WFB & the coming OW) are going to be the worse off for it.
Cesspools like FB are not going to be that helpful in the long run (short term maybe). GP is right about that. YT could be (very) good if more knowledgeable folks started up channels.
Intellectual dead zones like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter or TikTok are going to do more harm than good.
Discord is kinda the wild card here. Could indeed be helpful or soul crushing for newbies (especially over stressed younger ones), depending on who is participating.
I'd imagine, The Ninth Age apart, most often that site is Facebook, Twitter, Reddit or the like. You can find discussions for all WFB armies over there. Not always that lively discussions, but discussions nevertheless.
Indeed: not that lively, nor at length or in depth. What struck me at the Warhammer groups on Facebook is that a lot of posters do not really seem to read the contributions of others. True, that happens on "traditional" websites too, but not to that extent. Here it is more the exception to the rule, there it seems to be more the rule than the exception. You do not need 20 people or so to answer that Karl Franz is the current Emperor (non-existent example!).
True enough I suppose.
-
I'd imagine, The Ninth Age apart, most often that site is Facebook, Twitter, Reddit or the like. You can find discussions for all WFB armies over there. Not always that lively discussions, but discussions nevertheless.
Indeed: not that lively, nor at length or in depth. What struck me at the Warhammer groups on Facebook is that a lot of posters do not really seem to read the contributions of others. True, that happens on "traditional" websites too, but not to that extent. Here it is more the exception to the rule, there it seems to be more the rule than the exception. You do not need 20 people or so to answer that Karl Franz is the current Emperor (non-existent example!).
Possibly. Mostly, the Warhammer groups I participate in the FB are quite similar to W-E. Discussion of course is shorter, but then again there is some feedback and likes, whereas in waning forums messages sometimes seem to go wholly unnoticed.
I get the feeling that most WFB/Oldhammer hobbyists on every internet platform are veterans who often don't care to write - again, for the hundredth time - a reply to a topic that has been presented many times over the past decades.
For questions, the first answer is often the last answer. There is no will or need to discuss much.
I would think most new people who start a WFB/Oldhammer army these days will either be returning oldhammerists or have learned about the game/army from someone who also points them to an internet site where WFB and their army is being discussed.
I disagree, emphatically in fact. Those who left are unlikely to return, heck some of them may have passed by this point. Especially some of the old guard. At least that is the way it seems to me. The likelihood of someone also knowing another someone who can point them in the right direction may be true, but they may not know the forum they are point may be dead. They may not know of any other place to go.
I'm afraid there isn't much really new blood. I've seen plenty of those who get interested in WFB/Oldhammer again and join a local group. That seems to be main venue of recruitment these days. Recruiting newbies also goes via friends, and friends can point the newbies to the existing discussions. And most people don't need open discussion sites, because they remain in their hobby group and discuss things there.
Really, if a complete noob wants to find discussions about the classic WFB/Oldhammer armies, he/she will likely be of such age that he/she will not google "[ARMY] forum", but rather do a search on one or the other - or likely many - social media sites. And will find his/her army discussion there. And a ready and easy platform for sharing photos of his/her progress and games.
I have had some discussions about this recruitment process with people who have actually followed and even studied the subject. Very few people start the hobby in a vacuum, they usually have peers around and this thing lives in networks of people. After all, you need friends to play with.
Intellectual dead zones like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter or TikTok are going to do more harm than good.
Agree these platforms offer little or nothing for me. I like to think I'm intellectual, so it's self-assuring to think they are intellecutal dead zones! :)
I hear Instagram is a major venue for Warhammer stuff. Perhaps not discussions, but sharing painting and cheering the progress. Things people mostly like to do. Very few care to discuss Warhammer in depth. For most, it seems to be about gaming and painting toy soldiers. And most never share any of their gaming or painting anywhere. At least the social media sites set the bar low, with easy photo sharing and no walls of text.
-Z
-
I was writing as Zyg was doing the same, and I wrote so much that I'm going to come back and read Zyg's posts to perhaps reply there too.
Which by the way is one of the limitations of forums because sometimes a topic can easily go off in different directions, and it isn't always easy to respond. At the same time, at least this is more than what is possible on facebum from my view. But perhaps I digress. :icon_lol:
Going to separate my replies into multiple posts ... not sure we've had a discussion like this in a bit. :icon_wink: :icon_biggrin: :::cheers:::
-
Part 1 of 3 ...
For those who might not be aware ... TGA is The Grand Alliance. It seems like a happening place for those interested in W:AoS
Additionally ... I recall seeing Lustria, Carpe Diem, Warseer, Bugman's, and Druchii. That sort of all falls in line with Dwi's list in the initial post. Except Chaos Dwarfs didn't show up for me.
https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/
Interesting, and unfortunate google didn’t bring it up.
New folks coming in will have a hard time getting feedback and support for many of the armies. Most will simply give up rather than scroll the posts for something related to their army on Oldhammer.
This is the point I'm getting at.
I would think most new people who start a WFB/Oldhammer army these days will either be returning oldhammerists or have learned about the game/army from someone who also points them to an internet site where WFB and their army is being discussed.
I disagree, emphatically in fact. Those who left are unlikely to return, heck some of them may have passed by this point. Especially some of the old guard. At least that is the way it seems to me. The likelihood of someone also knowing another someone who can point them in the right direction may be true, but they may not know the forum they are point may be dead. They may not know of any other place to go.
With new rules and new miniatures, folks coming back might not even have an interest in going back to posts about armies that aren’t going to work with the new system being played in hobby stores.
-
Part 2 of 3 ... Warning: This one is a bit long ...
The time for traditional discussion fora may simply be past. At least the party moved on to other internet platforms. What would it take to move it back? And would people then find these old sited or simply build new sites?
If that's truly the case (and it might be) then warhammer (40k, AoS, WFB & the coming OW) are going to be the worse off for it.
Cesspools like FB are not going to be that helpful in the long run (short term maybe). GP is right about that. YT could be (very) good if more knowledgeable folks started up channels.
Intellectual dead zones like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter or TikTok are going to do more harm than good.
Discord is kinda the wild card here. Could indeed be helpful or soul crushing for newbies (especially over stressed younger ones), depending on who is participating.
Nah, the time for traditional forums isn’t past, it just isn’t what it once was because people are allowing their time to be sucked away into garbage that is appealing to the lesser, yet no less powerful emotions of anger, fear, greed, and even sadness. This instead of not being lazy, making conscious and healthy choices, which requires the expenditure of intelligent analysis, thought, and actual creative behavior and interaction which can bring far more joy, peace and comfort as a result, than anything that things like facebum provide. I'm sure facebum has some redeeming value, and if a person can weed through the rest and find enjoyment, that is a good thing. However, I am skeptical due to the way they are running their company, and how people are tracked and advertised to accordingly.
At the same time, since GW hasn’t supported the Olde World in years, some folks have gone to the newer W:AoS rules, or just stopped altogether. GW has done this after every revision. Except this time it wasn’t just a revised set of rules, it was a complete moving away from the Olde World, and constructing a new world out of its ashes.
The problem with facebum is that it is set up as a place to advertise. Regular users post pictures and wee bits of info, sometimes respond quickly to another post or picture, and folks share about their lives while others get to keep up with what is going on in other’s lives, and there is the business aspect of it, as well for those advertising their services. However, it really doesn’t have conversations of any quality from what I’ve seen. After all it is just a form of media, and the primary producers of the site are doing whatever they can to hold people’s attention so they can sell more advertising because of it.
Let’s be honest, if politicians are using facebum as a way to reach people, and candidates are advertising their campaigns, and other folks are attempting to influence folks to vote for certain campaigns, this by itself clearly shows it is a media site. And I’m at a point with the way it is all going where it some how needs to be legislated so that it can’t continue to act against the better course of human events.
And by the way, the use of the word “social” in front of media is pure spin, and frankly not worth even typing except to call it spin. It’s all a crock of crud.
And I echo Dwi on the following … with the exception of youtube, the rest of are exactly as Dwi has stated, intellectual dead zones. And ... facebum isn’t much of an improvement over such either. Facebum has already demonstrated that they’re willing to put money and power over the interests of average people, and that is just flat out inhumanity to the rest of us.
In essence, it is up to regular folks to create forums, or help keep forums running, including participating in them, to help keep real community moving forward, and not give something like facebum much time during the day.
-
Part 3 of 3 ...
I'd imagine, The Ninth Age apart, most often that site is Facebook, Twitter, Reddit or the like. You can find discussions for all WFB armies over there. Not always that lively discussions, but discussions nevertheless.
Indeed: not that lively, nor at length or in depth. What struck me at the Warhammer groups on Facebook is that a lot of posters do not really seem to read the contributions of others. True, that happens on "traditional" websites too, but not to that extent. Here it is more the exception to the rule, there it seems to be more the rule than the exception. You do not need 20 people or so to answer that Karl Franz is the current Emperor (non-existent example!).
True enough I suppose.
And there is almost no real way to access the content quickly on facebum. So a person puts it up, and then it is for all intents and purposes gone shortly there after, with really no way for anyone to easily find it, and having to weed down through all of someone’s posts to see if they have anything else of value, and most folks aren’t going to do that. Especially on a site that is more designed for instantaneous use and traffic, attempting to bring people back, to stay instantaneously up to date, and subjected to the newest advertising that is going on as well. The concept of the newest content bringing people back works to the advantage of those selling the advertising because they make money doing this. On a regular and real social platform like a forum, this is not what is happening, and the advertising that does go on, as an example … the Trading Post here, is regulated by the moderators via the purpose of the site, and not just anything is allowed.
-
We/WE need more clickbait and urgent notifications to the members...
-
What is meant by "click bait", and "urgent notifications to the members" :icon_question:
-
Facebooks sends e-mails with notifications when there is a new message, post or something in a group you have participated in. WE also sends an e-mail, if someone has messaged you - one could extend that to new posts in a thread where you yourself have posted in. Not that I would recommend that - my remark was ironic.
-
I would think most new people who start a WFB/Oldhammer army these days will either be returning oldhammerists or have learned about the game/army from someone who also points them to an internet site where WFB and their army is being discussed.
I disagree, emphatically in fact. Those who left are unlikely to return, heck some of them may have passed by this point. Especially some of the old guard. At least that is the way it seems to me. The likelihood of someone also knowing another someone who can point them in the right direction may be true, but they may not know the forum they are point may be dead. They may not know of any other place to go.
I'm afraid there isn't much really new blood. I've seen plenty of those who get interested in WFB/Oldhammer again and join a local group. That seems to be main venue of recruitment these days. Recruiting newbies also goes via friends, and friends can point the newbies to the existing discussions. And most people don't need open discussion sites, because they remain in their hobby group and discuss things there.
Really, if a complete noob wants to find discussions about the classic WFB/Oldhammer armies, he/she will likely be of such age that he/she will not google "[ARMY] forum", but rather do a search on one or the other - or likely many - social media sites. And will find his/her army discussion there. And a ready and easy platform for sharing photos of his/her progress and games.
I have had some discussions about this recruitment process with people who have actually followed and even studied the subject. Very few people start the hobby in a vacuum, they usually have peers around and this thing lives in networks of people. After all, you need friends to play with.
***
Hummm... that bodes I'll for the hobby then.
-
Facebooks sends e-mails with notifications when there is a new message, post or something in a group you have participated in. WE also sends an e-mail, if someone has messaged you - one could extend that to new posts in a thread where you yourself have posted in. Not that I would recommend that - my remark was ironic.
Can a person turn those off if they don't want to be constantly reminded?
-
I should think so.
-
Well since I ain't a facebum member, I don't have a clue on that one. :icon_lol:
-
I turned off notifications on FB so that my phone didn't ping. I just check it at some point in the day and the notifications are numbered in a red circle at the top of the FB page. That way I only deal with notifications when I want to be on FB.
-
See, facebum has at least a little redeeming value. :icon_wink: :icon_lol:
-
.
-
.
-
Hummm... that bodes I'll for the hobby then.
Not so sure about this.
The miniatures hobby is expanding and more people are coming in. The WFB/Oldhammer niche might not get many completely new people, but enough interest is rekindled among those who stopped for one reason or another, and are now returning. Like any hobby movement, this niche part of the miniature hobby will really start dying only when we, the hobbyists, stop hobbying - or sharing our hobby experience.
The best way to keep a hobby alive is not to over-analyze it or get moody about it, but to build, paint, play, post and comment. :-)
What's your current WFB/Oldhammer project, and how do you spread the word?
-Z
-
...
The best way to keep a hobby alive is not to over-analyze it or get moody about it, but to build, paint, play, post and comment. :-)
Definitely some truth there. :icon_cool: :::cheers:::
What's your current WFB/Oldhammer project ... ?
Think I'll steal that for a thread title! :icon_mrgreen:
-
As of today Friday Oct 8th, 2021:
Dead forums:
TRToB
...man, things that hurt to remember. :cry:
-
As of today Friday Oct 8th, 2021:
Dead forums:
TRToB
...man, things that hurt to remember. :cry:
"For technical and legal reasons, the Round Table of Bretonnia has shut down operations."
Bolding mine.
What could that mean? Thinking about this Warhammer-Empire forum, what legal reasons could bring it down?
-Z
-
.
-
Surprised to see the EEFL forum going strong. It seemed to be slowly dying some years ago. When the forum isn't that big, the activity of few makes a big difference.
The numbers of posters and guests are much higher on EEFL than on Warhammer-Empire, although that is to be expected, since they focus on all races and we/WE on the only one that is worth its salt.
-
Surprised to see the EEFL forum going strong. It seemed to be slowly dying some years ago. When the forum isn't that big, the activity of few makes a big difference.
The numbers of posters and guests are much higher on EEFL than on Warhammer-Empire, although that is to be expected, since they focus on all races and we/WE on the only one that is worth its salt.
Doubly interesting!
I think when the 9th Age took a turn away from a refined 8th ed, a number of active players moved from the T9A forum to the EEFL forum. That might explain why the EEFL forum was relatively low activity when I checked years ago, but has now got more steam.
Also over at the EEFL there seems to be a lively culture or Warhammer-specific hobby plogs. Something that has waned over here.
We still have people who post about their progress, but increasingly without photos and sometimes in non-topical threads and in non-topical subfora. Like I guess my last photo updates are in the 100 days challenge thread in the Count's tavern, so nowhere near Brush & Palette, and not under a heading that would tell what I'm working with.
We should concentrate on producing photos of new Empire stuff. But alas, those are much easier to upload to the FB sites...
Also, in the spring of 2018 there was a rearrangement and an idea (by GP?) that this site could be an Empire of Warhammer stuff rather than solely concentrating on the Empire in WFB. So all army projects, and also WH40K projects are welcome. However, for example I have not posted my other projects, not in one painting plog or under several more informative headings. I wonder how much this lack* of interesting content is a problem of our own making.
* "lack" as in there could be much more, not in the sense the current content would be uninteresting.
-Z
-
.
-
There was a conscious attempt to allow direct photo uplodads, but it only ever worked for one or two users. The powers behind the forum software said they tried to fix this, but it never got fixed.
Also I've seen the photo upload procedure on a couple of other fora, and it is complicated compared to FB uploads. So complicated I cannot bother myself.
The scene has so much moved to FB, reddit and Instagram it's hard to justify the trouble of linking to forums. I readily admit my laziness. But then again the change of platform has already happened, and the fora don't seem tempting places for hobby progress plogs (flogs) anymore. Few people and the lack of a LIKE button means there's very little response compared to social media groups.
More trouble for less response is not encouraging. And it's encouragement we're after when posting our progress, isn't it?
-Z
-
.
-
"More trouble for less response is not encouraging."
Depends?
I would rather have 1 considered response than 200 likes.
I am also happy to wait a few hours for a reply, I don't need the instant gratification that social media delivers and then gets you addicted to.
I nearly always get considered responses in FB. The same number or more than I used to get over here. Also, people use my uploads as springboards for their own chatter, so I feel the discussion evolves somewhere, even if offtopic.
There are quite considered discussions on FB too, although they go on for a shorter time and are not archived as effectively as on fora. On the other hand, the FB searches work whereas the W-E searches don't work. I cannot find many archived discussions here even if I remember them and know they exist somewhere. (I do save interesting FB topics and create my own archive. FB has a tool for this. No doubt a tool that is used to sell me stuff related to my interests...)
Most responses on a forum tend to be just likes, but since many fora don't allow likes, people need to write a message. I don't see most one-liners or thumbs-up emoticons anything more than a like. I certainly know most of my messages on this forum are just thumbs-ups and chatter, the equivalent of FB LIKES. Thus in my experience there isn't more considered discussion on the fora, AND the barrier of liking is higher than on FB.
I admit I like the gratification. It doesn't have to be within an hour, but if on a forum there are just two one-liner comments in a day or two, I much more prefer 30 thumbs-ups and three considered replies on FB.
Perhaps most importantly, the FB groups where I'm active have people who tackle similar projects to mine, AND people I know personally and play with. This W-E forum has seen less and less Empire hobby, and these international fora lack the personal aspect. I guess the EEFL forum actually has an active nucleus of people whose hobby happens in the Old World and who know each other and play together. Close topical connection and personal friendship are big factors.
Then there is the reality that this site started to lose impetus during the late 8th ed, and contracted drastically since 2015. It's a shadow of what it used to be. The memory of old shadows my enjoyment of what is and can be achieved now. A kind of Noldor syndrome, I guess. :icon_lol: As new platforms with new people, the FB sites do not have that burden - and they are much more active.
-Z
-
.
-
How do you find toxicity?
I left all the FB groups except the ones I moderate as there are inevitably some nobbers on there being douche bags and more often than not the moderators don't seem to intervene.
Quite a lot of people just being mean for the sake of it, which quite frankly I get tired of and it ruins the atmosphere for me.
I did block them for a period, but then just left as it was easier.
Never had the problem of toxicity on the FB hobby groups I participate in. Have experienced toxicity on fora, this one included. So in my experience the world of FB WFB/hobby sites is less toxic than the world of fora.
But toxicity is not a big concern for me, because both the forum software and the FB software make it really easy to block the toxic persons. Also I've only ever been active on fora and FB groups where the moderators did their jobs. :happy:
-Z