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Author Topic: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?  (Read 8543 times)

Online Doug ex-em4

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #45 on: October 19, 2018, 06:44:39 PM »
I read similar thoughts a lot when it comes down to Facebook, but if you join the right groups this isn't true. It's a matter of finding the right place with the right people. And yes, Facebook is a very annoying and weird platform at first, but once you get the hang of it and where to look it's an excellent place with fantastic gamers.
And no, I don't use it for family and friends, only for my hobby. It's a great medium for that.

So, in other words, you have to filter and discriminate in the same way you have to on TMP.

I’m no TMP fanboy; as I said earlier, I’m banned because I disagreed with the owner. But I can find plenty useful and interesting there. Once again, to repeat myself, if you can’t resist looking at every topic and eventually finding opinions that make you uneasy, don’t go there. I’m not proselytising for it, just saying there’s plenty good stuff there if you are capable and willing to focus, like on Facebook.
Very true; it is interesting to see how often TMP threads are the top hits when doing a google search looking for rule reviews, military uniform details, model reviews or scale questions, pretty much any wargame queries. The back history on the site is an amazing resource.

As for facebook, umm no.  A media platform which has given people the opportunity to enter discussions but not the mental capacity to realise that they shouldn't.

Indeed.....!

Doug

Offline jp1885

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #46 on: October 19, 2018, 07:51:32 PM »
I find that my go-to forums change with whatever genre I'm obsessing about at the time. When I was a VBCW fanboy, I spent most of my onlne time on the GWF and later the VBCW forum, plus of course the LAF.
I'd also lurk around Frothers and Forum of Doom, but lost interest when they either went quiet or descended into TMP-bashing (not that I've ever visited TMP apart to see which of my posts a certain member had copied onto there).
Being a Frostgrave nut, I spend most of my forum time on LAF, the official FG forum, nowadays.
However I also cross-post everything on the FG Facebook page too, and, to be honest, I see more content being posted there than on here. As mentioned above, it's easier to upload photos.
I'm now getting into the Call of Cthulhu RPG and, while I roleplay via forum, I use Facebook exclusively for general discussions.
The fear that Facebook and it's ilk are killing forums is a valid one I think. As much as I hate to admit it, forums seem very clunky and old-fashioned compared to Facebook. Fine for us clunky and old-fashioned gamers, but not attractive to younger, social media-savvy future gamers.

Offline YPU

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #47 on: October 19, 2018, 07:59:55 PM »
A lot of the Google+ groups have moved over to a platform called MeWe.  It’s another social media site, but the groups are separate from the general activity feed.  The Miniature Gaming group there can be found at https://mewe.com/group/5bbcdfe7a40f3002b3f85b6b

This forum has rules about staying away from politics and I respect that, however, I feel the need to point out that many people have recently voiced concern about Mewe and serving as a platform for some arguably extreme opinions before this mass migration from G+ took place. Using a social media site might be free, but we are giving these platform our time and attention in a way that gives them undeniable power. (see facebook) so caveat emptor, even if its free.

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Offline mcfonz

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #48 on: October 19, 2018, 08:22:54 PM »
Hmmm, clunky, isn't a word I would attach to modern forums.

The thing is, almost anything will 'seem' clunky compared to social media in general as most are designed for quick throw away posts. And that's the real issue for me.

It's great to be able to share a photo in a like minded group on facebook and see all of those 'likes' clock up. Makes you feel good, proud even. But when you realise that those people are all likely to be just clicking through like it was a check list and maybe only spending fleeting seconds and clicking without any real consideration you realise that it is only really skin deep. It's a glossy veneer.

The real issue is without people creating album's and befriending them, things like project logs can't exist. There is just no capability for it. And for me that's a real shame.

I love being able to subscribe to plogs on here and watch as battlefields take shape or folks random collection of sci fi factions go from bare plastic/resin/metal to coloured in intergalactic foes.

I'm in the same groups as friends and will miss posts they see when I am at work.
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Offline Brummie

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #49 on: October 19, 2018, 08:40:57 PM »
Hmmm, clunky, isn't a word I would attach to modern forums.

The thing is, almost anything will 'seem' clunky compared to social media in general as most are designed for quick throw away posts. And that's the real issue for me.

It's great to be able to share a photo in a like minded group on facebook and see all of those 'likes' clock up. Makes you feel good, proud even. But when you realise that those people are all likely to be just clicking through like it was a check list and maybe only spending fleeting seconds and clicking without any real consideration you realise that it is only really skin deep. It's a glossy veneer.

The real issue is without people creating album's and befriending them, things like project logs can't exist. There is just no capability for it. And for me that's a real shame.

I love being able to subscribe to plogs on here and watch as battlefields take shape or folks random collection of sci fi factions go from bare plastic/resin/metal to coloured in intergalactic foes.

I'm in the same groups as friends and will miss posts they see when I am at work.

Added to this the inescapable fact social media can be a bit tetchy. I gave up on the 15mm Sci fi facebook page just because there were huge periods where it was just people showing off what Hotwheels toy they'd bought in some American store for $1. Similarly that page and some Fan based Games Workshop pages were adrift with drama at various points in their history and I just had enough.


I might be biased though, as although I have a FB account I rarely use it and it's the only platform I use as I think Social Media is responsible for a number of the worlds ills.

Offline mcfonz

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #50 on: October 19, 2018, 11:14:29 PM »
I don't go that far myself. They are tools that give you various different things.

They tend to specialise in fleeting remarks and quick approval/disapproval. Twitter doesn't even have that, but I do find responses from companies to be far quicker on Twitter.

Like I say, they serve a purpose, but I really don't think they are great for hobbies like these for things like keeping track of projects. I like blogs, but I'm lazy, I don't want to click through several different sites when a forum does it all . . .

Offline Happymcclap

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #51 on: October 19, 2018, 11:46:30 PM »
Other than here, my go to forum is The Wargames Website which has become more and more active over the last couple of years, and I also have a look at DakkaDakka every now and again as it has plenty of Non GW topics besides the GW stuff, like others I avoid TMP and pop over the Frothers to see what's amusing them this week 

Offline armchairgeneral

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #52 on: October 20, 2018, 08:55:32 AM »
I used to go on the Warlord Games forum which does cover a lot of areas as they do a big range. I just got disenchanted when they closed it down so I haven’t been back since.

As has been said a lot of companies have there own forums but they are often quiet places. Warfare Miniatures League of Augsburg is one I used to go to but not sure how active it is now.

https://www.leagueofaugsburg.com/fightingtalk/index.php


Offline Billchuck

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #53 on: October 20, 2018, 04:23:04 PM »

Like I say, they serve a purpose, but I really don't think they are great for hobbies like these for things like keeping track of projects. I like blogs, but I'm lazy, I don't want to click through several different sites when a forum does it all . . .

I use a RSS aggregator (Inoreader) for blogs. It automatically monitors the blogs I tell it to follow and shows me any new posts. Much easier than visiting several hundred blogs one at a time.

Offline mcfonz

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #54 on: October 20, 2018, 04:42:38 PM »
I use a RSS aggregator (Inoreader) for blogs. It automatically monitors the blogs I tell it to follow and shows me any new posts. Much easier than visiting several hundred blogs one at a time.

That sounds great, thanks for the tip, I'll give it a look!

Offline Atheling

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #55 on: October 23, 2018, 08:40:56 PM »
I think LAF has the win in terms of size and scope, but:

http://wd3.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=3

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/theoutpost/

http://www.looseasswargamers.org.uk

For rules based fora, these seem to be doing ok:
https://toofatlardies.co.uk/forum/

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/forums/list.page

Ta. I'm a member of all three.

What I was looking for is fora that are as active, if that is possible, as LaF.....  ??? ??? ???

A difficult one I know :)

Darrell.

Offline MeridarchGekkota

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #56 on: October 23, 2018, 09:17:59 PM »
Posting to watch.

Offline Torben

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #57 on: October 24, 2018, 01:18:38 AM »
Added to this the inescapable fact social media can be a bit tetchy. I gave up on the 15mm Sci fi facebook page just because there were huge periods where it was just people showing off what Hotwheels toy they'd bought in some American store for $1. Similarly that page and some Fan based Games Workshop pages were adrift with drama at various points in their history and I just had enough.

I might be biased though, as although I have a FB account I rarely use it and it's the only platform I use as I think Social Media is responsible for a number of the worlds ills.

Amen! I've slowly turned away from the Facebook group for 15mm as well for all of the reasons above. It's a shame really, as there's a bunch of good people there and quite a large group - but the drama and the nonsense just clogged up the place to the extend that I slowly opted out.

It's a shame that there can't be some unifying place for all miniature wargamers to come and hang out online...

Offline Wookington

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #58 on: October 28, 2018, 02:03:58 AM »
I mostly use this website for my forum based needs, but equally, I think most of the big manufacturers (and maybe some of the smaller ones) have made the switch to Facebook groups.  It makes good business sense for them, so long as they admin the group they control everything posted there, can ensure that people only see 'their' products and set the tone of debate. 

Offline warrenpeace

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #59 on: October 28, 2018, 10:55:37 PM »
I think the alternative at the moment is Facebook groups for various periods of interest. I'm on a few of them. The great thing is that there's so many photos posted. It's very easy to take photos now with one's phone and post them to a Facebook group in a matter of seconds. Far less tedious than linking to a photo hosting website to get images on here.

I started visiting LAF years ago, mostly for the inspirational eye candy. Many images were posted here. Doesn't seem like so many these days. It's great that some of the images in old threads are still there, but many were wiped out.

I do like the features of a forum like this, particularly being able to follow particular projects. I also like the search functions. I use them before asking a question or starting a new thread.
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