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Author Topic: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?  (Read 8519 times)

Offline Doug ex-em4

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #30 on: October 18, 2018, 03:44:08 PM »
Regarding TMP, with a modicum of good sense and some mature discretion, you can avoid upsetting yourself with all the nonsense and distasteful stuff and concentrate on the considerable amount of useful posts.

Doug

Offline mcfonz

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #31 on: October 18, 2018, 04:39:59 PM »
No doubt. But I wouldn't recommend it to any newcomer to the hobby. And after a long shift at work, dealing with the internal mechanisms of local government and the ways in which they can grind on people it is meant to be serving, trust me when I have little energy to ignore anything. Rather, I just prefer to avoid it altogether.

I'd rather visit a forum where having to ignore toxicity isn't a requirement to access it and hopefully, in giving it more traffic, will push it further up the search engines for those that may find themselves in a similar place to me 15+ years ago.
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Offline fred

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #32 on: October 18, 2018, 08:44:01 PM »
I found I was much happier once I stopped visiting TMP.


Forums take a bit of work from everyone to make them good. Its too easy to look at stuff and not comment. But it takes time to take photos and to put together posts, and getting a bit of feedback makes it feel worthwhile.

Offline Doug ex-em4

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #33 on: October 18, 2018, 09:38:05 PM »
I'd rather visit a forum where having to ignore toxicity isn't a requirement to access it and hopefully, in giving it more traffic, will push it further up the search engines for those that may find themselves in a similar place to me 15+ years ago.

Unless you’re unlucky enough to light upon it for your first time during one of the episodes of craziness which used to occur (and haven’t for a while) AND happen to open the topic which features said craziness, then you are likely to gain more than you lose as a newcomer.

However, all I’m saying is that if the premise of this discussion is the diminishing number of wargames forums, TMP is not necessarily to be despised.

I get it that it’s not your thing.

Doug

Offline Shahbahraz

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #34 on: October 18, 2018, 11:12:09 PM »
TMP is a cesspit. I was a very longstanding member, and over the last few years it has become unrecognisable. Not going there is very much better for my mental health. https://www.thewargameswebsite.com/ is a much better moderated and game focused place, without a front page occupied with 90% spam, a creaking db that needs to go down for hours every day, way too many political issues being waved in your face, and 'eccentric' moderation.
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Offline OSHIROmodels

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #35 on: October 18, 2018, 11:38:12 PM »
Its too easy to look at stuff and not comment.

Which happens far too much...
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Offline jambo1

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #36 on: October 19, 2018, 04:08:47 AM »
I only come here and Fifeanddrumminis forum, which has a lot of Minden,Crann Tara and Fife and Drum obviously but is a great forum for SYW, WAS etc interests and does have other stuff on there too. I used to go to TMP every day but have not been there since months, so here and F&D are my usual hang outs. :)

Offline Malebolgia

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #37 on: October 19, 2018, 11:47:38 AM »
I must admit I've moved away from forums and I'm way more active on Facebook since the last 18 months. There just are a lot more people playing the games I play on Facebook, I get more replies and reactions and there is more buzz. Honestly I don't have the time (and attention!) for long topics with many replies and to type walls of text. And posting images is more hassle than on Facebook. I check LAF once a day and hardly reply anymore...so for me it's 90% Facebook now. It fits my life and preference better than a forum.
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Offline Jabba

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #38 on: October 19, 2018, 01:29:31 PM »
I mainly post here and on TMP, which can be hideous at times but does still have a lot of knowledgeable people use it, just have to sift well. Used to use the Wargames Website but for a while it wouldn't display correctly for me but that seems to have corrected itself now so will go back to it. Occasionally post to Warlords forum too, but that doesn't attract the traffic it once did.

Offline Doug ex-em4

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #39 on: October 19, 2018, 01:33:33 PM »
I’m surprised about how nervous people are about TMP. As I said earlier and Jaba has just confirmed, if you’re discriminating there’s still a lot of good stuff there.

Regarding Facebook, it must be an age thing but I find it such a confusing, badly designed, clunky vehicle that I rarely venture there. TMP may be an ancient style of forum but at least it’s pretty intuitive, as is LAF.

DOUG

Offline Billchuck

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #40 on: October 19, 2018, 02:17:53 PM »
I’m surprised about how nervous people are about TMP. As I said earlier and Jaba has just confirmed, if you’re discriminating there’s still a lot of good stuff there.
It’s not nervousness. I only have so much time to sit around reading forums.  I’d rather spend that time in places where the signal to stupidity ratio is much better.
Quote
Regarding Facebook, it must be an age thing but I find it such a confusing, badly designed, clunky vehicle that I rarely venture there. TMP may be an ancient style of forum but at least it’s pretty intuitive, as is LAF.

DOUG
Facebook is designed to show you everything at once.  However, if you join a group, you can view just that group, and that view is much like a forum: you have posts, and comments, and recent activity is at the top.

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

Offline Doug ex-em4

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #41 on: October 19, 2018, 02:37:57 PM »
I’d rather spend that time in places where the signal to stupidity ratio is much better.

A good summation of why I don’t use Facebook much, actually😊.

I’ll have a look at MeWe.


Offline Malebolgia

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #42 on: October 19, 2018, 02:56:03 PM »
A good summation of why I don’t use Facebook much, actually😊.

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.

Offline mcfonz

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #43 on: October 19, 2018, 03:21:49 PM »
Yeah, it's not nervousness at all.

Why the hell should anyone have to filter through anything other than to look at subject titles, to be able to avoid useless stuff/abusive stuff?

These are virtual spaces, imagine them to be like 'real' places. When you have the choice of two cafe's and one of them is loud, noisy and full of obnoxious shouty people who are abusive, and generally intolerant of anyone not agreeing with them, and a nice laid back cafe which tends to be more respectful, quieter, more respectful and calmer - guess which one people will mainly prefer?

I didn't happen to go there in the middle of anything. I wanted to get into historical gaming and had picked up some 20mm WW2 without considering rules. I asked as a newbie what set of WW2 would people recommend. It quickly descended into unhelpful bashing of people's suggestions and very unwelcoming.

As a result I actually promptly sold my WW2 stuff and turned away from historicals for a few years.

Now, I may have been a bit less resilient back then, but this is the exact reason I wouldn't recommend it to a single soul. No doubt there are good people there. But why would you suggest that is a good experience for anyone.

Sure, the music the cafe plays is the best, and the food is great, but you have to learn to shut out the homophobes in the corner under the TV and the racists that sit by the toilet.

Offline robh

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Re: Are there any other wargaming fora out there in 2018?
« Reply #44 on: October 19, 2018, 05:35:17 PM »
I’m surprised about how nervous people are about TMP. As I said earlier and Jaba has just confirmed, if you’re discriminating there’s still a lot of good stuff there.

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.