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Other Stuff => General Wargames and Hobby Discussion => Topic started by: Atheling on October 16, 2018, 08:34:42 PM
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Like the title suggests I've been looking for wargaming fora (forums ;)m ) and have hit a brick wall except The Miniatures Page, G£, Randomplatipus; I can't seem to find all that many. Especially fora that deal with wargaming generally and are not just based around one particular set of rules.
Any ideas?
Cheers,
D
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The ones I lurk in the most are more figure and gaming forums, rather than genreal wargames ones.
http://forum.reapermini.com/ - mostly their stuff, although other things are allowed. Very busy forum
http://wampforum.com/Landing/index.html - more a painting forum, and has been very quiet for a while now
http://forum-of-doom.com/index.php - forum of doom - Heresy, Hasslefree etc. Pretty much deserted, as they seem to do more through social media sites now
But, having listed those, I'm stuck. Mantic has a forum dealing with their games, as do other companies, but I can't think of any general ones. Even in your list, the only one I've heard of is TMP o_o
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There's the Wargamer's Forum (http://wargamersguild.com/index.php?sid=6a47a62031d7df90ba55d44841ac055f)...
Lots of old hands still rolling dice and painting their kit.
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There's this one that's pretty active:
https://www.thewargameswebsite.com/forums/ (https://www.thewargameswebsite.com/forums/)
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Not many left I fear mate,
I use here, TMP now and then, but mostly visit the wargamers forum (mostly 20mm) in English and two others in French.
http://www.thewargamersforum.com/index.php
When photobucket stopped hosting pics for forums it killed a lot of them.
cheers
Matt
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I'm not sure it is photofookit's fault as such. I'd had issues with it before and already moved across to Imgur. It was terrible before they made the switch.
Forums seem to have struggled generally since it takes a bit more time and investment to interact with one really.
I think the biggest issue is that with things like facebook and twitter you can just point your phone, take a photo/vid and it be up in an instant. With forums you have to have something like Imgur, especially if you follow more than one, and then link the image. Some forums have limits on image sizes rather than auto adjust as well, admittedly fewer these days.
Personally I think it's a real shame. Social media is neither designed, nor capable of being a repository for people's work so it can act as a constant inspiration. I can freely come back and look at threads with inspiring work and know that they'll still be here tomorrow, or in a couple of hours if I want to revisit and refer to a painting technique or terrain build etc.
On facebook and twitter you get but a fleeting look before it disappears and is nigh on impossible to find again.
FWIW and I am sure a number of you are well aware, it's here and Randomplatypus for me these days. The only two I have found where navigation and interaction is good.
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Not any active ones that wouldn't be listed already.
Interestingly, Warhammer-Empire reorganized earlier this year in order to become more of a generalist (fantasy) forum. But there have been very few threads outside of Warhammer Fantasy and 40K. The gaming side is practically dead. Much quieter than here, but one of the old WHFB forums that is still alive, if couching. Mostly kitchen talk among a bunch of oldtimers.
Forums do have their lifespans. The smaller the circles, the faster people run out of things to share. Miniatuers are a bit different, because you will always buy and paint new ones. And pictures offer instant content.
I don't know why exactly, but newer social media platforms tend to eat up the older ones, even if they do not provide as good a place for thoughtful interaction and archiving the discussions. Like I hear Facebook nowadays is a place for 30- and 40- year olds, and younger wargamers actually use instant message platforms like WhatsApp or the like to communicate and share stuff.
Maybe people enjoy figures and gaming more f2f with friends/at clubs? They (we?) don't really need to talk as much over the web? Longer thoughts are made into blogs. And Youtube is full of introductions, guides and tacticas. Moving pictures and a live voice are so much more efficient in transferring meaning.
Very meandering thoughts, sorry. :)
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I don't know why exactly, but newer social media platforms tend to eat up the older ones, even if they do not provide as good a place for thoughtful interaction and archiving the discussions.
Excellent point. And I agree these new platforms have yet to adapt to the deeper needs of an active hobby.
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Excellent point. And I agree these new platforms have yet to adapt to the deeper needs of an active hobby.
Precisely why I was asking.... Facebook just doesn't cut the proverbial mustard! Colonel Mustard at that..... I'll get me coat..... ;)
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And MeeWee or WeeMee or IWeed, whatever is a complete unknown.
Give me phpbb with a lively community any day of the year.
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Many fora seem to have died or are about to.
Warlord killed theirs.
Flames of War - also dead.
Crooked Dice, went a long slow death but then, gone.
GW long gone.
GHQ Miniatures still has a forum but it’s gotten to be thin. Wouldn’t be surprised to see it taken down any time.
So many have gone to Facebook thinking that is the future.
I don’t use Facebook or any other “social media” so I just buy less and less all the time - those companies that I don’t hear about on here are just dust in the wind.
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I mainly use the Wargame Web Site LINK
https://www.thewargameswebsite.com/
I use the company website forums of Pendraken 10mm, Baccus 6mm and Kallistra 12mm
Outside of that, most of my gaming content is collect from a selection of the superb range of blogs out there. The blog community has suffered to the growth of FB, but frankly, those who regularly supported their blogs with substantial content …. still do! because the platform is so much better for that.
LINK to my blog … scroll down (past the list of my own popular posts) and look at the right column, there is a sub-menu there of the most recent material from a load of other blogs, it is all very varied and immersive.
https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/
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Like Norm, the only forums I visit with regularity are here, The Wargames Website and TMP, plus Frothers for a laugh. Otherwise it is mainly blogs, which are rich and varied.
FB just doesn't work very well as a discussion platform. It is fine for other things.
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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
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I much prefer the comradery that often developed over time in the traditional fora such as the WAB Forum, the Gentleman's Wargames Parlour (old version!), The Guild and of course LAF which, seeing as I've had a few years hiatus, is hopefully is still going strong(?).
D
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A still pretty active forum, but very, very niche, is the Bolter and Chainsword forum. It only covers Warhammer 40K, and then only the powerarmored armies such as (Chaos) Space Marines, Inquisition, Sisters of Battle and AdMech, even though nowadays they also have a small section for any other 40K faction. But what it lacks in scope, it more than makes up for in depth.
I was a moderator there for years, and it was hard work, as the traffic was many times that of the LAF (over 77000 members at the moment). We also moderated quite strictly to prevent any escalations and/or deviation from the subject matter. So it was a very dedicated place, where many really, really good miniatures and projects were displayed and discussed. All in a generally positive atmosphere too, though some might find it restrictive (but for those, there's always Frothers I suppose).
Eventually, I wanted to discuss other games and systems than just 40K, so left it for the LAF. But if you are interested in the subject matter, this is still the place to go :)
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I can only echo what others have said. Not much in the way of general forums out there, and even fewer that are active in any good way. Personally I've called it a day on every forum I used to use except LAF because most are just not active enough. It's a bigger problem on more niche forums that are tied to specific games, genres or manufacturers but as others have pointed out social media has really replaced them. I think you'd be hard pushed to find anywhere outside of LAF that covers a wide range of genres and games, has a large and active user base, and stays on topic.
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Warlords Forum is back up again now, has been for a little while https://www.warlordgames.com/community/ (https://www.warlordgames.com/community/) but has lost all of it's previous content and seems to be losing traffic to the facebook groups for it's games.
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the Gentleman's Wargames Parlour (old version!)
:-* :'( :'( :'(
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Warlords Forum is back up again now, has been for a little while https://www.warlordgames.com/community/ (https://www.warlordgames.com/community/) but has lost all of it's previous content and seems to be losing traffic to the facebook groups for it's games.
I was the very first moderator on the original forum.
It’s a pale shadow of the camaraderie and fellowship that the forum was then. Bolt Action destroyed the feel of the place with all the arguing over rules.
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The discussion forum on BGG is active but for figure wargamers it is mainly the figure/boardgame hybrid titles that are of interest.
There are still (despite the takeover) good discussions on various Yahoo Groups, but as with other sites already mentioned they are mainly ruleset specific (PanzerKorps, Spearhead and Crossfire groups are particularly active and the 3mm-1/600 wargaming group is very good).
TMP is in desperate need of a change in ownership. Sad to see it so badly mismanaged and turned from what it used to be to it's current dreadful state.
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Indeed TMP is just missing the flush button.
Hard to believe it was a go-to years ago
I guess “years ago” says it all ... :?
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Pendrakenforum.co.uk is an excellent one. Primarily related to the company's 10mm range, of course, but not exclusively, and there's a lot of good humour mixed with devoted gamer-headedness. Much recommended.
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Pendrakenforum.co.uk is an excellent one. Primarily related to the company's 10mm range, of course, but not exclusively, and there's a lot of good humour mixed with devoted gamer-headedness. Much recommended.
That’s good to know; I just bought, and my gaming buddy bought, FPW forces for winter from Leon.
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Pendrakenforum.co.uk is an excellent one. Primarily related to the company's 10mm range, of course, but not exclusively, and there's a lot of good humour mixed with devoted gamer-headedness. Much recommended.
My other daily go-to forum along with LAF. :D
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Indeed TMP is just missing the flush button.
Hard to believe it was a go-to years ago
I guess “years ago” says it all ... :?
(http://img.viralnova.com/000/107/836/desktop-1421275961.jpg)
Actual footage of the mutual self destruction of TMP and Frothers (circa 2013, colourised)
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(http://img.viralnova.com/000/107/836/desktop-1421275961.jpg)
Actual footage of the mutual self destruction of TMP and Frothers (circa 2013, colourised)
lol lol lol
Ain't that the truth! ;) :P
Darrell.
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I still go to TMP although I have to sneak in under a pseudonym being banned because Bill says I called him a liar when in fact I merely asked him for evidence to substantiate some mad assertion he’d made.
Anyway, there hasn’t been so much of the real silliness recently and if you “stifle” and “ignore” Tango01, you cut out 90% of the crap leaving the occasional nugget.
Doug
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(http://img.viralnova.com/000/107/836/desktop-1421275961.jpg)
Actual footage of the mutual self destruction of TMP and Frothers (circa 2013, colourised)
lol ;D lol
Spot on.
So, a brief timeline of my online life as a wargamer:
The GW era - Warseer
Post GW era around the early 00's - TMP for one visit, Forum of Doom, Frothers, LAF, RandomPlatypus (the last two being the only two I use bar the odd pop to ammobunker).
I know people have said that the TMP is useful - I can tell you as someone who was first dipping their toe into non GW wargaming it is a vile pot of toxicity. I would never, ever recommend that place to any new gamer. The issues there spilled over to frothers when it became clear it couldn't be maintained to good enough and reliable enough levels and the forum crashed losing all of the threads and images previously there. Then a couple of large TMP purges led to the outcasts turning up there and the great sock-puppet wars.
I don't know about anyone else, but when I come online to do hobby stuff, I don't need the toxicity that daily life can throw at you. Racism, homophobia, trans-phobia, sexism . . . . I want a bit of escapism, to look at some brilliant work by other fellow hobbyists and generally feel a bit happier to come and indulge some time in something I love to do.
LAF has succeeded on that front and it should be applauded. Both those who contribute to it and the likes of the Prof who deserves two levels of recognition - creating the place, but also knowing when the best thing for it was to find someone else to run it. A hard decision to make, but yet vital if you know that you can no longer commit to it.
I faced the same decision this year when I stepped down from all roles of the football club I founded a decade ago. It's no easy decision.
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LAF is my favourite general miniatures wargaming forum, followed by The Wargames Website. There are also a number of active fora for individual companies and rulesets that I visit regularly.
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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
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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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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.
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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
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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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Its too easy to look at stuff and not comment.
Which happens far too much...
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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. :)
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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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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.
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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
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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.
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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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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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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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.
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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 . . .
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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
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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
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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.
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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!
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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.
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Posting to watch.
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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...
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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.
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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.