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Franko77

Carebearian Sound Studio
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Forgive me if this is out of line, but what's the deal with people advertising products for sale in the main RPG forum? I ask because of the 'Ask Me Anything About Cha'alt' thread, which just seems to be the creator endlessly adding stuff to promote their game, with the occasional interaction with forum members. Is this therefore OK, and we can expect any and all creators to be permitted to start threads like this on the forum?
 
Our approach thus far has been "we'll treat it as a problem when it becomes a problem". For now, I only see the Cha'alt thread pop up every few months ( actually I appreciate him using the same thread and not constantly starting new ones), and we've had no real issues so far with other creators that have started threads to promote their games. At most, we might tell someone not to "bump" their thread needlessly if no one engages. Personally, I don't mind hearing about new RPG products I might not otherwise have heard of.

It is inevitably probably going to be an issue some point down the line, as The Pub continues to grow. I think we're all just sorta waitig to cross that bridge when we come to it.
 
I may be biased as I have my own promotion thread that gets raised from the dead from time to time, but I don't see it as an issue as long as it done in a way that its a conversation point or gives the community a topic to engage with. What I personally wouldn't like to see is the forums becoming a target for drive by style of advertising where there is no commentary.
 
Yeah, what Tristram said. The view generally is that if it's not swamping the forum, it's cool and people may be actively interested in it. It's more of an issue if someone is insisting on inserting their game into every thread, but we haven't seen that one for some time.

And as Winterblight says, it's much better if people are willing to actually talk about their game rather than just shouting at people.
 
There was that one guy with the retroclone of that grimdark British game. But we don't invoke such beings here.

And then there's me and I'm constantly promoting my games so Ch'alt' doesn't bother me.
 
My feeling is that most RPG forums are too strict on cracking down on people talking about their games, to the point where a lot game designers feel uncomfortable talking about their games. As long as designers aren't derailing other threads to promote their games, I actively like having people that make game products talking about their stuff here.

As Tristram says, we may have to revise our policy if the forum continues to grow, but given that promotional sub-forums tend to be wastelands, I want to hold off as long as possible. As we do talk to people about excessive bumping, promotional threads either lead to actual discussion by members or fall quickly off the front page.
 
There was that one guy with the retroclone of that grimdark British game. But we don't invoke such beings here.

And then there's me and I'm constantly promoting my games so Ch'alt' doesn't bother me.
That really complicated not really a retroclone that pretended it was?

Yeah, we don't talk about that.
 
My feeling is that most RPG forums are too strict on cracking down on people talking about their games, to the point where a lot game designers feel uncomfortable talking about their games. As long as designers aren't derailing other threads to promote their games, I actively like having people that make game products talking about their stuff here.

As Tristram says, we may have to revise our policy if the forum continues to grow, but given that promotional sub-forums tend to be wastelands, I want to hold off as long as possible. As we do talk to people about excessive bumping, promotional threads either lead to actual discussion by members or fall quickly off the front page.
I think part of this is the reality of a RPG forum. It's pretty natural that we'd have a lot of people designing their own games, simply because we have a userbase interested enough in RPGs to talk about them.
 
That really complicated not really a retroclone that pretended it was?

Yeah, we don't talk about that.
Well I would. I mean part of why I'm here is so I can talk about games that might have tools for authors but still make interesting games/products. There's at least two guys I know who fit that description who used to post here but either can't now or don't now. They still make/made cool stuff.
 
Well I would. I mean part of why I'm here is so I can talk about games that might have tools for authors but still make interesting games/products. There's at least two guys I know who fit that description who used to post here but either can't now or don't now. They still make/made cool stuff.

Yeah, to be clear on this point, it would have to be an absolutely exceptional situation for a game to be banned from discussion here. And I don't think we've hit that in any cases yet.
 
I don’t care if you guys want to talk about Zweihander. Fox just won’t be part of the discussion. There’s no verboten list of games here.
I do t really have much to say about it. Other than I really looked forwards to it after missing the kickstarter. And how disappointed I was that it was this huge, bloated, overwritten thing that didn't quite deliver what I wanted.
 
I do t really have much to say about it. Other than I really looked forwards to it after missing the kickstarter. And how disappointed I was that it was this huge, bloated, overwritten thing that didn't quite deliver what I wanted.
Yeah sadly that describes a number of games I'm interested in. The rules look cool. Maybe a light background sounds cool but this business seems to require way too much bloat to justify prices. It's wierd.
 
Yeah sadly that describes a number of games I'm interested in. The rules look cool. Maybe a light background sounds cool but this business seems to require way too much bloat to justify prices. It's wierd.
It's been a common trend for a while now. Certainly, the last AEG edition of L5R was very guilty of excessive word counts.

But thinking about it, saying I didn't get what I wanted from Zweihander might be giving myself a bit too much entitlement. I think saying I didn't feel it delivered what I thought it offered might be a better way of putting it. Because plenty of people seem happy with it. Where I just wanted WHFRP 1 cleaned up a bit.

And still do :money:
 
There was that one guy with the retroclone of that grimdark British game. But we don't invoke such beings here.
I missed whatever that guy did to make himself persona non grata. Kinda curious about it now.
Have I mentioned that I'm going to be writing a book on early British LARP, available at all good retailers?
Pity. I only shop at bad retailers.
Yeah, to be clear on this point, it would have to be an absolutely exceptional situation for a game to be banned from discussion here. And I don't think we've hit that in any cases yet.
FATAL 2: stripped down to an expanded and reorganised system for describing your throbbing supernatural member and the atrocities you commit with it!
 
I could mostly ignore the self-promotion, it was when he'd talk about legitimate Warhammer games and then provide links that serreptitiously led to his website instead that I thought he was really being cheeky. But he burnt his bridges at all the forums for other reasons, so like a certain other fellow, I think the less free rentspace I give him in my daily thoughts the better.
 
And how disappointed I was that it was this huge, bloated, overwritten thing that didn't quite deliver what I wanted.

FATAL 2: stripped down to an expanded and reorganised system for describing your throbbing supernatural member and the atrocities you commit with it!
I really wanted to put these two posts together somehow, but couldn't quite manage it.
 
FATAL II: RACIAL HOLY WAR
The Hybrid Begins!
Isn't there a third rpg that so regularly gets put in with those two? I want to say it's Synnabarr but that isn't actually anywhere near the turd level of the other two.
 
Isn't there a third rpg that so regularly gets put in with those two? I want to say it's Synnabarr but that isn't actually anywhere near the turd level of the other two.

Fatal, RaHoWa, and Hybrid

Synnabar was made fun of a lot back in the day, but there's nothing remotely offensive about it, I think it's kinda endearing.

I even named a character in Phaserip after it: a cybernetic flying bear with laser eyes named "Cynnabear"
 
Fatal, RaHoWa, and Hybrid

Synnabar was made fun of a lot back in the day, but there's nothing remotely offensive about it, I think it's kinda endearing.

I even named a character in Phaserip after it: a cybernetic flying bear with laser eyes named "Cynnabear"
Thanks. I have Synnabarr and I think it's delightfully gonzo. Plus it was published by a comic store near me.
 
I think a big part of my problem is that I don't like "over the top." I just don't really get it. But it seems to have a broader appeal than more grounded stuff. I'm trying to do some over the top figures and games I dunno, someday I probably need to try and make some money for my work. Yesterday probably. So, I put stuff out there and hope it'll grab some interest, then get distracted and wander off chasing some other notion.
 
Isn't there a third rpg that so regularly gets put in with those two? I want to say it's Synnabarr but that isn't actually anywhere near the turd level of the other two.
Wraeththu? The game where androgynous GQ models with flower-penises wage war on womankind?
 
I may be biased as I have my own promotion thread that gets raised from the dead from time to time, but I don't see it as an issue as long as it done in a way that its a conversation point or gives the community a topic to engage with. What I personally wouldn't like to see is the forums becoming a target for drive by style of advertising where there is no commentary.

Yep, as long as they will actually discuss their game and answer questions I have no issue with these kinds of threads, in fact I think it is nice when a game author or other company official will actually discuss the game with people.

Even "new thing is out" and little more doesn't really bother me as long as it is a continuous thread, but it does kind of turn me off when they post for self promotion and nothing else. I mean I don't expect them to be an active part of the site, but at least participating in their own thread doesn't seem like it is asking too much.

As nobody has turned this into a Mythras yet, :hehe: I'll point to The Design Mechanism as a company that shows some class in the way they handle this kind of thing.
 
Yeah, if a person showed up to post an ad for their game, and then didn't engage with any questions or conversations, I'd fiirst let the thread die, and if they came back with another promotion, probably delete the thread at that point, because they didn't show good faith. We're a forum, not a dumping ground. If an author engages with us as a forum, then they can discuss their game to their heart's content, as far as I'm concerned, but the key word is discussion.
 
I like the idea of a game designer answering questions about their game. I’d actually find it helpful if it had its own subforum so could go there to check out games and they wouldn’t get buried in the general thread. It really could influence my buying decision.
 
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