Game Design Forum?

[Bandit]

Any chance for one, I was about to post a topic in Napoleonics because that is sorta my primary interest but it is a broader topic regarding design that easily covers any number of periods.

[TMP Champion]

I fully agree.

 

[Mike]

I am not convinced.
The Wargames Website makes full use of TAGS, by using them people can find topics of interest without needing a specific board for it.

If your rules are mostly Napoleonic in nature, post in that board but use some TAGS so that others can find it.

 

[General Slade]

I don’t think a proliferation of boards would be a good idea. If your topic is broader than Napoleonic why not post it on the General Horse & Musket board? If it is even broader than that why not post it right here on the General/General board?

[deephorse]

I think there’s enough sub-division here to be going on with.  I’m with General Slade on this.

Play is what makes life bearable - Michael Rosen

[Bandit]

To better make my case, when getting ready to post something in the Napoleonic board it came to mind that it didn’t make much sense to post there if I was just going to post about design concepts without any attachment to a given period. Therefore, in this case since my development work is primarily in Napoleonics, I pick the Napoleonic board and I begin reframing the topic so that it has some obvious Napoleonic relevance. However, this means that I can’t really post anything that is truly period agnostic without attaching it to a period – sorta a contradiction in terms there.

I would concur regarding the general non-proliferation philosophy but game design is akin to “Terrain and Scenery” more than anything else. A single board within the General boards would suffice. Proper use of tags would then allow visitors to find those that do tie back to their period without seeing the period specific boards filled with topics that do not relate to the period in question in any direct or exclusive way.

ADDED VIA EDIT: For the time being I’ll post to the General board and see where it goes.

[Cerdic]

I can see Bandit’s case, but I still hold to the “More boards. Lovely” point of view!

http://28mmreview.blogspot.co.uk

[Sondergaard]

I think it’s too early to start adding boards. Give it a while, a few months at least, then see how people feel. Not that Bandit’s idea is necessarily a bad one, but if you start now then everyone with a pet niche interest will be at your door.

EDIT: Maybe have a cap on the total number of boards? Say 5 more than there are now? Then if that total is reached any new boards would mean another would have to go? The posts redistributed or just added to general, not deleted. Just thinking out loud. As I said above, I wouldn’t be adding anything just yet. Let things settle and then see what’s needed.

Not in the face!

[Mike]

Still not saying yes or no by the way…

Do you think a games design board will have more posts than a terrain board?
Everyone uses terrain I would think, but not everyone would design games…

[Bandit]

I think it’s too early to start adding boards. Give it a while, a few months at least, then see how people feel.

Do you think a games design board will have more posts than a terrain board?
Everyone uses terrain I would think, but not everyone would design games…

I think both of these are very strong points.

Regarding the “hurry up and wait” I suppose that seems the most sensible approach. This forum is new and providing too much too fast just prevents people from focusing in on what they are looking for.

Regarding the terrain board… I wonder. Terrain boards on most forums are along the lines of, “look at this terrain I bought” or “look at this terrain I made,” vs game design which is more of a discussion topic.

I’ve always wished more people posted how-tos on their homemade terrain but it seems quite uncommon.

[Mike]

Bandit wrote:

I’ve always wished more people posted how-tos on their homemade terrain but it seems quite uncommon.

Me too.

[Sondergaard]

Maybe if the terrain board was more visible? Though judging by the responses to my thread I’m the only one who thinks so.

Not in the face!

[ExtraCrispy]

I for one would like a design board because I have no idea what tags are, how they work, or what ones to use and when. Even as I type this I’m looking for a “tags” icon or link. After a careful search I find it – but it is below my screen. So to even know it is there I have to hit page down twice. And knowing this post was tagged “game design” I have don’t know how that helps me. If there’s an interesting game design thread going on in SciFi do I have to search on each tag to find those threads?

So yes, I think design is like terrain and should have it’s own board under General.

[Mike]

For TAGS: http://www.thewargameswebsite.com/forums/forum/general-discussion-3/announcements-from-tww/

and even more specifically:

FEATURES OF TWW

[Bandit]

I am still very sympathetic to the point that this is a young forum and thus there is plenty of time to add more boards later.

With that said, there does appear to be at least a small amount of evidence that the game design board would get some use since the most busy topic in the Napoleonic forum is about game design and is not specific to Napoleonics:

The Intersection of Simulation and Beer & Pretzels

57 replies, 9 people, 3 pages…

And here is the most awesome thing – none of us are being rude while all of us are being reasonable! Crazy, I know. Just say’n that doesn’t happen on, “some forums I used to visit.”

[Mike]

Tell you what.
I will trial it (not just yet, as I had about 4 hours sleep trying to solve this post issue, which hopefully most of you never knew about)
I will make a board under general quite soon and you can all prove me wrong by making it the most exciting board!

😀

I am off to get a coffee now.

[Mike]

Still use TAGS though!

[General Slade]

The discussion about Simulation v Beer & Pretzels on the Napoleonic Boards has been interesting and probably would be of interest to people who aren’t into Napoleonics. But I don’t think that means a dedicated board for Game Design needs to be created. Surely, on a wargaming website, the place to discuss topics of general interest to wargamers is right here on the general board?

Personally, I am interested in most topics to do with wargaming and having to click through endless boards and sub-boards makes topics harder to find rather than easier.  I would find the General Board far more user-friendly if all the sub-boards went and everything was gathered on a single board.

 

[Not Connard Sage]

General Slade wrote:

The discussion about Simulation v Beer & Pretzels on the Napoleonic Boards has been interesting and probably would be of interest to people who aren’t into Napoleonics. But I don’t think that means a dedicated board for Game Design needs to be created. Surely, on a wargaming website, the place to discuss topics of general interest to wargamers is right here on the general board? Personally, I am interested in most topics to do with wargaming and having to click through endless boards and sub-boards makes topics harder to find rather than easier. I would find the General Board far more user-friendly if all the sub-boards went and everything was gathered on a single board.

 

Hear! Hear!

 

But I would say that

Obvious contrarian and passive aggressive old prat, who is taken far too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.

[Mike]

aaaargh!
Unsure!!

Oh I know.
I will do what I said all along…

I will put a poll in the sponsors forum to get opinion there.
I did after all say that Sponsoring members get a say in how TWW is run, they are paying my wages after all!

Or will I just say no and tell people to use TAGS?

Hmmmm I will ponder.

This may not be decisive and clear, but at least I am properly thinking about it.

😀

[John D Salt]

On the one hand, I can quite see why it would be a bad idea to start on a road that would end with umpteen quintillion boardlets, each with the traffic that one might expect for topics such as “early 18th Century Bavarian collar lace”, and the concomitant flame-wars about posting in inappropriat fora (“That’s late 18th century, you buffoon, and sleeve lace is a different board again”). This is especially the case with a young and growing site. But I do on the other hand think that game design, and discussion of game mechanics, is a topic that is interesting and important, and cuts across all periods and categories of game — remember that Jim Dunnigan used the basic mechanics of “Napoleon at Waterloo” in “Sixth Fleet”, and the mechanics Courtney Allen devised for “Storm Over Arnhem” with a section a counter still worked well when applied to “Breakout Normandy” where the counters were brigades.

All the best,

John.

[Author]

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