Forum/discord discussion

[WhiteWulfe]

o_O  aaand now the Discord thing is even larger on the forums, and I'd argue almost obnoxiously large.  It's only on the main page right now, but a Discord server and a forum are two very VERY different things...

[Green Eyed Monsty]

1 hour ago, WhiteWulfe said:

o_O  aaand now the Discord thing is even larger on the forums, and I'd argue almost obnoxiously large.  It's only on the main page right now, but a Discord server and a forum are two very VERY different things...

With the exception of the word "almost" I agree completely.

GEM

[SparrowMarie]

3 hours ago, WhiteWulfe said:

o_O  aaand now the Discord thing is even larger on the forums, and I'd argue almost obnoxiously large.  It's only on the main page right now, but a Discord server and a forum are two very VERY different things...

 

Agreed. I must have missed something though...

[Glitterwolf]

10 hours ago, WhiteWulfe said:

o_O  aaand now the Discord thing is even larger on the forums, and I'd argue almost obnoxiously large.  It's only on the main page right now, but a Discord server and a forum are two very VERY different things...

 

To be honest it frightens me.

I do hope Reaper won't think a Discord Server can replace this Forum.

it would mean the end of a big part of the hobby experience for me if this Forum goes down.

Is there anyone from the Reaper Team who can ease my ( and other's ) mind?

[redambrosia]

1 hour ago, Glitterwolf said:

 

To be honest it frightens me.

I do hope Reaper won't think a Discord Server can replace this Forum.

it would mean the end of a big part of the hobby experience for me if this Forum goes down.

Is there anyone from the Reaper Team who can ease my ( and other's ) mind?

I think we need to summon @Reaper_Jon for that.

[Chaoswolf]

2 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

 

To be honest it frightens me.

I do hope Reaper won't think a Discord Server can replace this Forum.

it would mean the end of a big part of the hobby experience for me if this Forum goes down.

Is there anyone from the Reaper Team who can ease my ( and other's ) mind?

 

I can't speak officially; I'm NOT a Reaper employee, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

 

There are no plans that I am aware of to do away with the forums.

 

IMO, the Forums and Discord are 2 VASTLY different things. Neither one is better or worse than the other; they are just different. 

 

The Forums seem like a much more permanent thing; you can look stuff up here and use it as a reference. To me, discord seems more like a chatroom; you can talk to people real time, and maybe even use cameras to 'be in the same room' with people while you're painting, chatting, or whatever. Good luck finding anything more than a few hours old, though.

 

The best way to ensure the Forums remain is to be active here. POST PICTURES, everybody loves seeing pictures of the figures that people are working on. Take part in conversations, ask questions, offer advice, that sort of thing. Basically, show Reaper that this an active, useful, vital part of the internet worth the time and money that they have invested/continue to invest in it.

 

Keep the arguing, unpleasantness, political garbage, and real life drama off the boards. ( You're all generally really good at this anyway, but it bears repeating. Those are the sorts of things that might make Reaper decide this place isn't worth the effort, after all. )

Edited December 5, 2021 by Chaoswolf

[Glitterwolf]

Thanks @Chaoswolf!

 

This Forum is a big part of the hobby to me.

Showing pics, telling stories and looking at other people's work.

Learning from each other and talking random.

 

I feel I made friends here, albeit online, these are real friends to me.

Discord is a chatroom, and I have been in a few and these are way too chaotic for me to enjoy.

The Forum is also good for references, keeping each other up to date about mini news.

 

I agree about keeping it non political/ family friendly.

We're doing good so far.

 

I really hope the forum will stay for a long time.

Would hate to have to search for another place like this.

Most Forums aren't this friendly and supporting.

[Inarah]

14 hours ago, WhiteWulfe said:

o_O  aaand now the Discord thing is even larger on the forums, and I'd argue almost obnoxiously large.  It's only on the main page right now, but a Discord server and a forum are two very VERY different things...

 

I see nothing about Discord on my screens. Not on the main page, not on the forum main page.  There are icons linking to FB, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube, but not Discord.  So I'm confused. 

 

1 hour ago, Chaoswolf said:

 

The best way to ensure the Forums remain is to be active here. POST PICTURES, everybody loves seeing pictures of the figures that people are working on. Take part in conversations, ask questions, offer advice, that sort of thing. Basically, show Reaper that this an active, useful, vital part of the internet worth the time and money that they have invested/continue to invest in it.

 

This bears repeating.  Post pictures and WIPs.  I wish we could link to all the cool stuff that helps us in our hobby, but we can't, meanwhile the Acquisitions thread is a nice place to share.  Be an active part of the hobby.  

 

[ManvsMini]

14 hours ago, WhiteWulfe said:

Discord thing is even larger on the forums, and I'd argue almost obnoxiously large.

 

Yeah, it's bigger than when it first was added, but I've kept an eye on it over the past week and it hasn't changed from when it was originally up-sized. I'm not worried just yet, as you said Discord and forums are two vastly different ways to interact. As mentioned, Discord lives up to its namesake; it's disharmonious, chaotic, and a pain to find anything useful in open chat channels.

 

Reaper has done a full press into social media platforms over the past few years, I feel this is just the latest expansion. And I'm not wholly against it. I hope they continue to use Discord for virtual events. I'm hoping for another Virtual Con during the winter, which was made possible by that platform. And it was very well-suited to that type of event.

 

I hope the forums stay. I'm pretty sure they'll go away if the unpleasant things @Chaoswolf outlined happen. And, hate to say it (and this is a blanket statement, it is not directed at any single person), they might also go away if we keep being negative about changes to the layout. Change happens, whether we want it or not, software gets updated to stay viable sometimes. If negativity gets posted about every change made, at some point things go away when the persons in charge find it's not worth possible backlash and pull the plug. I can handle a Discord icon.

 

By and large, we're pretty good about supporting Reaper around here and being respectful. I view it as I'm privileged to have the forums, not the other way around. If the forums are going to end, then I hope we'll be given some notice so I can take steps to remain in touch with people I've met on here.

[WhiteWulfe]

3 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

 

To be honest it frightens me.

I do hope Reaper won't think a Discord Server can replace this Forum.

it would mean the end of a big part of the hobby experience for me if this Forum goes down.

Is there anyone from the Reaper Team who can ease my ( and other's ) mind?

It's one of the very few places I even post my work to, let alone actually get feedback on what I'm doing (or questions I ask).  Twitter and Instagram there's likes, but virtually nobody actually comments.  Reddit it's hard to find communities where it's a consistently good environment, and there's no lovely WIP threads there.

 

6 minutes ago, Inarah said:

 

I see nothing about Discord on my screens. Not on the main page, not on the forum main page.  There are icons linking to FB, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube, but not Discord.  So I'm confused. 

 

Only shows on desktop for me, not on mobile...  But yeah, it's rather large, and stands out rather noticeably due to not matching the dark theme.

 

3 minutes ago, ManvsMini said:

 

Yeah, it's bigger than when it first was added, but I've kept an eye on it over the past week and it hasn't changed from when it was originally up-sized. I'm not worried just yet, as you said Discord and forums are two vastly different ways to interact. As mentioned, Discord lives up to its namesake; it's disharmonious, chaotic, and a pain to find anything useful in open chat channels.

 

Reaper has done a full press into social media platforms over the past few years, I feel this is just the latest expansion. And I'm not wholly against it. I hope they continue to use Discord for virtual events. I'm hoping for another Virtual Con during the winter, which was made possible by that platform. And it was very well-suited to that type of event.

 

I hope the forums stay. I'm pretty sure they'll go away if the unpleasant things @Chaoswolf outlined happen. And, hate to say it (and this is a blanket statement, it is not directed at any single person), they might also go away if we keep being negative about changes to the layout. Change happens, whether we want it or not, software gets updated to stay viable sometimes. If negativity gets posted about every change made, at some point things go away when the persons in charge find it's not worth possible backlash and pull the plug. I can handle a Discord icon.

 

By and large, we're pretty good about supporting Reaper around here and being respectful. I view it as I'm privileged to have the forums, not the other way around. If the forums are going to end, then I hope we'll be given some notice so I can take steps to remain in touch with people I've met on here.

 

[Glitterwolf]

I've been on several forums like Warhammer and Warseer, Putty and Paint.

Anything you post there, almost no reaction if you're not already part of the incrowd.

Other discussions quickly tend to escalate.

 

So yeah, the Reaper Forum is one of the nicest and friendliest places on the Internet.

I have been painting since I was about 11 and I learned more during the years I joined this Forum thanks to feedback and advice.

Something you don't see a lot out there.

 

A lot of forumites here are very creative, some are excellent painters, others are great at converting or making terrain.

We can discuss other stuff like 3D printing or Drawing or storytelling and it's absolultely marvellous.

 

Not to mention fun stuff like the Box of Goodwill or the Candy Exchange that sometimes pop up.

 

And on a personal level.

I've talked through PM with some of you about a lot of things, people are helpful and care.

It has helped me through a few things.

 

So a big thank you to Reaper for this Forum and a big thank you to all of you.

[haldir]

It's on my Chromebook as well. i don't use a dark scheme & even then it's a eyesore with the scheme being red & white & then BAM! giant blue square right there. I for one hope the forums stay for awhile, I've got Discord on my phone, but rarely ever even look at it. I think I looked at it maybe once before RCon this year & when they said the table number were messed up for the rpg events & I had to find out what my table was. Other then that, it's a program that gathers dust.

 

I will say many people that I've met on here when I first started have long since left & such, thou thanks to bookFace, I can still keep contact with them. I will also say the forum has slowed down in recent years. I remember when the forum wouldn't have posts that stayed the same on a weekend. The last forum I was a serious member of, was a nascar modelling forum. It's more or less became a board of older fans vs newer fans when it came to eras of the sport. It started to becoming boring & annoying hearing everyone complain about the new racers or the new cars, or the old time "Men" of racing & the "How much better the races were back in the day" etc etc. I left & it's funny after I did the aftermarket company I was a fan of stopped making official decals, I realized I really wasn't a fan of the sport.

 

I recall on here a few year ago, someone wonder why Reaper's social media presences wasn't so hot & why they weren't doing anything about it. Now it's opposite of that where the forum is the "red-head stepchild" of the bunch. I remember when the forum had everyone from Reaper on it, artists & sculptors alike posted on here. Now it's feels like one of those towns that doesn't know it's starting to decline, but it is. Again, I hope it doesn't fade away as it's one of my main places to visit on the net.

[malefactus]

This has been my observation of introducing Discord as a part of a forum: Tom added a link to Discord on Tom's Boring Mordheim Forum; a post announcing it with a "never paint alone" comment. At the time Discord was introduce activity was picking up after a few years of poor attendance. After the coming of Discord there was noticeably less activity & it has continued to decline.

There are a lot of things I like about the Reaper Forum & a few I don't, but it would be a shame to lose it to a social media fad.

[Inarah]

1 hour ago, WhiteWulfe said:

 

Only shows on desktop for me, not on mobile...  But yeah, it's rather large, and stands out rather noticeably due to not matching the dark theme.

 

 

Huh.  I don't have a column on the right of my screen. 

 

[WhiteWulfe]

46 minutes ago, Inarah said:

 

Huh.  I don't have a column on the right of my screen. 

 

It's a column I wish I could turn off, so the main content is larger.  Can be handy at times, but I prefer more screen being used for the content ^_^;;;