New House Rule Forum

[Jon Hodgson]

Just checking back in - how do folks feel it's going with the new set up?

I'm really happy. The house rules forum feels like a good place to go if you want to frenetically Thunderdome your rules knowledge and mental prowess, the main forum feels a lot more like a happy, slower paced place to come to as a new player, or to just chew the fat about TOR. I think that's a healthy separation.

[Rich H]

Just checking back in - how do folks feel it's going with the new set up?

It feels like one of those changes that (a) seems like it's been around for longer than it has and (b) makes me wonder how we managed without it previously. So, I really like it. I think it has the added advantage of other threads staying higher up the page for longer which means they'll be getting more traffic/attention as well.

[Glorelendil]

Agree with Rich. I like that other threads don't get pushed off the first page so quickly.

Question: why does it inherit from General Discussion, rather than be a sibling of it? Just to reduce clutter from the Index page?

I'd still love to see an LM/Spoiler forum for discussion of official adventures.

[Jon Hodgson]

The truly honest answer?

I wanted the house rule forum to be tucked away, so that regulars can find it easily, but not for it to be given an equal billing in the index, which would take us back to the problem of so many house ruling threads giving the wildly erroneous impression that the game is broken.

An LM's forum is an interesting idea. Leave it with us and we'll discuss it. We don't want to strip the main forum into too many subforms, so that it looks dead, but actually there's loads going on in lots of subforms - that doesn't work for me. But it's not a bad idea. We're also considering an actual play forum, likewise subforumed off to encourage more posting of actual plays, where they'll sit on the front page of that forum for longer. Actual play reports are considerable work, but also of considerable worth to the community, so we want to support that.

[Glorelendil]

The truly honest answer?

I wanted the house rule forum to be tucked away, so that regulars can find it easily, but not for it to be given an equal billing in the index, which would take us back to the problem of so many house ruling threads giving the wildly erroneous impression that the game is broken.

That makes perfect sense.

[Falenthal]

I feel the distiction is very natural, and allows for organized threads. In fact, now it´s easier to find some infos. About other subforums, I agree that too many would be a mess, but one with ongoing campaign reports would be great.

[zedturtle]

Add my vote to the Actual Plays request, and honestly I'd suggest it be at a higher level... it's something that starting players often are looking for.

I'm reasonably happy with it. It does feel like 'expansion' material is less likely to be found by those browsing, but that's a small price to pay for a more cordial tone in the main forum, for which I've long advocated.

[Rich H]

I think an Actual Play forum is of more worth than a dedicated LM one. I'd like to see one.

[Majestic]

I think it's been a good thing as well. One major benefit I see is that those 'purists' (for whom the concept of a House Rule gives them indigestion) can choose to just avoid that section, thus creating a more peaceful environment in both places.

[jacksarge]

House Rules section works well.
Another vote from me for an Actual Play forum section - of particular interest to me would be some decent audio versions of actual play that I can listen to whilst doing other work. I've been listening to some actual play podcasts for other systems lately and really wish I had something similar for The One Ring.