Xaxaxe wrote:I do recommend that Acaeum users check out RPG Geek...

These testimonials are really helpful!

But I recommend in the highest possible way that you literally ignore the GeekGold and thumbs-up systems. Just pretend they don't exist. Absolutely no good has come out of them or will ever come out of them.

Other than a living, growing and thriving community? Tens of thousands of us like it just fine. To each, their own.

And if you think Aldie and Derk are getting rich over there... heh. I wish. They pour their money back into the site, hiring new developers and upgrading servers. I've put almost 1000 volunteer hours of effort into RPG Geek because I believe in the community of roleplayers and I believe in the community we are building. I top off all volunteer efforts with a $100 per year donation (along with donating to other great sites like the Acaeum... so few seem to support Foul which shows the relative strength of the communities - take a look at the donation contributions page here and think real hard before you down that next cheeseburger as to whether you feel enough love for the site to help it along ... bandwith, site-modifications and server space just aren't free).

Trust me, we know how to build community. I took a group of 4 gamers back in 1999 and turned it into 500 networked Boston area gamers by 2010 (see www.unitygames.org for my site). Derk and Aldie have taken 30 of us and turned it into 300,000+. When you've done some community building worthy of merit, I'll more seriously listen to your ideas about how to build community (actually if they were sensible, I'd listen to them anyway). Until then, pray for a better Dune remake.

-Dave

Xaxaxe wrote:HIS SITES USE CONTENT THAT IS 100 PERCENT USER-GENERATED.

That's the design goal. Database backend, GUI Frontend and Community tools (forums, trades, sales, collection tracking) provided by devs... content provided by users. Same as it is on the Acaeum and AtariAge and Shmups Shooter Forums and pretty much anywhere else there is a community.  Just because they have done it on a big enough scale that he can earn a wage for it doesn't mean it's the wrong approach.  I hope you enjoy your work enough to get paid for doing something you would gladly do for free.

And the Dune avatar is a joke. If you knew anything about me at all, you'd know that. You don't know me; don't get all familiar and pretend that you do.

I don't know you at all - never really seen you before your thoughtful post above and certinaly I've not heard of you or your contributions to the gaming community.

-Dave

Xaxaxe wrote:That certainly works both ways.

Well, now you have. I'm published in the Strategy Gaming Society, Counter Magazine and wrote the first few years of Boulder Games Notes (sad that Jim is retiring this year). I write and distribute my own science fiction RPG freely (and have for 25 years). I'm  featured in a new 2010 boardgame documentary called Going Cardboard (http://www.boardgamemovie.com) and have been a playtester for many game designers and companies (you'll find my name at the back of games like Ticket to Ride, Balloon Cup and a small host of other German/Euro games). I've invented three solitaire card games (another of my gaming hobbies) - one of which (Wavemotion Solitaire) has been featured in a number of commercial solitaire games for which I get residuals and a number of freeware games as well as David Parlett's latest book on Soliltaire/Patience games. I started Unity Games - a thriving community of Board/Card gamers in the Eastern MA area.  And now I'm chief bottle washer at the front of RPG Geek.  I help run a Unity Games Auction which provides tens of thousands of dollars from gamers to support the International Red Cross in their disaster relief efforts. Perhaps you should frequent a few other sites.  I know thousands of people who have contributed to the hobby at every level... but you I've never heard of.  Well... it's a big hobby and it's probably no wonder we haven't crossed paths before. I also tend to frequent places, events and communities where I'm just a contributor. A small fish in a big pond. I'm sure you're a big fish in the bowl.

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

-Dave

And for further comedy: you're all worked up about a part of my post that I deleted less than two minutes later.

Read the post; it ain't there any more.

Try a deep, cleansing breath ...

Okay, wait, wait ...

Deep breath for me, too. I'll take my own advice.

I don't like Alden's scheme; you not only are okay with it, you support it with your time and money.

Fair enough. We'll disagree on it.

I think I over-reacted to "uninformed" above ... a word you probably didn't even think twice about. I consider myself informed about BGG and its policies, so I didn't do well with that.

I'll back away slowly now ...

And I'll try to close with something positive: I really do encourage Acaeum users to check out RPG Geek and judge for themselves. My reaction to the [Noun] Geek sites has definitely soured over the years, but that doesn't necessarily prove anything.

puterdragon wrote:I believe that's two members saying, "You suck!"

See! It works!

(And if we were at BGG, I'd give you a GeekGold tip right now.  )

Aw Gee(k). (Response to Xaxaxe.)

Xaxaxe wrote:And I'll try to close with something positive: I really do encourage Acaeum users to check out RPG Geek and judge for themselves. My reaction to the [Noun] Geek sites has definitely soured over the years, but that doesn't necessarily prove anything.

Appreciated. And I'm going to read your blog from now on

I will say that RPG Geek has a different feel than BGG. We do have tight control over images - no pics of girls holding boxes on their beds. It's one cover shot of the product scanned at between 50dpi (to help avoid web culls) and 150dpi (to avoid too high a reproducibility). We allow one back cover shot at the same resolution. For box sets we additionally allow one overall shot of the box contents laid out in a very specific pattern.

Here are the guidelines I've drawn up:

http://rpg.geekdo.com/wiki/page/Guideli ... e_Approval

We are working hard to have the RPG Geek modders adhere to it and we have two volunteer image admins that scour the queues looking for problem pics.  We will not allow hundreds of component shots as they allow on BGG.  We have two exceptions to this rule - we have a Prototypes/Homebrews area where people are free to upload ideas, maps, etc. as they see fit (and they can be filtered). We also allow people to post photos of their dice collection to the one entry called 'Dice' - but only because I love the little guys!

RPGG is a new Geek - we've got 10 years of experience to draw all the best from and lots of experience on what we want to try and change. In effect, we're somewhat of an experiment - small enough visibility that I've been given a large measure of control (since if I fu*k up, it's likely to go unnoticed).  I do have to battle some of the "issues" that BGG has had - I guess with the responsibility of RPG Geek comes some baggage. I hope you will take a peek over on the RPG side of the fence and see that we've got our own growing community that is being shaped into something really good. I want Acaeum members over there - I don't come here to start trouble (though I find plenty with my big mouth!) but rather to entice good people to help shape the site.

--
Dave Bernazzani
wavemotion

Lawrenson says THANK YOU to Xaxaxe for this useful post!