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Originally posted by Diffan

[quote]Originally posted by Wooly Rupert



Well the mods there are just like you or I, and make mistakes. I think its gotten a lot better there mod-wise, just members # have gone waaay down. Sorta makes discussions a little pointless IMO.

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Originally posted by Diffan

I really don't remember much about the anti-novel posting but I thought it was a rather ridiculous rule seeing as most of the Lore of the Realms came from that very source. So how could one not discuss the novel espically when it ties into something you might use for your campaign?

I think the main problem was people were discussing and arguing about the book and stating their opinion as fact when it came to the novel's quality. Still, pretty stupid if you ask me.

I guess I didn't really rock the boat much there so I didn't have too many run-ins with the Moderaters. Wasn't Lord_Karsus a mod? I miss our discussions as they were heated but fun and I leard a lot in those halls.

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Originally posted by Markustay


I don't think it really mattered, after the release of 4e (and the slime-colored new forums), active membership dropped off so rapidly (on the FR forums) that the point was moot.


*LK was a 'Forum leader', but not a Mod. {self-Edit} I had a bit of a rant here, but what does it matter now? I won't speak ill of the dead, and that Forum is as dead as they come.

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Originally posted by Markustay

Actually, AFTER they released Gleemax {shudder} they re-allowed novel discussions, but it was on test-basis, to see if people could be civil about it. I believe Lord_Karsus* was the first to bring this up, after he discussed it with the Wiz-O's (or whatever the mods were calling themselves post-Gleemax). The idea was that folks can say weather they liked or disliked something in particular, and give reasons why, but you weren't supposed to say stuff like "that book was utter cr**!" At least, that was the gist of it.

I don't think it really mattered, after the release of 4e (and the new slime-color scheme), active membership dropped off so rapidly (on the FR forums) that the point was moot.


*LK was a 'Forum leader', but not a Mod. {self-Edit} I had a bit of a rant here, but what does it matter now? I won't speak ill of the dead, and that Forum is as dead as they come.

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Originally posted by Diffan

quote:

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Originally posted by Markustay


I don't think it really mattered, after the release of 4e (and the slime-colored new forums), active membership dropped off so rapidly (on the FR forums) that the point was moot.


*LK was a 'Forum leader', but not a Mod. {self-Edit} I had a bit of a rant here, but what does it matter now? I won't speak ill of the dead, and that Forum is as dead as they come.

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Well I'm bringing it back! There's some good people over on those forums that don't have the numbers to get good discussions up and running, so what they hey?!

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Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie

Well, people grow up, y'know? Not that the Keep is juvenile, but people evolve as they live their lives. Their interests change, they have other responsibilities, and sometimes a big event comes along that makes for a convenient jumping off point.

Some might be back, some are gone for good. I don't think we should necessarily read anything into it, unless someone very clearly specifies why he/she is leaving. The 4e shift makes a convenient smoke screen, but I mean heck, Mace still posts from time to time, and he was like the *opposite* of 4e's biggest fan.

And have I really been here 6 years? No wonder I'm getting allergic to all these dusty scrolls.

Cheers

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Originally posted by Delzounblood

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Originally posted by Mr_Miscellany

Novel discussion was banned on the WotC forums because posts about novels typically included one of the following:

*[insert novel writer name] doesn’t know a damn thing about the setting.
*[insert novel writer name] is out to destroy the Realms as we know it.
*[insert novel writer name] doesn’t bother to do their research.
*[insert novel writer name] doesn’t personally care about the Realms and shouldn’t be writing in the setting.
*[insert novel writer name] is a hack just looking to make a name for themselves by putting their stamp on the setting before moving on to other, more lucrative projects, etc…
*Wizards of the Coast is really just a Hasbro clone out to make a buck and has no professional editorial standards, etc…

Even by the nascent internet forum standards at the time, the level of personal attacks (as well as the corresponding level of raw ignorance required to author such attacks) written by forum users about Realms novel writers was ugly. And it didn’t seem to matter how hard the Wiz_Os (Paradox, etc…) tried, the ugly just kept on coming.

And so Novel discussions were banned.

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Originally posted by Alisttair

It's too bad that many were saying such things about the authors, but it's also a shame that the mods seemed to just look at anything about novels as being negative.

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Originally posted by Alisttair


It's too bad that many were saying such things about the authors, but it's also a shame that the mods seemed to just look at anything about novels as being negative.

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Originally posted by Mr_Miscellany

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Originally posted by Alisttair

It's too bad that many were saying such things about the authors, but it's also a shame that the mods seemed to just look at anything about novels as being negative.

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What people don’t understand is that for all the perceived faults of the Wiz_Os (newer people to the WotC forums would know the moderators as “ORCs’), in a lot of ways their hands were tied regarding the novels.

It’s been made clear to me privately that the Wiz_Os would have liked to do things differently, but the corporatized rules structure the moderators had to operate under was 100% absolute on the topic of novels: no discussion, period.

It’s not unlike Ed Greenwood being told to write a story about Elminster that, if he had any say on the matter, he would prefer not to write.

If you want to be the one to write that Elminster novel (or be a Wiz_O on the WotC forums) you have to play by the rules WotC set.

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Originally posted by Mr_Miscellany

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Originally posted by Alisttair

It's too bad that many were saying such things about the authors, but it's also a shame that the mods seemed to just look at anything about novels as being negative.

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What people don’t understand is that for all the perceived faults of the Wiz_Os (newer members to the WotC forums would know the moderators are now called “ORCs"), in a lot of ways their hands were tied regarding the novels.

It’s been made clear to me privately that the Wiz_Os would have liked to do things differently, but the corporatized rules structure the moderators had to operate under was 100% absolute on the topic of novels: no discussion, period.

It’s not unlike Ed Greenwood being told to write a story about Elminster that, if he had any say on the matter, he would prefer not to write.

If you want to be the one to write that Elminster novel (or be a Wiz_O enforcing the Terms of Service on the WotC forums) you have to play by the rules WotC set.

It was frankly (IMNSHO) stupid of WotC to invite people onto its forums to discuss its products, then slap people hard on the wrist for doing it—especially people new to the forums.

But when you have so many jerks flocking to your forums to post rants about the novels...well I'm not sure what else they could have done.

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Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

My complaint remains with the fact (SNIP)

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