Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Gandalf Parker.

I have read in the OT- Passion of Christ thread the following statement

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">And from other Posts in other threads that you have decided to join our community here and then change it to your shaping


Why is this ?

Does the Malfador Machinations threads bother Aaron ? Or are they offending the SE community?

I am asking this because I am concerned about a forum that I have been visiting for a few years now. I have made many friends here. Enjoyed passionate dicussions about far reaching topics and enjoyed the se game.


The SEIV forum has 4 Moderators. But it has become a self moderated forum. When people ask questions about the game. We answer. We do not tell them to use the search.

We debate everything that is important.

We accept new members with open arms. Not questioning who some one is or their level of importance by post counts.

Anyways that is my banter. As I am a little upset by the trend in your Posts as you have became a regular here just lately and it seems you have your mind set up on what our community should be without our input.

You should keep in mind that the SEIV game is getting a little grey on the shelf life and to make this place strictly on topic will kill this community.

Which I think will affect the growth of SEV.


Are the hard core SE fans and the years of growth worth that much ?

I would like to know.

Simon Baxendale

---
Edit: spelling of "Gandalf" in subject

[ May 29, 2004, 21:59: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Tesco, I completely agree.

This is a very tight knit group and it's only expected that'd it be one of the first places you might seek to discuss important world issues, get tips on your new computer options, and of course, all you need to know about SE:IV. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

I agree with tesco, I have been here for 3 years now and have made many friends and enjoy the many topics posted here. (both On-Topic and Off-Topic)

I'm sure that the regulars here are mature enough to decide weather or not to reply to Off-Topic Posts.

One thing I can tell you, the On-topic Posts are given top priority by all the people that come here. Questions asked by first time players or veterans alike are quickly answered. We do not simply point them to the FAQ, the 'veterans' of se4 are allways eager to share their experience.

Further, we have a great group of Moderators and they are quick to point out when things get out of hand. (which is an extremely rare thing in this forum.)

I'm an artist, and a gameplayer. I often like to share my knowledge about the tools of the trade and enjoy talking about topics other than just se4. I found that many of the 'regulars' that frequent here have similar interests. I drop by here every day, and although I don't post every day, I do scan the various topics. Having 'OT' threads is always a welcome diVersion.

anyway, nuf said.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Gandalf, if you poke around, you'll see we're never hostile to people who are new to the game, or have a new found interest in mods, or in modding themselves. There's never a shortage of help for those sort of questions.

We're getting a little bit more OT lately, probably 'cause as SE4 patches have stopped, and SE5 is still a long way away.

I think this forum is a pretty cool place to come to hear about science, science fiction, computer science and what have you. This is a real friendly bunch, flames and trolls simply don't exist here. And that's totally unique in cyberspace.

Also, the comment in question,

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">also, in the Evil Overlord thread ...

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Seems a little harsh on us all. If you're going to wear the Admin hat, maybe you should consider being more direct and simple in the comments. If we're eating up Shrapnel resources with all this OT stuff, then just say so directly.

If you just want to hang and kid around like all the rest of us, well, jump on in and have a bLast.

Just a 2/100 of a buck from a guy who never reads the political threads. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ May 29, 2004, 04:26: Message edited by: Arkcon ]

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

I should point out that at least half of my Posts have been used to answer people's questions posted by veterans and newbies alike, often within a short time frame of them posting. Same with Suicide Junkie and Geoschmo, who are 2 other top posters on the Intel Forums. Why do we do this? Because it is an awesome community.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Hey guys its ok. I don't think he meant it the way it sounds. Either way I am sure that reason and time will provide for an atomsphere of understanding.

[ May 29, 2004, 04:18: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Just so there is no confusion, Gandalph Parker is the new:

Director of Community Relations and Tech Advisor for Shrapnel Games Inc

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

I don't know what to say about what is going on. I simply have no information. As a moderator I am often the very Last person to know anything.

If it was my call, I would leave the forum alone. Simply put it has survived and thrived because of the people who have come here since 2000.

If change is made I know that it will kill what we have here and when that day comes, I will no longer post here. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

But I am optomisitc that if the new Director of Community Relations and Tech Advisor for Shrapnel Games Inc knows how we feel, then perhaps he will agree not to make any changes.

This is our community, but it is shrapnels forum. So in the end, it is their call and the call of the person to whom they have placed in charge. Like it or not change happens.

So by all means let him know how you feel, but please also understand that there are two sides to every coin.

Lets be honest and see what happens.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

I have read Gandolf's post, and I must say it disheartens me to see that this forum may be going the way of many others on the net. This place is unique in many ways as well as being the most friendly, and enjoyable place to be. We have all made new friends, had good laughs, joked around, had good times and enjoyed a brewski or two together. To tamper with something that has been a resounding success as forums goes should be given very heavy thought as well as discussion with Shrapnel, MM and who ever.

If you have read our forum, then you will see that even tho there are OT's the majority of discussion and Posts concern SE4 and its mods.

How many Mods have you made of SE4 Gandolf?? I don't see your handle listed in any of the threads answering questions or keeping a conversation going..

If you go ahead with what you are saying imho you will kill this forum and it wil die a slow death. You might have new people come here, but answer me this.. Who will answer their questions, not only on the game but on the mods if most leave. In addition, how many new mods will be made or those in existance made better if you turn people off with restrictions?

There is an old saying. "If its not broke, Don't fix it". That says it all

just my 2 cents

just some ideas, an upset Mac

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

This forum has been my homepage since the early days of se4 (before any patches). Its been the best community I've belonged to. I used to frequent the DC Comics message Boards and the Wizards of the Coast magic Boards (MTGO) and have since left both due to over moderation (esp when DC erased all the 911 threads as they did not refrence 'comics').

my 2cents, leave the community the way it is please. The rest of life is quite full of regulations and expectations and its nice to have a place that is both professional (se4 related) and friendly(the ot Posts etc).

Best way to tell how good the community is...when was the Last time you saw a Troll around here?? And even then the situation was resolved much more maturely then any Boards I've seen.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Gandalph Parker, about a week ago I posted in the thread 'despair' that I had schiziophrenia. And there wasn't one troll. Not one. I have been on about 6 forums that I can remember and there is only one other I have been on where I could feel confident enough to say that. And it had precisly the same attitude towards OT Posts that this one does and much the same feel.

It isn't the on-topic Posts that have done that. It's the off-topic Posts.

Look through the old Posts. We've gotten agitated before. It's brought us all closer together.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Seems fair. Will do. Would be nice if, in addition to some question threads, some old fasioned announcement threads made it to the top. And maybe the Cantina thread could bubble up for a bit, let everyone know we have a sense of humor, without being too weird.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Why? Have there been complaints? The ratio of OT to On Topic Posts doesn't seem too horrible to me. And most of the OT Posts are clearly labeled, so newcomers can easily avoid them if they are annoyed by them. I can't help but think Shrapnel is jumping at the sound of the wind here. If it is really a problem, maybe they should just break the forum into two seperate forums. One for Game Discussions, the other for OT discussions. (Which, again, IMO would be over-reacting to a problem that doesn't exist...)

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">This seems like a bad idea to me. With seperate thread names, it is much easier to avoid topics that people find objectionable. So by reducing the ratio of OT threads you increase the ratio of people getting upset by OT content (if such people exist in our community http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif )

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Thanks for posting!

[ May 29, 2004, 14:05: Message edited by: spoon ]

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

OK, time to toss my own 1/50th of a standard American dollar in...

My primary purpose in coming here is to do SEIV business (mods, PBW, new shipsets, ad infinitum). But that's hardly the ONLY reason. What veteran among us would say this board would have been the same without the various manifestations of the good ol' Phong's Head cantina? Or David's avatar thread? The jokes and comics threads? The thread where everyone posted their pet pictures? Or even that monstrously annoying Badger film? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

The problem, as I see it, is when the political/religious discussions get out of hand. This is a particular problem for me (being a staunch conservative of orthodox faith), so my solution is to avoid the political threads entirely. I come here to unwind, not pick a fight. But I'd rather see the political threads remain than have a top-down gag order on all non-SEIV discussions. Despite the problems with those threads, the rest of the board is a shining beacon in the dark space of gaming communities, all alone in the night. Aside from the politics, this is still the friendliest, most newbie-friendly, and most informative board out there.

We've got a good thing going here, Mr. Parker. Don't ruin it over a couple of political/religious discussions that occasionally get out of joint. THOSE can be backed-off from. They usually die off on their own anyways. A gag-order would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

[ May 29, 2004, 14:30: Message edited by: General Woundwort ]

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">i agree with spoon in this issue.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

When I was a newcomer to the forums (back in September 2003 I think) I primarily came to find out things about SEIV that I hadn't known before, to learn new tactics, and to converse with other people who play this great game.

However, right away I was interested in the OT threads. I don't live in a large community. Actually, I live in the middle of nowhere, and this is really the only place I can have a mature discussion with other reasonable people on subjects that are non-SEIV related. Subjects such as politics and religion can get a little heated sometimes, but the other 99% of the time, they're completely reasonable.

Basically, it was SEIV that brought me here, but in large part, its been the community and the interest of the OT Posts that has kept me here, and likely will keep me here until everyone else has left!! Would I still come here if the OT Posts were gone?? Maybe, but only to ask the occaisional question I had. To be totally honest, checking this forum, and reading all the discussions (especially the OT ones) is one of the high points of an otherwise difficult day.

So to add my voice to all the others, please don't do away with, or restrict the OT threads. They really are an integral part of this community, and it wouldn't be the same without them.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

When I first saw Mr Parker's Posts, I took him for a old cranky newbie, and didn't think too much of it...

After the Posts about removing all the OT threads started building up, I went to say something to him.
Only then, on the way to the PM button, did I notice his post count...
Such a discrepancy made me look around a bit, and at the sight of "Advisor", my first thought was "Oh, $#!^, they're actually going to do it."

*cue flashback to planet of the apes*

-----

Even the hardest newbie questions answered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed?
You can't even get a pizza delivered that fast these days.
Back in the early days of Gold when they were coming out of the woodwork, you'd have 5 responses in the first 10 minutes, and if you had to race through your typing to get the first reply.
180 seconds was pretty common for the first reply, though some short questions managed to get answered in less than a minute, forum time.

---

I'm one of the few who can say he's been here in two millenia, and I hope to remain here forever in paradise.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

If Posts are restricted here (other than obviously obscene/inflammatory ones) , I guess I'll simply take my leave.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Is the SEIV forum broken? Last I looked it has the most Posts of any of the other games. If I worked at shrapnel I would ask "Why is the SEIV forum so successful while the others are not?" Instead of "What's wrong with the SEIV forum?"

My experience in working at software companies, though, is that people need to make changes to show there value. If Gandalph said "let's not change anything" then what's his value?

An easy thing to do would be to clamp down on OT topics. It doesn't take much creative thinking, has an immediate impact, and he can say he did something.

From a marketing stand point, though, it doesn't make a lot of sense to remove what keeps a lot of people coming back to the forum - especially when the game is at a lull.

While Gandalph et. al. is fiddling with the forums it seems to me they are ignoring real issues. Here's a question that has baffled me. Why doesn't Shrapnel invest more in improving and promoting the multi-player aspects of the game? I believe it doesn't take a genius to figure out that multi-player gaming is the future of gaming.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Have we ever done that? Really the concern should be cutting down on OT too much. Because a lot of the OT stuff takes more time than the SE4 stuff (debates, etc). That means posters hang around longer..which means they're here when the newbies ask questions. We don't have an average response time of sub 30 minutes for nothing.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Unless the Forum is reaching a peak in storage capacity, there's no real reason to cut back on OT Threads.

There's no flaming going on, which is rare rather than the norm among Forums dedicated to Gaming. In the 2 or so years I've been here, there are/were only two members who behaved improperly/ignorantly, and both were corrected (and quickly) by the Moderators. The fact that it doesn't happen much at all is refreshing.

As Rex and others have pointed out, it's up to the Space Empires community to keep this place hopping in the absence of any new content out of Aaron & Malfador. I think everyone can agree that once Space Empire V comes out, that the ratio of On-Topic Threads to Off-Topic Threads will swing dramatically back in favor of the On-Topics. Take a look at the Dominions II Forum; that place has predominantly On-Topic Threads because DII is still fresh. But if Illwinter Games doesn't release another Game or major Update for 2 or 3 Years, then that Forum will either wither down to the occasional Thread, or it'll follow the path of this Forum and thrive on the interest, ingenuity, and commitment of it's regulars to keep comming back in the absence of fresh Developer content.

I for one won't regularly return to a Forum unless there's a regular stream of new Posts appearing. There's nothing less attractive than going to a Forum and seeing one or two new Posts per week. That's why I rarely check out the Starfury or Dungeon Oddessy Forums. I'm certain I'm not the only one who reacts the same way.

The SEIV Community is one of the most mature Groups I've ever been a part of in my Online experince. If the majority of the Off-Topic Posts were crazy gibberish, then that would be one thing, but the majority are either thought provoking, such as the Iraqi War, Passion of Christ, and numerous Space related Posts; or they're polite opinion fetchers, like the various Favorite Books/Movies/TV Shows Posts; or they're open dialogs into the happenings of the daily lives, pratfalls, and happenings of the Community Members, like the death of a loved pet, the birth of a new baby, or the more personal quandries revealed by Rojero & Narf, to name a few. In any other Forum or Site, I would expect such Topics and revelations to be met with smart-*** & insensitive responses. But not here.

Hopefully nothing is going to happen, and GandalfParker's Posts are good natured ribbing. But if change is in the works, then Shrapnel better not cry or complain when the traffic to the Site & Forums dries up.

This place is special.

That's about the best way I can describe it.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Ok. I can relate to the dilemma Shrapnel Games is having. I used to browse the OS/2 Warp forums on an old forgotten Online service called Delphi. It was a good place to find small programs, and discussion. Back in the old days before the web went everywhere. The OS/2 Warp forum was very Microsoft critical, shocking as that may be. It was also highly political, every thread came down hard any just about any US g'ovt policy. It got to the point at which I really felt like any comment I made was going to be shot down by the regulars. Eventually, Delphi changed its policies, and closed the forum, and didn't leave the Moderators much choice for a new forum.

Long story short, I can relate to how off topic conversations can make newbies feel unwelcome. And that could have a negative impact on the usefulness of this forum.

But...

1). Our off topic conversations aren't like those on Delphi. It's not some clique spouting off some personal ideology and drop kicking anyone with a dissenting opinion. We're very diverse here. Not just different political ideas, but a wide range of countries, with their own cultural norms.

2). We don't have hard evidence that anyone feels locked out of our conversations, only a possible supposition. Some people here browse the computer games newsGroups. What I've seen posted (Admittedly, in the past, haven't checked lately) was that is someone had a question on SE4, they should come here, and the forums were friendly and useful. Not the other way around.

3). Horrifying though the concept may be, new players may come to these Boards, read the sticky topics, use the search function, and find all the answers they need, without registering and posting. It seems to many people, not just me, that SE4 seems to attract intelligent, level headed, proficient people. (Incredibly good looks is probably just a coincidence).

4).A further point. If the board is dedicated only to new players, and we have to make it newbie friendly by removing all OT discussions, how far does this have to go? Do newbies really care about new mods, the problems encounter when creating new mods, the latest shipsets, and the like. Perhaps not, are we going to lose those as well, and have the top page full of minelayer and drone discussions?

5). Now additionally, there was the recent OT discussion of the file "siae3123.exe", and I mentioned how it couldn't be found on any Google search. Now if you search Google, our Shrapnel Forum comes up on the first page. That's a little disconcerting, BBegemott is getting emails as an expert, and things like that. At first I was worried about our little group getting linked to the world. But then I realized, how many people have come here looking for that information, realized this forum is about a game, and taken an interest in SE4? More importantly, where's mine, BBegemott's, and pathfinder's share of the increased profits? Just a few percent off the top is plenty, I for one, am not greedy. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

I (twenty)second the sentiments of the previous posters http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

The game is old. On-topic Posts alone will not keep the forum alive and an active forum is a great sales tool.

Is Tims 82nd Airborne a good game ?
Don't know, don't care. The dead forum is such a big turnoff for me I will never bother to invest precious time (or money) to find out.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

If OT Posts are Banned, this forum will go the way of the MOO3 forums at Atari. I'd post a link, but that's pointless because you have to register to even read anything at that hellhole! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

Keep the intelligent people in the SE4 forum because if you ban OT Posts, you'll only drive us away and there will be no one around to help the munchkins, meaning that they will get out of control with their "OMGWTFLOL NO1 IS HELPING ME!!!!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif ", driving any more intelligent people who might dare to stop by right back out the door. I suppose that would save you money in the short run, not having to maintain a forum, but is that what you REALLY want? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif I sincerely hope not, because if this plan is followed through on, I for one will pester Aaron Hall to find a new publisher for SE5... much as I hate to say this after all these years, one which can be counted on to not turn its back on its loyal fans... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

The conversation was going really good there for awhile but now its getting panicky so lets tighten a few things. The hints to cut back on the OT Posts which are commonly considered not the best subjects for polite conversation is abit far from "banning OT Posts". Lets back up to about the post done by "General Woundwort" which painted a fairly true picture and contine from there. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

By the way, things already look much better. Thanks.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">So you're saying I shouldn't expect a check anytime soon. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Threads do stop on their own at some point... your comments did not stop those OT threads (as evidenced by the fact that they continued for a while after your Posts in them, and did not even slow down).

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I think you realize it's a bit difficult for a group of people who play a game such as SE to NOT want to also "chat and discuss" topics unrelated to the game. Besides, we're all a bit smarter than the average guy ( http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/blush.gif ) and we like exchange thoughts and ideas from time to time.

Not sure how many forums people participate in but I "travel" to a few others and this one is the mildest mannered (the worst being found in Renderosity, IMO). I've mentioned more than once how this forum is just about devoid of personal attacks. That's a good thing. And something the members should feel a bit proud about.

But if it's a problem with bandwidth and space, I guess that's another concern.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Thanks for clarifying, Gandalf. I'm glad to hear your side of the story; it makes a lot more sense now - Last night was pretty hectic and I completely missed your original Posts! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif It just still makes me a bit wary to have someone constantly hovering over my head ready to delete any of my Posts, but I guess I've just been spoiled by the lax moderation around here in the past. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Bandwidth is extremely cheap. A few extra gigabytes a month would cost maybe a dollar or two more a month. This would easily cover any useage that OT threads generate, and I have extreme difficulty imagining that Shrapnel Games could not afford an extra 2 dollars a month. It would not cut into profits in any significant manner.

Required space to store a post is very little, though it can add up over the long term. Space would be better freed by deleting old, obselete Posts (such as 4 year old Posts that nobody cares about), rather than new ones.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

I must say that this forum has changed my view on many things, mainly becouse of OT threads.
I try to get input from the vast experiance that exists in this forum.
If I ever get to the US again I hope I'll be able to look up some of you in RL. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
If it wasn't for this forum, I wouldn't still be playing SE4, let alone make a side program to it!

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

This is my own opinion. In no way am I speaking as a forum moderator here.

Personally, instead of trying to discourage OT conversations on the SEIV forum, I think Shrapnel needs to figure out ways to generate more conversation, OT or otherwise, on the other game forums.

SEIV is by far the most vibrant, active forum at Shrapnel, and according to Shrapnel SEIV and SEIV Gold has shattered all their sales records. Is that a coincindence? I don't think so.

The forum generates interest. Interest generates sales. Sales are the reason Shrapnel exsists.

The forum is a lot cheaper, and much more effective, then conventional advertising.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">What you say is of course true. But then when it comes time to upgrade bandwidth, CPU, harddrive space, and software; in a business there will always be an "audit" of what those things are going toward, whether that what was in mind when it started, and whether its worthwhile to upgrade for it. The fact that its "very little" would be a better point for fan sites than for business sites. Now dont jump to interpret some gloom and doom from that. Im just making a point to your point. Of course its obvious that the SEIV forum does a wonderful job of supporting the SEIV game.

[ May 29, 2004, 21:36: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Ahhh I take it then that you used the search button at the top and looked at what all the fuss was about? The topics in question and how horribly threatending the Posts were that caused the reactions? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif Thank you for that.

Of course if anyone wants to do it now its going to be cluttered if you look for any of the various spellings of Gandalf, so using the member number field and putting 4424 works better.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Well, if the only problem is scaring newbie's and upgrade costs...

1: Do what Baen books does. Make a seperate forum for heated discussion. They call their's blazes.

2: I'm a welfare bum living at home with two major psychiatric disorders in Canada. How much money for bandwidth and storage are we talking about? Anyone else want to volenteer?

There, problem solved. see? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Actually they did that the first time. Its called Shrapnel General and has a description of "Stop in for a beer and a conversation or two... ". It was considered that it would be easy for Moderators to move strongly OT threads there for everyone to participate in.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Sounds good. What good SEIV domain names are available? Looks like SEIV.net and SEIV.org are up for grabs.

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

<font color=blue>I have a suggestion, why don't we take a break from this discussion for a few days to let everyone absorb what has been said. Lets lock the thread for 48 hours and then resume discussion. This is just a suggestion to keep everyone from becoming over heated about something that we all value as important.</font?

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

*Moderator mode /on*
Hi all!
There is some concern from Shrapnel that to many OT topics will drive away newcomers to the extend that they will not join the community.

To this end I would like to ask all of you to maybe cut the amount of OT threads present on the top of the board down a bit - just post your OT question in one of the other OT thread. Since we all read all the threads (aren't we?) your question will find an answer in short time without creating another OT thread of it's on.
Please don't see this as a harsh rule and don't be afraid to create an OT topic if you have the urge to, just keep an eye out that the forum is not swarmed with OT so the newcomer won't find a SE4 topic.

I hope the message will be taken by you as I intended it to be - friendly and only a beg, no threat and no "I will come down on you if you don't comply!". http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Thanks for your attention!

*Moderator mode /off*

Re: Gandalf Parker and the SEIV Forum
 

Guys,

I haven't read this topic yet but the title disturbs me. I am going to lock this for now so I can read it and absorb the info. After I get a chance to wade into this I will probably unlock it.

Please feel free to PM me immediately with any concerns.

Thanks.