Doug Williams wrote:There is only so much soccer talk I can take before nodding off.

It's football by the way....  

wavemotion wrote:Note to self: don't post any 'Geek ranking lists here again.

I don't know; I find it kind of reassuring that some things will never change. Specifically: I've never seen a rankings thread associated with [Noun] Geek that didn't end in some form of argument.

(Although, as I mentioned, I haven't visited much in the past two years ... maybe it's all rainbows and unicorns right now)

I have no problem with you posting a set of rankings — I did the same thing myself with the Dungeon Magazine Top 30 list a few years ago — but you must have at least suspected that there would be some sort of uproar.

I don't have any issues with RPG Geek.  I don't think it hurts anyone or any collector or searcher for RPG info by just "being".  Also I think it helps to realize it's a totally different place than BGG, without the decade of history, good and bad, built up. Frankly while BGG is an amazing resource I consider it about as welcoming as a leprotic child molestor.  So far I haven't seen RPG Geek following in the footsteps of BGG in some of the worse excesses, and I hope that it stays that way.

I do think the lust for Geek Gold and Thumbs up is a negative, and leads to a lot of crap. But it's a genius idea, people willing to perform tasks for nothing more than the ability to purchase an avatar or badge. My problem would be I think it leads to a lot of fluff, a lot of image stealing, a lot of unneccesary "lists" that are just badly thought out and serve no purpose, etc.  

There are still lots of areas the site could improve on. Unfortunately I don't go there often enough, or have the time, to contribute more when I find a mistake or listing that seems off. I especially hate the bogus lists someone puts up just to get geekgold.  But its not a total turnoff by any means.  If anything the community is a LOT more welcoming than BGG with none of the Asshattery I've seen at BGG the few times I read forums.

If nothing else, Dave is one of the few people from a competing site to come here and not be a total asswhip or dickhead while getting into discussions about the site. As a matter of fact, I would have to say he's gone out of his way to remain pretty civil considering we've tossed some bombs his way.  

As a bonus the list he posted inspired a lot of discussion. I'd say come back and post another and maybe we'll add another five pages to this thread...

Mike B.

Badmike wrote:So far I haven't seen RPG Geek following in the footsteps of BGG in some of the worse excesses, and I hope that it stays that way.

This is a pretty important distinction, I'm finding.

I have spent some time these last two days, poking and prodding the RPG Geek site, wondering why White Plume Mountain isn't listed as the top gaming product ever, looking for general dickheadishness, thumb-whoring, and "your module sucks!" arguments ... and I'm really not seeing too much of it so far. That is a very good thing.

BGG is forever ruined for me — or, more accurately, it would take a massive restructuring of the environment, which is never going to happen — but perhaps I shouldn't paint all of the [Noun] Geek sites with the same brush (sidebar: is Video Game Geek going yet? I've lost the plot on that one). So far, things do seem a lot more laid-back and welcoming at RPG Geek. Although the White plume Mountain thing is unconscionable.

If anything ... and I sort of hesitate to say this after watching BGG turn into such a Passive-Aggressive Blowhard Magnet ... the site could really use more discussion. The data part seems to be covered pretty well, but there's very little discussion happening. It took me four tries to find a listing that had even a single thread, and that included looking at classics such as S1 and T1. No one there has any thoughts on Tomb of Horrors? That seems unlikely.

So ... now I'm intrigued. Or at least much more intrigued than I was two days ago. The more that RPG Geek can be the exact polar opposite of BGG, the more I'll continue to look under the hood.

Badmike wrote:So far I haven't seen RPG Geek following in the footsteps of BGG in some of the worse excesses, and I hope that it stays that way.

You are a more patient man than I, Mike. I couldn't find any coherent or interesting discussion threads. It's heavily dummed down I think, or maybe it just seasonal and all the decent posters are off on holiday or at Con's. Who knows?

I gave up with the God awful front end and the in-your-face Troll & Toadism. It would be akin to running Acaeum and then plastering with ad's for Cougie's eBay auctions. Maybe T&T get their information and pictures from RPG Geek.

I visited RPG Geek out of curiosity. Perhaps I'm showing my age but it's just too cluttered.

One of the things that Facebook has done right is keeping the ads to the right margin.  Pages with commercials splashed all over the place aren't appealing to me.  I fact, I quit visiting Lostpedia last year because they did the same thing, and it had been one of my favorite sites.

BTW, what is it about T&T that folks don't like?

I've had a poke around both, as a bit of a GW board game whore, and I've found BGG ok if you know what you are looking for. I haven't managed to do so much with the forums, as it is clearly a very busy site with many changing subjects etc.

However, RPGG is better with less nonsense going on, although I can't comment on its accuracy, as my RPG history is nothing compared to the Acaeum members.

But I'd say again, that I've now dealt with 3or4 members over there and they have been very helpful, reasonable and bar the occasional ass on the forums (they get everywhere...) its not so bad.

Keith the Thief wrote:BTW, what is it about T&T that folks don't like?

At the risk of derailing the thread...

I believe the main complaint that you will hear from Acaeum members is their rather lax grading standards for anything other than brand-new-in-shrink items. I can speak from personal experience that the two "used" items that I have purchased from T&T were not graded properly. I have never had any complaints about the new-in-shrink items that I have purchased from them however. They ship fast and package well, in my experience.

faro wrote:If you're browsing online in general without one 'coz you don't mind ads, fair enough.

I hate the ADs as well... but fortunately I haven't had to see them for years. The patrons can adblock for their donation for 1 year.  Donations stack (so if you give a 2nd one in a year, it just tacks another year of adblock on). You can also turn (close your ears) geekgold into adblock. Most of the people who contribute to the site haven't had to see ads since forever and a day.

But for those that don't contribute in some form or are occasional visitors - they see ads. Most people that come looking for rules translations, a quick review for a game or have the occasional sale/trade don't mind.

We're hiring a front end UI designer for a site redesign at some point when there is enough money left from paying the bills.  The modules are all configurable - as are the AD placements I think. I've configured my front page to be fairly minimal - with just the tools I need to administer the site.

-Dave