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[RANT MODE=ON]Can someone explain why that site is so popular? It's the slowest "professional" site I've ever been on. And I'll be derned if I'm going to pay for a site with a server that continually timeouts in the middle of my posts.
Really? What's it got that other forums don't?[/RANT MODE=OFF]
Thank you for your time....
Am I to understand the site changed in recent years?
I don't know if anything has changed recently.
I often google D&D topics to get an idea how others interpret or implement the rules. ENWorld often comes up with multiple hits. I finally decided to register.
I've tried posting numerous times to a thread I started asking a question. at least 50% of the time I get a Network Timeout error when trying to access the site or post to the thread.
I also found out you have to pay a "supporting member" fee to access Search functionality. Apparently implemented because searching slows the server down.
Pfft....it's already too slow to handle the traffic, why should I pay for it?
Anyway. I thought the site was a lot more popular than it appears to be from responses here.
Aristodeimos
(Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules, GameMastery Maps Subscriber)
It's pretty popular. I'm not sure why but it is.
I've tried getting involved there a few times and it's a non-starter
As fat as I can tell the draw used to be industry insiders would hang out there. I'm not sure if they still do. Most of the industry insiders I care about too much either work or hang out here. (not ALL just most)
Anyway. I thought the site was a lot more popular than it appears to be from responses here.
The site is pretty popular but there are some circumstances that might account for the lack of enthusiasm from some 3.5/Pathfinder fans.
For example, when 4e was announced/released ENWorld very clearly became a 4e site. Of course, it is natural that the biggest D&D news and information site would report on 4e. Obviously, if you aren't interested in 4e the site would have little use to you. Therefore some of those who stuck with Paizo because they stuck with 3.5 would have nearly no reason to visit as often.
Now that I have decided that Pathfinder is my game of choice, I don't find the site as useful. When I visit I stick to the Pathfinder forum, which doesn't see as much activity as the forums here. I make a point of staying away from the General Discussion threads. That way lies to madness.
I used to go there often when I played 4e. And there are some great posters there. But there is also some undercurrents of conflict as well. I don't think that will ever go away and it is not exclusive to ENWorld.
But yes, the site is very difficult to navigate due to the speed issues. Makes it hard to find what you want to discuss.
There are plenty of good posters there, especially once you step outside of the GD forum. The Story Hours for example, have some very inspiring campaigns that are great reads. It also might be that since this site is a 3.5E crowd, the value of Enworld is less for those that post here regularly.
As for searching, the google site specific search works better for me than using a search function available directly from the site itself.
[RANT MODE=ON]Can someone explain why that site is so popular? It's the slowest "professional" site I've ever been on. And I'll be derned if I'm going to pay for a site with a server that continually timeouts in the middle of my posts.
Really? What's it got that other forums don't?[/RANT MODE=OFF]
Thank you for your time....
That site is always slow, they appear to have too many users and not enough CPU/bandwidth to handle the hits.
It's pretty popular. I'm not sure why but it is.
I've tried getting involved there a few times and it's a non-starter
As fat as I can tell the draw used to be industry insiders would hang out there. I'm not sure if they still do. Most of the industry insiders I care about too much either work or hang out here. (not ALL just most)
I actually got a lot of traction there when I was discussing 4e. I had some great discussions/advice there while I was running my 4e game. Not so much now.
In some ways, I feel I have the opposite issue. I have never found my footing here, despite my 1,000 odd posts. No one has ever made me feel unwelcome. I just haven't figured out exactly what I can contribute to the Paizo community outside of sarcasm. :) Maybe once I get back to running a game and designing material for it, that will change. But for now, I am not sure what I bring to the party, as it were.
Did that make sense?
It's pretty popular. I'm not sure why but it is.
I really think it's a legacy issue. It was the best rumor site for 3e back in the day and got enough critical mass to be the biggest unofficial D&D site around. It was a great place back then, and, a great deal of credit goes to Eric Noah. After he left, he passed on the site, and it just wasn't run as well or with such heart as had previously been the case. There were (and I'm sure still are) a lot of great posters there, and their rules knowledge is second to none, so there's still a lot to recommend it, but the technical issues are a serious problem.
Hm...I just went to EnWorld to dig up a thread there where folks discussed why they like EnWorld more than the Paizo Forums. However, as I was trying to navigate the pages (since I couldn't search), it froze up on me.
Guess everything you said was true.
The thread mostly addressed feelings about the user interface on the Paizo forums. I can sympathize with some of that. Actually, some really good stuff came out of that discussion.
Amusingly though, ENWorld can be difficult to navigate due to a lack of search function and the slowness of the site. Which you got to see first hand.
I looked for a "Technical Issues" thread, but, the site locked up again. :/Perhaps you could be constructive with your criticism.
There may be a better way to phrase your opinion.
Could you try that again?
Edit: to the OP.
Sorry, Murlynd, but I couldn't help but laugh at that.
"There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza..."
It's pretty popular. I'm not sure why but it is.
I've tried getting involved there a few times and it's a non-starter
As fat as I can tell the draw used to be industry insiders would hang out there. I'm not sure if they still do. Most of the industry insiders I care about too much either work or hang out here. (not ALL just most)
I actually got a lot of traction there when I was discussing 4e. I had some great discussions/advice there while I was running my 4e game. Not so much now.
In some ways, I feel I have the opposite issue. I have never found my footing here, despite my 1,000 odd posts. No one has ever made me feel unwelcome. I just haven't figured out exactly what I can contribute to the Paizo community outside of sarcasm. :) Maybe once I get back to running a game and designing material for it, that will change. But for now, I am not sure what I bring to the party, as it were.
Did that make sense?
(Emphasis mine.)
Stick with the sarcasm. It gets me everywhere.
Seriously, though, these OTD forums are a fun place to chat it up. Just avoid the political threads - they suck you in and drain your soul.
Stick with the sarcasm. It gets me everywhere.Seriously, though, these OTD forums are a fun place to chat it up. Just avoid the political threads - they suck you in and drain your soul.
<grin> I will remember that. Sarcasm works.
Actually, I must admit I don't hang out in the OTD forums very often. But I am starting to amend that behavior. They are fun. Like you said, they are a good place just to "hang out" and chat.
In recent years, I've been really unhappy with EN World, but is it me, or has it become more friendly to 3.5 and Pathfinder holdouts in the last couple of months?
It has actually. The Pathfinder forums are nice and they really feel like they could take off and provide a wealth of information for those interested. There isn't a ton of posting going on in that section but there is a respectable amount and it appears to be growing. The News page is nicely organized between 3.5 and 4e as well. I find all of this very promising. I think now that we have both games out, things have cooled down a bit. Despite my sarcastic comment, the General Discussion is much calmer than it was even a few months ago.
Erik's column looks like it will be great and informative. I can't wait to read future installments. That alone would convince to check out ENWorld more often.
Skeld
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules, Battles Case Subscriber)
they have a post up on their mainpage today that they're having financial difficulties. reading the post, it sounds like they aren't bringing in the level of revenue they need. Read about it here.
-Skeld
Hm...I just went to EnWorld to dig up a thread there where folks discussed why they like EnWorld more than the Paizo Forums. However, as I was trying to navigate the pages (since I couldn't search), it froze up on me.
Guess everything you said was true.
I remember that thread. It was basically talking about the layout of the paizo forums (which are crap) vs. the layout of ENWorld (which are moderately better - far from perfect but easier to navigate). It actually resulted in a few changes on here - the quick links at the top of the forum page for one. Of course some people took it as an attack upon paizo and (oddly) Pathfinder and it devolved into the 1,663,765th iteration of the edition war.
It sucks about how slow old ENWorld is - it seems to be a victim of its own success - so many people go there the servers it is on simply can't handle it. There's next to no money being made by the owner (Morrus) and he seems to be constantly on the edge of not being able to pay the server fees each month. Lots of interesting conversations happen there when you can get on.
In recent years, I've been really unhappy with EN World, but is it me, or has it become more friendly to 3.5 and Pathfinder holdouts in the last couple of months?It has actually. The Pathfinder forums are nice and they really feel like they could take off and provide a wealth of information for those interested. There isn't a ton of posting going on in that section but there is a respectable amount and it appears to be growing. The News page is nicely organized between 3.5 and 4e as well. I find all of this very promising. I think now that we have both games out, things have cooled down a bit. Despite my sarcastic comment, the General Discussion is much calmer than it was even a few months ago.
Erik's column looks like it will be great and informative. I can't wait to read future installments. That alone would convince to check out ENWorld more often.
Yeah - the Pathfinder forum is really cool. I actually wish there was a 3E forum and 4E forum beyond the Rules & Houserules ones. In fact I would rather see a separate forum for both 3E & 4E than having all of that put into General. I was honestly shocked at the negative reaction many had to the creation of the Pathfinder only forum. I would love to get that for 4E myself!
Patrick Curtin
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Battles Case Subscriber)
I think that now that Wiz charges money for the stuff, everybody who HAS money and is with 4e cashes them out, leaving ENWorld without that much coin coming in.
I used to hang around there, don't much see the point now cos the focus is 4e, right?.....so, I come here mainly, since I'm all about the 3P.
I guess they have 3P there, but this is the center of the 3P universe in my mind.
Pay for ENworld? I don't know anyone who does that. I do visit ENworld, though more sporadically than I used to because the server has gotten pretty dodgy. I think of ENworld as the adopted sibling of Paizo; they're both slow but well-mannered -- one just happens to have a white background while the other is black. To be honest though, I'm rather promiscuous with D&D forums; I do GitP, RPGnet, Planewalker and WotC too. I even occasionally visit the Gamers Den when I need a good laugh. And that's not even getting into all the local-game-finder sites I have stickied.
Anyway I think one of the reasons ENworld remains popular is that some of the big industry designers occasionally pop in over there. I know I've seen posts by Gygax and Scott Rouse; ENworld seems to be a relatively civil forum where they can post their insight into the game without being immediately spammed by twelve nerd-ragers screaming profanities about their intelligence.
I honestly find ENWorld's layout very counter-intuitive and hard to navigate. I like the cleaner feel of Paizo's. That and I don't have to wait five minutes for the thread to open up.Ditto that.
+2. I have been posting there with one name of another since before 3e came out. It was the go to site for any tidbits. Sadly it got very bad over there with the edition war, editing pro 3e folks and very biased moding really. But still I go there still I just no longer feel welcome there , more like a passer by and that's kinda sad
ENWorld has a lot of good information and great posters. It is too bad that the interface is so very bad. I used to post exclusively on ENWorld, but there does seem to be a cliquish feeling to it, with a few frequent posters dominating conversations, an unpleasantly pro-4e bent and some Mods who use a heavy hand in cutting off any thread or post that seems to be problematic. While I can see their point, they use the hammer a bit much for my tastes.
That said, I do like some features, like the new column ideas, although I'm not a fan of Ari Marmell's columns thus far. I don't think he's found his voice yet and the column reads like a bad attempt at humor rather than a thoughtful commentary, which I believe he could produce with practice.
And yes, ENWorld always seems to be in money trouble. It's a sad side effect of being without a solid adbase or revenue production model.
