I enjoy all the sex !
Er . . . is there a pay side to the site I'm not aware of?
On a more serious note, I just like to be able to see where the heads of the people producing the magazine and the articles therein are . . . and this seems like the best place to get that kind of inside information.
Once I was around for a while, it also seems like its a good place to actually be able to chime in on issues and have your opinion at least noted.
Plus, compared to, say, WOTCs forums, its very nice an civil here.
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I came here initially because I was going to be running an adventure and wanted to see if anyone had played that game and had any advice. (No one did.)
I started reading regularly because I was interested in the AoW adventure path. I stayed because the other people posting had good ideas, said interesting things, and the traffic was low enough that I didn't feel like I was being drowned out (e.g., ENWorld). Plus, as I got drawn into AoW, I realized this was the best resource for that campaign, both because of insights from the authors/editors and the flourishes added (and pitfalls uncovered) by other posters.
A friend (Tegan) found it and showed it to me. I like the idea of being able to swap information with people from a much wider group than my local gamers. Also, we enjoy "side line talk", "peanut gallery commentay" and such during our games and there's plenty of that kind of here too. So, I get serious stuff and funny stuff all in the same place. And all for free...couldn't beat it with a stick.
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Initially to check when the next issue of Dungeon was due to hit the shelves.
Then started lurking at the Shackled City boards, stealing all Delvesdeeps and others good ideas for that campaign ... and eventually started participating too.
I stay to continue getting ideas from other players, feedback from the authors and editors, and basically for the company.
These boards seem for the most part very civilised and friendly, and I enjoy sharing ideas with, mucking around with, and even occasionaly arguing with my fellow gamers.
People are cool here and paizo sent me a cristmas card even if i don't have a subscription or buy anything.
I can't remember... I think I followed a link looking for submission guidleines, then I got distracted reading the archives. I then started a discussion and got some really good responses.
What keeps me here? This is the most mature, civil and friendly forum I have ever seen, and there is a real sense of community. I also get the feeling that everyone here (both Paizo staff and "civilians" like me) is here because they love the game and genuinely want to make it as good as they can for everyone.
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I was summoned by this ritual...
Actually, I read this adventure about Vikings fighting a dragon's ghost, then saw the "be heard-Paizo.com" ad in the same mag, and came to say how touched I was by such a groovy adventure. Then, I started reading posts, and everybody wasn't a wanker like other places I've lurked/posted, so I decided to hang out.
I heard there were cookies.
Seriously though...I found the site when I was looking for a not-overly-overpriced copy of T1-4 (Village of Hommlet/Temple of Elemental Evil) to run. The downloads got me here, and the fun, relaxed, and helpful people on the message boards are keeping me here.
I bought the magazine(Dragon) at Barnes & Noble, and the rest as they say is history.
I came to buy OOTS books (which I did) and noticed the message board, started reading & it seemed like everyone was pretty civil, posted my 1st snarky response & it didn't get me kicked off so I've stayed and am glad of it. Plus, I'm going to DM for the 1st time pretty soon & I'm getting some good ideas.
I kept up my subscription (mostly) during my non-gaming years of 2002/2003/2004 (most of it) and never really even knew who the hell published the magazine.
Then when I got back into gaming in late 2004 with 3.5 I started tearing open my stacks of polywrapped magazines only to find some weird company named Paizo had taken over the magazine under a license from Wizards.
I browsed the messageboards to gain information on gaming, as Wizards boards mostly sucked and found that your community of gamers at Paizo was a high percentage of middle-aged gaming veterans with families, jobs, responsibility and such and I started posting.
But, the main thing that kept me coming back was the fact that the civility and "normalcy" of the posters here was very high, much higher than elsewhere on the web....plus the fact that the Paizo staff communicates regularly with its customers directly, shares their campaign logs and makes fun of its regular posters as well. I know for a fact that Paizo is a company I would love to work for if I could and that you guys are real gamers and real people and not just drones. You care about your customers, your subscribers, gaming in general and your contributors as well...and that makes all the difference in the world.
I GOT NOWHERE ELSE TO GO!!
It gets cold out here all alone in cyberspace.
f2k summed it up nicely, but I'll give my own thoughts here as well.
What brought you to our site?
I was looking for some back issues and wanted to see what yahoos had taken over the publishing of the D&D mags.
What made you decide to participate in our community?
You know, I have no idea what it was at first. Slow day at work, maybe, and I wanted to discuss gaming instead of having my retinas bleed from doing too much programming?
What's keeping you here?
Community FTW. Real folks with a real passion for the game (whatever game it happens to be at the time). Being able to "talk shop" with other DMs and players. Insights into the professional game world from the editors and writers (and cartographers and artists).
I came to this site to subscribe to the mags. Delivery to my FLGS was haphazard, and the prices much higher than a sub.
Once here, I had a look at the messageboards and liked what I saw. Direct contact to the publishers, a customer service that really cares (not that I needed it), and a very nice and friendly tone of the other posters, which gave me a feeling of being welcome and being taken seriously, without having to compete in fanboy shoutouts. It seems more like the gaming rounds I´m in - with fun being poked at everyone now and then, but much respect for the others and knowing when to stop. The way I like it in friendships also. Most posters here seem to be mature in the best sense of the word, which I appreciate.
(As several others have said, e.g. wizards boards are much worse in this regard, last time I checked - which is quite a while ago, but I doubt that it changed much)
Plus, I like black text on light backgrounds, which keeps me from using sites which have dark background and light text much - it is a strain on my eyes.
Stefan
Firstly I love both Dragon and Dungeon magazine,
Secondly if I have an in game problem I can post for advice here and get some answers
I like reading other gamers comments and ideas
Lastly I have visited the wizards boards and I did not find them very friendly or helpful (Which is a bit wierd as role playing is a SOCIAL activity).
The posters here seem a cool bunch and supportive of other gamers.
I'm still fairly new to the boards though I've lurked for a while. I came originally to have a look at the new Dungeon magazine. I live in England (cornwall) so there are none on the shelves. I had been away from gaming for about 15 years but some friends and I were thinking about getting a group together and I was looking for ideas on what to DM. (Shackled City as it turned out).
Once here, as everyone else said, I found the community to be the most civilized I have ever read (as long as you dont miss spell rogue). I dont contribute to any other boards but started too on this one when I thought I might be able to answer a question about an old product.
Being able to see what other DM's recommend is invaluable.
Elcian
I think it was one of the magazines which mentioned some content available on webpage...was it AoW overload or what, I can't remember...then I came to look here, took a notice on some of the messageboards and considering that usually when I go to messageboards I can't be a lurker, oh, no, I have to announce my take on the topic du jour.
Why have I stayed? Well, it is a great forum, lots of interesting stuff here and people are civil enough to actually discuss things (instead of just shouting their opinions as loud as possible, as happens in some other forums). People here are witty and intelligent and don't take themselves too seriously.
I've been hanging around ever since Tensor posted this in the hopes that I could get some too, but its just not happening for me...
I enjoy all the sex !
You have to have a second tab up in Firefox and switch back and forth. Just turn down the sound so you don't wake up your wife ;) (wait--did I just say that out loud?) LOL.....
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I came here initially because I was going to be running an adventure and wanted to see if anyone had played that game and had any advice. (No one did.)I started reading regularly because I was interested in the AoW adventure path. I stayed because the other people posting had good ideas, said interesting things, and the traffic was low enough that I didn't feel like I was being drowned out (e.g., ENWorld). Plus, as I got drawn into AoW, I realized this was the best resource for that campaign, both because of insights from the authors/editors and the flourishes added (and pitfalls uncovered) by other posters.
What he said. AOW and online supplements drew me, and the civil tone and excellent community advice has kept me here. Plus, I've been impressed by the Editors' participation. This site is both entertaining and helpful.
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At the time I was without a gaming group and seriously jonesing for a D&D fix. So I started buying issues of Dragon and Dungeon. I haven't subscribed because I'm crazy and love walking into a bookstore and buying my copies off the shelf.
Anyway, shortly after starting with the magazines, I came to this site and realized that I could get my fix off the message boards. These days I game regularly (Thank you World Wide D&D Game Day), and so don't go without, but I've stayed because there are people here whom I consider to be great folks and friends (at least virtual ones).
Director of Narrative
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I don't recall how I found or knew about the site, but I came here initially to ask a rules question about some crazy crap one of my players tried to pull. I had hit up the WotC boards prior to coming here and was seriously annoyed with the ridiculous posts and wanna-be-elitism of some of the posters there.
I stayed for the humor, community, love and of course, the cookies.
I bought my first issue of Dungeon (#128) because I was leafing through it and saw the froghemoth (one of my favorites from 1e). I immediately acquired a subscription, became enthralled with the idea of the "adventure path," and soon began gearing up for the Savage Tide... which led me here.
As a rule, I have never contributed to messageboards because I usually like to see who I'm talking to, or at least hear their voice. But in this case, the good manners, good humor, and great game advice enticed me to stay.
And the fact that the adventure writers themselves actually take time to send responses here... that's an absolute masterpiece of good PR.
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I saw a letter posted in Dungeon Mag that was basically trashing changes that were taking place and decided to rebut it to let you guys know that the changes were appreciated so I found the website, quickly became distracted by the cool posts of some Lords like Ultradan, The Wereplatypus, and some others and found a spot that feels like home. Never did post my rebuttal.
FH
I, like many others, came for the AOW online supplements, and just looked at the boards out of curiosity. I had never posted on one before, but the great kindness and helpfulness of the community kept me coming back. I really appreciate that the staff, editors, and authors are here to answer questions about the published adventures!
I had heard about the boards in the Dragon magazines and I had few game questions so I came over here to find answers. I liked how civil everyone is and how helpful everyopne is when you have a question. I also like the site. Paizo; you folks did a great job.
I first came to the site to download the PDF files for the issues.
I like to print out the NPC pictures and use them as handouts for my players, rather than handing over the magazine with all the plot and stat blocks and everything. They get something they can hold in their hands too, or draw moustaches on.
The magazine is top quality (Dungeon-which I intend to subscribe to sooner or later, since I buy every issue at my FLGS anyway), and the message boards are top quality, too.
I have really no recollection of why I came here in the first place. (Once you hit 40, your memory is the first to go!) It was probably in response to Dungeon issue 112. I remember buying that after not having bought Dungeon or Dragon for a while. (We were still in 3.0e land and I didn't have much use for the 3.5e material.) I had the original version of the Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure, but I had wanted to see what the updated version was like.
I started buying the odd copy of Dungeon for a while afterward and somewhere in there I started frequenting the message boards. Only started posting a while ago, but I've been lurking since before my first subscription a year and a half ago.
Greg
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I can't remember the reason why I checked these boards for the first time, but I can tell you why I am returning daily:
Because the people here are fine folk who are here not only the take but to give as well, and great thoughts, ideas, rules and whatnot do I read here every time!
Ask, and you will be given an answer. This is serious but not without a good portion of humor!!!
And of course, because of you guys from Paizo, who really seem to listen to us reader. Where else do we have a chance to help getting a magazine we all want to have! You guys rock!!!
Tom
Unflattering as it might be, it was all the axes I had to bear with D&D at the time. A lot of my first contributions were venting age ould problems I had, suggesting solutions (like that moldy old chestnut the Grimcleaver system) and to talk serious about issues like cosmology and whatnot. I'd tried to send in a few letters to the editor--but I'm so goshawful longwinded I never even heard back. I thought this place would give me some satisfaction, a pound of flesh for my troubles.
The answers were amazingly well thought and serious. It scratched itches and soothed rancor I'd been harboring for years. Suddenly I found myself surrounded by cool people whose ideas I really respected.
Before I even got that far however, I discovered something really cool. The guys at Dragon and Dungeon WANTED to hear what I think. They invited me to suggest ideas for the magazine and when I did, the ideas started showing up in print. You want to keep a grizzled pedagogue like me around, start listening to me--you'll never get me to go away.
Out of curiosity on my part, what was the context of your conversation? Were you like "godamn! We have the biggest bunch of freaks on our message boards. We need to find out how they got here and make sure no one does that again."
Yeah, I'd like to know this as well. :) *peers at Vic* Why do you want to know...?
I bought the magazine and wandered here looking for the submission guidelines and then I submitted a few things, they met the render, still trying, still keeping an eye on the black hole thread.
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Director of Sales
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Out of curiosity on my part, what was the context of your conversation? Were you like "godamn! We have the biggest bunch of freaks on our message boards. We need to find out how they got here and make sure no one does that again."Yeah, I'd like to know this as well. :) *peers at Vic* Why do you want to know...?
While I haven't actually consulted with Vic to find the actual answer...
I'm going to hazard a guess that this stems from the fact that we are constantly looking for ways to improve our messageboard. But the reason our messageboard is so awesome right now is because of you guys, our posters. So we want to make sure we know what we did right in the first place to attract you guys here and keep you coming back. That way, any improvements are more likely to actually improve things.
Basic research, in other words. : )
So thanks for the answers so far and keep'em coming! (We're taking notes...)
cos
I was looking for a board to discuss this radical new idea in dungeon: the adventure path. I had some stuff I wanted to share and some questions I wanted to ask. WotC weren't planning on opening a new board and Paizo was little more than a one-page website. A few months later, the new site was a fact and I had a place to kick arround my ideas.
My DM made me! Seriously he did, and he said he is on here most of all, so I figure that I can always find him now... It seems to have some of everything, and a lot of helpful friendly people.
Some of us Paizo folks were wondering: What brought you to our site? What made you decide to participate in our community? What's keeping you here?
-Vic.
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When I subscribed I guess I put down my email addy which put me on the mailing list for your new products at Paizo outgoing weekly email. After seeing a bunch of things I didn't want I finally saw something I needed. Perhaps the Cthulu plushy handpuppet... long story short, I saw the messageboard and you gained yourself a BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABBERMOUTH.
Why is this the only D&D forum I visit? The first thing I noticed was how intelligent, creative, off-topic, and/or funny many of the posters were. Then I realized that, despite carrying an incredibly heavy workload, the uber busy staff was almost slacking off to get a chance to join in the fun. These boards are like a water cooler in the Paizo office filled with Crack-Ade. Tell yourself about keeping your finger on the consumer pulse as a corporate tool all you like, you guys are as hooked as we are. We are all fans and fantasists and I somehow feel at home with you.
These boards are like a water cooler in the Paizo office filled with Crack-Ade.
Mm.m.mmm...Crack-Ade...
Seriously, I feel withdrawals whenever the site is down! :O
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Hmm. Well, I was a regular on the WotC forums for quite some time, but the general immaturity really tended to turn me off.
The more direct reason I came here, though, was that my work at the time had blocked the Wizards site but not this one.
Then I discovered what a great community there is here. It's small enough that you almost feel like you get to know the other posters. That makes a big difference when you're comparing it to, say, the vast anonymity of many other gamer forums. This is the only forum I use anymore.
Out of curiosity on my part, what was the context of your conversation? Were you like "godamn! We have the biggest bunch of freaks on our message boards. We need to find out how they got here and make sure no one does that again."
Vic and I were chatting about a thread on Some Other Gaming Company's Messageboards and we noted a particularly large amount of swearing, screaming, moaning, whining, and childish temper tantrums. That made me say something to Vic like, "I find it pretty amazing how civil and mature our community is." and he said something like, "We should ask them why they are here." and I said, "Let's conduct a poll." and he said, "Ok!" and posted his questions.
So, there you go. :-)
-Josh
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I think I found this site more or less by accident. But I keep coming back because this is the only gaming site that isn't full of jeering troglodytes (WotC boards, anyone?). So the technical aspects are actually far less important than the intangibles - thus, it might be hard to actually improve upon anything...