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I find it quite interesting how posters respond to certain individuals on this message board.
(this is not a rant, just an observation that makes me chuckle inside)
Example: I have seen some awsome character concepts, expanded history details in golarion, magic items, genie alternatives, some great fantasy writing, Artwork, research, and provocative monsters.
However, if your name is not Yoda8myhead, KaeYoss, or one of these individuals that has been around for some time, or a part of the famous Paizo staff, very little feedback is offered.
If this pool of individuals has nothing to say about your post, very few others do.
I have seen some stuff in these past threads that I like more than anything I have read from Elaine Cunningham, but, because she is a well known writer, people flock to her as if she is a godsend to fantasy literature.
Perhaps it is a brush with fame... a need for people to say to their friends, "Holy crap! Elaine Cunningham and Wolfgang Baur responded to my post! They know me!"
I find this all quite amusing and was curious if this thought is shared by others, and if your posting in this forum is dictated by the participation of those who are "well known".
Could a newcomer tweak your creativity? Or will it take a post from F. Wesley Schneider or Eric Bona to do that?
just curious...
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I tend to agree with your observations. Though I don't think it is particular to these messageboards. It seems to be the way that an internet forum operates. In my experience, messageboards seem to be quite unresponsive to a poster until they have achieved a certain critical mass of not just posts but also responses. Once you have come to the notice of the messageboard you will tend to get more responses (and so more notice). All of that is completely independent of the originality or creativity of your ideas.
(Of course this is just my opinion and may just reflect cynicism and a lack of interesting posts from me.)
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One post by a newcomer? It could be the 2nd coming of Role-Playing Jesus, and it's still a coin flip on whether I even open the thread, especially if it's not a thread title that excites me. Hell, I don't even always open posts by Elaine Cunningham (who?) or Wolfgang Baur (he wrote City of Brass for al-Qadim, right?)
A dozen good posts by a newcomer? Well, that's going to make me start keeping an eye for their threads. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Someone who has established that they will consistently interest or challenge me? That's when they start getting consistent attention - assuming they're posting on a subject I give a crap about.
I was going to take a look at this thread, but then I noticed than neither Yoda8myhead nor KaeYoss had posted in it, so I decided against reading it.
Who the hell are you people?!?
Wait, there's Cappa. Didn't recognize him now that he's molting...
I think it is also a function of where you post in the forums. I rarely show up in the rules discussions, for they hold no interest for me. I peruse the PbP boards, the OTD boards and occasionally the what book/music/TV show are you interested in boards. If you spend all your time discussing the Paladin class or computing hit ratios, you probably have never seen my avatars despite 11K posts.
I don't think it's so much that Yoda or KaeY replies to the post, so much that it is *replied* to. I, and many others I think, use the messageboard sidebar to track the forums - it only shows the forums with the 10-15 most recent posts.
So depending on what time of day a thread is posted, it has between 15 minutes and about 2 hours to catch attention before it is lost to a majority of site visitors.
Yoda and KaeY (among others of course) are prolific board readers and posters, and as such tend to *see* a lot more, and thus reply a lot more, and thus keep alive a topic. I've seen newcomers do the same just as effectively. Then they either become the 'elite' that you refer to, or run out of time to spend and drift away.
Of course *who* posted does impact decisions to open threads - I almost always open threads with Paizo people posts (PPP's). And I'm more likely to open a thread with Yoda posting than say, Krome, cause he's a big blowhard . KaeYoss I know I can skip if I'm short on time, b/c the odds of that being his last post in a thread approaches 1%, so I'll see it come up later and can catch up. :)
There's also the adage that one person's trash is another's treasure - it's quite possible no one who read a certain creative effort found it interesting. But also just as likely that those who did find it interesting did not find anything to specifically post about it.
Welcome, CuttinCurt.
Sends up a flare to notify Lilith of a need for some cookies over here.
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I know what you mean, I have been following KaeYoss around for a week, trying to get him to respond to me. I must be validated!
Fortunately, a while back Maikurion actually had a conversation with me, so I am not totally upset. But the shine of that moment is wearing off.
In all seriousness, I do think it is just a feature of message boards in general. It really runs in cycles and depends on what is being discussed.
C'mon, what else was youth for? They went great with girls...
My shine wears? Now that's a curious statement.
BTW, nobody else commented on the new guy's thread who wants to talk about his Pantheon. I thought it was interesting, so I'm not sure what this says about the observation, one way or the other. ;P
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C'mon, what else was youth for? They went great with girls...
My shine wears? Now that's a curious statement.
BTW, nobody else commented on the new guy's thread who wants to talk about his Pantheon. I thought it was interesting, so I'm not sure what this says about the observation, one way or the other. ;P
Ah yes...girls.
As for your shine, well...um...sure, it doesn't wear off. What was I thinking? You could never wear off.
I should go look at that thread now.
Heh-heh. You're transparent flattery has earned you another conversation!
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Oh...and after looking at your profile I just have to do this.
His name is Rio and he dances on the sand.
Just like that river twisting through a dusty land.
And when he shines he really shows you all he can.
Oh Rio, Rio dance across the Rio GrandeToo much Duran Duran in my youth.
Holy Shnikies! My profile has been violated!
Well, at least my gaming group has only put on Duran-Duran twice since starting the Second Darkness AP.
:D
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Heh-heh. You're transparent flattery has earned you another conversation!
Excellent, I knew if I worked hard enough it would pay off.
Could you help me find that pantheon thread? I am interested to see what was presented and I can't seem to find it. I really like new takes on pantheons. My board-fu is failing me.
Sure: here it is.
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This is one reason we don't display your post count right next to your post. We like to imagine that if we make it harder to identify the newbies, it makes it harder to ignore them out of hand.
Well, someone just move this thread into the Siberia of Paizo's messageboard...
:D
Just kidding. I had to post that.
Director of Brand Strategy
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I was going to take a look at this thread, but then I noticed than neither Yoda8myhead nor KaeYoss had posted in it, so I decided against reading it.
I am flagging this whole thread for dropping my name without prior written consent. But now that I've posted in it, the post count is going to skyrocket, right?
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I was going to take a look at this thread, but then I noticed than neither Yoda8myhead nor KaeYoss had posted in it, so I decided against reading it.I am flagging this whole thread for dropping my name without prior written consent. But now that I've posted in it, the post count is going to skyrocket, right?
Wait, who are you.
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Director of Brand Strategy
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Wait, who are you.I was going to take a look at this thread, but then I noticed than neither Yoda8myhead nor KaeYoss had posted in it, so I decided against reading it.I am flagging this whole thread for dropping my name without prior written consent. But now that I've posted in it, the post count is going to skyrocket, right?
HA!
In all seriousness, though, I tend to frequent certain types of threads and not others. Custom rules and settings aren't my specific things, so I don't really contribute much to those threads. If people judge the value of a thread based on my involvement (or lack thereof), that's not something I can control. I am proud to have a positive reputation on the boards and within the community and am happy that people look up to me (among the dozens of others who I look up to), but I know that I simply try to contribute to the community with meaningful input. I don't think it's hard for others to rise to the same level of ubiquitousness as Lilith, Daigle, KaeYoss, etc. if you simply participate a lot and have mostly useful contributions. One great thing about these boards are that you can be a "lord of the board" in the off-topic forum but not be in the rules discussions or product pages, or vice versa, and whatever sub-community you are most active in will know who you are, even if others don't.
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I'm a lot like Patrick. I am interested in discussions about fluff, rather than crunch. As GM I know what works in my game, so I'm not really interested in endlessly debating this rule or that. I'm looking for ideas that will add color to my game. I am also looking to socialize with others in the hobby, something that is scarce where I live.
You just have to master the fine art of attention whoredom.
When I met you I was but a learner...now I am the master!
@ the Steer: Yo mamma!
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However, if your name is not Yoda8myhead, KaeYoss, or one of these individuals that has been around for some time, or a part of the famous Paizo staff, very little feedback is offered.
define "for some time"...
I've been here a good while and no one pays any attention to me...which is perfectly peachy to me.
Create an alias and talk to yourself - it'll do wonders
Hulk have no idea what staggering man talking about.
Me am not agreeing with Hulk 100%.
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I usually come into threads late. I get easily distracted so trolling the boards constantly is not terribly easy. I do tend to look to people with similar interests or those I've met at say paizocon or elsewhere. I also go through visible threads and look for any titles that look interesting or those that have gotten a lot of comments(which are usually interesting despite their titles.) And while I may read a lot here and there, I'm not terribly interested in responding to most threads unless I have something I think will add to the discussion, wether that be an opinion or socializing or a pat on the back occasionally. I've also tended to be that sort of, if-you-can't-say-anything-nice, kind of person and mostly that's for the best. It's rare that I find something that I just really don't like and I might speak up if egregious enough. I found my voice much more often on rules change discussions in the beta forums for instance. Otherwise, I mostly like to spend time casually chatting in dmtools rather than reply to a lot on the board.
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I was going to take a look at this thread, but then I noticed than neither Yoda8myhead nor KaeYoss had posted in it, so I decided against reading it.I am flagging this whole thread for dropping my name without prior written consent. But now that I've posted in it, the post count is going to skyrocket, right?
Holy crap! Yoda8myhead responded to you. I am so envious. I hear he sells t-shirts.
I am going to tell everyone to get their butts in this thread right now. There is just too much star power here.
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Sure: here it is.
Thanks, that was a good thread. I am happy I got a chance to read it and I feel bad I missed it. I so rarely go to the campaign journals section of the boards.
De nada. That thread might need to be relocated.
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To be honest, I never even look at who the OP of a thread is. If it's a subject that looks interesting, I'll read it. And if I think I have something to add to the conversation, I'll post.
That or if I'm feeling especially feisty and feel like stirring the pot a bit just to create tension. I try not to...but sometimes I just can't resist the urge to do a little pot-stirring.
Alright let me break out my magic on this one. I think I've written the last post on a half dozen threads. I can choke the life out of any interesting conversation. This is my super power. This is my gift. Watch now..... the thread will shrivel and die simply because I've dared to post here.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Ya know Heath, one day there'll be young whipper snappers posting to the boards who don't know who Heathansson is.
Dark times are comin'...
Heathansson...? What's a Heathansson...
Watch now..... the thread will shrivel and die simply because I've dared to post here.
Hey... quit tryin' ta steal my Thread Killing Powers of Awesomeness.