goblinoidgames.com

That is interesting how B/X'ers have a reputation for being more easy-going. I'm glad I landed here for my old-school gaming.

Except...wait a second. I just rolled up a character using the AEC. I'm suddenly feeling sarky, vicious, off-topic, and experiencing the vertigo that comes with a second alignment axis.

tumblingdice wrote:Except...wait a second. I just rolled up a character using the AEC. I'm suddenly feeling sarky, vicious, off-topic, and experiencing the vertigo that comes with a second alignment axis.

Oh no! Quick, repeat after me: race-as-class, race-as-class, race-as-class...

*whips out cheesy plastic sword and advances on tumblingdice*

Now we fight over alignment for at least twenty pages and say horrible things about each others' personal lives!!!

Mach Front wrote:*whips out cheesy plastic sword and advances on tumblingdice*

Now we fight over alignment for at least twenty pages and say horrible things about each others' personal lives!!!

yeah and when the 20 page thread becomes locked we'll open another thread under a bogus header and start the flame war all over again

Mach Front wrote:I've been posting at DF for years. Never had a problem, and I've never seen anything get too out of hand. I would say it has the same percentage of "immature turds" as any other forum inevitably has. Surely I'm not one of them, though.
Surely.

I think it has a lot to do with how long a forum has been going as well. The bigger it is and the more established the "old" membership the "snarckier" they can tend to get. In particular, grudges can develop and be held for a long time, especially during transitional periods. The two biggest blips on the radar for Dragonsfoot are the release of D20/3e and OSRIC, both of which were times when Dragonsfoot had to make a decision about its identity. To a lesser degree the inclusion of Classic and Second Edition at the "Home of First Edition" rankled with some long time posters there. However, its sheer size, its publication record, and as an avenue of access to ex-TSR employees, including Gary Gygax until his death, makes it a website unsurpassed in usefulness to anybody interested in TSR era Dungeons & Dragons and efforts to support it going forward. More specialised forums, such as those for OSRIC/First Edition, Swords & Wizardry/OD&D and Labyrinth Lord/Classic are also necessary and should be encouraged. This one has certainly been the most polite and friendly in years gone by, perhaps partly because relatively free of those earlier "teething" controversies, but certainly because the membership is relatively free of disruptive individuals, and it only takes one bad apple to spoil the cart, as they say (and being a moderator at Dragonsfoot, I can vouch for this being true of forums, to some degree).

Matthew wrote:This one has certainly been the most polite and friendly in years gone by, perhaps partly because relatively free of those earlier "teething" controversies, but certainly because the membership is relatively free of disruptive individuals, and it only takes one bad apple to spoil the cart, as they say (and being a moderator at Dragonsfoot, I can vouch for this being true of forums, to some degree).

Actually, now that I think about it, it might be because this isn't just some forum, but "Dan's" forum, so his word is law. There won't be any divides about what should or shouldn't be included, because it's his decision alone.

I do not think there has ever even been a need for him to exercise that power, but for sure the fact that this is a Goblinoid Games and Labyrinth Lord forum means that it has a very clear cut purpose, and nobody is under any illusions when they join up. I can only think of maybe one or two instances from the old forums when there was any cause for upset, one having something to do with Castles & Crusades (and thus just overflow from unrelated acrimony) and the other had to do with some more or less unwarranted criticism of the cover art for Labyrinth Lord, where "good" and "bad" was being presented in very absolute terms. Other than that, I cannot really think of any points of disorder, and I think that is largely down to the fact that there are few subjects likely to radically polarise opinion of the membership here.

Matthew wrote: can only think of maybe one or two instances from the old forums when there was any cause for upset, one having something to do with Castles & Crusades (and thus just overflow from unrelated acrimony) and the other had to do with some more or less unwarranted criticism of the cover art for Labyrinth Lord, where "good" and "bad" was being presented in very absolute terms.

As per the LL-revised art....if that's what you're talking about (you may be talking about folks in the very early days giving some grief about the very first cover)...that was mostly me wringing my hands over what I saw, at the time, as a rather bland look to the new book(s). Also, I told Dan and the rest of the forum I was wrong. That once I saw it and after only a month or two it grew on me and I'd since fallen in love with it.
Dan said: "I told you so!" or some such.

Nah, it was the change in art between David Fox and Jason Braun. I am not a huge fan of the new art direction, but I have no real complaints. It definitely gives Labyrinth Lord a visual character all of its own, which I think is cool.