[Consim-l] Re: Internet clutter

[Mike NotSpecified]

I like the new header for this thread!

I'm going to stand by my "stupidly fractured our hobby" stance.  At least for 
awhile longer.

Couple of points.  The original post from Tracy went to consim-l and half a 
dozen yahoo groups.  I made sure and send my response to ALL.  Of course it 
bounced from most of those yahoo groups because I'm not a member.  Then the 
half dozen or so of you who replied on consim-l somewhere left out the yahoo 
groups altogether and so this thread is now existing only on consim.  What are 
we to do, expect that every wargamer has time and inclination to sign up for 
and monitor multiple lists?  If we all do, then we have in effect one list. 
 If we don't, then we end up missing out on whatever is going on at those 
other lists.

I'll tell you how I use the various medium and why I'm sure it could be 
improved.

Consim-l is yes, thankfully, almost always on topic and some great insights. 
 I asked awhile back about carrier games and got a great response.  Asked 
again lately about Burma games and got two responses.  High quality responses 
to be sure, but two messages isn't much of a response.

ConsimWorld - Wonderful resource for rules questions on specific games. 
 Depending on the game can get responses from knowledgeable players, or even 
sometimes the publisher.  Good resource for AARs.  I find it a lot less useful 
to monitor a given folder as there tends to be a lot chit-chat back and forth 
between the regulars.

Boardgamegeek - Great resource for learning about a particular game.  I read 
the reviews and comments before buying anything these days.  Good resource for 
variants, player-aids, etc.  I have not found the discussion folders there and 
have no interest in looking for them.

Grognards - I use it much the same as I use BGG.  Particularly for older games 
it is more likely to have the reviews, variants, etc.  Since it does not have 
the personal comments of BGG it is less useful to me when considering a 
purchase.

Yahoo - Multiplicity of lists makes this a hopeless exercise in trying to stay 
connected.  I mean, how did the avalonhillgames list feel when the 
avalonhillplayers list was created?

Publishers web sites - I don't have time to surf past these sites very often 
(read almost never).  I am always annoyed when I find a nice AAR on them, 
seems to me that is preaching to the choir.  Put it on consim (and BGG and 
Grognards) and recruit some new players!  I also dislike their discussion 
boards, same problem of preaching to the choir...

So, back to stupidly fracturing.  If you have a very tightly focused list or 
discussion board (say PanzerBlitz) that can be great for the folks who already 
know they like PanzerBlitz.  But unless you are smart enough to occasionally 
post to a more general list (bless you Tracy!) you will preaching to the choir 
and have trouble recruiting new players.

If you are a publisher who only reads, and responds, to your own discussion 
board, then same preaching to the choir effect.  (Kudos to Avalanche Press for 
maintaining a presence on consim!)

If you are a gamer who only subscribes to the folders/lists of the games you 
already know about, how will you learn about new games, or get intrigued by 
older games that somebody else loves?

What I think we need are:
A general wargaming list - A place for discussion all things wargaming. 
 Granted, there will be traffic of no interest to you, and the occasional 
flame war, but where else can you get a sense of the whole hobby?  I would 
encourage new product announcements from publishers, AARs, player tips, rules 
questions.  With luck it would have 100 messages a day, 95 of which I delete 
as not that interesting to me.  But I can delete that 95 a lot faster than I 
can surf multiple web sites, and the five that did interest me would be 
invaluable.  Consim used to serve this function. I have a lot of games 
purchased only because I heard of them on consim.

A repository for AAR, Errata, Variants, etc. - Used to be Grognards was only 
show in town.  Still a great place.  BGG also provides essentially this 
service.  At this point I'd hate to lose either.

Specific game title folders - ConsimWorld provides this and does a good job, 
except that the folders tend to fill up with chitchat.  When you are 
investigating a game, it's a little discouraging to find 700 unread messages 
and then discover most of them are "Steve, you still thinking about going to 
Origins?".  If somebody could figure out a way to let those chitchat messages 
expire in say 30 days and leave only the actual on topic messages that would 
be great!

Publishers website - In my opinion, should only have AAR, Errata, Variants, 
etc., preferably linked from Grognards and BGG.  I see no purpose in having 
discussion boards here as well as on ConsimWorld.

Oh my. I've run on a bit haven't I?  Sorry, I just hate to see this 
proliferation of channels, knowing I can't possibly keep up with all of them, 
and further knowing that means I am undoubtedly missing out on some great 
gaming.  And the industry is missing out on some sales because I have no way 
of knowing about their games...