Change in the appearance of the names of some of the members

Just my opinion; but the change in the appearance in the names of the experts is a mistake.

#1) The choice of colors leaves a lot to be desired. Personally; I can't see the name of the person in dark. If you want to make someone's name stand out; make it bright, so everyone can see whose name it is.

#2) Making a person's name stand out like that is going to bring out an attitude from some of the less fortunate that that their opinions are not going to count as much as the highlighted person's. Thereby making some of us folks to feel less inclined to make posts. If that is the intent; then that is great. Highlight away.

I thought we were all equal here; making my name and Dennis' name indicate that we are Owner/Managers of our respective shops is a fact. Making someone's name different because they have a better game plan than I do is subjective. The vets here know who to ask about modeling advice; plus it is on the blog who to ask. Wildeyed; big_d; and Big Al are the ones I go to for advice; and they are the ones I turn others to.

As to gaming advice; I thought everyone had an opportunity to make comments about someone's list who posts it. Personally; I don't make comments on army lists because I don't have a clue. So I know to stay off those posts. But others who might be inclined to make comments might be intimidated by the non-highlightedness of their name.

I am sure that someone feels like they can pick apart my comments here seven ways to Sunday and I am sure they can. Please, someone tell me in a clear and concise way how wrong and ignorant a comment I have made.

I agree with Chris on this, especially in light of the recent "learn to play" comment and the discussion that has now started in the Patriot Games thread regarding those who choose not to attend tournaments for whatever reason.

The community here is too small to start fragmenting based on some sort of arbitrary set of guidelines as to whom is more experienced than others.

As you said, as a 'vet' here you know who to go to if you want advice/help. People just registering on the boards, do not. People drawn in from the blog who like what they see may want to skim through posts Wildeyedjester has made (since he has fantastic foresight for codex/releases) or see if they can find more of Big_D's painting tutorials (seriously, that guy paints a model a day for this blog) or maybe try and find some witty, sexy man-posts from me (I'm witty AND sexy).

Hogs in a gaming club. That's it. None of us think we're better players or have superior tiny plastic spacemen to another person's tiny plastic spacemen. Everyone is welcome to post here and no one gets ignored because they aren't a Hog of War. There was some brief tension on the boards, but we're chalking that up to a full moon and nothing else.

Gaming clubs are incredibly common.

Really it was just to show who has a painted army. It was basically me farting around the forum administration tools and I got an idea that it might promote more tournament play and more painting of armies.

If the general consensus is to remove the color, and people are bothered by it - the colors are gone. There was nothing more to it than that. The purpose was exactly what was mentioned by Capn.

Just so you know, so noone will read in to it too much, the colors came about by me setting up a mailing group amongst us. The comp automatically assigned a color to the group and I just went with it.

I had no idea a color change would cause such a stir. Everyone is now red, again.

Also, just an FYI. Dennis was changed colors, because he is no longer at T-shirt explosion. It was not to denote anything else - don't read into it to much. Dennis is now just a Fantasy and 40k player on the local scene and isn't involved in sales anymore. Ares is now the owner/operator at T-shirt explosion. The changes in his color and posts name were changed to represent this.

I didn't assume any malice, but I've seen these kinds of little things spiral out of control before.

The best way to promote more tournament play is to simply talk about the great experiences you've had at tournaments, and avoid things like the "learn to play" incident which feed into the negative stereotypes of tournament play. Basic PR is that one negative element can undo many positive ones.

It also helps to accept the fact that not everyone wants to play in a tournament. Tournaments are simply one part of the hobby. Don't rag on people for not being interested. Talk about how great it is to play in a tournament and you cause people to get curious, criticize people for not showing up and you make them wonder why they should bother.

This area already has one of the highest percentages of tournament players compared to the overall community of any I've ever seen. That says something positive about the local tournament scene, but it also means that further growth in the number of local tournament players is most likely going to require further growth in the overall community, and that is best accomplished by a community that is inclusive and works together to promote all aspects of the hobby.

Well said, Fulminata.

Fulminata wrote:

The best way to promote more tournament play is to simply talk about the great experiences you've had at tournaments, and avoid things like the "learn to play" incident.

I agree, completely.

On a positive note, there are now rules in place due to this growth pain. They really should have been put in place a long time ago.

I remember when the forum was a few days fresh and I made you a Mod, you asked me about rules. At that point we had 5 members and we thought it wasn't needed. We decided play nice was enough. Now we have 112 and we have rules - sooner or later personalities are going to conflict and wording will be mistook.

Another positive note from the color fiasco is that I have noticed I never changed your name bar over to show you are a Mod. That is done now too.

Fulminata wrote:

Don't rag on people for not being interested

As we all know you cannot convey emotion or intention through words.

I wasn't ragging on anyone. I was sharing my feeling of disappointment that more didn't turn out. I didn't name anyone's names, nor did I call any one person out.

But do remember this is immediately following a league that had huge initial support by the community that then fizzled and faltered. I ran the league to help 'casual players' feel more of a connection to the GT - exactly as you said. The league started hot, but it didn't end that way. Perhaps my statement is also an admission of failue on my own part, and that facepalm also indicates aggravation with myself for not doing a better job?

I want to say one more thing:

We consider everyone who posts here to be a Hog of War. Plain and simple. We try to do T-shirts or shirts each year and those are available to everyone, if you recall.

Other gaming clubs make you go to a GT and scream and holler and etc. At the Waagh last year, there was a gaming club that had new 'prospective' members stand in the middle of the hall while an older member asked them silly questions and they had to scream out their answers and end each one with the word 'sir'.

Think drill sergeant and recruit.

It was hilarious to watch, but over the top.

Wildeyedjester wrote:

Now we have 112 and we have rules - sooner or later personalities are going to conflict and wording will be mistook.

I know I am new here, and I don't really know any of you, but I am certainly not new to internet forums. I have run or helped run a few and participated in a lot of them. One thing people need to remember when talking in text is that people cannot hear you. In person your tone of voice can change the meaning of what you say drastically. In text, that is not the case. Something said in jest or sarcasm will almost certainly be taken literally. If people keep that in mind when they are trying to convey their message, it will save a lot of unneccesary problems.

Did I get a mod tag? I hope I did...

Interogator = mod
Inquisitor = admin
Acolyte = travelling Hog of War in club based competitions

capnwoodrow wrote:

As you said, as a 'vet' here you know who to go to if you want advice/help. People just registering on the boards, do not.

The vets here would be able to direct them; which was the point of that particular sentence. Making somebody's name a different color is just going to confuse a new person on the forums. Making someone's name look different than other posters will simply make the appearance of elitism on the forums. There is no arguing that. It's just a fact.

No harm done; Jester changed the appearance.

I kind of flinched when I saw that my sig was different than everybody's else's. I wished it said CHG Manager and not owner. My brother is the owner; not me.

Wildeyedjester wrote:

As we all know you cannot convey emotion or intention through words.

I wasn't ragging on anyone. I was sharing my feeling of disappointment that more didn't turn out. I didn't name anyone's names, nor did I call any one person out.

But do remember this is immediately following a league that had huge initial support by the community that then fizzled and faltered. I ran the league to help 'casual players' feel more of a connection to the GT - exactly as you said. The league started hot, but it didn't end that way. Perhaps my statement is also an admission of failue on my own part, and that facepalm also indicates aggravation with myself for not doing a better job?

Probably just another case of misunderstanding. The sense of "ragging" was the general impression that I was getting from the way that thread was going, and that was probably colored by this discussion and my experiences with other discussions that started out that way in the past.

As for the league, I think it was a great idea, and I wish I could have participated. I also think you did a generally good job from what I could tell as an observer. The fact that it got to the end at all puts it in the top half of all leagues I've seen. I think the ideas that have been put forward to make the next one better are good ones.

I also thought the league was a great idea and that the biggest problem it had was that the players have outside interests in addition to 40k. Interests such as continued employment and not upsetting the wife more than reasonably necessary.

It was great that you even ran a league, put up with the rest of us and came up with scenarios!

Speaking just for myself thought, I need more time in between games to appease both work and the wife.

-Christopher

gamewizard wrote:

I kind of flinched when I saw that my sig was different than everybody's else's. I wished it said CHG Manager and not owner. My brother is the owner; not me.

Thanks for the change!

Wildeyedjester wrote:

Also, just an FYI. Dennis was changed colors, because he is no longer at T-shirt explosion. It was not to denote anything else - don't read into it to much. Dennis is now just a Fantasy and 40k player on the local scene and isn't involved in sales anymore. Ares is now the owner/operator at T-shirt explosion. The changes in his color and posts name were changed to represent this.

I hadn't heard about this. I thought Dennis was going to continue to work at TSE when possible.

Overall I like the new look of the forum.