As you can well see, I've created a new forum category (Inactive Forums) and placed two forums there.

- Wicked Press has been moved there due to John Wick, the owner of Wicked Press, having retired from the role-playing game industry. I wish John all the luck in the world.

- Review Discussion is there because all discussion of issues brought up by reviews can more easily be placed in either Site Discussion or Indie Game Design. (Ron will comment more on this.)

Hello,

Let me amend Clinton's phrasing slightly. It struck me that anything substantive regarding a review belongs in Actual Play, Publishing, RPG Theory, GNS Discussion, or the forum dedicated to that publisher, if there is one. After all, what else is there to talk about regarding the game?

In practice, since there was nothing else to talk about (once Actual Play, etc, are taken into account), having a separate forum for Reviews understandably led to a lot of debate about "what is a review?" which I find tiresome and sterile.

Hence, no more forum. Talk about the Reviews all you want - in fact, I wish people would discuss them a lot more than they do. But it's up to you to decide which of the four main forums is most appropriate for the points you want to raise.

Best,
Ron

Ron or Clinton,

This may be the wrong place to ask, but I am curious about John's game "Elfworld"...any word on what he's doing with it now that he's out of the business? (assuming, of course, that either of you know)

Hi Raven,

I don't have any information about that, unfortunately. I really liked all the development for that game.

Best,
Ron

So did I. Pity, that.

Best,

Blake

Ron Edwards wrote: Hence, no more forum. Talk about the Reviews all you want - in fact, I wish people would discuss them a lot more than they do. But it's up to you to decide which of the four main forums is most appropriate for the points you want to raise.

Hi James,

If your post isn't entirely sarcastic, feel free to continue that discussion in RPG Theory. It's a comparison between Dust Devils and Deadlands, so that's where it would go.

Best,
Ron

Ron Edwards wrote: If your post isn't entirely sarcastic, feel free to continue that discussion in RPG Theory. It's a comparison between Dust Devils and Deadlands, so that's where it would go.

James wrote:
I will take your advice and continue our discussion in the appropriate forum. I have some questions about the practicality of the "competitive narration" portion of Dust Devils. Of course, I will do this after I sleep the sleep of the damned, as I'm extremely tired tonight. Little boy in the house...running around at five o'clock in the morning...no rest...no rest!

While we're on the subject, any possibility of a "Vault of the Undead" locked forum, where we can stick old threads we don't want to see anymore? ;-)

This is a half-serious idea, based on my gaffe from a while back...

Crypt of the Undead, surely?

I just wanted to dip an oar and mention that I thought to post abook review, kinda, of a fascinating work on China I'm reading and which I believe would be of interest top RPers. What do the powers that be feel about this sort of thing?

Hi Gareth,

Clinton and I are still iffy about reviews by people besides ourselves, for all the reasons (dubious though they may be) that I've laid out in the past. Even if that policy changes, though, reviews here can only be about RPGs, or very very close to RPGs, like Bedlam.

I'm interested in the basic topic you've brought up, though. You could post about it in RPG Theory, for instance, if it seems like a good resource, especially if you're explicit about how this book in particular is useful or inspiring.

Best,
Ron

Matt Snyder wrote: Thanks for your interest and discussion!

Ron Edwards wrote: If your post isn't entirely sarcastic, feel free to continue that discussion in RPG Theory. It's a comparison between Dust Devils and Deadlands, so that's where it would go.

James,

RPG Theory is the way to go (I guess. I've got no editorial control here, just administrative stuff. Still, I think that's where you want to be.)

Hi there,

Folks, it's not hard.

Indie Design - for actually building specific games
GNS Discussion - clarifying or debating various aspects of this specific level of RPG analysis
RPG Theory - any and all other aspects of role-playing as a process
Actual Play - for instances of real actual role-playing.

So say James wants to discuss Dust Devils - posting at the Forge requires that he consider just what he wants to discuss, and to choose a forum appropriately. If that seems too restrictive, there are other websites to use, or even private email.

Clearly, there are areas of overlap among the Forge forums. That shouldn't be difficult either. For instance, if someone makes an alpha-version of their game available, and you play it and want to talk about it, then either Indie Design or Actual Play would be just fine (but not both).

And finally, if you want to discuss anything related to a game or publisher that has its own specific forum, feel free to post either there OR in an appropriate general forum - your choice about that will probably be based on who the Moderator is, and whether you want the audience to be focused on that specific game or not.

Don't sweat it.

Best,
Ron