Should we have a dedicated forum section for Mods & Modding?

[Colif]

You right, forums are about Brian, they would change forum name to "Brian Boru commemorative forums" but well, he is still around so hard to remember someone glowingly who won't go away - can't set up a shrine as it would look odd

I haven't voted but would probably choose 2nd choice. Curious where it goes.

Would be nice to have more life around here

 

[Brian Boru]

Brian Boru commemorative forums

Noble effort, but BBC forums already exist.

hard to remember someone glowingly who won't go away

Tell me about it 🙃

can't set up a shrine as it would look odd

Huh? Shrines are supposed to look odd. If you need to, you can practice on the one Woody set up for @HenrykForkbeard:

PS sadly, Imgur doesn't want to help

 

[mainer]

Do we want one in Game troubleshooting or best leave that to the other forums to deal with those questions?

I do think it's better to let mod forums or official forums deal with troubleshooting.

I'm not sure we should encourage people to ask mod troubleshooting questions here. Could just become a complete mess. Seems like every mod has a group of people who can't get it to work, usually because they didn't read the installation instructions, and helping them would require a lot of research and back-and-forths, and half the people who ask questions here never come back for the answers.

I don't think any of us would want to see a mod trouble shooting section/subsection, or to have any mod section become a place where all we see are questions like: "why does my game always crash when I have this mod?', or "I don't understand how to use this mod/mod manager/program/ect". There are just too many variables involved, and in many, or most, cases, it just comes from the fact that the poster hasn't really read or followed the provided instructions.

I'm not against it, but I doubt if I, personally, would take a lot of interest in it. But the forum isn't only about me, so there's no reason to vote no.

And I greatly appreciate that thought. There are many types of games that I have no interest in (sports games, racing games, "souls-like" or "rogue-like" games) but many others do, I just gravitate towards those games & gaming subjects that I do like, and realize that gaming isn't just about me, which can be said about many things in life.

Apart from any quotes, it's good to see that there is some interest here in the forum and that no one has actually voted "no". I can see benefits for both a "general modding section" as well as genre sub sections for modding. Some modding subjects/topic/articles overlap all game genres, while others are more genre specific. The genre specific ones would most likely get the most traffic, I think.

Personally, my limited modding experience is limited to RPG-type games, while others mod a larger variety of game genres or types of games. One of the great things about playing games on the PC (and I've most likely said this already), is the ability to mod our games. For all the games we've played in the last 20 years or so, there's usually a dedicated group of individuals creating mods. Since the time I've joined the PCG Forum, I've always felt there should be some section/sub-section where we could discuss the various topics available. But dear-sweet-gaming-gods, no trouble shooting section.

 

[Krud]

Even though I'm very much a fan of mods and modding, I voted that I didn't care one way or the other. Mostly because I tend not to talk about mods in a "broad" sense, but specific to particular games, so I'd rather see a mod section under the appropriate game or genre. Except I'm not aware of forum sections dedicated to invididual games, so maybe a more general mod section with genre subsections would be the way to go. I generally prefer to the let the subject of mods come up organically (like when speculating about Starfield, for example), rather than have a permanent spot to drone on about it. *shrug* But again, not opposed to it either. I would definitely frequent it, just out of curiosity. If nothing else it could be a good place to dispel myths and rumors that I often see about mods. There are a lot of weird conspiracy theories and assumptions out there (not so much here as on, say, Twitter and FB, but still.)

 

[SHaines]

What I'm thinking currently (open to feedback) is that we add a Mod General Discussion subforum that is for the discussion and recommendation of mods and modding.

We can clarify it's not a place to troubleshoot specific mods, as users should work directly with mod creators in those cases.

Concerns?

 

[mainer]

What I'm thinking currently (open to feedback) is that we add a Mod General Discussion subforum that is for the discussion and recommendation of mods and modding.

We can clarify it's not a place to troubleshoot specific mods, as users should work directly with mod creators in those cases.

Concerns?

No concerns on my part, I think it's a great idea. Rather that creating a bunch of sub-sections (that may or not get used), just create the one general mod section and see what the responses are, but definitely indicate that it's not for mod trouble shooting. If it veers towards certain genres, then maybe we could split it or change it's designation if needed. But it's a good place to start, because I feel we need to broach that area of PC gaming to see if enough members are interested.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Apart from any quotes, it's good to see that there is some interest here in the forum and that no one has actually voted "no". I can see benefits for both a "general modding section" as well as genre sub sections for modding. Some modding subjects/topic/articles overlap all game genres, while others are more genre specific. The genre specific ones would most likely get the most traffic, I think.

My suspicion is that it won't get any more traffic from our current group than the Retro section is (which isn't much). And the reason I say that is because we already have at least one thread about modding, and it's not that active. So that's why I'm dubious about the need for a whole subforum.

But it's possible it might draw new posters for discussion. If so, then it would be worth it for that.

 

[Brian Boru]

add a Mod General Discussion subforum

Agree with you and @mainer to start with one place, not split into genres until we see significant traffic.

I should add that the other mods and I will be watching closely to see what y'all are saying about us

 

[Colif]

My suspicion is that it won't get any more traffic from our current group than the Retro section is (which isn't much). And the reason I say that is because we already have at least one thread about modding, and it's not that active. So that's why I'm dubious about the need for a whole subforum.

Maybe a new forum like that might get interest from the PCG members who don't use forums. We have over 200 users right now on discord (and maybe more in active hours), so nice to get their attention for more than just competitions.

Stop being so negative

we don't need a new category as such but no reason it can't be under General Gaming. If it doesn't take off, its easy to roll back into normal.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Maybe a new forum like that might get interest from the PCG members who don't use forums. We have over 200 users right now on discord (and maybe more in active hours), so nice to get their attention for more than just competitions.

Stop being so negative

we don't need a new category as such but no reason it can't be under General Gaming. If it doesn't take off, its easy to roll back into normal.

So all of those competition posters are coming from Discord? I was wondering where they were coming from.

 

[Colif]

So all of those competition posters are coming from Discord?

Yes, competitions are advertised in an announcements channel, and everyone on the server gets a message.

 

[Sarafan]

I'm not sure whether the new forum section for modding is necessary. I'm afraid that it won't be very popular. Everyone can post a new thread about particular mods in the existing sections. But I guess, I'm in the minority and I hope that I'm wrong. If the new section will be created, I'll certainly visit it on regular basis.

 

[Frindis]

I agree with @Brian Boru who agreed with @mainer who agreed with @SHaines latest post.

 

[mainer]

I'm not sure whether the new forum section for modding is necessary. I'm afraid that it won't be very popular. Everyone can post a new thread about particular mods in the existing sections. But I guess, I'm in the minority and I hope that I'm wrong. If the new section will be created, I'll certainly visit it on regular basis.

That's a possibility, and one of the reasons I hesitated on making the post in the first place. Maybe there's not enough interest to justify a new forum section dedicated to mods and/or modding? Maybe it's better (as you said) to just have members post individual threads in existing sections? Our core membership may not be large enough to support it, but I thought I'd at least try to gauge the interest.

 

[Sarafan]

That's a possibility, and one of the reasons I hesitated on making the post in the first place. Maybe there's not enough interest to justify a new forum section dedicated to mods and/or modding? Maybe it's better (as you said) to just have members post individual threads in existing sections? Our core membership may not be large enough to support it, but I thought I'd at least try to gauge the interest.

It's always good to place things under discussion. You can't go wrong with that. I usually prefer to discuss something than drop it completely without anyone knowing. So you've basically done the right thing!

 

[SHaines]

We'll revisit next week, if anyone else has thoughts or feelings to share with us.