Should there be a "Challenges & Playthroughs" board?
Lemernis
Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
There seems to be enough interest and participation in various challenges (eg, strict no-reload, minimum reload, random-generated party no-reload, solo, etc.) and perhaps also in creative types of playthroughs (roleplayed, themed parties, dice rolling for some decisions, no magic-users in party, etc.) that we could create a specific board for it. I don't think we would have time or inclination to 'police' such a thing. So if anyone wanted to still post such threads in General, let's assume they would be free to do so.
This board would also serve as a kind of think tank to brainstorm/demonstrate ideas for replaying the game in fresh ways. People can float ideas, discuss, etc., about creativity in this aspect. This should be a draw in itself, although possibly not for those who prefer a narrower range of playstyles. I would imagine that think-tanking replayability, as a broader subject, will attract a wide array of members. (The specific challenges and playthroughs themselves obviously will have a smaller number of people following and/or participating.)
One potential downside to such a subforum is that such threads, by virtue of then being segregated from General, could stop getting views from community members in General who aren't participating in them and are just casually interested. So this poll will hopefully measure whether lurkers of such threads would view them any less if they were located in a "Challenges & Playthroughs" subforum.
An alternative solution to creating a board would be to have a sticky thread that members are encouraged to contribute to (i..e., share thread link and description) and that also allows players to link discussion threads about any ideas they may have for creative new approaches to playing the game.
Point of emphasis: In this hypothetical vision of such a subforum you may still post challenge or playthrough threads in General, if that is your wish. The new subforum is simply there to make use of, according to the level of interest it organically generates.
So, please vote and discuss! Thanks!
This board would also serve as a kind of think tank to brainstorm/demonstrate ideas for replaying the game in fresh ways. People can float ideas, discuss, etc., about creativity in this aspect. This should be a draw in itself, although possibly not for those who prefer a narrower range of playstyles. I would imagine that think-tanking replayability, as a broader subject, will attract a wide array of members. (The specific challenges and playthroughs themselves obviously will have a smaller number of people following and/or participating.)
One potential downside to such a subforum is that such threads, by virtue of then being segregated from General, could stop getting views from community members in General who aren't participating in them and are just casually interested. So this poll will hopefully measure whether lurkers of such threads would view them any less if they were located in a "Challenges & Playthroughs" subforum.
An alternative solution to creating a board would be to have a sticky thread that members are encouraged to contribute to (i..e., share thread link and description) and that also allows players to link discussion threads about any ideas they may have for creative new approaches to playing the game.
Point of emphasis: In this hypothetical vision of such a subforum you may still post challenge or playthrough threads in General, if that is your wish. The new subforum is simply there to make use of, according to the level of interest it organically generates.
So, please vote and discuss! Thanks!
- Should there be a "Challenges & Playthroughs" board?36 votes
- I would like to see a subforum for Challenges & Playthroughs as defined above.69.44%
- I would like to see a subform along these lines, but here is my specific idea for it (share).0.00%
- I'm not much interested in challenges. I don't expect to follow them wherever they may be located. However, I am interested in playthrough ideas. I would view them in if they were located in a Challenges & Playthroughs subforum.2.78%
- I'm not much interested in challenges. I don't expect to follow them wherever they may be located. However, I am interested in playthrough ideas. I would be less likely to view them in if they were located in a Challenges & Playthroughs subforum.2.78%
- I predict that creation of a subforum for Challenges & Playthroughs would harm participation overall, as there is insufficient interest in the subjects to begin with, those who typically browse only the General forum would never see the contents of the new forum (which they might as things stand now).16.67%
- It's fine with me if challenges have their own subforum, but please do not lump playthroughs in with them.2.78%
- I prefer the sticky thread idea described above.2.78%
- Other (please alaborate).2.78%
3
Comments
bullet points of the Challenges & Playthroughs subforum concept:
- primarily for think-tanking creative approaches to replaying the game
- challenges and playthough ideas may be posted there to gather them in one place (reference)
- challenges and playthough ideas may be posted in General instead, if the thread author wishes
Not sure what other creative forms of playing the game there could be beyond challenges and playthroughs, but if any emerge they could be shared and discussed in such a subforum as well!Honestly I don't see any practical distinction between a play-through constrained only by personal preferences and a play-through constrained by some external criteria (a "challenge"), so yeah, put them in the same place.
It's not really relevant why I'd do a run where my party is composed only of Clerics (Half-Orc Cleric/Thief, Branwen, Viconia, and eventually Yeslick, Quayle and Tiax). Maybe it's whimsy, maybe it's a "challenge", either way it's something that ought to go in this new forum.
I also like the sticky thread idea as an alternative.
Likewise, playthrough idea threads probably will enjoy a longer shelf life in such a subforum, and viewers are more likely to rifle through past pages out of curiosity about what sorts of ideas people have come up with. (Or if they vaguely remember an idea they liked, they at least know where to look for it later.) In General, once something slips past page one there's a better-chance-than-not that it will never be viewed again.
Especially if there is a large sign right at the main entrance to the mall directing people to all of their exclusive sales options (with a little man dressed in green saying "Over here good sir over here!")
vs a sign on a corner of Main saying Visit Our Shops.
I can't speak for anyone else but I can't even name (nor have I entered) more than two or three of the what - 50 other sub forums besides General in these forums. Basicly if I don't run across it in general I am probably never going to see it.
There's a poll that would be interesting to see - how many sub-forums do people typically visit on game sites they frequent.
I like challenges and their reports and I think they deserve a specific section because of their popularity amongst roleplayers.
A newbie who doesn't want to be spoiled asks for help in "Help for new players (NO SPOILERS!)." (It's a 14 year old game, so most players have played it already; also, some newbies don't care too much about being spoiled.)
Those interested in chatting whimsically about anything whatsoever under the sun, and just to socialize, visit Off Topic. It's just there for a little extra fun and flavor.
People with specific questions or concerns about forum features and functionality go to Community Support.
Similarly, the "Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition" category of subforums (News, Feature Requests, Multiplayer, Modding, Support (Spoiler Warning!), Windows PC, Mac OS X, iPad, Android) are really intended for when players have very specific concerns or questions, and the subforums provide a place to ask them where the appropriate moderators or team members can address them.
None of those are really intended to be high traffic boards. They exist for utilitarian reasons.
That said, I think the following two categories undoubtedly see less traffic by virtue of being segregated from General: "Roleplaying" and "Fan Ceations."
Anyway, again, at least as I see it, the cost: benefit for this idea is:
whether drawing a circle around creative approaches to replaying the game, and bringing them all together in a more convenient location--and stimulating a steady flow of discussion about such ideas--outweighs the risk that members who habitually visit only the General forum will never (or rarely) see the threads in that subforum.
If the Challenges & Playthroughs subforum becomes a 'be there or be square' place to visit, then the risk was worth taking. If it just languishes because most people can't be bothered to click on a forum other than General (which may be the case!) then you're one hundred percent on target. I hope it would be the former. But it could well be the latter!
"Roleplaying" is primarily designed for PbP games. I would say there are enough of them going to warrant a separate forum. They are mainly for the participants, though, honestly. I would expect interest in following such games (if one isn't partticipating) to be fairly narrow (maybe even slim to none). But it gives players the vehicle to enjoy that style of gaming (which is a blast).
"Fan Creations" has far more activity than I ever realized. I admit that I am guilty of not mining that valuable resource. I will start perusing it!
Otherwise I think it might end up as too many eggs in one basket.
I mean, there's usually going to be some downsides to anything one might invent. It's an index and that might hurt the brains of some people to who have to glean what they seek. Hopefully it can be organized smartly enough that people can easily navigate it.
I'm just saying if it is done that making it easy to navigate should probably be a key component that may require some extra brainstorming during the planning stages while it's early enough to make adjustments to facilitate that.
Things like broad general categories that break down to more specific ones but not such a large tree that it takes 15 clicks to get where you want to go nor a system that creates walls of lists to comb through to find what you're looking for.
Nothing difficult is ever easy... so sayeth the wise Alaundo... LOL
But yeah, making such an index easily navigable would be crucial to it actually being useful. You right.
Instead of bookmarking http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/18420/challenges-and-playthoughs-please-help-compile-a-list-of-links#latest it would be really great to have every playthrough in one board!
And thanks for a big job done to find and to collect all those threads!
These "Challenges & Playthroughs" is one of the reasons Baldur's Gate as a game will live forever no matter how many years has passed since the game (any game under this franchise) had been released.
I'm envisioning a very wide and creative tent for this sort of thing to accommodate many playstyles. RPers, powergamers, etc. Pick your flavor.
They fit relatively nicely into general atm
Maybe when bg2:ee is announced/released this will be more viable. Especially since people generally like full bg1+2 playthoughs rather than considering each game in a vacuum
That's a big question mark. Many players have a backlog of their own ideas that they want to try out. Would they continue to delay those games they've been planning in order to try out someone else's idea within a challenge? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, I reckon. But I don't know, maybe people would rarely do it.
No-reload or minimal reload challenges seem to be the most popular. But no-reload (either strict or only if the PC dies) is difficult, and I would imagine that narrows participation.
Creating challenges for various types of playthroughs that are not no-reload might see more participation, I think. Be they roleplay-intensive or powergamer style, whatever one's preference. It's really up to the creativity of the community, and how much players want to join in.
Players may tend to behave atomistically by nature. But this format still grants total freedom do one's own thing. Even if one just wants to share their own experience of a particular playthrough concept, it could be recorded for others to give a try at one day (or their own hybrid of the idea).