OT: off-topic

[RazorBlade]

Hi everyone,

reading this board on regular base I got the feeling there is some kind of a demand for a more general message board. What about offering some kind of 'general Ultima'-forum where people can post on a more broadly base? I didn't count but I guess about every 2nd message would fit in that but not in this exult-only board(not counting my thread;).)

Just my 2 €-cent

[wjp]

You could take a look at Horizons:

http://www.horizonstavern.com/

I think it's mostly non-Ultima talk nowadays, though.


The rec.games.computer.ultima* newsgroups are also worth a look.

[Dominus]

I'm trying to answer this and I'm not sure I represent the thoughts of the entire team.
I don't think we need a general forum but people who want to ask OT questions definitely need to find a better forum suited for their needs.
But then again some OT are welcome here and encouraged and to me it is hard to say where to draw the line for this.
Probably I'd say OT discussions are generally ok. For example the ongoing "Nuvie" thread is OT but feels like it has some kind of reason to be here (even if it is "just" because the author of Nuvie is generally found on #exult and some exult team members are already "working" on Nuvie as well).

In past times I would have recommended http://www.horizonstavern.com/ for more general topics that might be ultima related. I don't know how it holds up nowadays.

[RazorBlade]

I know those and visit them frequently. I was suggesting this because of the sometimes negative feedback on some posts. Exult is today a quite famous and well-known Ultima project and probably many Ultima newbies will go here first if nowhere else.
Sometimes you have about the same amount of activity here than on the newsgroups, also the topics here are much more often Ultima related than at r.g.c.u.*. ('the never ending /the never beginning thread' i.e.)

BTW, it seems in some time not only U7 but also U8, Crusader, U6 and SE/MD will be on-topic, so why did I even bother suggesting?

[Dominus]

he he, true, when this goes on like it does, we will not have much left to label OT...

[Armchair_Avatar]

For example the ongoing "Nuvie" thread is OT but feels like it has some kind of reason to be here (even if it is "just" because the author of Nuvie is generally found on #exult and some exult team members are already "working" on Nuvie as well).

I think they should be working on Pentagram instead

[Darkstar]

/me thinks so too

[wjp]

Wouldn't you prefer me debugging that particular full-screen problem you're having in Exult? (and which we're talking about right now on #exult?)

[Dominus]

LOL
don't worry they only worked on makefiles and such to get it to compile on their OS'.
And yes, I think they should speed up their Pentagram development and never mind their other projects or even that thing called "real life". I want to play U8 with Pentagram!!!!

[drcode]

I don't mind occasional off-topic discussions, especially if they're about Ultima or even other classic games. (And while I'm posting, I've got to say that ScummVM is amazingly good at running Sam'n Max:-)).

[Colourless]

I can see the merits to having a General Discussing forum. This forum would be solely intended for posts relating to Exult, and the other forum would be for other topics, hopefully ultima related. Is it a good idea though, I am not entirely sure. If there were a 'vote', I would probably vote yes for a second forum. I would say though, this forum should then strictly only be for Exult and U7/SI related problems.

With all that said, it's not like #exult is really ever on topic. It's pretty much a general discussions IRC channel with people related to exult somehow.

-Colourless Dragon

[SB-X]

How about:
Support <- requests for help with Exult
Discussion <- anything else (including talk about Exult)

[artaxerxes]

I can see how that will derive though. the exult forum will be deserted and the "other" forum will go from your girlfriend's toenail aches to the war in Iraq.

IMHO, we should keep only one forum and keep the topic on Exult + a bit of other ultimas.

Artaxerxes

[RazorBlade]

SB-X, that's what I had in mind.

Make it so!

If you want a vote, I say...um... yes!

[SB-X]

But I don't want political or toenail discussion either. We should try to keep it close to the Ultima topics.

[RazorBlade]

I guess this is the only board left WITHOUT political discussions. Makes it somehow special.