"Staff" picks

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Ok, I'm going to start doing the "staff picks" articles. Probably do them bi-weekly. See how that goes. Make them more or less frequent depending on response.

So email your picks to [email protected]

The picks this time around are for Paper and Dice RPGs. I want one or two sentences on SYSTEMS (not rule books, not setting, mood, or genre, SYSTEMS) you would recommend people try. They can be common systems or unknown, obscure ones. In print or out of print. But I want system recommendations for our readership.

Rules:

• No more than three recommendations
• Limit your explanation for WHY we should play the system to 50 words or less.
• email them to me at the above addres. Don't post them.
• Deadline is 11:59 PM (that's 23:59 for you military folks) on September 12, 2003. (Though realistically if I have it before I submit the article I'll probably still include it).

I'll compile the list and make it presentable. Let me know if you want your real name or your TWG forum display name attached to it. If you don't tell me, I'll assume forum display name.

[Fellfrosch]

Okay, I just want to point out that this is often the source of shattered dreams: one person will come up with an idea, immediately tell everyone else to jump on, and inevitably grumbles when nobody does. I'm not saying that Staff Picks are a bad idea--in fact, I hope it works out--but I'm saying that you should not be surprised or angry if nobody else participates in this idea that you just made up and got no feedback on.

How often are we going to do Staff Picks? How many of our responses are you going to post per article? How far in advance are we going to know about them? Just curious.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I'm starting with bi-weekly. Adjusting from there if I get some response but need more time or get a lot of response and people want to see them every week.

I forgot to post the deadline, I'm fixing that. I'm making deadlines on the Friday before I plan to submit the article. Which I will do before Monday morning. This, if it works out, will be a good monday or tuesday post. every other week or so.

Reckon I'll give you a week's notice. Submissions are due Friday at 11:59PM, for this one, they're due by that time on september 12th.

I will post all responses in a single article. If that's three people, than so be it. If it's 20 people, so be that too.
If it's no one, then I'll just stop doing it.  

[Spriggan]

Pesonly I don't like staff picks.  why?  Because no one cares.  Anyone who has any attachment to TWG or a certain staff memeber allready knows what we like dislike becasuse of the forums.  It's not like Penny-arcade or some site where 1) People care about indivigual staff members 2) Neither Tycho or Gabe are active on thier forums.

I think this is a waste of time that could be used for actual content.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

what other "actual content" are you referring to?
And my target audience are not the posters in the forum. It's the people who see us only on the main page.
I know for a fact that at least three publishing companies are going to link to us soon (well, that's probably provided they get good reviews -- but at least two of them are getting those, and I haven't read the third). That means new readers who aren't reading this forum necessarily.

[Spriggan]

actual content is something people ACTUALY want to read, like reviews, rants, other articles.  Staff picks aren't something.  For me to want to read someones recomendations I have to care what that person thinks.  I doubt many people that come here just for a look every once and a while do care.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

So what you're saying is YOU wouldn't read it, so no one would....
The idea works in stores. People check out titles posted there. It's like a different way of advertising wares.
I reckon we'll have reviews for most of those products, and this would obviously link to those reviews, which increases page hits.

And my point is, it's not interrupting any other content if no one is writing any content.

[Spriggan]

It's a stupid idea

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

SPrig, I'm gona give you the benefit of a doubt and assume someone's using your account without your knowledge, but if not, you should know that you're being a ... well... I won't say that word. But you're definitely being one. If you don't like the idea, don't contribute to it, don't read it. If no one else likes it, it'll die. What's with all the bad attitude and insults?

[Spriggan]

If you don't want people to comment on what you want to do then dont post it. I'm telling you what I think, deal with it. I have more time invested in this site then you do so I'm not going to keep quite.  I think you wanting to come up with new ideas is admerable but they need to be worth the time and effort.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

Its not that stupid an idea, lets say you've never seen Army of Darkness and all of a sudden you see it with Steve's horror picks for Halloween and decide, ... "Hey Steves got some other good choices up here, I mean he has nightmare on Elm Street, and Nightmare before Christmas,... I liked those movies... maybe I'll try this.
and viola (the instrument) you just saw a great film.

So whats with all the opposition to new articles?

[Spriggan]

It's not opposition to new articles, it's opposition to ones I don't like. That's why SE posted this in the forum, to hear what we think.  I can easly be in the minority here but I'm going to argure my point. If everyone else loves it and wants to do it fine, I'm not going to stop you from doing it or delete it after it's posted.  I just think our time should be spent else were.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Sprig, it has NOTHING to do with whether you like the idea, ok?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
That is NOT why I think you're being retarded.

I think you're being an idiot because you're being insulting. There is NO CALL for you to say ideas are stupid. Especially when I've talked to other people who think the idea worth investigating. I'm sorry you don't like the idea, but you're out of line when you start talking like you have been this whole thread, as well as the one about fiction.

Maybe you have more time, but you're being even more ridiculous when you say that I don't have a stake in where this site goes and haven't done important things for TWG. No, I don't think you're opinion is more important than mine on this issue.

It's ok to not like it. I didn't ever tell you not to say you didn't like it.

And why are you so adament about rejecting it? Who's putting the time and effort into these ideas? ME. I AM. Not YOU. Fell will probably look it over for a couple minutes and then click a couple things.  

Summary: Fine, you don't like it. I want that feed back.
Insults on the other hand, well, stick it.

[Mr_Pleasington]

Look, from my perspective as a non-staff member I can see both sides.  Both SE and Sprig have valid points.  For those who know you all through the forums here it'd be cool to see what you think, even if we already know, but most people aren't really going to care.

I really think reviews of the stuff you like are more useful and more popular in the long run.  You can get across the same point (This is Out of Print But You Need to Play This Game!) but not have it wrapped into a "here's what our staff members, who you know little or nothing about, think about the game in a short paragraph that tells you little beyond the subjective."

I mean, what could these Staff Picks articles accomplish that reviews cannot?  Sure, they'd be quicker to write, but I think the depth that would be lost would make them practically useless to Joe Schmoe who wants to know how the new coolest RPG plays.

Just my opinion.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

They provide supporting links to other articles.
And I don't see the "you know little or nothing about" argument, as they know little or nothing about the authors of reviews either.

Staff picks are intended to be an interest generator. People have their attention called to an item, and they think "hey, I should learn more about that." Then we give them a handy link for more detail.

Again, if no one submits, I won't do it.