What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

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What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Calisson »

Zero post on April 28th.
What happens to Druchii.net? Does it mean zero interest?

-=-=-
On April 30th, The 9th Age releases its official V1.0.
Do we let T9A forum deal with all Dread Elves discussions?

AoS envisions competitions with a point system this summer.
Do we despise them?

KoW has received some interest lately. Warmachine is said to have some merits.
Anyone to develop that?

-=-=-
Do we push for a modellist forum combined with High Elfs and Wood Elfs?

-=-=-
Do we want to keep a cosy Dark, Elvish place to discuss among friends?

-=-=-
Guys and girls, Druchii.net will become what you make it.
If nobody does anything anymore, it will die.


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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by cultofkhaine »

I have been hitting Dnet everyday this week at least 3-4 times a day and it is dead - yours is probably the first post I have seen in a couple of days.

I also keep looking at T9A but as of yet have not found a place to contribute (the bright colours of their site hurt my eyes)

I visit this site for inspiration to help me grow with my hobby but have not seen much of that for a while, P&M is not like it use to be a few years back where you would see some great conversions or paint jobs to keep you inspired. Its like everyone has done it all and nothing is new anymore, its just the same old...

I really have no connection with AoS at all, T9A interests me but I still have nothing to latch onto without the Dread Eves fluff to look at and who knows when that's coming.

I think we suffer from an identity crisis, the Druchii are no more, there is nothing more coming for them and therefore no more discussion to be had. The excitement comes with the new fluff, seeing where T9A goes or what the new faction of Aelfs brings.

I visit this forum because its the only place I can share my hobby with like minded people. I have known many of you for a number of years now and while I may never know your real names, see your faces, meet you in person, I have valued your opinions on a great many things.

This site is my morning coffee stop, distraction from work at lunch time and late night affair when I should be in bed asleep (sad I know)

What is more depressing is the lack of posts - my gut feeling is that if we don't radically change this forum soon, all that will remain is a few of us mods checking in from time to time until someone forgets one day to pay the sever bill and the site drifts away to Khaine a then forgotten god.
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Malys the younger »

I second what Cult said. I noticed there were no posts yesterday and it has been slow but I think the site is contracting because the aforementioned identity crisis. We are in a holding pattern waiting for new models when really people are taking the old models and playing new games. I don't know what the breakdown between AOS players/9th Age players/KoW Players (or combination of 2 or more games) is but basically there are forums dedicated for each right now that I feel are drawing interest away from Druchii.net. I see the same thing on Herdstone. I think having dedicated forums for DE players of the other games rather than just a "other games" catch all forum and advertising on those other game forums would be a way to remind people that we as a site still exist. I don't think that the site needs to be recreated, especially since all the games can share the same GW model base, but rather it should evolve and be open to more than just a GW game line at this point.

I personally hop on here several times a day for inspiration and to be wowed by peoples creativity whether it be painting, conversions, fiction, or army lists.

I agree with Cult, I have no tie to AoS, I bought KoW but have yet to play, and I have my eye on 9th. That being said I still find myself wanting to come back to one site rather than having to check 2-3 sites to see more or less the same kind of conversations.

I have enjoyed the time with the community here and will enjoy the memories of Dark Elves being my first army and pouring over the website trying to figure out Warhammer and Dark Elves. This site can do that for myself and many others again by opening it up to and embracing other systems.
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by direweasel »

I've only come to find this site semi-recently, so take my opinion for what it's worth in that context. But I have never really seen it super-busy. It has died off some, but I think that's because we're all kind of in a wait and see mode to see what happens to the hobby.

I think of it kind of like the VHS/Betamax thing. And yes I know a lot of people won't get that reference any more. But for those that do, you'll know what I mean. Will GW bring AoS back to where it's a serious rules set? No offense meant to those that think it is, but I think the lack of traffic here should tell you that it's definitely a minority opinion globally. If not, what will replace it? I have way too many dark elves sitting in my closet to go unused forever. Will 8th return as a standard? Will one of the alternatives reach a critical mass and win over enough people that it catches on semi-permanently? Who knows?

In the meantime, I still have a lot of minis to paint, and even if I never field them again, I enjoy painting them, albeit slowly. I've more or less given up on keeping up with the monthly challenge. I'm still working on stuff but not at that kind of pace - real life issues make that difficult to say the least. But as I do make progress, I will update my PLOG and continue to look to you all for feedback, which has been helpful in the past.

I hope that somewhere in that rambling bunch of sleep-deprived influenced text, someone out there can cobble together some kind of coherent answer. :)
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by T.D. »

I mentioned some time back during the first 3-Elven forum discussions that I'd like to see a combined site catering to, for want of a better term, "Elfness".

I think pooling our resources and posters in this way is the only way to sustain interest. The theme would be Elves, with subforums for Tolkien, DnD, AoS, Oldhammer, 9th Age ...and whatever other Elfy things are out there.

Kinda like a Warseer setup with modelling, painting, fluff, computer games (and maybe a chat function like The Dark City). A mod team developing content aimed not at the forum but social media. Archived D.net, Ulthuan.net, Asrai.org for historic awesomesauce.

Face it guys n gals -- the Druchii are no more. So Druchii.net must evolve or die.

...but before such drastic action is needed I'm expecting things to get at least a temporary shot in the arm (i) next month with Total War: Warhammer and (ii) whenever the new AoS "Elves" arrive.
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Calisson »

Thanks for the replies.
I trust Daeron and Ambo to jump in sooner rather than later, so we do have a solid experienced base at hand if we wish to develop a Druchii.net reborn.

I need your input all the more that I have probably a biaised vision, being now involved with T9A - which does not prevent me to have a positive view on AoS and EEFL WH8th - the other games, I know hardly anything about.

-=-=-

One option that I am keen to explore, if so you find appropriate, would be:
- to develop an elvish website, with the three usual subdivisions in "black", "blue" and "green" and a common P&M part,
- to bet that T9A will develop well, and establish a close relationship with T9A, mentioned as our reference game in the same way that WH used to be,
- letting AoS, KoW and other games have as many forums as necessary for them to feel home as well and allow members to go easily back and forth;
- and keeping all our very rich inheritage and archives with EEFL WH8th (T.D. looking at you to maintain that!).

It happens that T9A is in the course of releasing their rulebook with fluff rather soon (I would assume ~2 months), and Elves will be a more integrated race than what GW made, i.e. more like Bretonnia vs Empire, separated but not incompatible.
I could ask T9A designers what would be the name given to themselves by the Elves, for which they already developed a common original language with 3 variants. That would become the name of the integrated website.
One of Ulthuan admins is the second most active person in the T9A project, that could facilitate the idea of creating a single Elvish T9A specialized website from the 3 old websites.

-=-=-
In a less integrated way, I wish D.net to participate to the development of new rules (for example a corsair raid army), new units (which would allow the use of some marvelous models made by Raging Heroes, for example)... I wish D.net to associate as officially as possible with T9A for that purpose. But this cannot happen if D.net has nobody posting there anymore.
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Shadowspite »

I know I was... less than enthusiastic before about amalgamating with Ulthuan.net and Asrai.org, but I've changed my mind. It's clear now that the only way this community is going to survive in any form is by uniting all elf (and aelf) players across all WHFB's successor game systems. So let's do that.

I do think AoS should be our primary or 'default' game system, because I think keeping the link to GW is potentially useful. I still remember that it was D.net's good relationship with GW (and devoted lobbying by DarkAlliance) that led to us getting our army book updated and improved back in 6th edition.

As a primarily AoS Aelves site, we have a chance of getting our opinions noticed by GW, even of getting things changed (for example if the new AoS Aelves turn out to be underpowered/lacklustre at launch like 6th edition DEs were initially). Conversely, if we're seen as a site primarily for people who don't play GW games, then GW is going to (justifiably) ignore us. Some of GW's latest moves (e.g. the upcoming AoS General's Handbook) suggest that they're paying a bit more attention to what the community is saying now than they did when Kirby was in charge. Let's not throw that away by wedding ourselves too strongly to the opposition.
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Amboadine »

Ambo will indeed jump in.

As members might have noticed I am playing KoW almost exclusively now, and have tourneys lined up almost every weekend through May and June.
However current I see little in the way of opportunities to influence or shape the game from this forum.
KoW has is own forum and facebook community and the rules council are very active there.
There is currently no official DE equivilent list beyond a downloadable get you by version. There will be something later this year with redeveloped fluff and released for play testing and I will post some details nearer the time.

I will jump into T9A once the full rules are released official. I can see this as a good opportunity to develop an Elves specific forum. Especially if we get engagement from the T9A team.
The fluff is pretty much the key here for me. I want some thing to grab my interest.

I would not rule out AoS yet however. With the new points cost etc it will be interesting to see if list building posts revive some traffic. This was one of the sub forums that got discussions moving in the past.
It also opens up the door for more unit analysis discussions.

I do think long term we need to change. Druchii as it is now is more a collection of people posting out of habit to talk to our virtual friends. Without the painting forum it might not even be that.

This is my port of call several times a day and I would hate to see it disappear. But agree we are stagant at the moment in a perpetual holding pattern waiting for someone to release something for us.

Do we reopen discussions with the other Elf specific forums? I believe we are all sharing the same host now so combining further is the next logical step.

Specialising to a single system may make or break us. However I can really only see two specialist options T9A or AoS. The other systems either have their own existing communities or probably not a big enough base to make it viable.

A combined all things elvish for both this systems may be the best way forward with a small other systems sub forum. If this is paired with lauching facebook / twitter community groups then this might drive more traffic.
A lot of people may be more active on facebook than a forum. The forum then becomes in effect a resource link to social media outlets.
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by cultofkhaine »

Based on the current replies I think a more generic name to identify the forum would be better (all things elves) with two/three major sub forums.

AoS Aelfs and variants
T9A Elves and variants (Dread Elves, Highborn....
Kow Elves

Also one dedicated P&M section.

Putting preference with the naming of the site AoS or T9A limits the community IMO

Should we have a community poll on this? or do we sit on the fence longer?
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Calisson »

I'd like first to hear from Daeron and Rork.
Daeron will have some opinion about whether it is better to make a new site then migrate, or to change D.net to a new name and structure that future site, then migrate Asrai and Ulthuan.
Rork might know who to ask among D.net long time stakeholders about the idea of changing the name Druchii.net.

To change the name Druchii.net seems logical. But for what?
Before polling, we will need to have several ideas submitted, which would adequately reflect all or several fantasy Elves/Aelfs.
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by cultofkhaine »

We need to get the ball rolling on this - we have been stuck in the doldrums for too long now!

Before we know it another 12 months will float past and we won't have the option.
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by T.D. »

I agree with Calisson on a unified forum, but disagree on tying it into 9th Age. I agree broadly with Amboadine, Shadowspite and Cult of Khaine's comments. To clarify my position:-

Generic vs Specific

The strength and character of Druchii.net (and other race specific forums) came from specialisation.
This was fine as long as the supporting company and game system provided the motive power, but now we are listless; named after an unsupported IP and game system, and having lost many of our contributers.

However, I believe we should go the opposite way from GW in pursuing an increasingly narrow and more trademarkable identity, and instead return to the origin: Ideas.

The idea of Elves cannot die as long as humans culture lives. It is rooted historically; deep and wide.

AoS (or any other system's) Elves will go through a life-cycle; "Elves" on the other hand can carry appeal for generations.

Forum Name

For the above reason I don't think the name should be tied to any particular system's variant of Elves.

Philosophically, we should be more like Warseer, or the Warhammer forum: generalists (but catering to a particular idea).

The name should not refer to a specific type of "Elf". However, one game system should take pride of place:

- Warhammer (as this is the origin of the community, and the name is still contemporary and credit bearing thanks to GWs renaming)
=> Warhammer: AoS top billing
- 9th Age
- KoW
- Oldhammer

I don't think we should limit the forum to three systems, but cater to wherever the main enthusiasm/playerbase is at. Possibly moving around the subforums priority depending on how activity pans out. We should also make sure there is space for other Elf enthusiasts i.e. Tolkien, DnD Drow to contribute.

I also don't think we should be limited to Dark(Black), High(Blue), Wood(Green), as there are other varieties concurrently and sure to be new varieties cropping up in future.

Forum Purpose:

I agree with Amboadine that social media is where the internet is now at.
The forum should really be a specialised database/resource linked to a social media site.

Forum Content

What gets the creative juices flowing? What brings you here and brings you back?

What do you want to see when you come here (the new here ;))?

I want to see, in descending order:
- a modelling showcase on landing page (main theme: Elves)
- a modelling forum (main theme: Elves, lesser theme: wargames)
- news (Elves: new models released by all companies)
- new fluff discussion
- own fluff creation area
- tactical articles (current game of interest)
- social chat area
- computer games chat area
- fan art
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by cultofkhaine »

Well said TD - I agree with you whole heartedly on this - but I think we should unhinge ourselves from GW!

We can still place emphasis on GW AoS but I don't think it should be a primary focus. I would leave it open to focus on all games and I like your idea of promoting what is popular at the time.

I like the idea of being an "Elves" forum (perhaps more specific "Dark Elves" but open to other possibilities)

I will mention I have also recently registered dreadelves.com and dreadelves.net that I might be willing to donate to a good cause, although it might be aligned to much to T9A.

We would have to brainstorm names and check availability of domains.
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Re: What do we ant the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Daeron »

Best we have an open talk.


The problem with AoS is not AoS but this community's response to it

This forum was quiet when anything and everything related to AoS was swamped with activity. I'm glad I had two days off on Thursday and Friday, if only to keep up with all the news, responses and videos. It has been an amazing two weeks. I've had a constant stream of podcasts and videos for the past days, it's crazy.

But... not for Druchii.net. And ... I'm not surprised.. It seems every topic in AoS has to defend its right to exist at some point in the discussion. It seems every topic that reaches 5 posts or so can't be left alone without a single jab or negative remark. Like I should give a damn about one's personal peeve with GW or AoS to enjoy my hobby-time. If I would give a damn, I wouldn't be playing tabletop games.

Personally, I'm discouraged from talking about AoS here. There are people who claim AoS is failing. There are rumours that AoS is far exceeding WFB. Until we're given solid proof, either opinion is wishful thinking. But what I have observed, is that there is enough of a community out there and we're doing a good job at keeping them out.

If we look at the activity of the latest joiners, then it's been mostly about AoS. This would match our profile according to Google search indexes:
Image

But if we don't have an AoS positive atmosphere, then this potential source of new members is wasted.
I don't think AoS and 9th Age (or any alternative) combine very well.. not because of the game, but because the community has proven itself incapable of not souring up the AoS forum. I know it's a harsh judgement. It's not meant at anybody in particular, but a feeling I've had for months now.

But 9th Age is an important part of us too

Aside from the personal investment of some of our community, we're not entirely missing the 9th Age train. We get between 1000 and 2000 hits per day from 9th Agers using our calculators. These are not all people visiting us actively, since most hits come from the 9th Age forum using our tool support. But it still shows there's an active community, that likes the kind of discussions and support we can offer. It also means people know we are here, because they like to use the support we deliver.

There is more than one niche, within the 9th Age community that we can do: hobby, fluff and analytical stuff.
The 9th Age forum is partly a victim of its own success. And that's good, but it also opens a niche. We can offer a more relaxed, calm space to discuss topics that may require... say... a day or two to think about.

WFB needn't be limited to archiving

Dark Princess shows interest in keeping WFB going. I see some people on Ulthuan do it. Personally, I'm still invested and actively playing WFB.

There is a potential here, that seems to be pushed to the background in the face of exciting news and development. I think there's still a WFB community out there. We have the books, we have the models, we have all the material we need to keep going.

It took AoS for me to realize this, but I feel my own WFB community was getting too tournament focused even though we didn't play tournaments. It was as if this was the benchmark by which the quality of our game was measured. Since the "pressure" of tournaments has been removed, my local club has been exploring far more diversity and rekindled its passion for the game.

Considering the state of WFB, we may have more (legal?) liberty than ever, and this might make it even easier for us to support new formats, scenarios and playmodes for this game.

However, I don't think we have the numbers to survive with Druchii.net alone.


Technical support

If the bill's too much to handle, then we have no choice but to move to cheaper hosting. Luckily, with our current need, that is quite feasable and the saving is worth it.

But we can go another route: we can host multiple sites to split the bill. If we were to host multiple elven sites, or heck.. even multiple sites in general, then it might prove a cost saving operation for all the sites.

Either way, I'm not dropping my support for the site for the foreseeable future.

What I think the community needs

Putting Druchii.net aside for a moment, what I think would work best for the community would be 3 game specific sites and forums: AoS, 9th Age, WFB (all editions). The WFB site would act as both a project to keep the game going for those who want to, as well as archive for all the race specific forums who can no longer support the game on their own.

I reckon this might keep the trolling of AoS under control, while bringing the WFB players together and inject all support we can offer in the 9th Age project.

That said.. we'd also lose a lot of identity along the way. It's not something I'd "like" to do. It's what cold-hearted analysis points me to. This isn't the fun option.

What can we offer? What can -you- offer?

There is no doubt that we need to discuss the position of Druchii.net, but I'd also like to turn the question around and ask.. What do -you- want to do and offer?
If we come up with a perfect new identity for Druchii.net, but nobody wants to build that project, then it's just a theory.

So I'd like to ask what it is you want to do. If you could draw the communities however you wish, and choose the projects however you wish, which would be the projects that you would love to pour all your passion in, whether it fails or succeeds?

For the record, what I'm not asking is whether you can organise a painting competition (unless that is your passion!) but what would make you rise an our early just like daylight saving time.

For WFB I'd like to do as much archiving as I can, and collect as many resources for it as we have available: books, game modes scattered throughout the White Dwarfs, campaigns, story outlines etc.
While the End Times have struck, there are enough gaps in the timeline to also permit a lot of story and campaign development throughout these gaps.
I can see myself organise some small online campaigns, and perhaps a few painting activities to keep it going.

For AoS, I would be willing to build a community site technically, but I'll only reach a participation level in terms of activity. I have only a limited "drive" for the community itself. I like to keep up with the news and the AoS community.

I would love to support 9th Age tangentially. I will be implementing new features and tools for it as I can. I have enough passion for the project and web development to do this.
But I've come to realize that the logistical barrier for this game is too steep. My local group doesn't play it. I've found a few players in Brussels, but I reckon I can only get half a dozen games in each year which is too little to get "invested".
Perhaps this might change in the future though.

Short term, long term

Short term, I reckon bringing multiple websites to a single host is a great cost saving option. Mind, a single host does not imply single website.
Long term, I think we'd do well to merge a few sites and forums. Most notable, the elven websites seem like a good start.

Perhaps we can evaluate our next step after that?
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Re: What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Calisson »

Great replies!

So we may be heading towards the following:

-=-=-

A. One site for all Elves.
Thanks KoK for setting aside dreadelves.com and dreadelves.net, however it seems not to be the path we will take.
What name for the website and the associated Facebook page? As T.D. explained, it needs to be neutrally applicable to all Elves/Aelfs and to capture the essence of what we are talking about.
Do you have suggestions? Just brainstorming the name, before we poll it.
ElfMiniatures.net?

-=-=-

Site structure.

B. P&M.
1. P&M has attracted the most interest by far lately. This is what combines all factions, all games. This is what newcomers will come to see.
I anticipate P&M to remain our flagship in the forseeable future. It must come first.

C. Games systems.
As Daeron has pointed at, we need to keep separated AoS and T9A. Also, T9A insists not to be mistaken for WH. AoS and WH have no continuity as gaming systems. KoW has an Elf army and will sooner or later release a DE faction. Let's not forget WH40k with the three Eldar factions.

This makes a lot of potential forums:
2. AoS (11 factions)
3. T9A (3 factions)
4. WH8 (3 factions)
5. KoW (1, soon 2 factions)
6. 40k (3 factions)
7. Other games

My feeling is that we could consider the 6 forums above. Please comment about the forums, and the desired order.
Keeping the separation + careful modding should prevent flaming or unwanted advertisement across gaming systems.

2. For AoS, in the future, the 11 factions may have each a separate subforum, instead of the 3 traditional. But there is no hurry to subdivide. One forum could handle them all as a start.

3. For T9A, there will be a need to have 3 sub-forums to discuss separately HbE, DE and SE - assuming we merge with Ulthuan and Asrai, which I assume.

4. For WH8 and previous editions (or Oldehammer, or EEFL, I don't know if there is a stabilized name), which will hold the rich archives from Ulthuan and Asrai, there is an imperative need to have 3 subforums.

4.1. I don't know how best to handle the legacies from the 3 websites, and their zillion sub-forums. Would it be better, instead of having only one forum WH8 with three subforums Asrai, Druchii and Ulthuan, to have WH8 with only new material, and then separately at same level than P&M, AoS or T9A, to have Asrai, Druchii and Ulthuan?
Please discuss.

5. KoW being a popular game with elves, there is no reason for not having its own forum. Probably no need for sub-forums until the Dark Elves faction appears. Or would it be more appropriate to leave it with the other games? There's a cost/benefit analysis to do, where the cost is modest, having one more line in the menu - potentially with little traffic to show.

6. 40k, I don't know if there is a need for it, and it could be merged with the other games. On the other hand, that could be an incentive to attract newcomers.

7.1. I have not set apart a subforum for warmachine, as I am not aware they had an elf faction.

7. Other games need their own forum, as Blood Bowl remains popular and GW seems keen to resurrect other games such as Mordheim.


D. Fluff discussions.
From medieval lore to high fantasy:
8.1. Medieval lore and more recent litterature (Tolkien...)
8.2. T9A lore, where the 3 factions derive from a common, ancient Irish-like culture.
8.3. Warhammer (3 factions), up to the End Times (civil war between two reorganized factions, resulting in one unified faction)
8.4. Age of Sigmar (united Aelfs of the Order, mostly)
8.5. 40k

There is a lot to discuss and develop, about oldenhammer researches, T9A developments, AoS speculations...
Roleplaying can be played in any of these settings.
I would expect interested readers and writers to be able to move in a fluid manner from one sub-forum to another one.
Initially, there is no need to differenciate as long as little discussions happen.
When discussions blossom, it could be useful to separate as above, plus one sub-forum for roleplaying.


E. Social media.
9. Facebook needs a page with the same title. Maybe there are other medias which need some attention too.
There will be a need for complementarity between our facebook account and our website.


F. Moderation.
We need at least one of us to take over each of the forums and keep a decent animation.
Who would be really interested to develop and animate the following forums?

1. P&M
2. AoS as wargame for all 11 factions
3. T9A as wargame for all 3 factions (expecting some assistance by former Ulthuan and Asrai mods)
4. WH8 as wargame for all 3 factions (expecting some assistance by former Ulthuan and Asrai mods)
5. KoW as wargame
6. 40k for all 3 factions
7. all other games
8. Fluff and roleplaying, for all periods and game systems
9. Facebook and other media
10. Website life and technical administration

Myself, I could take on T9A, Fluff, or both.
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Re: What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by cultofkhaine »

P&M is my passion and building armies around the fluff (AoS or T9A, Drow even :D ) I also have allot of High Elves to paint at some stage.

What Daeron and Calisson are saying makes sense to me.

I think the first step is to find the right name and create our new identity - then evolve the sites from there.
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Re: What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by cultofkhaine »

elves-online.com
elfwargames.com
fantasyelves.com
elveskingdom.com
elvenstrategy.com
elvescompendium.com
elvesforum.com
warhammerelves.com
wargameselves.com
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Re: What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Shadowspite »

pointyears.net? :P

While I agree with most of what Daeron says, I think he underestimates how well effective moderation policies can alleviate the problems of having fans of different game systems posting on the same forum. See RPG.net, for example. In the online D&D community, the bad blood between fans of the 3rd, 4th and 5th editions of the game (plus Pathfinder, 13th Age, etc.) can make the 9th Age vs. AoS spat look like a love-in. Yet fans of all those variations of D&D get along fine on RPG.net's d20 games forum. They don't need to be split up into exclusive subforums to avoid flamewars.

Part of what makes it work is the practise of tagging threads with both the game system and a +/- symbol to show whether it's intended to be a mostly-positive, mostly-negative or an 'all sides can weigh in' discussion. If you're a passionate fan of 4th edition D&D but hate 3rd edition, then you just don't even open/read a thread with a '4e-' or '3e+' tag. And if you go into such a thread and post stuff that doesn't fit the tag, you get a timeout and your post gets removed. If a bunch of 3rd edition fans want to rant about all the stuff they don't like in 4th edition, they can do that, but none of the negativity is allowed to spill over into other threads. I think you can even selectively hide threads by tag (e.g. 'I never want to even see a negative thread about 4th edition').

Now, I wouldn't necessarily want dedicated negative threads like RPG.net allows. But I think tags for 'fans only' and 'spirited discussion from all sides is encouraged' would still work. So if you don't want anyone to rain on your AoS parade, you can choose to only open 'AoS+' threads.
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Re: What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by direweasel »

Of the options listed, I like fantasyelves and pointyears. Also a friend of mine often called dark elves "angst *******" back in the day. So that might be worth considering as well. :)

And I hope my disparaging remarks re: AoS weren't taken personally. As I said at the time, if people enjoy them, then great. I just think it is at least partly behind why the site has dropped off. If we were still in 8th Ed, I can only believe that we'd be seeing substantially more activity here. AoS, for better or worse, has caused some significant upheaval in our hobby. I don't think that's really debatable, and that's all I was really trying to say.

I was going on about 3hr sleep when I posted the first post, so if it came across badly, I do apologize for that. That's the only excuse I have for it. I slept a LOT last night, so I'm good now.
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Re: What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Amboadine »

@Calisson. Happy to take KoW as I am probably the most active player of it on the forum (Actually 2 new Elf factions coming later in the year). Plus more than happy to continue as a universal mod on forums or social media.

Some interesting name ideas, I will have some thoughts overnight.
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Re: What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by direweasel »

Amboadine wrote:@Calisson. Happy to take KoW as I am probably the most active player of it on the forum (Actually 2 new Elf factions coming later in the year). Plus more than happy to continue as a universal mod on forums or social media.

Some interesting name ideas, I will have some thoughts overnight.


Looking forward to when Dark Elves are a thing there. Hopefully that sparks interest at my somewhat local game store. :)
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Re: What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Lord Drakon »

I really hope that we will remain Druchii!!!

We, the Dark Elfs or called by ourselves Druchii now only exist because we are still there. As soon as we disappear the Druchii will die, as it has been killed by Games Workshop. I mean the Druchii of Naggaroth, with its ancient history and epic culture of war. Every fluff that came with new army books evolved our official narrative into a direction, but we all have that grand narrative of what it means to be Druchii. The 9th Age has called us Dread Elves instead of Dark Elves, and will likely provide a new world and fluff, different from Naggaroth and what we have known so far. But is us, the noble Druchii that gives meaning to the Dread Elves, we, the Druchii.net community, that will give the Dread Elves the depth the 9th age or Games Workshop will never be able to give.

Yes the forum has been dead, but it will return as soon 9th age has been adapted by the huge Warhammer Fantasy community that is still there lurking in the shadows, betrayed and utterly dissappointed by Games Workshop, but still in pocession of minitiature armies and the hope they can use them once again. The 9th age first version has only been published today, before it was all testing. Give it time, we will recover! Think about this, today Games Workshop published its first BRB after months of playtesting, how much would the activity have been before GW publishing their first BRB? None!

Further on topic:
I think the main reason that Druchii.net is so inactive is because of the fact that Games Workshop killed Warhammer Fantasy Battles overnight. We all feared this, based on rumours of Fantasy not providing them profits etc. Games Workshop has created Warhammer and I think we can all be thankful for the EPIC years they provided us with the hobby, after all, have you ever had a better hobby time than in those years?? But now they decided to move on, and left us behind. No hard feelings, but the Games Workshop chapter is over. 9th is by far the realistic new provider of the Warhammer Fantasy Battles hobby and published their first official version today. Focus on the 9th age as our primary gaming system, but leave space for Kow and Age of Sigmar, now it is the other way around. Re-structure the forum much more focused on the 9th age, they are now our new Games Workshop, and will hopefully provide us with some new EPIC hobby times!
Last edited by Lord Drakon on Sat Apr 30, 2016 10:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Calisson »

Druchii will live long in the memories of those who have lived their glory.
Not in the mind of the newcomers, unfortunately.
I see not that name as an asset for the future website (especially if we conbine with the other 2 Elves factions).
Now, I do envision to keep that name forever for our oldehmmer / archive sub-forum.
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Re: What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Lord Drakon »

Calisson wrote:Druchii will live long in the memories of those who have lived their glory.
Not in the mind of the newcomers, unfortunately.
I see not that name as an asset for the future website (especially if we conbine with the other 2 Elves factions).
Now, I do envision to keep that name forever for our oldehmmer / archive sub-forum.


If we merge with the other Elves I agree about the website name. Oke it changes the situation if Druchii is Games Workshop property, while we move on from Games Workshop and should adapt the new name 9th age has given us, lets wait for the fluff then. Druchii is indeed just a name, but who the Druchii are, who 'we' are, is the foundation for our future in the 9th age, and although we communicated this already to 9th age and I am sure we played we role, we should preserve that identity.
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Re: What do we want the future of Druchii.net to be?

Post by Calisson »

By the way, we need to associate closer the other Elven website with these thoughts, shouldn't we?
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