Just about three years ago, John asked me to setup a new message board for Brave Halfling Publishing and it was my pleasure to do so. Things got off to a good start there and things for BHP and AC were looking up. Of course, John and I have had to overcome a series of challenges over the course of the last 3 years and BHP is probably stronger than ever now. Looking at the short history of BHP would certainly be fascinating but instead, I want to talk about those forums.
Talking to John last week, both he and I had come to similar conclusions about the relevancy of those forums today though he was the one that broached the subject. Between our websites, blogs, google+ and facebook, was there a need to keep the message board going since there was hardly any activity there anymore? I mean, there used to be, but there is so little of it now.
Personally, I like the idea of having them but I know I don't have the time I would like to have to turn my focus towards it. Presently, I frequent a couple regularly and sometimes check into a third. These are the C&C forums that TLG owns, an fan and support forum for my Android Tablet, and occasionally, I pop into Dragonsfoot. Honestly, I only manage it because there isn't that much activity I'm interested in on any of those three either these days so I expect it's just a general trend.
Social Media is a prevalent force, and while I don't think it's always a good thing, it's going to be sticking around for a while. For me, and Arcana Creations, blogging will continue but I know I'll have to set up my Facebook page for AC soon enough. My website will be revised and streamlined first though. Twitter, well, I've got less than 20 followers... so it's there but not being used effectively simply because there is no need for it. The BHP forums and my little corner of it is simply not being used. Nor do either John or I have the time to bother with it either.
Now, that isn't to say that I won't set something up down the line, even if it is to temporarily do some playtesting or offer product support amongst peers. But if I do, it will be very small in scale. I know John is looking at similar options and has done so in the past. As for the old Brave Halfing Publishing forums, it is time to bid them farewell.
If there is anything people want to grab, please do so because by the weekend of July 7th, 2012, I am pulling the plug. For those who frequent those forums every now and then, feel free to comment here or the BHP forums to suggest other places that people may want to check out for such things as X-Plorers and whatnot.
And to those who have participated in the past on those forums -- I do want to thank you for being part of that small community!
http://bravehalfling.forumotion.net/
M
What I'm Backing on Kickstarter:
After Winter Dark Campaign Setting
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Aw, that's a shame. With the new X-plorers hardcover coming out in stores there's a chance that some interest could be drawn there. Will all the content be deleted then?
ReplyDeleteHi Jay,
ReplyDeleteWhile I grant that there could be additional interest once the hardcover hits retail locations, I'm not so certain that the majority of those purchasers would miss them. As for the content, the intent is to take it down completely.
However, before I do, I'll take a look at the content to see if there is some of it worth saving. If it is, I'll archive it in some sort of format (PDF) which people can freely download. At this point, I'd consider doing it for the X-Plorers forums from the BHP message boards as that was the one that was seeing the most activity up to this point.
Sound good?
That sounds good Patrick--and I'll definitely take a look to see what's there. Do I need permission if I want to repost (with attribution of course) anything from the forum?
ReplyDeleteP.S. Thanks for your help in maintaining the forum!