Let's discuss which forums can go.

[Spock's Beard]

So during one of the threads about this site over the last couple weeks, I posted that Stratics has too damn many subforums and that I'd rather have a handful of active boards than a million dead ones. I scored a ton of likes on that post, so now that the ownership issue has been dealt with, let's talk about this.

On what planet do we need an entire separate Time of Legends forum? Why is there still a Stygian Abyss forum? Do tamers, mages, bards and such all really need their own separate template forums when all of them get posted in like once a month or something?

God there's a "UO Botany and Nutrition" forum. What, was someone afraid that one or two threads about gardening per month would bury Uhall? And there's a "UO Players Corner" that seems to exist strictly so that new and returning players can ask questions to a dead forum rather than an active one.

This place is a mess. Here are the forums we actually need:

A general discussion forum, AKA Uhall.
A trade forum, maybe with some subforums since there's actual traffic.
A PVP forum, if the mods can deal with having to look at two-sided debate.
Maybe a forum for RP and fiction crap.

And that's it. Seriously, that's it.

 

[Gameboy]

*to the left to the left, to the right to the right*

 

[DJAd]

I agree. Does each shard need its own forum these days? Maybe, but they don't then each need a trade sub-forum. Most people just use the traders hall then add which shard the item is located on in the post.

 

[Captn Norrington]

I agree that the Stygian abyss forum is pretty useless these days, however I still think the Time of Legends one is a good way to keep all the new information easily findable. Even I was having problems finding ToL stuff in Uhall before it was created.

The professions forums I never use personally but others seem to enjoy them.

I agree that UO players corner isn't as useful as it used to be, when the new players can get information a lot faster in Uhall these days.

Trade forums I agree should be limited to Traders Hall, Rares Collector, and Holiday Trading. All the individual shard trade forums have no purpose anymore and Non-rares forum is the same as Traders Hall anyway.

Shard forums people seem to like as they are.

We are definitely very interested in what the community thinks about this topic

 

[Zuckuss]

I disagre on removal of the trade forums for shards. There are many shard specific things that would make sense to sell on the individual shard boards, such as house or shard bound items. I know for at least Catskills this is the case.

 

[MalagAste]

Well to be honest I like many of the forums but I have to agree about Traders forums but then I don't use them, so really wouldn't effect me if they stayed or went.

As for separating out the ToL forums... it would be fine if folk actually kept things separate... but I've found that most that information gets posted in UHall... and few actually go to the ToL forum to find it.

One thing I want to see is the main page return with all that information and some way for the community to help update it. And I'm not talking about a Wiki... The Articles are good and all but when you really are searching for specific information the main page was always very helpful.

Take of instance this: I was in Vent the other day and one of our returning friends asked me "When can I get an Ore Cart as a reward?" I was like hum... "I don't know... let me check." so knowing that the EC usually tells me what year a reward was I went and looked at mine.... well sadly if it's not in Deed form it just says "ore cart".... nothing else.... so I came here. Well it took me a bit to find but I did find the Vet Rewards... and let her know she should be able to get it when she turns 120 months. I look at things like the THunter Map so I can find runes close enough to where I need to go for my maps. I use the Hunting Catalog to see what sort of weapon works best on where I'm going hunting... Stuff like that. Things need to be kept up to date though. Time of Legends needs to be added, along with the new mobs, new vet rewards (if it hasn't been yet) New Artifacts.... etc... those pages to me are FAR more useful than forums.

Trying to find where things are on the forums can be difficult.... but things like @brianfreud 's tables and pictures of the gift boxes are things that would be nice to have added to the main page of information. Gifts from each year and all their variables used to be on those pages and that sort of thing is EXTREMELY useful.

Folk make tables and charts that are incredibly helpful all the time. Stuff like that should be tagged and saved on those pages for helping others. Like there are check off charts some have made for recipes and such that are GREAT.

Anyway just saying that burying some of the good helpful information and leaving it on a forum rather than putting it somewhere helpful isn't good. Things like those charts and such and some articles should be somewhere that is easily searched and found.

There are a number of posts and forums that help folk with all sorts of things from character builds and templates to how to navigate the Account Mismanagement site.

 

[TimberWolf]

If anything I wish the profession forums would revert to the way they were 10 years ago...with the exception of the warriors forum virtually nothing is upto date or cared about. I would like to see people who give a crap be placed incharge and have them revamped and really re worked

half of them are all jumbled in together making it impossible to find valid accurate info that is upto date. I agree with SA and ToL...I agree with a single trade forum for all shards.

Possibly one RP forum could work

 

[kelmo]

Every shard should have one forum. That is it. One forum.

I am thinking about the rest of the baggage Stratics carries.

 

[Angel of Sonoma]

you guys know...we will never reach consensus.

i like the individual shard forums and prefer to keep them. i'd like to see some of the MIA forums return. for example: the technical forum and the bug forum.

 

[Spock's Beard]

I agree that the Stygian abyss forum is pretty useless these days, however I still think the Time of Legends one is a good way to keep all the new information easily findable. Even I was having problems finding ToL stuff in Uhall before it was created.

Yeah but a forum is not a wiki. Personally I'd rather see a bustling Uhall with occasional posts about ToL and templates and gardening and whatever, rather than a mausoleum of endless abandoned subforums curated for the benefit of the two people who don't just google "uoguide <issue name>" when they need to know something.

 

[MissEcho]

To the above I would like to see:

* Homes & Castles retained for the purely deco/design people. Much used and easy to find info on homes, deco, pic heavy content etc.
* Enhanced Client Forum: Must have for quick responses to client issues.

 

[Giggles]

I think some forums though rarely used do have a point to being there.
I do however think all shard forums should be grouped into one time zone forum. West Coasts shards etc.

A pvp forum with lighter moderating would be fantastic. Not as light as a NHB forum, but light enough where we can continue to call each other fat, because that's important in pvp .

 

[Tanivar]

A pvp forum with lighter moderating would be fantastic. Not as light as a NHB forum, but light enough where we can continue to call each other fat, because that's important in pvp .

*Wonders if calling her fat would be the quickest way to no longer sucking air known to man...*

 

[Merlin]

Leave all forums as is.

 

[BrianFreud]

It's 3 am, and this is off the cuff, so a bit disorganized, sorry.

The trade forums are good as it is, though the distinction between traders hall and non-rares still escapes me.
The profession forums are good for now, though longterm they're mostly storing useful info now, I think, most of which should eventually move to a wiki. Same for charts/etc as mentioned above, as well as the rares forum's subforum.
Shards should have at least their own forum, though I think each shard having a trade subforum/etc is overkill, perhaps with the exception of Atlantic.

...and never again let me get pissed mods who PM and ICQ me because I posted *rares fest* information posts in the *rares* forum, rather than in "Chessie's trade forum, because that fest is just a shard-specific trade thing, and the rares forum is only for selling server births and EM rares."

Hmmm, sorry, that last bit sounds kind of cranky... maybe because it was such an extreme example of too many forums, overzelous overclassifying things into dead forums, rather than leaving them to stay where they belonged... plus it seriously pissed me off at the time. For how rediculous that situation was, perhaps it's not actually cranky enough.

In that regard, the rares forum started as a profession forum, and over various reorgs, got moved to the trade section. We do not need (or want, I think) multiple rares forums, but people should feel free and invited to discuss rares and rares-related issues, ask questions, plan rares fests, etc. in the rares 'trade' forum.

UO communities are small these days; even U.Hall doesn't get a whole page of new threads each day. Split communities too much, across too many places, and they'll simply wither away and go somewhere else.

 

[Jirel of Joiry]

Please leave the UO Crime Forum as it is. They should have NEVER had two separate thief forums. You are a THIEF whether you steal from crates, steal steal-able artifacts,or pick players' pockets. a thief is a thief is A THIEF! I rejoiced when they combined them. Please let's keep them as they are!
Thank You.

 

[Zosimus]

Each shard should have their own forum so each shard can still have their own identity and community.

A PvP forum for all shards combined. Just have them add their shard name to the title when they start a thread. This makes it easier for other shard pvpers that may not want to read some other shards QQ.

Professional forum is a mess. So outdated really just needs restarted with newer information/templates/ and all that jazz. Then again with so many variations of templates that are not pure or so garbled up with many skills its kind of hard to class a template in warriors if it's not a warriors but it isn't a mage or paladin. For example I go to this site for my GW2 builds....MetaBattle Wiki - MetaBattle - Guild Wars 2 Builds and I can pick any type of profession and what type of build I want to use for any purpose in game. What weapons I should use, armor types, sigals, skill variations and such.. Maybe you all can figure out how to do something much cleaner on Stratics with getting rid of so many sub forums. Or just scrap it all and just let peeps ask in game or in Uhall if they need help on a build.

You have to have a general discussion forum so you will have to keep Uhall. Where else could anybody go and argue that... I am right and you are wrong... and my idea is better and there is no flaws in it.. the I want threads...and the only place you can see actual Trolls outside of UO This includes mods and posters but no real Trolls was injured or hurt during the typing of this portion of the post. Now some may be e-hurt but I cant control that

Traders forum. Just combine all forms of trades into one forum. Do the same as PvP idea above and have Shard name inserted in title of each thread.

Event forum. Not sure if there is any need since there is a calendar and can be announced on each shard forum really.

Rares forum or Rares and who cares forum? I never did and don't care either way. Rares wasn't my jelly of the game even though to some, it is their jelly to somebody else's peanut butter.

All I can say that the main home page is so cluttered up with so many forums it pretty overwhelming IF you have a new player or returning players after years of not playing looking for info. For the ones who bypass the main home page and come straight to Uhall go to the home page and check it out.

Lets add to the mix with BS making a wiki and updated uo.com how much is really needed on Stratics if the updated info is on their sites. Why waste time and energy on some forums that are being put into a wiki anyway? Most devs speak on Reddit anymore in most other MMo's if they are not using their own official game boards. Not sure why UO devs don't use Reddit which adds tons of exposure to games. UO free shards rulez on Reddit and the official one doesn't, go figure.

Then you have Facebook , Twitter which is heavily used and communication to the devs are way much easier to get their attention. So do you need a Dev forum or no?

That's just a gist of things I can come up on the fly atm.

 

[Kirthag]

wow... this convo comes up all the time.

I had discussed several times in the past of consolidating the Shard forums by time zone (or server zone) with prefixes for each shard. A lot of ppl jump within their own time zone so that makes sense.

Getting rid of boards is akin to killing a lot of what makes the Stratics Forums so special. I keep thinking of all the lost info and stories and such from the 2004 crash... it sometimes makes me sad - at other glad (for nigh were the flame wars atrocious!). People do it the "graveyard" forums - other game data, old posts, lookup of friends, etc. Just like in the game - don't try to push your own preferences on the crowd.... for the crowd might not all be into what you want.

Merging, pruning, and shuffling was done greatly at the beginning of 2015 - and LO! The populace cried foul! I literally spent days going over threads, boards, forums and such organizing things... only to have ppl send me hate mail and PMs. Kinda made me a bit upset... but meh....

Whatever the leaders of this community decide to do, it would be best for them consider this:
Forums are not content management systems - HOWEVER, the info from the forums helps form and support the content of the website side. Linking between the two would be optimal (*cough* wp <-> xf bridge can be worked *cough*) but I honestly believe it is up to the Steward Committee to come up with their ideas and no, they do not need to have the overall community's approval - but a VERY CLEAR and ADVANCED heads-up would be prudent.

I'm sure they are working on things. Don't expect it all to happen ASAP though - these people are volunteers with lives, mostly full-time jobs, families, and omgersh... they might wanna play a game sometime!

 

[OREOGL]

Best way to handle this is to review the frequency of threads in each forum. Those with infrequent and no recent postings should be removed.

This way forums that may be being used aren't getting axed.

 

[TheScoundrelRico]

Please leave the UO Crime Forum as it is. They should have NEVER had two separate thief forums. You are a THIEF whether you steal from crates, steal steal-able artifacts,or pick players' pockets. a thief is a thief is A THIEF! I rejoiced when they combined them. Please let's keep them as they are!
Thank You.

Wrong, a thief is a thief, a crate is a crate, they should have been separated, and never should have been combined. *drops microphone* ...la

 

[Elenni]

This is a great discussion folks...please keep your thoughts coming, as it's important to us in helping making decisions and implementing changes that benefit the community.

A few points I'm taking away from this particular thread so far:

1. Some people want fewer forums, some want new forums added, and some simply want a different organization of the forums. People have a lot of good points on all fronts, so restructuring the forums is going to be a challenge if we attempt it -- and making everyone happy is going to be unlikely :-(
2. Most of the suggestions about modifying the forums structure has to do with ease of finding "information" (generally statistical/topical/semi-static information) on particular topics.

From my perspective, Stratics has always served multiple purposes:

1. Providing discussion areas for community interaction, where you can voice and discuss opinions, thoughts, suggestions, latest news, ask questions, etc. This, obviously, is the Forums.
2. Posting factual documentation, guides, tables, stats, and other non-changing or semi-static reference information that can be easily located (browsing or searching) to help folks maximize their gameplay. This info rarely (if ever) changes, but retains its relevance over time. This type of content is most suited to being created and organized via some sort of CMS (content management system) outside of the Forums, but should be easily accessible or cross-referenced from the Forums. (See points by @Kirthag on this.)
3. Other reference info that may be pertinent at the time, but the relevance of the information eventually fades. Regardless, the content has historical value and should be searchable when needed. (Publish notes, in-game fiction/timeline info, event reports/dev chats, etc.) This may be contributed by the community or by Stratics volunteer "staff," pulled via RSS feeds, etc.
4. Player-contributed "content" or guides: profession template advice, tips and tricks (skill guides), RP stories or arcs, etc.

Ideally, each "type" of content should be organized and presented via the format/system that supports the need for updating and accessing it as needed. However, over the years and different owners of the site, we've separated the content portion of Stratics from the Forums. In response, the community and staff have had only one tool to publish and organize this content (the Forums). Forums do not support content types 2-4 very well.

To my mind, this is the FIRST problem that needs to be fixed. Once content types 2-4 are addressed, we are free to re-examine the Forums and organize them in a way that best represents how the community interacts and where they gather to interact. Doing so before we address the bigger problem means that we are still trying to shoe-horn content into places it doesn't belong, and that necessarily bloats the number of forums we have and how we organize them.

I hope some of this makes sense; I look forward to your thoughts about it.

 

[Giggles]

*Wonders if calling her fat would be the quickest way to no longer sucking air known to man...*

Don't forget to also accuse me of living in my moms basement. VERY important!

 

[Jirel of Joiry]

Wrong, a thief is a thief, a crate is a crate, they should have been separated, and never should have been combined. *drops microphone* ...la

Like you were such a great help to new thieves?!?!?! I so enjoyed your pissy little PM telling me to get out of the Thief Forum when I asked a question there, that "Crates" belong in UO Treasure Hunter. Then the their mod sending me a pissy PM telling me to go to UO Thief.

Little news flash La La man, Under the REAL WORLD its is labelled THEFT if I steal a pack of bubblegum or if I steal the Mona Lisa. It is differentiate by the degree. Bubblegum is a Misdemeanor. The Mona Lisa is an ultra high felony that will get you life in a French prison, and thats if the Gendarmerie doesn't shoot you while apprehending you! lol

*drops the mic CM Punk style and then makes snow angels!*

 

[Scribbles]

Every shard should have one forum. That is it. One forum.

I am thinking about the rest of the baggage Stratics carries.

This would help a ton.

As far as the rest goes... UO is huge in its things to do, it would be really hard to combine all the categories of UO life.

I personally stick to UHall, Trade forum and rares forum. The rest i go to if i looking for something specific... but even then i just use the search feature to get there.

 

[TheScoundrelRico]

Like you were such a great help to new thiefs?!?!?! I so enjoyed your pissy little PM telling me to get out of the Thief Forum when I asked a question there, that "Crates" belong in UO Treasure Hunter. Then the their mod sending me a pissy PM telling me to go to UO Thief.

Little news flash La La man. Under the REAL WORLD its is labelled THEFT if I steal a pack of bubblegum or if I steal the Mona Lisa. It is differentiate by the degree. Bubblegum is a Misdemeanor. The Mona Lisa is an ultra high felony that well get you life in a French prison, and that if the Gendarmerie doesn't shoot you while apprehending you! lol *drops the mic CM Punk style* and then makes snow angels!

LOL, where to start?

First off discussing moderator actions is a no no, STOP BREAKING THE ROC...

Next, also in the REAL WORLD, a thief is not struck by lightning and insta-killed if they are caught stealing in town, there are no mages, there are no monsters, so using your real world example is moot...la

 

[Jirel of Joiry]

Next, also in the REAL WORLD, a thief is not struck by lightning and insta-killed if they are caught stealing in town, there are no mages, there are no monsters, so using your real world example is moot...la

It's too bad Stratics doesn't have this, you'd be Thief BBQ. . .la.

First off discussing moderator actions is a no no, STOP BREAKING THE ROC...

A stupid, pissy little PM that I deleted is NOT moderator action. Its more like moderator inaction! . . .la.

 

[Spock's Beard]

There is just absolutely no way the community here is large enough that having 20+ forums is helping rather than hurting.

 

[Nexus]

There is just absolutely no way the community here is large enough that having 20+ forums is helping rather than hurting.

It may not be exactly helping, but going around merging and removing forums without figuring out how to preserve and organize the information in each one so what is useful and relevant isn't lost or displaced is something that would have to be carefully planned and organized carefully or you could cause a lot more harm that leaving them alone may or may not be causing. There are pros and cons and they have to be weighed heavily.

Let me assure you though usability and sustainability is very much on our mind, but at the moment, we're focused on auditing and taking stock of everything that is currently in place so we can evaluate and determine an order of precedence for tackling things. The Community stepped up and contributed a substantial sum towards the purchase of Stratics, we want to do the Community justice and do things right, and that may take time.

What I'd like to suggest is, going forward that discussions on this topic and other suggestions for the future be collected in one place separate from Uhall, there is too much traffic here and by the time we can focus on them. Considering the lists of tasks already working on, it is likely they will be several pages deep. Instead I'd like to ask that threads such as this one be created in the Suggestions and Ideas forum just to make it easier for us to keep track of them.

 

[Kirthag]

so move it out of UHall and put it in Suggestions.

 

[JC the Builder]

Every person should have their own forum. It would be like their own little house. You can ban people you don't want to talk to. What do you think?

 

[Nexus]

Every person should have their own forum. It would be like their own little house. You can ban people you don't want to talk to. What do you think?

Well people who have made use of the Guilds Tab here have already been doing that actually. When a person makes a Guild on the forums here, they get a forum, calendar, a Wall to post on, can set it up so they can control who can and can't access it (though you can't block staff) and moderate it themselves.

 

[Kirthag]

Well people who have made use of the Guilds Tab here have already been doing that actually. When a person makes a Guild on the forums here, they get a forum, calendar, a Wall to post on, can set it up so they can control who can and can't access it (though you can't block staff) and moderate it themselves.

but they don't get that nice guild banner under their avatar. *pouts*

 

[Nexus]

but they don't get that nice guild banner under their avatar. *pouts*

Yeah I know that came from an earlier version of the system, I'll have to contact the author about adding that functionality back.

 

[Flutter]

So during one of the threads about this site over the last couple weeks, I posted that Stratics has too damn many subforums and that I'd rather have a handful of active boards than a million dead ones. I scored a ton of likes on that post, so now that the ownership issue has been dealt with, let's talk about this.

On what planet do we need an entire separate Time of Legends forum? Why is there still a Stygian Abyss forum? Do tamers, mages, bards and such all really need their own separate template forums when all of them get posted in like once a month or something?

God there's a "UO Botany and Nutrition" forum. What, was someone afraid that one or two threads about gardening per month would bury Uhall? And there's a "UO Players Corner" that seems to exist strictly so that new and returning players can ask questions to a dead forum rather than an active one.

This place is a mess. Here are the forums we actually need:

A general discussion forum, AKA Uhall.
A trade forum, maybe with some subforums since there's actual traffic.
A PVP forum, if the mods can deal with having to look at two-sided debate.
Maybe a forum for RP and fiction crap.

And that's it. Seriously, that's it.

I kinda agree. Uhall, a trade forum, a rares forum, then homes and castles and pvp if they want to go that far. (PvP only if there's a down to earth mod). Probably a RP would be necessary too, I don't frequent that kind of forum so idk how active it would be.

 

[Spock's Beard]

I'd like to find a crafter to make me a few things on Atlantic and I don't even know where to go. Not UO Craftsman, that's some sort of mausoleum where stuff stays on the front page for months. Maybe UO Atlantic? Maybe their trade subforum? But then why not just use a general trade forum that probably gets more traffic? And if so do I want Trader's Hall or Non-Rares trade?

This is a mess. And seriously, someone tell me where I should post that thread. I need some jewels and some weapons made.

 

[Dot_Warner]

I'd like to find a crafter to make me a few things on Atlantic and I don't even know where to go. Not UO Craftsman, that's some sort of mausoleum where stuff stays on the front page for months. Maybe UO Atlantic? Maybe their trade subforum? But then why not just use a general trade forum that probably gets more traffic? And if so do I want Trader's Hall or Non-Rares trade?

This is a mess. And seriously, someone tell me where I should post that thread. I need some jewels and some weapons made.

I suggest you post that particular need to Atlantic's Gen Chat during prime time, you'd probably get a quicker response...or cursed at

 

[Flutter]

I'd like to find a crafter to make me a few things on Atlantic and I don't even know where to go. Not UO Craftsman, that's some sort of mausoleum where stuff stays on the front page for months. Maybe UO Atlantic? Maybe their trade subforum? But then why not just use a general trade forum that probably gets more traffic? And if so do I want Trader's Hall or Non-Rares trade?

This is a mess. And seriously, someone tell me where I should post that thread. I need some jewels and some weapons made.

I have a crafter on atl. If you supply the supplies I can make almost anything.

 

[Merlin]

Does someone have a full listing of every forum and sub-forum that they can post?

 

[old gypsy]

1. Although they aren't used as often as they once were, the Professions forums should remain. The occasional brand new player may need the information that is easily accessible there.

2. Each shard should be able to keep its own forum, although inactive sub-forums might not be necessary.

3. Please keep the Off Topic forum.

Other than the above, I don't have any strong opinions regarding future forum changes.

 

[Lord Frodo]

WHY
Does having all these separate hurt the performance of Stratics.
Does having all these forums degrade your Stratics experience.
IMHO this is a personal I want Stratics to look and operate like this just like all the shards are dead and should look like this.
If you do not like that a forum may or may not have a use to you than please do not open it.
Consolidating a bunch of forums may look like they have a lot of traffic but will degrade my personal Stratics experience by having to sift through all the other posts that do not pertain to a old given topic.

 

[Elenni]

I'd like to find a crafter to make me a few things on Atlantic and I don't even know where to go. Not UO Craftsman, that's some sort of mausoleum where stuff stays on the front page for months. Maybe UO Atlantic? Maybe their trade subforum? But then why not just use a general trade forum that probably gets more traffic? And if so do I want Trader's Hall or Non-Rares trade?

This is a mess. And seriously, someone tell me where I should post that thread. I need some jewels and some weapons made.

If you wanted something made on a particular shard, I'd suggest posting it on that shard's forum, myself.

When I needed plant seeds on Sonoma, I posted it there. I had a response in minutes, and the seeds I was looking for in my mailbox...and we don't have a very populated shard either

 

[Capt. Lucky]

God there's a "UO Botany and Nutrition" forum.

I've used that forum numerous times. It's been extremely helpful. Finding out what critters carry certain seeds and such. Just because it's of no interest to you doesn't mean there isn't a wealth of information there that's being accessed if there's current or frequent posting going on or not. I'd hate to think I'd need to start logging in a journal every little bit of information I might need someday when it's always been so easy to reference forums such as this one. That's just one example.

 

[Capt. Lucky]

Now what I would like... on the deader shards like Legends just have one "chat and trade forum". We're really not that busy that we need 2 forums to handle Legends business on. Probably Atlantic would be the only shard that might need something like that.

 

[hungry4knowhow]

Not sure if its been mentioned, but I highly suggest the "new" owners/staff (still new by my count) head over to The Admin Zone and start reading about running a community. This topic is a hot one.

A lot of these forums can be removed and using a proper Subject tagging system things can be just as easy to find without being so spread out. Let all trading go in the trade forums, setup tags for shards. Same with Templates, remove all the forums or condense to just a few general categories and make a tagging system with popular builds or categories.

 

[Merlin]

before we create a bunch of work for the new owners, let them get settled in a little bit first. not that this thread isnt worthy, but i hope that people who want to see forum consolidation know it would be a lengthy and labor intensive process to do it right.

aside from the forums that show on the front page, what other sub forums are hidden in other forums? i know each shard has a seperate trade forum, but what others are there? is there a full comprehensive list available?

 

[Captn Norrington]

aside from the forums that show on the front page, what other sub forums are hidden in other forums? i know each shard has a seperate trade forum, but what others are there? is there a full comprehensive list available?

There are about 250 total forums and subforums on the site. Some of them are archived or viewable by staff only though. There is no written list of them as far as I know.

 

[Taylor]

Quotes seem wonky right now, but echo @hungry4knowhow's endorsement of The Admin Zone. I believe @Nexus is already a reader/user. When I was first learning, they helped walk us through the migration of Stratics Forums to XenForo and staff forums to MyBB and later XenForo. Not to mention our 36-hour upgrade to XenForo 1.2...fun times. Our graphic designer, Catalin, who designed the cog-type theme for stratics.com/stratics.tv when all WordPress feeds went to Stratics.com, was also found there.

 

[Deraj]

Here is a forum list accessible through the quick navigation menu, and my opinions about each forum. The shard forums and their respective sub-forums should be left alone.
* denotes a sub-forum

Ultima Online (UO) General Discussion
UHall - General Discussion, leave as is.
UO Time of Legends - Consolidate with Player's Corner.
UO Players Corner - I would rename this to UO Gameplay, since it appears to be a forum primarily concerned with questions regarding gameplay.
UO Homes and Castles - Leave as is.
UO White Stag Inn - Personally I don't see the value in a "general RP" forum. Archive.
Welcomes & Introductions - Remove. I don't see the value in this forum.
*UO Player Memorial Forum - Should remain, but I am curious as to why it is under Welcomes and Intros?
UO Stygian Abyss - Consolidate with Player's Corner
UO Resources - I guess this was the Technical forum. Leave as is or maybe rename it back to Technical
*UO Enhanced Client Discussion - Consolidate with UO Resources
**Reference Library - Consolidate with UO Resources
**Pinco's UI - Leave as is, make it sub of UO Resources. (I don't see an issue with individual resources getting their own sub if the author finds it useful)
*Ultima Mapper - Consolidate with UO Resources, because it isn't used.
UO Vice vs Virtue - Rename and refocus to a PvP forum
*UO Factions - Consolidate with PvP forum or archive
Off Topic - Leave as is.
*UO Spiels N Rants - What is the purpose of this forum? Remove.
*Shards Online - Consolidate with Off Topic or archive.
**Shards Online Stratics Forums - Consolidate with Off Topic or archive.
*Shroud of the Avatar - Consolidate with Off Topic or archive.
**Shroud of the Avatar Discussion Hall - Consolidate with Off Topic or archive.
**SotA Resources - Consolidate with Off Topic or archive.
**Ultimate RPG Discussions [Archive] - Consolidate with Off Topic or archive.
**Other Portalarium Titles - Consolidate with Off Topic or archive.
***Ultimate Collector - Consolidate with Off Topic or archive.

Ultima Online (UO) Trade
UO Trader's Hall - Leave as is.
UO Rares Collector - Leave as is.
*Archive & Reference - Leave as is.
UO Non-Rares Trade - What is difference between this forum and Trader's Hall? Not a regular user so maybe someone can school me.
UO Holiday Trading - Is there a reason why this couldn't just go under UO Trader's Hall?

Ultima Online (UO) Professions
This category is a little trickier, because when considering the multitude of playstyles, defining the distinctive quality of a 'profession' becomes controversial. Therefore I offer these opinions knowing their may be a fair amount of disagreement.

UO Bard - Remove. In my view a bard isn't a distinct enough profession.
UO Botany and Nutrition - Consolidate with UO Craftsman.
UO Craftsman - Leave as is.
*Craftsman's Data Chest - Leave as is.
UO Crime - I am torn. On one hand, a thief is a distinct profession. On the other hand, stealing is so nerfed and worthless that it hardly seems necessary to have a forum for it.
UO Fishing and Treasure Hunting - Leave as is.
UO Spellcaster - Leave as is.
UO Tamer - Leave as is.
*Pet Procurers Inc - Don't have a strong opinion one way or another on this one.
UO Warrior - Leave as is.

Ultima Online (UO) Shards
As I stated earlier, leave shard forums alone (except for the Gov forum). Every shard, no matter how dead should have its own forums for its own (alleged) community.

Governors' Forum - Remove. I don't see the point of this forum at all.
UO Atlantic
*UO Atlantic Trade
UO Baja
*UO Baja Trade
UO Catskills
*UO Catskills Role Play
*UO Catskills Trade
UO Chesapeake
*UO Chesapeake Trade
*UO Chesapeake Role Play
UO Drachenfels
*UO Drachenfels Trade
UO Europa
*UO Europa Trade
UO Great Lakes
*UO Great Lakes Trade
UO Lake Austin
*UO Lake Austin Trade
UO Lake Superior
*UO Lake Superior Trade
UO Legends
*UO Legends Trade
UO Napa Valley
*UO Napa Valley Trade
*In Memorium
UO Oceania
*UO Oceania Trade
UO Origin
*UO Origin Trade
UO Pacific
*UO Pacific Trade
UO Siege Perilous
UO Sonoma
*UO Sonoma Trade
UO Asia
*UO Asia Trade
*UO Japan
**Asuka EM Forum
**Hokuto EM Forum
**Izumo EM Forum
**Mizuho EM Forum
**Sakura EM Forum
**Yamato EM Forum
**UO Korea & Taiwan
**Arirang EM Forum
**Balhae EM Forum
**Formosa EM Forum
UO Test Center
*TC Arena Test - Remove.
*Archive of Previous Tests - Remove.

Stratics Support
Any reason why there couldn't just be one single forum for all of this?
Announcements
Stratics Bug Reports
Stratics Suggestions and Ideas
Stratics Help
*Signature and Avatar Help - Remove, just have a test sig thread.

Ultima Online (UO) Developer Boards
UO Developer Feed - Leave as is.
Broadsword Contact Form - Remove. The link seems too out of the way to be useful.

Archives
Leave the archives as they are.

UO Events
*UO Atlantic Events
*UO Baja Events
*UO Catskills Events
*UO Chesapeake Events
*UO Drachenfels Events
*UO Europa Events
*UO Great Lakes Events
*UO Lake Austin Events
*UO Lake Superior Events
*UO Legends Events
*UO Napa Valley Events
*UO Oceania Events
*UO Origin Events
*UO Pacific Events
*UO Siege Perilous Events
*UO Sonoma Events
Grimm's Corner
Developer Archive
*Bug Tracking
*Fixed List
*Account Management FAQ and Info
*Ask The Devs
*Beta Testing Archive
Contests
*Stratics 16th Anniversary Contests
*Pub 71 Video Contest
Guild Boards
*UO Atlantic Shard
**The Order of Drunken Elders
**United We Fight
**Fishing Council of Britannia
**Mindless Self Indulgence (Toad Town)
*UO Baja Shard
**The Baja Roleplaying & Event Alliance
**The Black Library [Archives]
**The Hooded Crow Inn [Fiction]
*UO Catskills Shard
**The United Pirates
*UO Chesapeake Shard
**Ethereal Void Imperium
**Imperium News Service
**Roleplay Storylines
**Government
*UO Europa Shard
**Royal Arms & Armour
**Royal Arms & Armour Shop
**Alliance Discussion
**Guardians of Valor
**Guardians of Valor - Alliance
**Guardians of Valor - Guild
*UO Great Lakes Shard
**The Fishing Council of Britannia (FCB)-Great Lakes
*UO Lake Austin Shard
*UO Lake Superior Shard
*UO Origin Shard
**Kingdom of Lore
**Kingdom of Lore (Public)
**The Citizens Forum
**The Royal Council's Chambers
*UO Siege Perilous Shard
**Newborn on Siege 2

 

[Spock's Beard]

I've used that forum numerous times. It's been extremely helpful. Finding out what critters carry certain seeds and such. Just because it's of no interest to you doesn't mean there isn't a wealth of information there that's being accessed if there's current or frequent posting going on or not. I'd hate to think I'd need to start logging in a journal every little bit of information I might need someday when it's always been so easy to reference forums such as this one. That's just one example.

It hasn't had a post since December 10th and the front page still has posts on it from 2013. Is this a forum or a wiki? Turn it into an archive maybe, but nobody should be expected to post where nobody will ever see it.

 

[Scott]

Archive and combine data specific forums, incorporating wiki or linked content to JC the Builders uoguide. Leave the most active forums alone. Do not create a pvp forum unless you plan on banning all who use it - spend 5 seconds on hot-guild.com if you don't agree... If pvp content is template based, it will still become an argument factory... Good pvpers don't often share suit or template ideas on forums, they do that with guildies over chat programs. Remove all Em forums and governor forums and have then post in the shard specific forums that are tagged to stay on top.

For the most part, the forums are solid. Minor renaming of threads and a lil clean up and we are good. I think for the most part, the new design is good, but I see a lot of forums on the front page that are older. We should simplify the options of the front page to clean it up a bit... Just my 10cents.


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