Should The Acaeum expand?

Posts: 2339 · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:23 pm

Okay, since the first pole seems to be getting some input. Here's another one.

Posts: 2339 · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:25 pm

I am thinking that maybe we should put a time limit on how far ahead we are thinking here. Suppose we are making a plan for development for the next 5 years?

Posts: 3999 · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:42 pm

I have voted for expansion...but the Acaeum does not belong to me. It belongs to Foul.

Posts: 2339 · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:55 pm

FormCritic wrote:

I have voted for expansion...but the Acaeum does not belong to me. It belongs to Foul.

Fair point but again this pole is just to get some public opinion on what they would like to see happen in the next 5 or so years. If any changes should occur they would have to be cleared through Foul. I don't think Foul would be opposed to new subwebs though - especially if they are of the quality of the ones already created.

Posts: 3191 · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:19 pm

One its 'Poll' and Two, um..I think it should stay as it is but if people want to then to expand by the use of subwebs (which I don't see an option for).
ToT seems the overall picture, but it won't have the fine detail like smaller websites can do.

ShaneG.

Posts: 4545 · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:43 pm

Plaag wrote:

One its 'Poll' and Two, um..I think it should stay as it is but if people want to then to expand by the use of subwebs (which I don't see an option for).
ToT seems the overall picture, but it won't have the fine detail like smaller websites can do.

ShaneG.

I think the subwebs approach adequately covers territory, but it requires a lot of work, and I don't know a lot of us can commit.

I think at the least, subwebs should be formed for periodicials (particularly Dragon, Dungeon and Polyhedron magazines), up to 1999 or the switch to 3E; 2nd edition (cmon now a lot of it is starting to become collectible, or creeping into that territory); and 1E material published by sources other than TSR. At the very least, a detailed subweb for TSR magazines is long overdue....even if it's just 1E material. I would be willing to help anyone that is thinking about a periodical subweb, particularly Dungeon magazine, as I have complete sets of most of these.

I think ToT is a great resource; I do think the perspective is far too gigantic and that it's easy to get lost there. I like the spotlight this site gives to specific criteria.....collectible D&D....and not meandering off into covering Call of Cthulhu, Rolemaster, Stormbringer or whatever. However there does exist a lot of area we haven't covered (the aforementioned periodicals) and I think there is a lot of room for expansion. But it's all up to you/me; anyone can start a subweb and knock the ball out of the park.

I don't want to be everything to everybody; and most of all, I REALLY don't want to become an online RPG price guide. That reduces the importance of the site to just a list of $$$ signs and numbers.

Mike B.

Posts: 105 · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 4:45 am

I vote for expand but really anything and all D & D....The Acaeum should be a purely D & D resource/forum.....2nd ed, notable publishers(Goodman Games etc) and even intresting items from 3rd/4th ed. As for the extra work if I can help let me know.

Posts: 1210 · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 5:38 am

...i voted the 2nd option but in terms of priority i'd suggest to complete the set of info referred to 1E and D&D classic by adding all the relevant info: pictures of each complete printing series, contents, format, nr of pages and so on... actually i dont like to check the print run here, the contents at http://home.flash.net/~brenfrow/index.htm and the picture of the printing at ToT...
if we want a complete Acaeum we'd aim to have a real encyclopedia of TSR items here... it's nice to have so many info on the story of some items (not many, unfortunately) but the goal i would set is that anybody who wants info, should find them here, regardless or not they're already present in other websites...
then as a "nice to have" we could think to add an history auction with an efficient and effective method...

Posts: 3999 · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:30 pm

Badmike wrote:

I like the spotlight this site gives to specific criteria.....collectible D&D....and not meandering off into covering Call of Cthulhu, Rolemaster, Stormbringer or whatever.

We do this all the time.

Do you mean specific listings and/or subwebs?

Posts: 2559 · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 8:16 pm

FormCritic wrote:

We do this all the time.

Do you mean specific listings and/or subwebs?

We discuss other roleplaying systems and genres in the forums but we dont showcase them on the remainder of the site. I think Mike and I have the same opinion in that this is a D&D centric site and should stay that way.

Posts: 2635 · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:24 pm

I'm one of the dinosaurs that voted against expanding Acaeum. It serves it's purpose; let another site serve a different purpose if it likes. Smile

Posts: 177 · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:31 pm

deimos3428 wrote:

I'm one of the dinosaurs that voted against expanding Acaeum. It serves it's purpose; let another site serve a different purpose if it likes. Smile

I agree. Even though I'm new here, the thing I love about this site is its specificity.

Posts: 1210 · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 12:55 am

deimos3428 wrote:

I'm one of the dinosaurs that voted against expanding Acaeum. It serves it's purpose; let another site serve a different purpose if it likes. Smile

again, i am totally with you if you are ref to the scope... this means that 2E might be skipped... what i have written beforehand was not ref to that: as a matter of fact i'd like to see (and support) the expansion of the info already in here... it's an expansion in contents and not in scope!

Posts: 4545 · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 1:06 am

Kingofpain89 wrote:

We discuss other roleplaying systems and genres in the forums but we dont showcase them on the remainder of the site. I think Mike and I have the same opinion in that this is a D&D centric site and should stay that way.

Bingo.

I would still say that even in this endeavor, we can still go far. The aforementioned periodical index, for one, covering well known TSR periodicals like Polyhedron, Dragon and Dungeon, and lesser known such as Imagine, Beholder, and Tortured Souls that ran D&D articles and adventures. It wouldn't hurt me to see someone spin off a 2E subweb. And, anything D&D or 1E that is non-TSR probably deserves a mention. But non D&D? I don't think this is the place for that, except as topics inthe Non-TSR thread. The intermittent discussions we have about Call of Cthulhu and other games are not distracting.

Mike B.

Posts: 1348 · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:38 am

If you go all "D&D" to 2e, you are, perforce, required to go non-TSR... Mayfair, Games Workshop, Judges Guild (covered), Balboa, Little Soldiers, Wee Warriors (somewhat covered), etc etc... that's a helluva lot of work, and that's just to get it all listed -- then there are scans, descriptions, variant prints, etc etc.

I think it would rock, personally, because I'm still looking for 90% of this stuff.

It also means I could not help.

Posts: 3999 · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:56 pm

Interesting discussion.

I tend to think of D&D as encompassing all of its imitators as well as the TSR canon.

2nd Edition, at least, seems to fit within the scope of the Acaeum.

In my mind games like MERP, The Fantasy Trip, Tunnels and Trolls, Runequest, Swordbearer, Dragonraiders, Thieves Guild, Thieves World, Stormbringer, Hawkmoon and all the other knockoffs are parts of the same basic theme...essentially unlicensed D&D products.

RPG's in the other genres of horror, science fiction, dystopic future, historical, furries, humor, Japanimation and the like are also a part of the basic D&D family in my mind.

(Granted, my focus is on game play, so the actual statistics given in any publication are secondary to elements like tone, setting, artwork, maps and adventure hooks. In this context, game system is less important than ideas.)

The recent MERP discussions, and the awesome listing that one of our members has built, show the value of subwebs on specific topics. I would love to see a MERP subweb attached to the Acaeum.

I don't see how specificity is a virtue in this context, or how additional subwebs would detract from the AD&D knowledge base already in place.

My view is probably influenced by the fact that my time on the forums outweighs my time on the website valuation listings by as much as 200 to 1.

When I think of the Acaeum I tend to think in terms of the collective brain trust and massive meta-collection shared by its members. The more of that meta-collection that gets recorded in words and scans the better.

Posts: 140 · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 6:24 pm

Id vote to expand the Acaeum into Afterglow territory.

"D&D and AD&D 1E products by TSR and other companies."

Posts: 2525 · Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:06 am

I have to agree with 'nn'.

I don't have the time to dedicate to Afterglow2.co anymore, but with the knowledge base out there for all the early D&D stuff, on both Afterglows and Tome of Treasures, there's a good solid foundation for a Subweb covering non-TSR D&D and AD&D. It's a shame TFM has been alienated from this forum, and we don't see much of The Scribe either, but both had extensive collections and a lot of knowledge to contribute to such a site.

For the most part, the purpose of Acaeum is to gather and distribute accurate clear information about our hobby. That is why the site is the first (only?) port of call for newbies and wouldbe eBay sellers, and why the non-TSR and Collecting Appraisal forums are so popular. And with such a large chunk of what we collectors spend our money on going to non-TSR published works on eBay, it would be a good think to bring the all the data together under one URL.

Now' I'd do it myself, but seriously I don't have the time, not even to be a propper lurker anymore. Infact I come here so rarely now, I'm not even a groupie.

Posts: 1756 · Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:55 am

I too would like to see some expansion - certainly there is a case for non-TSR, as well as some of the earlier smaller non D&D systems. I regularly find myself searching the forums for some bit of print run or pricing information on a non-D&D item. So it would be great to have it up there. An intermediate step would just be to just gather it together as text (afterglow stylee), then if the hands were available, to organise it into a more formal and illustrated system. And unfortunately like almost everyone else here I also do not have the time to jump in and organise this.

However I do have some time, and am willing to help a bit. If someone were to organise the beginnings of a moderate expansion, I would be happy to give up an hour or two a week to do whatever was needed to help online. If enough people were able to help a little - and if the work could be split to match - some expansion might be possible?

Posts: 128 · Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:23 pm

I would like to see all of the early non-d&d TSR products covered. Everything up 'til 1983ish...