The Winter of the Forge looms near
Alfryd:
Quote from: Ron Edwards on November 01, 2010, 09:39:39 AM
Hi everybody,
I aim to move the Forge into its winter stage by the end of the year. For those of you who don't know this, I announced quite a while ago that the Forge was never intended to be a permanent site. Especially since, well, bluntly, I (and Clinton, and Ed Healy, and a lot of other people active at the founding) have unequivocally won the battle we wanted to win. "The Big Bang has Bung," I like to say.
Uh... I'm kinda new here, and I don't dispute that the theories expounded and developed here have had a tremendous impact, but... I just don't see the compelling benefit of closing down the site entirely (which presumably happens at the end of the Winter phase.) I mean, regardless of whether you've 'won' the battle you originally intended to, the knowledge and discussions that take place on the forge is a great resource that, to my knowledge, isn't readily available anywhere else on the net. There will, presumably, always be indie games designers struggling to get their ideas off the ground, and ways in which RPG experiences can be expanded on and improved. As long as that's the case, I wouldn't forsee the forge becoming obsolete.
I mean, in one of the earlier threads, I think you mentioned that "I can't hold hands and wipe noses forever". Well, I mean, fair enough, if push comes to shove and you feel obliged to rescind your role here for personal reasons, I can understand, but I don't see why that requires taking down the site as a whole. Are there no other moderators that you feel you could entrust the general task of 'stewardship' to?
Callan S.:
Hi Alfryd,
It's going an archive format, as I understand it, so it's not dissapearing. How to actually organise that archive though so it doesn't dissapear out of being an information chaos, I'm baffled on that one. I've had a couple of lists of threads, but they are pretty idiosyncratic to me, not exhaustive and I think the first list is on my old hard drive, sitting on the shelf. I think plenty of talk has been done - it's getting at it via archive that seems a problem to me.
Ron Edwards:
Hi Morgan,
One step at a time. I have my own notions about the eventual archive, and they're good enough to develop in the possibly lengthy time remaining to the forums. There's no point in getting anxious about the Forge simply disappearing. I aim for more of a legacy than that.
If anyone wanted to set up their own website for people developing their games which tapped into that archive, that'd be quite nice. I am considering doing something of that kind myself, and as I see it, more than one center or sub-center for such activities would be a good thing.
Best, Ron
contracycle:
I don't think any structure or body of thought survives as a real and effective force without human activity. Only people, engaged and involved, and organised, keep concepts current and relevant. In shall wait and see, but I hope this doesn't amount to disbanding the regiments that won the battle and thereby ultimately losing the war.
Alfryd:
Quote from: contracycle on November 20, 2010, 06:14:01 PM
I don't think any structure or body of thought survives as a real and effective force without human activity. Only people, engaged and involved, and organised, keep concepts current and relevant. In shall wait and see, but I hope this doesn't amount to disbanding the regiments that won the battle and thereby ultimately losing the war.
That's sort of what I mean, yeah. Digging through the archives is all well and good, but it's access to the participants in those debates and their insights that's the real resource here. Sure, in theory, you could shut down the active site, archive the discussions, and essentially hope that enough forge-ites are willing and able to migrate to new sites devoted to the same general topic that you can see the same kind of dialogue taking place. I just don't see the inherent benefits to that second diaspora. The first diaspora was about- as far as I can gather- shedding undesireables to preserve the core of the community. This is shedding the core of the community to save... what, exactly?
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