Armchair Dragoons Forums

Wargaming => Intel Dump => Topic started by: bayonetbrant on December 28, 2021, 11:33:40 AM

Title: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bayonetbrant on December 28, 2021, 11:33:40 AM
What are some things you'd like to see change with The Armchair Dragoons in 2022?


Things to improve?

Things to add?

Things to discontinue?


Heck, tell us what things we need to keep doing and not change, if you're happy with them!
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bayonetbrant on January 27, 2022, 02:05:11 PM
clearly y'all think this place is perfect :)
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Steelie on January 27, 2022, 02:08:00 PM
ISSUE: Too much pressure from management! It's stressful having only a month to come up with an answer, especially when sarcasm is required.

SOLUTION:  Ask again in a month or so   8) :bigthumb: ;D
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: mcguire on January 27, 2022, 02:48:52 PM
clearly y'all think this place is perfect :)

Everything you do is wonderful! And no, those pantaloons don't make your butt look big.

 :-* :-* :-* :-*
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: judgedredd on January 27, 2022, 03:54:50 PM
More emphasis on the Front Page
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Steelie on January 27, 2022, 05:24:31 PM
There's....a Front Page?


C'mon, you know SOMEONE was gonna say it!
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bob48 on January 28, 2022, 06:55:54 AM
It was almost me, but I thought better of it.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: BanzaiCat on January 28, 2022, 08:35:25 AM
Yeahhh...Brant never gets tired of that one.  ;D
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bayonetbrant on January 28, 2022, 10:30:56 AM
Yeahhh...Brant never gets tired of that one.  ;D

don't you have an old game you should be buying? :whistle:
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bob48 on January 28, 2022, 11:27:13 AM
...can't be many left now........................
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Metaldog on January 28, 2022, 12:05:00 PM
It was almost me, but I thought better of it.

Same here :)
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Steelie on January 28, 2022, 12:06:44 PM
I don't tend to think better of things nor control impulses well, which explains a lot.....including my un-played Steam collection.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Metaldog on January 28, 2022, 12:36:12 PM
Along with it probably being a bit of a pain brant's ass, it's also a pretty overplayed joke.  Still didn't stop from me thinking about, and almost, doing it ;)
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bob48 on January 28, 2022, 12:41:36 PM
<sigh> same here, but if we didn't, it wouldn't be who we are.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Sir Slash on January 28, 2022, 12:52:35 PM
I am VERY happy here, wondering the halls and checking out all the little rooms and hiding places. I'm just wondering why all the doors are locked and the windows have bars across them?  ???
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Metaldog on January 28, 2022, 12:58:46 PM
For protection.  From who and what?  Only you can decide :)
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bob48 on January 28, 2022, 01:38:05 PM
Stop asking awkward questions and slurp yer gruel.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: thecommandtent on January 28, 2022, 03:16:29 PM
Stop asking awkward questions and slurp yer gruel.

Wait, you guys get gruel? I'm lucky to get a piece of stale bread
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Steelie on January 28, 2022, 03:44:25 PM
You get stale bread? I have to walk uphill in the snow (both ways) for whatever crumbs are left in the bag!
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bob48 on January 28, 2022, 04:00:12 PM
Crumbs! Crumbs! We used to dream of crumbs.................
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: BanzaiCat on January 28, 2022, 06:28:54 PM
You get stale bread? I have to walk uphill in the snow (both ways) for whatever crumbs are left in the bag!

Luxury!
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Sir Slash on January 28, 2022, 11:11:22 PM
Steelie gets a bag!? And crumbs?! All I ever got here was a nice Hawaiian Punch once.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: mcguire on January 29, 2022, 03:11:16 PM
Obligatory visual:

(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F64.media.tumblr.com%2Fc0f123613e8ee9cab5d4ca5aff4f5bdb%2Ftumblr_pr384r44kt1relg8bo1_500.gifv&f=1&nofb=1)
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: judgedredd on June 21, 2022, 04:13:55 PM
One thing I'd like to see is more AARs.

They are time consuming - so something like what I did recently would be nice - just to show off components and gameplay/mechanics would be good.

Of course that's not something you could do different here - there's already an AAR section. Maybe some encouragement for people to do some.

Apart from that, I can't think of anything that might spruce the place up tbh. I think it's pretty well covered and I know you don't get much credit for it - but the Tuesday News Days and the Unboxings and the work you put in are very welcome.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bob48 on June 21, 2022, 04:21:29 PM
I agree about the AAR's. I'm as guilty as anyone else at not doing as many as I could.

One shall try harder!
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bbmike on June 21, 2022, 05:54:09 PM
I also agree about AARs. The one thing I would like to see, though, is people actually replying to the AAR as it goes along. It's discouraging to put that time and energy into one and not get any feedback or comments on it.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bob48 on June 22, 2022, 06:29:04 AM
Agreed  :bigthumb: I think it would encourage people to do more AAR's if there was more interest shown.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: judgedredd on June 22, 2022, 08:26:53 AM
I agree. I don't do them for the plaudits or to think I'm special. I do them to help people understand the mechanics and to try and show the joy the game brings.

It can be a lonely place to post. It is disheartening. Tolstoi done his best with my latest bless him.

Maybe there's something we could do to make them more engaging? Writing a lot of text and throwing up some images might be ok for some. Perhaps others might engage more if they were kind of story driven, or maybe if there's less "mechanic" in it and just more gameplay.

When I do them I try to show the mechanics because after all, you might like a write-up of a game that's made to sound like a story, but you might not like the mechanics of said game.

I don't know the answer tbh. It can be a lonely place...I know that.

Also though - I notice the same thing happens in the Tuesday News Day and unboxing articles/threads. Not even a thank you more often than not.

Ultimately, we can do better to support everyone here I guess.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 22, 2022, 09:11:22 AM
I find all aars very interesting, I have written many - I’m also guilty of not contributing to others simply because I’ve nothing to say other than hooray or bravo and that seems so mundane in the grand scheme of things it’s easier not to - it’s certainly not ignorance or disinterest
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: BanzaiCat on June 22, 2022, 09:16:42 AM
I've had an idea for an AAR, ever since I did that Silent Victory one over at The Other SiteTM, which would involve multiple games and characters that are in some cases, related. Or, a game within a game, too.

I mapped out about 30 games to cover WW1 and WW2, and perhaps other conflicts outside of this, as a way of telling a story of multiple generations. It would not only talk of how the game plays, but would read much like a story in the vein of Wouk's 'War and Remembrance.' Sort of an epic-level AAR spanning multiple games and publishers.

I'd already played a campaign of Beneath the Med, notating dates and such. I intend to do that with other games, and then align everything as needed. It would jump around a bit, so I think it would need to deploy in two ways - one, as individual AARs for each game, and two, the epic itself in a large PDF-like document. The only issue is, I'm not sure anyone would really want to spend the effort to read it. This is honestly more for my own need to satisfy a craving for creativity, and I'm thinking if anyone gets any kind of interest or satisfaction out of it themselves, then so much the better.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bayonetbrant on June 22, 2022, 09:30:59 AM
Truthfully, it's not just AARs.  Look at the numbers of comments we get - either in the forums or directly on the articles - for any of our articles or podcasts out there.

And it's not just us.  Go look at PaxSims and see how many articles have comments on them.  Go look at Big Board, or No Dice No Glory, or Real and Simulated Wars, or any of the others.  At least half of TPA's articles don't have comments and they're one of the biggest sites in the space.  RPS gets a lot of comments but their audience is in the tens of thousands.

So yes, it can be disheartening, especially when we've got some articles that are specifically asking for audience feedback.  Folks like Gary & Moe that get a lot of interaction are specifically interacting with their audience in a live give-&-take so that's totally different than what we're doing

We get few comments on the links to our articles we post to other social media, whether Twitter, or FB, or CSW, or BGG, or anything else.  Even when we ask for those comments, we don't get them.

So I hear you - I definitely do.  It can be disappointing.  But it's also not unique to us, so don't take it personally :)
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bayonetbrant on June 22, 2022, 09:31:45 AM
Sort of an epic-level AAR spanning multiple games and publishers.

that's how AR ended up with a book deal and his first novel published  8)
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: judgedredd on June 22, 2022, 11:06:14 AM
I find all aars very interesting, I have written many - I’m also guilty of not contributing to others simply because I’ve nothing to say other than hooray or bravo and that seems so mundane in the grand scheme of things it’s easier not to - it’s certainly not ignorance or disinterest
I can see how they feel mundane - it's not about having an ego massaged or anything like that but those themselves show "someone somewhere" is enjoying it. Maybe not quite that mundane - but you know, "That's an interesting mechanic". The author already knows people are looking because of the Views count on the thread.

But I tend to agree with you that showing an actual interest is really what I like to see. Tolstoi asking questions about Fields of Fire showed he was not only reading it, but that he was interested enough to want to know more than I was providing. And that also keeps you thinking about the clarity of your AAR.


I've had an idea for an AAR, ever since I did that Silent Victory one over at The Other SiteTM, which would involve multiple games and characters that are in some cases, related. Or, a game within a game, too.

I mapped out about 30 games to cover WW1 and WW2, and perhaps other conflicts outside of this, as a way of telling a story of multiple generations. It would not only talk of how the game plays, but would read much like a story in the vein of Wouk's 'War and Remembrance.' Sort of an epic-level AAR spanning multiple games and publishers.

I'd already played a campaign of Beneath the Med, notating dates and such. I intend to do that with other games, and then align everything as needed. It would jump around a bit, so I think it would need to deploy in two ways - one, as individual AARs for each game, and two, the epic itself in a large PDF-like document. The only issue is, I'm not sure anyone would really want to spend the effort to read it. This is honestly more for my own need to satisfy a craving for creativity, and I'm thinking if anyone gets any kind of interest or satisfaction out of it themselves, then so much the better.
Like a game in Battle for Normandy, followed by Last Hundred Yards, onto a Bulge game? But starting in WWI?

Seems like a huge task - but also seems interesting and might scratch that itch for creative writing you seem to have.

But - that is going to require huge dedication. Also, readers would expect progress given the theme - which puts even more pressure on you.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bayonetbrant on June 22, 2022, 11:27:00 AM
which puts even more pressure on you.

C'mon now.... if there's anyone who is adept at ignoring pressure around here, it's got to be BC!  :cowboy:
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bayonetbrant on June 22, 2022, 11:27:22 AM
https://twitter.com/ADragoons/status/1539578638940659712

Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Barthheart on June 22, 2022, 03:57:35 PM
With 1 retweet and 2 likes but no answers….
I can’t answer not on Twitter.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bob48 on June 22, 2022, 03:59:00 PM
I dont use Twitter.
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: judgedredd on June 22, 2022, 04:01:18 PM
^ same...sorry
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 22, 2022, 04:04:07 PM
Me too

Just us old folks here
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bob48 on June 22, 2022, 04:05:02 PM
I have enough problems with FB.........................
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: bayonetbrant on June 22, 2022, 04:44:03 PM
With 1 retweet and 2 likes but no answers….
I can’t answer not on Twitter.

23 votes so far (only been up since this morning)  top 2 are tied w/ 34.8%
Title: Re: The 2022 Suggestion Box
Post by: BanzaiCat on June 22, 2022, 04:51:36 PM
Like a game in Battle for Normandy, followed by Last Hundred Yards, onto a Bulge game? But starting in WWI?

Seems like a huge task - but also seems interesting and might scratch that itch for creative writing you seem to have.

But - that is going to require huge dedication. Also, readers would expect progress given the theme - which puts even more pressure on you.

Kind of. I'm willing to let the 'major events' occur as they did, perhaps slightly differently, depending on the narratives that develop.

I'm thinking of, say, Absolute War The Russian Front, then if they get to Stalingrad, switching to Stalingrad: Inferno on the Volga. And when that gets close to Pavlov's House, switching to that game.

It sounds like it might be disjointed but I intend it to read like a novel. And given any particular time frame within a larger war, there won't be too many things going on at the same time. I can see two pilots, brothers, one in Nightfighter Ace and one in Interceptor Ace; their father perhaps was a Zeppelin commander in Zeppelin Raider. Lots of ways to do it.

And oh yes, I know progress must be made. Which is why I would not release it until it was finished.