Should We Move "Computer Gaming" to the Specialty Forums Section?

[Nz17]

Simple enough: would you be in favor of moving the "Classic Computer Gaming" forum to the Specialty Forums section instead of having it as a sub-forum of "Classic Gaming"?

I believe being higher up in the hierarchy would help get CCG more visibility, threads, and posts.

[Rickstilwell1]

Moving it up in the hierarchy is a good idea, but making it go toward the bottom of the page isn't as much because then people have to scroll down to see it instead of it being in view the instant you get to the forum page.

[The Adventurer]

It should be a main heading under Video Gaming as Life. Just don't separate between Classic and Modern when it comes to PC gaming.

It definitely is getting lost being stuck up inside the Classic Gaming thread. And just being about 'classic' PC (which even more nebulous a description then 'Modern Gaming')

[Jorpho]

I think it's pretty nice where it is, personally.

[Neb6]

It should be a main heading under Video Gaming as Life. Just don't separate between Classic and Modern when it comes to PC gaming.

It definitely is getting lost being stuck up inside the Classic Gaming thread. And just being about 'classic' PC (which even more nebulous a description then 'Modern Gaming')


I think this this a good solution to the problem.

Either that or leave it where it is.

Moving it to the specialty forums wouldn't work very well, IMHO.

[Gameguy]

I keep forgetting that this section exists, I just don't see it enough. I agree that it should be posted under Video Gaming as Life, and it should allow both classic and modern discussions together. There have been several posts under Modern Gaming about upcoming PC games that could have been posted under here instead, including various kickstarter posts.

[Buyatari]

Give it a shot and see what happens.

[Gandhara]

I think its a good idea, im actually more of a classic computer gamer than console, id like to see more activity :)

[Griking]

It should be a main heading under Video Gaming as Life. Just don't separate between Classic and Modern when it comes to PC gaming.

It definitely is getting lost being stuck up inside the Classic Gaming thread. And just being about 'classic' PC (which even more nebulous a description then 'Modern Gaming')


Agreed. Computer Gaming isn't a "specialty" forum any more than console gaming is. Putting it down there would hide it just as badly as where it is now.

Also, I notice that computer Gaming topics never seem to be moved into this forum when they're posted in the wrong areas the way other off topic conversations are moved to their correct forums.

Examples are threads about current Humble Bundles and Steam. They should all be moved here.

[Rickstilwell1]

Simple enough: would you be in favor of moving the "Classic Computer Gaming" forum to the Specialty Forums section instead of having it as a sub-forum of "Classic Gaming"?

I believe being higher up in the hierarchy would help get CCG more visibility, threads, and posts.

So you've heard that most people think about moving it as a main heading under "video gaming as life" as the best idea. Are you going to do it or are you just testing us and just going to sit there doing nothing about it?

[o.pwuaioc]

My vote is for it merging all retro stuff into one forum. I forget half the time that other forums exist, and try when I remember to check this one, which isn't too terribly often (me remembering, that is).

[Edmond Dantes]

I think it's pretty nice where it is, personally.

Same.

To interject personal B.S., I feel like if this were turned into "all computer games" I'd come here and see dozens of threads about Diablo III, Skyrim and other games I can't play and thus don't give a rat's tail about, and I'd rather not have that happen.

[Griking]

Same.

To interject personal B.S., I feel like if this were turned into "all computer games" I'd come here and see dozens of threads about Diablo III, Skyrim and other games I can't play and thus don't give a rat's tail about, and I'd rather not have that happen.

If you can't play computer games then why would you visit a computer game forum to begin with? Again, I'd love to see a better promoted PC Gaming forum. Make it all encompassing, old computer games to the latest Steam releases. Steam and PC gaming is more popular now than it arguably ever has and deserves more than being a hidden sub-forum that most people don't even know about.

[Edmond Dantes]

If you can't play computer games then why would you visit a computer game forum to begin with?

To clarify: I can play classic computer games (basically anything that'll run in DOS, Windows 3.1, and/or Windows 95/98).

I can't play modern ones that require fancy computers tho.

[Tupin]

To clarify: I can play classic computer games (basically anything that'll run in DOS, Windows 3.1, and/or Windows 95/98).

I can't play modern ones that require fancy computers tho.
So why can't other people who can have a place to?

[Edmond Dantes]

So why can't other people who can have a place to?

I never said they couldn't. I just said I don't want Classic Computer Gaming to be turned into All-Purpose Computer Gaming.

Just make a Modern Computer Gaming forum. If they need a yardstick, anything that'll run on Windows 98 or earlier is "Classic."

[The Adventurer]

Same.

To interject personal B.S., I feel like if this were turned into "all computer games" I'd come here and see dozens of threads about Diablo III, Skyrim and other games I can't play and thus don't give a rat's tail about, and I'd rather not have that happen.

I, on the other hand, would find a lot of use for a place to chat about those new PC games.

And a place to to talk classic games. I don't know why it must be an either/or situation.

[Soviet Conscript]

Same.

To interject personal B.S., I feel like if this were turned into "all computer games" I'd come here and see dozens of threads about Diablo III, Skyrim and other games I can't play and thus don't give a rat's tail about, and I'd rather not have that happen.

agreed, that would be my fear as well


I, on the other hand, would find a lot of use for a place to chat about those new PC games.

And a place to to talk classic games. I don't know why it must be an either/or situation.

also agree. I guess the perfect solution would be 2 separate forums for classic and modern PC gaming. its as silly to merge them as it would be to merge the classic and modern console gaming forums.

[Jorpho]

There's really not that much of a distinction between current "modern" console games and current PC games.

[Griking]

Same.

To interject personal B.S., I feel like if this were turned into "all computer games" I'd come here and see dozens of threads about Diablo III, Skyrim and other games I can't play and thus don't give a rat's tail about, and I'd rather not have that happen.


If the forum were moderated then you'd ideally only find one post for each Diablo and Skyrim.



There's really not that much of a distinction between current "modern" console games and current PC games.

You mean other than the quality of the graphics and ports, mods and workshop support , the different forms of DRM that some PC titles have. Or what about the many PC gaming bundles that go on sale weekly?

[Jorpho]

Yes, and the PCs tend to run Windows and have mice and keyboards. :p

[JSoup]

I'm really not sure why we really need a computer gaming forum at all.
Need a place to talk about classic computer games? We've got a classic gaming board.
Need a place to talk about modern computer games? We've got a modern gaming board.
Over specialization is what kills small forums like this.

[Gameguy]

This subforum got started because any topic on computer games in the other forums quickly got burried as most people here are console folks and would only reply to console related threads. Of course, instead of getting an easy to see section for all computer games we got this small classic only computer game section shoved into the back corner existing almost entirely out of sight.

This wasn't meant just for PC games, it was for all computer games for all computer platforms which would be pretty large, if people actually wanted to talk about those.

As for dividing classic and modern games, it's not needed at the moment. Plus it would make it easier to discuss new releases, sequels, or remakes to classic games which would technically be modern games, yet be mostly interested in by the classic crowd. If there's talk of a possible sequel to a franchise where the last game came out almost 20 years ago, who would really be interested in this news? The arcade section isn't divided like that for modern or classic games, so it's not really needed for PC games either. Not unless it gets busy with lots of posts. The only way to really know is to move the forum and see if posts pick up.

[Rickstilwell1]

Well it looks like it finally happened. The other reason I am glad computer gaming still has it's own section is because computers often need discussion about how to run things and more frequent help topics because they're not all simply just plug and play. You have cross compatibility across multiple ages of games and such. You have Windows/Mac hybrid games. And then you have questions about how command line required for running games differs from one system to another. For example how to get a game disk started on a Commodore 64 or how to get it started in DOS.

When I was a kid I had a "large floppy" version of a DOS computer I never got to use because my family and I didn't know the command to boot the games or other programs from floppy. I needed a word processor for school and I wasn't even sure which disk if any that I had in the box had one of those. Nowadays I would have just gone on the internet, asked a question and gotten an answer and enjoy myself with those retro 80s games.

[Gameguy]

I'm glad it's been moved, now I'll start adding more topics. I do agree with your point on their being more technical posts towards computer games which is another reason why this separate section should stick around, or for other topics on hardware options in general. Stuff usually too geeky for the main console sections.

[Griking]

I'm really happy that this change was made. There's actually people in the forum now when I visit the site.

[Nz17]

Happy to oblige. :)