Are the forums required reading to play the game?

Delrona

 Every time I log in, and check most recent posts, Sewer posts always rank high. I read them, get depressed and decide I don't want to play. Can I just skip checking the forums and not missing anything important?  I'm not really certain if I am supposed to keep up on certain threads or not.

Sena

Most players don't use the forums at all, and even fewer bother to read everything. You can play the game for years without visiting the forums once, if you want to.

They will help with keeping up to date with current events and changes to the game (and you'll often see changes discussed before they're actually changed), so it can be beneficial to read them. Especially when it comes to combat and class balance. But you won't be missing much if you skip the ranting and drama (primarily The Less Aggressive Menace).

Sena

Delrona said:

Is there a way on the forums to indicate a section to be ignored? I see where I can bookmark them, but not ignore.

On the home page, a gear icon will appear when your cursor is over a category, it gives you the option to mark that category as read or hide that category. Hiding it will also prevent threads in that category from showing up in the recent discussions.

Sarapis

The sewers are aptly named and can be safely ignored. Nothing important gets discussed there. It's largely a bunch of childish, schoolyard bickering between the same 10 or so people.

Sarapis

Delrona said:

 Every time I log in, and check most recent posts, Sewer posts always rank high. I read them, get depressed and decide I don't want to play. Can I just skip checking the forums and not missing anything important?  I'm not really certain if I am supposed to keep up on certain threads or not.

Thanks for pointing that out, btw. Sewer posts will no longer show up on recent discussions.

Multon

I'm pretty certain they are not essential. And the sewer seems very far from essential reading...

Melodie

Forums are not at all essential to read the game. At BEST, you can read through the topics in North of New Thera and the Golden Dias and be plenty fine in "keeping up". The rest is just (potentially interesting, or potentially drama-inclined) filler.

Avoid the Sewers if they're depressing you. You can ignore sections so you never see them ever pop up, if you like.

Jurixe

If the administration wants you to be updated on the forums, they will include a link to the post on the Announce boards.

Otherwise, your playing experience will probably be massively improved avoiding the forums altogether, really. Come back when you've explored more of the game and not let cynicism ruin it for you.

Delrona

Is there a way on the forums to indicate a section to be ignored? I see where I can bookmark them, but not ignore.

Tibitha

Not sure about mobile but on desktop, if you go to Categories and hover over a Category a little gear symbol pops up o  the right.

Clicking that gives you two options "Mark Read" and "Hide". I assume "Hide" hides it.

Herenicus

Maybe the sewers should be hidden by default. 

Khairt

I avoided forums for many years, only posting in leaders once that I remember for submission of the mojushai house charter because Maya made me . I went inactive in game for a bit and when I came back, new forums was a thing. Having spent my time in achaea ignoring almost 90 percent of the player base, I do find I enjoy reading diverse opinionation from a much larger sampling. I find it helpful to think of myself as dante wandering through them, though. Witness to suffering and torment, but not of it. Abandon hope, indeed!

Mishgul

the forums ruin the game, and also people, for me personally more often than not. 

Delrona

Thanks for the tip on how to ignore a section. I often find it helpful to ignore trouble makers, but since they focus on the Sewers and I ignore that section, I am finding a lot more positive stuff.   

Nicaara

After seeing this is the first time I've ever engaged in reading Sewer posts. I now also feel sad. For people.

It's kinda like they're all still 12, but this time they have better grammar.

Jules

Even though a few of us still have some age old rivalries we just can't seem to shake, the vicious dogpiling that almost always used to accompany those rivalries is actually becoming rare.  People just mostly aren't engaging in it.  This alone is absolutely huge.  In short, it was worse.  A lot worse. 

Removing rants from recent conversations might help slow down our "F5 effect" so that I actually have to leave for a few hours and come back later to see if anyone's posted anything interesting - although, rants are active because they're engaging, even if they're pretty unsavory, and we're just a pretty active forum that never really goes quiet, so I guess we'll see.  At the very least, a lot of people may just not notice the change for a bit, and that alone might slow activity in that section. 

Herenicus

People bring legitimate gripes to the sewers in the absence of more topical threads. In an effort to be environmentally friendly, we treat severe or reoccurring clogs with harsh abrasives only where gentler soaps have proven ineffective. Sanitation will always be a dirty business, satisfying to few. But the next time you have waste disposal issues, please be encouraged to enjoy your sewers responsibly.

Austere

@Sarapis why not just hide sewer by default,  and allow it to be unhidden via normal means.. Not seeing rants in recent posts really makes using a mobile even more of a pain. .I don't see the point in punishing every mobile users bandwidth because a few people cannot control themselves.. Believe it or not,  good things have came from the rant section,  but if you insist on hiding it from everyone, might as well just delete it.  

Bluef

Austere said:

@Sarapis why not just hide sewer by default,  and allow it to be unhidden via normal means.. Not seeing rants in recent posts really makes using a mobile even more of a pain. .I don't see the point in punishing every mobile users bandwidth because a few people cannot control themselves.. Believe it or not,  good things have came from the rant section,  but if you insist on hiding it from everyone, might as well just delete it.  

Yep.

When I was brand new to Achaea, some 12 years ago, I can remember @Erhon telling people in Ashtan to "Take it to Rants." I had no idea what this meant then. But since that time I've come to understand: Rants serves a purpose. Imagine an Achaea where all that passive (and not so passive) aggression finds its way IC because there is no where else for it to go. Ranting can be very cathartic and I think it helps to keep drama out of the game more than it brings it in.

I would very much like to see what @Austere is proposing here implemented for all threads -- Let us bookmark and hide the threads we want to see, so we don't have to sort through pages of threads we're not interested in.

Herenicus

People can always yell into designated ranting clans, giving others the opportunity to opt out. I won't shed a tear when the sewers are gone; constructive criticism will go on elsewhere when Ranting With The Stars ends for good.