Roll Call

[SinisterDeath]

@Niniel@Nikonis@Lenlo@SableSage@Arie@Caleb Ellis@Wolfbrother31@Lavandula@Ranch Doritos@Rissanen@Asha'man Shar'aman@GamesD3 @StarRisk @Jandu1n @fosterrl @Harldin @706Somtaaw @NotAWiseOne @Elerki @Locke @ThorkinBarrimore @Lessa Nikia @dicetosser1 @Wildfire Sedai @Mazzy @agreddon @Vanion @Ark1002 @Garalath @Talya @TheMasterDude @pminze @Kaylee @WWWwombat @Canukistani @Illian Tear @Cairos @Crimson_Ayla @Songstress @haycraftd @Ryrin @Nynaeve @Basel Gill @Jaimelai @Sooh @Dar'Jen Ab Owain @Mrs. Cindy Gill @Panchi

Hey all!
It's been a year since some of you've visited the Black Tower.
There's a pretty good chance the TV show is going to release before the year is over, and it's very likely DM is going to get a huge splash of activity.

As some of you are aware, a DM Club requires a minimum of 20 active members, and a WoT-themed clubs requires 40; obviously the only "club" close to meeting that requirement right now is the White Tower.

We've been letting that slide because the show was still a ways out. We'll probably let it slide after the show is out, but I just want to make sure that we have some kind of infrastructure in place before the show comes out.

 

If you need anything, let me know.
For those of you active, keep up the good work!

[Lavandula]

[Dar'Jen Ab Owain]

I'm still here. 

 

The format of the "clubs" has been a frustration, but I'm still here. I'll try to post more.

[Arie]

Sadly, knowing how Jason feels, it's not likely to change anytime soon. 

 

Other than a 'theme', it would be nice to have an understanding of the club's 'purpose' and how it separates from the other clubs. Otherwise it all feels the same but with a different skin. 

[Nynaeve]

Im about-ish

[Asha'man Shar'aman]

Wow! More people!

45 minutes ago, Arie said:

Sadly, knowing how Jason feels, it's not likely to change anytime soon. 

 

Other than a 'theme', it would be nice to have an understanding of the club's 'purpose' and how it separates from the other clubs. Otherwise it all feels the same but with a different skin. 

I agree with that. The problem with that is the Asha’man were literally meant to become weapons, and I doubt anyone here wants to make themselves into a weapon to Asha’man Kill with. 

[SableSage]

I'm here.

 

 

Yes, maybe things will change after the show is out. For now it's rather quiet around. ?

 

[Lavandula]

On 5/5/2021 at 1:08 AM, Asha'man Shar'aman said:

Wow! More people!

I agree with that. The problem with that is the Asha’man were literally meant to become weapons, and I doubt anyone here wants to make themselves into a weapon to Asha’man Kill with. 

Still everyone from the aes sedai, to warders, tbotrh and even the darkies in shayol ghul has a specific purpose they train for.. I'm sure if that is what it comes down too, between old and new (archives memories and brilliant creative minds) there is a way to make the BT both somewhat recognizable for those who like bt from books, and add something special that only BT offers (beyond the lovely atmosphere and people)❤

 

                      AL' AMAN!

                  AL' TAR DOON!!!

               ASHA'MAN KILL!!!!!

 

(You will have to excuse my bad old tongue?)

Edited May 6, 2021 by Lavandula

[Asha'man Shar'aman]

14 hours ago, Lavandula said:

Still everyone from the aes sedai, to warders, tbotrh and even the darkies in shayol ghul has a specific purpose they train for.. I'm sure if that is what it comes down too, between old and new (archives memories and brilliant creative minds) there is a way to make the BT both somewhat recognizable for those who like bt from books, and add something special that only BT offers (beyond the lovely atmosphere and people)❤

 

                      AL' AMON!

                  AL' TAR DOON!!!

               ASHA'MAN KILL!!!!!

 

(You will have to excuse my bad old tongue?)

Your Old Tongue is pretty good! I see a lot of people use al as "of", rather than its actual meaning of "for the" or "of the" but you got it right! The only think that was wrong was Amon. It is spelt Aman, like my name, but other than that, great job!

[SableSage]

*sigh* I really need to get those Asha'man pins. 

[Asha'man Shar'aman]

41 minutes ago, SableSage said:

*sigh* I really need to get those Asha'man pins. 

RL ones, or BT ones? I haven't been able to find any decent RL ones that match what's described in the books. Hopefully the show will inspire people to make good ones. 

[SableSage]

RL ones. Kinda cool to put them on the collars, right? *raise eyebrows*

 

4 hours ago, Asha'man Shar'aman said:

I haven't been able to find any decent RL ones that match what's described in the books. Hopefully the show will inspire people to make good ones. 

Yes, I hope so. Usually it's easier to get merchandise when fandoms get more...mainstream. 

[Arie]

I bought pins. I had them. but we moved and they are no where to be found, just the paper backing from the packages that say I bought them. ?

[Lavandula]

That sucks.. I got the ajah ring as a gift..but I stopped using it during covid I'm afraid it will be ruined from all the sanitizing..a sword pin is more covid practical..

[Asha'man Shar'aman]

7 hours ago, Arie said:

I bought pins. I had them. but we moved and they are no where to be found, just the paper backing from the packages that say I bought them. ?

That really sucks. They are ridiculously expensive too, for not looking like the real thing. 

7 hours ago, Lavandula said:

That sucks.. I got the ajah ring as a gift..but I stopped using it during covid I'm afraid it will be ruined from all the sanitizing..a sword pin is more covid practical..

That's awesome! Yeah, it might be. Plus, if you wear the Sword and Dragon, then people will clearly know you are a WoT fan!

[Rissanen]

I'm here, just not very active. 

On 5/6/2021 at 9:30 PM, Asha'man Shar'aman said:

That really sucks. They are ridiculously expensive too, for not looking like the real thing. 

That's awesome! Yeah, it might be. Plus, if you wear the Sword and Dragon, then people will clearly know you are a WoT fan!

I'm thinking about getting a tattoo. Something like this:

 

I also made a wallpaper with a quote from Lan:

I used a file sharing service because it wouldn't let me upload it.

https://app.blackhole.run/#a9b8e0a13f13DA79z7rtf2gscNmvDHgPGr51UtUQyZ6K

 

[SableSage]

Arie and Lava, I'm so jealous. 

 

4 hours ago, Rissanen said:

I'm here, just not very active. 

I'm thinking about getting a tattoo. Something like this:

 

I also made a wallpaper with a quote from Lan:

I used a file sharing service because it wouldn't let me upload it.

https://app.blackhole.run/#a9b8e0a13f13DA79z7rtf2gscNmvDHgPGr51UtUQyZ6K

 

 

I can't open the link ? 

But Lan's quotes are awesome (yes, I'm biased). 

[Lavandula]

me neither and I would love to also, but hey! A quote thread would be cool!  

Edited May 9, 2021 by Lavandula

[Asha'man Shar'aman]

On 5/8/2021 at 9:06 PM, SableSage said:

Arie and Lava, I'm so jealous. 

 

 

I can't open the link ? 

But Lan's quotes are awesome (yes, I'm biased). 

I can't get it either. It says the page is not found? 

 

And hey, I'm biased with you, friend. Lan is awesome. 

[Sooh]

I feel like when all the clubs had their different boards they were still pretty different in content. I have to admit I don't quite know Jason's full stance on the matter, but I find it disappointing that he doesn't want to promote social activity on the boards. Anyway... sorta here. Can try to post more often.

[SinisterDeath]

54 minutes ago, Sooh said:

I feel like when all the clubs had their different boards they were still pretty different in content. I have to admit I don't quite know Jason's full stance on the matter, but I find it disappointing that he doesn't want to promote social activity on the boards. Anyway... sorta here. Can try to post more often.

He does, but we're now in the age of Social Media.
Forums are dying/dead.

You can go almost anywhere online, and almost all web forums are about a specific product, (Book/Game/Software) with subforums about certain aspects of that product.  

Web forum communities that were fostered in the 2000s have almost all been eradicated.
People drifted away and replaced them with Social Media. (Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Snapchat/TikTok, etc.)

"Clubs" are Invision Community's (this forums software) response to social media.

Invision is actively working on methods that give Web Forums systems that mirror the same "endorphin boosters" that social media gives you every time you read/interact with anything. (Forums will almost never be able to compete with that).

 

Clubs, when you stop and think about it, are really not that dissimilar to subreddits.

The Club system allows Members to create communities within this community. (E.g. Orgs)
This means that the Forum Admins don't have to actually know what the community as a whole wants, as the community can create its OWN clubs (orgs) when enough people get together and petition it. 

To top that off, the club system operates in a completely differently way then the forum system.

If you were to join an Org, that Org leader would have to get in contact with a Forum admin to manually add you to a specific usergroup when they get around to it.
That usergroup dictates what boards you can read/reply to, what "powers" you might have as a member of staff. 

Club system? There's no need to contact an Admin.
Want to join? Click join. You're in. Private ones, you can be invited. Others can let you click join, but Club leader/staff have to approve you. 

That leader wants to promote someone? They can just click a button and do it. No need to try and get ahold of the Allusive Jason. No need to add them to a usergroup. 

 

Now what happens if DM starts getting 1000-5,000+ member sign ups a month once the TV show is out?
If we used the old system, we'd effectively be asking an Admin to manually add 150 new members to their Orgs usergroup every single day... and that process is literally not as simple as clicking "accept" on a member join request. Every time someone is added to a usergroup, there's a risk of human error, messing up that members permissions. That Admin might intend to add them to the BT usergroup, but accidently removed them from the WT/SG/Aiel. You can't screw up like that, in the Club System.

 

The downside to Clubs right now are innumerable. The biggest one is that the club system was only half-assed launched, and that's Invision's fault.
Things we took for granted like Nested forum structure, user-ranks, don't exist within the club system.
There is currently no way to implement multiple ranks within club structure, that have different "view permissions".
You're either a Member, Moderator, or Leader/Owner. So any Club that relies on multiple factions within factions, with nested view permissions, with their own "leaders", and "hidden boards", can't work with how the club system. currently works.

HOPEFULLY one day the Club system will improve, because a lot of the under-the-hood systems you don't see, are really great. Clubs allow for a more streamlined process with less bureaucracy, each group since doing something as simple as adding a member, or a new board, fixing board descriptions, don't require contacting the right Admin, on the right day of the week to get something really simple and benign done.

We also have this spot in the Forums
https://dragonmount.com/forums/forum/511-club-announcements/

For clubs to post their "what we are" thread, as well as a place to make monthly announcements/updates, that in the future may go out in the DM newsletter email, and the DM YouTube channel.

So you can't say Jason doesn't want to promote "social activities" on DM. It's no longer the year 2002, we have to adapt with the times; and lets be frank.

DM may have been one of the largest WoT fansites out there, DM Web forums, even during it's best years, only gets half of the traffic as DMs Twitter/Facebook accounts. If the web forums don't uptick with a show release, I wouldn't fault Jason for just shutting these down.

[Lavandula]

Firstly, how do you even get to the announcement site from the front site (i tried and it is not very easy to find) and secondly how do you announce in it?

[SinisterDeath]

11 minutes ago, Lavandula said:

Firstly, how do you even get to the announcement site from the front site (i tried and it is not very easy to find) and secondly how do you announce in it?

 

Click where the red arrow points
 

 

 

Congrats you arrived!

 

As for announcing, only Club Leaders are able to post topics in that area. Everyone else should be able to post replies in threads.

[Lavandula]

Oh I had no fancy ideas to post myself, I just thought it interesting to know. who knows maybe someone else do to?

Mmmhmmm...new is it then? Cause before newbies clearly had no idea about the clubs, when told in the welcome threads.. It's not awfully in your face is it though??

Still not all are so technologically challanged as I am, so maybe they will, or maybe they wont, time will show? 

Oh and I suppose you mean only club owners, cause I did not have the authority?

Edited May 10, 2021 by Lavandula

[SableSage]

SD has a point. Forums are not as popular as before nowadays. The fact that this forum is still around is amazing. 

 

I didn't know that the ranks within the Club is so inconvenient. So it means that once you are a Leader of one club you can do things in other clubs as well, right?