The Goblins Fan Forum

Thunt is a master story teller. Okay, we knew that.
But then there were these, uh, obstacles in his way, just like in a D&D game. Conjured up by a chaotic evil game master, in all probability.

And the way I see it today, after having followed this comic including all drama from the very beginning - we now can witness our hero emerging from the depths. These last few pages - breathtaking art.

I admit, I admire Thunt. Now everybody repeat after me!

And what the actual FUCK, the forum is dead? What happened to the fan community?

Well, update speed is down, and there were similar threads earlier, e.g. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1862

Not much to discuss in such a topic anyway, since most of us agree with you.

Changes_everything wrote: ↑Fri Oct 26, 2018 11:05 am And what the actual FUCK, the forum is dead? What happened to the fan community?

I just came back after almost a year of basically forgetting that this webcomic exists. Have barely any updates to read up to.
God knows when I'll come back, if at all. Probably not the only case of someone drifting away. Plus, this comic seems to be on a six month hiatus every twelve months or something, which is the reason I stopped checking on it in the first place.

A quick glance over the forum makes it seem pretty dead, at least compared to its heyday back when this comic updated three times a week.

Changes_everything wrote: ↑Fri Oct 26, 2018 11:05 am And what the actual FUCK, the forum is dead? What happened to the fan community?

I have a theory, but nobody wants to hear it, which is also the evidence which supports it.

We might want to read it though.

Wolfie wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:19 pm We might want to read it though.

I doubt that you do. You've shown substantial evidence that your mind is not open on these matters.

Ugh, such pretension. If you're so confident that stating your theory is a bad idea, why did you speak of it in the first place?

BuildsLegos wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 2:25 pm Ugh, such pretension. If you're so confident that stating your theory is a bad idea, why did you speak of it in the first place?

Inability to completely suppress my seething resentment.....

Personally, I only lurk around here whenever a strip is released, and only for a few days because discussion on it tends to die out after that.

That said, yep, I admire Thunt. The forum's not completely dead, just...slowwww......

redfeather wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 2:21 pm

Wolfie wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:19 pm We might want to read it though.

I doubt that you do. You've shown substantial evidence that your mind is not open on these matters.

How about me? I'm interested in your theory.

I decided to read after Christmas whatever's there, kind of as a present from Thun to me Many thanks in advance!!

This works out for me as a good compromise instead of getting disappointed by the irregular pace of updates. Actually I recommend that for heavily story driven webcomics as this one, If you can bring up the patience. Adds much to the reading experience, being able to read larger parts of the story for the first time in one go.

Only one month and a bit to go, really looking forward to Christmas this year, hehe

I check every few weeks for a new page. But as Manu said, it's probably better to not for a few months then read all at once.

redfeather wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 2:21 pm

Wolfie wrote: ↑Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:19 pm We might want to read it though.

I doubt that you do. You've shown substantial evidence that your mind is not open on these matters.

Not everyone is a zealot. Some may genuinely be interested in what you have to say. Though there are other places where criticizing web comics is more open and acceptable.

Even if it's as bad as the dreaded Koregath theory, (now dead & buried, thank Herbert) I'd prefer to explain to you -at risk of being overly-passionate, but your apprehension helps dull that- how wrong it is than be told that you have a theory and be left in the dark as to what it is.

Surely, if you've given this theory enough thought that it's worth speaking of, you'd like your doubts either justified or defied with logic and/or explanations.

Very well. My "theory" is that because the forum has overzealous moderators, who are constantly stepping in to silence dissent, many people who would otherwise participate are seeing that the Thought Police have this place locked up tight, and they go elsewhere so they can have discussions that aren't subject to draconian censorship. I think that because a tiny handful of very vocal oversensitive persons get offended, and complain, and demand that people be stopped from saying things they don't want to hear, that most other people just don't want to come here to talk in the first place.

I have not experienced the moderators here as "locking the place up".
If you want such a place, go see the starcontrol forums of StarDock.

Personally, I find the mods here doing a fantastic work, preferably arguing, then warning the more aggressive members, usually with a pointer where the topic would be more appropriate.

I don't know many who got actually banned here. (1 case comes to my mind in the about ten years that I am forum(s) member.)

I don't think it's the moderators per se. I also don't think it's about people actually being banned, and more silenced/driven away.I don't think this forum is very accessible for newcomers for instance.. Were the same bunch of 30-years-somethings sitting around having the same discussions over an old and slow webcomic parodying a no longer published role playing game. We're also quite good at calling eachother names and arguing a lot. If I came across this place today, even as a 30-year-something rpg nerd, I would pass it over and move to greener and more friendly discussion boards.
Moderators are a bit to concerned with the content of the discussion and a bit to little concerned about the tone of the discussion, if I were to say what I prefer. There are a few subjects that gets shot down quickly, and I can't be bothered to remember if it was the moderators or people in general who do this.
TL;DR: With more discussions and less arguments, and a bit more welcoming tone, I think this forum would do a lot better. Moderators could help more with tone.

If you want to discuss RPG games, other boards are content wise better suited anyway.

I'm here for the comic, and the discussions around that.

BTW, thanks for making me younger. :)

Krulle wrote: ↑Sat Nov 17, 2018 10:07 am If you want to discuss RPG games, other boards are content wise better suited anyway.

I'm here for the comic, and the discussions around that.

BTW, thanks for making me younger.

Cool. I'm also here for the comic. I think you are the exception I saw when I clicked through peoples profiles a bit back. I think I saw someone at 25, and then a bunch of 29-35s.

Krulle wrote: ↑Fri Nov 16, 2018 3:07 pmI don't know many who got actually banned here. (1 case comes to my mind in the about ten years that I am forum(s) member.)

Your memory is correct. In the entire history of the Goblins forums, exactly one person has ever been banned. Although he was banned twice, since he made a second account within weeks of being banned, and continued the behavior that got him banned in the first place.

I literally don't even look at the sections of the board outside the Goblins Discussion sub-forum. And I'm OK with that. I've learnt plenty from reading discussions here I wouldn't have known or considered about the comic, and that's mostly what I'm interested in.

RocketScientist wrote: ↑Sun Nov 18, 2018 2:25 pm

Krulle wrote: ↑Fri Nov 16, 2018 3:07 pmI don't know many who got actually banned here. (1 case comes to my mind in the about ten years that I am forum(s) member.)

Your memory is correct. In the entire history of the Goblins forums, exactly one person has ever been banned. Although he was banned twice, since he made a second account within weeks of being banned, and continued the behavior that got him banned in the first place.

Unless, of course, you count people who got banned in a knee-jerk reaction whose ban then got lifted again afterwards. Blue Amaranth comes to mind...

Wasn't BA banned (and unbanned) by Thunt, and not by a mod?

This post seems to refer to Thunt having done some bad and inconsistent decisions himself.
And this post is Thunt's view of the story.

And Thunt is not a "mod"erator here, he has admin access.
IMHO Thunt is not a moderator here, and his actions are not necessarily reflecting the stance and behaviour of the mods.

Tone is hard to moderate, especially when written and certainly when translated by or from a non-native English speaker. (We have many non-native speakers here.) What is culturally accepted one place, is not necessarily accepted elsewhere. The tone for a written passage is definitely up for interpretation all around. We've tried to moderate by tone before and received a lot of backlash for it.

We are not trying to silence anyone. We are trying to keep people within the rules as stated.

Besides, if you take umbrage with one of the moderators or Admins, please bring it to our attention. We are not above the rules or protected by them. We do, and have, policed our own. We are human and prone to be wrong on occasion.

If you have issue with any of the rules that we have, please let us know. We can discuss, either via PM or in open discussion, why we have those rules and whether they should be modified. And yes, we will keep an open mind.