The Game Box?

Anyone know anything about this site?
thegamebox.gamesontables.com/

Seems like maybe a group of wargamers left BGG. What happened? Is The Game Box, the F:AT for wargamers?

Yeah. it's that dude who did the wargame videos on BGG, he got tired of the heavy hand of moderation. He has an account here IIRC.

That is correct - Calandale got sick of all the hamfisted moderation and formed his own discussion board. Its pretty wargame focused.

He still posts on BGG occasionally, but doesn't submit more videos. He's even gotten moderated by Cocktavian for allegedly promoting The Game Box, something the insecure BGG mods don't like. Cocktavian even showed up on the Game Box forums a few times and got into some pissing matches IIRC. Its all pretty pathetic .

I was tuning in there until they started the discussion on what racially charged terms they could throw around and how often, and I decided it was time to leave before things got ugly. Interesting discussion on games in one thread, stupid white people showing their ignorance in the other.

It doesn't have critical mass yet (or at least it didn't three months back.) Only a few voices are contributing. It could get better over time, but Calandale would do well to learn from Reddit and understand that just because you CAN be offensive doesn't mean you should make it a policy. Short of fixing that he'll attract 12 year olds that think saying Poopie on the internet is exciting.

I've been tuning in occasionally to see if things get better. To date there hasn't been much additional content.

S.

Yes, Calendale has posted here in the past, typically in Nate Hayden threads. He's a good guy.

Looks like Judd Vance is there as well. If it's the same guy I'm thinking, wasn't he doing Dice Tower videos?

Was this like a big movement where folks packed up from BGG and are trying to make something or is the Game Box just another place where people are talking games?

I only read the first page but it refers to the GameBox.

I don't know if I would call it an exodus. Many wargamers use BGG passively - they lurk, utilize the files and content as they need to. But the moderation runs counter to what it elsewhere - Consimworld has a very low key moderation policy to say the least. So wargamers often get fed up with the BGG sterile environment and stop contributing content, but still use the site. On CSW, its very common to see users just say " I go to BGG for the files/downloads, but screw the over moderated forums". I think those that went to the GameBox feel pretty much the same way.

I'm not sure how it began, or what their motto is, but I haven't found much of interest going there, moderated or not. The content just isn't that interesting. Seems more like just an outlet for a small group of wargamers unhappy with BGG moderation. And I'm sure it started in a similar way F:AT did or that other one, The Purple Pawn one? But at least there are people here who are partially interesting. Enough so to make my rotation. That other site, not so much.

Not sure what exactly led to this split ( it seems the usual: heavy moderation, passive-aggressive bullying, perceived favouritism, sock-puppeteering, etc), but it reminded me of how F:AT came to life. I even suggested to them to have a look at this place and join ( boardgamegeek.com/article/16896990#16896990 ), but I think they were more interested in having their own clubhouse.

What are the wargamers doing that results in constant over-moderation?

Not a troll, I've been moderated for dumb shit as well, but I'm an instigator.

[quote="Legomancer" post=208930 I've been moderated for dumb shit as well,[/quote]

I think that's the point - when Cocktavian drops the hammer for shit like tipping Geek Gold for a post he deems trolling, some people decided it had gotten absurd.

There is also some agita over some supposed sock puppet antics involving a guy named Mike Dorosh that they felt Cocktavian either enabled or didn't do enough to curtail. Way more drama than I care about.

I'm late to the party.

Yeah, moderation/sock puppets/passive-aggressive gave The Game Box its birth, but it now seems to have the critical mass, in my opinion, to be self-sustaining. A bunch of my favorite BGG Wargame Forum posters went there, so I was drawn there by the discussions. While I have made my peace with the BGG moderators, I still hang out at the Box a lot more because the discussions are more interesting.
I try to hang out here. It's just the learning curve I've struggled with when it comes to maneuvering the site.

I'm glad to see a non-CSW place for wargame discussion is doing well. The more small non-BGG sites there are, the better, and I say that without wishing BGG would go down in flames or anything. It's just good for the hobby. BGG is a not a good place to have a full discussion.

sagrilarus wrote: Calandale would do well to learn from Reddit and understand that just because you CAN be offensive doesn't mean you should make it a policy. Short of fixing that he'll attract 12 year olds that think saying Poopie on the internet is exciting.

Sadly, this is an issue with many gaming communities. The bigger places tend to have lots of problems, which leads to shaky, tough action by moderators which are not accountable and often take unpopular, very subjective actions. Inevitably a line is crossed and a new "no-moderation" forum is created. This new forum then turns into shit as the only people interested in having no moderation are the kind of people who would be moderated in the first place.