Together Retro 2017 Calendar - FINAL

[alienjesus]

I just noticed people had been discussed in this thread -- we had a private email thread going, but it kinda ended.

I'm almost thinking they need to be quick, pick-up and play games like arcade type games or something while the involvement level is where it is.

Another idea is just to do every other month?

And... is doing a full blog post worth doing at this point? Doesn't seem to get much exposure considering the work involved for those that put it together.
We could do a more casual post in the forum and leave it at that for now unless somebody thinks otherwise....

Quick pick up and play arcade games have genuinely got very minimal attention previously from what I recall. I'm not sure that is the right answer.

[noiseredux]

I kind of was thinking the same as AJ. But it's all anecdotal.

Maybe we should go through past threads and see what genres/titles/etc have gotten the most conversation for a frame of reference?

[Exhuminator]

Here's my wtf idea...

"Together Seasonal Retro"

What does that mean? This will sound silly, but hear me out guys. So four seasons; spring, summer, fall, winter. During each season, you try to play a game(s) that is both retro and somehow related to the current season. That can mean playing games that are related to the nature aspect of the season, or holidays that fall into said season. I admit this sounds corny at first, but I had a lot of fun doing this last summer and this past fall.

During summer I tried to find games that were tropical or ocean related, and during fall, played games Halloween related. Not only was it fun to play stuff that felt seasonably relevant, I also had to go out of my comfort zones to find retro games that fit the themes. I really did have a lot of fun doing this, and learned about lots of retro games I didn't know existed as a bonus. I think other people would have fun doing this too, if they tried the concept. For example, this winter I plan to play through five winter/Christmas related retro games.

Believe me, I know this sounds ridiculous at first, but it is fun once you start doing it. I think the problem with normal Together Retros is it's hard to pick out one game that lots of people will want to play. But this seasonal concept is open enough that people can choose their own retro games, as long as they fit the current season. And due to the common seasonal themes, there is a sense of community to the endeavor.

Just an idea!

[Sarge]

I like this idea. Often times, the game chosen is one I've already played through, and I'm too busy burning through new stuff (or playing my older favorites, haha!) to join in the fun.

[Nemoide]

I like the idea of a seasonal/quarterly TR.
I haven't been participating much, but a lot of that is because of the games selected. I'm not going to buy 12 games just because they're TR picks. But buying 4 games in a year? That sounds reasonable. And that way with long RPGs, I don't need to cram in over an hour of gameplay into my busy day every day just to reach the end by the end of the month.

[alienjesus]

I disagree that having 3 months to play a game will make anyone participate more. If anything, the thread activity will fizzle out in the same time frame and it'll just take 3 months before anyone pays attention to it again instead of 1.

The summer games challenge is fairly popular, and most of the post in that thread disappear after the first couple weeks. That's a thread where people can pick a selection of any games they want to play, and play any amount of them at any pace they want. It still doesn't keep people engaged the whole time.

[dsheinem]

Nick, do you have year to year forum stats (unique visitors, # of posts, new member registrations, number of threads, etc.) over time? It would be interesting to see what activity has been over time, how that has or hasn’t correlated with TR, etc.

[racketboy]

Nick, do you have year to year forum stats (unique visitors, # of posts, new member registrations, number of threads, etc.) over time? It would be interesting to see what activity has been over time, how that has or hasn’t correlated with TR, etc.

I could dig up traffic numbers, but the registrations and threads would be pretty hard to dig up.

[Exhuminator]

I didn't think you guys would go for the "Together Seasonal Retro" idea, but I want to clarify:

I disagree that having 3 months to play a game will make anyone participate more.

What I was talking about was people could jump in during a three month season at any time, play whatever game they wanted, as long as it was retro and seasonally related. They could also play as many or as few games of this criteria as they wanted. It's not "they must pick only one game and have three months to play only it".

That's a thread where people can pick a selection of any games they want to play, and play any amount of them at any pace they want. It still doesn't keep people engaged the whole time.

Yeah but in the summer thread, people are supposed to pick "classics" that are also vetted. It's a bit more strict and limiting than what I was talking about. The reason I've done the summer seasonal thing the last two years, is because some of us have played all the "classics". We need something different.

[alienjesus]

I didn't think you guys would go for the "Together Seasonal Retro" idea, but I want to clarify:

I disagree that having 3 months to play a game will make anyone participate more.

What I was talking about was people could jump in during a three month season at any time, play whatever game they wanted, as long as it was retro and seasonally related. They could also play as many or as few games of this criteria as they wanted. It's not "they must pick only one game and have three months to play only it".

That's a thread where people can pick a selection of any games they want to play, and play any amount of them at any pace they want. It still doesn't keep people engaged the whole time.

Yeah but in the summer thread, people are supposed to pick "classics" that are also vetted. It's a bit more strict and limiting than what I was talking about. The reason I've done the summer seasonal thing the last two years, is because some of us have played all the "classics". We need something different.

I think picking 'classics' would be less limiting than picking games that remind me of Autumn.

The 3 month statement was in reference to the other comment saying it'd help people play RPGs. I'm just not sure a standard 3 month cycle is conducive to ongoing discussion - shorter time intervals helps keep things fresher.

I'm not opposed to a theme idea, but I think a seasonal theme is really tough to work with.