Official GW forums?

[Philip S]

I may have missed it, I've been away for a bit ( ), but where are the forums on the 'Warhammer Community' page?
 
Edit: I ask because I saw this article from 2018 (which doesn't have B&C!), and under Number 1, is says;
 

"It's much more than a mere forum and functions as the official website for the Games Workshop hobby in all its forms."

 
Which sounds great. I thought that perhaps the studio and creatives are financially interacting with the fans! But when I followed the link I couldn't find the forums. Where the forums removed since 2018?

Edited May 14, 2021 by Philip S

[Xenith]

There is no official GW forum. I recall there may have been one ~15 - 20 years ago, but this disappeared when GW totally retracted from engaging with their customers (2005 - 2015). The method of communicating with GW staff now is via their facebook pages for the various game systems. 

 

EDIT: 

 

Found an old link on the waybackmachine:

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20020825191712fw_/http://uk.games-workshop.com/community/40kforum.htm

 

Last posts ~2002. 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Xenith

[Philip S]

To be clear, there has never been a forum on the Warhammer Community?

[Halandaar]

To be clear, there has never been a forum on the Warhammer Community?

 

There has not.

[Trokair]

They are using the word forum in a more dictionary definition verging on archaic sense, and not forum as in internet community with posts and such (like this one).

 

The forum they refer to is Warhammer Community itself.  

[Philip S]

They are using the word forum in a more dictionary definition verging on archaic sense, and not forum as in internet community with posts and such (like this one).

 

The forum they refer to is Warhammer Community itself.  

So, let me get this straight: the 'warhammer-community' hub on GW doesn't actually have a 'forum' in the sense most on the internet would understand it, or allow comments, and therefore does not have a 'community' on the community page?

[TrawlingCleaner]

 

They are using the word forum in a more dictionary definition verging on archaic sense, and not forum as in internet community with posts and such (like this one).

 

The forum they refer to is Warhammer Community itself.  

So, let me get this straight: the 'warhammer-community' hub on GW doesn't actually have a 'forum' in the sense most on the internet would understand it, or allow comments, and therefore does not have a 'community' on the community page?

 

Yes, it's a way for GW to share news or releases, schedules, hobby projects etc but does not allow comments or discussion. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Twitch are the only ways to interact with the community team

[Philip S]

Thanks everyone for clearing that up for me.

[Xenith]

For what it's worth the text you cite specifically says that the Warhammer Comminity site is not a forum:

 

"much more than a mere forum"

 

Warcom as a website has never had a 'forum' in the sense we understand it, as in the B&C is a 40k forum. Warcom runs a lot of articles that share ideas, however information flow is one-way, and unless you are specifically friends/heavily involved with the 40k scene, your opinion largely wont be asked. 

[Halandaar]

For what it's worth the text you cite specifically says that the Warhammer Comminity site is not a forum:

 

"much more than a mere forum"

 

Agree that in context GW meant it as "this is better than a forum, and is not one", but I can understand how that phrase might be interpreted as "better than your average forum".

[Noserenda]

Tbh forums like this one are starting to feel a bit archaic these days, id say what i think has replaced them but then ill definitely sound like an out of touch old man lol

[Brother Tyler]

Tbh forums like this one are starting to feel a bit archaic these days, id say what i think has replaced them but then ill definitely sound like an out of touch old man lol

Things like Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat have become pre-eminent, with discussion forums like the B&C seeing much less activity. People are much less interested in actual intellectual discussion and are much more focused on quicker outlets. Whether that's good or bad depends upon whom you ask.

 

It's a shame that GW shut down their forums, limiting a lot of the feedback loop from the community. To be fair to them, though, despite some of the constructive discussion that took place there was way too much toxicity. Reducing the feedback capacity to short comments reduces the workload on GW (in cleaning things up) and preserves the focus on whatever GW content has presented.

[Magos Takatus]

It is a shame that those of us that want to post constructive posts are unable to due to the toxic nature of the old GW forums. I post on Instagram but that's more like a spot for me to post models that don't fall within the permitted topics on B&C. I suppose I'm just a bit old-fashioned in that I prefer these forums to places like Reddit. I don't really feel the same sense of community that I do here.

[Dark Shepherd]

If they had a forum forum now theyd need an army of mods

 

Even Facebook is a much more placid place

[armarnis]

Tbh forums like this one are starting to feel a bit archaic these days, id say what i think has replaced them but then ill definitely sound like an out of touch old man lol

 

you think so? i think its quite the opposite, this quickpaced "spit out your stuff" format that facebook and reddit is leads in my opinion only to pure personal information gain. its only about satisfying the own need "to know" something. i think that is good portraied in the immense amount of repeating questions about rules, fluff, hobby. while oldschool forums propagade more a place to delve into the acumulated knowledge already posted.

to me, an oldschool forum compares to teaching somebody how to catch fish while "asking google" or posting on facebook (and similar platforms) is more like gifting away a single fish

[Warhead01]

I have a friend who I recall being fairly notorious on the old GW forums. He can't help but drop a wall of text when  he would post back then and as I recalled argued a lot. I never really used that forum as I wasn't really on the internet the way I am now. 

I feel GW not having a dedicated forum is for the best. I see how they moderate their FB posts and good or bad that would be a full time job for a whole department if they brought back forums and they took off. 
I'm not really a fan of the other places to talk about Warhammer. I feel like it's a thousand voices yelling into the darkness to have their way. 
I also feel that the Internet has defiantly had a hand in changing the hobby to what it looks like today, good or bad. some aspects are way too hivemind for my tastes, but it is what it is. 
 

[Doghouse]

I remember the old GW forums, loved it during the black crusade event but understand why they shut it down but still a shame.

 

For me there is only the B&C, don't do Facebook, Instagram or any other social media type quick fix.

 

B&C always has been and will be home for me.

[Lord_Ikka]

The old GW forums were a mess, and pretty toxic in general. WarCom is basically GW's version of a newsletter- they are able to get out information like FAWs and rules updates, post previews and hype new releases, and plug whatever they need- for good or bad it is their official news site. Making it, for the most part aside from yearly surveys, a one-way communication street was a smart move on their part; they no longer have to deal with moderating a real forum but they still are able to get their product news out fairly efficiently and respond to general player attitude quickly (compared to the old GW at least). 

 

As far as forums go, I think Facebook/Insta/whatever have their place- I use them for local news and/or posting pictures of my painting. Facebook and Discord are pretty useful to get a handle on your local gaming scene, I use them often to discuss minor stuff or figure out what events are happening. As far as old-school forums go, B&C is my main forum- I use it to project log and get into in-depth discussions about rules/lore. Each has their uses and functions, but since I mainly use Facebook/Discord on my mobile phone because they are convenient I find typing out lots of text annoying, so B&C has become my PC site of choice. 

[Kastor Krieg]

The new social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) have none of the permanency for discussion to be had like here. The only possible alternative would be the Reddit format, but that's a horrific cesspool.

[Noserenda]

 

Tbh forums like this one are starting to feel a bit archaic these days, id say what i think has replaced them but then ill definitely sound like an out of touch old man lol

 

you think so? i think its quite the opposite, this quickpaced "spit out your stuff" format that facebook and reddit is leads in my opinion only to pure personal information gain. its only about satisfying the own need "to know" something. i think that is good portraied in the immense amount of repeating questions about rules, fluff, hobby. while oldschool forums propagade more a place to delve into the acumulated knowledge already posted.

to me, an oldschool forum compares to teaching somebody how to catch fish while "asking google" or posting on facebook (and similar platforms) is more like gifting away a single fish

 

Im just looking at numbers tbh, seems like considerably less forums around these days and less people posting on the ones that are left. I thought it was just the 30k ones as that was my primary focus for a while but it feels like a pretty universal downturn in other similar hobbies as well as wargaming (And i do have solid numbers from such a thing i was involved in). I mean obviously anyone reading this finds forums useful, they are after all, using a forum to see it :D 

[armarnis]

 

 

Tbh forums like this one are starting to feel a bit archaic these days, id say what i think has replaced them but then ill definitely sound like an out of touch old man lol

 

you think so? i think its quite the opposite, this quickpaced "spit out your stuff" format that facebook and reddit is leads in my opinion only to pure personal information gain. its only about satisfying the own need "to know" something. i think that is good portraied in the immense amount of repeating questions about rules, fluff, hobby. while oldschool forums propagade more a place to delve into the acumulated knowledge already posted.

to me, an oldschool forum compares to teaching somebody how to catch fish while "asking google" or posting on facebook (and similar platforms) is more like gifting away a single fish

 

Im just looking at numbers tbh, seems like considerably less forums around these days and less people posting on the ones that are left. I thought it was just the 30k ones as that was my primary focus for a while but it feels like a pretty universal downturn in other similar hobbies as well as wargaming (And i do have solid numbers from such a thing i was involved in). I mean obviously anyone reading this finds forums useful, they are after all, using a forum to see it

 

 

i totally agree with you in that point, forums are probably following the path of the dodo, sadly. i think its kind of an hallmark for our socialpolitic whereabouts, information is demanded quickly (ask google, look it up in wikipedia) and the interaction of passing on knowledge is getting lost (or maybe even unwanted, looking how many people ask for something, report back they try out this or that and just dont care to update "the swarm" on the results). personally i feel its strongly related to ever quicker ways of communication and the rising of platforms like instagram. people get to show their stuff quickly, have their questions answered very quickly and are easily (but unhumanly) rewarded by a quick hit of a like of a heart. but its just quick and without enduring meaning, discarded and forgotten as soon as something new more important arises without means to preserve it for the next person looking for the same.

[Dark Shepherd]

Its also a lot of forums put people off forums, its fairly cordial here but I cant think of a similar 40k forum that isnt a turlet

[Leonaides]

And thats the problem. Rights and responsibilities n all that jazz. The moderation on this board has stopped b&c devolving like some of the other old boards/forums which have gone downhill over time as the more reasonable posters have either been silenced by electronic dog-piling or have decided they don't like the general trend of posting memes, poor opinion shouting itself as fact etc.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

Yeah if bolter and chainsword wasn't around, I couldn't see myself joining the alternatives I'm aware of. Thank you Mods.

I really do think most of the forums that are left do turn people off to the ideal of using them.

 

That said IMO youtube has had a bigger impact on the decline of forums than Instagram or Facebook. It's really easy to find relevant videos and it can be easier learn more from them.

[Brother Tyler]

I think that we also need to recognize the impact that the wikis have had in making information available and reducing the need for lore-based questions.