Hello & Don't Panic

[EICJoe]

Hello!

My name is Joe Robinson – I am the new Editor-in-Chief of Pocket Tactics & Wargamer.com

First off, I know the past couple of weeks have been confusing and there hasn’t been much from official channels – let me begin by apologising for that.

Now that I’m here, there’s going to be a lot more communication going forward. If you have any questions, concerns or queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

Who I Am / Why I’m Here

You probably won’t know me, but I’ve been in the video-game industry since 2oo7/8. The first six years were spent as a writer, mainly working for websites such as Strategyinformer.com (Now known as GameWatcher), and I’ve also written for Rock,Paper,Shotgun and PCGamesN. For a stint I was Deputy Editor and Marketing Manager for Strategy Informer, so I’ve run websites before.

For the past two years I’ve been in Videogames PR, mainly working on eSports and Ent-Tech clients – Riot Games, Super Evil Megacorp, Faeria… It was different, it was fun.

But my experience and a lot of personal passion lies in strategy games, and I’m very much looking forward to taking up this new role. Just in case this hasn’t been made clear already, Wargamer & Pocket Tactics are part of the Slitherine Group, and based out of the group’s headquarters in the UK.

I can assure you I have complete editorial control. I wouldn’t have taken this job if that wasn’t on the table, but I’m well aware of the questions that a dynamic like this can raise. You don’t need to worry about it though – I got this.

Ultimately, In order for these websites to succeed and survive, there needs to be an Editor-in-Chief at the helm overseeing everything. We are fortunate to be part of a larger group which can provide a certain degree of stability and financial security for both websites which allows us to focus on what’s important – the content.

My mandate is to both steer the two websites in terms of editorial and direction, but also to control the financial management through advertising and other ventures. I intend to take full advantage of these unique circumstances for the benefit of you guys, the readers.

Going Forward

For the next couple of weeks, things are going to continue pretty much as they are. I need to sync with all the writers still around, I need to get settled into my position here and I need to get some planning in place. Content will continue to be sporadic for a bit, so please bear with us.

I have ideas for both websites going forward, including the mystery third website. I don’t want to try and turn these places into something they’re not, but I do feel there’s room to grow, room to expand, and I will try and talk more about my vision over the coming weeks. I’m very excited, to say the least.

I will want to hear from you guys though – what you want for the sites, what drew them to you in the first place, etc… you guys were here first after all, so your viewpoint is important.

If you have any questions about any of the above, or anything else, feel free to email me: joer [at] wargamer [dot] com

My twitter handle is also: @AGameOfJoes

You can also post below - I'll leave the thread open.

[whovian223]

Welcome, Joe!

I will be interested to see how the site moves forward under your editorial control.

One suggestion I do have, whether it's for you or someone you designate, is to not forget the forums when talking about the direction of the site and your plans for it.

I would really love to see a revitalization of the community that the forums on the old site generated. I was just starting to get involved when things went down the crapper. A lot of good community members left.

I plan on sticking around to see how things go, but I hope part of your plan involves the community, not just the site itself.

[EICJoe]

Welcome, Joe!

I will be interested to see how the site moves forward under your editorial control.

One suggestion I do have, whether it's for you or someone you designate, is to not forget the forums when talking about the direction of the site and your plans for it.

I would really love to see a revitalization of the community that the forums on the old site generated. I was just starting to get involved when things went down the crapper. A lot of good community members left.

I plan on sticking around to see how things go, but I hope part of your plan involves the community, not just the site itself.

Thanks Whovian!

Not to worry - I won't forget the forums. My priority for the first couple of weeks is getting the content cycle back on track so that you guys have something to talk about, at least. In the interim, I hope to look at implementing any "quality of life" changes that will improve your experience while here, and then we'll look at proper engagement things I hear the tournaments are quite popular, so would love to see them continue.

[biffpow]

Joe--welcome and congrats! PT has been through some major changes over the last couple of years, but it's still a great group of people interested in a lot of the same things.

Thanks for the announcement note and for the friendly, open thread. I second whovian's thoughts on the forums 100%--we all participate a lot here and value that.

Hopefully, you can also find a way to make the forum interface better--adding the capacity to add a "like" or show awe/happiness/WTF at posts, making it so that replying to a post allows you to actually still see the thread as you write your reply, etc. Basic forum stuff that was removed when PT switched to this new UI/design. The current forum software is quite bad in terms of the user experience, honestly.

Good luck with the new position--very glad to have you on board : )

[souldan]

Welcome Joe.

I hope now that we have an new EIC the good ship PT is steadied and i'm looking forward the site getting back to its best.

Dan

[Blanchot]

Not to worry, I'm quite relaxed here. Don't mind me.

I'm going to go ahead and lock this thread down - I think we're just beating a dead horse at this point. Your concerns have been heard loud and clear!

You're also more than welcome to pick up this conversation in another sub-forum, or my introductory post in 'Announcements' for anything relating to me and my role here.

If you have any other questions about any of the issues discussed in this thread, please don't hesitate to either PM me here or email me - joer [at] wargamer [dot] com

My door's always open for you guys.

Dear Joe,

I do have a couple of questions...

While I can appreciate that the entire thread was off-topic,—focused on form and content of your debut post rather than on the subject itself (Eon Altar)—was a "lock down" really necessary? While your position as Editor-In-Chief obviously provides such an option it does seem a wee bit heavy handed. Yes, you claim to have got the message "loud and clear" but surely there is some good to be found in allowing a saddened, disappointed and frustrated community to air their views and concerns amongst themselves? Given free reign I'm sure the thread was about to peter out on its own.

But okay. My second question concerns generally moving forward. What in your view is the difference between Pocket Tactics and Wargamer.com? And if there is a difference how do you propose to support that difference?

Thanks!

[EICJoe]

Dear Joe,

I do have a couple of questions...

While I can appreciate that the entire thread was off-topic,—focused on form and content of your debut post rather than on the subject itself (Eon Altar)—was a "lock down" really necessary? While your position as Editor-In-Chief obviously provides such an option it does seem a wee bit heavy handed. Yes, you claim to have got the message "loud and clear" but surely there is some good to be found in allowing a saddened, disappointed and frustrated community to air their views and concerns amongst themselves? Given free reign I'm sure the thread was about to peter out on its own.

But okay. My second question concerns generally moving forward. What in your view is the difference between Pocket Tactics and Wargamer.com? And if there is a difference how do you propose to support that difference?

Thanks!

Hello Blanchot,

Sure, I appreciate your concern that my locking down of the thread was a bit heavy-handed. Perhaps it was, but I honestly didn't see much use in leaving it open as, in my experience, topics like this that have sparked so much passion can be prone to abuse. Someone might waltz in a week from now and snipe at someone else, debates get re-hashed over and over... like you pointed out, it had gotten off topic, so I felt it was necessary to draw a line under it.

But I didn't want to stifle the conversation entirely - you are 100% correct in that it's important for the community to be able to air their problems, concerns or frustrations with me or in general, that's why I invited people to either come talk here, or start up a new conversation in another sub-forum. I'll even create the thread for you, if you really want.

Hope that helps, and thank you for trying to see things from my point of view.

With regards to your second question, I do see them as two separate entities at the moment, each with their own identity, culture and needs, but there's plenty of common ground to be had.

Wargamer, for example, I see as being very hobbyist, focused on a very specific niche but one that has some room for interpretation. I feel it's lost it's core voice somewhere along the line (nobody's fault), which is something I want to try and fix.

Pocket Tactics, on the other hand, I see as being a place not only to discover genuinely interesting/decent mobile games, but also a great place for great discourse, to talk and share. And, as I've just learned the hard way, a place of genuinely excellent writing.

Some things both websites share is a passion for getting together and playing games (Wargamer's original incarnation was simply a place for people to organise getting together), and shared love of expertise. I could say 'strategy' but that's a very base connection. Expertise I feel can sum up the thinking and planning that goes into wargames, as well as the quality of content and products talked about on PT.

These are just some initial thoughts though - I'm still trying to find my feet here. As I mention above, I have some ideas, I have a 'vision', but It's important I learn all I can first so that I don't try to impose something that just won't work. I also have to try and attract more/new audiences here as well.

I will share more on this when I can but I don't want to be in a rush to make any big changes.

[Blanchot]

Thanks for your reply Joe.

[Snotty128]

Hi Joe,

Welcome aboard!

One of the most missed features from the old forum was the like button. We could all 'like' a post we agreed with to show we acknowledged it without having to spam the threads with 'I agree' type messages. In fact there were a variety of like style buttons, similar to what facebook has now.

I dont know if its in your power to implement this feature here, but I know you would instantly ingratiate yourself to a lot of people if you could bring this feature about.

[EICJoe]

Hi Joe,

Welcome aboard!

One of the most missed features from the old forum was the like button. We could all 'like' a post we agreed with to show we acknowledged it without having to spam the threads with 'I agree' type messages. In fact there were a variety of like style buttons, similar to what facebook has now.

I dont know if its in your power to implement this feature here, but I know you would instantly ingratiate yourself to a lot of people if you could bring this feature about.

Hello Snotty,

Yes it's something that's been brought to my attention a couple of times already. We are looking it

AFAIK the only way we've seen to implement it so far is to update to a beta version of the forum software. We'd need to fully explore what that could mean first, but this and a couple of other changes are high on the Devs' To-Do list.