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[serrate]

I can't help but notice that most rules questions go unanswered in the "official" rules forum.  I'm hoping one of you guys who work behind-the-scenes knows why this is.

It seems like the previous forum (-2010) allowed all users to discuss rules in a thread, but now only "official" types are allowed to respond.  I can see where that might be useful in not bogging down threads with what should be, and keeping it to what is.  But it also prevents knowledgeable people from answering questions that are already clearly defined in the rulebooks, by stating where the answer can be found.

Instead we end up with a forum full of unanswered questions, and eventually no one ever bothers to post a question because there's no point.  Kind of sad really.  Do you guys know if there's an intent to ever improve on this?  Or open it back up to everyone to respond to questions?

[Darrian Wolffe]

Basically, CBT doesn't have a full-time rules guru.  That's the only way to ensure that questions get answered in the way they do on, say, the WoTC forums (which DO have a full team of people dedicated only to answering rules).  Additionally, as any answers given in the Rules Forum are "official", and so they EACH must be sourced and fact-checked against all other current products (including, at this count, 5 rulebooks of 200+ pages each).  Add in to that that the people who do the question-answering are also the writers (and thus are first committed to writing new product) and they all have "real" day jobs (CGL employs about 5 people full-time), and it's not surprising that this happens.

Essentially, financial realities mean there's nothing anyone can do about it.

[serrate]

I fully agree with (or understand) everything you've stated, except for the last statement:

Essentially, financial realities mean there's nothing anyone can do about it.

I think they should turn the rules forums back over to the community, and therefore make them non-"official".  My favorite part of the old forums were the spirited discussions around various rules, although admittedly, not all questions were resolved satisfactorily (I learned a LOT from those forums).    When something appears to have an unresolvable conflict within the rulebooks, it could be escalated to the Ask the Lead Developers forum for a final answer.

There's a large community of experienced players out there that is currently untapped at the moment, a community that generally enjoys discussing the finer points of the game.  We also, conceivably, have a large influx of new or returning players due to all the box set sales.  Right now, it seems that new players would not be able to find a comfortable place to pose rules questions on the forums.  Anyone could immediately see that posting in the actual rules section is a useless exercise, as practically nothing in there ever gets a response.  And because there is an actual section for "rules questions", they may be unwilling to pose their questions in the other areas.  I feel that way myself tbh... there's not really a place for to ask about a rule on the forums right now.

For a game that's trying to grow its audience, that's not good.

[Darrian Wolffe]

Ah - the problem there is that people DO expect an "official" answer on the official rules board.  Thus, it cannot be turned back over to the fans, because they are incapable of giving official answers by virtue of not being CGL employees or people specifically designated to give said answers.  And even if a fan gives a right answer, it can't be "official" until somebody from CGL (employee or rep) goes through and does all that work to vet the answer anyway.

What you may want to do is propose to a forum admin that a non-official, user-accessible "Rules Discussion" board be added to the forums.  Outline what you've pointed out here and bring up your concerns, and you've got a decent shot at it being added during the next forum upgrade.  Your points are very valid, but CGL simply can't devote the time and resources to dedicated rules gurus (otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation), so the current and unfortunate state of the Rules forum is unlikely to change barring either a major shift in policy (the Rules Boards no longer give "official" answers) or the addition of another discussion forum.

[phlop]

But rules are brought all the time in other threads. Someone will ask about how a TC is or isn't able to be used with pulse lasers and you will get a lot of answers to the question. Not saying that they are right, but for the most part the question is almost always answered because there are tons of people that know the rule book inside and out.

[agustaaquila]

The inherent problem is that people want "official" answers to questions they ask.  There is a huge difference between what happens on the nonoffical forums and the official ones.  Its the difference between telling someone that this is what all my friends down at the pub think vs this is what several experts believe.  Its good to have the resource of the community so that we can quickly give answers to people asking, but sometimes significantly more is needed.

We have a rare phenomenon with our group in that we get along so well.  I have seen other groups open fight among themselves over minor differences in the rules, and so for groups like this having one of the big writers or developers settle the dispute is needed.  For others, asking the forum for clarification is sufficient.  Both are needed, and I like the balance as it now exists.

[phlop]

That was my point, the open questions are still there. Official answers are hard to come by right at this time.