But beyond that, I plan to see this plan through to a usable idea that then we can propose to Ceel perhaps as well.

That is a good idea.

How would the portal work really? Would news from all the boards even be needed?

Well , it was just one suggestion, but only if people can keep it going otherwise no, could be a nice feature though, but not necessary.

To describe my thinking more, having a kind of ongoing showcase of all the boards listed would be very useful and a very good idea.

This could involve, the staff of the site , and / or various members of it giving their take on their own community.

What could also be nice is perhaps if each board involved decided to 'showcase' some of their all time favourite Roleplays to show off their boards work. (a bit like we do here)

Could then a have a section where you have a small listing of some of the best RP's from each site. Again not necessary, but if everyone contributed, you would get the best from each community which would be nice, especially for those who are new.

Or would a simple java site with a graphic ad per side suffice?

Yes, of course, at least it is a start, and it is probably best to keep things simple, perhaps enough to show people how it could work.

Also would my idea of having a site of the month also in your minds be good? (have the links in a ring and every month move a new one to a prominant larger spot in the middle)

I guess the best way to solve any arguements as far as 'listing placement' may go, would be to 'cycle' all the boards involved every month / week etc. So everyone has a time at the top so to speak.

I think a rep from each board to vote on this kind of thing would be useful.

Titus, this is your area, you have any thoughts or ideas how we could implement this?

An idea if we have someone really good at Java is to have it so each site is on a single page then you click say the TGC banner or mouse over it and then the information about the site comes up, which can include a little history, favorite threads, whatever.

We will have to win over each site one by one for this but I want to see it work.

Well, once people see something tangible being made, and the potential it has then i think it would be hard for people not to admit its usefulness.

The more we get onboard then the more interest it will generate, like a 'snowball effect'

So I would say the most important thing is to make sure its done right and fairly (of course) , and to actually make something that works, (so the technical design side of things has to be done correctly).

As for the webpages, its a good idea but maybe too much, if we can keep everything to one page if possible it would simplify things, though of course if others wish to add more in depth pages for people to learn more about their community i don't see why not.

It would be a mouseover summary



(TGC has removed the Genius's who hate us thread due to concerns of members and myself)

Well, I agree to simplicity. Even mouseovers may be too much at this point. Just have each board who wouldn't mind being featured on it being represented by kick ass art...

Perhaps links in the art to forums (ie: a board's introduction forum)

As for positioning, there doesn't have to be prominence at all. Depending on how many boards are represented... (say if there are four, divide a circle in quarters and each quarter has art advertisement for their particular board.)

Simple start... build and streamline from there slowly as needed.

True, the showpiece would be once its established. So who should head this to othre boards like epics? I will try to get Millenium, Sith Lore, and Yoda Yarns.

WTF are you yammos babbling about?

Go back to roleplaying. You don't need a collective gathering of thousands of Star Wars fans to roleplay. You only need a handful of good writers. There's larger communities and smaller communities all over the place. Try theforce.net forums for a larger crowd. Try TRF for a smaller crowd. You're all wasting your time arguing over nothing if you as me.

Its not arguing, its discussing an idea to have all the boards accessible from a single portal source, thus helping star wars rping in general. Never fear I do role-play, a lot as I am certain your members do as well.

I can't... for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is; assuming we could move ahead with something like this, to whom does individual Intellectual Property (as I've mentioned) belong to? The Author, surely, but in part also all those involved in a collective community effort. The issue here, is trust. I trust everyone at TRF with my Intellectual Property. I don't trust Ceel. I don't trust half of the people who hang around the guy, birds of a feather and whatnot.

Which is to say nothing of the legality. I do agree that it would be best to regard this matter in as objective a fashion as we can manage, but if such a thing is not possible where does it leave us when considering the end result?

Also... I've only heard two communities mentioned at length in this discussion. That seems symptomatic of something.

What do the others think?

Sith Lore will join in, Epics I will rely on Ahnk to get them in. Millenium I can convince probably to join. Yoda Yarns as well. The site I am not certain, would it be run by a neutral party decided on by all the boards and the admins send desired info/graphics to that person?

A portal with just graphics and links of course at first. Then how would be allow more people to join? Have people submit their link, and those in the portal decide to accept or not via email?