News Monkey's wanted ....

[Frustrated Father]

We're awfully hard on our monkey's around here and when they aren't pandering to the public by bringing the news we've usually got them slaving away on one thing or another or loan them out on weekend parties and never get them back quite the same.

Animal cruelty ... I blame Eric cause I can.

Anyhow, due to life, schedules and the like we find ourselves in need of News Monkey's who are able to take continued abuse and bring the news about new releases and the like within the miniature and gaming hobby.

What do you get ... admiration and adoration of lead fans around the world. No, really. We'll also throw you the occasional bone to gnaw on in the way of sneak peaks into miniatures and concepts as well as some free lead from time to time when I can remember and I'm not a ball of stress about upcoming conventions and the like.

:ahhhhh:

We have a couple about right now that fit that role as time allows but I want to bring on two to three additional individuals into the mix and let you fight to the death in posting news and ferreting out information. You'll have to dive through the net, subscribe to mailing lists and threaten anyone on the inside track that you can get your hands on for the sake of bringing the news for us to discuss and ooh and ahh over.

Holler!

.... or else.

[EricJ]

We pay in bananas!

But really, for a time the news forum here was non-stop packed with everything new out there, and it added a great element to the forums, we'd like to see that happen again. And in addition, once Nathan figures out his forum games, think about all the power the post count and all those thank yous will get you :D

[Brushmistress]

I'm in, if someone can tell me where to start (which of course probably means I'm not qualified!!!)- I love little metal people and occasionally little resins ones.

[demonherald]

I noticed there wasn't as much info around as there used to be...some folks are just too busy...
I ca do my bit but not regular enough to ba classed as a news monkey.. maybe a news pigeon picking up the little tidbits some have left behind.

[Ritual]

Like Rob, I do some occasional news reporting when I find something that catches my own fancy. But, I won't be able to function as a full-fledged news monkey! I have enough with other types of monkey business as it is! Oh, the responsibilities... Poor monkeys...

Good places for gathering info:
http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com
http://www.frothersunite.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=5
http://www.creafigs.com
http://www.spanish-team.com/foro

[Duende]

I'd be interested as long as I can fling poo at any troublemakers. :D

But like The Mistress, I'd need a little help in the get-go.

:)

[St. Anger]

I'd be interested as long as I can fling poo at any troublemakers. :D

But like The Mistress, I'd need a little help in the get-go.

:)

I was wondering how long it would take before someone started flinging poo...

Ritual mentioned the sites I would use, among others...

[Hinton]

Speaking of News Monkeys, where's Malebolgia at? Haven't seen him in a while.

[goblyn13]

Speaking of News Monkeys, where's Malebolgia at? Haven't seen him in a while.


Saw a post by him over on the PP board about a month but haven't seen him at all anywhere.

I'll also add, for Frother's they are a bit crass (you have been warned) for those with delicate sensibilities

other's would be

http://www.heresyminiatures.com/forumofdoom/index.php
http://enigmaminiatures.com/

[Frustrated Father]

To answer your questions, some folks have had life issues come up, got married, moved, graduated school and got into the 'real world' and have found that not surprisingly that they were suddenly lack of time or in the case of one, got burned out and just said 'meh' to the hobby in general for a bit and took other pursuits. Happens, not a worry one about it though.

Alrighty, looks like we're going to be doing things a touch different around here (waggles eyebrows) as we're going to bring two news monkey's of the female persuasion into the fold and ... well ... that's just plain scary.

Ladies, thank you. I'll be sending you PM's here shortly and we'll get ya'll on board.

[Keltheos]

http://www.tvfortots.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/oohaah.jpg

/are interested.

[waghorn41]

I'm too old to be a monkey, more of an ancient ape, but I'll ferret out what I can and post it if that will help the forums.

[ThunderhawkerMinis]

Heh...ferret...

I may also be interested, but I with Jess as I would need a nudge in the right direction at where to begin (And thus am totally unqualified).

[demonherald]

Heh...ferret...

I may also be interested, but I with Jess as I would need a nudge in the right direction at where to begin (And thus am totally unqualified).

A good thing to do is open a new email account unattatched to any personal one to make things easier.. Then visit as many different mini company sites as you can... sign up for newsletters with that email and keep a note of any that don't have newsletters and bobs your uncle.. do the rounds gather the info fom newsletters visit the sites...watch the forums take pics at shows that kind of thing.....(Speaking of which somebody please try and do a nice review with piccies of GENCON...pretty please)

For lists of mini companies a good thig to do is just visit an oline store that carries a large range.. The war store,, CMON shop .. or do the drop down on CMON on the top of the gallery page where you get a fairly comprehansive list...

I generally see a lot of the info but the sitting down and putting a post together is something that I just cannot make time for...(At least not while Nathan get's his way...speaking of which back to the dungeon)

[Duzzdan]

I'll try and get as many pics at Gencon as I can. The wife can't make it the first 2 days so I can wander the dealer hall and not worry about her getting too bored with me oogling at everything. If there's anything anyone is really interested in let me know and I'll do my best to get pics and info for you.

[Hinton]

The wife can't make it the first 2 days so I can wander the dealer hall and not worry about her getting too bored with me oogling at everything.

I dated a woman that was pretty much the exact opposite; she was dragging me all over GenCon and oogling anime like there was no tomorrow. Good thing I like anime (although probably not as much as her), so I didn't get bored.

If there's anything anyone is really interested in let me know and I'll do my best to get pics and info for you.

Ummm...everything? Please? :)

[redstripe]

I bought a pretty nice camera, recently, to take pictures of minis. I'm taking it along with me to Gencon, this year, and I should have plenty of photos.

[thetang22]

Here's just a thought one why the previews from other manufacturers could have slowed down:

Wyrd started out as a community site about miniatures and the hobby, right? It was a place for people to discuss previews and painting, and so on. It gained a good following, then eventually the miniatures started being made. There is still a steady increase in the fan base with more and more miniatures being released over time. Then you announce that a game is being worked on for these miniatures.

All the while, people are coming here to discuss all sorts of miniatures and painting, but the idea of the game and the Wyrd miniatures are gaining a LOT of popularity around here. I figure a lot of people are coming here just as much for the Wyrd products and news on the game as they are about general miniature information and discussion.

I come here mainly for the Wyrd products themselves, especially for news on Malifaux. I used to hang out at Rackham's forums, but over the past 2 years with the big PPP transition its been a ghost town compared to what it used to be before the PPP announcement. I was looking for a nice change of pace and Wyrd seemed to fit the bill. I still enjoy the occasional discussion about miniatures from all other manufactures, but anymore when I come to Wyrd I want to talk about Wyrd-specific products.

I'd say there's probably a decent number of people here who are much more concerned about Malifaux and Wyrd these days than previews of the new releases from other companies - that may be why previews from other companies don't come in as quick as they used to.

[Frustrated Father]

Always a nice thought, and to be honest, one I enjoy! All the same, we're not shy about talking or even showcasing off other peoples stuff here at Wyrd and one of the things that I've been very adamant on from the very beginning is to support the hobby in all its many ways.

Still ... all Wyrd is good too. Heh.

I expect things will take a much more hardcore 'Wyrd' theme on the site when we release Malifaux as well as redo the website. We'll see how that goes when it comes time.

[Tenebræ]

I think keeping the site as more of a omni-hobby site is a good move. Honestly I think its rediculous when I am on Rackham boards or GW boards or w/e and I have to say "That other game" or "That company of crown contracted seagoing printers". Its stupid, honestly, I am pretty sure that saying "Games Workshop" or "Rackham" or "Privateer Press" won't have any significant influences on anyones profits.
With the release of Malifaux I am sure there will be a need to rearange the boards, but I think it would be a good move to keep the more generic ones around.

[Brushmistress]

I appreciate that there are Wyrd specific threads (and this is a very organized board in comparison to a few others I belong to). When I first found this site for IP4 (thanks Jeff), I loved that the News & Reviews section opened a whole new world of minis I wouldn't have found otherwise, but if I want to just check out Wyrd News, it's easy to find.

[Wren]

I've always enjoyed the overall news aspect, and I think encouraging it shows a lot of class on Nathan and Wyrd's part. I only have time to frequent a few forums. I suspect TMP is a good source for news but I find the structure of that page overwhelming so I'd just as soon not have to figure it out if Nathan will keep the news flowing here. :-> If anything the fact that the site is run in such a way that you can enter other company's stuff in contests and read about it in the forums quite freely and without feeling guilty makes me more loyal to Wyrd and more likely to buy Wyrd pewter even at this time when I'm trying to cut down the amount of minis I buy.

[EricJ]

Yeah, I always found it rather annoying that on other boards when people would post about other companies, whether about new releases or something they painted, or even just news, that it would tend to be responded to with at best a cold shoulder and at worst ridicule. Nathan and I both started with the hobby in general and I think we both enjoy seeing and hearing what's out there as much as anyone. In fact, with all my spare time going into various wyrd projects, I found that once the news slowed on this site, I was rather out of touch, which is why I prodded Nathan to find us some new monkeys. Looking forward to the flow of news through here.

The hope is of course that most of the chatter is about wyrd stuff, minis, games, news, etc...as we're trying to create something worthy of talking about, but just seems a bit counter productive to silence our forum goers on anything really. Even just the friendly chatter on life, live and the meaning of it all is great :D

[Bexley]

And here, I usually held off posting specifically because it seemed rude to use Wyrd's forum to promote other companies.

That said, I'll try and remember to send stuff this way when I hear it. (Miniatures only, or anything gaming related?)

[EricJ]

Gaming is fine, obviously the goal here is industry news, and discussion on that, but of course while this is all important, we're not looking to becomes a sales platform for other companies, so advertisements and such might just get deleted :D (not directing that at you Bexley, just in general say'n)

[TheBugKing]

So as long as the posts are PRESS RELEASES and not adverts we are all good? <grin>
Of course press releases could be considered advertisements too. Where to draw the line??? Hmmmmm...

[EricJ]

The #1 thing is links to another site for the information, or for more information, driving traffic overtly away from wyrd is frowned upon. Also sale pitches, special deals, pricing, competitive painting contests, etc...aren't good. We're looking for news on miniature and game releases, and happenings in the miniature gaming world. Simply putting "Press Release" at the top of something won't cut it.

Another way to look at it, is if it's not something that can start a discussion or review, it's probably over the line. And ultimately, people will find out if posts are over the line, you know, when they disappear :D

[Frustrated Father]

I wouldn't worry about it too much folks, if its over the top and not really appreciated, you'll usually hear it from someone here in the forums or privately from me. That being said, I think that has only happened twice in the last three years and I doubt it'll happen again.

Won't give specifics but in the past there have been some folks/companies that have tried to torpedo Wyrd, the product or our contests. The one that comes to mind immediately was the almost a year and a half back, maybe more, someone was trying to outright copy our style of doing contests and within hours of us announcing ours, announced their own with the exact same theme, copy and paste of the rules from our forums and an announcement that if you could read between the lines said 'Wyrd sucks, join our contests instead'.

It stayed on the site less than ten minutes I believe and had two entries when it was over.

:D

So, as you can see, we're pretty damn open about games, industry news and anything else that you can make the hobby more enjoyable, just stuff that is seriously over the top is frowned upon.

[Bexley]

we're not looking to becomes a sales platform for other companies, so advertisements and such might just get deleted :D (not directing that at you Bexley, just in general say'n)

No worries on that- unless it was specifically miniatures-related, I'd only post new releases, and without commentary or sales pitches.

[demonherald]

I suppose any new release pic or something upcoming is a sales pitch in itself..however I am the firm believer in the fact that there are very few people in this hobby or on this site that only collect 1 miniature range...I'm a mini whore and I freely admit to being a bit of a sucker for new toys but I am also equally drawn into buyig releases when I see them in the comps ....

Wren raised a good point though... I open Wyrd up as the second stop everytime I open my browser .. I open up check my emails check Wyrd then maybe have a look around or just leave it at that.. I must admit that I have found myself looking around other sites recently to keep in the loop so I miss the news bits and have never seen it as a risk to Wyrd but merely another strength ..The more news I can find in a single source the more I'll stick around that source..

Reviews are another thing I like to see... wether its good or bad I like to see /hear what peoples experiences are Wyrd related and other companies..That may lead more on the advertisig plug type jobby but I think they are a useful thing and the beauty of this site and it's members is that it's relatively well self moderated by the members so every post doesn't turn into bashing a company..

[EricJ]

No worries on that- unless it was specifically miniatures-related, I'd only post new releases, and without commentary or sales pitches.

commentary is fine, opinions are great, that's the whole point after all! :D

you know, as long as the opinion isn't along the lines of "check this out because wyrd sucks hard"

that would make Nathan cry

[redstripe]

I think the idea, here, is that more news, whatever it is, will bring more visitors to the Wyrd forums looking at the news. Even if that news is about other companies, they are coming to Wyrd to read it. That increases the exposure of Wyrd and that is only good things for Wyrd.

[Frustrated Father]

What he said.

[EricJ]

yes, what Nick said...but strangely not what Nathan said...since he's always wrong

[Frustrated Father]

Well, as you can see, we're hard on the primates around here, we've already had one collapse under the strain and another has gone to ground to gather banannas for a bit, but, THE NEWS MUST GO ON!

So, while I've still got one News bringer, its a job that I think deserves another couple. I see a few of you were interested in it above, so holler at me in the thread again and we'll get you hooked up with what the generals are and a nice preview of the upcoming Steamborg in WIP progress and lay you out for freebies down the road.

[Duzzdan]

I'd be happy to be a news monkey. I'm a gentleman of leisure (aka unemployed) at the moment so most of my time is spent painting and cruising the web for bits of news anyway. I'd be happy to pass it along.

[Breten]

I'd be happy to help as well. I'm on the web quite a bit throughout the day checking on news in the industry and checking out new games and releases.

Having someplace to focus all that surfing would be nice. Right now I just post occasional bits to my own forum.

http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=11600

[Larkin Vain]

I'm practically online all the time checking up on miniature news. Count me in if you need help.

[Duende]

Sorry I've been quiet for a bit, I went away for vacation to the beach and as I have no laptop or any other kind of portable access, I was kinda cut off the internet for awhile.

Will be back to News Monkeying around as soon as I recover and as soon as the sunburns fade a little... owwwwww.....