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Are you influenced by other forum members?

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Have you ever been influenced to purchase a Paradox game by another forum member?

  • Yes

    Votes: 140 53,8%

  • No

    Votes: 108 41,5%

  • Don't know

    Votes: 12 4,6%
  • Total voters
    260
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1. What is required by another forum member in order for you to listen to his or her opinion? E.g. do they possess certain characteristics? Do they write in a certain way? Do they have a certain type of user profile? Or are they just well known at the forum?
-A good point, wise words and a properly backed opinion. And sanity. They write understandable engelska.

2. Do you believe that some forum members are more influential than others? If yes, what makes them more influential?
-Forum members that post are more influential than those that do not post their opinions. :D

3. What type of threads appeal to you?
-Pretty much anything. Depends on the mood.
 
dannie said:
1. What is required by another forum member in order for you to listen to his or her opinion? E.g. do they possess certain characteristics? Do they write in a certain way? Do they have a certain type of user profile? Or are they just well known at the forum?

2. Do you believe that some forum members are more influential than others? If yes, what makes them more influential?

3. What type of threads appeal to you?
Click to expand...

I voted yes... but i couldnt name any specific one that did it, its long ago since i felt that i need to consult anyones opinion, before i buy a paradox game.
Because i get nowadays allmost any paradox game by myself as soon as they are released.

But back in the days, there where times when i read other opinions before buying, i still do that for other game companies tough.
(there are also game companies like Jowood, Ubisoft or Sony Online Entertainment, from whom i will never buy a game again)
I am a picky customer, one that values honesty and looks at the way a company treats its customers, and then goes out to buy or not.
(of course the product matters in that too)

1.) Any member that can give a foundated and backed opinion can influence others with it.
But a member that has many posts/a history of valuable posts/owns many games of the company/is personally known,
has naturally a much higher influence than the random one posting newcomer that tries to get himself heared.

A propper way to post is essential to get heared in my opinion, that includes spelling to the best of ones abilities,
the general layout of the post, the presentation of the opinion and if its backed up by facts or reasons given.

2.) I partly answered this in point 1, I have to add that a member that is here since 2002 and has 5000 postings for example,
has proven that he is a regular visitor and cares for this forum by his presence, so i personally honor the opinion of such a member more.
I however dont look or classify pepole just by their postcount or join date.
Anyone that has a history of valuable posts is reliable for me to be taken into account.

3.) Thats quite specific, and changes over time and the game that i currently play.
At the moment threads that are about (graphical) modding for Victoria 2 and AAR´s about this game are very likely to get read by me.
In the past i read alot about Europa Universalis 2/3 modding & AARs about them, HOI 2/3 i read also for a time but never that much.
When a new game is released i normally check the forum for that game to see what its about and if it appeales to me.
 
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Being someone who lurks about the AAR forum many of my purchases have been influenced by specific AARs. CK, Victoria I and EUIII were all bought because of AARs I read.
 
I have bought all Paradox-developed games on account of them having been developed by Paradox. There have been three exemptions to this general statement: EU1 - I picked this one up from a bargain bin in a shopping mall, simply because it had a map of Europe at the backcover. EU2 - I bought that when I heard a friend of mine talking about it. It was a must buy after EU1. And last but not least, and here's the answer to your question: Diplomacy. I have not bought that one, because several influental forum members said it was not worth it.

So who do I consider influental? To be honest, the internet is even worse than real life with who is influental and who isn't: It's the one who others believe to be influental. Speaking from my personal experience, there are two kinds of people falling into that category on these forums: Ones who earn their influence by deeds I have witnessed, like the famous analysis threads of Blue Emu or Peter Ebbesen. And then there are others who seem to be treated with unusual respect by other forum members, although I have never seen any reason for that myself. I will not give names here, but there are quite a few "celebrities" around with that characteristic. So whoever is considered influental by a critical group of members, will most likely exert his influence far beyond that group, too.

What kind of threads do I consider when deciding about buying a game: Dev Diaries and AARs. The former made me buy EU3, AoD, FtG, and Victoria2, for instance, while the latter convinced me to buy SotS and Crusader Kings. :)

EDIT:
For me, influence is correlated to join date, post count, percieved usefulness of posts (as opposed to spamming), and general likeability of the poster in question. The latter is in turn derived from the way the poster writes (humor, sharpness, eloquence, grammar, spelling) and the content of his/her posts (compatibility of views, matching of previous assessments of games, ...). But as I said, I buy P'dox games anyway, it's mostly third party titles I need influence on.

And one last thing: I bought Minecraft because of a thread in OT, which contained a simple assessment of the general game concept and a link to a youtube vid with an "AAR", which in turn convinced me. No poster influence was involved, just the brilliance of the product and a simple way of conveying it to me with few words. :)
 
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I voted 'no'. Specifically for Paradox games, I'm usually a beta-tester so I have the privilege of already knowing the game before buying the 'shop version'. And I buy them all anyway. Except for Diplomacy :p In general, I try to stay up-to-date when it comes to new or soon to be released titles. I'm subscribed to a big Belgian gaming magazine and read general re/previews online. Usually, I have an opinion of my own beforehand. If the timeframe, setting or theme is particularly appealing to me, there's a chance of me buying the game. Next check? The company producing the game. If it has a history of good games, the chance rises. If it's a notorious underperformer or new company, chances dwindle. Reviews I take into account only when they are really bad. A really bad review might put me off buying a prima facie good game. I usually don't let the opinion of forum members, bloggers or user comments influence my decision.
 
I bought EU2 because of the EU2 AARs back then. After that I eventually did register myself on the forums, and the rest is history :p
 
1. I admit, I am always impressed by posters with high post counts or many icons. Both show that someone has been around in the community for a while, a lot longer than I have, and that makes me give their opinion more weight. Mostly, though, it is writing style. If in an argument, they better have a good, formal writing style! Or else I'm just not gonna listen to what you say, cause I don't wanna have to figure out what "yo, teh byzzies were sooo pwnage in the XXth centry!"

2. See above with post counts and icons.

3. Ooooh, I love a threat with good history content! I also love discussing stories of what happened in games, but not so much gameplay itself. I can just play the game, I don't need to discuss gameplay.
 
dannie said:
1. What is required by another forum member in order for you to listen to his or her opinion? E.g. do they possess certain characteristics? Do they write in a certain way? Do they have a certain type of user profile? Or are they just well known at the forum?

2. Do you believe that some forum members are more influential than others? If yes, what makes them more influential?

3. What type of threads appeal to you?
Click to expand...

1. I was influenced into buying EU3 plus expansions by other forum members. The kind of users that influenced me were devs (e.g. in developer diaries), but also AAR writers and posters in the strange screenshot thread and the 'Post your Empire' thread. Of the AAR writers I was most influenced by the ones that post gameplay or history book style AARs with screenshots (very important). I.e. it's not really the type of user that influences me, more what they post.

2. Of course, the devs are very influential, and also the moderators. They post a lot, and are quoted a lot by others because they usually know more about the subject at hand (because it's usually about one of the Pdox games). But also 'normal' forum members can have quite some influence if they get the reputation of knowing what they are talking about.

3. Threads about strategy. Threads with screenshots. Threads that try to figure out mechanics of a game. AARs of the type mentioned in 1. Threads with the logo that tells you a dev posted in it.
 
1. It eitehr has to be someone I know and respect in RL or someone that I've seen post on many times with logical and throughtful insights.

2. The ones that have typically been around a while and/or the ones that are trying in a constructive way to add or enchance the game.

3. Information or Mod threads.

Rook
 
What got me to buy my first ever Paradox game (EU3) was the recommendations of people over at Civfanatics. I posted saying something along the lines of "I love Civ but wouldn't it be cool if there were strategy games that were a bit deeper and more realistic, even if the graphics weren't absolutely top-notch?". About ten thousand people replied telling me I should check out paradoxplaza.
 
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dannie said:
1. What is required by another forum member in order for you to listen to his or her opinion? E.g. do they possess certain characteristics? Do they write in a certain way? Do they have a certain type of user profile? Or are they just well known at the forum?

2. Do you believe that some forum members are more influential than others? If yes, what makes them more influential?

3. What type of threads appeal to you?
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I will answer 3. first:
The threads that influenced me most are usually AARs. (as it was with CK and Victoria and Ricky)
But also threads where people praise the advantages of expansions over the native version. (As it happened with Ricky and the EU3 expansions)

1.There is no certain way for them to write. Of course when the AAR is well written and has many pictures and gameplay in it then it helps a lot. I do not care for user profile or wether they are well known. Especially with EU3 I don't think I knew anyone. Of course with Vicky, RELee and OHgamer are well known, but you usually you will only notice the well known people only when you have the game already.

2. Yes, people who are very active and moderators have more authority of course, but I don't think that authority expands over the choice what game to buy

But all said, I don't think that a single person can convince people to buy games, exept they are friends. Usually I buy my games looking at the popular opinion. What does the majority say.
 
Darth JF is the sole cause I know about Paradox.

He influenced me to buy EU3 and Crusader Kings. And consequently HoI3, For the Glory, Rome, Victoria and Victoria 2. So give him a medal or something. He's probably brought you over 100 euros already with the expansions and everything.
 
1. Some combination of presence in the forum (postcount can be a good indicator of this, but I won't ignore someone only because of low postcount) and a writing style that makes them seem intelligent (well-organised thoughts and not riting liek tihs).

2. The members who have contributed a lot are generally the most influential, I'd say.

3. Mostly mod discussions (the throwing-around-ideas kind, not the actual implementation :p).
 
I answered no, because I take it that we are talking about these forums, which I'm rather new to, but I have been influenced to buy games by members on other forums.


1. What is required by another forum member in order for you to listen to his or her opinion? E.g. do they possess certain characteristics? Do they write in a certain way? Do they have a certain type of user profile? Or are they just well known at the forum?
The forum member needs to be an established member who I feel have a similar taste in games as me.


2. Do you believe that some forum members are more influential than others? If yes, what makes them more influential?
Yes, members who are seen often and post constructive posts feels more reliable.


3. What type of threads appeal to you?
AAR, strategy discussions & talk about similar games are the main ones.
 
1. Well basically they need to be friendly. They are active in their own corner of the forums. I don't like to listen to HoI players, but EU2 players gain my respect really easy. :D People who I listen to are people who helps others and post sober and tolerant posts.

2. Yeah of course.. People are more influential if they treat others nice and don't spam all the time about meaningless stuff. When they post people stop and read the whole post. Their avatar used to be a guaranty for a intelligent post, however, today too many share the same avatars and no longer can I stop when I see those nice custom avatars that used to signal great posts.. Now I have to go after the post count which is not something that matters like the known avatars.

3. Threads about mods and questions about the games.
 
1. What is required by another forum member in order for you to listen to his or her opinion? E.g. do they possess certain characteristics? Do they write in a certain way? Do they have a certain type of user profile? Or are they just well known at the forum?
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Charisma. E.G. people who made AAR's in EU3 certainly influenced my decision in buying the game. Especially one person, who I now regurlaly play MP with. As to how they need to write: I'm more appealed with flowing yet historically/culturally applicable way of writing (this applies to AAR's). Otherwise it doesn't matter so much, though I do like helpful people more than grammar nazi's.
2. Do you believe that some forum members are more influential than others? If yes, what makes them more influential?
Click to expand...
Their Charisma.
3. What type of threads appeal to you?
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Ones few pictures and good amount of text. (1:2 ratio is cool)
 
There are certain forumites who I admire, and whose opinion I value - it is not a large group, but they can drive some buying decisions
 
1) One must write in a clear language and have a clear vision. It should contain valid arguments but should not be to long for me to read.

2)Yes, normally I consider people who are around a lot as more influential. People like things they know and will listen to people they know more than to people they do not know (well)

3 I like threads that ask for tips/advice/strategy or for an explanation of core mechanics and such. It makes me learn a lot about a certain game and allows me perhaps to help someone else in need of that particular information.
 
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