Google map for C&C and a poll: Please read

[timburns]

Hey all...

We are thinking of doing something that was suggested by a forum member (Terrry, aka Demiurge). Actually we are thinking of taking their idea and expanding on it a bit. It was suggested to us that everyone might find it useful/fun to have a google (or some type) map showing where forum members are. You can do that now, sort of, by looking at the listings under ppls names on the forums, but this would be in a map setting. And we thought it might be interesting to expand on that idea, to maybe include all C&C players and those that might want to play C&C but have no idea people around them are playing, sort of a gamers seeking gamers part of it.

Would anyone be interested in something like this? Would you find it a good tool for finding players, talking to players, seeing where people are and maybe that would help get more games going? We've had some great growth spurts over the past months and have seen an increase in forum use and society membership and met lots of people at Cons who love playing the game but then go home and have no one to play C&C with.

So please answer the poll (which is over in News & Subscription under a similar heading) if you are so inclined, and feel free to leave comments, thoughts, suggestions in this thread too. All comments are welcome as we decide whether this will work or not. Thanks! Tim

[dachda]

I'm all for it, as long as we are marked on the map by our forum usernames, and we can be PMed by any one looking for a game. That way we can show our location, yet keep our info private unless we choose. That should all be possible though.

I'm currently playing in Narpet's game, with Go0gleplex, because we all have our locations in Oregon marked with our avatars. Does work to find a game!!

[Demiurge]

I agree that we should be listed by a user name for privacy. It'll be really nice to see who's nearby, especially for those just joining the Crusade that may not have enough players.

[Geleg]

I'll echo this chorus of 'yes, but use user-names for privacy'

[Omote]

Sign me up, because I want to know EXACTLY who this Geleg is.

~O

[Omote]

The poll itself is up over here, yo.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11113

~O

[Rigon]

We had something like this setup once before. I don't rememeber which site we used (I have it saved on my home computer), but it was fairly active for a while then kind of petered out. But I'm for it. As much as I like the on;ine games I play and run, face to face games are always a good time.

R-

[CKDad]

As I mentioned in the other thread, there's also existing tools like NearbyGamers (http://nearbygamers.com/) - while I'll certainly participate in a TLG-sponsored map, it might be handy to link these other resources in the same place.

[Relaxo]

That does sound cool, but I'm paranoid about others finding us. Maybe it's a voluntary thing, and can be "switched off" at will.
but privacy matters aside, I'm all for it.
This stuff with Google is a little scary, anyone can find you, and not only that, but get directions to your house wiht a photo so they can really find it.

[dachda]

That does sound cool, but I'm paranoid about others finding us. Maybe it's a voluntary thing, and can be "switched off" at will.
but privacy matters aside, I'm all for it.
This stuff with Google is a little scary, anyone can find you, and not only that, but get directions to your house wiht a photo so they can really find it.

Well, have it setup so we need only enter our town's name. Certainly no need to use ones actually street address for this. Maybe if one lives in a big city, a borough or neighborhood name might be used. But for me, the most I would enter is Portland, Oregon. That's enough for someone within driving distance to decide whether to send a PM and introduce themselves. Keep it like a dating service, where the people can remain anonymous (except for a username) until both parties agree to reveal themselves fully. (oh wait, don't read anything into that!!)

[Go0gleplex]

I gotta agree with dachda. Keep it to limited information and the visual is more of a rough. I've participated in maps of this sort with other games and it is nice to see visually your proximity to other like minded gamers.

[finarvyn]

I'd join up, although I'm not really looking to add players or join another game becasue my group is pretty large already and my time is pretty limited.

I'm always curious as to who is nearby, just in case I decide to expand my horizons.

[timburns]

@Go0gleplex -- can you post some of the maps you were talking about so that I can take a look in case we go ahead with this at some point?

[Go0gleplex]

@Go0gleplex -- can you post some of the maps you were talking about so that I can take a look in case we go ahead with this at some point?

I'll try to find them. It's been a couple years since I last looked at one.

[Demiurge]

There's one on ENWorld: http://www.enworld.org/forum/gamersseekinggamers.php and the aforementioned http://nearbygamers.com.

[Go0gleplex]

Well...found the links, both were frapper maps and both are no longer there. Which sucks cause there were about 50 folks world wide on one of them.

[Relaxo]

@dachda. yeah duh, I am thinking too literally.
Search by town, check interest, ba da bing. it's perfect!

[Tadhg]

We did this at the GaryCON forums . . pretty darn cool.

And I think this was done at DF some years ago.

Just use zipcode and your forum name/ID/avatar and it should be OK.

[rmckee78]

I found my current Pathfinder group through a similar map (I think it was on Obsidian Portal or something). Having one that is C&C specific would be great, especially here in South Jersey where there are so many "secret" gamers.

[timburns]

@rmckee78 -- glad you are on here! i just noticed where you were still in inactive mode. we had to go to approval so we could cut out all the spammers and hackers. are you feeling better?

[timburns]

i meant to add, rmckee78, that yours had got caught up in the mess of blocking out spammers and hackers and i apologize for that. tim

[rmckee78]

Thanks, I am feeling much better. No problem, I have been a forum admin before, I know the drill.

[mbeacom]

I'd like to join whatever mapper gets added.

I've been on similar maps, and zipcode is a nice way to locate stuff, you pick your zipcode and then choose a radius of say 10 miles or something.

Obviously, city name would work too, but in some larger cities, it might still be very far away.