Joined 3 months ago and now I'm ranked 12th helper
TappedOut forum
Posted on Aug. 20, 2020, 7:28 p.m. by Phostration
Title: Rant
Although I am happy that my comments are welcome and suggestions are helpful, I can't help but notice the lack of comments from more members. There seems to be so many people sharing their decks but most of them only do that. Although this is somewhat expected for any site that involves sharing your own work for comments. It is easier for people to share then to suggest. Even so, trying to fix this would probably cause damage to the site, since if people are required to comment on a deck regularly to post, then they might move on to a site that is easier to share due to laziness or just not caring enough. Just a rant. Thanks for reading.
RNR_Gaming says... #3
A lot of decks do not deserve attention. Members of the community recognize effort. Deck lists that are just slopped together with no description by looking at edhrec and listing out cards are not enticing nor does it inspire conversation or invoke any desire to interact. Interaction is earned.
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make it visually appealing - there are some decks on here that make excellent use of the tools on the sight and you can tell the builder really took their time to add all the bells and whistles
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Add a help sign to your deck and write a blurb about what you need help with; if you only put the help sign on it chances are you'll be met with similar effort and people will only suggest things to gain some helper points
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Write a well written primer. This takes hours and you'll need to learn how to properly format using the tools offered on the site so it doesn't look like a jumbled mess - explaining interactions and card selections can spark all kinds of debates. Discussing matchups and tech cards can also add to the conversation.
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gain notoriety on other sites like Youtube/facebook and direct people here to view a text copy of the deck.
August 20, 2020 7:46 p.m.
Phostration says... #4
RNR_Gaming I'm not complaining about lack of attention on my decks haha. I just wish there were more variety people to discuss with on my or other peoples decks. I often see the same names (Balaam__ lol <3) and think it would make the site more interesting.
August 20, 2020 8:02 p.m.
Phostration actually I might not run into you too much because you've suppressed so many formats lol
August 20, 2020 8:03 p.m.
Phostration says... #6
Massacar fair! I only have modern/casual physical decks atm so I don't have a lot of experience with how Commander decks work. I just created my first commander theory deck so I plan on removing those suppressions soon after some more research. I didn't want to comment on a format where I wasn't fully aware of how it works or how to build a deck :p
August 20, 2020 8:06 p.m.
Modern was my favorite for a while until I really got into EDH/Commander. I still like modern, but basically all of my deckbuilding money and energy goes into EDH anymore.
Depending on how powerful or flavorful you wand to build in EDH you can have an incredibly wide variety of possibilities, so have fun with it.
August 20, 2020 8:14 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #8
I mean, it's often interest based. The forums are pretty active, so posting your decklist on the deck help forums will get you some interaction mostly
August 20, 2020 8:19 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #9
Phostration - conversation makes everything more interesting. Wasn't trying to single anyone out for this behavior. Just wanted to point out trends I've noticed; you could join a facebook group or 2. People love giving their 2 cents on there. You just need to take the good with the bad. Also, people on here really like it when you ask them directly for a response if they're still on the site theres a 99.99% chance you'll get a reply within 3 days or so if you ask for help.
A lot of users are on here casually, some have switched to different platforms due to discord requiring lists to be submitted specifically using a platform or personal reasons. Hell, some of us just get magic burnout/overload.
August 20, 2020 8:19 p.m.
Phostration says... #10
SynergyBuild thanks for the tip! I thought it seemed kind of redundant to post my decks on the forum while also deck cycling, but it is what it is!
"People love giving their 2 cents on there" haha RNR_Gaming I supposed it only makes sense as it is like that with every other aspect of facebook as well.
Thanks for the discussion! Has helped me pass time while I sit at work!
August 20, 2020 8:29 p.m.
Phostration things that are deckcycled only remain in the public view for a short period of time. Something on the forums can stay near the top (and therefore be more visible) for days at a time.
August 20, 2020 8:32 p.m.
King_marchesa says... #12
I only play edh so I only comment on those decks but a lot of decks that are deckcycled don't actually want suggestion s but just want to show people what the let is. Other decks I can't actually find any other cards that I would add to it. It's not the pack of people that want to help it's the lack of decks that really need/want help.
August 20, 2020 8:40 p.m.
I think that most people just deck cycle becuase the feature is available. Like, they don't even care if people comment on it or upvote it or whatever, they just cycle because they can. I generally don't have problem with this though - it just means that little to no effort from the deck creatore means little to no effort from me. I used to try and leave lots of helpful advice on those kind of decks. For the most part, it really was't worth the effort. But it's not that big a deal.
By far one of the worst ones you'll have to deal with is actually the people who leave a comment in your deck along the lines of "Cool Deck! +1 from me! you should check out mine (insert link here) and maybe leave a comment/like." because when you look on their profile they have just spammed the same copy/paste message on multiple decks and are just trying to farm upvotes for them internet points. And generally that kind of narcissism doesn't listen well to advice (especially when it's to stop spamming generic messages on people's decks).
The best advice I can give (and I get that this is a rant, so you may or may not want advice but here goes anyway) is to look at deck descriptions but also look at comments on the deck. This will give you a good idea of how much people are willing to discuss card choices and concepts within the deck and as such how much time/effort you should spend on them.
August 20, 2020 9:08 p.m.
Omniscience_is_life says... #14
I personally gravitate towards very well-titled decks, and therefore often find myself commenting on very few deckcycled lists (shots fired. No not really I just have high standards ;D).
Creating a forum specifically to draw attention and help to decks--in moderation!--can really make it seem like you care about optimizing and will listen to feedback, and I definitely help out more of these sorts of lists with no consideration of the name.
August 20, 2020 9:08 p.m.
Omniscience_is_life says... #15
Lol that isn't to say that you'll find super-high-quality names on my page, don't go looking expecting that!
August 20, 2020 9:10 p.m.
LordBlackblade says... #17
I agree with a lot of what has been said here in terms of being attracted to help with things that interest me, I feel qualified to help with, and that the user put effort into.
I’ve been around the site for quite awhile, but I never really comment a lot unless something catches my fancy. Every once in a while I take on a pet project or someone may come to me specifically for help. I tend to think of myself as focusing on quality over quantity as it were.
That’s my approach to helping others on the site in a very small nutshell.
August 20, 2020 10 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #18
I've actually cut back most of my helping to just forum posts and people asking me directly; though I did undertake a project where I told people I'd brew their decks to specification and it's been slightly overwhelming - do not reccomend. Hope my advice was somewhat helpful.
August 20, 2020 10:58 p.m.
DragonSliver9001 says... #19
It's easier to share decks than to suggest cards or strategies because a lot of users here are pretty new and still don't understand certain formats or mechanics or their decks are a mishmash of random things and it's difficult to figure out the intent of the deck.
August 20, 2020 11:34 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #20
One thing to note: The most competent deck builders, the people who really know how to play and know their deck inside; out won't bother advertising their decklist. Because there's simply no need to when they know how to build, know the format's ins and outs, and know that the best way to get data to figure out what works or not is by playtesting. As such, the best decks are usually going to be the ones that have no votes, no description and generic titles. They are also the best decks to put into your playtest folder so you can pit your brews against them instead of making more copies of meta lists.
Massacar says... #2
There's definitely a core of members that make up the majority of activity. You'll run into us pretty frequently.
August 20, 2020 7:31 p.m.