"Never Mention The Competition" Topic

Bunkermeister in this discussion suggests:

The Editor should never mention any unrelated forum or Facebook page no matter what they say about TMP or its members. Coca-Cola never mentions Pepsi. When you are the leader, don't give free advertising to the competition.

Do you agree?

No, and Coke and Pepsi have even included the other's product in their ads, so……

I do. Forget the rest. TMP is TMP and should not be anything but TMP.

My two shillings.

Eric

A decided… DITTO!

TVAG

No, but only to refute lies and slander.

Oh yeah, and if you are going to announce that you will have miniature and ruleset reviews organized by game (period for minis) like Boardgame Geek that would be OK.

Whatever puts an end to all the drama.

Ich bin mit TVAG!!!

I try to avoid using "always" and "never".

Unless there is some compelling reason to mention other sites I wouldn't acknowledge them.

I agree with Eric turner.

I've always considered the calling out of a competitor an act of desperation. A company that provides a quality product at a competitive price shouldn't have to.

@Doctor X,
+1.

Take the high road. Mention whomever.

If you have the best site you don't have to worry about people not coming back.

Don't go the route of vague circumlocutions, it just mystifies and confuses readers. "On an unnamed competitor's site -- you know who you are -- …" etc. Yuck.

i agree

Never is a very strong word, and ignoring the existence of the outside world seems a curious approach to take.

It does rather depend on the specific tone and context of the comments of course.

Are we going to ban all links to external websites and blogs too?

Do we regard any other wargames forum as "competition?"
Not a few people frequent several without feeling the pull of brand loyalty.

What weasel said.

+1 Weasel

Surely we should be able to mention other gaming sites without it being seen as 'advertising the competition'?

Other general wargaming sites don't seem to have such a policy (LAF, I'm looking at you).

Is TMP an information/discussion forum about wargaming?

If so, then discussing what's happening in other forums is relevant and acceptable (or even preferable) on TMP.

I see nothing wrong about mentioning other sites in a positive way (for example, if the Editor found something useful over at Lead Adventure Forum he could mention it). However, the Editor should assiduously refrain from flame wars with other sites.

As my granny always said, "If you can't say anything nice, say nothing at all"

We're a relatively small community. It seems a bit silly to ignore our fellow gamers and their discussions elsewhere. We are not in competition. Usually friends in fact, and even … ourselves!
(I'm reminded of a certain Life of Brian scene at this point…)

Of course, this would not apply to other places that may take a less than fraternal attitude themselves.

I agree as the statement applies to Dear Editor. I did not read the query as including members of TMP mentioning other sites as the other sites may relate to the hobby. At the same time, I do not believe that TMP members should be posting comments such as "did you see what they said about Bill on (fill in the blank)." That just starts the cycle again. Let's stick to toy soldiers.

Well, as Editor possibly, but as a member of TMP why not?

@GarrisonMiniatures +1 (although I can't tell if he's being sarcastic!)

This logic also puts TMP on the high road, or at least the ramp to the high road.

No, and Coke and Pepsi have even included the other's product in their ads, so……

Actually they have, but don't let the facts get in the way of a good tag line.

Kim

Unrelated to what? To TMP? To wargaming?

I assume it would be OK to promote an advertiser's forum.

So TMP should ignore other unrelated forums or Facebook pages, even if they do something laudatory? Or newsworthy?

The onternet cross linking and as said especially for the historical games, a small " community" which needs all the support possible.
I remember many chaps who were near ech other and had no clue whatsoever. Now if that could happen to me now…

TMP is insular enough as is. Making up weird rules and cutting itself off from the rest of the gaming world will not help that situation.

No. Never is a pointlessly draconian approach. Ignore the bickering/silliness on other sites and adopt a sensible, benign elder statesman approach to them.

If there is useful material elsewhere, good discussion topics etc, acknowledge them and have a healthy outward looking approach towards them. People will judge other sites on their merits; they will do that with TMP as well. Make sure TMP remains the biggest and best and let the others take care of themselves.

I thought TMP and Frothers had a mutual cross posting agreement…