Unofficial Facebook Group

Hi Everyone,

I've been having conversations with a number of new users via Facebook about CC3+ and it's various add ons. I figured it might be useful to have an unofficial facebook group so people can jump in and have less formal conversations about the software. Will still be directing people here for assistance and support etc but in case anyone around here uses Facebook and wants to join up and share their maps and tips the link is below.

Feel free to join up:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1830466227284189/

There's probably a few people that hate Facebook, and that's ok too ;)

Daplunk
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Comments

  • Well we are quickly approaching the first 100 members so thanks to all who have joined. It's already a noisy hub of people sharing maps and talking about stuff they are working on. Quite a few members appear to be very new to the software so it's already great to see them asking for help and getting prompt responses.

    The ability to paste screenshots into comments is really going to be useful I think.
  • The thing I love about here is I am sure almost everyone has purchased CC3 or other Profantasy software.

    A facebook group will invariably become a large contingent of users who haven't paid for the software.

    I'll stay here with some of the amazing talents from these boards. I would maybe join if it was only for people who are actual purchasers and run by profantasy.

    Good luck with it.
  • You don't need to own CC3+ to use the forums so 'those' users could be here as well. I honestly wish ProFantasy had an official Facebook presence also and if they want to take ownership of the group they only need to ask.

    We are getting people join who don't own CC3+ though and are looking to see what people are doing with it and how their experience is. So many amazing maps have been shared already this week so I think it's going to have quite a positive effect.

    It also seems to be working well for new users who have questions on issues with parts of the tool. So many people are jumping in to help and the ability to cut and paste screenshots from CC3+ straight into messages is really speeding that process up. I've learnt some really cool techniques already and my maps are looking better as a result.

    Sitting at 95 members so far, think we may very well hit 100 today :)
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Posted By: daplunkI honestly wish ProFantasy had an official Facebook presence
    They do: https://www.facebook.com/ProFantasy-186500461403092/
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    Great stuff Remy :)

    Being an FB phobic (I only have an account so I can 'answer back') I couldn't work out how to rate it, so I just left a comment. Hope you don't mind.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    edited October 2017
    uh, I don't think I've done anything that deserves credit in this thread. I just provided a link. I am not involved with it in any way.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    edited October 2017
    I meant the official FB page ;)

    Thanks for the link, Remy. I didn't realise there was one until you pointed it out. (mind you, I'm renowned by my friends as someone who can walk past a great big tree on a walk and say "what tree?" when I get home :P )
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Posted By: Loopysuemind you, I'm renowned by my friends as someone who can walk past a great big tree on a walk and say "what tree?" when I get home
    Don't worry, I am often in that club too. I managed to not notice an aircraft carrier we happened to sail past in close proximity. (No, I was not the helmsman or lookout at the time)
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    An aircraft carrier! WOW! That's a tad bigger than an oak tree. You make me feel a lot better :)
  • Posted By: Monsen
    Posted By: daplunkI honestly wish ProFantasy had an official Facebook presence
    They do:https://www.facebook.com/ProFantasy-186500461403092/
    Yeah just a page unfortunately and they work very differently to a group.
  • Serious question...what can you do on adbook facebook that you can't do here?
  • RalfRalf Administrator, ProFantasy 🖼️ 18 images Mapmaker
    Facebook is more accessible, as it has your different groups and acquaintances in one place. It's also pretty chaotic and transitory, and it can be hard to find stuff that's older than a few hours. I've joined the group and I'll try to keep an eye on it, but I can't promise I can add much to it at the moment.
  • Posted By: ShessarSerious question...what can you do onadbookfacebook that you can't do here?
    Agreed. I'm not a fan of FB all that much as groups there tend to get toxic with increased members. I've joined (under my REAL name - gasp) and have given some advice - AND directed those with questions about the software itself here to the official forum :)
  • Posted By: ShessarSerious question...what can you do onadbookfacebook that you can't do here?
    It's just easier to have a fluid conversation.

    Someone has a problem they can take a screenshot of CC3+ and simply paste it into a chat within Facebook. Much easier that taking the screenshot, finding somewhere to upload it and then coming to the forums and trying to remember how to insert an image into these forums.

    There are also way more people readily available to answer questions as there are alot more people using Facebook regularly than the forums. Notifications pop on everyone's phones enticing people to jump in and contribute. The ability to reply to single comments means you can have multiple people offering advise and you can maintain that as separate conversations.

    I understand it's not for everyone but there is absolutely a large number of CC3+ current and potential users using it. The question of 'What software can I use to make maps?' Is getting asked anywhere from 1-3 times a day in groups that have upwards of +100,000 users. The response to these people generally always include a recommendation for CC3+ but they also include people commenting about how high the learning curve is and how inaccessible the software is. I would challenge that the forums are not assisting in resolving this for many. Not because it's not a good way to connect with other users but because many people don't go searching for forums anymore. Huge numbers of people are instead searching Facebook for groups associated with the interests they have and that's where they stay.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    edited October 2017
    Easier is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose....

    But you are right in the description about the behavior pattern of humans.

    It is also a known fact that people tend to like what they have. I remember when ProFantasy created these forums. A bunch of people did not want to move away from the old mailing-list format. The mailing list is still there, but it is rather quiet these days. There are still some of the old guys subscribed to it, as well as me.
    For many people, facebook is where they already are, where they spend their lives and where they wish to stay and their first stop to find information.

    Personally, I could never get in to the facebook thing. Usually, I find myself logging in about once a month to check for updates about my friends, but everything just tend to drown in so much uninteresting stuff (quizzes and games anyone?). I probably have the most boring facebook profile ever.
  • One thing that is a bonus here is the search function. Instead of asking, you can look and learn.
    Not to mention the plethora of how to's.

    There are a handful of users here who are absolutely awesome resources, whom I've thanked before through the years(Had a previous account before but lost it lol). They know who they are, so no need to say who they are.
  • There are two faces of Facebook I find.

    The wall. That's where the spam and the games lives and it's not a place I spend much time at all.

    Then there's private groups. That's where I find the value of Facebook lies. They don't advertise in them (yet...) and it ensures you are seeing content that is relative to your interests.

    I'm a member of all sorts of groups covering topics like Tabletop RPGs, Cartography, Digital DM Tools and those groups are so active that all I see on my wall is things related to these interests. It's drowned out the noise of everything else. I've spent hours on the phone with cartographers and developers from around the world as a result of the connections I've made on Facebook.

    Now if only I can figure out how to get across the world to a US convention and meet everyone in person :)
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 46 images Cartographer
    Posted By: daplunkThen there's private groups. That's where I find the value of Facebook lies. They don't advertise in them (yet...) and it ensures you are seeing content that is relative to your interests.
    I think it is quite interesting how different we experience things. I am/was member of several private groups, and for every one of them, I find that the platform annoys me and I really wish we could go somewhere else, but the majority seems to prefer to stay on facebook. Usually, I've found it difficult to follow the groups, which have ended up with me just leaving the group completely instead, because I struggled finding value in the format facebook imposed on me.

    But, as stated above, the interesting part is how different we experience things, and how something some people have a good experience with, others have not. Human nature, I suppose. We are all different though, and if others can have a good experience on facebook, then that's fine by me. I would never expect everybody else to have the same preferences as me. And spreading the word about CC3+ is also always a good thing.
    Now if only I can figure out how to get across the world to a US convention and meet everyone in person :)
    Now, that would be fun. Traveling all the way to the US is expensive though, as well as time-consuming. Would be much easier if all those US-people came to me :)
  • Interesting. Thanks for sharing your viewpoints. I don't have a Facebook account so I was curious about what the difference was. Doesn't sound like it offers enough to put up with the Data Mining which just happens to be a side interest of mine. Or perhaps more accurately a pet peeve. ;)

    Don't worry cobra mustang, I'll be here till the lights go off. Heheh. I was one of the people who was thrilled when we went from the email group to the forums. To me this is one of the best ways of sharing info and maps. I've looked up various posts from the past so many times that I'd be lost if I couldn't track down the info I was looking for. :D
  • DogtagDogtag Moderator, Betatester Traveler
    edited October 2017
    MonsenWould be much easier if all those US-people came to me :)
    Even if I knew about any mind-expanding, life-altering gaming conventions over there, I couldn't afjord it. *rimshot*  :D
  • Posted By: Dogtag
    MonsenWould be much easier if all those US-people came to me :)
    Even if I knew about any mind-expanding, life-altering gaming conventions over there, I couldn't afjord it.*rimshot*:D
    I'm in the US and I would just be happy to make it to GenCon someday to meet the ProFantasy people.
  • Josh.P.Josh.P. Traveler
    edited October 2017
    I'm loving this ever expanding gallery of maps :)

    Capture2.PNG
  • Damn I was lucky enough to go to Gen Con a bunch of years ago. Didn't even think to look out for Profantasy people. I barely played any games and was busy every day from sun up until way past midnight.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    edited October 2017
    Posted By: Monsen I probably have the most boring facebook profile ever.
    Errrr.... nope. That's me. I've never posted anything on my FB page AT ALL. Everything that's there belongs to one of my THREE friends :)

    Part of that is because I don't like FB all that much, but part of it is because my artwork (I do GIMP maps as well as CC3 maps) is already amply displayed on the Cartographer's Guild FB page, and any help I need with CC3 is right here. I use the search facility a lot ;)
  • ScottAScottA Surveyor
    The whole Facebook issue is an interesting one. I used to be very active on it, but over the past year have moved away from it and quit it several months back, as I was tired of the flood political bs, ads, quizzes and getting notices about where everyone was having lunch or shopping or whatever. Don't care! I neither want nor need to know the mundane minutia of everyone's lives. The earlier days of FB were great for catching up and keeping in touch with friends and family and reconnecting with long-lost pals. Now it's just a lot of noise, and especially since the last US election and the circus that went along with that whole mess. I check in on FB occasionally now to keep up with a few specific people, but do not post nor spend more than a few minutes to get in, check a few pages and groups, and then get the hell out again! I did join this FB group and have peeked in once. I'll look in on it again and may or may not participate in any discussions that might be going on. I tend to like smaller, more intimate gatherings with less noise, however, which these forums have, so my focus remains here.
  • I'm sorry, I didn't mean to start a debate on the pros and cons of facebook. I was really just curious if it offered something that the forums didn't, since I feel that forums are a great sharing tool. As daplunk said initially, it's there for those who want that platform. I apologize if I've cause a stir. :)
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    No stir :)

    At least not from what I can see.

    Different people need different things. Some prefer FB, some prefer a forum. The important thing is communication between the two media, which has already been established. We are just discussing the various pros and cons and having a sort of competition about who is most crap at FB (which I believe I am actually winning! LOL!):)
  • I have a FB account for hiking and some long lost friends i haven't talked to in over 10 years. But otherwise its not good.
  • 10 days later
  • The group is really becoming very active. If you haven't joined yet please come on by. Have seen some amazing work and even learned some great tricks.
  • 5 months later
  • Josh.P.Josh.P. Traveler
    So this group has become one of the most active groups on my Facebook feed! So many amazing maps and some really educational discussion happening pretty much constantly. We are starting to take bets on when we will hit 1000 users.

    Just to let you know about some of the things happening on the group that may aid new users.

    Monthly Map Challenges - we are now posting monthly map challenges. Basically very raw sketches for people to try and recreate in CC3+ and it's various add-ons. Our plan is to create a new challenge each month. We have has a really positive response to these so far with some really amazing maps created. A new one will be posted on the 01/05/18.

    Learning Units - This is a new feature that Facebook is offered but basically we can now create learning modules that are linked to the group. We put the first one up tonight which is designed to help brand new users find their feet with the tool and will continue to add to the units over time. Still exploring what this has to offer, we are using it to promote the Community Atlas and the Community Realm Works Projects.


    A Map
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