One thing that I thing would be very helpful for players is if on every thread, there is a place where there is a description of the setting that DMs can put. Since 90% of the game is writing, setting plays a very important role in how you right. Whenever I join a new group or game, it is a bit hard to start off because I dont know what the setting looks like and that is very important to how the scene play out and how players write their entries.

Well it is nice to know that some players actually read the description of rooms and outdoor areas their characters are currently in.

I, at least, always post such when a new area is entered. It would seem to m that the issue here might be you want something more convenient than scroll back to such to refresh your memory.

If this is truly a problem for you (and it may well be, if you spend several pages of play in one area), it's not necessary for a programming/design fix. You could just ask the GM to start up a new thread of just room/area descriptions. Easy to reference, much less scrolling back if you return to old areas that haven't changed, etc.

Actually, that isn't a bad idea. I might consider that for the game I'm in now. It might get one or two players to actually read the room description and not insist on using doors that don't exist.

Are we talking like a post that's pinned to the top?  Because that could work.  Even better would be a popped-out space at the top of a thread that could house lines of text and remain persistent even after you changed to another location 15 pages in.

For now, you can copy relevant description to your scratch pad and open it in a new tab whenever you want to reference the info.

I would like this. Sort of like a flavor text field that can always show some relevant traits and description.

What would happen if the description that's applicable for the thread changes?

Because a persistent first post seems like it would make sense, but...if the description of the active thread changes, you'd need to be able to make it so you could /set/ which post was persistent, instead of it just automatically being the first post in the thread. (Because looking back at the first post in the thread is pretty easy, especially with the new up arrow options, so if every description was just post #1, this feature wouldn't really be needed, would it?)

Would the ability to set the 'Persistent Description Section' be GM-only? It seems like it could be problematic if it wasn't, because then players could change it at whim, but...what about threads that are maintained and run by players? What about threads that GMs can't go in and edit, especially, like PM threads?

Would you /have/ to use this feature, if it was put in, or would there be a GM option to disable it for those that don't want it happening? What about players who read on small screens and don't /want/ the same post they've already recently read coming up at the top of every page and minimizing the amount of newly-viewable content? Would there be an option for players to disable it as well?

What about when the description is so long that having a persistent description post takes up the majority (or more) of the viewable screen, making it so you can't read or post anything else?

What happens in the case of viewing a thread using the 'All' option, so it's not set into pages? Is it only at the very tippy-top? (I come at this from the assumption that *most* scene threads probably use the first and/or second posts to write scene descriptions, because that's what I'm used to, so those are already always at the top in an 'All' situation, but others' use may vary.)

If the description post that's tagged to be persistent is, say, Post #11, what happens to Post #11 in the thread when reading through it? Is there a gap there. or would it remain in its proper place, too? That could be confusing, even if (or perhaps especially if) the post is Post #1, because of the double-view.

I am picturing something similar to the information above the posting area for a new (request to join)...assuming a gm fills out that.

I would use that feature as a gm a lot, and as a player I would find it useful.

While we're making a wish list.  :-)

I'd love to see a GM "Locations" page where the GM can create multiple Locations.  A "Location" includes a Name (required), Text (optional), and an image (optional).

Inside game threads, the GM can, as part of his post, change the Location by selecting one of the already-defined Locations.  That location change will create a one-line entry under his post that says "New Location:  <Location name>" and is a link that will show the Name, Text, and Image in a pop up window.

In addition, on every post after that until the GM changes the location again, next to the "edit | quote | reply | msg #" above and to the right of the message is added a "location" link that pops up the same pop-up window with the location info that is selected for that post.

Obviously, this is a pretty big ask, and it is awkward if the party splits up but the GM continues both sub-threads in the same thread.  However, for the 95% case where the party stays together and there is the concept of the current location, it works well.  Having it defined in a separate GM page means that the GM can easily go back if the party returns to an old location.

That is an awesome idea!

What about just an option to include a header/footer to your post. This would be helpful for a multitude of purposes and could contain setting information. Or mechanics information. Or any other information the poster deals important.

I manually do this already by including everything I want in the "footer" beneath a <hr> tag.

---

This is my footer...

I agree with patchwolf that this functionality essentially exists already, just using the HR tag.  Part of the point of my proposal is that if there is a significant encounter that goes on for several pages of posts such that the GM's original post about entering the location is pages behind, it is still easy to check out the location thanks to the link being added to all posts after that.

We almost have a little of this functionality, with the Game Map.  I only recently learned that the game map actually selects the right one based on the thread you are in when you click the link.  That is, if you're reading a thread for Group 1 and click the Game Map link, it will come up with the Map for Group 1 already selected.  This is pretty cool, but it doesn't let you change the map mid-thread while still leaving the old one available, and it is tied to the group, not the thread, so if you have several threads for the same group (i.e. Chapter 1, Chapter 2, ...), they all use the same map.