What is the difference between this forum, and reading the archives by date?

[Anonymous]

I have been a devoted fan of DCUM, and have always ready the "archives" by date. Why would someone post at one place vs. the other?

Just curious.
Thanks.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I have been a devoted fan of DCUM, and have always ready the "archives" by date. Why would someone post at one place vs. the other?

Just curious.
Thanks.

The archives are a collection of past mailing list messages. The mailing list is completely separate from the website forums. The choice between the mailing list and the website forums is one of personal preference. If you prefer to interact via email, use the mailing list. If you prefer to participate via the web, use the forums. The worst possible choice is to participate in the mailing list via the archives.

[Anonymous]

Ok, makes sense, but I don't understand what you mean by the worst choice being......

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, makes sense, but I don't understand what you mean by the worst choice being......

Reading the mailing list via the archives is the worst choice because you don't get any of the benefits of the mailing list (eg comes in your email and easy to respond via email) or any benefits of the forums (eg topics nicely organized, easy to respond to and post messages). Simply replying to a message via the archives is a bit confusing and you can't really organize the messages by topic.