Hello strategists! Over the past few weeks you will have noticed how many AI-developed and AI-assisted games have been posted to /r/RealTimeStrategy. You've no doubt even seen some devlogs copied and pasted from AI, complete with the AI's reminders on formatting a good Reddit post. We've noticed, too, and the number of quickly-developed game projects have grown dramatically over the last 8 months, especially in the last 2-3 months as people tinker with summer projects. The most recent wave of these AI games have mainly been persistent MMO strategy games, many of which don't satisfy even the basic criteria of traditional RTS games and have been removed on that basis.

Over the coming month we'd like to try an experiment. We're hoping the community responds positively to this, but if things need to be adjusted or curated differently, then we're listening.

From now through the end of September we're going to ask that all AI-developed and AI-assisted posts go into a Megathread designated for that purpose. Users can still ask questions of the devs, and devs can still report on their progress within that Megathread. But we're going to strongly urge AI games first be posted to AI gaming subreddits or, if they strongly resemble RTS games or are clearly RTS-adjacent, then posted to the Megathread.

This should help indie devs posting about the games they're programming from being overwhelmed by vibe-coded projects still in their infancy, in turn helping the community to see news and updates about their favorite games, promising human-coded projects, and other RTS discussion topics. As a reminder, if you want to see vibe-coded projects and games, please visit /r/aigamedev, /r/vibecoding, and related subreddits oriented towards that.

If the community appreciates what we hope will be a tidier discussion environment, then we may continue with monthly Megathreads for AI games or ask that primarily AI-derived content go somewhere else so that community members can choose between subscribing to AI games or not. We can only achieve this view of what the community might be like by attempting this Megathread experiment first, so we ask for your support and feedback at the end of September. We've also added a new report reason to the Report feature. If you see that a post is inconsistent with the posting guidelines (also found in the sidebar on mobile), please use the Report feature and select the option that most closely fits your reasoning so that mods can review the post/comment.

The Megathread for AI games will be posted in the next 24 hours or so.

Come join! /r/rtsdev

^{Or don't, that's fine too. There isn't any content yet anyway 👍}

Greetings commanders! We have a few topics to discuss:

• Reworking the community-curated Recommended RTS Games List
• Mod Applications
• Filling a void with RTS-adjacent games

Community-curated games list

We've had some good discussions recently about what games to recommend to newcomers to the RTS genre. We've had a Recommended RTS Games List for years that is maintained by the community. It was recently recommended that we make the list more helpful to newcomers. To that end, we've added a "Beginner-friendly" section at the top of the list and populated it with a few of the community's recent recommendations.

One big difference is this part of the list is that it's sorted by release date, rather than alphabetical order. Would you folks prefer that the rest of the Recommended Games List also be sorted by RTS gaming "era" or simply by year? Or do you prefer alphabetical or is there a better method (that Reddit's minimal formatting allows)? What do you think is most helpful for people looking for a new game to play?

Mod applications

Once again, we're looking for moderators to help keep an eye on things and make sure that posts are reasonably relevant to the RTS genre and to also help answer the questions we get from indie devs and community managers about how to post, where to post (and not to post too much), etc.

The /r/RealTimeStrategy community is great and has sorted out its own sense of self, so moderation duties mostly relate to helping indie devs, helping to organize AMAs, and that sort of thing. That requires a regular time commitment from volunteers and we could use a few around here to keep things running smoothly. If you're interested in helping moderate, please message us and answer the questions posted towards the bottom of this thread. No prior experience is required, but relevant experience certainly helps.

Filling a void in an adjacent community

Recently, we have had more than a few devs inquire about posting RTT games. Reddit has a subreddit for pretty much every game genre imaginable and since RTS is adjacent to RTT and has some fans of RTT, we'd like to invite members of this community to help setup a dedicated community specific to RTT games. We can be sister communities and help devs get the feedback/critiques that they're interested in. If there is anyone interested in helping, please reach out to us via modmail and we can work together to make this happen. Some experience with community moderation is a good idea so that this goes smoothly for the benefit of the community.

Hi everyone! Happy Friday!

It's been a while since we last hosted an AMA right here in /r/RealTimeStrategy, so we're excited to announce that we have one coming up this Wednesday, featuring the developers from Digital Sun, makers of the upcoming Cataclismo (/r/CataclismoRTS) and also Moonlighter (/r/Moonlighter)!

AMA Time and Date:

Wednesday, 17 July

3-5PM CEST (6AM PST / 8AM CST / 9AM EST / 1PM GMT)

>> Timezone converter <<

Please start thinking about what you would like to ask or say!

If you know that you won't be able to join the AMA while it's live on Wednesday, you may post your question here or message the moderators and we will ask on your behalf and @ you so you can find it later!

As with past AMAs, there will be a couple modifications to the subreddit to host the AMA. We have a new banner image in the sidebar with the time and date of the AMA. That banner will run until the day of the AMA. We are not posting any actual advertisements or links to the game anywhere, it's up to the devs/CMs to advertise the game within our community's self-promotion guidelines. We also don't want to crowd-out other RTS discussion on the 17th, so we'll ask that ALL Cataclismo content go into the AMA thread for that day, so that people can still talk about other things as usual. After the AMA is over, the thread will be sticky-posted for several days so other people can read through it!

Please note that this request for moderators is for Reddit only and does not relate to any RTS discords.

Greetings strategists and tacticians!

For the first time we're opening up moderator applications. I've really been the only mod here for the majority of the subreddit's existence and I apologize for not bringing on more mods sooner. I generally feel that the people who discuss and post things here are mature enough to be good to each other and argue respectfully. But that's not an excuse for not having more hands on deck to action inappropriate content more quickly or to provide more opportunities for the community to do things. Long-term, my hope is that any moderators that are brought on will be able to assist in also getting and scheduling more AMAs from developers you want to see, provide weekly discussions for more discourse, and possibly hold some casual community events (gaming nights, mini-tournaments).

So what we're looking for some in moderators is to help around the community but also to have an active role in helping the community have more fun. While we're not specifically seeking experienced moderators, we do want to find people who have some time to dedicate to the community as well as do basic moderation. We have a few things we're looking for when it comes to maintaining the friendly and helpful atmosphere of this community. Moderating isn't as glamorous as some people make it out to be, so please be sure to read over the entire post.

What moderators do:

We clear out the spam filter, which might collect legitimate or spam submissions and help get them to the right place. If individual community members have questions or concerns then we will help them resolve them. We also defuse arguments, crush spam, and help people with anything that they might ask of us related to Reddit as a whole, including basics like how to make a post or how to spoiler-tag their content.

Moderators are also expected to help enforce the community's posting guidelines and do so in a polite, respectful way that's considerate of both the community and the person who made the post. Overall, moderating duties are pretty basic and we ask of you a small, regular commitment of your time on a regular basis to keep an eye on things.

Applicants should meet the following requirements:

• Applicants must be mature individuals and have an established account on Reddit to be considered.

• Keep in touch with other mods via Discord. Generally this includes chatting, organizing community events and discussions, community policy changes, and anything else that comes up.

• Be friendly. You may have to respond or message fellow members of the community. Politeness is required.

• Be able to make a small, daily time commitment to the community for the next several months.

• Have both the time and interest to take on additional roles to expand the RTS community's activities (depending on what we agree on that may include posting regular discussion topics and facilitating communication with groups running outside events).

• Generally we expect that you don't have any conflicts of interest. For example applicants should not be monetizing any videos, streams, etc. of your content while seeking to moderate the community.

If you're interested in being an active moderator please use this link to send a message to the moderators and answer these questions:

• Briefly, what genre(s) of RTS would you say are your primary interest? What device(s) do you prefer to play on?

• What moderation experience do you have, if any?

• Do you have Discord? Yes/No

• Do you have experience with CSS, programming, and/or Photoshop?

• Do you primarily browse Reddit from desktop or mobile device? If from a mobile device, have you ever moderated from the mobile app?

• What time-zone are you in? What are your most active hours browsing Reddit (for example: after school, at work, etc.)?

I'll be accepting applicants for approximately one week, or as long as this post is stickied. I will get back to each person within 7-10 days of receiving their application as I expect it will take me some time to sift through all the applications and make final decisions. I may take some time to ask follow-up questions as well.

Thanks for reading and thanks your patience!

At the recommendation of the community, we have opened up the /r/RealTimeStrategy/wiki page to include helpful sections that you can add to:

• Recommended Games: /r/RealTimeStrategy/wiki/recommended

• Upcoming Games: /r/RealTimeStrategy/wiki/upcoming

On the Recommended Games page: Feel free to add content and details. When editing a page please try to follow the existing formatting and be as impartial as possible in your descriptions (i.e. leave out "I really like this game's multiplayer"). If you need help please message the moderators and we can roll-back accidental changes or assist you with using the correct coding/mark-down.

On the Upcoming Games page: Anyone may add games to this list of anticipated games for 2017 and 2018. Even if you don't know all the details about the release date or systems the game will release on, you can add some information, just make sure there is "???" in the other fields, otherwise the chart won't generate. Please follow the existing formatting.

Developers: Please do not add your own game to the list. At a later date we will have a separate list for independent games and games that have developer support within this community. Edits to the wiki are not anonymous!

Rules for editing the wiki:

1. Subscribe to /r/RealTimeStrategy and have at least 10 karma (of any type).
2. Click "edit" at the top of the wiki page and use the same formatting when adding a game to the list.
3. Make sure to provide a link to where the game can be legally acquired and/or an in-depth description or review of the game.
4. If the game is in alpha, beta, or on Steam Early Access, Square Enix Collective, or similar, then please put that in the description.
5. Keep the lists in alphabetical order when possible.
6. Please do not remove other people's recommendations. If a change/correction needs to be made please message the moderators to let us know why you're making that change.

If you have any questions please message the moderators. Thank you!

At the recommendation of the community, we have opened up the /r/RealTimeStrategy/wiki page to include helpful sections that you can add to:

• Recommended Games: /r/RealTimeStrategy/wiki/recommended

• Upcoming Games: /r/RealTimeStrategy/wiki/upcoming

On the Recommended Games page: Feel free to add content, details, or change the definitions of game types/games that I've already provided as examples. When editing a page please try to follow the existing formatting and be as impartial as possible in your descriptions (i.e. leave out "I really like this game's multiplayer"). If you need help please message the moderators and we can roll-back accidental changes or assist you with using the correct coding/mark-down.

On the Upcoming Games page: Anyone may add games to this list of anticipated games for 2017 and 2018. Even if you don't know all the details about the release date or systems the game will release on, you can add some information, just make sure there is "???" in the other fields, otherwise the chart won't generate. Please follow the existing formatting.

Developers: Please do not add your own game to the list. At a later date we will have a separate list for independent games and games which have developer support within this community. Edits to the wiki are not anonymous!

Rules for editing the wiki:

1. Subscribe to /r/RealTimeStrategy and have at least 10 karma (of any type).
2. Click "edit" at the top of the wiki page and use the same formatting when adding a game to the list.
3. Make sure to provide a link to where the game can be legally acquired and/or an in-depth description or review of the game.
4. If the game is in alpha, beta, or on Steam Greenlight or Square Enix Collective please put that in the description.
5. Keep the lists in alphabetical order when possible.
6. Please do not remove other people's recommendations. If a change/correction needs to be made please message the moderators to let us know why you're making that change.

If you have any questions please message the moderators. Thank you!