[Groups] Community Groups

I've noticed a number of groups that are more than just a gaming group, their a whole sub community. Namely Your GM academy and The AD&D2 Tavern to name two. These groups have large numbers of "players" which can cause lag when viewing the group and lots of discussion threads.

What I propose is a second kind of group, a Community Group. These groups would have a different layout, such as a tab for members instead of being on the home. Other features I would like to see is the ability to make discussion groups(sub-forums) to manage the large number of them, and the ability to have multiple tabletops(I'm assuming that less people in one room is better for the servers and group members), or remove the tabletops all together and only have a chat on the left(though I think tabletops are beneficial for groups like GM academy). I also think it would be neat, if your a member of a group, that you could mark that group in the campaign and group members would see it on a list of group games(the LFG would still show up on the general site).

Groups would have to be formed by a mentor likely(due to various reasons) but I feel anyone should be able to enter them. Instead of a GM(game master) they would have GMs(Group Managers). I'm unsure of if people should just be able to just click a button and join a group, or if roll20 should allow the GMs to take applications and accept people.

I wanted to also mention that my goal/wish with this suggestion is not to segregate or divide the community. My hope is these groups would simply help with particular interests. My feeling is that, if implemented, the groups would be freely entered or left at any time.

Groups that I imagine would pop up;
The API academy(or something to that effect)
a bunch of game specific groups(like AD&D2 tavern)
maybe groups for games that are not sortable right now, like Airship Pirates, or Burning Wheel. That way if your in the Burning Wheel group you can make a new game(that is listed under other) and mark it with the burning Wheel group and everyone than know your starting a new game.(if the tagging with your group is implemented.)

This seems like a really good idea. Part and parcel with this should also be a community search feature. I know some of the current communities use LFG, which is less than ideal, but it seems like the only way to get visibility so new players can find them and actually join.

Similarly, listing them seperately from actual games would be nice.

Damn right. Actually supporting small communities on this site would be a blessing for us users. Not to mention action has been taken against a couple of the community groups I reside within to actively take them off listings and stop any additional members joining these little communities. 

Please add this addition!

+1

That is a very good suggestion. I hope they add it in the future.

+10000000 should have been part of the design from the get go

+1 for Community Groups. The notifications from all the meta-chat make it hard to see what's going on in my regular game group.
(Also: shoutout for PUG Lobby, Yet another meta-group)

+1