There have been debates over the efficiency of our sticky threads in this forum, the Offer your Services and Recruit a team.
Maybe a thread isn't the perfect form for this kind of activity? Maybe some sort of noticeboard, where people will update their "adds" and edit or remove them accordingly.
The site could have two major departments; "Recruitment" and "Offer service". Each department will be further divided into areas such as Sprites, Backgrounds, Sound, Programming etc, which can be easily searched and browsed.
Every advertiser must update their adds regularly, or they will disappear. This will prevent lots of old junk.
The problems with the current thread-based system are:
* They are rarely browsed; the linear order makes it unlikely that people pay attention to older posts, even if they are still relevant.
* They aren't sorted by the field of activity, nor by workload or time-span.
* They cannot be easily edited, updated or removed
* Old posts are not automatically removed (the new system could update the archive e.g. every month).
Any ideas, thoughts?
I think this is a good idea. People offering services should have the option of uploading a sample graphic/music so that others can estimate what style and quality they're working on. Or a link to their website.
Similarly, recruiters should link to some existing material. However, I've noticed that there are far more people with a kewl idea who want team members, than actual artists looking for a job; so the recruitment portion of the site may be pretty much pointless.
The list should probably be ordered by whomever edited it last, that way people will drift to the bottom eventually if they don't update their stuff. People are encouraged to 'touch' their profile regularly to keep it current.
Scratch that, thinking further I don't actually believe this will work. See post below.
I think this would certainly be more effective than the thread, which I always saw as somewhere to direct people to when we really want to say "Nobody wants to be on your team, nobody even wants to read about you needing a team, go and post somewhere nobody will read!". Can anyone offer some success stories about games they made with random people from forums that they never spoke to before? We seem to have trouble doing that even if we know the people... I'm wondering if it'd even be worth having more/any facilities to hook up teams like that.
Quote from: scotch on Thu 15/06/2006 16:05:53
Can anyone offer some success stories about games they made with random people from forums that they never spoke to before?
Actually, that's a good point. Over the course of A Tale of Two Kingdoms, I contacted everybody in the OYS thread offering music, graphics, portraits or animation, over a period of at least three months. About 90% of them (1) didn't respond at all, (2) declined in direct contradiction of their OYS post, (3) joined up and withdrew later without actually having done anything, or (4) joined up and stopped responding to e-mail later without having done anything.
So no, it doesn't work, and I assume that neither do the little icons that go with your profile, and neither does the 'Help wanted' thread (if I state that ATOTK is more attractive than most projects in that thread, and it got two or three reactions toal, then most projects there will get zilch).
Tough luck, eh? I believe that nearly every AGS game is made by two or three people that do everything themselves; something like one coder/artist, one supplemental artist, and one musician. There doesn't appear to be any room for people who cannot do art but only want to do the programming and scripting (or worse, only have a l33t ide4).
I think it's quite possible in the forum to get a musician for your already-mostly-finished game, but other than that I am very sceptical about the entire procedure. It's just wishful thinking. Yes, game design using people met over the internet can work just fine. And no, neither a forum thread nor a special script page is going to be of much use for finding those people.
I belong to (5) with ATOTK. Still on the team (although I little slow in responses.. sorry Radiant)...
Now on succesful stories...
I met esper a long time ago after he posted a petition for help, which was locked by a mod after 2-3 posts. We started discussing and liked each other, which eventually led to the hearts of abraxas, a theatrical play, but not the game initially we started talking about.
I have personalyl met people over the internet (not AGs though), and I can say that right now I@m working with these people, on a paid position. Don't know if this is what you're looking for, but I think that wit ha little bit of good faith things can work out pretty well for both parties.
On the other hand a couple of asking help posts I've made, got no repsonses whatsoever... But asking for help in the gen-gen (thanks helm for the term) has given me plenty of help. :)
A noticeboard will be better, as long as it is kept clean and this is the main thing. The 1 month and then delete if not updated is a brilliant idea.
I'm sure little things have worked out, finding someone to proof read or provide some voices... But not enough to warrant a sticky or an entire page devoted to it...
If you look at other game design forums they have help wanted threads and, just like ours, it's full of requests and game ideas and it never seems that any of those games get done.
While the sticky could just be done away with it did help in the matter scotch said, getting people to not clutter up the entire forum with help requests, just one thread.
"Every advertiser must update their adds regularly, or they will disappear." would be a neat idea and help end clutter [the page sends you an email or a forum PM and tells you to update or perish] but if the system doesn't work because people don't really want to help anyway...
The idea sounds good Andail, I'd suggest that any kind of ads page only kept an advert for 10 days or so, then automatically deleted it so the creator would have to go back and re-submit, to minimise wasted space of adverts that aren't taken down.
Anyway, footie time now..
Yeah, that's a good idea. Most of the people working on my game right now are all people I PMed and asked. I guess no one ever browses the ACR thread much....
I never read the ACR thread because I haven't got the time or want to aid some random person on stuff that I, to be honest, don't really care about.
If someone needed help, and we discussed it, I might help.
I'm sure a lot of folk feel the same.
As for Andail's idea, it sounds pretty good, though I can't seeing it having much success.
EDIT:
Also, if I needed help on my own project, I'd ask people I already knew. Not just hope some random person I've never heard of is bored and needs something to do.
I think the noteboard thing would work, if there was a way to ensure people using it are serious about it. Stuff like a popularity rating for users, and if someone posts and ad but just leaves it be after recruiting a few people, the people recruited could give some negative feedback, and if a user gets enough negative feedback they're barred from advertising or commenting on the notes untill the negativety has worn off. That'd need a rate, too.. Like five votes or month or something. Though that might be a bit too fast for some type of people...
Or you could do the negative feedback more like eBay, more of a caveat emptor method.
But I do like the idea, though I've successfully recruited a couple of people from the OYS thread.
You know, I've been thinking a lot about the current method and how ineffective it is--not by design, but by virtue of the way people browse forums. Why not create a database similar to the games database, only tailored specifically to interested parties? When you first sign up for the forums (or via profile) those settings you fill in for what you're willing to help with could actually be contained in an indexed database you can browse, and in addition to those defaults the members could also add a brief bio about themselves and their current availability, things of this nature.
This database would also allow the members to create/edit/delete a help wanted ad. This ad would allow precisely what the forum thread currently does (a single post covering images, details, and needed jobs)-- but this created entry would be accessed in a list of similar entries in a 'Help Wanted' Dropdown list on the main page. Clicking on the Help Wanted Dropdown list would show a list of one line projects (the title of the saved ad). When a person closes an ad they just delete it and it disappears from the list entirely--something moderators would need access to in case a member has been gone for an exceptionally long period of time, banned, etc. Alternatively, some kind of timer could be put into effect for the length the original ad can appear in the list, forcing the members to update their needs and status.
Similarly, a 'Help Offered' (or something to this effect drop down list would be on the main page (and anywhere else appropriate) that would have categories like Graphics, Music, etc and take you to an index of members who are 'available' to work on a project. This availability would be off by default naturally (so people with no interest would not even appear).
I realize this would require effort (perhaps alot) but I am 100% positive it can be done via scripting and would streamline the process so everyone had immediate access to a list of projects and interested members. I also realize it's not likely to happen, but it's just a thought.
I'll just point out that after seeing The Ivy's post in the recruiting thread about needing someone to program Spooks, I volunteered and everything worked out marvelously well even though we'd never spoken previously.
I think a separate page/database would be effective, but I'd worry about it being filled with "I wanna make the best game evar. Need help with: writing, drawing, programming, music, sound, everything." Some kind of moderation system would need to be put in place. I'm sure it's not a major hurdle.
Basically, anyone asking for graphics, especially 20 backgrounds or something can give up before they even post. I don't think the 'Make my graphics' approach has worked, ever... Feel free to correct me though. It's not too difficult to find someone to code parts of your game, or to do some spare music for it. But design/graphics, people should learn to depend on themselves, not because I like seeing bad-looking or bad-designed games, but because everyone around with artistic talent desires to make their own game, or are working with their friends to make their own game.
The CL, and the scripting help sections of the board are far more useful than any recruit service will ever be. Helping people fix their own stuff, not make it for them.
Quote from: Ishmael on Fri 16/06/2006 01:08:42
Stuff like a popularity rating for users, and if someone posts and ad but just leaves it be after recruiting a few people, the people recruited could give some negative feedback, and if a user gets enough negative feedback
The problem with such ratings (as compared to, say, those on eBay) is that making an AGS game can easily take several months or over a year, and thus it is not really possible to get meaningful feedback before the game progresses quite a bit.
(for instance, think of any of those 'big' Sierra/Lucasesque projects; can you remember or figure out from its site (1) whether it's still active, (2) who is currently on the team roster, and (3) who actually did a lot of work on it? For nearly all games the answer is no. Thus you cannot meaningfully rate anyone involved in any of those)
I think we need a /dev/null type thread for all the n00bs who have a good idea and want someone else to do all the work (because they'll clutter the forum if there isn't any). I believe most known and respected forum members can get people on their team if/when they want, but they use other (more personal) means than OCR.
In my experience, #ags is the best place to get help in any aspect of a game
Quote from: SSH on Fri 16/06/2006 13:00:56
In my experience, #ags is the best place to get help in any aspect of a game
Ooh, neat. I didn't know we had that. Which server is it on?
irc://irc.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/ags
Or just read the website (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/acirc.htm).
A bit offtopic, but..
Quote1. Technical questions, however, should not be asked here. Any scripting issues that you have are better posted on the forums, where more users have more time to look over your question.
is missing
or asked on the channel #AGSTech.
My idea for an improved Help Us page would be to have anyone that wants help fill in a form like this:
###
Project Name: [=============]
Short description: [==========]
Need help with:
[ x ] Play-testing
[ x ] Voice acting
[ x ] Music
[ x ] Backgrounds
[ x ] Character art
[ x ] Animation
[ x ] Proof reading
[ x ] Scripting
[ x ] Story design
[ x ] Web design
[ x ] Translating
Long description:
_______________
|Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, |
|Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, |
|Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, |
|Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, |
|_______________|
###
People that wanted to help out would fill in another form selecting what topics they could help in and any other extra comments, and the project poster would get a mail notification about it. People could also post comments about said project + rating which would help any moderators decide whether a project should be deleted or not.
People could browse through all the projects need help like a forum, being able to filter by topics to help with or rating and such.
I might actually code this if anyone thinks this is a good idea.
Quote from: SSH on Fri 16/06/2006 13:00:56
In my experience, #ags is the best place to get help in any aspect of a game
That's where I'd go for help. It's more of a community for me than the forums, since it's real time. It's like friends and pen pals. The friends are there, whilst the pen pals are just an interesting distraction at random intervals. That said, I can understand some people's aversion to chat rooms, one person from one ATC i was in, didn't believe in chat rooms, with various reasons. Time issues also don't help, with people being able to log on at only specific times.
A project should still be about working with people you get along with, tho. You wouldn't enjoy a standard job where everyone else is an ass, why would you with something you actually cared about? I don't think a "help wanted" sign is going to produce the same results as a knowing the person, or at least, knowing of the person first.
Vince/Ivy. Congratulations. It's nice to see something good's come out of it.
Quote from: SupSuper on Sun 18/06/2006 00:27:41
My idea for an improved Help Us page would be to have anyone that wants help fill in a form like this:
###
Project Name: [=============]
Short description: [==========]
Need help with:
[ x ] Play-testing
[ x ] Voice acting
[ x ] Music
[ x ] Backgrounds
[ x ] Character art
[ x ] Animation
[ x ] Proof reading
[ x ] Scripting
[ x ] Story design
[ x ] Web design
[ x ] Translating
Long description:
_______________
|Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, |
|Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, |
|Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, |
|Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, |
|_______________|
###
People that wanted to help out would fill in another form selecting what topics they could help in and any other extra comments, and the project poster would get a mail notification about it. People could also post comments about said project + rating which would help any moderators decide whether a project should be deleted or not.
People could browse through all the projects need help like a forum, being able to filter by topics to help with or rating and such.
I might actually code this if anyone thinks this is a good idea.
Sounds good. I wonder if they'll ever put any of these ideas into action...
I've had a few people ask me for help. I've never posted an help offered thing in the thread. If I know them, and I have some time, I might help them. If not, then no way.
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 16/06/2006 04:03:31
I'll just point out that after seeing The Ivy's post in the recruiting thread about needing someone to program Spooks, I volunteered and everything worked out marvelously well even though we'd never spoken previously.
And now I'm going through the code one line at a time to try to absorb some scripting knowledge from it. :-,
I think ProgZmax's idea is a good one, though. Also, Indicating the game's progress like in the GIP (Story 30%, Music, 70% etc.) might help people judge if it's a serious project or not.
What I think many people fail to realize, is that not everyone happens to know people who can help out in their projects. For example, my main problem has only been finding artists. Even if I know over 50 people online, and even if some of them are artists, none of them could help me out if I made an adventure game. Because, not only do you need to find someone who can draw, animate, colour, etc, but they also gotta be able to make it in a computer, and make it fit in a game.
Most artists I know can be good, even very good, but most of them can only draw on pencil and paper. Even those who can draw on a computer, it still takes a lot to make the art actually fit into a game. Plus, relying on one artist to do all the artwork can be troublesome, although having multiple isn't much better since everyone has their own style, their own techniques, use different programs, etc. Plus some artists are only good at this, others are only good at that, some can't animate, etc.
In the end, anyone that wants to start their own project usually ends up stuck with all the tasks. Writing, scripting, drawing, animating, etc. Nobody can do all that by themselves, and it takes a lot of effort to learn how to do other stuff when your talent relies somewhere else, so we have to rely on finding other people (as bad as it sounds) "to do it for us". Most of you seem to already know people that can help you out. Well, I (and probably many others) don't. We don't pick our friends, we don't guess what they're good at, and we're certainly not gonna go around trying to make friends with people merely to make use of their skills.
So, for many of us, all we got left is going around on forums looking for help, asking complete strangers to help out if they want, no matter how ridiculous that sounds, or risk just dumping all our projects.
I think the main thing you have to get used to if you're going to enlist people to help you on your project *for free is compromise. Be willing to compromise on style, certain story elements, etc, so the members feel as though their input is valuable. This will help keep them interested in the project.
*obviously if you are paying then you can have things the way you want them, just like Burger King.
Quote from: SupSuper on Mon 19/06/2006 15:24:14
So, for many of us, all we got left is going around on forums looking for help, asking complete strangers to help out if they want, no matter how ridiculous that sounds, or risk just dumping all our projects.
That is true, but asking people in the forum really isn't guaranteed to help at all. The problem isn't really that the forum system is lacking (although I rather like your suggested system above), the problem is that everyone good enough to be on your team is also good enough to be on a dozen other teams and likely already busy with something, or working on his own project.
Quote from: The Ivy on Mon 19/06/2006 14:47:11
Quote from: Vince Twelve on Fri 16/06/2006 04:03:31
I'll just point out that after seeing The Ivy's post in the recruiting thread about needing someone to program Spooks, I volunteered and everything worked out marvelously well even though we'd never spoken previously.
And now I'm going through the code one line at a time to try to absorb some scripting knowledge from it. :-,
In that case, I really should have commented the code instead of cowboy coding... sorry. Ask me any questions you have!
I've seen lots of gamer forums that include a seperate "Jobs offered/Jobs wanted" area, where people can post threads about their project or offer their services. A forum section dedicated to it would work much better than a single thread, and more people would read it.
Just a few words about this whole recruiting business...
I think many people fail to realise that when you're making an adventure game the most laborous part in most cases are definitely the graphics, especially when you're using a nice tool such as AGS and don't need to code the engine from scratch. This is why asking "I've got a really cool idea for a game and I can do everything but the graphics. Could you help me out with that?" is basically the same as expecting another person to do your whole game for you. Sure you can ask for help with animations if you're only good at drawing backgrounds or something like that, but hoping someone else will do ALL the graphics for you will get you nowhere. You have to be ready to make the most of the game on your own, otherwise it might be difficult to get any help at all.
If you really have absolutely no idea how to draw anything, you should rather try to find someone who needs help with the things you can do or maybe team up with other people and then start thinking about what kind of a game you'd all like to make instead of starting your own production and trying to recruit people to make it for you, for free.
EDIT:
Oh yeah, and I totally agree with Helm
Quote from: Dave Gilbert on Tue 20/06/2006 12:54:10
I've seen lots of gamer forums that include a seperate "Jobs offered/Jobs wanted" area, where people can post threads about their project or offer their services. A forum section dedicated to it would work much better than a single thread, and more people would read it.
I vote this, even if it could encourage eager beginners to start posting team-requests the minute they join.
Quote from: HillBilly on Wed 21/06/2006 18:01:57
I vote this, even if it could encourage eager beginners to start posting team-requests the minute they join.
True, but they'll do that ANYWAY. At least this way they'll be shoved off to a place we can ignore them if we want.
Also, those other forums have very strict rules for posts. You need to have a concrete idea, demonstrate what the game will be like, show what other work you've done, etc. Whoever moderates the forum could make sure those rules are followed.
Why not just combine help requests into the GiP forum if you're going to have that many rules?
Also, has the question "does this even work?" been answered yet? You can have the most perfect system for getting people to ask for help but if no one is offering help [I'm seeing what, 4 success stories out of 13 pages for the help thread?] than it still won't work.
It's not surprising that the help thread has few success stories, because it's a pretty poor system. Does anyone actually look at the help thread? I certainly have no desire to wade through pages of posts, looking for a project that might strike my fancy.
It's far easier, and a lot more practical, to scan one page of threads; each with individual titles. If you see "composer needed for fantasy RPG" or "Dialog writer for space adventure", you immediately know if its something you'd be able to do or not.
Two good examples of this in action:
Gamedev forums (http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/forum.asp?forum_id=8")
Gamingw forum (http://p://www.gamingw.net/forums/index.php?board=78.0")
I look at the help thread occasionally, though I'm usually too busy working on projects of my own to have time for anyone elses. I wouldn't be discouraged by a few rejections, though, there have been projects I signed on for because the story really appealed to me and I was given a level of creative control. Asking someone to help with your game and then telling them what to do with zero interest in their input is a sure way to wreck development before it even starts.
If you are willing to compromise on the design of your game and the story is interesting enough, you will have no problem finding team members. Getting people to enlist is at least 80% sales pitch. If you can't pitch a good idea and make people feel like they'll have a good time working on the game then you might as well just work on it yourself. A separate forum will not improve this.
Quote from: MrColossal on Wed 21/06/2006 22:24:09
Also, has the question "does this even work?" been answered yet? You can have the most perfect system for getting people to ask for help but if no one is offering help than it still won't work.
I think the OYS system would work rather better (only it would help if it were sortable by skill as well as by date, and if people would edit/remove their posts if they no longer have time to help)
Quote from: Dave Gilbert on Wed 21/06/2006 18:46:35
Quote from: HillBilly on Wed 21/06/2006 18:01:57
I vote this, even if it could encourage eager beginners to start posting team-requests the minute they join.
True, but they'll do that ANYWAY.Ã, At least this way they'll be shoved off to a place we can ignore them if we want.
Also, those other forums have very strict rules for posts.Ã, You need to have a concrete idea, demonstrate what the game will be like, show what other work you've done, etc.Ã, Whoever moderates the forum could make sure those rules are followed.
To begin with the forum will fill up with posts from people wanting others to make them
"100 bgs in the style of DOTT, but better!" After that I think people will begin to realise that more modest requests will get a better response. I think we'd start to see posts asking for three or four backgrounds or one character sprite.
I think a Jobs Wanted/Offered would be good for new members of the community and the community as a whole.
I was just thinking about a new project and then was thinking that when/if I finish it maybe I would like to have it translated, proofread and tested. So I head over the OYS thread just to see how many potential people there would be for forementioned jobs. I though it was pretty hard to dig those people from the thread and had an idea that since we have those help offered icons, why wouldn't it be possible to search using them. So I was thinking of starting a topic about it and by searching the forums I found it has been discussed before. Atleast in this thread I'm posting now and in this thread (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=17614.msg215618;topicseen#msg215618). So I didn't feel the need to start a new thread.
So obviously this kind of a search function would be useful. So has there been any progress in this topic?
I think this thread has some pretty good suggestions. I think for recruiting a dedicated forum section would be good, but for OYS I would prefer a searchable database. This could be made so, that there would be a dedicated forum section for OYS and offered services would be in the thread title as keywords. This way it would be possible to search based on skill as it is possible to search a specified forum from thread titles only.
Why not just post a help request in you gip thread or in recruit thread you say?
Well, I would like to sort out people according their help offers. Some peoples offers seem more assuring than others. If I want some playtesters I would like some people who really playtest the game not just a bunch of people who want to play the game in advance :)
I read the first few posts in this thread before I noticed the date. >:(
Regardless, seeing as it's here now, I may as well offer my opinion.
I don't read the RAT thread; in fact I don't think I have ever given it more than a cursory glance. The concept seems to be flawed, not only in it's ability to keep track of various posts, but also in that it seems to be ninety percent "Help Wanted" and ten percent "I Want to Help!"
Why not simply have an "Offer Your Services" notice board type deal, one that people seeking help could then peruse, rather than reams of ignored "PLZ HLP!1!" posts?
I realize we already have a system of icons under our avatars, but these are apparently quite easy to overlook.
Funnily enough, when I was available for scripting, I often checked out the RAT thread.
I like the notice board. And I agree with Fish - it's too hard to overlook, and REAL hard to look for, the icons.
Suggestion -
OFFER HELP BOARD.
A thread for each specialty - scripting, writing, etc. A post per person, each person describes what he/she can do in that area, the expertise, etc. Examples of what the person can do not mandatory but highly reccomended.
If extra-neatness is required, then it can just be one post in which all the people and their abilities are listed (still in a "Writing" thread, "Scripting" thread etc. division). Then, I don't know, people can post about their experiences with person X (or person X can post and say "I'm not available for this at the moment, sorry), and a moderator, or someone else who could be in charge of the thread/post, would delete that post and add the information in the main post.
I probably got a bit convoluted here. But ah well.
ALSO, for clean-up purposes, posts by people with only 1 or 2 posts, from 2 years ago, requesting a team- deleted?
I think there was a discussion about making users searchable with their skills and the games they made (was it in this thread?). Its probably too complicated to set up, but I'm just bringing the idea as something to think about.
Quote from: Babar on Wed 19/09/2007 12:11:27
ALSO, for clean-up purposes, posts by people with only 1 or 2 posts, from 2 years ago, requesting a team- deleted?
Ideally it would be an
offer help board, so no requests for help would actually be posted.
People who want help would read the board and apply to any available members through PM. I think it would function far more effectively than the system already in place.
EDIT: Or did you mean the current RAT thread, Babar? I agree that it could do with a fair dose of pruning. Of course, replacing it with a whole new system would take care of
that. ;)
Quote from: LimpingFish on Wed 19/09/2007 19:29:45
People who want help would read the board and apply to any available members through PM. I think it would function far more effectively than the system already in place.
I was looking for someone to help me with Puzzle work a while back, so I went through the Offer your services thread, and checked the posters one by one for the Story Design icon, along with something in their posts about puzzles (this is already an incomplete search, because many people can have a story design icon, and like doing puzzles, but not have posted there). There were many who had the story design icon, although weirdly, quite a few had something along the lines of "I'm not that good with story design" as the mouse-over text. I think there were 5 or 6 that specifically mentioned puzzles in their posts or their mouse-over text, and of those, the last active date ranged from 2 years ago to 5 months ago. There was only 1 person who had worked on any sort of completed game.
That's why I think a user search function would be useful. You wouldn't have to clutter up the forum with "I want a person to do this and this" requests, because they'd just directly search for what they want, and it'd be easier to find what you need as well.
And yeah...I was talking about the RAT thread, but also the Offer Your Services thread. Most people are kind enough to edit their RAT posts to show that they're not needing anyone anymore, though.
Quote from: Rui "Trovatore" Pires on Wed 19/09/2007 00:42:39
Suggestion -
OFFER HELP BOARD.
A thread for each specialty - scripting, writing, etc. A post per person, each person describes what he/she can do in that area, the expertise, etc. Examples of what the person can do not mandatory but highly reccomended.
If extra-neatness is required, then it can just be one post in which all the people and their abilities are listed (still in a "Writing" thread, "Scripting" thread etc. division). Then, I don't know, people can post about their experiences with person X (or person X can post and say "I'm not available for this at the moment, sorry), and a moderator, or someone else who could be in charge of the thread/post, would delete that post and add the information in the main post.
This would be very nice, only downside would be that it will require some additional work from the moderator.
As I stated before. My idea was similiar, but every member would make their own offer help thread in the offer help board.
They would make the title something like "MemberName, [story design] [graphics] [music]" and in their post they could give more specific details about their skills.
Then when searching, one could use the forum search function, check only the offer help board and then check both Show results as messages and Search in topic subjects only boxes. Then search for for example "story design". The search result will be nice list of people offering help on story design and the specific would be visible also. (If one prefers, show results as messages can left unticked).
This way no new technology need to be introduced to the search and moderators workload does not increase so much.
Excuse me, but I've completely overlooked the fact that we've had an OYS thread since 2004! :o
Proof, if it were needed, that it's not the most overtly noticeable thread on the boards. ::)
EDIT: Well, I've taken a look at the OYS thread, and the one thing that it seems to be lacking is examples of previous work by those offering their services. There's also a lot of offers of a similar nature (Proof-reading, Story Design, etc) that, due to their very nature, aren't easy to determine somebody's purported ability in. But concerning music/sound/art/scripting, it's fairly straightfoward to show somebody how talented, or not, you actually are.
Checking one's ability to proof-read is easy.
Read their post!
if it Look like this un - then pass.
That is, of course, if you can tell the difference yourself.
How about you make a whole thread full of topics asking for help. I could become moderator if you want. Just think of it. Thread name: Help
make some rules then let it flow.
Hem...
There is one already: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=30347.0
You don't get it.
Like making a part of the forums called (HELP). Like In production is.
He didn't get it because you said "thread" instead of "board" and "topics" instead of "threads".