Forum Restructuring

Started by Snarky, Thu 12/04/2012 20:42:54

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Armageddon

Noooo, the old ordering was best, and why is Domes in the competition thread. :'(

Ryan Timothy B

Because it's an Activity. ;)
So technically the Guess a Movie thread should be in there too.

m0ds

#62
Mm, not a big fan of the new order either. Sorry!

Maybe it'll just take some getting used to, old habits worn in and all that. I think it's important to keep support right at the top.

Armageddon

Quote from: Ryan Timothy on Thu 19/04/2012 03:48:24
Because it's an Activity. ;)
So technically the Guess a Movie thread should be in there too.
Yes but it's not a contest.

Gilbert

#64
Activities in 'Competitions & Activities' aren't necessary to be contests. As long as the activities are approved they can appear in that section.

I know that before the renewal of the forum structure, there were some discussions on how some of the activities are more silly than the other and they didn't even fit in the General forum (I haven't really read the posts yet) and that the Popular Thread forum was not meant to be a grave for such threads. That's why the Rumpus room was born. One such activity was the Guess a Movie thread.

WHAM's game thread was indeed fun and had a lot of participators, so it makes sense to move it to Competitions & Activities. However, personally I didn't find the Movie thread that bad either and I'll say it isn't that bad of an idea to move it also to Competitions & Activities instead of the Rumpus room (again, as I mentioned, I haven't really read the posts to understand enough the reasons why it's considered silly). If this is considered not up-to-standard for Competitions & Activities, I'll say that the classic M$PAINT game isn't anything better and that game was already here at almost the same time this incarnation of the forums were born.

So, I'll suggest either moving the Movie thread to Competitions & Activities (and leave the other more silly ones in Rumpus), or instead move the M$PAINT game to Rumpus.

Snarky

OK, so personally my logic was that the Domes & Decision thread involves WHAM making a game and people playing it, live, which fits under the "Creative Production" umbrella.

Grabbing screenshots from different movies and having people guess them isn't (IMO) an activity that involves creative production in the same way, and it's not really a contest, so to me it didn't seem like it fit into that forum.

I personally don't see the "silly" label as being necessarily a negative or a criticism. The Movie thread wasn't moved to The Rumpus Room because it was "bad". The distinction I'm applying as a mod between General Talk and The Rumpus Room is just whether the thread is a conversation/discussion on some topic or not. I hope both forums stay active, and part of the idea of moving the Movie thread to TRR was to use it as an example of the kind of fun things that could go there.

AGA

Okay, so whether people approve of the forum layout changing is up for debate.  This aside, are there any bug reports / feature requests / little annoyances anyone wants to point out?

The forums design (and version) will be updated fairly soon, so things will be changing a fair amount again.  However, the core functionality and structure should be unaffected.

Tartalo

There are / have been a lot of programs and services that are not part of AGS but are directly related to AGS, and all the information about them is buried among the support questions about development of games with AGS in the Advanced Technical Forum.

I mean things like the Android AGS market, Nimbus/Nexus, AGSarchive, Adventure Game Goddess, Bycicle for Slugs... and surely others that I don't know about.

What about a subforum to give visibility and encourage this ecosystem?

AGA

We're trying to avoid adding more sub forums that are unlikely to have widespread use, as it just clutters the place up.  I could maybe add a link to the top of the forums next to the Games link to a separate Resources (or whatever) page, that people could suggest additions to?

Tartalo


WHAM

#70
My two cents:
1: I was thinking of asking the moderators to move the forum game (currently known as "domes and decisions" until next chapter comes out) to competitions and activities but apparently they beat me to it. Personally, I am honoured by the relocation.  The reason I didn't ask was that I wasn't sure the "game" would quite be worthy of swimming with the big fishes like MAGS and other competitions. Basically this means, to me, that I have started a new activity which the moderators have deemed worthy of being up there in "competitions and activities", that is, with the cool guys.  8)

2: I like the new forum structure. At one point I was worried that the beginners questions and tech forum were moved to the bottom of the forum main page, but with their relocation back at the top of the page, I have no complaints whatsoever. Good job Snarky and AGA and whomever else might be doing all the hard work here! It is appreciated!

EDIT:
My third cent: The facebook feature sounds good as well. As long as it's nothing overcomplicated, but like AGA said, some bouncers that allow you to promote threads/posts/games directly on facebook would be absolutely awesome, and a welcome sign of the modernization of the AGS community. We can be retro without being cavemen ;)

SECOND EDIT: Oh wait, apparently the AGS Support section has been moved down on the forum main page again, so strike my second cent for that part. I think the technical support for new AGS users should be the first and foremost thing on the forums, then the games themselves, then the rest in whatever order. Since AGS is a game developement engine first and foremost, the support of that feature should also be the most prominent feature of its community.
Wrongthinker and anticitizen one. Pending removal to memory hole. | WHAMGAMES proudly presents: The Night Falls, a community roleplaying game

straydogstrut

I would suggest:


  • AGS Games
  • AGS Support
  • Creative Production
  • AGS Development
  • Community
  • Hosted Sites

I think we have a lot of members (and non-members) who just play AGS games, that's why i'd suggest having it at the top. Yes, AGS is a game development tool and I do agree with the opinion of having AGS Support first too. It was a toss up between the two but i'm thinking about the average user "Charlie". Allow me to indulge in a bit of play acting..

Charlie starts off playing AGS games. She can visit the Games page on the main website but the AGS Games threads are where it's at for the community feel. She gets excited by all the up and coming games and she gets help in the Hints and Tips forum. One day while gushing over Ben Jordan 19 in the Completed Games thread, Charlie thinks "Hey, I could make games like these with my own unique take on it.."

And so she reads the manual (of course she does ;) ) and sets about building her first game. While working on Teh Most Awesmoe Game Evar she has lots of questions. Where does she turn? To the AGS Support boards while are helpfully placed right under AGS Games. She bombards the boards with questions, most of which are answered by Khris :D She also tries out some plugins and the barrage of questions continues.

Pretty soon she's getting a handle on the code, but her game could really use more than programmer art. Charlie did some drawing at school but she hasn't used anything on the computer other than Microsoft Paint. What tablet should she buy if at all? How does she create a walk cycle? Which paint package is the best? Does the perspective in this room look off? Do I have to draw clothes on my main character? Charlie has lots of questions..and she posts them in the Creative Production boards.

Charlie pushes through and releases her first game. She can now call herself a 'developer'. She sets about on her second game, and her third, and she's learning all the time. She's well known around the boards and helps out in the AGS Support boards. Being a regular user of AGS, she starts noticing some things that just don't work right, and other ways that things could be improved. She's no uber coder but she wants to contribute to the development of AGS..and so finds herself in the AGS Development boards, suggesting new features and reporting bugs.

It's been a long journey, but an enjoyable one, made all the more merry by shenanigans of the Community boards found near the bottom of the forum. Oh and that ROTN thing that she really needs to study up on..


Disclaimer: In the end it doesn't really matter, we'll all get to grips with whatever order is settled on. It's all good 8)
Disclaimer 2: The events portrayed above are pure fiction and in no way representative of my own AGS Journey. I'm also not a girl called "Charlie" despite what the rumours say..

WHAM

Quote from: straydogstrut on Thu 19/04/2012 18:51:59
I'm also not a girl called "Charlie" despite what the rumours say..

Charlie is a boys name! >_<'
Wrongthinker and anticitizen one. Pending removal to memory hole. | WHAMGAMES proudly presents: The Night Falls, a community roleplaying game

straydogstrut

I asked the future Mrs straydogstrut for a boys/girls name and the first thing she said was 'Charlie'. I also have a friend called Charlie and she's a girl last time I checked* :P

*Oh god, i'm digging myself a hole here..

Hudders

As enjoyable as that romp was, I don't think it's particularly true.

As I see it, there are three distinct use cases of the forums:

* User A, a new user who played an AGS game and wants hints / support.
* User B, a new user who wants to start making his / her own games.
* User C, an existing user.

Whilst User A might be restricted by the format of the forums and needs the games and support forums to be obvious, Users B and C are going to use all the forums and aren't going to journey through them in a structured manner. It doesn't really matter to either of them how the forums are arranged, as long as it's easy to find what they're looking for.

straydogstrut

Quote from: Hudders on Thu 19/04/2012 20:46:03
As I see it, there are three distinct use cases of the forums:

* User A, a new user who played an AGS game and wants hints / support.
* User B, a new user who wants to start making his / her own games.
* User C, an existing user.

[...]
It doesn't really matter to either of them how the forums are arranged, as long as it's easy to find what they're looking for.

For the record, I do agree with you on all points. Well said :)

Ryan Timothy B

Don't forget to add the useful tips when you click to start a new post in the recruitment section.

Like:
Read the BOARD RULES on recruitment.
Subject Example: Bovine Intrusion - Looking for: Animators, Musician
Don't forget to edit your post changing the Subject to add: [Position Filled]  to let the moderators know to lock the thread.

etc..

AGA

Quote from: Ryan Timothy on Fri 20/04/2012 17:03:01
Don't forget to add the useful tips when you click to start a new post in the recruitment section.

Like:
Read the BOARD RULES on recruitment.
Subject Example: Bovine Intrusion - Looking for: Animators, Musician
Don't forget to edit your post changing the Subject to add: [Position Filled]  to let the moderators know to lock the thread.

etc..

I've asked the relevant moderators for all the forums to come up with (or update) those things for their own forums.  However, if anyone else has any suggestions, I'm willing to consider them.

Ryan Timothy B

I didn't realize it could be done on a moderator level. Just in case you didn't know what I was talking about, I meant the rules that show up between the Subject and Message within the Message Icon when you're posting a new thread.

AGA

Yes, I know what you mean; they also show up above the quick reply box at the bottom of each thread. The moderators can't change them, I meant for them to give me the text and formatting, and I'd update them on the server.

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