My suggestion to make the site flow better.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ryusaizo
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I DO like the idea of keeping releases and discussion separate though. That way I can bump my own thread and say "Hey look! There's something new!" Without having to tell people to bump the entire thread or be accused of double-posting or whatnot (although double-posting to announce a new version isn't a violation of the rules now).
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Personally, I think there should be an exception to double and necroposting rules for new, relevant updates in a person's own WIP/RELEASE/TUTORIAL thread, and I DON'T think it should be dependent on release and discussion threads being separate (which I think is foolish).

Also, a concern about necroposting. People can get watched status for starting new discussion threads about a project if there already is one, but they can also get watched status for necroposting in an old discussion thread. When given a choice between a redundant thread and necroing, which behavior is preferred?
 
Traditionally, in forums with low turnovers, necroing is usually better received than creating a new thread, assuming the new post is

* a genuine contribution (don't just post 'LOL GR8 WORK GUYS' in a four-year-old modelling thread)
* really needs to be in that thread (and can't be appended to a newer but nevertheless fairly relevant thread), and
* is following up a non-obsolete topic (i.e. not asking about AI editing in SCENESTER)

Unofficially, I'd also say that the mods in any case look on mishaps with technical contributions far more kindly that misplaced trivialities. Unnecessary posts about LZS compression are quite forgivable; unnecessary posts about your cats are not.
 
I prefer my way, but I can live with that.

What we need are two things; clarity and logic. One of my biggest problems with the current rules and the way they are enforced is that they both leave grey areas and there is little logic to what goes where.

Ideally, the forum layout and board names should be such that people wouldn't even need to read the rules to know what goes where; it should be so clear and intuitive that, if people post in the wrong board, it would be acceptable to punish them just for the sheer stupidity and lack of common sense.
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The problem with the rules is not really clarity in my opinion. I do agree though with Kudistos on the forum titles though.

The real problem is just ignorance, People spend about 3 minutes and 3 searches looking for a solution to their problem and can't find it, so they post a question. I'm not totally sure a way about making it easier to answer questions. Catagory/Keyword searches, even though since this is a forum, it is sort of categorized on a base level.

A lot of people using this site found it while typing their problem in google search, therefore they click a link, see all the walls of text and decide "I'll post the question, sure to get help then!" which of course isn't always a bad thing to think but it is annoying, I'm guilty of it too so I know what the mindset is going into it. and after spending a while on here you start to get the feel for things.

I don't think there is an end-all solution to new members necroposting or double posting or even asking already answered questions.

Maybe adding a really small forum piece like  "new to qhimm" and maybe even a "new to forums" for people who have never really forum-searched before.

I hope this all makes a little bit of sense.
 
Except they would not read that either. The only thing to combat this is the warning system. We could have pages and pages of rules, suggestions, FAQ's, whatever, and this type of problem will still happen.
 
Well, a way to stop double posting would be to find somewat to make double posts automatically combine. Or simply make it so people can't post in a thread until someone else posts. As for necro posting... maybe make it so once a thread hasen't been posted in for about, oh 2 months i guess, it is automatically locked to everyone except Mods and Admins. (In game Tweaking, the Person who started the thread can post too, so updates can be made.)

I'm just tossing out ideas, so feel free to praise or criticize as you feel.
 
On some sites there is a way to stop double posting, but I think that is within a certain timeframe. Also, what have I started O:
 
my only gripe is the way the 2 main forums are setup, game tweaking and programming feedback. I think nearly all problems could be alleviated by creating separate release and work in progress forums. Progamming feedback could become releases, and game tweaking would become the discussion forum that it was before. A WIP forum would provide a place for in development programs to go, thus not taking up space and getting lost in the tons of questions in the game tweaking section.

It makes it really easy to see where you need to post, based on the names of them. Game tweaking and progamming feedback are fairly ambiguious forum names, and its not surprising that people often post in the wrong ones. The other side of the argument is that if you split forums up, it means less posts for both and one area may be suceptible to death by lack of use.

lee
 
I like this idea, except qhimm seems to be against changing the forums around.
 
And yet, while I was up reading old posts, it seems the great Qhimm came on and made some changes. And they look good too! Kudos.
 
So, it looks like the squeaky wheel gets the grease! ;D

I'd have preferred releases and feedback to go in the same thread, but what we have now is certainly an improvement on what we had before!
 
I am so far loving the new forums. :D Love those child boards sl1982 suggested. Maybe a child board for the psx section can be added?
 
But I bet it's only a matter of time before people start criticizing the layout again :P

Being a mod or admin has got to be tough :|
 
But I bet it's only a matter of time before people start criticizing the layout again :P
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Any complains will surely be of a lower order of magnitude from the ones that arose from the previous layout, so they wouldn't be at all comparable.
 
But I bet it's only a matter of time before people start criticizing the layout again :-P
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Quoted for overwhelming truth

Being a mod or admin has got to be tough :|
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On the contrary, it has its rewards as long as you don't take it too seriously.
 
On the contrary, it has its rewards as long as you don't take it too seriously.
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That's good.  I guess having power can't always be pain and torture.
 
But I bet it's only a matter of time before people start criticizing the layout again :-P
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Quoted for overwhelming truth
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It's an overwhelming truth in the same way that it's overwhelmingly true to say something like:

"Keeping a dog and keeping a herd of elephants are both commitments. In both cases you need to spend money, and in both cases you need to feed, exercise and house your pets."

That's true, but it's also misleading if one fails to add that the challenges are of completely different orders of magnitude and that keeping a dog is in no way comparable to keeping a herd of elephants.
 
Seems qhimm got my message whilst i was sleeping. Well things are a bit different then what i would have done but thats ok.

So the projects forum is for exactly that. Discussion on WIP and ideas for starting new projects will be allowed.
Mods and tools will only be for released stuff. Discussion allowed (maybe, not sure how we should go about this. Maybe feedback is a better forum for it.)
General goes back to what it was before.
Tech support has to do with getting the game running.
Tech related has to do with internals of the game. (Hex edits, opcodes, data structures, etc)
Feedback has to do with problems/suggestions for specific mods (which might be why we shouldnt have discussion in the mods and tools)

Project forums will remain the same as they were, and will be moderated as per the specific moderators discression (Main rules still apply though)

Does anyone have any objections to this?
 
But I bet it's only a matter of time before people start criticizing the layout again :-P
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Quoted for overwhelming truth
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It's an overwhelming truth in the same way that it's overwhelmingly true to say something like:

"Keeping a dog and keeping a herd of elephants are both commitments. In both cases you need to spend money, and in both cases you need to feed, exercise and house your pets."

That's true, but it's also misleading if one fails to add that the challenges are of completely different orders of magnitude and that keeping a dog is in no way comparable to keeping a herd of elephants.
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Grrrrr I'm angry!  Let's debate and complain and start arguments.   Really?  It's old now.  I'm done.
 
So am I. I'm not angry; no, I'm being positive. ;D

I'm saying that the new changes are good and that, even though you can never make everyone happy all of the time, you can certainly make more people happy more of the time. Having a clearer forum structure is going to do that. Sure, it's not perfect, but any problems with the new layout are tiny compared to the problems with the old one.
 
Something I think would be a good idea is a Post Limiter. As your post level goes up (newbie --> Cool newbie) you are able to post more times each day, and make more threads. One thing is to completely block the ability to make new threads for Newbies, and can only post a few times a day. No Life status gives unlimited posting.  etc.
 
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