There should be a way for people making a thread with the purpose of asking a question to mark the thread as solved so people asking the same question at a later date can quickly tell the thread contains the answers.
A new upgrade for the site, I like it! Hopefully it brings in new people, thats what I feel like is the most important part. Black on white is unusual for sure for this site, but other good forums like NeoGaf use it aswell, so I dont see it beeing a problem.
Am I the only person here who is no longer able to use the search feature on this site? I haven't seen anybody else report this and I haven't been able to use the search feature since the upgrade. Either it will display 0 search results or give an error message...
Personally I don't dislike the new changes, although I haven't been here quite as long as most of you. That being said, the white background is atrocious and it legitimately burns my eyes. I hope you'll have new skins in the works soon (just something less...white).
Stranded on Krydon Renewed- A renewed version of Stranded on Krydon that is being constantly updated, has improved visuals, is more friendly to new players, lots more fun tweaks and much more planned to come.
Just posting real fast to let you guys know my responses and such will be a little slow for the next few days! I'M STILL HERE! But I have a gramps that needs me for the holidays and well... I've slacked off a bit on some other work I need to get done before the new year :] Don't want you guys thinking we've set a new record for "We're here for you!" and then going dark lol.
I've got to finish compiling all of the concerns and comments into a bite size "developer" friendly pill, too. Here's hoping they let me keep my head when I leave that meeting :]
Don't stop tossing those suggestions and ideas up though. I'm keeping a general tally of which items are most important based on a few bits of criteria. It's not just how many people, but really the specific concerns and how the affect you guys.
We're officially out for Christmas holiday starting tomorrow, and we'll be back in the office Tuesday (US times, not them future dwellers over in the other hemisphere). I'll be in and out before then, of course.
EDIT: Just read through the recent responses - love 'em! There's also some really good global ideas in there - a couple that would make my job easier ;] Always like those suggestions the most.
As for the front page design criticisms, I still stand by my statements that it's good, because personally I like it a lot. But I do want to reiterate that I 100% understand the feelings that it's not the correct fit. Don't misunderstand! I'm by no means saying anyone is wrong - I don't get paid enough to start those kinds of fires :D
Also, don't let my explanations and conversations dissuade you from speaking how you feel. That would be far worse. This is one of the most civil conversations/discussions I've ever had on a forum. Damn impressed and proud of this community.
Quoting someone just to like something they said would extend these threads more than the alternative. Also, Just edited my signature? thing at the bottom of my posts. Clicked save and the page just flickered. Would like a "saved" or "info updated" text to confirm. Felt weird leaving that page not knowing if my stuff would stick.
What is "Paste" at the top of this page? Also, where did all the groups/teams go? Game development usually happens with groups of people. Removing that feature would be a step in the wrong direction I think.
Also Found my old post:
What kinds of features are coming?
Project Showcasing & Live Chat
Hopefully live chat with groups/channels and dragndrop file sharing? perhaps a proper way of showcasing our projects, WITHOUT needing to provide the actual project file? We need a place for people to link from the starcraft 2 arcades, from our map info section, where players can talk to the developers outside of the sc2 arcade, share feedback, screenshots, and discuss strategy. A Showcase-place where we developers can provide patch-notes and heads ups, just as you have done here for the site..
Profile Types & 5 Star Ratings
There needs to be profile types and a 5 star rating system. Aside from Admin, Moderator, Author, and Member. The profile types need to be more specific to what we are here for; Admin, Moderator, Developer, Tester, and Player. Because the bottom line is that Developers need more testers. If profiles had ratings, I as a developer could go to find a Tester with high ratings and expect my interactions to be of quality.
Climbing Rank/Incentive
In order for a Player to become a Tester, they would have to receive a set amount of ratings from Developers. This would give new members something to come here for, as well as solve a problem on the arcade; It's hard to find Testers. In order for a Player to get promoted to Developer they could climb up to the Tester rank and continue to test games, receive more ratings and by that time they'll have an understanding of the development process to earn the Developer profile type. Perhaps some profile picture achievements.
Portfolio for Developers
This is where people go as they start dabbling in the game developing process. I personally know 3 people who started here and became paid professionals. There are 3 factors that get people hired, Who you know, Portfolio, How many places receive your resume... and yes, in that order. Who you know gets addressed here with the improved form of communication with live chat. The groups within live chat and drag n drop file sharing allow for smoother interactions leading to contacts you will stay in touch with in the future. The Portfolio would get addressed by automatically adding images uploaded for our projects to a simple viewer on our Developer profiles. Easy-to-navigate portfolios have been key in the hiring process for Crystal Dynamics, Ubisoft, and Blizzard. Employers will just skip a person if the portfolio isn't smooth. An arrow on both sides of the images is enough. Videos of games being played would be great too, but maybe that's asking too much? It is a reasonable request considering this is a site that supports sc2 map development.
I have 32 people in a Skype channel right now that would be more active on sc2mapster IF any of these features were added. This does not include how many people who have been removed from the group since 2012 due to their inability to take this process seriously, because of the missing features.
Hope this helps. This is what I'll be implementing into my own site for bridging the gaps between unreal and unity as well as the players and developers within.
1. All my PM Gone, all the approval from other author gone. All the step by step guide gone. All the custom model gone. All the 'love letter - dude your maps sucks! Just quit already !' gone.
2. Can not attach anything, keep getting "already exceed your max" message.
3. Can not search anything now, keep getting "oops, something is wrong" message.
4. What the hell am I suppose to do with "for author" ?
5. All the youtube link now broken.
6. Can still see spams in the forum, just give the ban hammer back to the moderator already.
7. Can you read this? No? Why? The white background make it difficult? The same with everyone else.
8. Why by popularity? Why not by recent?
9. To be continue after holiday.
Thank you for reading. Have a pleasant holiday you all !
With everything running that same code base, if users on wow.curseforge.com find a bug, you get the benefit.
So, what if instead of making mapster like the other curse websites, you would actually create a unique design that could potentially introduce benefits to all? Like, the update is about making it easier to adresse issues and create new stuff and apply it to all sites, then let's try devlopping what this community needs to have the full potential and share it with the other curse sites if they need it. Basicly kind of going reverse to the flow, instead of getting the stuff the other websites have, we create new unique stuff that the other websites would benefit.
We almost all agree on many points, I hope the mass will make it change for the better and kind of "forces" the creation of new tools/content/whatever that our specefic community want.
With everything running that same code base, if users on wow.curseforge.com find a bug, you get the benefit.
So, what if instead of making mapster like the other curse websites, you would actually create a unique design that could potentially introduce benefits to all? Like, the update is about making it easier to adresse issues and create new stuff and apply it to all sites, then let's try devlopping what this community needs to have the full potential and share it with the other curse sites if they need it. Basicly kind of going reverse to the flow, instead of getting the stuff the other websites have, we create new unique stuff that the other websites would benefit.
We almost all agree on many points, I hope the mass will make it change for the better and kind of "forces" the creation of new tools/content/whatever that our specefic community want.
;] Why you think I'm workin' so hard with you guys?
Not to just see my own text :D We don't know what we need to work on until we ask and find out.
So I asked. Luckily, no one was selling tomatoes and heads lettuce - I have a sneaking suspicion some of you would have thrown them at me.
As for the front page design criticisms, I still stand by my statements that it's good, because personally I like it a lot. But I do want to reiterate that I 100% understand the feelings that it's not the correct fit. Don't misunderstand! I'm by no means saying anyone is wrong - I don't get paid enough to start those kinds of fires :D
Perhaps you haven't realized it yet, but we're a forum-centered community, not a content-centered one. (I mean, content is important as well, but just bear with me here for a minute).
On websites like Minecraft Curseforge, the focus is no doubt on uploading add-ons (as creators) and downloading add-ons (as players). The forum there serves as a troubleshooting forum, plus a general discussions forum.
But SC2Mapster's forum is HUGE. You said so yourself when trying to carry-over the database.
A lot of people are asking for help with the editor, show their work-in-progress, discuss news about all things Blizzard etc., and do so a lot. Creators and players are talking a lot to each other, especially since everyone can use the Starcraft II editor themselves (we're all familiar with the tech to a degree).
This is different from the Minecraft website where not everyone has the knowledge to create add-ons himself, and thus is just fine with browsing the add-ons and downloading them. Even if they do seek help in learning the ropes, they won't necessarily find any tutorials there, and instead go to other websites.
That is one advantage SC2Mapster has - we're THE place to go for learning how to create content in Starcraft II (at least in the English-speaking world I suppose).
-----
Being a community with a strong focus on a forum, we also need a frontpage that focuses on the forum, and not necessarily on the content.
Or rather, instead of emphasizing the individual add-on entries, a topic discussing said add-on makes more sense because people can leave feedback.
In the past, we used the news to showcase upcoming or just-finished projects. Each news topic also had a link to a corresponding forum topic, thus ensuring that people will engage in the community.
That's why it was ideal when the news were being shown at the top before – and why them being at the bottom now is so bad.
Again, it made sense on the Minecraft website because it's just maintenance stuff and the like, but on SC2Mapster we use the news as a form of showcasing new projects.
People checked the front page in the past to see if anything of interest was happening in the forums (without checking every subforum manually). That's why having things like "5 Most-Recent Topics" and "Current Events" are important – and why their lack in the frontpage now is so bad.
The "Popular Projects" field is bad because due to the low content output we have (at least compared to Minecraft I suppose), chances are that it'll rarely, if ever, change. Just like Bilxor said, this thing will be an ad for Mass Recall for all eternity (which isn't a bad thing, it's a great project) but that precious spot out of six will forever remain locked.
But the issue here isn't how the algorithm works - it's that the promotion process is automated. The moderators and/or admins are better at finding projects worthy of being featured, and show it on the frontpage.
Bottom-line, we need a frontpage that supplements the forum, that is an extension of the forum so to speak.
Keep the rewards program and "browse projects" tabs if you must, but something has to happen.
New visitors have no clue as to where to look, because nothing points towards the forum where the real action is at. They'll just download Mass Recall and call it a day.
-----
Anyway, that's enough wall of text for this year. I do know that it's Christmas, so I wish you a good time! But hopefully this post will help you understand where we're coming from when it comes to the frontpage.
Thanks for the well wishes - and believe me - I hear you loud and clear.
As I mentioned before, I totally agree that what we have currently isn't the correct perfect fit. I'm hoping that within the next week I can get together some more solid "yes" and "no" answers (because I know I've been quite vague) as to what we can and can't change. What we can and can't do. I'm going to do my best to put in the most requested fixes, features, and complaints with some solid suggestions on how we can tweak this and that to make the round hole a little more square peg shaped.
Quite honestly, your post and the others like it, full of discreet reasonings and well thought out proposals makes my job a helluva lot easier. So it is greatly appreciated.
There should be a way for people making a thread with the purpose of asking a question to mark the thread as solved so people asking the same question at a later date can quickly tell the thread contains the answers.
Contribute to the wiki (Wiki button at top of page) Considered easy altering of the unit textures?
https://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/resources/tutorials/179654-data-actor-events-message-texture-select-by-id
https://media.forgecdn.net/attachments/187/40/Screenshot2011-04-17_09_16_21.jpg
A new upgrade for the site, I like it! Hopefully it brings in new people, thats what I feel like is the most important part. Black on white is unusual for sure for this site, but other good forums like NeoGaf use it aswell, so I dont see it beeing a problem.
Am I the only person here who is no longer able to use the search feature on this site? I haven't seen anybody else report this and I haven't been able to use the search feature since the upgrade. Either it will display 0 search results or give an error message...
Personally I don't dislike the new changes, although I haven't been here quite as long as most of you. That being said, the white background is atrocious and it legitimately burns my eyes. I hope you'll have new skins in the works soon (just something less...white).
Actually I have, I just forgot to mention it :P.
Stranded on Krydon Renewed- A renewed version of Stranded on Krydon that is being constantly updated, has improved visuals, is more friendly to new players, lots more fun tweaks and much more planned to come.
Stranded on Krydon Renewed EXTREME- A modified version of SoKR with much harder difficulty.
Just posting real fast to let you guys know my responses and such will be a little slow for the next few days! I'M STILL HERE! But I have a gramps that needs me for the holidays and well... I've slacked off a bit on some other work I need to get done before the new year :] Don't want you guys thinking we've set a new record for "We're here for you!" and then going dark lol.
I've got to finish compiling all of the concerns and comments into a bite size "developer" friendly pill, too. Here's hoping they let me keep my head when I leave that meeting :]
Don't stop tossing those suggestions and ideas up though. I'm keeping a general tally of which items are most important based on a few bits of criteria. It's not just how many people, but really the specific concerns and how the affect you guys.
We're officially out for Christmas holiday starting tomorrow, and we'll be back in the office Tuesday (US times, not them future dwellers over in the other hemisphere). I'll be in and out before then, of course.
EDIT: Just read through the recent responses - love 'em! There's also some really good global ideas in there - a couple that would make my job easier ;] Always like those suggestions the most.
As for the front page design criticisms, I still stand by my statements that it's good, because personally I like it a lot. But I do want to reiterate that I 100% understand the feelings that it's not the correct fit. Don't misunderstand! I'm by no means saying anyone is wrong - I don't get paid enough to start those kinds of fires :D
Also, don't let my explanations and conversations dissuade you from speaking how you feel. That would be far worse. This is one of the most civil conversations/discussions I've ever had on a forum. Damn impressed and proud of this community.
Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/flamegoat
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/mrflamegoat
Curse App - MrFlamegoat
I want a like button!
"You either are doing it, or you are not": Me
Team Genesis: Founder/Leader
Skype: Grasso2012 or Add me in-game 558
Free Model Developing Program: http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/maya
Quoting someone just to like something they said would extend these threads more than the alternative. Also, Just edited my signature? thing at the bottom of my posts. Clicked save and the page just flickered. Would like a "saved" or "info updated" text to confirm. Felt weird leaving that page not knowing if my stuff would stick.
"You either are doing it, or you are not": Me
Team Genesis: Founder/Leader
Skype: Grasso2012 or Add me in-game 558
Free Model Developing Program: http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/maya
What is "Paste" at the top of this page? Also, where did all the groups/teams go? Game development usually happens with groups of people. Removing that feature would be a step in the wrong direction I think.
Also Found my old post:
What kinds of features are coming?
Project Showcasing & Live Chat
Hopefully live chat with groups/channels and dragndrop file sharing? perhaps a proper way of showcasing our projects, WITHOUT needing to provide the actual project file? We need a place for people to link from the starcraft 2 arcades, from our map info section, where players can talk to the developers outside of the sc2 arcade, share feedback, screenshots, and discuss strategy. A Showcase-place where we developers can provide patch-notes and heads ups, just as you have done here for the site..
Profile Types & 5 Star Ratings
There needs to be profile types and a 5 star rating system. Aside from Admin, Moderator, Author, and Member. The profile types need to be more specific to what we are here for; Admin, Moderator, Developer, Tester, and Player. Because the bottom line is that Developers need more testers. If profiles had ratings, I as a developer could go to find a Tester with high ratings and expect my interactions to be of quality.
Climbing Rank/Incentive
In order for a Player to become a Tester, they would have to receive a set amount of ratings from Developers. This would give new members something to come here for, as well as solve a problem on the arcade; It's hard to find Testers. In order for a Player to get promoted to Developer they could climb up to the Tester rank and continue to test games, receive more ratings and by that time they'll have an understanding of the development process to earn the Developer profile type. Perhaps some profile picture achievements.
Portfolio for Developers
This is where people go as they start dabbling in the game developing process. I personally know 3 people who started here and became paid professionals. There are 3 factors that get people hired, Who you know, Portfolio, How many places receive your resume... and yes, in that order. Who you know gets addressed here with the improved form of communication with live chat. The groups within live chat and drag n drop file sharing allow for smoother interactions leading to contacts you will stay in touch with in the future. The Portfolio would get addressed by automatically adding images uploaded for our projects to a simple viewer on our Developer profiles. Easy-to-navigate portfolios have been key in the hiring process for Crystal Dynamics, Ubisoft, and Blizzard. Employers will just skip a person if the portfolio isn't smooth. An arrow on both sides of the images is enough. Videos of games being played would be great too, but maybe that's asking too much? It is a reasonable request considering this is a site that supports sc2 map development.
I have 32 people in a Skype channel right now that would be more active on sc2mapster IF any of these features were added. This does not include how many people who have been removed from the group since 2012 due to their inability to take this process seriously, because of the missing features.
Hope this helps. This is what I'll be implementing into my own site for bridging the gaps between unreal and unity as well as the players and developers within.
"You either are doing it, or you are not": Me
Team Genesis: Founder/Leader
Skype: Grasso2012 or Add me in-game 558
Free Model Developing Program: http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/maya
3,2,1
1. All my PM Gone, all the approval from other author gone. All the step by step guide gone. All the custom model gone. All the 'love letter - dude your maps sucks! Just quit already !' gone.
2. Can not attach anything, keep getting "already exceed your max" message.
3. Can not search anything now, keep getting "oops, something is wrong" message.
4. What the hell am I suppose to do with "for author" ?
5. All the youtube link now broken.
6. Can still see spams in the forum, just give the ban hammer back to the moderator already.
7. Can you read this? No? Why? The white background make it difficult? The same with everyone else.
8. Why by popularity? Why not by recent?
9. To be continue after holiday.
Thank you for reading. Have a pleasant holiday you all !
My projects : The Hammer of Dawn, Noir : Automata, Noir : Evolution, Noir : Ascension, Hammer of Dawn Revamp
Many awesome projects : Custom Campaign Initiative
Something for the community : A Small Letter of Thanks, SC2mapster Classic Skin - Alevice
@EDHRIANO
Maybe it's the eggnog, but I read that list in Fred Flintstone's voice.
<3
Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/flamegoat
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/mrflamegoat
Curse App - MrFlamegoat
So, what if instead of making mapster like the other curse websites, you would actually create a unique design that could potentially introduce benefits to all? Like, the update is about making it easier to adresse issues and create new stuff and apply it to all sites, then let's try devlopping what this community needs to have the full potential and share it with the other curse sites if they need it. Basicly kind of going reverse to the flow, instead of getting the stuff the other websites have, we create new unique stuff that the other websites would benefit.
We almost all agree on many points, I hope the mass will make it change for the better and kind of "forces" the creation of new tools/content/whatever that our specefic community want.
Working on projects:
Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/flamegoat
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/mrflamegoat
Curse App - MrFlamegoat
Perhaps you haven't realized it yet, but we're a forum-centered community, not a content-centered one. (I mean, content is important as well, but just bear with me here for a minute).
On websites like Minecraft Curseforge, the focus is no doubt on uploading add-ons (as creators) and downloading add-ons (as players). The forum there serves as a troubleshooting forum, plus a general discussions forum.
But SC2Mapster's forum is HUGE. You said so yourself when trying to carry-over the database.
A lot of people are asking for help with the editor, show their work-in-progress, discuss news about all things Blizzard etc., and do so a lot. Creators and players are talking a lot to each other, especially since everyone can use the Starcraft II editor themselves (we're all familiar with the tech to a degree).
This is different from the Minecraft website where not everyone has the knowledge to create add-ons himself, and thus is just fine with browsing the add-ons and downloading them. Even if they do seek help in learning the ropes, they won't necessarily find any tutorials there, and instead go to other websites.
That is one advantage SC2Mapster has - we're THE place to go for learning how to create content in Starcraft II (at least in the English-speaking world I suppose).
-----
Being a community with a strong focus on a forum, we also need a frontpage that focuses on the forum, and not necessarily on the content.
Or rather, instead of emphasizing the individual add-on entries, a topic discussing said add-on makes more sense because people can leave feedback.
In the past, we used the news to showcase upcoming or just-finished projects. Each news topic also had a link to a corresponding forum topic, thus ensuring that people will engage in the community.
That's why it was ideal when the news were being shown at the top before – and why them being at the bottom now is so bad.
Again, it made sense on the Minecraft website because it's just maintenance stuff and the like, but on SC2Mapster we use the news as a form of showcasing new projects.
People checked the front page in the past to see if anything of interest was happening in the forums (without checking every subforum manually). That's why having things like "5 Most-Recent Topics" and "Current Events" are important – and why their lack in the frontpage now is so bad.
The "Popular Projects" field is bad because due to the low content output we have (at least compared to Minecraft I suppose), chances are that it'll rarely, if ever, change. Just like Bilxor said, this thing will be an ad for Mass Recall for all eternity (which isn't a bad thing, it's a great project) but that precious spot out of six will forever remain locked.
But the issue here isn't how the algorithm works - it's that the promotion process is automated. The moderators and/or admins are better at finding projects worthy of being featured, and show it on the frontpage.
Bottom-line, we need a frontpage that supplements the forum, that is an extension of the forum so to speak.
Keep the rewards program and "browse projects" tabs if you must, but something has to happen.
New visitors have no clue as to where to look, because nothing points towards the forum where the real action is at. They'll just download Mass Recall and call it a day.
-----
Anyway, that's enough wall of text for this year. I do know that it's Christmas, so I wish you a good time! But hopefully this post will help you understand where we're coming from when it comes to the frontpage.
I can not find the like button for the post above, well ... for now this will have to suffice.
My projects : The Hammer of Dawn, Noir : Automata, Noir : Evolution, Noir : Ascension, Hammer of Dawn Revamp
Many awesome projects : Custom Campaign Initiative
Something for the community : A Small Letter of Thanks, SC2mapster Classic Skin - Alevice
@TheAzureguy
Thanks for the well wishes - and believe me - I hear you loud and clear.
As I mentioned before, I totally agree that what we have currently isn't the correct perfect fit. I'm hoping that within the next week I can get together some more solid "yes" and "no" answers (because I know I've been quite vague) as to what we can and can't change. What we can and can't do. I'm going to do my best to put in the most requested fixes, features, and complaints with some solid suggestions on how we can tweak this and that to make the round hole a little more square peg shaped.
Quite honestly, your post and the others like it, full of discreet reasonings and well thought out proposals makes my job a helluva lot easier. So it is greatly appreciated.
Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/flamegoat
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/mrflamegoat
Curse App - MrFlamegoat
Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/flamegoat
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/mrflamegoat
Curse App - MrFlamegoat
THUMBZ UP EVERYONE!
Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/flamegoat
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/mrflamegoat
Curse App - MrFlamegoat
Still alive and kicking, just busy.
My guide to the trigger editor (still a work in progress)