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cormyn
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cormyn
2,892 posts
Nomad

In a nutshell, we don't know.

That should clear up everyone's questions, right? Good ...

As a development team and as a company, we know that the forums are extremely important to some of you, and we know that some of you have put a lot (!!!!) of effort into building up the community here, especially those who have written the more creative poetic stuff. C'mon, how many of you have > 5,000 posts, raise your hands. That amount of effort is *staggering*. Seriously, I think the highest post count I've seen was ~8400? Over 2.5 years, that'd be like 10 posts EVERY DAY since AG2 launched.

The effort of migrating that much data from AG2 to AG3 is almost as staggering, since the guy who wrote the AG2 forum software didn't make it terribly efficient, and the way we're linking accounts, etc., between the two systems might cause problems. Trying to migrate it to AG3 will be a pretty big job, and it will probably fall in my lap since I'm sorta the database guru around here, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's up to me whether I want to do it or not. If Dan says do it, I do it.

Whether we start over, and wipe everything, and build a new forum engine, or implement someone else's forum software, remains to be discussed internally because it's not a critical feature for us yet. That doesn't mean it's not important to us, it just means we have to get core features working like, y'know, logging in.

Will we migrate old posts into the new forum software? It depends whether we can find an easy way to make the old forum data compatible. Nothing's *impossible* but it's also not practical for us to spend development time (read: dollars) for us to spend a big amount of effort trying to sort stuff out so it's all perfect and pristine.

If we start over with forum posts, will we archive the old forums? Again, nothing's impossible, but I can't answer that right now.

What will happen to your armor points for forum posts? Well, since armor points are also up in the air regarding the same sort of "wipe vs migrate" discussions, I can't answer that question right now either.

Please direct people asking about the future of AG2 forums to this thread if they start asking questions in other forums/threads. I'll post updates to this thread as I have more information.

  • 438 Replies
TheMostManlyMan
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TheMostManlyMan
5,779 posts
Chamberlain

I have an idea, when people click on the forums for the first time have a very brief tutorial on the basic rules such as posting in the correct forum and keep the posts on topic, sounds stupid but allot of people post in the wrong forums and it gets quite annoying frankly, maybe I'm just OCD but it's getting on my nerves kinda and some people *Jeffery* don't appreciate me correcting people and helping them to post in the correct forums in the future

~manly

Patrick2011
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Patrick2011
12,321 posts
Treasurer

some people *Jeffery* don't appreciate me correcting people and helping them to post in the correct forums in the future


Your corrections are unpopular because such corrections are considered backseat modding, which is not preferred.

I have an idea, when people click on the forums for the first time have a very brief tutorial on the basic rules such as posting in the correct forum and keep the posts on topic, sounds stupid but allot of people post in the wrong forums and it gets quite annoying frankly


I actually think that's a good idea, since that would probably cut down on the spam. Such a tutorial might also stop adbots depending on the programming.
UnleashedUponMankind
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UnleashedUponMankind
7,043 posts
Grand Duke

This point is coverted with the stickies, but most users dont read them.
And i think most users would do the same with this tutorial as they handle the TaC... click on "Accept"... nevertheless it would reach a few users so in total the idea is good.

ArchKnight
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ArchKnight
120 posts
Shepherd

This point is coverted with the stickies, but most users dont read them.
And i think most users would do the same with this tutorial as they handle the TaC... click on "Accept"... nevertheless it would reach a few users so in total the idea is good.


Indeed. I personally read things like that as I want to know what it is I'm actually agreeing to but most don't have the time and simply think to "go with". But I agree that it would cause the amount of spam to slow and it may be more effective than we might all currently think (I have seen something like this work to slow down duplicate threads and the like quite recently).

After some time since the start of this thread though, I'm a little lost about what's going to happen to these forums. Does anyone know anything about that yet or what will be the most likely action?

I would love if the forums can be migrated but in the unfortunate event where that's not possible then I would greatly appreciate that the forums were not removed completely but instead archived or even kept here.

I think that keeping these forums rather than getting rid of them will keep the community strong and prevent most users from being a little more than disappointed or even leaving the site altogether. I saw what happened to the members at the Lionhead Forums and most wanted at least a warning or notice of some kind if the forums were to close so that they could have prepared for it.

Don't get me wrong, it was still up to the Lionhead team and, of course, it will up to the staff here at ArmorGames that choose in the end but I just wanted to voice my thoughts here. Sorry for the such a long post.

- ArchKnight
Patrick2011
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Patrick2011
12,321 posts
Treasurer

After some time since the start of this thread though, I'm a little lost about what's going to happen to these forums. Does anyone know anything about that yet or what will be the most likely action?


There is no definite answer yet, but I think a forum wipe is more likely than not.

I think that keeping these forums rather than getting rid of them will keep the community strong and prevent most users from being a little more than disappointed or even leaving the site altogether. I saw what happened to the members at the Lionhead Forums and most wanted at least a warning or notice of some kind if the forums were to close so that they could have prepared for it.


I wouldn't mind a forum wipe, though I would prefer if the admins gave a notice in advance of the forum wipe. I would also be fine with a migration since there's plenty of non-spam in the forums.
TheMostManlyMan
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TheMostManlyMan
5,779 posts
Chamberlain

This point is coverted with the stickies, but most users dont read them.
And i think most users would do the same with this tutorial as they handle the TaC... click on "Accept"... nevertheless it would reach a few users so in total the idea is good.
simple answer to that, make them take a test to make sure that they actually understood what the tutorial was about
CJ4000live
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CJ4000live
9 posts
Nomad

[b]idea!
a hub for members

Maverick4
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Maverick4
6,804 posts
Peasant

[b]idea!
a hub for members


You have to be a member to fully interact with the forums, so unfortunately that makes your idea a little redundant: The entire community is a 'hub'.
CheapCheep
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CheapCheep
240 posts
Nomad

I think privite forums would be a logical thing to do. Lets say I just want to talk with my friends. I think you should be able to put up a forum that's only open to those friends (and moderators to make sure that they aren't, you know, spamming the site). Just put a forum link on your friends profile or shoot a request and your good to go! While we are on the subject, profile's need to have more privacy also. Anybody could get into anyone's forum, just click on their name! But comments in the profile should have the option of being private, or they can be for all to see!

I'm sure ArmorGames Version 3 will be great, and i'm looking forward to it!

GhostOfMatrix
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GhostOfMatrix
15,622 posts
Herald

I think privite forums would be a logical thing to do. Lets say I just want to talk with my friends. I think you should be able to put up a forum that's only open to those friends

The forums are not a chat room. Besides, they're making a live chat for AG3 and there are chat sites where you can create your own chat room to talk to your friends.
016Bramble
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016Bramble
408 posts
Nomad

The forums are not a chat room. Besides, they're making a live chat for AG3 and there are chat sites where you can create your own chat room to talk to your friends.

Yeah, but having private forums or a private message system wouldn't be exactly like live chat. To see my point, imagine if they just removed all the forums and replaced them all with live chat rooms. Those two would not be the same thing at all.
JiffyJosh1
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JiffyJosh1
51 posts
Peasant

PLEASE we need to get a option to search the forums because it's very hard to find anything.

GhostOfMatrix
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GhostOfMatrix
15,622 posts
Herald

The point is they're not going to allow us to create private forums for ourselves. Too much of a hassle to maintain and probably very difficult to code. They're going to have private messages and chat rooms to communicate with friends, if that isn't enough then find something off-site.

PLEASE we need to get a option to search the forums because it's very hard to find anything.

There's a stickied thread in the support and suggestions subforum that has a link to an off-site forum search, but I'd rather have one implemented into the site. It would be more convenient.
016Bramble
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016Bramble
408 posts
Nomad

They're going to have private messages

Oh, well that clears that up. Thanks. So, yeah, now I'm on GhostOfMatrix's side. No private forums.
Sparkyboy6
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Sparkyboy6
30 posts
Peasant

Here is my idea:


What if there were forum ranks that increased when your post count increased. It would be like this:


5 Posts - Beginner

10 Posts - Newbie

15 Posts - Getting Started


I'd be happy to think of more ranks if you wanted me to!

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