Hey folks! Just because it isn't spring doesn't mean we can't do a little spring cleaning. We've been talking behind the scenes, and we're looking at de-cluttering the forums a little in the name of consolidating, getting rid of less active subforums by combining them with others... removing "Newcomers", for instance, and replacing it with a permanent thread for introductions on the Tavern with relevant stickies.
This isn't just because I'm a weirdo minimalist freak. The idea is that by doing this, we can make the forums easier to navigate, have more activity taking place in larger sections (versus spates of smaller activity peppered throughout), and generally make everything cleaner and more intuitive.
So! While I'd like to start doing this within the week, I want to give all of you your chance to speak out and help us decide what goes where, what to keep and what to ditch, and how best to smoosh various subs together while making MWAH MWAH sounds so it turns out better for everyone. This is YOUR forum, after all, so we want your suggestions and feedback before we pull any triggers. Thanks for your time!
I am personally against having one stickied thread for introductions. A big part of introducing oneself is the response you will be getting. And in a single stickied thread, there's not going to be much of that I think. Maybe that's just me, but each one is special in their own way and they deserve their own thread Besides it makes introducing oneself even more automated than now. Who wants that?
As for the rest, News and Feedback can be combined with the Support Forum the way I see it. Both are very important but often it is the new features that require all kinds of support
As for the rest...well, the rest have some pretty clear lines between each other. I don't see where one could incorporate the AMW, the WEPR or the Programming Forum (as dead as it may be) because they are pretty specific. Forum Games are also somewhat unique, many users are active there and not in any other category. It is the most active one after all, so it is a good thing that it is separated. Game Walkthroughs, Quests, a general category for games (which is also the largest), so yeah, other than that, I don't see what kind of combinations can take place.
I don't personally see the forums being hard to navigate. It's actually fairly easier compared to other forums out there.
I do believe however that the newcomers forum shouldn't be made into a single thread. This makes it easier for newcomers to know where to post. Making it into a single thread in the tavern will make it harder for newcomers to see where to post when they want to introduce themselves. This will also kill a long time tradition. Newcomers won't even know that they should post an introduction about themselves because it will be hard for them to find the thread unless it's stickied to the top of the forums.
Trust me when I say Armor Games is going nowhere, and that Steam is hardly uncharted territory for us, either. As others have pointed out, we are indeed looking at ways to help grow and revitalize the community here, which is why I've been asked to look into various ways of doing so with you guys, including, as was asked of me, paring the forums down a bit in the less active areas. We're just hearing all of you out right now, so don't panic.
I am not so sure about removing Newcomers. Yes it will make forum a bit easier for using and it is not very used (although we are having a good number of new members every day), but it will make Tavern crowded with messages from newbies. If you really do want to remove Newcomers, go ahead. I won't mind. But it will be harder to use, find threads and clean (for mods) the Tavern.
@iFool What if we could do a small or medium sized promotion of Armor Games to internet community and Flash, Unity and HTML developers? More games would be made and played.
People are leaving web games sites because nowadays they are able to play flash games on their smartphones. It's a stupidity because some games aren't suitable for phones, mostly because of poor controls.
Now about the Steam... Money is a simply a need for modern developers, no money means no games at all. That is the reason why some of most respected developers stopped making web browser games (Sky9 Games, Jay Armstrong...).
My experience with Steam is not so great. Economic standard in Serbia is very similar to standard in some African or Asian countries, so I couldn't buy games I wanted (and because of my weak computer). I used to get free-to-play games, until one they Steam destroyed my hard disk.
W.E.P.R. must remain independent at all costs. It's the only stable bastion of reason this community of wacky lunatics has. Besides which, if any of the holding cells were damaged in the move, the primary reactor would go critical and the entire zombie containment could easily -- Uh, nevermind. Let's just not do that.
@MattEmAngel I don't fully agree with you. The older forum look was less confusing and it had very nice appearance. But removing "Most Recent Topics" bar will make forums even more confusing and newbie posts will not even be seen. However, I think I agree at some point that "Featured Topics" is kinda useless, since it's only being used for AG Competitions.
Except @MattEmAngel the most recent topics are useful for showing the second and third most recent threads in the same category...if someone posts in "What's your random Superpower?" and "So this is the Tavern..." one after another, the most recent topics makes it far easier to track. The only active categories that this happens are the Tavern (specifically those 2 topics) and the Forum Games but it's something. Could also be useful with the CT100 if someone posts in multiple Forum Games and you are waiting to continue for example. I've found it useful for those things.
However I agree with you on the layout.It is better to either have a category for featured topics, or change the layout, make them a bit more recognizable. In fact, this interface lacks color, aesthetic, any sort of design whatsoever. The old forums may have been, well, old in terms of code but these are not looking good. Some color, some frames, here and there could make a lot of difference.
I disagree with changes to the current forum arrangement, especially Newcomers. That's extremely useful for, well, newcomers. They aren't going to know to go to the Tavern to find a single thread for introductions. Plus, if people don't tag them, they aren't going to know that they've been noticed. Heck, us users wouldn't even notice unless we kept going back to that thread and scrolling through the pages. Far better to let them create their own thread, since it also introduces the layout and method of making one, and it makes it much easier to track who is new and who you did and didn't greet.
+1 to that.
However, I think that the featured topics and the most recent topics should stay. They give life and attention to threads that need it. They should at least make it look different from the other sub forums (edit: ) To make things less confusing.
It's a work in progress guys... the thread will come, ok?
Uuuuughh, the thing is, everyone agreed it was a bad idea to replace it WITH a thread xD We are not disappointed that it has yet to be replaced, we are disappointed that it was done despite everyone advising against it...
