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MERGING GDD AND GDT
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Craze
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Closeso.
this is kinda sad.
while i don't necessarily agree with WIP's old 3-forum concept, i think rmn has way too many forums. even if we did have way more posters, we're splitting a bunch of stuff up for no real reason at all. i mean, at least we're not rm web, but... when the last post in the game design forum was me shitposting three days ago, we have a problem.
what's the point to keeping "development" and "design" separate, especially on a small forum? surely we can unsticky some of the ignored topics (lol seriously? topics that haven't been interacted with for almost year are stickied?) and then smoosh everything together (, and force people to see those design blogs because now they're in the forum that people actually use).
honestly i think we'd be much better off halving the amount of boards on this site, but i'm willing to fight for baby steps at a time. besides, the meat of this site are the gamepages -- might as well keep discussions tighter on the forum side, and let game profiles get more visibility (through things like the list of design blogs within the forums)
suggested names: Gam Mak, The CrazeZ Empire, Game Design & Development
this is kinda sad.
while i don't necessarily agree with WIP's old 3-forum concept, i think rmn has way too many forums. even if we did have way more posters, we're splitting a bunch of stuff up for no real reason at all. i mean, at least we're not rm web, but... when the last post in the game design forum was me shitposting three days ago, we have a problem.
what's the point to keeping "development" and "design" separate, especially on a small forum? surely we can unsticky some of the ignored topics (lol seriously? topics that haven't been interacted with for almost year are stickied?) and then smoosh everything together (, and force people to see those design blogs because now they're in the forum that people actually use).
honestly i think we'd be much better off halving the amount of boards on this site, but i'm willing to fight for baby steps at a time. besides, the meat of this site are the gamepages -- might as well keep discussions tighter on the forum side, and let game profiles get more visibility (through things like the list of design blogs within the forums)
suggested names: Gam Mak, The CrazeZ Empire, Game Design & Development
(I read this as "Merging Godot")
I'll admit that when I started here I got those two boards confused a lot ("where do I post topic X?") but that was due to my misunderstanding of the terms. I think there's a pretty clear distinction between the two and it makes sense to keep them separate.
Game Discussion & Development is about the process of making games and being a game developer, and covers all topics relevant to being a developer. It's for stuff like: staying motivated, marketing your game, what you're working on (not restricted to a specific game page), as well as relevant and topical gamedev news, such as discussions about feminism in gaming, new engines, hardware, etc.
Game Design & Theory is specifically about the mechanical and aesthetic design of games. The topics there are more concretely about design - Is this battle system fun? Does this art style match my theme? Would this mechanic make for a fun game? It doesn't cover anything involved about game development outside of how to build a good game.
We could maybe rename the boards or change the descriptions to more clearly express their purpose, but as far as I can see they're very distinct subjects.
---
If you want to merge boards, though, you could honestly probably merge Help Me!, The Job Board, and Programming and Plugins into one without much problem. They all involve asking for or offering help, and it's easy to mark your topic with SCRIPTING, PAID, etc. Really, the P&P board is just a more specific version of the other two boards.
I'll admit that when I started here I got those two boards confused a lot ("where do I post topic X?") but that was due to my misunderstanding of the terms. I think there's a pretty clear distinction between the two and it makes sense to keep them separate.
Game Discussion & Development is about the process of making games and being a game developer, and covers all topics relevant to being a developer. It's for stuff like: staying motivated, marketing your game, what you're working on (not restricted to a specific game page), as well as relevant and topical gamedev news, such as discussions about feminism in gaming, new engines, hardware, etc.
Game Design & Theory is specifically about the mechanical and aesthetic design of games. The topics there are more concretely about design - Is this battle system fun? Does this art style match my theme? Would this mechanic make for a fun game? It doesn't cover anything involved about game development outside of how to build a good game.
We could maybe rename the boards or change the descriptions to more clearly express their purpose, but as far as I can see they're very distinct subjects.
---
If you want to merge boards, though, you could honestly probably merge Help Me!, The Job Board, and Programming and Plugins into one without much problem. They all involve asking for or offering help, and it's easy to mark your topic with SCRIPTING, PAID, etc. Really, the P&P board is just a more specific version of the other two boards.
i get the differences. we just don't have enough members to make it worthwhile. all people talked about in the dev forum before 2k3 came out was the screenshot topic and contests anyway.
No, actually, that wasn't all they talked about at all. It's a place for a more personal look at the aspects of games in relation to your own game where-as the other is a broader look at the aspect of games in relation to games in general. It's a big enough difference that two forum boards makes sense.
One is for people to offer reviews, let's plays/tries, talk about their own games and get feedback while the other is for the broader ideas of game making.
As for the job, help me and programming board, they, too, are more than different enough to warrant a separation. One is for scripting/programming. One is for personal small help with eventing, graphics and little jobs and the last is for actual big jobs like teaming up and paid work or offering to work for someone else. Big enough differences to have them separate.
Just because you don't get/see a use out of a board doesn't mean no-one else does or that it's worthless. Besides, we have more than enough members for such a separation.
Besides, if we were getting rid of boards because of lack of people talking, the staff boards would be the first to go. XP
One is for people to offer reviews, let's plays/tries, talk about their own games and get feedback while the other is for the broader ideas of game making.
As for the job, help me and programming board, they, too, are more than different enough to warrant a separation. One is for scripting/programming. One is for personal small help with eventing, graphics and little jobs and the last is for actual big jobs like teaming up and paid work or offering to work for someone else. Big enough differences to have them separate.
Just because you don't get/see a use out of a board doesn't mean no-one else does or that it's worthless. Besides, we have more than enough members for such a separation.
Besides, if we were getting rid of boards because of lack of people talking, the staff boards would be the first to go. XP
I think Craze has a point in streamlining a little bit if those boards don't see enough use to warrant such a separation. You can intend something to be whatever you want it to be, but if nobody is using it, it doesn't matter.
I think taking a hard look at the actual, by the numbers activity on both boards could be a good idea. If nothing else, some of those ancient stickied topics might warrant a pruning.
I think taking a hard look at the actual, by the numbers activity on both boards could be a good idea. If nothing else, some of those ancient stickied topics might warrant a pruning.
Shinan
4314
I have to admit I have no idea what belongs in what forum of those two. I wouldn't mind them being merged. I mean the first one is a remnant of when people could post their games on the forums ("game and demo forum") but really most discussion about one's game is encouraged on the game pages these days.
Let's have a look then.
Of the posts in the Game Design and Development, 14 were posted in within the last 2 weeks, of those 11 were posted in within the last 3-4 days. That's pretty decent. Most see around 20 posts, though some only have 2-4. It's much more varied.
Of the posts in Game Design and Theory, 15 were posted in the last 2 weeks and 4 were made in the last 4 or so days, but the amount of posts per thread are a lot higher.
While Theory doesn't move quite as fast as Development, it's understandable that this is the case as threads come up, people have a flurry of opinion, threads fade out, a small wait period and another thread appears. The smallest relevant thread got 11 posts. Also, this is where the blog posts show up so that people can see them aside from front page and game page.
So Dev sees more movement and threads but the amount of replies varies a lot more, where-as Theory sees less threads and movement but it's more likely to have more replies to threads and sees flurries of activities.
This works out well, especially considering that they focus on different kinds of topics and service to the community.
Now, the Help areas see quite a lot of traffic - so much so that people's threads were being lost in the influx before the split. Honestly, I think we could just have a general Help section with sub-boards instead but it's not like the forums are messy or overly large. You guys don't even see the hidden boards (of which there are a couple) so it's really only 13 boards that most members see:
- 1 is the archives and not posted in
- 2 are for official stuff: site feedback/help/bug reports and announcements
- 1 is for messing around
- 1 is for introducing yourself
- 3 are for non-game dev interactions
- 5 are for gammak
Not much really, if you think about it. Especially in comparison with some sites out there that are still on-going. We have a robust community that engages a lot on the forums as well as on game pages. We're not as large as RMW, but then we aren't the official site - but we are second to that in the English sites so I don't see where the issue is?
e: It's easy. One is for more personal stuff like 'this is mah yutubes i gammak on/let me review your shit/please can get opinion on gam idea?' and the other is general gammak like 'how you think abut dungun design/how you gais make the sexies in battles/what you think is best item find systems/dis article is pimpin you agree and why?'
Of the posts in the Game Design and Development, 14 were posted in within the last 2 weeks, of those 11 were posted in within the last 3-4 days. That's pretty decent. Most see around 20 posts, though some only have 2-4. It's much more varied.
Of the posts in Game Design and Theory, 15 were posted in the last 2 weeks and 4 were made in the last 4 or so days, but the amount of posts per thread are a lot higher.
While Theory doesn't move quite as fast as Development, it's understandable that this is the case as threads come up, people have a flurry of opinion, threads fade out, a small wait period and another thread appears. The smallest relevant thread got 11 posts. Also, this is where the blog posts show up so that people can see them aside from front page and game page.
So Dev sees more movement and threads but the amount of replies varies a lot more, where-as Theory sees less threads and movement but it's more likely to have more replies to threads and sees flurries of activities.
This works out well, especially considering that they focus on different kinds of topics and service to the community.
Now, the Help areas see quite a lot of traffic - so much so that people's threads were being lost in the influx before the split. Honestly, I think we could just have a general Help section with sub-boards instead but it's not like the forums are messy or overly large. You guys don't even see the hidden boards (of which there are a couple) so it's really only 13 boards that most members see:
- 1 is the archives and not posted in
- 2 are for official stuff: site feedback/help/bug reports and announcements
- 1 is for messing around
- 1 is for introducing yourself
- 3 are for non-game dev interactions
- 5 are for gammak
Not much really, if you think about it. Especially in comparison with some sites out there that are still on-going. We have a robust community that engages a lot on the forums as well as on game pages. We're not as large as RMW, but then we aren't the official site - but we are second to that in the English sites so I don't see where the issue is?
e: It's easy. One is for more personal stuff like 'this is mah yutubes i gammak on/let me review your shit/please can get opinion on gam idea?' and the other is general gammak like 'how you think abut dungun design/how you gais make the sexies in battles/what you think is best item find systems/dis article is pimpin you agree and why?'
author=Craze
i get the differences. we just don't have enough members to make it worthwhile. all people talked about in the dev forum before 2k3 came out was the screenshot topic and contests anyway.
I don't think so. Keep in mind, there are members who DON'T visit the forums and only comment on game pages, so I don't think member count is that big of an issue.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
I will just chime in to say that combining the forums makes the "lastest post" date be more recent, which makes the resulting combined forum seem more active, which encourages more people to post in it. Newbies are hesitant to post in a forum that appears to not be used very much.
I also think the help forum and the scripting forum should be re-combined, by the way. There's way too much overlap because asking for help with scripts is totally a type of asking for help, and often people don't even realize they need scripts until someone tells them so.
I also think the help forum and the scripting forum should be re-combined, by the way. There's way too much overlap because asking for help with scripts is totally a type of asking for help, and often people don't even realize they need scripts until someone tells them so.
The help forum completely buries scripts and job requests/offers with its high turnover. That separation stays. The gt and gd forum separation is a bit of a legacy from when games were posted in the forums, predating the existence of gameprofiles. ill consider it.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
There is a lot of stuff posted in the game discussion subforum that is really "announcements about game design tools" and "announcements about events." That stuff is not actually Game Design & Theory. Actually, with the exception of three of the stickied topics, very little in that forum should be in Game Design & Theory.
My proposal: Merge most of GDD with Announcements. A small handful of its topics are about working on or improving games, such as the screenshot topic and the whatchu workin' on topic, and should be moved to GDT instead. Announcements gets its name and description changed to indicate that non-staff members can also make announcements about anything they feel is important for everyone to know about (that's really how GDD is mostly used right now, it's where non-moderators make announcements about game design stuff).
Concerning the Programming subforum, I'm not actually sure there's any meaningful distinction between help topics that include programming and ones that don't. But on the other hand, my reasoning for wanting the other subforums merged is part of a quest to get more people to post about game design; I have no such quest to get more people to use me as a surrogate internet search engine and am perfectly fine letting the programming forums rot.
My proposal: Merge most of GDD with Announcements. A small handful of its topics are about working on or improving games, such as the screenshot topic and the whatchu workin' on topic, and should be moved to GDT instead. Announcements gets its name and description changed to indicate that non-staff members can also make announcements about anything they feel is important for everyone to know about (that's really how GDD is mostly used right now, it's where non-moderators make announcements about game design stuff).
Concerning the Programming subforum, I'm not actually sure there's any meaningful distinction between help topics that include programming and ones that don't. But on the other hand, my reasoning for wanting the other subforums merged is part of a quest to get more people to post about game design; I have no such quest to get more people to use me as a surrogate internet search engine and am perfectly fine letting the programming forums rot.
author=WIP
Game design being entwined and crucially integrated with game development?! Craze-y.
Crap! WIP's implicit support of the merge is in conflict of the prime directive adopted after he left:
ALWAYS DO OPPOSITE OF WHAT WIP SAYS
So, I have done the thing.
What's Happening in Game Make & RMN is now the announcement forum, for announcing mostly game engine related stuff, events, contests, requesting rare games, requesting reviews (for some reason that seemed to be the forum that review and LP requests were happening :/ ), and things of that nature.
Game Design & Development is for discussing game design and development, and also design theory.
Kind of unsure where review and LP requests and offers should go... for now they are in What's Happening...
What's Happening in Game Make & RMN is now the announcement forum, for announcing mostly game engine related stuff, events, contests, requesting rare games, requesting reviews (for some reason that seemed to be the forum that review and LP requests were happening :/ ), and things of that nature.
Game Design & Development is for discussing game design and development, and also design theory.
Kind of unsure where review and LP requests and offers should go... for now they are in What's Happening...
oh cool
i meant to make some serious replies but i guess i'll do so tomorrow... work got busy today so i didn't get to squat around on rmn. life is so hard guys.
i meant to make some serious replies but i guess i'll do so tomorrow... work got busy today so i didn't get to squat around on rmn. life is so hard guys.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Well you didn't actually merge the old announcement forum into the new one, it's still there
*shakes fist at sky* WHYYY
I guess it's all good with me, as long as I have a board to make my random general topics about trending twitter #gamedev topics and why staying motivated is so frickin' difficult.
I guess it's all good with me, as long as I have a board to make my random general topics about trending twitter #gamedev topics and why staying motivated is so frickin' difficult.
