SO... WHERE'S THAT RMNV5?

Posts

Zeigfried_McBacon
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
3820
author=TFT
i am not sure why you would want to try and salvage a website where the community is obviously content with it being in stasis.



author=Magi
author=WIP
I'm honestly leaning toward doing my own thing.
What is it you want to do?


Believe me, the buzz for it has been depleted several times. it just keeps coming back.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Shit, double post because my mouse is fucking bullshit.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Ciel
nobody wants to deny beginners space, but maybe they shouldn't receive the spotlight until they improve. and what a motivation to reach onward and upward! it's the natural order. i wrote several treatises and doctrines about this on here several years ago because i am a giant idiot


I like the thought of bringing the quality to the top. And Ciel, I am not disagreeing with your comment in any way shape or form. What bothers me, is that it sounds like some people may be inferring that the inexperienced devs and lower quality creations should also be forced to the bottom. I don't need to explain why such a policy would would yield an atmosphere prohibitive of new, learning developers.

I wouldn't be here if such a policy existed. I would feel unwelcome, unwanted, and uninvited. There are a number of experienced devs who are here that would feel the same way. There are a number of devs that wouldn't be devs.
Agreeing with Ciel, encouraging and rewarding top development (of RM games, and whatever else) isn't mutually exclusive with welcoming, improving and encouraging beginner efforts of well. The problem and misunderstanding is the assumption that it is.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Feldschlacht IV
Agreeing with Ciel, encouraging and rewarding top development (of RM games, and whatever else) isn't mutually exclusive with welcoming, improving and encouraging beginner efforts of well. The problem and misunderstanding is the assumption that it is.


No, you and Ciel have the right idea. What I feel is that there are people here voicing their opinions that seem to be geared in a direction of making rewarding top development mutually exclusive to encouraging beginner efforts. They may not even mean to. You said LockeZ was talking nonsense, and I disagree. I think his concern was legitimate. When people have this site to thank for our growth and place as developers, it's a little alarming to read an admin saying that this sight is a joke, and then read one of the old members saying that this site isn't worth saving. It looks very much like certain people would be only too happy with discouraging newcomers.
WIP
I'm not comfortable with any idea that can't be expressed in the form of men's jewelry
11363
RMN DOESNT SUPPORT UNICODE CONFIRMED
WIP
I'm not comfortable with any idea that can't be expressed in the form of men's jewelry
11363

I'm on my way out of work and heading to the gym (thanks TFT), so I don't have a lengthy response right now. But: I have never advocated for elitism. That doesn't help anyone, and it's especially not anything I want to talk about. We were/are all new and it won't help to push those people away.

Places like #rm2k were hives of toxicity and elitism, and I think it did more damage than not. I don't think unwelcoming places are beneficial.


author=Magi
author=WIP
I'm honestly leaning toward doing my own thing.
What is it you want to do?

Not sure yet.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
WIP
RMN DOESNT SUPPORT UNICODE CONFIRMED


Aren't those emojis we've all been using unicode?
Magi
Resident Terrapin
1028
author=WIP
Not sure yet.
When you do know and are sure you're not gonna "Gamecake" like bart, then I wanna know about it!
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
In a way, having a smaller community can be helpful for testing the waters with a new project, especially if you're a complete beginner to the game design scene. 10 people telling you your game sucks is a lot less stressful than 100 people telling you your game sucks which is a lot less than 1000 people telling you your game sucks.

If we want developers to grow, though, then the only change I can think of at the moment would be to do a better job of featuring articles and tutorials and more stuff about general game design, rather than how to tweak a few settings in RM and call it a day. I've talked with numerous people who weren't even aware of certain articles existing despite them being on the site for longer than a lot of the userbase, and I know they can still be helpful.

Quick question to those concerned: How many of you were aware of an article about CSS? Or about overcoming creative blocks? Or about how to take criticism?

I'm willing to bet money that someone is going to read this post and didn't know these exist. Perhaps making more of an effort to spotlight good articles/tutorials as well as games would be beneficial? Stuff that encourages people to learn on their own and prevent a possible terrible game made and pushed on to the site?

author=NeverSilent
I fail to see why this is a "big question." What makes you assume everyone is eventually going to "graduate" from RPG Maker? Would it be a bad thing if most users simply don't?

When compared to other game dev engines, RPG Maker is incredibly limited and focused (if the name of the engine wasn't enough of a giveaway). If people are wanting to learn more about game design and development, they need to make more than just top-down 2D games with premade scripts. You can make an RM game in Unity, but you can't make a Unity game in RM.

There's a saying I heard a few years ago: "When you're the best person in the room, it's time to find another room." Just so it's clear, the room I'm referring to is RPG Maker, not RMN. There are a lot of people who graduate from RM to move on to more respected and powerful game development tools. And for a site prominently focused on RPG Maker, why bother coming back if you know you're not going to get the feedback and criticism you seek?

That being said, I doubt focusing on other engines is the solution here. Hell, RPG Maker Network kinda gives away what kind of games are being made here, anyway. I'm sure more than a few eyebrows would be raised if McDonald's suddenly became a vegetarian joint.

...

So a lot of posts were made in the time it took me to write this (don't try to cook dinner and write a post at the same time, people) and the general consensus I'm reading is that there's less an issue with the website itself and more about how the community should act. Encouraging newbies in the scene with feedback and criticism isn't something a website can do. A community does that.

We have a New Games tab, sure, but what about the games that somehow slipped under everyone's radar and have been on the site and haven't accumulated a set amount of downloads/comments/whatever? Is there something that can be done in that regard?
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Red_Nova
If we want developers to grow, though, then the only change I can think of at the moment would be to do a better job of featuring articles and tutorials and more stuff about genuine game design, rather than how to edit a few numbers in the database and call it a day. I've talked with numerous people who weren't even aware of certain articles existing despite them being on the site for longer than a lot of the userbase, and I know they can still be helpful.

Oh, yeah. Articles and tutorials. Out of sight, out of mind. I think it would be nice if they had their own main links that were prominent on every page instead of having a little section on the main page and then being stuck under a header. After all, tutorials are what a lot of people come here for, and an unread article isn't benefiting anybody.

Edit: And you bring up another point. This site already does support learning other formats such as Unity or Game Maker, but they're tucked away and hidden. Everybody is happy to see someone using them, but nobody notices them if nobody says anything about them. It makes sense that a site called RPG Maker Net should focus on RPG Maker, but if it wants to cater to a larger indie audience, then it needs to bring the other engines into greater prominence.
WIP
I'm not comfortable with any idea that can't be expressed in the form of men's jewelry
11363
Fun thing: the site was never intended to be solely for RPG Maker products. From day one. The original staff didn't even use them.

That just means a bad job was done to appeal to other platforms.
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
Rpgmaker.net wasn't intended for rpg maker? I get what you're saying but it's not like it's the only thing available. Obviously this is even dumb to say because you're WIP but I would imagine that rpgmaker.net would cater to the rpgmaker engines over others more so.
Actually, who's the one who came up with the name rpgmaker.net?

That person should know better that coming up with the name rpgmaker.net would obviously mean the site would be catered mainly to RPG Maker.
WIP
I'm not comfortable with any idea that can't be expressed in the form of men's jewelry
11363
author=InfectionFiles
Rpgmaker.net wasn't intended for rpg maker? I get what you're saying but it's not like it's the only thing available. Obviously this is even dumb to say because you're WIP but I would imagine that rpgmaker.net would cater to the rpgmaker engines over others more so.

Even the first game in the database isn't an RM game: https://rpgmaker.net/games/1/
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
if you call your restaurant 'Taco Hut' but say 'we also sell pizza!" it's probably not the plebeian masses fault if they only come looking for tacos.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Mmmm...taco pizza...

It just means we need to find a way of making it clear that the community is for indie development across the entire spectrum, and not just RPG Maker.
author=pianotm
Mmmm...taco pizza...

It just means we need to find a way of making it clear that the community is for indie development across the entire spectrum, and not just RPG Maker.

And if this is truly the direction we are going, the first step really is to change the name rpgmaker.net to something else. Like rmn.net.

Then rebrand RMN as...maybe Real Men Network :) (jk on that one, but yeah, a different name that echoes the sentiment of this website being rebranded as a general indie game development site).
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Renaming the site might be the way to go. Since the address is the site name, it may be necessary to change that too. I can certainly imagine non-RPG Maker users steering clear because the web address is rpgmaker.net.