RATINGS ON SCREENSHOTS

Noooooo. There especially doesn't need to be a thumbs down button. If people don't like it then they need to state why. not just lazily slap a button.

edit: I do like if a Like system was invisible and only the developer could see it. That at least eliminates abuse in one big way.

It just shouldn't be a popularity contest. So why have it on the front page? Or anywhere else for that matter if the goal is just to sorta help/make the developer feel good. Feel seen or heard.
Otherwise it will just be mostly games that are already popular.

author=InfectionFiles
This is really just a bad idea and not needed. Like fuck, just type "nice" if that's what you wanna say. It's not hard.

Yes, but here’s the problem with leaving a 4 letter comment, (EDIT:as Red_Nova has already kind of mentioned.)


Here's one example:

The ScreenShot Survival XX thread

Darken posted this really great animated gif, of something he's working on, that utilizers Cherry's new picture feature for rpgmaker2003.

But often what he has in development, probably isn't substantial enough to submit to the site yet. But he still wants feedback. So he submits it to the screenshot topic thread instead:

This picture got, maximum, maybe 5 comments before it got pushed off the next page, before everyone forgot about it - but It's a great example of what Cherry's new picture feature can do for rpgmaker2003 games, that people should see.

5 comments maximum, all each pretty much saying the same thing; that they liked it - it probably would've gotten more, but we'll never know, Because RMN's forum thread is setup with a 20 post page limit. So let's look at an example without this 20 post page limit.

Example 2:

JosephSeraph's animated loser.gif for his game Project HEAVEN'S DOOR.(which is no longer on the frontpage)

This is probably one of the best animated gifs I've seen this year for an rpgmaker game.

Maximum 7 comments, these comments are all varied and different, but unlike the last example, can be interpreted in many different ways, not necessarily stating whether they liked it or not.

We're not leaving four letter words here - no one has the time to leave a four letter word on RMN, because when people want to leave a comment on RMN, they often want to leave something substantial enough so the developer can pursue these ideas further, as seen in these examples.

saying "nice" 5 times in a row on the forum thread, not only clutters up the page but it discourages anyone from commenting on that particular work further, because it feels redundant and can be interpreted in so many different ways.

You'll also notice a glaring omission on this example: I haven't comment on JosephSeraph's picture yet - because I simply don't have the time to - but I still want him to know that I like it and I want to do so quickly and efficiently.


You guys need to understand something here:

Everyone comes from all different walks of life, and language can be interpreted in so many different ways: Not everyone is going to use the site in the same way you guys do or within the same amount of time, or even within the same language - that's why there really needs to be more options for this kind of feedback.

author=Liberty
Besides, I hate the idea of the front page becoming a case of circle-jerked thumbsing to each other. Then only the pretty-pretty-vapid would show up instead of everyone getting a chance to be seen.

...I can understand everyone's concern with this as well, but the truth is, this is already happening on RMN to a certain extent with how the buzz algorithm works - There are still many many games that are being buried through community involvement - this is always going to be a problem - even on Newgrounds.

So forget about the rating and correlating "good screenshots" on RMN, for a sec - What this new feature ultimately comes down, even if the Likes/Votes were self contained to the screenshot page itself is:

A developer logs into RMN and submits a screenshot, ultimately what they want to know is if anyone likes their work and how many.

With this new feature, now they'll know, and it will give them the motivation to pursue their ideas further. This is just more immediate and direct feedback for the developer, for those who don't have the time to do it.

In the time it takes me to make one comment on RMN, I could literally Like/Vote on 10 or 50 RMN screenshots a day. Because I really want you guys to know how much I like your stuff, you guys post some pretty great stuff - but without this feature, you're not giving me a chance to do that, my times very limited these days.

EDIT: Yea, I have to agree with Sooz and InfectionFile here, downvoting won't work on a site like RMN in particular.

Downvoting works on Newgrounds, because it's a rating that's 1 out of 5 and it's function is two folded: it's a way to regulate content, that's not up to the quality of the community/site but it's also way to accurately assess content - because bad content on newgrounds is eventually deleted; but there's always that opportunity and creative incentive to submit to new content for a better score.

With RMN, if there's an option to downvote pictures, I can see someone being unfortunate stuck with something like a -5 and the problem with that, is that there is no incentive to pursue the creative idea further - it just tells the developer that it's bad without telling them why and they're reminded of it, every time they log in.

What's going to happen is that, it's going be a lot like what happened to Dastrem, where even though his games were accepted onto RMN. He was eventually driven away, because everyone in our community told him his games were bad.

"Hey, great picture! Keep up the god work!"

Boom, takes less time than the wait for this to post.

Downvoting/thumbs down or whatever at RMN is a terrible idea. People should have to write why they feel something is bad rather than just leave a crude thumbs down.

Thumbs up/'like' on the other hand could be useful if only to show more support for the game devs besides the subscriptions and comments. Maybe it doesn't even have to affect the buzz rating? So the images/games won't get overexposed and cloud attention away from other games. I don't know anything about the site's configuration though obviously so I don't know if that would work or not.

The people who complain about vapid comments probably won't appreciate likes either because they're the same thing. But for other devs maybe that positive attention, however superficial, could help to encourage them.

Something I can suggest is maybe making the exposure time for pic of the moment/fixed things like that shorter, so more games can be showcased. Or to have more than one picture of the moment.

Maybe this is related to the problem of having a split between devs & players in the site userbase? Maybe it has to be super obvious that the dev wants feedback for a particular image. Most of the time I just assume the dev is showcasing graphics from their game to garner an audience/because they have to in order to get a game page - and that if they want constructive feedback they'll take the images to the screenshot thread. It would feel awkward to criticize the graphics unless there was something particularly noteworthy without having played the game first. That's just my feelings about it though, and I feel awkward all the time haha

I'm with Dyhalto. Bring back 10 random images.

I think the package is still there somewhere on the site, stuffed away on some page. A random images page. But put it back on the front page.

author=Zachary_Braun
I'm with Dyhalto. Bring back 10 random images.

I think the package is still there somewhere on the site, stuffed away on some page. A random images page. But put it back on the front page.

I'm almost positive...

*checks*

Yep. Having ten random images show up on the right side of the screen if you visit the image page is a thing. How many users actually use that feature, though, weeeeellllpppp.

Even if it's somewhere on the site, being front and center on the main page would benefit every single game page equally, beautiful screenshots or not.

Now, I remember the reason it was removed being because it was extremely taxing on the server, since it randomly generated for each visitor on each refresh. I suggest we mitigate this by having the server pick 10 screenshots once every minute and just show those to all visitors in that one minute span.
Meanwhile, leave the Images portal the way it is for people who want faster results so they can explore.

Depends on the resolution of your monitor, for one. Some see more or less side-blue than others.

author=Liberty
Depends on the resolution of your monitor, for one. Some see more or less side-blue than others.

Well, yeah, but I can't imagine most users are having the main block filling their entire screen!

GET A BETTER COMPUTER, SCRUB!!!