[Axem]

I get the arguments for and against gen disc. Personally I don't use it and I try to concentrate my time more on the FreeSpace specific boards. But I know there are people who don't play anymore and they still have a connection to this site and still like to chat or discuss politics. I know its been suggested in the past, but I really think we should have a "politics/current events" board that's viewable and postable by invite only. And by invite I just mean "apply for politics board access" and unless your name was TrollyMcTrollerson, you'd get access right away. So newcomers and guests wouldn't see the intense possibly off-putting discussions.

Regarding merging of projects boards:
Half of respondents seem to like it, the other half don't (but at least everyone agrees HLP is a mess, so that's cool). Personally, I don't think that merging every project board would help.   There's just too much content to either archive or move or merge. I think we'd need a near unanimous agreement by the active project leads to get merge and get rid of their boards.

And with everyone posting here, is there anyone interested in joining an HLP Aide team that I suggested? Because we can talk all day about reorganizing the forum, but if we actually want to get people to play and to mod, we need to make the game and mods easier to install and have references easier to find. In a perfect world, you wouldn't need the forum to find new content. It'd be on the installer or on the wiki. The forums should be for discussion or engagement with modders and other like-minded players.

[deathspeed]

Come to think of it, just hiding gendesc from the activity list might be a better idea. Either way, this also addresses verylong's concern.

Or maybe making gendisc a members-only area that you need to opt-in to access?  Like Battuta, I use the "show unread posts from last visit" (it is actually one of my browser home tabs).  I generally enjoy the gendisc board, but yes, it can be an ugly place at times.  This is a passionate community with some incredibly brilliant people, and while some may go too far at times, even the heated discussions are fascinating.  I tend to be more conservative than is the norm here, and i disagree with a lot of what i see and get offended by some, but i still learn from it.  I don't want to do away with it, but i can see the arguments for not taking tourists to that part of town.

[hack-wizard]

Unfortunately, though having to request access to politics may help, it may not be enough.  I doubt a troll would be like, "Hi, I'm BiggestTrollInTheGTVA and I wanna access the politics board!"  More likely they'd just open an account with in innocuous username, request access, then troll the place in.

Like I said, I've seen sites that require moderator approval for new users for so many posts and/or a certain period, that usually works rather well, though not making it initially visible or as visible might also help

[Lorric]

Trolls aren't a problem anyway. Next to no one shows up here just to troll.

[JSRNerdo]

WHIYL and HLP threat down are good threads that should not be deleted or locked away

Trumpety nuttery trumpety trumps and The Gays are

[hack-wizard]

WHIYL and HLP threat down are good threads that should not be deleted or locked away

Trumpety nuttery trumpety trumps and The Gays are

Oh come on, don't you like trumpet players? 

Wait, I know what you're getting at ... 

[Mongoose]

Okay, tagging aisde, how is that different from the Highlights forum?

The massive difference is that the Highlights forum is just a bizarre read-only link depository made to tie into a site display.  The idea being floated here is that this FS Releases (or whatever you want to call it) would essentially replace a few separate folders: Missions and Campaigns, Modding, Scripting, possibly even the FRED folder.  The point has been raised repeatedly that even some long-term contributors have missed out on what other contributors are working on, so putting any actual content creation under one roof will help raise visibility across the board.  If someone's working on a new campaign and sees a sweet new model release in the thread right below theirs, maybe they'll find a place for it, you know?

And personally I don't think completely ditching project folders would work out very well, at least not those that garner enough activity on their own.  But I do feel like cross-linking with any sort of generalized release folder would only be a good thing.

[karajorma]

One solution might be to simply make it option. Projects that want their own board can have one, projects that would prefer a communal one go that way. After six months we can take a look and see if things worked.

[jg18]

I admit I would be a little sad to see GenDisc go (I look at it when really bored ) but I agree it shouldn't be effectively the first thing visitors see. I like the idea of making it forum members-only. In the interest of not clogging up new users' view of the forums, I also like the idea of having it in users' ignored boards by default, effectively making it opt-in. (It's in my ignored boards, for example.) Requiring a minimum post count and/or moderator approval to post in GenDisc sounds reasonable or at least worth trying.

Not sure on keeping/removing mod-specific boards, although agreed that having a lot of inactive public boards doesn't look good. It does sound potentially useful to have at least links to campaign release threads, if not the actual threads themselves, all in one place. By links it could be something akind to the "Moved" marker thread that gets added when a moderator moves a thread to another board. Maybe a read-only list of threads, with each thread linking to a campaign's release thread. Perhaps "released campaigns" and "released content" (assets etc.) should be in two separate lists (separate read-only boards?).

ANyway my $0.02.


EDIT: Or since sifting through a board can be a pain, maybe two release threads where each release campaign/content gets its own postlink  in the corresponding thread? Another thought. EDIT 2: Or maybe that would actually be more annoying than one thread for each campaign/content item?

EDIT 3: Or maybe two threads where each thread is one big post full of release thread links?

[Colonol Dekker]

If we want to shape what new intakes are guided towards we need to shape how they're greeted when they enter the forum as a new user. Is there a way to have a wiki "welcome page" pop up for unregistered users?

[Blue Lion]

Well if we're directing people at specific projects or mods, do we want to take them directly to that mod or whatever or bring them to a home page/splash page.

I may be the only one who thinks this way and that's fine for me, but getting people to sign up on the forums is the last great step for all this. People should be able to come here, find out about the game, where to get it, download mods or whatever and peace out without signing up. That way the people who do sign up are at least partway committed to leaving comments or working on their own projects.

In my opinion the less hoops we make people jump through, the better it is for getting eyes on pages. So as little effort in them getting what they want after they see it ~somewhere~ is best I think.

[karajorma]

Well getting the websites sorted out is probably a good idea. At the moment the forums are used for things that the website should be handling. If you don't want to sign up, you shouldn't have to. You should be able to say thanks via facebook or Twitter or any of those avanues. You should be able to download the game either from the HLP website itself (or an easily understandable release thread if for some reason you can't do that).

[deathspeed]

Figured this was worth a separate post: whatever we do, we DESPERATELY need a way to consolidate and standardize FSO installation instructions.  This thread is the most recent example of a new user managing to find an outdated wiki page or thread that mentions long-obsolete FSO versions.  I changed the link there (and added a bit about the old Launcher not working post-Windows 7), but I know I'm not going to remember that particular page when the next version is released, and that goes for any other threads that link to 3.7.4 too.

Here is another example - while helping someone out, I accidentally screenshotted my own mistakes, and i've been around for a while!
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=93159.msg1841780#msg1841780

In a perfect world, you wouldn't need the forum to find new content. It'd be on the installer or on the wiki. The forums should be for discussion or engagement with modders and other like-minded players.   

While the forums are a great place to introduce, discuss, and support new content, I agree they are not the best place to find it.  Sorry if I am repeating ideas presented elsewhere, but maybe instead of looking thru multiple forums for release threads, have a release list in the wiki.  Each wiki entry then should have the latest download files and instructions on how/where to install, how to launch (e.g. Does clicking “Play” launch the mod directly, or do you need to select a campaign? Is it only playable as a mission in the tech room simulator, and if so how do you get to that?), and links to the release thread and/or any support/discussion threads created for that mod.

Well getting the websites sorted out is probably a good idea. At the moment the forums are used for things that the website should be handling. If you don't want to sign up, you shouldn't have to. You should be able to say thanks via facebook or Twitter or any of those avanues. You should be able to download the game either from the HLP website itself (or an easily understandable release thread if for some reason you can't do that).

I hadn't thought about it before, but I almost never use the website. I just use the forums, and sometimes the wiki.  But someone new coming in is likely going to be seeing the website first, and maybe the forums later.  The options across the top are useful, but not very prominent.  I think i am conditioned to ignore the top of a web page, since it is often an ad or the banner for the site.

[Blue Lion]

HLP Greenlight?

Sorry, had to. But maybe not a bad idea.

[deathspeed]

HLP Greenlight?

Sorry, had to. But maybe not a bad idea.

Greenlight is being killed.

[Unknown Target]

Accidentally removed my post.

Gendisc should be merged with Art and Gaming. Art is almost dead, so it might bring some life back to that forum. Gaming is active enough where it will provide some non-politics discussion in Gendisc. Win win for everyone.

[Spoon]

It should not be.
I check the gaming part on a semi regular basis, I avoid gendisc at all times. Merging them just throws something decent in a cesspool.

[karajorma]

Yeah, whether you go there or not, I doubt that mixing any forum with gen disc will improve either forum.

[Blue Lion]

HLP Greenlight?

Sorry, had to. But maybe not a bad idea.

Greenlight is being killed.

Yes, that was the joke, as they say. Allowing users to put projects on Wikis means they can flood it or otherwise game the system. A moderated page requires, well, moderation. And that may be a job not too many people want.

[deathspeed]

HLP Greenlight?

Sorry, had to. But maybe not a bad idea.

Greenlight is being killed.

Yes, that was the joke, as they say. Allowing users to put projects on Wikis means they can flood it or otherwise game the system. A moderated page requires, well, moderation. And that may be a job not too many people want.

I hadn't had enough coffee yet to get that it was a joke