Since we've been outsted from our dear black-and-blue home on the old BioWare site and forced to face the cold, harsh reality of the outside world, the daylight stinging our eyes and the bitter wind biting at our toes and noses, I feel we should at least take advantage of the awesome "Capers" (A.K.A. "Projects", for you landlubbers) functionality of this site. I know a few people have tried using them, but nobody really updates them and nobody really uses them, which is why the top DA ones have popularity ~1000+ whereas the most popular NWN one atm has rating 15 (and I know we have no NWN2 section but nvm).
So yeah, basically I think we should use these more.
Capers
Débuté par
The Fred
, nov. 04 2010 09:50
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#2
Posté 05 novembre 2010 - 08:41
Banshe
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Landlubbers... Projects... Capers... ?
When you said Caper I thought of the old Batman show. Are you sure your didn't mean kippers?
Anyways, are they really worth it other than for the prestige of NWN2? Or the prestige and marketing of your project? I use "zoho" and am tempted by "zenbe" as they have lots of functionality for the actual coordination of projects.
When you said Caper I thought of the old Batman show. Are you sure your didn't mean kippers?
Anyways, are they really worth it other than for the prestige of NWN2? Or the prestige and marketing of your project? I use "zoho" and am tempted by "zenbe" as they have lots of functionality for the actual coordination of projects.
#3
Posté 05 novembre 2010 - 11:52
BartjeD
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Is there a category for NWN2 projects?
#4
Posté 05 novembre 2010 - 12:07
Banshe
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Apparently not. It is all lumped under NWN (or possibly even NWN1).
#5
Posté 05 novembre 2010 - 12:22
kamalpoe
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I happen to have the highest rated NWN2 project.
The projects stuff stinks:
You can't get large pics on it for instance, so my pictures of conversations are too small to read.
File storage on the projects is limited to 10 mb, so you can't actually store a project of any size at all there.
You have to fill out a captcha to make a comment in threads on project pages, unlike the regular forums. And not just once, every comment, despite the fact you are already logged in.
Also, NWN2 people are used to using the forums to see what's going on. So for me it's better to talk to people here.
The projects stuff stinks:
You can't get large pics on it for instance, so my pictures of conversations are too small to read.
File storage on the projects is limited to 10 mb, so you can't actually store a project of any size at all there.
You have to fill out a captcha to make a comment in threads on project pages, unlike the regular forums. And not just once, every comment, despite the fact you are already logged in.
Also, NWN2 people are used to using the forums to see what's going on. So for me it's better to talk to people here.
#6
Posté 05 novembre 2010 - 05:17
The Fred
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Yeah there are a lot of things I'd improve with the site in general, but being able to put pictures and downloads up at all (obviously you can't store a huge project there but most of the time you wouldn't want to) is more than we used to be able to do, so I just think awareness should be raised a bit, that's all.
#7
Posté 05 novembre 2010 - 05:37
kamalpoe
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In a regular thread, I can put pictures that are larger than the project bit allows inline in the thread, and link to any size I want. No one needs to fill out a captcha either. Those restrictions need to go. Even then people won't think to go there without Social doing something to promote it (I got most of those +10 within days of us being sent to Social, while people were looking around).
Realistically, I think Projects was a "sounds great" when they were making Social. They haven't done basic things to make it more useful (though file size seems to be a useable gig now). Those I listed must have been pointed out long before we showed up. We gave DNO a list of basic forum functionality things when we moved here and he said he'd ask. Nothing's changed though.
Is it a red headed stepchild, I wonder? There's no ME1/2 projects pages, no DA2 page, no NWN2 page.
Not much point in making a thread here to point to the project either, since the regular thread gives more functionality and goes to a wider audience. I've got a grand total of zero comments on my project, whereas here I've got 10-12 pages worth for my two threads.
Realistically, I think Projects was a "sounds great" when they were making Social. They haven't done basic things to make it more useful (though file size seems to be a useable gig now). Those I listed must have been pointed out long before we showed up. We gave DNO a list of basic forum functionality things when we moved here and he said he'd ask. Nothing's changed though.
Is it a red headed stepchild, I wonder? There's no ME1/2 projects pages, no DA2 page, no NWN2 page.
Not much point in making a thread here to point to the project either, since the regular thread gives more functionality and goes to a wider audience. I've got a grand total of zero comments on my project, whereas here I've got 10-12 pages worth for my two threads.
#8
Posté 05 novembre 2010 - 05:56
dunniteowl
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Yes I took that list and I nailed it to Bioware's Entrance doors. I hammered away at the issues and for my troubles was informed (in not so patient verbage) that there was only ONE web monkey for the entire BSN and while they were aware of these issues, they could only do so much. I keep coming back and asking about it every so often, though right now it seems we aren't:
A) Getting any real changes on the forums any time soon
Not going to get our own Projects Section in the foreseeable future
C) Not going to be seeing any substantive changes in formatting, iconography, or color/icon use for threads/topics to make them stand out.
I'm not complaining, I'm informing. It's unfortunate that we were shifted at the time we were -- the height of the vacation period right before school starts -- and with such little ability to prepare and get the word out. I think it would have been oh so much better to have gotten about month's notice and the transferral of the forums done with a good deal more fanfare.
And to be certain, this has had a fairly strong impact upon both the NWN and NWN2 forums and I think it has really hurt the overall level of enthusiasm.
I thought the Projects Section would be pretty useful, but kamalpoe's comments on the negatives of them are insightful and well said. The Projects section is just too much hassle and limited in functionality to make them as useful as they looked at first blush.
With only one Web guru to handle the entire BSN, I have to express not only my grave disappointment in the site as a whole, but my overall optimism on any substantive changes that positively affect the Community is quite dim. And to highlight that, I tend to a casually high level of understatement when it comes to making opinion when it includes how I feel about it.
dunniteowl
A) Getting any real changes on the forums any time soon
Not going to get our own Projects Section in the foreseeable futureC) Not going to be seeing any substantive changes in formatting, iconography, or color/icon use for threads/topics to make them stand out.
I'm not complaining, I'm informing. It's unfortunate that we were shifted at the time we were -- the height of the vacation period right before school starts -- and with such little ability to prepare and get the word out. I think it would have been oh so much better to have gotten about month's notice and the transferral of the forums done with a good deal more fanfare.
And to be certain, this has had a fairly strong impact upon both the NWN and NWN2 forums and I think it has really hurt the overall level of enthusiasm.
I thought the Projects Section would be pretty useful, but kamalpoe's comments on the negatives of them are insightful and well said. The Projects section is just too much hassle and limited in functionality to make them as useful as they looked at first blush.
With only one Web guru to handle the entire BSN, I have to express not only my grave disappointment in the site as a whole, but my overall optimism on any substantive changes that positively affect the Community is quite dim. And to highlight that, I tend to a casually high level of understatement when it comes to making opinion when it includes how I feel about it.
dunniteowl
#9
Posté 05 novembre 2010 - 06:07
painofdungeoneternal
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Eventually the community needs to move to community based digs. I mean a commercial game needs to have forums to support their commercial games, eventually NWN will go the way of the dinosaur and only a few eager souls will support it. The fact that Dragon Age has a lot of projects when the projects were designed mostly to support dragon age is not really unexpected.
At that point we won't have things like the vault, the official forums once the cost of maintaining them exceeds the value they provide, same reason the vault removed the free forums they used to host. When the old forums goes away a lot of priceless information will just go away, but then this is a game which supporting of actually is likely to adversely affect their new games.
Until that time forums are great for those just now buying the game, it's official so players want to feel like they can talk to the company, even if they are only actually talking to fellow fans. I just don't see using the forums here for more than that, i just can't afford to have my projects notes vanish on the whim of some company-really hard to keep momentum when that happens.
Eventually we need to make sure the projects, the content and ideas, are in places which will maintained as long as there are people who care about the game.
At that point we won't have things like the vault, the official forums once the cost of maintaining them exceeds the value they provide, same reason the vault removed the free forums they used to host. When the old forums goes away a lot of priceless information will just go away, but then this is a game which supporting of actually is likely to adversely affect their new games.
Until that time forums are great for those just now buying the game, it's official so players want to feel like they can talk to the company, even if they are only actually talking to fellow fans. I just don't see using the forums here for more than that, i just can't afford to have my projects notes vanish on the whim of some company-really hard to keep momentum when that happens.
Eventually we need to make sure the projects, the content and ideas, are in places which will maintained as long as there are people who care about the game.
#10
Posté 05 novembre 2010 - 11:16
The Fred
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All good points I guess. It's a bit of a shame we're unlikely to see any improvements, though... even just an NWN2 and ME section would be nice (tbh NWN2 projects *can* go in NWN, though it's annoying, but having to have ME ones in with them if a bit much), let alone a BG one.
Yes, the projects section has its flaws (and the site as a whole has flaws, tbh) but it's got a lot of potential (admittedly I can't see anyone using it and just it to store important things or to allow file downloads, but being able to have discussions, comments, images and files all in one place could be useful, even if only as a secondary source). What would really be nice if you could see updates to the projects you were following in the same place you can see updates to the fora, or something... well, we can hope, I guess. ;-)
Yes, the projects section has its flaws (and the site as a whole has flaws, tbh) but it's got a lot of potential (admittedly I can't see anyone using it and just it to store important things or to allow file downloads, but being able to have discussions, comments, images and files all in one place could be useful, even if only as a secondary source). What would really be nice if you could see updates to the projects you were following in the same place you can see updates to the fora, or something... well, we can hope, I guess. ;-)
Modifié par The Fred, 05 novembre 2010 - 11:18 .
#11
Posté 07 novembre 2010 - 08:43
Banshe
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There is one benefit to it actually. You can group people together without forcing any of them to go to yet another site and sign up.
But I would take the old Guilds over the new Projects anytime.
Ya know I get the feeling that everyone thinks that we always need new ways to communicate with each other. Sometimes good things come along (YouTube and Wikis) and other times things like this "Social" site and Twitter just get it wrong. At least in my opinion.
But I would take the old Guilds over the new Projects anytime.
Ya know I get the feeling that everyone thinks that we always need new ways to communicate with each other. Sometimes good things come along (YouTube and Wikis) and other times things like this "Social" site and Twitter just get it wrong. At least in my opinion.
#12
Posté 07 novembre 2010 - 08:46
MasterChanger
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Man, I love capers. Especially in a nice pasta putanesca.
#13
Posté 08 novembre 2010 - 03:44
The Fred
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Banshe wrote...
There is one benefit to it actually. You can group people together without forcing any of them to go to yet another site and sign up.
This is what I find most useful about them. Since this is the place where we have all these fora to discuss things, it makes sense that we have things like projects here. You could alternatively form a group, and both can be used to store screenshots etc. There are things which could be improved, though, and given what DNO said it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon, which seems a bit of a waste of a potentially good feature, imo.
Modifié par The Fred, 08 novembre 2010 - 03:45 .
#14
Posté 08 novembre 2010 - 05:07
dunniteowl
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Believe me, of all the things that I might ever have had the potential to transmit to the forces that control the forums, making them as useful as they looked like they could be at first glance would be my primary push. In the meantime, I continue to hope that the folks that run them can see the light of wisdom that follows the idea to implementation in fullness.
Still, pain has a point. The Powers that Be are not intent on goodwill and Community in it's own right. Not saying they don't wish to, just that such is not the primary priority of this or any other Commercially developed forums. The bottom line is to help promote what's coming and what's current and to get folks to invest in them by purchasing what's available and not just using the forums to keep older products alive. I think we all know that and get it.
(Then again, though, Monopoly, Risk, UNO, Cribbage, Checkers and Chess all still sell briskly and they're not only not new, they're positively ancient in some cases. So there's that.)
In the meantime, it is my hope that somehow, we can do as pain suggests and create a wholly independant site that does do all these things not only as well, but better, than the BSN does, with a focus on NWN and NWN2, and any other RPGs that might also qualify as the creative tools we find these two to be at this point in time.
dunniteowl
Still, pain has a point. The Powers that Be are not intent on goodwill and Community in it's own right. Not saying they don't wish to, just that such is not the primary priority of this or any other Commercially developed forums. The bottom line is to help promote what's coming and what's current and to get folks to invest in them by purchasing what's available and not just using the forums to keep older products alive. I think we all know that and get it.
(Then again, though, Monopoly, Risk, UNO, Cribbage, Checkers and Chess all still sell briskly and they're not only not new, they're positively ancient in some cases. So there's that.)
In the meantime, it is my hope that somehow, we can do as pain suggests and create a wholly independant site that does do all these things not only as well, but better, than the BSN does, with a focus on NWN and NWN2, and any other RPGs that might also qualify as the creative tools we find these two to be at this point in time.
dunniteowl
