The following is actually a series of suggestions I have for the server/forums. I didn't want to spam the forums with countless threads, so I just edited this one while it still had 0 replies and 1 view (me). Background At the moment, the website layout is quite smooth and comforting in comparison to many other websites. However, the website seems a bit bland at the moment. How about adding a slideshow in the background of really awesome shots of really awesome Athion Build Team builds. Forum Sections I think the Generaal Chat forum section should be split up into "General Chat" and "Off Topic." The General Chat section will be reserved for Athion events, gossip, news, etc. in addition to Minecraft related stuff. The Off Topic section will be reserved to whatever random junk we spew from our minds, ranging from the color of Mithrintia's underwear (pink with orange polka dots if you were wondering) to viral Youtube videos. That way, we better understand what to expect when we venture into the varying sections of the forums. We won't have to filter our way through pages of stuff we don't want to read at the moment to find a subject about Athion that we DO want to read about. Post Editing I saw the fixed bug list and read that we can edit our posts up to 24 hours after, well, posting. I don't think editing a post really poses many problems. Sure, there are some issues posed with being able to edit a post at will, but are the consequences really that serious? I think not. If one posts something malicious, simply take a screenshot before he/she can edit the post and claim that he/she did not post such content, and report him/her for doing so. If one post is made but suddenly changes, any people who replied could also change their posts. If there is a giant flame war occurring, and one party suddenly decides to edit its posts to nice messages to make the other guy look like he/she is a blithering idiot talking to no one, well then GOOD! I see that as a mature way to end a flame war, rather than ending with some retort like "haha ur 4 yrs old i dun wun tokk to u enimoar" Giving people the freedom to edit posts at will whenever they feel like it will encourage people to post ideas on the fly and work on revision later. I understand it's not exactly courteous to make a post without revising it first, but come on. This is the Internet, we're all casual (not derogatory, casual) here, we we're bound to make silly errors. Also I need to edit my glorifying descriptions posts from time to time so implementing free reign over editing would be A+. Otherwise I will be forced to constantly "bump" my thread in order to put in new descriptions for people, which would make me sad. Do it for the fire breathing koalas! Cinematics For your cinematics, try making the videos slower and more dramatic. That way, we can actually see what the awesome builds look like. I know Mithrintia is obsessed with fast moving cameras and quick cuts/jumps, but quite frankly it doesn't do justice to the hard effort the builders put into the builds. Here is music that is perfectly suited for such cinematics (can't be used for free though). http://phreymusic.bandcamp.com/album/in-excelsis Also good building music ;)
Background: The focus of the forums is the content, once the main part of the website is up there will be more images to go along with the visual aspect of the website. Forum Section: at a future date after we get more posts and content this can be placed in effect, currently as we have a lower use on the forums due to recent launch we will keep most general chat around, as i see common topics or chat types pop up i will be moving things around and making sections for them. Post Editing: This is set to 24h to test the website server load in initial stages of launch, this will be increased over time as more people use the site and the more people edit. Cinematics: These will be worked on, as we have a backlog of some to release that are already edited and some we are editing together.
Thanks for replying swiftly :3 I'm concerned about the post editing thing because when I do descriptions, I put descriptions in the placeholder posts (editing) so that I don't have to constantly bump my thread every time I have a new description (I'm working on yours btw). But thanks again anyways :) Yours truly -Sane Ink
I will look over the forum usage reports in next few days and see if i'm more comfortable leaving a longer editing period. EDIT: Members of forum get 7 days to edit posts, VIPs get 2 weeks.
I do enjoy the relaxing and contemporary feel to the current website. As much as I enjoyed the Pwego website before, there was a lot more "clutter" on the screen. Just as an idea, I think we should keep this modern look with a simple user interface.
I actually thought the latest Athion official cinematic did quite well (the citadel). It was fast but not ridiculously fast. But I do agree sometimes with all the jumping and speeding around the map its hard to see the actually build.
I respect your suggestion to add background images to the website, but where exactly would you put these images? Also for the slower running, older machines might not be able to handle a large image in the bacground and still load at a comfortable speed.
"For your cinematics, try making the videos slower and more dramatic. That way, we can actually see what the awesome builds look like. I know Mithrintia is obsessed with fast moving cameras and quick cuts/jumps, but quite frankly it doesn't do justice to the hard effort the builders put into the builds."-- agree 100%
I personally like the cinematics at the moment, but would like to see a show around/tour of the previous cinematic video. Just so we can see the build in depth