One thing this site needs

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
Now I only visit once every few days, I am finding it increasingly difficult to find the new info on all the hottest activities going on.

It would be awesome to see some kind of spotlit thread section that has links to this weeks' awesomest threads. Of course the threads themselves shouldn't move, they should just be linked to in this spotlight.

The new maps on the front page is really 1000% useless as every map that passes through there is one or several of the following: Turd, totally and utterly un-started with next to no progress media, or has teeeerrrrriiiiblle pictures and really nothing to engage with.

I'd say ditch it and get a few of the prominent members to fill it's replacement (same place) with hot threads that expire from it after an automatic time period, like a week or so.


Or you could just continue as is, that's always an option too.
 

Nitram

L2: Junior Member
Jul 3, 2010
91
32
Sometimes you get maps without a thumbnail or screenshots, or really blocky maps.
But isn't it supposed to make people spot new maps, and give feedback to help the mapper? Even if you can't engage with some maps, I think it might help some people get feedback.
But I think it's a good idea to get a spotlit thread section, possible to have both maybe?
Or get prominent members to fill in the latest maps section with proper maps that acctually have some content.
 
Apr 19, 2009
4,460
1,722
What about something like polycount has got?

polycount.PNG
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
Heeh:

thread.jpg


The only thing that really prevents threads of moderate informative discussion from being blatent to users is the title and whether or not they are stickied. Since some people don't appropraitely name their threads to imply what it may contain, it makes infrequent forum browsing rather abbrasive.

TPG's suggestion is cool, and not that the moderators have too much on their plate as it is but it may require a little manual labour to maintain. Plus we then get people asking for their threads to get featured........

Either that or we're less exclusive about what gets thrown in our "exclusive news" area. But then is that really a feature TF2maps needs, to be reporting on the same stuff interlopers features on their home page? No single person can answer that but that's not really been TF2maps style. We're not a news site.

Generally speaking though, the more thread pages a thread has, the more significant the discussion. I'd say the "rate thread" option would be helpful in identifying important threads too, but no one really uses it...
 
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Apr 19, 2009
4,460
1,722
I bet drp could set it up on a trigger that if say 4 or so maps clearly have more views/posts in that one week they would get a spot on the front page.

Same thing could be done with other sections and their popular threads.
 

tovilovan

L6: Sharp Member
Jul 23, 2008
391
104
I think the system with showing every single map is quite useful, I usually check the threads that have promising screenshots on the frontpage. If I'd have to browse the "maps" forum to find every new map I'd never take the time. This is a way to actually give new maps a chance of getting some attention, because once they're off the front page, they will be lost in all the other WIPs forever.

The system needs a few tweaks, of course. If there's no screenshot the map should of course not be displayed. Also, if there are lots of new maps the once posted first will be missed. What I'd like is a summary of all new maps since my last visit on the front page, and maybe a link to the most popular maps the recent time.

I don't know about popular threads, I don't think that's what the frontpage is for. I say give the maps that deserve attention their attention on the frontpage!
 

Seba

DR. BIG FUCKER, PHD
aa
Jun 9, 2009
2,364
2,728
What I'd like is a summary of all new maps since my last visit on the front page

newposts.JPG


I like the current new maps system - if something looks nice, I click and comment/rage/discourage/make the author cry. If it has no main picture, I don't bother. Maybe move the 'recent threads' section up to right below the new maps to make skimming threads easier?
 

lana

Currently On: ?????
aa
Sep 28, 2009
3,075
2,778
If we have a hot maps section, why not have a rating system as well? Like stars, or if that's unoriginal, TF2 logos.
 

Gadget

aa
Mar 10, 2008
531
527
You might or might not remember that I'm working on a new skin for the site and here's a preview of what's going to be the featured maps module (in the header on each page):

featuredmaps_preview.jpg


That's of course not quite what YM's proposed but I could easily create a similar module for featured threads for the front page. The thing is there's already the featured news panel so maybe we could get someone to create a new thread in the featured news section once a week with a summary of all the popular threads worth mentioning.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
I remember having this discussion last year when i brought up how poorly the search feature is made visible and its inconsistent placement via progression through the site pages/areas.

We need this soon!
 

Dr Forrester

L2: Junior Member
Aug 15, 2008
60
23
If we have a hot maps section, why not have a rating system as well? Like stars, or if that's unoriginal, TF2 logos.

Because with a rating system, the mappers that need the most help might just get ignored... "That map's only a two. Don't bother with it."

Something that might be handy, though, would be a system showing the level of feedback an author is looking for, I.E.

5 - Just showing off
4 - In final stages, looking for tweaks/bugs
3 - In development, willing to make major changes
2 - I've hit a wall. Please God, someone help me
1 - So I found this hammer thing, and it was free, so I made this.
0 - Map has been abandoned. Here's what I have, do with it as you will.

That way when the guy shows up with the Orange map at feedack level 5, we can all just ignore him for the troll he is, and help the poor bastard struggling at levels 1-2 with a promising but horrible mess.

Or it could just cause more problems. I dunno. Could be making a solution for a problem we don't have. I do that sometimes.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
Because with a rating system, the mappers that need the most help might just get ignored... "That map's only a two. Don't bother with it."


I find that, at least with the regulars, legitimate valueble feedback is not directly related to a maps stats (either thread rate or page count).

Large portions of worth while feedback are responses to gameday tests, irrespective of thread popularity, whilst whether it looks pretty or not merely dictates the amount of needless "this is me jizzing too your map screen shots" posts.

On a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being orange maps and 5 being complete maps it's the "3's" that get the most feedback. Naturally so. Nobody bothers with 1's because either there's not enough to work with in terms of feedback or the person clearly doesn't know what they are doing and people consider it not worth their time to deal with these countless noob releases. 5's are nearly complete so again, not much can be said besides bug finds through play tests as there's nothing to comment on. 3's are the ones that get the attention as there's enough to be improved that it recieves said public attention and there are enough faults that again, it recieves said public attention.

I think it goes without saying that anyone using this site uses it for feedback and not publication, those that don't quickly find out when their ego takes a hit when people pick at their map's flaws and they rage quit the site.

This site isn't about rates or scores.
 
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lana

Currently On: ?????
aa
Sep 28, 2009
3,075
2,778
I find that, at least with the regulars, legitimate valueble feedback is not directly related to a maps stats (either thread rate or page count).

Not sure if this affects other users, but I'm more inclined to look at threads with less pages and provide feedback there. Then again, like you've said, there's really not much to say about 1's, mostly because other users will be quicker to the punch. For example, in a fullbright map, at least one user will have already posted, "Add lighting," which is pretty much all I can think of in terms of feedback.