Melan on 2/6/2012 at 11:06
The editing forums represent a huge knowledge base that's neither all wikified or incorporated into tutorials - so they ought to be separate to avoid confusion, while FMs themselves should go into one forum.
Briareos H on 2/6/2012 at 11:55
Quote Posted by Al_B
Should System Shock be moved to The Classics category alongside Underworld, Terra Nova etc? (Yes)
I don't see why it should. Someone just started working again on an abandoned SS2 FM as an example that at least one of the games isn't "dead". And System Shock 1 simply is LGS' best game and the best game on earth (objective fact), so it should at least be honored by keeping its own forums.
Unless you redirect all traffic about System Shock to systemshock.org, which I'm fine with but completely contradicts what you should be doing with TTLG.
Kolya on 2/6/2012 at 12:03
It would still be an individual forum, just in the Classics category. So would the 3 remaining editing forums that all relate to Thief, if moved to the Thief category.
Dia on 2/6/2012 at 12:04
So far the revamp makes sense, imo. But what about the 'front page' of TTLG? I know Digi's been very, very busy, but there hasn't been anything new there in almost a year. Are we going to revamp that, too (again?)? Don't misunderstand please, I really liked the update when it finally happened, but it looks as though it's fallen by the wayside again.
Just sayin'.
Briareos H on 2/6/2012 at 12:06
Quote Posted by Kolya
It would still be an individual forum, just in the Classics category. So would the 3 remaining editing forums that all relate to Thief, if moved to the Thief category.
I see. Still feels like a knife in the gut to me.
ZylonBane on 2/6/2012 at 12:15
So cool to see this actually happening. :thumb:
My personal suggestions, based on the board's current configuration--
* For consistency, rename "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." to "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series".
* I'd recommend keeping System Shock as a first-class citizen, so to speak. SS2 and Thief are contemporaries (and Dark Engine brethren), so it wouldn't make sense to banish one to the "Classics" category but not the other.
* In the description for "Thief Fan Missions", this text: "Discussion Forum for Thief FMs." should probably be "Discussion forum for Thief and Dark Mod FMs."
* Since all the other hints/spoilers forums have been done away with, merge "Deus Ex: Hints and Spoilers" into "Deus Ex General Discussion", which would then be renamed to just "Deus Ex Series".
* With Deus Ex consolidated to a single forum, it could be moved up into the "Gaming" category.
* Also kick "Arx Fatalis" up into "Gaming", which would allow...
* Rename "The Classics" to "Looking Glass Classics". As is, it's not apparent to visitors not familiar with LGS why there are essentially two classic gaming categories.
* Since there were three of them, rename "Flight Unlimited" to "Flight Unlimited Series".
* That being said, I still think it'd be a good idea to merge all the "classics" forums into a single "Looking Glass Classics" forum, since the individual ones are so vanishingly low-traffic. Then there could be an overarching "Looking Glass" category containing the Thief, Shock, and Classics forums. Dunno how the taffers would feel about that though.
* Strictly speaking, "Thief III Editors' Guild" should be "Deadly Shadows Editor's Guild". But... eh. In any case, absolutely should not be merged with the T1/T2 Editor's Guild. That would be a bloody mess.
Just as a point of comparison, it's interesting to take a look at the (
http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/index.php) Quarter to Three forums. They're one of the more high-traffic gaming forums around, have a very similar visual aesthetic to TTLG, and manage quite nicely with only six forums-- four of which would be lumped into CommChat here.
Ostriig on 2/6/2012 at 12:18
Quote:
Do you want a Dishonored forum? (No)
Yes. You could wait until launch, though. If the game has modding support that's a definite yes. There is one caveat, however, I don't know how that idea sits with Dan and Arkane. I was a little surprised that Dishonored didn't get its own TTLG forum from the get-go instead of a link to Arkane's official pages, but I imagine it was more than case of the dice just rolling that way.
Quote:
Do you want to keep the Deus Ex Spoilers forum? (Yes)
No. I don't see much of a point, it got very little use for DX3 and I don't see that changing in the future. If I recall correctly, we all ended up just using a thread in DXGen marked with "Spoilers" in the title, and I think that's probably the way we'll all end up moving forward anyway.
Quote:
Shall we archive the STALKER forum? Too soon? (Yes, No)
The stalker fan in me wants to say it's too soon. I mean, the body's not even cold yet, man. At the same time I can recognize that it's probably not coming back and there's little chance that this "Survarium" title would garner a massive TTLG following if it did end up seeing the light of day. Nor is there enough of a gameplay similarity with Metro to justify a mixed forum, the links boil down to theme and human resources but otherwise the latter is a pretty far cry from LGS archetypes.
But maybe move it to Classics instead? I think it has more than enough of a following among members and that it makes an excellent showing of some of the design principles that we hold dear to the point it would justify its position, not to mention that modding will probably continue and I'd expect TTLG members would still pop in occasionally with various questions or discussion about fan-made content or even just the original games.
Regarding Jay's suggestion about moving the FM stuff further up, above the titles forums, I don't believe that would be the best thing to do from a "marketing to fresh meat" sort of perspective. People who are into modding are generally not averse to scrolling down the page whereas putting the FM forums above the current games forums might give new passers-by the impression that this community is pointedly more about modding old games than other things, and I don't think that's the direction TTLG should be going for.
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
* Rename "The Classics" to "Looking Glass Classics". As is, it's not apparent to visitors not familiar with LGS why there are essentially two classic gaming categories.
* That being said, I still think it'd be a good idea to merge all the "classics" forums into a single "Looking Glass Classics" forum, since the individual ones are so vanishingly low-traffic. Then there could be an overarching "Looking Glass" category containing the Thief, Shock, and Classics forums. Dunno how the taffers would feel about that though.
I'd rather suggest having a single non-LGS denominated Classics section and have the selection criteria be TTLG-relevant games and series that are no longer being actively developed, thus including stuff like STALKER and Arx Fatalis. I don't think it has to be age-related or necessarily restricted to LGS-made games.
jtr7 on 2/6/2012 at 12:23
If it's deemed time for the Blue Sky/Looking Glass roots of this site to officially give way to a different modernized focus, with Thief editing as the major exception to the new course, then the Classics/Legacy boards should really become the repository for the bulk of the TTLG of the past, but made clear and accessible for continued use of the boards that aren't really dead.
Al_B on 2/6/2012 at 12:31
Quote Posted by Briareos H
I see. Still feels like a knife in the gut to me.
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
I'd recommend keeping System Shock as a first-class citizen, so to speak. SS2 and Thief are contemporaries (and Dark Engine brethren), so it wouldn't make sense to banish one to the "Classics" category but not the other.
This appears to be the most controversial of the changes. I hate to think that "The Classics" is viewed as a place where forums go to die - one hope would that moving System Shock there would help bring some more interest to the classics.
How about this as a more radical option. "Thief Series" category becomes "Thief and System Shock Series" and the "System Shock Series" general discussion forum is moved there. The Thief fan missions forum would then be Thief and System shock fan missions.
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
* For consistency, rename "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." to "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series".
* Since there were three of them, rename "Flight Unlimited" to "Flight Unlimited Series".
I agree and I can't see there being any objections to these being done immediately.
ZylonBane on 2/6/2012 at 13:51
Quote Posted by Al_B
I hate to think that "The Classics" is viewed as a place where forums go to die
It pretty much is though. In each of the "Classics" forums you can almost count the number of posts per
year on one hand.
Another advantage of a consolidated LGS Classics forum is that it would provide a home for discussion of (
http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/looking-glass-studios-inc/list-games/) all the older Looking Glass games.
