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Forums - Website Topics - Were we abandoned by the Vgchartz staff?

happydolphin on 24 September 2012

Sweet, some feedback.

Jay520 said:
happydolphin said:

Tools (Graphs)

  • Cummulative HW Chart in Tools -> HW by Date. [Jay] Not sure what this means ***[HD] this means a cummulative option in the dropdown. ( Go to Tools -> HW by Date). It would list the tally rather than the specific sales numbers for the weeks.
  • More games to display at once in Tools -> Game Comparison. Also, the bubble lookup system is kind of slow.  [Jay]  It's enough for me, but I guess more wouldn't hurt  ***[HD] With combined multiplats, 10 games would be a nice number to work with.
  • Ability to combine multiplats in Charts -> Game Totals and in Tools -> Game Comparison.  [Jay]  Great idea  ***[HD] Thanks :D I have so many more in this thread -> http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=4689422
Data:
Polls
  • Poll listings get truncated after vote is made.
  • [Jay]  True, but not a major problem imo    ***[HD] I make polls in all my threads and have to keep options short, often impractical.
  • Polls can be voted on multiple times by the same user (can be a pain when switching machines and you only want to see the results).  [Jay]  Must be a bug, because it doesn't happen to me. But still should be fixed. Again, not a major problem      ***[HD] If you want to see the results, you have to multi-vote and it affects the result. Also some posters like setting the results higher to their advantage. Not a showstopper, that's true.
In general:
  • Bubble tool for Add Game in Thread OP doesn't work well if there are too many items that match the text written and there is no other way to differentiate it. (Eg. The Legend of Zelda I NES)
  • True, but only a minor problem     ***[HD] Agreed. A minor fix to be added to the log of minor fixes. On the long run it's not a good thing to have too many minor issues though. It makes the site seem unmaintained, especially when they linger for too long.
PM'ing
  • The addressee field in PMs is full of glitches. Sometimes it erases the last two entries, other times it doesn't find the match.
  • PMs with special characters in the title fail to load.  [Jay]  I don't usually PM so I don't know what goes on there    ***[HD] It's a bitch this one.
Posting:
  • An image resizing tool within the Insert/Edit image popup (I have to manually calculate the ratios myself every time, and it's time consuming)
  • Getting an image directly from the generated graph (See Tools) for inserting into an OP or post (links aren't practical and even e.g. for hw_date.php a link doesn't work as the page doesn't remember the trends (un)selected).
  • Advanced table editing tools (we work alot with numbers), the ability to perform column operations like setting all values in a column to bold, or changing the number type, managing table widths, etc.
  • The ability to drag and drop images onto the post from an image editor or from a local file without having to use photobucket (HTML5 technique?). 
  • [Jay]  Agreed on all of this section     ***[HD] Sweet. This would make posting a breeze.
Thread Making:
  • Private member (exclusive) threads. Not really a priority for myself but if that's what a lot of people want, then fine     ***[HD] I'm not sure it suits the open nature of the forum, but it could be practical, especially for convos some people want to keep to a specific group of posters, or have a formal debate between certain posters and regulate who can post (all can view).

Admin:

  • The ability to sticky a thread.  [Jay]  Can't mods already do this?    ***[HD] Don't know, don't thinks so.
  • The ability to exclude a topic from the hot topics list and make it private (for everyone).  [Jay]  Good idea, but is a very minor suggestion.      ***[HD] This one's important because rather than using policy to moderate spam threads or game threads, you can have them all outside of the hot topics section and let people post what they want to there.
  • A 2nd hot topics list that is fully customizable (which posters you want, which forums, which you want to exclude,...)  [Jay] Strange suggestion. It wouldn't hurt, I guess.     ***[HD] Agreed. Would be relevant in tandem with the 2nd bullet point.

Viewing:

  • The ability to exclude a topic from the hot topics list (for yourself, system keeps track of an exclude list per user). See above     ***[HD] This one's a little different and has less to do with reducing policy in favor of technical design improvements, but more to do with customization and muting unwanted threads.
  • The ability to mute a poster in a specific thread (local only, not global).  [Jay]  Local? Global? Huh?     ***[HD] Local to a thread, not mute for all threads.
  • The ability to select the user(s) who's posts you want displayed on the page. See forum.mafiascum.net.  [Jay]  Another strange suggestion. It wouldn't hurt I guess    ***[HD] This would be good for following what a specific poster said to go back and say, "but you said!". Also handy in mafia games.
More:
  • Vgchartz dollars to be used in predictions.  [Jay]  Agreed. I never got the chance to use them, but I'm sure they were fun     ***[HD] :D


Here is my thoughts Since you asked     ***[HD] Answers and counter feedback :)





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Mr Khan on 24 September 2012
happydolphin said:
Kantor said:

I've been discussing this with some of the other mods on AIM, and we came up with this:

  • Improved PM system. Make it clearer who sent the message, maybe even add a profile picture. Remove that bubble system.
  • Give us the ability to edit the forum rules. We'll be needing that.
  • Mod chat on VGC itself so we don't need to use external chat clients.
  • Ability to remove things from VGC mod history.
  • The ability to change text colour and size in all posts.
  • The ability to post videos in the OP of a thread.
  • Wall to Wall (seeing a full wall conversation between two people). [low priority since we have comments now]
  • Mobile version of the website.
  • Visible moderation history from the moderation window.
  • Links in a user's "My Posts" section actually going to the post rather than the thread.
  • The return of VGC IM.
  • Edit, Quote and Report buttons on the View Post screen.

Probably more than that, but those are the important things.

Crossed out the unimportant stuff. Bolded the high-priority stuff.

@ioi, Items to add to this list.

 

Tools (Graphs)

  • Cummulative HW Chart in Tools -> HW by Date.
  • More games to display at once in Tools -> Game Comparison. Also, the bubble lookup system is kind of slow.
  • Ability to combine multiplats in Charts -> Game Totals and in Tools -> Game Comparison.
Data:
  • The PC numbers are always off it seems.
  • Digital sales needed.
Polls
  • Poll listings get truncated after vote is made.
  • Polls can be voted on multiple times by the same user (can be a pain when switching machines and you only want to see the results).
In general:
  • Bubble tool for Add Game in Thread OP doesn't work well if there are too many items that match the text written and there is no other way to differentiate it. (Eg. The Legend of Zelda I NES)
PM'ing
  • The addressee field in PMs is full of glitches. Sometimes it erases the last two entries, other times it doesn't find the match.
  • PMs with special characters in the title fail to load.
Posting:
  • An image resizing tool within the Insert/Edit image popup (I have to manually calculate the ratios myself every time, and it's time consuming)
  • Getting an image directly from the generated graph (See Tools) for inserting into an OP or post (links aren't practical and even e.g. for hw_date.php a link doesn't work as the page doesn't remember the trends (un)selected)
  • Advanced table editing tools (we work alot with numbers), the ability to perform column operations like setting all values in a column to bold, or changing the number type, managing table widths, etc.
  • The ability to drag and drop images onto the post from an image editor or from a local file without having to use photobucket (HTML5 technique?).
Thread Making:
  • Private member (exclusive) threads.

Admin:

  • The ability to sticky a thread.
  • The ability to exclude a topic from the hot topics list and make it private (for everyone).
  • A 2nd hot topics list that is fully customizable (which posters you want, which forums, which you want to exclude,...)

Viewing:

  • The ability to exclude a topic from the hot topics list (for yourself, system keeps track of an exclude list per user).
  • The ability to mute a poster in a specific thread (local only, not global).
  • The ability to select the user(s) who's posts you want displayed on the page. See forum.mafiascum.net.
More:
  • Vgchartz dollars to be used in predictions.
*Notice the spacing under Admin title above wasn't intentional and I'd have to edit the html to fix it, but leaving it there so you can see.
*Notice how the bullet points are truncated to the left.

We have full stickying power now, the issue is just that stickied threads don't appear in Hot Topics, so we tend not to sticky them if they are discussion threads (so only voting threads like "Most Wanted" go there)



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

happydolphin on 24 September 2012
Mr Khan said:

We have full stickying power now, the issue is just that stickied threads don't appear in Hot Topics, so we tend not to sticky them if they are discussion threads (so only voting threads like "Most Wanted" go there)

Interesting. I really mostly pay attention to the hot topics section, I think there should be a small portion of the hot topics section captioned "sticky" that is dedicated to those threads. Might add participation and visibility.

Minor suggestion.



Moren on 24 September 2012
ioi said:
morenoingrato said:

I don't mean disrespect to the administrators in any way. This is more of a question.

I understand Gamewise is a huge project that will probably be more profitable than Vgchartz, therefore, a lot of resources are on that site. However, and update of what's going on on the site would be nice.

Will the bugs be ironed? Will the tools be back? When will the database stop being a huge clustered mess? Will there be change? Do they even give a c*** about this site anymore?

Which bugs, which tools, which clustered mess?

As far as I'm concerned, it is business as normal on VGChartz. We have weekly data, we have regular sales articles, we have forums. I have posted numerous threads in the last few months asking for lists of issues / improvements and most have come back with nothing so I'm keen to learn what the "bugs" are that you mention?

In terms of tools, a couple of months ago we added a bunch of the analysis tools back to the site (under the tools menu):

Are there any other specific tools you feel are missing?

Finally, how is the database a clustered mess? As has been mentioned previously, the ability to follow and rate particular games has now been removed (since this has now been superceded by Gamewise) but your old collections still remain. Basic game entries and data now feed through from Gamewise - when a date is added there it will update on VGChartz - makes far more sense than trying to manage two databases at once. Other than that, I don't see an issue here?

So yes, in terms of development / admin support then things are no different to how they have ever been. As has been explained in the past, we have been gradually streamlining and simplifying VGChartz back to a sales-focused site as it was back in 2006-2008 before we began expanding and "bloating" the site as many felt with new features - so a lot of non-sales functionality has now gone elsewhere as was the plan.

But to answer your original question no, nobody has been abandoned.

I'm not much of a fan of sales tools, but many people here are, they will answer for you.

Okay, I understand you want to keep the text clean, however, making the font bigger is really useful for titles. Also, many times, alignement is a mess. 

Many people have already said other issues like the lack of spellchecker of "This user's post has been removed."

The heart of this site is the forums and profiles, there is no excuse for keeping the DB in such a horrible mess. At least allow change or something. You talk about keeping the site clean, but leaving the DB incomplete doesn't help. At all.



richardhutnik on 24 September 2012
IIIIITHE1IIIII said:

Surely, ioi is just testing us. He realized that there were far too many users heavily dependent on administration support, so he told his team to leave us all alone for a while.

Those who are willing to give up their VGChartz account just because of a few bugs, lacking tools, a "clustered" database and banned users' posts being removed don't deserve to call themselves members of VGChartz.


Survival of the fittest.

I just had a vision of the admins being Moses, going up on a mountain to bring back commands to the community to follow.



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c03n3nj0 on 24 September 2012
Barozi said:
c03n3nj0 said:
Why is it that so many here (including myself) have not heard of gamewise until now?

Shouldn't someone have made a big deal out of it or something? Maybe after the final site is out, though. It seems to be still in its beta stages.


Maybe spending too much time in off topic ?

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=144989
http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=146156

and even before it was rather well known that Gamewise was coming.

I actually surf all the topics >.0 

I admit I've been AWOL for a long time, though, so that's definitely when I missed it. 



 Tag (Courtesy of Fkusumot) "If I'm posting in this thread then it's probally a spam thread."                               

Moren on 24 September 2012
spurgeonryan said:
Things are getting crazy. Most of you want to just change the site to some other site. Crash and burn.

Mods. Why don't we just have a rule for everything! In fact make the rule page 4 billion words long and see if that changes anything.

I see that the locked thread thing is like going above your heads and laughing in your face, but no one else can see it. Whoever that did not post in it , will not even know people were posting in it still or what it is unless they search for it. People gotta be able to have some freedom.

Soon this site will be called Neochartz ioi. Do you want that? I think you and I have the same hatred for that site! Dont do it! People will whine forever no matter what. Just stop listening to all of us. Version 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, etc. Just leave it. Fix minor bugs, but that is it.

Are you serious? Do you really want to bear all those bugs and incomplete things on the site?

Also, this thread is not about moderation.



brendude13 on 24 September 2012

I just want the games collections back.



Mr Khan on 25 September 2012
brendude13 said:
I just want the games collections back.

Supposedly it's just a matter of waiting until the databases synch, then updates to games on GameWise will also update them here.

Of course, it would be nice if someone was working to help us out over here to fill in the gaps. Even if it was just on a "request" basis (for instance, i need Mario Tennis Open to be added, and release dates ironed in for NSMB2 and The Last Story)



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

sethnintendo on 25 September 2012
Mr Khan said:
brendude13 said:
I just want the games collections back.

Supposedly it's just a matter of waiting until the databases synch, then updates to games on GameWise will also update them here.

Of course, it would be nice if someone was working to help us out over here to fill in the gaps. Even if it was just on a "request" basis (for instance, i need Mario Tennis Open to be added, and release dates ironed in for NSMB2 and The Last Story)

A thread for when the synch happens would be nice.  The whole game collection thing kind of made me upset and not even bother with it anymore.  So they are going to keep it for VGC?  I could have sworn I saw ioi post that they were taking it off VGC for good.  Perhaps I am not remembering correctly but I could have sworn I saw something that there will no longer be game collection on VGC whenever they update it again.