whismerhill

Join Date 03/2006

+19

The forum (problems)

which is in reality a blog I think

First let me say I'm doing this in the hope that some of this is improved overtime because Stardock is an awesome company and I would like it to be perfect

As you can see on joeuser Link or totalgaming website
many things are accessible from other stardock related websites.

Is it a bad or good thing ? I don't know, the forum seems to be rather a blog than a real forum
anyway as it stand, I have a few requests :
-the forum is very very slow (sometimes I even need to refresh a page multiple times as the first time the website took too long to answer and the browser aborted the request)
-the forum convert text into HTML for editing which is not very user friendly
how to reproduce : answer to someone, quote some of his text, submit, then edit your own post
-the forum needs "website links" for image hosting services like imageshack Link
which is not very intuitive (most people who are not in the know post "forum links" instead)
-"STICKIES" are not working at all with non-sticky threads being displayed first.
-posting large images corrupts the thread display with at least the galciv2.com display (did not try with joeuser/totalgaming)
-most of the moderators/administrators of this forum seems to have another job at stardock (developper or something else)
this is both a blessing and a curse: answers comes directly from the developper which is good, but shouldn't a developper work full time on his job instead ? , and also it means that the forum is left by himself a lot
example : doing a search of "collector" brings in a lot of threads with a lot of answers, it's not always easy to find the answer you need, so you end up creating another thread which probably won't be replied (I know I have done it myself

)

thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope this will reach the right ears
sidenote: I'm not yet a customer of stardock, currently waiting for play.com to have another batch of copies

sidenote2: I'm running firefox in case you wonder

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Weidbrewer

Join Date 03/2006

+19

The one part I need to comment on is: "answers comes directly from the developper which is good, but shouldn't a developper work full time on his job instead ? "

So....why aren't you doing work right now? Shouldn't you be doing your job right now?

Developers don't work 24/7 any more than the rest of us. Plus, some people like their jobs enough that they talk to people about it on their own time. These guys just take the time to check the forum and chat like the rest of us. The direct pipeline to the top is just a bonus. Besides, I gather that this is a smaller company, so I'm willing to bet that a lot of people there have to "wear several hats," so to speak.

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whismerhill

Join Date 03/2006

+19

good point Weidbrewer

but one can't split himself everywhere at the same time that's why I think moderators are needed still

for example the problem with regional settings could be updated in the original post to reflect new findings
(and whether or not they finally have done a separate download for this problem available)

edit: any comment on this is welcome

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Frogboy

Join Date 03/2001

+2410

Forums are slow because there's a LOT of people on them. It's something we keep expanding the capacity of and then they get faster.

As for developers hanging out here, if I couldn't talk to fellow gamers about the game, I wouldn't bother developing the game. One doesn't get into game development in order to just sit there and code only like a regular job. If that were the case, we'd go work somewhere else and get paid more.

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I happen to like the fact alot that the devs actually chat on thsese forums and respond to other people. Why would you complain about that? lol

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On the point of forums though they could use a fix up, i think the community would be better off with the forums fixed up rather than another patch after 1.1, i think 1.1 could hold its own long enough for the forums to be fixed atleast

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whismerhill

Join Date 03/2006

+19

I happen to like the fact alot that the devs actually chat on thsese forums and respond to other people. Why would you complain about that? lol

I'm not complaining, I'm just saying that the only people we see here on forums all have other jobs
no one seems dedicated to maintaining this forum in good shape
moreover it's only one point in all the list, and not the most important

On my own personal opinion, I think a real forum and not blog like would be better something like they do on rage3d.com for example (remember it's not about the content but the overall usability and such...)

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I'll browse the sports news on SI.com. One of their pages is called Scorecard where every couple days there is a new "Sign of the Apocalypse." This quote is indeed a sign of the apocalypse; a gamer requesting the forum "fixed" before any further updates to the game......

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whismerhill

Join Date 03/2006

+19

ho I forgot one point :
-"Watch" does not seem to work, I always get a 'timeout expired' error

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lol , they really do need to be fixed tho

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I haven't been around here long, and am enjoying the game, but these forums are oppressive. I've spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out where and how to report a bug, and just sort out if it was posted correctly. This is really a nasty set of forums tools.

I won't be spending much time on these forums, and that can be a problem for people who want to stay in touch and figure out why their gaming experience may be challenged in some ways, and what can be done about it.

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Forums are slow because there's a LOT of people on them. It's something we keep expanding the capacity of and then they get faster.

Thats a good thing!

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After some thought, I am reminded of a few places I have eaten in the past. I do LOVE food! But anyway... some of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at were little hole-in-the-wall diners that look like they havn't been worked on since the 30's. Sure the paint needs some touch up, but the food is _AWESOME_ -- actually homemade fresh, right when you order it. The forums may have a few issues here and there, but no where else can I have this kind of conversation about a game with the developers. I'll be back wether the painter comes or not.

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