Maximum Posts in PM or Discussions

[Cataphrak]

@idonotlikeusernames

On the other hand the main advantage here is that at the moment (almost) all Choice games have a forum presence here, which is something the visual novel games world very much lacks.

It also means that when someone shows up here with a critical piece of feedback, it’ll actually get heard, instead of being ignored because searching for feedback on two separate forums while administering one of them is more hassle than I have time for.

[dfabulich]

To be clear, y’all are calling it a “sub forum” but I mean a “sub category.” All threads would continue to appear on the front page, though you can hide a given category/sub category if you don’t care about it.

[rose-court]

@idonotlikeusernames I don’t think subcategories will have as much a separating effect as you might imagine. Considering that they’ll still be subcategories withing the CoG forums, it’d be pretty hard (I think) for people to avoid the rest of the forums unless they’re actively trying.

And for the most part, everyone who participates in these megatopics also participate in the wider forum, hopefully introducing (or giving reason to) newcomers to other WiPs and essentially socializing them to the rest of the forum.

[idonotlikeusernames]

@Cataphrak

It also means that when someone shows up here with a critical piece of feedback, it’ll actually get heard, instead of being ignored because searching for feedback on two separate forums while administering one of them is more hassle than I have time for.

Well, yeah, I think that depends on the attitude (and available time and how they choose to prioritize that time) of the individual authors/developers. Obscurasoft used to be very good to us gay fans (and backers) in the past and listen to forum feedback. Aly is/used to be decent as well…one of those other past projects I spoke about not so much, so I can certainly see your point and while there is some overlap between Choice games and the visual novel world they’re also quite distinct.

@dfabulich

To be clear, y’all are calling it a “sub forum” but I mean a “sub category.” All threads would continue to appear on the front page, though you can hide a given category/sub category if you don’t care about it.

If there’s going to be an explosion of threads in the sub-categories that would make the list on the front page a bit more intimidating and a lot longer though. Unless the front page only displays the most active thread out of each sub-category or something like that.

[Eiwynn]

@idonotlikeusernames

More sub-forums can have the effect of creating “tribes” on the forum though, particularly if it closes people off to seeing new WIP’s the main strength of this forum.

It can that is a worry of mine; Most WiP threads will still be in one WIP-forum.

Having one subforum for a series would centralize everything for the author especially when there are multiple categories that threads are in now.

@dfabulich

To be clear, y’all are calling it a “sub forum” but I mean a “sub category.” All threads would continue to appear on the front page, though you can hide a given category/sub category if you don’t care about it.

As it is organized now: There is a Hosted Games Catagory with several sub-categories: WIP, Hints and Archive.

If I understand correctly, each series or title (if a stand-alone is strong enough) will have its own sub-category under the Hosted Games category.

To see this in action, look at the Choice of Games category. There you see the following sub-categories: Hero’s Rise, Affairs of the Court, Choice of the Vampire, Hints, etc… is this correct?

Edit:

@idonotlikeusernames

If there’s going to be an explosion of threads in the sub-categories that would make the list on the front page a bit more intimidating and a lot longer though. Unless the front page only displays the most active thread out of each sub-category or something like that.

I do not think this would change - the active threads show now, nothing dealing with the list changes as evidenced by when someone posts in a Hero Rise sub-category.

[RETowers]

Okay PM count should now be 10k, the same as threads. (If you have a PM that where (post_count >= 500) and (post_count < 10000) that you need unlocked, PM me a link so I can do it.

[Unknown_Player]

Said wiki is difficult to navigate and doesn’t have that much information on it, I mean yes it does, but compared to all the information you have provided within the choice of games forms it is minuscule, I think if the wiki was provided much more information than it would make your life easier aswell, as when people press you for questions you could just tell them to look on the wiki instead of having to write the same paragraph over and over again in response to the same questions people constantly ask.

[Cataphrak]

@Unknown_Player

Said wiki is difficult to navigate and doesn’t have that much information on it,

I do periodically remind people that it exists and should be filled out. I have a standing policy against filling out third-party references like my TVTropes page and my wiki myself specifically because I don’t want my authorial intent dictating how my work is to be interpreted. The fact that the wiki doesn’t have any information on it is because nobody seems willing to put in the time to add to it.

[Eiwynn]

@Cataphrak

I do periodically remind people that it exists and should be filled out. I have a standing policy against filling out third-party references like my TVTropes page and my wiki myself specifically because I don’t want my authorial intent dictating how my work is to be interpreted. The fact that the wiki doesn’t have any information on it is because nobody seems willing to put in the time to add to it.

Perhaps a wiki sponsored by CoG/HG should be formed that can be staffed by volunteers (like the Choicescript wiki) that has the various titles in it.

Other publishers set up wikis for their libraries, so maybe this should be a consideration …

[ruhenri]

@idonotlikeusernames

I tend to dislike live chatrooms, they only enable me to “chat” with people in my own time zone, or those with divergent schedules, people often type fast and sloppy and use incomprehensible acronyms in those, making it more difficult to read and when I am caught up I often discover that…ping, ping, ping the discussion has now moved on they’re discussing something else and my chance to speak up has passed.

Yeah, as someone who doesn’t really has the time to go to a live chatroom but still enjoys being able to, at my own pace, follow the discussions in threads like the Guns of Infinity one, I would rather dislike the “live-chat” model. It’s just a radically different experience that doesn’t suits the needs of CoG (in my modest opinion), both authors and buyers.

@dfabulich

Is that right? It’s not at all clear to me that megatopics are more inviting to new users than rebooted topics, especially if the rebooted topics start with a summary.

Megatopics are definitely more inviting. In the sense that we need to prioritize which threads we follow, and with the ever-growing graveyard of WIPs realizing the level of popularity of a game is usually a good indicator of the probability of it reaching its desired publication stage. Sure, I sometimes participate in really promising small WIP threads, but that is only when the premise is really up my alley. I usually tend to limit my time spent in the forum to not-so-small threads, because it’s just hard to invest a considerable percentage of your free time in a thread that ends with the WIP being abandoned. Popularity is definitely a factor, at least for me. It’s my way of accessing the probability of participating in something that will have an happy ending.

@idonotlikeusernames

If there’s going to be an explosion of threads in the sub-categories that would make the list on the front page a bit more intimidating and a lot longer though. Unless the front page only displays the most active thread out of each sub-category or something like that.

That would definitely be an issue (I think). Given the brutal level of participation on the GoI and ZE, I can totally see all other threads and WIPs being relegated to the bottom of the page by a wave of threads and posts in each IP’s sub-forums.

@RETowers

Okay PM count should now be 10k, the same as threa

Great! I was starting to get worried with that one. Thanks for the help, you guys (and girls) are amazing as usual (the administrators and moderators of the forum have really spoiled us with their amazing efficiency and availability, haven’t they?)

[Unknown_Player]

Perhaps then you could just make a post on your website listing the most frequent questions people ask and your response to those questions, so when people ask you those same questions you could provide a link to the list instead having to write the same paragraph the millionth time to respond.

[Cataphrak]

I honestly don’t even have to do that anymore. If it’s a frequently answered question, someone else will do it for me.

[RETowers]

I’m planning on redoing the ChoiceScript documentation on site when I have a moment that’s free, and hopefully basically outdating the wiki. (Plus documenting best practices, FAQs, etc.)