Curse

Spooky · Mar 05, 2005, 08:42 PM // 20:42

So, i'm trying to get a general consensus or gauge interest on some ideas here. Most people that knew me previously were probably familiar with me through my forum postings at OGaming, or for the Alpha Player Journals I used to write. Due to the structure of the NDA nowadays, I can no longer write those journals with direct information such as I used to, though I still want to be doing constructive features (above and beyond adding / maintaining the information in our database.)

The reason i'm asking is that our site has rapidly built a reputation as being very in depth with information in all of our endeavours .. which caters to an audience that is, at times, at odds with those that may only be looking for entertainment. So here's a few ideas:

Fan stories: Does anyone even read these things? Seriously. If so, would people rather they were serious or humorous?

Comics: I've got ideas for a few more strips to do, if I can ever find a moments peace from the several jobs i'm working at the moment. Does anyone want to see more?

Editorials / Perspective Articles: Take an idea from a poster and run with it, basically.

Any thoughts? Or perhaps even more useful: any ideas on what you'd like to see?

Whosa Skylore · Mar 05, 2005, 08:51 PM // 20:51

fan storys- i ussualy dont read them but i read one of my guild maters (weezer) and his was amazing so i take looks at ones everyonce in a while but i think a lot of ppl read them, im just not a reader. i dont think they should be either. if you like writing serious write serius if you want to make it funny make it funny, i just think it is how good of a writer are you

comics-i would love to see your comics, but i love looking at comics it reminds me of guild wars but has me laughing on the ground while reading it

editorial- great idea, i allways want to add on to what some one is saying but it seems that it would be off topic

my idea- well first i think you should have a fanfic page

and also i think you would mmake your site unique and gather a big croud if you got one of your site managers to get a list of approximate proces for items, not to the NPC but to ppl, like black dye to sales person= 2-5 coins not sure, black dye to real person=120 coins

edit- lol forgot to say, i love the site and i hope this helps

Brett Kuntz · Mar 05, 2005, 08:59 PM // 20:59

How about a downloads section for Tiny Skill Browser, after all it does grab a majority of its information from this website!

HotSnack · Mar 05, 2005, 09:03 PM // 21:03

Fan stories, are we talking about gaming recounts or fiction? Either way I prefer them to be humorous.

Though talking about gaming recounts and fiction, having something like GameSpy's Daily Victim would be cool (I'm talking about stories such as their old Everquest and Battlefiled 1942 runs, not their later, post-extinction stuff).

Unik · Mar 05, 2005, 09:12 PM // 21:12

Great ideas and btw great work on the website and forum.

Fan stories: Think it would allow for a more relaxed read, if members are in the mood, the style (serious/funny) should be left to the writers choice.

Comics: Always loved comics, what can i say.

Editorials / Perspective Articles: Yeah, great idea.

Suggestions

Guild Interviews: Give us all a chance to get to know the guilds and the style or philosophy of each, would also be a nice help for players looking for a guild to join.

Battle stories: This falls into fan stories, but i may be fun to have it split so we have a pvp and pve one.

Thanks again for the enormous amount of work you guys do and hope this can help.

HotSnack · Mar 05, 2005, 09:50 PM // 21:50

I'd just like to say I second the idea of guild interviews.

BlackArrow · Mar 05, 2005, 09:55 PM // 21:55

Fan Stories: Not my favorite thing to read but I might read some if they were up here.

Comic Strips: Definitly. I love comics, I have a list of about 10 webcomics in my favorites list. If someone did GW comics regulary I'd definitly read them.

Editorials: Sounds like a good addition to a site already filling with great articles by the contributors.

I would also like to agree with the guild interview idea. There's a number of guilds here and getting to know us would be good for new members trying to find a guild and for guilds that are looking for new members.

Whosa Skylore · Mar 05, 2005, 09:56 PM // 21:56

thats the guild autitorium, where guilds can volentarily post about there guild and if they are/arnt recructing. i say volentarily because it sounds like you want it to be put up, like without asking the guild. and theres like 900+ (not sure) guilds so you cant get the all on.

edit- maybe im just not getting the idea right

Inde · Mar 05, 2005, 10:32 PM // 22:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unik

Guild Interviews: Give us all a chance to get to know the guilds and the style or philosophy of each, would also be a nice help for players looking for a guild to join.

While ideally nice, it never pans out. The internal question of how one is to choose a guild to interview out of the many possible ones to choose is never met with a happy answer. Best to just avoid it

Cleocatra · Mar 05, 2005, 10:41 PM // 22:41

In my opinion, this is a wonderful site right now, and you can get lots of good information and reasonable discussion as it is. So, while a bunch of new ideas may seem nice, don't change the site around too much please.

Whosa Skylore · Mar 05, 2005, 10:44 PM // 22:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cleocatra

In my opinion, this is a wonderful site right now, and you can get lots of good information and reasonable discussion as it is. So, while a bunch of new ideas may seem nice, please don't change the site around too much please.

lol their just striving for profection, but another thing that you need is a direct link to the chat, i kinda mentioned this in the suggestions page but i dont think any one saw it

Unik · Mar 05, 2005, 11:00 PM // 23:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inde

While ideally nice, it never pans out. The internal question of how one is to choose a guild to interview out of the many possible ones to choose is never met with a happy answer. Best to just avoid it

I have to agree, when I tossed this out, I didn'T stop to think of the *choosing the guild dilema* which indeed can become a real pain to manage.

Hey! What about a peace of code that chooses one ramdomly... just joking.

Xma · Mar 06, 2005, 03:09 AM // 03:09

Fan stories/comics : Personally, I don"t care.

Perspective articles sounds nice.

All in all, I would say that you're probably the most "serious" site on GW, and I guess capitalizing on that specificity/niche would be a good idea.

More game mechanics/information/thoughts is always good

While you're asking for suggestions, could I throw some about the forums ?
It would be nice to have some kind of separation between deep posts about builds/strategy and general chat about "races is teh cool"/add mounts/just bind jump/... should be easier to find the discussions each group is interested in.

Congratz for the nice site!

ratatass · Mar 06, 2005, 03:33 AM // 03:33

Yes, this is the site of focus and quality! Hope it stays this way. The write ups are fantastic:

I have one suggestion, which I posted in another thread.

If possible :In the suggestion (Gaile Gray - thread)threads, could you lock the thread to ONE response per player ? In this forum you can edit your response at any time, so when you come up with the "thing you forgot" or instead of replying to "somebody's suggestion" - you just edit your own response.

I think the site would provide more focus to the Devs that way.

Thanks for a great site! And don't change it too much. It is great the way it is. VNBoards was great before christmas and so was Gwonline, but they are starting too lose the focus - don't go there!

Ratatass

Spooky · Mar 06, 2005, 03:36 AM // 03:36

Heh. The thoughts on just keeping it an informative site are what I was afraid of hearing, though it's certainly not unexpected.
While i'm certainly no slouch in game, despite people suggesting to the contrary (as far as I know, i'm still the first and only person to solo a hardcore character through the BWE content..) I was more of a science student than a math one - that is to say, I prefer to deal with the theoretical, not execution. As such, in depth structural analysis is not my thing, i'd rather work on creative endeavours .. though it would seem as though we've pigeonholed ourselves.

bobert · Mar 06, 2005, 03:37 AM // 03:37

I would enjoy comic strips the most

Aria · Mar 06, 2005, 06:20 AM // 06:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spooky

Heh. The thoughts on just keeping it an informative site are what I was afraid of hearing, though it's certainly not unexpected.
While i'm certainly no slouch in game, despite people suggesting to the contrary (as far as I know, i'm still the first and only person to solo a hardcore character through the BWE content..) I was more of a science student than a math one - that is to say, I prefer to deal with the theoretical, not execution. As such, in depth structural analysis is not my thing, i'd rather work on creative endeavours .. though it would seem as though we've pigeonholed ourselves.

Yes, I'm afraid I agree with the others who love this site the way it is.. I tend to think of this site as.. well.. a bit beyond advanced. And I love how there's such an intense concentration of shockingly in-depth analyses in one place. I don't wish to imply anything negative and/or offend anyone.. but I rather like the fact that the forums aren't filled with questions like "what is Lion's Arch?"

Don't get me wrong.. I really do love beginners, but I've come to expect this level of expertise from Guru.. and the other fansite forums do such a wonderful job of welcoming new players into GW, and being a sort of "general information" provider. This would be the graduate course (you can tell I've been thinking about school too much).. and there's a sort of strange, inexplicable sense of anticipation about entering a site with five page detailed analyses of builds, skills and strategies filled with columns of numbers that make my head hurt. But of course, it's that sort of thing where you would go miles to find (well, not miles, but you know what I mean).

Of course, that really doesn't stop you from making a comics or fanfics section..

Just because I have this silly imprinted impression stuck in my head doesn't mean that new additions won't enhance the site wonderfully. Actually.. now that I think about it.. some comics to provide comic relief right along with the intense analyses of builds would definitely add quite a bit of sparkle.

Bobangry · Mar 06, 2005, 08:01 AM // 08:01

Need...more...math. I really hate math by itself but Ensign and others here have really made me love it in Guild Wars. The current features are great but if you want to branch out comics are a great way to do it, as long as they are funny.

I don't read fan stories but that doesn't mean others don't.

I'd be interested in Editorials / Perspective Articles done by the Gurus, probably not so much the community. I used to read some columns over at Gwonline but they seemed 'hit or miss' to much. If community Editorials are accepted I hope they have to get a stamp of approval.

I like looking at fanart, good or bad.

MOOMANiBE · Mar 06, 2005, 08:56 AM // 08:56

I'd have to lean more towards Spooky's preferences on this one -- but I suspect that's just me... to be honest, I barely visit fansites at all these days; only the forums.

I should probably contribute to the topic a bit, though :P

"Fan stories: Does anyone even read these things? Seriously. If so, would people rather they were serious or humorous?"
To be honest, usually not... I like to read about characters I care about, or to have characters that are, within a story, developed to the point that I care about them. You'd likely have to become a novelist to keep me interested :P

"Comics: I've got ideas for a few more strips to do, if I can ever find a moments peace from the several jobs i'm working at the moment. Does anyone want to see more?"
Absolutely. I can't really thing of much else to say on this subject than that.

"Editorials / Perspective Articles: Take an idea from a poster and run with it, basically."
This could be interesting, depending on the subject. The editorals at VN aren't always the most interesting... but at the same time, I'm really not the kind who is fascinated by in-depth discussions of builds. I hate to be so negative without giving with a positive alternative, but coming up with articles isn't exactly my strength. I'd certainly read any articles you posted, but how much I'd appreciate them would depend on the content. A balance between game relevance and creativity would seem best.

Mss Drizzt · Mar 28, 2005, 05:08 PM // 17:08

How about a forum about what we envision for the Game. What we would like to see added.

The Players Ideas/Wants/Fantasies