changes to the forum

[pzler]

lately i'm getting more and more anoyed because of the way the forum gets cluttered with misplaced posts, noob questions, 6 topics about the same subject etc etc

idea1
what i'm suggesting is this.
make a new part of the forum called questions. noobs can use this place to ask things like where can i find marnid and how come i can't shoot my battle axe with my crossbow.
if this is done i would gladly spend some of my valuable time answering some of these questions.

idea2
there should also be a way to force new forum members to read the rules before they can post. these rules should also inform them about things like the faq sticky etc.

 

[chadz]

hm.. if there were a forum named "Frequently Asked Questions", and inside there would all the noobie questions be... sounds like a good idea.

When I'm somewhere new, I usually read the FAQ first, and I think many of the new users would too, if the FAQ would shine out.

Go for it, I say

 

[Lost-Lamb]

The problem is, most of them still wouldn't do it.

FaQ forum wouldn't be seen (common with Suggestions, Mod Discussion and Customer Support) and the rules would just be scrolled trought until you see I agree (EULA anyone?)

 

[Zed0]

Make them scroll through all the rules at registrtion and then have a few random test questions.

 

[Ilex]

That should do it! And better make those guestions really hard.

 

[Laurence of Arabia]

Make them scroll through all the rules at registrtion and then have a few random test questions.

Very good!

 

[okiN]

The problem is, most of them still wouldn't do it.

Easy to solve. If someone makes a thread that violates the rules, lock it ruthlessly. If they do it again, swing the banhammer.

It's either that or chaos, really.

 

[Narcissus]

I have little time to post so I'm making this as quick as possible ... forgive me for any major mistakes.

While I agree that the forum is in horrid condition, making new members read anything is a useless idea. They will scroll through it just like a EULA and move on.

A new forum area named questions might help the problem, but would soon get as confusing and cluttered as some of the other forums.

Testing questions on the rules is again a bad idea. Before people can join the forum, you want to test their knowledge of the rules?

What everyone isn't considering is that this forum represents a business. It needs to be as welcoming and inviting as it can be without complete chaos. Armagan makes his living off of selling this game ... anything that detracts from this forum will detract from M&B's sales. If we want M&B to be the best game it can be, then we need to try and help new members rather than going into 'elitist' mode.

I'll try and write more later but am in a huge rush. Hopefully everyone can understand what I'm trying to say. There are also several suggestions to fix the problem that I was going to add but am out of time.

Narcissus

 

[okiN]

And there lies the heart of the problem: I have yet to see an official forum for a mainstream game that isn't an idiot-riddled mess, they all operate on a "the more members, the better the forum" basis, making actually reading the forum disgusting to anyone with half a brain (Apparently a woefully small minority with mainstream games). If someone came up with a solution to this problem, I'd be the first one to shake their hand.

 

[Phoboshobo]

Er, how about an offline FAQ and readme bundled with the game?

 

[Orion]

Well, there is a way to make a php board have only 1 subforum available to people who are under like... 5 posts or something. It could be a "Welcome to the Mount&Blade Forums" thingy, and they need to make like... 5 posts there in order to move on. There would be 5 topics, discussing the rules of the forum, such as -

No racism/biased remarks/flaming.

No spamming/double posting/etc.

etc. etc.

They need to make a post in each topic, stating that they know the rules and will follow them.

Once they made the posts, the rest of the forum will be available to them.

 

[Sir Prince]

How about REALLY big flashy buttons at the top of the forum? Sure, it'll annoy the hell out of regulars, but it will reduce the noobposts, and of course more locking of thread AND updating the FAQ.

 

[pzler]

i partly agree with you narc. it does represent a busines but that doesn't have to mean there is no way to solve this to atleast some degree.

Phoboshobo had a point. w could write a manual that comes with downloading the game, this would mean fewer questions. i don't mind answering some noob questions from time to time but some are so rediculous. i wouldn't mind writing some of the manual. armagan would have to agree with this but i cant see any harm in it and it would be a nice adittion to the game until he makes the official manual

 

[Ingolifs]

Add a manual things to the game itself, accessible through one of the buttons you see when you start m&b up. Make it directly below or something.

 

[Narcissus]

i partly agree with you narc. it does represent a busines but that doesn't have to mean there is no way to solve this to atleast some degree.

I didn't mean to imply that there wasn't a way to solve it ... actually ...

There are also several suggestions to fix the problem that I was going to add but am out of time.

I think the new forum area (Un-official editors) is a pretty nice start. When I get back and have more time, we will see what else we can do to get the forums a little less chaotic.

Narcissus

 

[Manitas]

Increasing number of subforums tends to bog forums down, while it's unlikely to solve the problem.

I think the best solution would be to make just one additional subforum 'trash bin' or something, and to let mods to move some post there directly, without the 'moved' notice in the original forum.