Discussion

[Naveed]

well i will echo a few of the things that have already been said. Mainly a fear of what will happen. Most of the people that come here have a knowledge of computers and programming that extends to installing the SWG disc's and logging in. Most don't understand how the EMU works, what is server side and what is client side, what can be changed, what cant be changed, and have no idea what scripting is. Every time someone asks a question that may seem obvious or way off base he is flamed by either a community member or even by a dev or moderator. This has gotten better recently but still exists. also many of the questions and topics have already been asked and asked multiple times. Honestly i think that the best thing that could be done would be to have a dev write a real FAQ and explain the ins and outs of programming the emu what can and cant be done and what some of the terms that get thrown around frequently mean. (This would of course take alot of time and effort which would detract from the EMU effort). But i think it is what would be needed.

Also perhaps a pre-determined moderated Q&A session on irc with the devs where people could pose questions to the mods who would then forward the relevant ones one at a time to the devs who could answer each one, no matter if they feel it is a "dumb" question or not.

When you are dealing with as many people as there are here in a field that is foreign(programming and advanced computing) to the core of what brought us together (the love of SWG) it will always seem like the people who don't know as much are the masses and those people need to be dealt with fairly.

Basically, i feel the community morale and attitude is poor. and, well attitude is a reflection of leadership. The best way to advance the community is by making everyone knowledgeable at the subject at hand and people learn at different speeds so the best way to do it is a ton of information that can be looked at in a concise format.

sorry for the poorly formatted thoughts but i just typed away.

Also Ramsey i feel you may have a slightly different view of certain aspects becuase you are here for the love of the EMU not the love of SWG, not trying to be an @$$ just trying to point out a possible differance.

When we have been asked to do things we have done them, there have been good responses to all the things we were asked to do including animation tests, stress tests and look at the responses to this thread

[Iehifeupie]

I agree, community is the key to a successful EMU.

But what we need is better forums. I have to say, these are not the best and they could be better. Maybe some new forums and a new layout/skin for the forums which i could help out with if needed.

Iehif.

[wookieface]

Originally Posted by Hardlinemonk

umm says 15k members on my screen sooo ya

your screen must be broken ...

[sid_lowca]

we're on Irc, and we discuss topics here, but some of us are just waiting to see some results first.

[EVILJUDE]

also, it might be a good boost for some of the admins/mods/devs (not saying all of them, not saying any particular one, but I have seen instances of it) would follow thier own rules. this could be part of some of the issues seen here.

[Sinis]

downloading irc as we speak, last time i had this **** was back in s10, cs.

[Bloodfin182]

Yeah not meaning any offense to anyone, but I think this "problem" (if thats even really what it is) is a direct result of the such strict attitude that was always kind of surrounding the forums. Its definitely much much better now, but on the old forums anyway, you could hardly say/ask anything without fear of flaming or a ban. I think that makes everything intimidating, especially for new members, and almost discourages questions/ideas/etc.

That said, I dont like it more then anybody else when a noob comes in and asks the most stupid questions, when they obivously havent read anything at all.

[IG-EightyEight]

ive beena member for over a year, but i just recently started posting on this new forum (i think its been up a few months now). But I don't really go on IRC all that much. Is it a big help to be on IRC as well? I am not one who begs for results because I can't imagine the work that goes into this I figure you guys are doing all you can. But If every extra person on IRC helps, i'll be glad to hop on it.

[fenderbean]

yeah I wish i could do more myself, but im no programmer. Only thing I can do is say what a perfect game would be. I can do that on the forum all day

[Anakis]

There is no point in advertising for the Emu until it's actually released. Why draw lots of people to this site? Most will just get bored and leave because there is no game yet. The community will have no trouble growing once pre-cu returns.

IRC sucks imo for getting information. Unless you can sit there all day staring at the chat, you're not going to find anything when you come home and look at the 100,000 lines of random text that was received while you where at work/school.

Anyway, I'd like to see WEEKLY (minimum) progress updates from the Devs. On the FORUMS/main page, not IRC. Just type a paragraph about what the team is working on, what's been finished recently, what's almost done, what's next, etc.

You're hypocrites for criticizing the community's communication. Regular updates on what you're doing would keep up community interest. I personally don't participate on these forums much, because the Devs only occasionally tell us what they're working on, and all there is for threads are Jedi system ideas and other stuff that's been beaten to death.

Perhaps you could start threads based on what you're working on or will be working on soon and ask for community input on those systems.

Most of the community probably doesn't care much how you guys do it. We just want pre-cu back the way it was, with less bugs and lag. Extra features are only a bonus.

[Jaidden]

Originally Posted by Bloodfin182

Yeah not meaning any offense to anyone, but I think this "problem" (if thats even really what it is) is a direct result of the such strict attitude that was always kind of surrounding the forums. Its definitely much much better now, but on the old forums anyway, you could hardly say/ask anything without fear of flaming or a ban. I think that makes everything intimidating, especially for new members, and almost discourages questions/ideas/etc.

That said, I dont like it more then anybody else when a noob comes in and asks the most stupid questions, when they obivously havent read anything at all.

/agree

No one likes questions that have been answered a million times over, but taking the time to answer the question goes a long way toward building friendliness in the community. Basic rule of thumb is that if you don't have anything nice to say and are not willing to help, keep your opinion to yourself.

[freethinker42]

In terms of Future Server Ideas and related issues, the Future Server Ideas forum is too broad a topic. For example we have several threads on new Jedi ideas that get buried under other unrelated topics.

Simply put, I'm saying it might help to make multiple forums on profession specific topics, player housing, gameplay mechanics, crafting, etc. (like the old SOE forums) to help keep ideas together. Having a forum for every single profession may be spreading too thin, but as the community grows the more useful it will.

[fenderbean]

I fear this kind of open feed back will, get out of control. The best way to figure out what people want is to have a forum for ideas and pick the best and do polls. Dont forget u cannot please everyone, thats SOEs problem they listened to all the babies who wanted to be all powerfull. I will never understand why a 2 or 3 hour player per week thought they should be able to beat a 7day a week power player. I like forums I can view them at work I cant get on IRC much. Just add a forum topic and read/discuss till everyones had there say

[shastadude15]

I myself have been very actively following the SWGEmu since June of 06...I told all my friends about it that I could, and all my friends who were still playing NGE (I cancelled my NGE account in August)...the snags I hit, are the people still playing NGE are playing the NGE because they either like it better than pre-CU for some reason (I found that these are mostly kids under age 15, Im not joking), think the emu is illegal and dont want to go to jail, or think the emu is a longshot and will never work because they trust Smedley's broken promises over their peers'.

I know for a fact you guys are dilligent workers, and I think everyone who is here right now can agree with me, but I think some of the best things that we could do to get a larger community, would be some of this:

1) For new people threads where people ask questions or introduce themselves, NO FLAMING WHATSOEVER. You either let a moderator or dev answer their question professionally, or you can save the mods and devs plenty of time by answering the question directly in a polite way and welcoming the individual to the community, or directing them politely to a link such as the FAQ and also welcoming them. Ive noticed a LOT of hostile, HOSTILE, replies to "Hey guys, Im new" posts, and I will admit I have made some of those in the past, but its time for that to change, because all it does is tell people you arnt welcome here. Maybe bring back the good old squelch for violators?

2) Do at least a weekly update on the main page, even if it is just for an itty bitty tidbit of progress or no progress at all, just to let the people who dont have time to get on IRC or check the forums, or perhaps are less proficient in navigating IRC or forums, know what is going on without making them read between the lines for updates or go digging.

3) I would say open the test server up more often but it is up quite a lot anyways so I dont really think that is necessary.

4) Find legal ways of getting the word out such as advertising in any means necessary...even if that means putting up fliers in the window of your local Wal Mart. Considering there were over 300,000 SWG players in Pre-CU, someone is bound to see it. This may seem impractical, so why not find legal ways to advertise in gaming magazines or on gaming sites (if at all possible) using donated money? Im sure there are plenty of ways to get the word out that we arnt doing, because I tell probably 1 or 2 Pre-CU players a month about the emu and theyd never even heard of it.

These are just suggestions, and they all may be completely impossible...but hey, its worth a try.

[Davickk]

Originally Posted by shastadude15

I myself have been very actively following the SWGEmu since June of 06...I told all my friends about it that I could, and all my friends who were still playing NGE (I cancelled my NGE account in August)...the snags I hit, are the people still playing NGE are playing the NGE because they either like it better than pre-CU for some reason (I found that these are mostly kids under age 15, Im not joking), think the emu is illegal and dont want to go to jail, or think the emu is a longshot and will never work because they trust Smedley's broken promises over their peers'.

I know for a fact you guys are dilligent workers, and I think everyone who is here right now can agree with me, but I think some of the best things that we could do to get a larger community, would be some of this:

1) For new people threads where people ask questions or introduce themselves, NO FLAMING WHATSOEVER. You either let a moderator or dev answer their question professionally, or you can save the mods and devs plenty of time by answering the question directly in a polite way and welcoming the individual to the community, or directing them politely to a link such as the FAQ and also welcoming them. Ive noticed a LOT of hostile, HOSTILE, replies to "Hey guys, Im new" posts, and I will admit I have made some of those in the past, but its time for that to change, because all it does is tell people you arnt welcome here. Maybe bring back the good old squelch for violators?

2) Do at least a weekly update on the main page, even if it is just for an itty bitty tidbit of progress or no progress at all, just to let the people who dont have time to get on IRC or check the forums, or perhaps are less proficient in navigating IRC or forums, know what is going on without making them read between the lines for updates or go digging.

3) I would say open the test server up more often but it is up quite a lot anyways so I dont really think that is necessary.

4) Find legal ways of getting the word out such as advertising in any means necessary...even if that means putting up fliers in the window of your local Wal Mart. Considering there were over 300,000 SWG players in Pre-CU, someone is bound to see it. This may seem impractical, so why not find legal ways to advertise in gaming magazines or on gaming sites (if at all possible) using donated money? Im sure there are plenty of ways to get the word out that we arnt doing, because I tell probably 1 or 2 Pre-CU players a month about the emu and theyd never even heard of it.

These are just suggestions, and they all may be completely impossible...but hey, its worth a try.

commpletely Right 100%