GDU Survey 2012

[Marked 197]

Hi guys,

 

Since GDU has been live for coming up 3 weeks now, I wanted to do a little survey for future reference about the state of things so far.

 

Please vote in the poll above or comment below,

Thanks! :)

 

Also, you may find it interesting to compare to a previous survey 2 years ago: http://www.gdunlimit...pu-survey-2010/

 

Note in that topic my most obvious foreshadowing. I guess this really was the start of GDU:

 

 

Hi all,

 

Over the past week I started work, as I have mentioned in statues, so unfortunately I won't be around too much until I start university again in February 2011.

 

Lately I have been getting inspired from various sources, so I have a few interesting ideas for when I finish work. It's likely to be a major reform. I have enjoyed my 4 years here as the head admin, but it is time for change. Suddenly when you start to average 30 posts per day, and simple topics that any number of members can answer don't even bother, the site isn't fulfilling its goals and there is little point in its existence. At the end of 2011, if the site is still like this, I will close it down, or I will step down as admin. If it comes to that, I'm not sure if I would like to pass it on to new owners rather than close it entirely.[how sentimental you were, past marked]

 

The starting point of the reform is to get some feedback and some nice indicators of whats not working now. So, please answer the survey to the best of your ability. If you would like to reply, please keep them about survey questions and not about the 2nd paragraph of this topic.

 

 

[Saltome 16]

Sigh, but the 2nd paragraph was exactly what i wanted to comment on...

 

Loading speed... Is decent, taking into account the fact that my pc is rather slow.

 

Bugs... a few here and there, nothing major.

 

Design.. is simple and effective, nothing to complain about.

 

Navigation... is rational, its hard to get lost.

 

Load button... is a great idea, don't change a thing. I rarely use it because I usually catch all the topics before they surpass the limit.

 

Forum structure... is nice and detailed, haven't had many problems with it.

 

The reason I joined.... was because i had to register to make a post, I stayed because I saw its a good community.

 

The site... is certainly based around rpg maker, might want to emphasize the other programming languages in the future.

 

What I'm looking forward to... the project and team management system. In my opinion the world needs such a system.

 

Overally... It has the potential and ambition to be the greatest, but it still has a ways to go.

[Marked 197]

Thanks for posting, all pretty positive there :)

 

Feel free to comment on the 2nd paragraph if you like.

 

Yeah there is certainly a long way to go, just to reach our ambitions. There's not too much uniqueness about the site right now and it really bugs me that I haven't had the opportunity to write my own sections.

[deathmoverz24 2]

I rated the site 6 overall. Could have been better if theres a lot of members, unique and addicting features, contest and entertainment like arcades(wheres is the arcade from rmxpu? btw) Though I give 6 instead of 5 because of easy navigation and contents.

[Marked 197]

Fair assessment. Yeah the arcade.. I've still got all the data in terms of highscores and things and I tried getting it to work on GDU but ran into some really troublesome errors that relate to upgrading the arcade. Their script seems deficient so I tried uninstalling it, etc. but its a good afternoon's work so I'll get that up within 50 days or so.

[Tomo2000 60]

Only real bug I have is occasionally the preview topic button messes up and chucks me back to the main page. But, apart from that, everything's pretty good :D

[madanchi 18]

I have cast my votes. I remember my first thoughts when visiting the forum was that the comunity was friendly. Usually I don't with any forum I join, but for some reason I remmeber this ones :oD

[ShinGamix 1]

Marked I answered honestly as I could. I really wanted to just give the site all the best scores but I felt that wouldn't be very beneficial to the site in any real way. If you need any specific response to the certain questions, I would be more than happy to answer. and good choice on skipping the "test" phase and going straight into "open doors" phase. I couldn't be more pleased with the great job you did. (*pats Marked on the back "Good Job")

[dolarmak 23]

things are great here, looking forward to any new features you guys come out with.

[Broken Messiah 20]

I'm not sure if this was planned but a pretty cool if there was a better way to create project pages such as enter in blanks relevant data or something.

[Marked 197]

Marked I answered honestly as I could. I really wanted to just give the site all the best scores but I felt that wouldn't be very beneficial to the site in any real way. If you need any specific response to the certain questions, I would be more than happy to answer.

Thanks Shin, I appreciate that. So far I can definitely see where things need to be improved. Right now I think the poll will suffice in terms of feedback because right now my hands are tied and I can't do any work, but I'm well aware of things that need improving and in particular the bugs that need fixing. The poll shows a surprising story about how many bugs have been encountered by you guys :)

 

I'm not sure if this was planned but a pretty cool if there was a better way to create project pages such as enter in blanks relevant data or something.

It would be rather a waste of time if the project section was a mere textbox :P What you say is definitely in the plan but its a balancing act/tradeoff between aiding the creation of really good project pages and making those project pages as customizable as possible to meet the needs of game makers. There are things in common in every project page (btw I use the term project page, but this is misleading. It's more of a site for your game inside of this site): such as screenshots, characters, plot, and a demo of course. The project section should incorporate functions to handle of this data and display far better than an average user could using bbcode, and far quicker than an person could if he started his own site. I secretly want to stop all these people going off of forums and making their own sites on free hosts for their projects by providing a much superior service. Furthermore the projects section will be a fundamental part of the site. Creating a project will enable a bunch of further options around the site: options in your profiles relating to your project (or a project you're a team member of), the recruitment section will require you select a project from a list of your own projects, the ability to promote your project throughout the site, etc.

[TsengFayt 0]

Stolen from previous post but heres my spin on things:

 

Loading speed... Overall great, rarely does the page take long at all.

 

Bugs... Nothing really, but there are a few broken project links in the resources section.

 

Design.. very simple and clean, I like it, however I think that it could be stylized a bit more. tl;dr - While it works great and isn't an eyesore, it doesn't stand out other than the logo.

 

Navigation... very well planned, more likely to get lost in a wet paper bag.

 

Load button... has a great purpose, though I usually manually look at articles section by section, the button is a godsend if I need to get caught up with whats new.

 

Forum structure... perfect. Enough said.

 

The reason I joined.... as I said in my intro letter, I have been around since RMXPU, but I remade my account and couldn't be happier.

 

The site... it has many functions but I am here for RMXP, since it is what I use, however I feel that every indie programmer has a safe haven here.

 

What I'm looking forward to... the project and team management system. need need need.

 

Overally... I think things are headed in the right direction, and I hope to contribute as much as I can.

[FranklinX 37]

I just voted. You already know my positions. I would love for members to be able to make their own game profile pages.

[madanchi 18]

I just voted. You already know my positions. I would love for members to be able to make their own game profile pages.

Yeah I too would love this, I was really stuck between choosing "project & team management system" and "profiles aimed at Game Development", but in the end I think I chose project & team management because it would be so nice to have this feature.

[Marked 197]

I just voted. You already know my positions. I would love for members to be able to make their own game profile pages.

Did you mix the game pages with profile pages? I only mentioned the game pages are going to be highly customizable, and that profiles were going to be orientated more toward game development than the generic forum profiles that exist now. I know you're a fan of having profile pages being customized, but I'm a bit more cautious. When I say customize, I'm talking about changing the background to what you like, having a music player (a pet hate of mine for websites). Of course the actual content will all be customizable.

[Heretic86 25]

Strange bug in firefox.

 

I tend to keep my browser windowed so I can view multiple things at once instead of taking up the whole screen. I noticed that when resizing the browser window, the avatar div jumps to become a huge size, larger than the size of the post on the right. Resize again, snaps back. CSS issue?

 

Site is barely functional in IE, but I think you stated that IE functionality is too difficult to maintain so it isnt a supported browser.

[ShinGamix 1]

GDU is the best. I fjust wish more members would visit and I wish some older topics were more updated.

 

Marked you got a sister?

[Marked 197]

Strange bug in firefox.

 

I tend to keep my browser windowed so I can view multiple things at once instead of taking up the whole screen. I noticed that when resizing the browser window, the avatar div jumps to become a huge size, larger than the size of the post on the right. Resize again, snaps back. CSS issue?

 

Site is barely functional in IE, but I think you stated that IE functionality is too difficult to maintain so it isnt a supported browser.

That's not exactly an issue. It's a purposely built in system that allows the site to adjust to different sizes of screens, mainly mobile. I have looked at the phone portrait size (squish it in a bit) although that's not really done at all. There's a middle ground where the grid snaps to 50% for each box, it looks odd and that's probably why you think its a bug. I just saw what you mean.. yeah its easy to fix and intend to do so.

 

 

GDU is the best. I fjust wish more members would visit and I wish some older topics were more updated.

 

Marked you got a sister?

I wish. But no, I don't. I'm saving a sizeable mass PM to all of members when GDU is ready. But right now, in my opinion, members arn't going to stick at a rate that boost activity for a sustained period. I gotta get new profiles, the game section, the new design, the gallery working properly and then I'll send out a nice mass PM. But I'm not relying on that by any means. The key to a succesful website is interesting and useful content, so the goal for GDU is to attract members who create tutorials, scripts and games for engines OTHER THAN rmxp, but also rmxp.

[ShinGamix 1]

That is one of the only drawbacks to the site is that 99% of active members are XP junkies. Which isn't bad but I rarely use it.

 

So no you dont have a sister..crap...Cute cousin?

[Marked 197]

Yeah well nothing is easy around here :P

 

I do have a cute cousin but I got dibs. Soz.

[ShinGamix 1]

I am realizing my site will never get even close to nice as your so I am thinking of exiting the gamemaking forum scene.

 

Cute cousin? Need pic? you got dibs....that is redneck as hell.

[Noob Saibot 38]

I am realizing my site will never get even close to nice as your so I am thinking of exiting the gamemaking forum scene.

 

You shouldn't leave because of that reason or fear of your site not doing well. I've tried my hand at creating my own GD site, but just gave up and deiced to help out Marked. Perhaps someday I can get back on the staff list.

 

Cute cousin? Need pic? you got dibs....that is redneck as hell.

 

Could be a step cousin which is fair game...unless you grew up as kids then that might feel weird.

[Saltome 16]

Sigh, Mark, Shin and Sai, would you children behave?

 

And Shin, i agree with Sai, you shouldn't quit on what you like doing just cause you aren't an internet celebrity, just give it some time.

Besides, who said that having a polished website has anything to do with making games?

[Noob Saibot 38]

Nothing. I mean their are still game making communities that have less then 200 members and they have been around for years. However, they enjoy the community they have.

 

*Also more on topic I accidentally hit the submit button to fast before finishing the polls. LoL!

 

~Keven

[Marked 197]

I am realizing my site will never get even close to nice as your so I am thinking of exiting the gamemaking forum scene.

Well you know, it's tough. I see your forum is mainly about the RPG Maker's from enterbrain and therefore its a direct competitor of mine, and we're direct competitors of the official forums. We're both screwed really. I have been running this site since I was 15 so I had a bit of a head start, you may say that's a negative reflection on my management skills.. Comparing your my site to yours, not to sound cocky, but you're comparing something so extremely inferior on all levels. And that's purely because you use a free hosting service. You have control on so little control whereas I can literally control every pixel that you see on the site. That said, a site such as yours can easily beat a site like this and many have. A simple forum free-hosted forum can be extremely popular with a good team.

 

The main asset the site has right now is a vision, the ability to realize it, but time may beat us.

[ShinGamix 1]

Well that is a good point. Maybe I need to start using something beside RPG Maker. I am an RPG Maker 2 expert if you need an info on it though.

[Saltome 16]

^^" Mark, a leader shouldn't show lack of confidence like that. And time can't beat you, if anything this site risks overextending its resources, If you try to develop too many ideas at once they will starve each other out.

[Marked 197]

^^" Mark, a leader shouldn't show lack of confidence like that. And time can't beat you, if anything this site risks overextending its resources, If you try to develop too many ideas at once they will starve each other out.

Lack of confidence? I think I lack more optimism than confidence. But yeah, I know, I've been told before that my own negativity is a bad reflection. The truth is that it's a negative situation. What I mean by time may beat us is that after my exams I immediately go into full time work, and I've got a life outside all of my obligations too. I was passionate about game making and providing a place for game makers. But rmxp is 8 years old now, and enterbrain has its own forum and much more monetary resources than we do. Even though they exploit people. The staff here are no longer active and its rare that a new member comes in and stays active long enough to be considered for staff. It took me 22 months to get GDU live and since then activity has gone down. What kind of a person would continue? I have the option to work as much as I want, who would choose to develop under these circumstances and give up the alternatives?

 

Do you think its rational for me to continue?

 

In saying that I have faith in my ideas and my ability to create something superior to any other competitor, in terms of functionality. Even though its irrational, damaging to my savings and has a low shot at success. I probably wouldn't bother if it was easy.

[Chief 30]

Like I had said before, forums are a dying sort of software. The internet has moved a lot more towards more social networking than message boards.

 

If a site like this is to succeed, it would have to behave a lot more like a network, and less like a forum. You can still have a forum, in fact I encourage it, but I believe that ModDB was so successful because it's not just another forum. It's a lot more like a social network than a forum. They still have a forum, but that's not where the main focus is.

 

I'd really love it if you were to continue, just gotta rethink your strategy.

[Marked 197]

Like I had said before, forums are a dying sort of software. The internet has moved a lot more towards more social networking than message boards.

 

If a site like this is to succeed, it would have to behave a lot more like a network, and less like a forum. You can still have a forum, in fact I encourage it, but I believe that ModDB was so successful because it's not just another forum. It's a lot more like a social network than a forum. They still have a forum, but that's not where the main focus is.

 

I'd really love it if you were to continue, just gotta rethink your strategy.

Agreed. Of course my strategy isn't a forum, that's absolutely the entire point of GDU. You can see that here http://www.gdunlimited.net/mission-statement It's just a forum at the moment because I'm one hobbyist working alone.

 

If a forum were to be successful however, I'd just register a domain name that is exactly the software name and slap some forum software onto. Boom, instant success. Why not throw ads everywhere too.