RM Unlimited

[Marked 197]

Welcome to...

I made the decision to scrap GDU last week. Here's why. The concept of GDU was a website for all game makers. However, we've always been an RPG Maker website and we retained all of our content, which was only RPG Maker related. In hindsight, it was probably an impossible concept to achieve with no active non-RPG Makers.

GDU was an RPG Maker forum, in the clothes of an all-round game development site. This probably just confused new users to the site and turned away RPG Makers.

This is more like the old days. RM Unlimited, or RMU is our new name.

For the change in branding, I have given the site design a complete overhaul and made our own unique template system even more sophisticated. This should become more obvious as we fill it with more content.

It was a spontaneous decision to launch these changes live. Expect a few errors.

Also, VX http://www.gdunlimited.net/engines/rpg-maker-vx I want to make these pages better, so please give feedback.

Make games. Also, refresh the logo! This post was formatted but its not coming out with line breaks, first error to fix i guess :P

[Leon 55]

I have some feedback, aside from I love the change; We want to see traffic increase? we should see how we go about getting to publishers and contacting Microsoft's Indie program and how we can get members to submit their games for commercial release.

[RageMage 5]

I myself was a non-RM user seeing as how all of my game development work was done in Unity. Sure the change probably makes sense, since I am likely the only one that I know of, but does it really help the site at all. Speaking of confusion, I was confused myself when I logged in to see the change after having gotten used to it being GDU. I personally say back to GDU, sure we've always been an RM community but RM to me is just a stepping stone on to bigger and better things.

[dolarmak 23]

I myself was a non-RM user seeing as how all of my game development work was done in Unity. Sure the change probably makes sense, since I am likely the only one that I know of, but does it really help the site at all. Speaking of confusion, I was confused myself when I logged in to see the change after having gotten used to it being GDU. I personally say back to GDU, sure we've always been an RM community but RM to me is just a stepping stone on to bigger and better things.

 

I agree with RageMage, sure we didn't have a lot of people who used other programs but there is no saying that it couldn't have grown. I would have liked to see more engines on the site. Tho I don't see that stopping us from keeping the alternative engine forum open to cater to those who are using them. Hopefully we'll see more activity either way.Also personally i prefered the GDU look, this new one isn't bad, but the old one was sexy lol

Edited January 25, 2013 by dolarmak

[Tigurus 8]

I find the interface quite good but then again, the old one was good also.

Nothing that changes for me

*huzza for neutrality*

[madanchi 18]

I really like the new design, should have been like this from the start :p I think it's a logical decision to keep as RM orientated but when it was GDU I think all it needed was a big push for other engines, easier said than done though. I'm not sure how we would go about giving it a kick start for other engines, maybe change the layout of the Home page to showcasing Engines+games/ wip games alongside Announcements/ news.

[Polraudio 122]

I absolutely LOVE the new look and name. As for the engine sections im not sure really what to add. To me they look well planned. Just need a few more screenshots and FAQ. Most of the faq you can get from rmxp since they are mostly the same.

[Leon 55]

The problem with covering MANY other programming setups is simply, we don't have the expertise to teach or use those programs at peak efficiency. If we did, I'd say stick with GDU.

[rgangsta 43]

This looks amazing! The logo is so lovely I could cry. :'(

[Marked 197]

I myself was a non-RM user seeing as how all of my game development work was done in Unity. Sure the change probably makes sense, since I am likely the only one that I know of, but does it really help the site at all. Speaking of confusion, I was confused myself when I logged in to see the change after having gotten used to it being GDU. I personally say back to GDU, sure we've always been an RM community but RM to me is just a stepping stone on to bigger and better things.

Did you ever post anything about Unity? I did see your reply to my Engines topic, and I had planned on adding the engines to our engines section. But as Lizzie says, we don't have the expertise. I'm the only one who does anything and more time than I ever should have, over the last few months (lets forget about the years) so I just can't do it.

 

I agree with RageMage, sure we didn't have a lot of people who used other programs but there is no saying that it couldn't have grown. I would have liked to see more engines on the site. Tho I don't see that stopping us from keeping the alternative engine forum open to cater to those who are using them. Hopefully we'll see more activity either way. Also personally i prefered the GDU look, this new one isn't bad, but the old one was sexy lol

 

I disagree, I think there was very clear evidence showing that it could not have grown. Because in 4 months things went from bad to worse. If you want to compare the state of the site for most of 2012 (pre GDU) and then after, GDU brought about the site's slow death.

 

I hated the GDU design. It was amateur and ugly.

 

The main catalyst for change was the fact I came across a great indie game dev site that was all GDU was supposed to be. It had all the RPG Makers and it was just huge. I realized then that we are no one competing in a big market with nothing.

 

And you know what, it was this, or nothing. I spent a month creating a tutorials system that no bothered to test out. It's like I'm the lift support machine for something that's never going to wake up. Last week was the end of GDU for me personally. But then this idea came into my head. So here we are. Try to convince me further that it was a bad idea.

[Bob423 52]

really my only thought is that you basically ended up just getting rid of "XP" in the name.

[Marked 197]

That's exactly right, Bob. I'm disappointed you don't have any more thoughts.

[Bob423 52]

well i do i just dont want to share them. but i guess i could.

 

i like the new look, but feel that the name change is unneeded.

the url hasn't changed, but I understand that another domain name change so soon would just be annoying and possibly cause more problems like the ones that we got when switching over from rmxpu.

GDU has a better ring to it than RMU

and definitely sounds better than RMXPU (too many letters >.<)

however the name is more fitting for our content.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Bob423

[ShinGamix 1]

It very nicely done and easy to look at but it still doesn't address any of the real problems,

 

activity and content issues.

 

but it does all work very well together easy to read and I can't find anything to complain about

 

Good Job Marked

. Siyanora GDU and welcome RMU but I hope it stays because I am starting to feel like a YO-Yo.

[Marked 197]

Thanks Shin, I wasn't expecting a positive response from you. This is here to stay. I haven't got the time or incentive to do anything so radical for a very long time. Actually its probably only an exceptional window of time in my life that I was able to do this. 

 

I didn't claim that this would solve our problems, although I stand by my point that it was harder for new RPG Maker-seeking visitors to realize that this is an RPG Maker site. And this new design focuses content with much easier navigation.

 

Let me give you an example. GDU:

Title: Game Dev Unlimited

Menu item: Tutorials

Sub-menu: RPG Maker VX Ace 

 

RMU

Title: RM Unlimited

Menu: RPG Maker VX Ace (every page I'm aware there's Ace content), sub-menu: Tutorials

 

 

Here are the percentage of visitors who exit after just viewing one page (ie the page the entered the site on)

So 62% of our visitors left the site immediately after landing on it. Which means they will never have made those 2 clicks to the Ace tutorials and may have never known they are on this site.

 

I think this solves a few problems. Certainly have a lot more, but that don't necessarily depend on me. :P

[RageMage 5]

I guess I'll be saving the Unity tutorials I have been working on for another time then. I like the interface I just find the abrupt change to be annoying, myself. I had no idea what was going on when I had longed on and was confused, it will take some getting used to.

[Marked 197]

when I had longed on and was confused

Couldn't you find this topic?

 

I like the interface I just find the abrupt change to be annoying, myself.

What is different, apart from the interface and name? No one was posting anything non-RPG Maker. It was meant to be a surprise  :shifty: 

 

I guess I'll be saving the Unity tutorials I have been working on for another time then.

I guess so. That's up to you. There's a whole bunch of people who don't bother anymore.

[Dragon324 16]

Oh my goodness lol since I've been sick these past few days I haven't logged in at all. Then now I get on and for like two secs just seeing the changes I was scared to death thinking "what happened to the site!?" (I thought it had died or something). Then after I caught my breath and came here I noticed that my nightmare was not true, and that everyone is still here, and that you just changed the name.. whew. Anyway with all that said here is what I have to say:

 

1. GDU was bland in my opinion, and this seems to be more alive with the green shades in the background.

 

2. GDU also had a bland title, I like the new one a lot better :thumbsup: .

3. As far as the title, I think its just something that's going to need getting used to saying before it fully catches on but that comes with time :)

 

4. The interface does not seemed to have changed much but its still better then rmxpu's.

 

5. I do totally agree with he fact that this place was always about RPG Maker, and as Lizzie stated we just don't have the expertise available to help or give opinions even to other game engines (kinda like how hard its been with ACE).

 

So in a summary Good Job Marked :thumbsup: I personally like the new look and feel to the site.

And now to go find me a kiwi :excited:

[Bigace360 38]

Well this is interesting to come to, love the layout but don't care for the name since it's the same as the old minus the xp. Though after reading what you said about GDU the change is ok. The old layout was white and empty, while everything else was just fugly. Hopefully most of the bugs I've posted have fixed however as that's also the second reason why the sites ratings have dropped. Hopefully you can bring in more traffic as the amount of activity is even lower then it was when we were at rmxpu.

[Marked 197]

don't care for the name since it's the same as the old minus the xp

That is the point.

 

The old layout was white and empty, while everything else was just fugly.

Agreed.

 

Hopefully most of the bugs I've posted have fixed however

It should be considerably less buggy. Smilies are back :excited: I'll be fixing what I come across, but still feel free to report them to me.

 

Hopefully you can bring in more traffic as the amount of activity is even lower then it was when we were at rmxpu.

Right now, even that activity would be nice to get back to. I'm surprised no one has really asked, what is the difference between this site and the enterbrain forums? RMU is now like an alternative to official forums. Even that sounds like suicide. But we were dead the moment they opened their own forums, right? I'm gona put this in bold so people actually read it. This is not a site for enterbrain products. GDU -> RMU was a shift of focus to target our actual visitors, not our potential visitors.

 

RPG Maker Web are profiteers and have ruined our work. My plan is to match them for their services, destroy them in website functionality, and do it all for free for everyone.

[Bigace360 38]

RPG Maker Web are profiteers and have ruined our work. My plan is to match them for their services, destroy them in website functionality, and do it all for free for everyone.

 As memebers of this site, we should do everything in our power to help you in that goal. Because to perfectly honest, Enterbrain needs work more on updating their engines, especially XP, and less on improving some shitting forum and creating duplicate engines (like Nintendo) just for money.

[isaacsol 10]

I like this idea. The keeping of our old way, but with a more apt name such as this which doesn't limit ourselves to any maker in particular allows us to focus on one type specifically, but also offer help to others if we can as well. If that made sense...

[FranklinX 37]

I'm digging the new look. The site looks better than ever! 

[ShinkuAura 15]

I've seen this for some days now. didn't really reply cause i got a bit lazy.

 

but wow this site looks better in terms of design!

hahaha probably my 2nd post in RMU.

 

Welcome to the new Members!