Forum Requests

[Jax]

Normally, as per the sticky, I'd let you lot think of things to add and create new threads about your suggestions to discuss them before we put them in motion and whatnot, but because we're brand-new (and I want to emphasize that, yeah, we're open and active), I figured I'd create a few threads for specific requests to lay down the absolute basics.

First question you're getting is what forums do you want to have? Propose, discuss, whatever you'd like. We'd like to hear everyone's opinions on this one.

[processr]

I gots me a few ideas.

The Basics
-News/Announcements/Rules/stuff
-Help/Feedback
-Welcome forum? I liked the idea of the profile thread back on Firefly.

Pokeyman, with the Pokey and the Man
-Gaming discussion (we're not a generic board, so just the one forum for all games should be sufficient)
-Other media (anime, manga etc.)
-Fan media? (fanfiction, fanart etc. - not sure if you'd want this here or not)

Anything Goes
-Entertainment (games, music etc.)
-Technology
-Chat
-Eggplant-related Discussions
~
While I'm here, stuff we should never ever have:

-Spamming forum
-ROM hacking/game dev stuff (spampit much?)
-Equivalent to PC's Other Voting Polls
-Trivia/game forum
-Club/group forum
~
That's all I can think of for now. xD;

[Camisado]

Not having clubs/groups is seconded, because we still have social groups enabled. :B

Everything else seems sensible by the way.

I REALLY could be creating forums myself, but...Jax knows how to do it better than I do and I don't want to go screwing permissions up or anything. Oh the shame.

[Bay Alexison]

Hm, I suggest Fanfiction and Fanart should be separate sections, but perphaps when we have more people here. I also suggest a Roleplay section too.

[Eccentric Microbe]

Perhaps a 'news' thread/sub forum under 'anything goes,' unless you're worried about someone spamming us with communist propaganda. =/

Also - RP forum? *sparkly eyes*

[Jax]

Okay, I've set up a crapton of forums, some of which had their names kept because I thought they were hilarious. Not only that, but I also moved Press Start to our new help forum. Will it be noticed then, or should I separate it again?

Also, the only one that didn't get created at the moment is the hello forum. Which would be better: an introduction thread or an introduction forum?

Oh, that and the news forum. That one I want to hear more opinions about because news forums tended to end badly in other forums, but on the other hand, I'd like to think we're not silly, silly people.

[Camisado]

Oh, that and the news forum. That one I want to hear more opinions about because news forums tended to end badly in other forums, but on the other hand, I'd like to think we're not silly, silly people.

It's not hard to set up an RSS bot and have it be the only one that can post threads in the News forum, if that would interest you. (Er, but of course everyone can reply and discuss).

[processr]

I didn't mean for the names to be kept ;;

News forum... Do you mean a forum in which the users post news, or a news bot forum as Kelly has suggested? For the former, as long as we specify that it's stuff that's relevant to a lot of people (basically, if it isn't front page stuff on a reputable website then it's probably not right for there) and that it's followed by actual discussion (none of the rubbish from Other Chat on PC - "<insert event here> is <insert adjective here>, +1 to my post count pls") then it should be fine. As for the latter, you'd think that most people who want to stay up to date with Pokémon news would already either check Bulbanews/Serebii/whatever or have RSS feeds to the aforementioned places.

[Bay Alexison]

Agree with Get Innocuous! here. Perhaps a news forum and whatknot isn't needed. If someone wants to post it know, probably it's best it's posted at the Eggplant.

[Jax]

News forum... Do you mean a forum in which the users post news, or a news bot forum as Kelly has suggested?

Dani suggested a current events forum, as per what we had on the last version of the BBS. Problem is, yeah, last time wasn't that fantastic, and there's a reason why PC doesn't have one of their own anymore.

That being said, sure, we'll keep it under Eggplants.

[Camisado]

I don't know if this suggestion belongs in this thread, but maybe we could start a resources collaboration thread in the Fanfiction section? I'm not sure whether it would go in the Fanfiction subforum or in the main one.

To be honest I just don't want to post my fanfic in there as the first thread.

I wish I still had the one I wrote for PFU. ;_;

[Jax]

I don't know if this suggestion belongs in this thread, but maybe we could start a resources collaboration thread in the Fanfiction section? I'm not sure whether it would go in the Fanfiction subforum or in the main one.

We totally can. As of now, we can put it in the main forum; the subforums are really just for stories/artwork.

[An-chan]

I really second that RP section... Role playing is something I've been wanting to do for a really long time now, but I can't find anyone to do it with me irl and all the ones I joined at PC got closed for being too un-active ;_; So, while we're discussing, I suggest a general, not too in-depth guide for people who want to RP but don't really know how. I can't do that myself, thus the request...

That said, I also second the welcome section. Had there not been one at the previous BBS, I would probably never have posted anything, because I'm incredibly shy. Seeing that the people there were, in fact, friendly and all gave me a great lot of courage to say something. So, in my opinion, a welcome section where people can say hi and be said hi to can greatly increase one's chances of being active in the near future. Or something.

[Eccentric Microbe]

I really second that RP section... Role playing is something I've been wanting to do for a really long time now, but I can't find anyone to do it with me irl and all the ones I joined at PC got closed for being too un-active ;_; So, while we're discussing, I suggest a general, not too in-depth guide for people who want to RP but don't really know how. I can't do that myself, thus the request...

That said, I also second the welcome section. Had there not been one at the previous BBS, I would probably never have posted anything, because I'm incredibly shy. Seeing that the people there were, in fact, friendly and all gave me a great lot of courage to say something. So, in my opinion, a welcome section where people can say hi and be said hi to can greatly increase one's chances of being active in the near future. Or something.

Seconded both of these - (and as a side-note to RP stuff, Jax, are you going to advertise your OWN RP here? XD)

[Jax]

Seconded both of these - (and as a side-note to RP stuff, Jax, are you going to advertise your OWN RP here? XD)

Pfft. That's what the main site (http://www.studio-revolution.net) is for.

And okay. Will get to work on a welcome forum. It should be up in a couple of minutes.

[Eccentric Microbe]

Pfft. That's what the main site (http://www.studio-revolution.net) is for.


Well, there goes my devious plot to lure RPers here to La Blanca. >_> XD

Also, with the welcome forum, I'm thinking we need to nab the 'what kind of pokemon are you' meme, from the old board.

[Bay Alexison]

Well, there goes my devious plot to lure RPers here to La Blanca. >_> XD

Also, with the welcome forum, I'm thinking we need to nab the 'what kind of pokemon are you' meme, from the old board.
Oh, I like the 'what kind of pokemon are you' meme! Would like to see that! :grin:

[Jax]

Oh, I like the 'what kind of pokemon are you' meme! Would like to see that! :grin:

Ask and ye shall receive. It's now up (http://studio-revolution.net/bbs/showthread.php?p=115#post115), and people who have been here for awhile are free to grab it and post it in the Welcome Boat. Or, you know, come up with your own stuff to put in an intro thread. Whichever works.

[An-chan]

So, uh, there were some links in the sticky, and I started to skim through the different mods just for the heck of it. Some of them struck me as completely useless, but there were some cool ones as well. Now, I know nothing about modding vBulletin forums, but these struck me as pretty awesome:
Drop Down Menu system (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=203521)
Forum Tabs (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=209097)
Extra Navbar (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=217689)

I think that, if executed well, the mods mentioned above could be really useful and thoroughly awesome. You know, for customizing the BBS, to make it look a bit like something else. I don't feel that we have any need for them as is, though, so maybe after there are more threads and stuff here. And, of course, not all three should be used together. It would just make things difficult, am I right?

Also, I don't know how this (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=222208) works, because the explanation there isn't all too thorough, but if it works like I think it works, it could be awesome.

That said, is this even the right thread to post this? Anyway, with my complete lack of knowledge about these things, I'll leave it at this. I don't even know if this helps or makes things worse ;_; These are more suggestions than requests anyway.

I hope my links work!

Edit: I just realized we don't have any sections for non-Pokémon art or fiction. Maybe there should be? Or maybe the fanfiction/fanart section should be separated from Pokeymans altogether and moved into a section of their own to avoid this problem. I don't know. I just thought there might be a need for a place to post your random artworks and stories in.

[Eccentric Microbe]

*glances to old board*

Literary Circle, plz? :D

[Jax]

So, uh, there were some links in the sticky, and I started to skim through the different mods just for the heck of it. Some of them struck me as completely useless, but there were some cool ones as well. Now, I know nothing about modding vBulletin forums, but these struck me as pretty awesome:
Drop Down Menu system (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=203521)
Forum Tabs (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=209097)
Extra Navbar (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=217689)

I think that, if executed well, the mods mentioned above could be really useful and thoroughly awesome. You know, for customizing the BBS, to make it look a bit like something else. I don't feel that we have any need for them as is, though, so maybe after there are more threads and stuff here. And, of course, not all three should be used together. It would just make things difficult, am I right?

I'll have to think about which one we could use (although I'm personally liking the look of the drop-down one), but otherwise, yeah, I think you might be right here. It'll probably be saved for later, when we get more features and such and would probably need custom navigation bars. Right now, I'm not sure what we'd put on them other than what we have and the style selector, which isn't that much, either.)


Also, I don't know how this (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=222208) works, because the explanation there isn't all too thorough, but if it works like I think it works, it could be awesome.

Basically, it does this (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=73382&d=1198043415). It'd be interesting, but I'm not sure if everyone would actually like that. I'll leave this up for discussion.


That said, is this even the right thread to post this?

Close enough for now. XD Technically, for mods and plugins, you'd need a new thread, but I'm not enforcing organization until we're settling down and have all the basics squared away. That and your edit's a forum suggestion anyway.


Edit: I just realized we don't have any sections for non-Pokémon art or fiction. Maybe there should be? Or maybe the fanfiction/fanart section should be separated from Pokeymans altogether and moved into a section of their own to avoid this problem. I don't know. I just thought there might be a need for a place to post your random artworks and stories in.

This is a good point, actually. I'll get to work on this and get in a result in a few.


*glances to old board*

Literary Circle, plz? :D

XD Okay. It'll be a subforum of Entertainment unless people want it separate.

[Eccentric Microbe]

Yay! Thanks. XD

Maybe we should move the 'Now Reading' thread, over there?

[Jax]

Maybe we should move the 'Now Reading' thread, over there?

One step ahead of you there, m'dear. ;D

[Bay Alexison]

Hm, not sure if this suggestions goes here, but maybe bring your Reviewing Guide from PC to here, please? :3

[Jax]

Technically, the reviewing guide is available via the main site, and I was thinking of not reposting things from there onto here. But I've got to look it over anyway, and besides that, it might make it more accessible. I'll work on it.

[An-chan]

We don't have a "General Pokémon discussion" forum here, I just realized. That might be a good addition, no? There are bound to be subjects that go neither under gaming nor other media, but are still definitely about Pokémon. What do you think, should there be one?

[Jax]

Sure. One general discussion board coming right up (http://bbs.studio-revolution.net/forumdisplay.php?f=26).

[An-chan]

*cough* Ahem, how about a trading/GTS/Wi-fi Battle forum? On the moment, it might not become the liveliest of forums, but we could sure use one! Right? Right? And then someone could add a little sticky FAQ about Wi-fi stuff and some rules that are generally used for battles, like no Ditto vs. Ditto fights and all that. Right?

[processr]

I personally don't think there's any advantage in having a trading forum. We've, what, 22 members, of which probably less than half are regular visitors, and I'd wager that most of those people are members on bigger Pokémon boards with their own trading systems. We've nowhere near big enough a scene to warrant one, and by the looks of things in other forums' boards (and you can all tell I'm thinking of PC here) we don't exactly want that sort of awful spampit on here (even if we are mostly pleasant individuals who like to use capital letters and full stops).

[Jax]

What do you lot think about a compromise in the form of a trading thread? Granted, unless we come up with a decent system for it, it might be a bit messy at first, but it might be able to restrict spam while getting all our information up and available for the few people who are here and would like to connect to other members with wi-fi.

Or, alternatively, we could just wait until we get more members. You know. Whatever works.

[An-chan]

I personally don't think there's any advantage in having a trading forum. We've, what, 22 members, of which probably less than half are regular visitors, and I'd wager that most of those people are members on bigger Pokémon boards with their own trading systems.

That's very much true, and also the reason why I hesitated to suggest this. However, the reason I decided to suggest it can also be found in your post:


and by the looks of things in other forums' boards (and you can all tell I'm thinking of PC here) we don't exactly want that sort of awful spampit on here (even if we are mostly pleasant individuals who like to use capital letters and full stops).

If we had one here, we could trade and all without spam but with capital letters and full stops. We could use the board to have our own little tournaments or something, to trade with people without having to go through bucketfulls of spam and to battle with people we actually know somehow, making the whole ordeal a lot more interesting. (Although now that I think of it, we can use the chat for that as well.)

Also, I don't think the board would be in danger of becoming a spam pir for a long time to come, and when that time comes, you can just put a stop to it by closing the trading board altogether.

That said, I also think you are very much right: there aren't enough of us to make it seem really necessary. With so few regular members right now we couldn't quite establish a big system that works just because there are so much people who offer their Pokémon for trade or want to battle. At the bigger boards, people will answer you almost instantly when you wish to fight, because there's always someone online. Here, it might take days. Actually setting a day would likely take even more days, making the whole process of finding someone to trade/battle with a week-long project. Cool? Maybe not.

I still find the idea of having a board like that worth a thought, because I think a smaller community might make it all more fun and reliable.

So, uh, I don't know.

Edit: Damn, I got beaten! Anyway, I do think it's worth a try. What bad will come of an unused thread? Just, that, maybe there shouldn't be any revival-preventing rules for that one xD

[Jax]

Just, that, maybe there shouldn't be any revival-preventing rules for that one xD

Ooh, that reminds me to add a few exceptions to the revival rule, but in the end, it should be kosher to post in inactive stickies.

That said, thread it is. I'll get to work on it as soon as I can.

[An-chan]

I'm here again! xD

I'd suggest you add a link to The Rules to the navbar up there, since it seems to lack on, or add the rules to the FAQ somehow. It's probably be helpful for any new members and it's pretty convenient for everyone as well. Maybe I've just missed the quick link (if so, I'd like to know where to locate one), but if there isn't one, it's going to be troublesome to check the rules before creating a thread or something like that. Also, the more links lead to them, the more people will read them, I guess.

That said, I think the general signature rules (size restrictions etc.), restrictions for avatars, and possible character limits for posts and/or VM's should be added to the rules. Not that it's a particularly necessary thing, I just feel that it'll be easier for everyone to find everything in one place instead of having to actually search for such information. There might be something else I'm missing right now, but I think you get the picture.

I just can't shut up, sorry! xD

[Mitchman]

So let me get this straight. All the forum areas we have are set in stone and we don't need much really. Uh perhaps a games section for all the other video games out there?

[Jax]

Aurincha:
I'll keep poking Kelly about that, since you know my coding skills suck like someone's mother.

And don't worry about making a ton of requests. I actually sort of wish more people would participate in this forum because it'd help really shape what's going on here.

Mitchman:
You got it. You'll see a new general forum for games pop up under Entertainment in just a few minutes.

[Mitchman]

Cool. I was just suggesting it btw doesn't mean we have to have one though. I mean its your forum and all and if doesn't seem needed at the moment no need to rush.

[Jax]

XD Aww, Mitchman, part of what's making this forum what it is is member contribution. We've got an "ask, and most likely, ye shall receive unless we can't actually do that sort of thing or unless multiple people say they don't like that idea" policy, so whatever comes out of it is a community where everyone can find something they like. So, feel free to suggest away.

That said, did somebody suggest a general gaming forum? (http://bbs.studio-revolution.net/forumdisplay.php?f=27)

[Mitchman]

Okay then I guess a gaming area it is!

[Camisado]

Aurincha:
I'll keep poking Kelly about that, since you know my coding skills suck like someone's mother.

I'll have a go at that today, if I can find the help link again. xD

Edit: And done across the four themes. C:

[Electrike]

Hm... I suppose I have a request.
We should put in a Wi-Fi forum where people can make trading threads for a list of Pokemon they have.. There would also be a Battle Requests thread where people make posts asking to battle along with their rules and a Simple Trade Requests thread where if you're just looking for a Spiritomb or something you can post. Both of these threads would probably have people use PM's to discuss requests to eliminate clutter, though this probably wouldn't need to be in effect on individual trade boards.
Dunno if this will work, I don't know if there are many other people willing to participate in Wi-Fi activities.

[Aerochu]

I think a Wi-Fi forum, ready for Hg/Ss's release would be awesome.

[processr]

Erm... (http://bbs.studio-revolution.net/showthread.php?p=405#post405)

Yeah, sorta already suggested, and we went with a trading thread. xD;

[Jax]

I know. I need to organize a thread with formats and whatnot. XD; Until then, feel free to use this (http://bbs.studio-revolution.net/showthread.php?t=83).

[An-chan]

Hello, I'm here again! :3

This time, though, it's more of a suggestion again. You know how PC had the rep system that didn't work at all? You know how they changed it into a general "comment-on-people's-posts-anonymously" system? Well, I think the latter one works pretty nicely and could be nice to have. I mean, if there's a discussion and someone flames, they'll be discouraged by not only the infractions, but other people being displeased as well. If someone takes their time writing a lengthy, carefully worded reply that shines with wisdom and win, they can be appropriately rewarded by people's sincere comments.

It's completely unnecessary and not at all needed, in my opinion, but if it's easy to put in *looks at Kelly*, I think it could be cool. Actually, I really rarely use the one at PC, so it's a bit weird that I'm suggesting this. xD But I think people might like it. Maybe. Possibly.

Opinions?

[Jax]

I think it'd be interesting to have, but some of it might need a bit of tweaking. Right now, it's set to positive rep only, and to hold us over, I've set things so that we all have 10 points by default, rep powers of one, no abilities to gain rep powers beyond that, and no real rep groups aside from this one. In other words, no matter what you do, you can't really do much to change the green light in the postbit.

There are ways of getting rid of that part altogether (rep power and whatnot -- or at least hide it/disable positive and negative rep so that you can only post comments), much like PC has it. The problem, however, is this requires modifying the templates. I think I can do it myself; I'm just passing this by my tech commander before screwing with her layouts, as per usual. The system might be finished tomorrow evening.

Edit: Or, alternatively, we could just keep the postbit part. Depends on whether or not you guys want an Eddie Izzard joke stuck under your intimate details.

[Mitchman]

Well hello there month old topic! I thought of something new today. The BBS neighborhood. Wait....what? Yes a neighborhood forum section! Think of it as a small residential area out in long island NY(its the only example I can give being a New Yorker so please don't bash me if you can't understand XD)where we each have our own house. We could also use the VB-Points to get say a building permit to be able to open a topic on your house. You can build it anyway you like but with limits. Thus you would also have to buy upgrades from the Commerce and be an active member. We could also have houses for 2, like if your in a pairing with another member(not irl I mean in the internet. Though I'm sure 2 of us have some irl experiences ;D) or if you are say in an online family with someone like a brother or such. This could also lead to some RPing with holiday events with fictional people who live with us. For example, on halloween we could have a blackout and MS Robina Robisson could have been murdered and its only one of us! Please don't shoot this down even if its the antibiotics that are keeping me awake and well enough to be on the internet. XD

[Jax]

It's an interesting idea, and we certainly can use more things that would produce more items in the shop, but to get things straight, basically, you want a forum in which everyone has a single topic? What would happen in that topic, exactly? Just RPing or any sort of discussion? Furthermore, how would one keep a topic like that organized so that one RP event doesn't bleed into another and whatnot?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not shooting it down outright or anything. I just want to get the system straight before the staff does anything with it.

[Mitchman]

Well see the topic in hand would to be literally your house. It would kinda be a chat hole, an RP, and trade section all together. Only your friends or people you invite would be able to post and all. It sounds very stupid and I'm not sure how it would work as well, it was a whim of the moment. Feel free to work it out yourselves as well cause I put very little thought behind it to be honest. It just seemed an excellent idea at the time...

[processr]

Isn't most of that covered by profiles? Certainly, the idea of your own personal space is covered by them. If you need everything else, then a personal webspace or online journal pretty much covers it. =/

[Mitchman]

So how about a home of sorts for your profile? It could be like a replacement to groups or something.

[Jax]

I'm not entirely sure if that's possible, unfortunately. There's not much the staff can do without abusing plugins due to our unfamiliarity with the vB system, which means custom stuff tends to be pretty limited. I could possibly do something involving the social group part itself (because it's currently unused), but I'll have to screw around with settings and social groups, which I might be able to do tonight. I'll get back to you later on today about this.

In the meantime, I do like the idea of tying a forum game/RP to vB, and while it might not be the house system, I think I've got something that might work.

Time for a staff huddle!

[Mitchman]

Well then, that sounds cool, I hope this brainspark I gave you helps!