Yuck, (only realistic way of describing the forum set up) - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Yuck, (only realistic way of describing the forum set up)

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
tsukinousagi
Jan 05, 2010 16:17:11 I am not going to rant at length, because I don't throw good money after a lost cause.

But I AM a paying DDI supporter, I pay by the YEAR. I'm not just some person that ended up here and is not supporting W.O.C. financially.

And I have been buying a fair sum of 4th edition manuals, so again, this is a paying individual speaking.

The forums are dreadful, what exactly are you using the money for?
Navigation if dreadful. The sign up process was dreadful.
The word 'intuitive' does not belong in any manner of descriptive for the place.

I've been on forums run by publishers before, they look a great deal easier to enjoy.
Heck I have been on forums that were 'free use' creations of private persons for personal use that looked a great deal better.

Count me as a non supportive view of how things currently look.
I should be able to sign in, have my sign in remain till I say otherwise, and not have any real trouble negotiating my way around anything W.O.C. controls.
So why is that not the case?
Is it just the person maintaining the place has no talent?
#2
DragonsWrath
Jan 05, 2010 20:19:36 It was much worse in August, and is just now returning to a usable format if you ask me.

If you have any specific criticisms, please share them (link in my sig), but just complaining for complaining's sake doesn't do any good.

Once things are stabilized (IE: Back to the level of functionality in the Old System) I'm sure new features and changes will be forthcoming.

The old system was (so I've been told) an unwieldly mess, held together by much digital duck-tape. With an all-new system, those problems are (theoretically) gone, freeing up much of the IT team to add new things rather than maintain old things.

In theory, of course. So far, things have been picking up in the last month.
#3
Webster
Jan 06, 2010 0:34:13 Just FYI, the forums are free, not part of the DDI subscription service.

They're always changing and we're always open to suggestions.

Part of the issue is the size and possible discussions/topics available to D&D to talk about. If things aren't spread out, then you'd find whatever topic you post would drop to page 3 within minutes.
#4
whitebaron
Jan 06, 2010 5:50:47
Part of the issue is the size and possible discussions/topics available to D&D to talk about. If things aren't spread out, then you'd find whatever topic you post would drop to page 3 within minutes.

AS mentioned, this is only a (rather small) part of the truth.

A lot larger problems are the quite stupid forums-index page, which is a lot larger than needed, and forum-redundancies that were introduced because of "felt symptoms" of too many posts in a section.

Example of one of my problems:
I want to post a question/something about my new campaign (set in Eberron).
I can go to "What's a DM to Do?", "Eberron: Eberron Lore" and "Eberron: Running Eberron". These are three places where I could or should post my ideas.

Now, if this was a monster, I should also go to "4e Races and Monsters", if it was a custom race/class to the "4e [Role]", and possibly also to "4e CharOp".

There's just so many parts to post for basic Ideas, that you almost always get either double-posts, no answers, or end up in the wrong forums section. There have been lots of ideas of reorganising the forum - All I can say is: GET IT DONE!
#5
tsukinousagi
Jan 06, 2010 10:53:52 Just want to reply to Webster.

That the forums are free is nice. The point was, is W.O.C. not making sufficient income from sales to have a better looking better sorted out more intuitive forum structure?

Personally, as a paying member of DDI, I'd rather we had a paying members only forum community where it wasn't free. Not that I have any problem socializing with the non paying portion, but at least the discusions would actually not be subjected to the barrage of commentary, and maybe a posted remark wouldn't be at risk of being nearly immediately buried under a deluge of posts.

To be honest, I have been disinclined to post in the past mainly as I DO expect my comment to nearly immediately disappear by the time I return to see if any reply has occurred.

Maybe the forums attempt to be too many things to too many people.

My only current technical beef though is the 'sign me in for 2 weeks' function. Why does it need to be just 2 weeks?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 tsukinousagi Jan 05, 2010 16:17:11	I am not going to rant at length, because I don't throw good money after a lost cause. But I AM a paying DDI supporter, I pay by the YEAR. I'm not just some person that ended up here and is not supporting W.O.C. financially. And I have been buying a fair sum of 4th edition manuals, so again, this is a paying individual speaking. The forums are dreadful, what exactly are you using the money for? Navigation if dreadful. The sign up process was dreadful. The word 'intuitive' does not belong in any manner of descriptive for the place. I've been on forums run by publishers before, they look a great deal easier to enjoy. Heck I have been on forums that were 'free use' creations of private persons for personal use that looked a great deal better. Count me as a non supportive view of how things currently look. I should be able to sign in, have my sign in remain till I say otherwise, and not have any real trouble negotiating my way around anything W.O.C. controls. So why is that not the case? Is it just the person maintaining the place has no talent?
#2 DragonsWrath Jan 05, 2010 20:19:36	It was much worse in August, and is just now returning to a usable format if you ask me. If you have any specific criticisms, please share them (link in my sig), but just complaining for complaining's sake doesn't do any good. Once things are stabilized (IE: Back to the level of functionality in the Old System) I'm sure new features and changes will be forthcoming. The old system was (so I've been told) an unwieldly mess, held together by much digital duck-tape. With an all-new system, those problems are (theoretically) gone, freeing up much of the IT team to add new things rather than maintain old things. In theory, of course. So far, things have been picking up in the last month.
#3 Webster Jan 06, 2010 0:34:13	Just FYI, the forums are free, not part of the DDI subscription service. They're always changing and we're always open to suggestions. Part of the issue is the size and possible discussions/topics available to D&D to talk about. If things aren't spread out, then you'd find whatever topic you post would drop to page 3 within minutes.
#4 whitebaron Jan 06, 2010 5:50:47	Part of the issue is the size and possible discussions/topics available to D&D to talk about. If things aren't spread out, then you'd find whatever topic you post would drop to page 3 within minutes. AS mentioned, this is only a (rather small) part of the truth. A lot larger problems are the quite stupid forums-index page, which is a lot larger than needed, and forum-redundancies that were introduced because of "felt symptoms" of too many posts in a section. Example of one of my problems: I want to post a question/something about my new campaign (set in Eberron). I can go to "What's a DM to Do?", "Eberron: Eberron Lore" and "Eberron: Running Eberron". These are three places where I could or should post my ideas. Now, if this was a monster, I should also go to "4e Races and Monsters", if it was a custom race/class to the "4e [Role]", and possibly also to "4e CharOp". There's just so many parts to post for basic Ideas, that you almost always get either double-posts, no answers, or end up in the wrong forums section. There have been lots of ideas of reorganising the forum - All I can say is: GET IT DONE!
#5 tsukinousagi Jan 06, 2010 10:53:52	Just want to reply to Webster. That the forums are free is nice. The point was, is W.O.C. not making sufficient income from sales to have a better looking better sorted out more intuitive forum structure? Personally, as a paying member of DDI, I'd rather we had a paying members only forum community where it wasn't free. Not that I have any problem socializing with the non paying portion, but at least the discusions would actually not be subjected to the barrage of commentary, and maybe a posted remark wouldn't be at risk of being nearly immediately buried under a deluge of posts. To be honest, I have been disinclined to post in the past mainly as I DO expect my comment to nearly immediately disappear by the time I return to see if any reply has occurred. Maybe the forums attempt to be too many things to too many people. My only current technical beef though is the 'sign me in for 2 weeks' function. Why does it need to be just 2 weeks?