16 replies to this topic

[Penguin8091]

I've noticed the that forums for Hawken are kind of visually overwhelming.  Alot of similar questions/topics tend to be repeated, and it is hard to find what you are looking for.

Threads in the Hawken forums should be divided into subcategories.

I would suggest the categories be:
"(Answerable) Questions"
"Things You Want To See"
"Community (IRC, Clans, Interviews, Fanart, ect)"

Also, has anyone noticed there is alot of things in the forums that should be moved to the "off topic" section_

EDIT: For example, if someone wants to know about the IRC channel or the latest clan that is forming, they shouldn't have to scroll to page 35 of the forums.  There is 2 pages of posts and the forums have been up for 4 days.  It is soon going to be unmanageable.

[Mech Mechanic]

Good idea.

It's an organized strategy to help the team. They will read the things they are interested getting information from us in a more effective way.

In the other hand that will make things easier for us. The idea is to have conversations with the development team. We want to know them and read what they are thinking about their game. Otherwise we will be here opening our word hole saying dribble.

Categories.

1. Artistic references such as Concept ship and concept robot blogs, etc.
2. A section for game music, sound and effects.
3. A section of fan art.
4. A section of suggestions on the game itself.
5. A wish list to vent our frustrations and hopes.
6. A section on game precedents. We want to show developers ideas of what we have seen.
7. A section of movies related to mechs.
8. A section of movies related to the game like District Nine, Blade Runner, Aliens II, etc.

This is subjected to change and modification. I think this would be of better use for them.

[Irrelevant]

I agree on adding a subcategory for community but thats it,

I think adding a more concise faq would help with questions.
as for suggestions to the developers:
"The mech game audience is an interesting crowd. The fans are very hardcore and they’ll stand their ground. I grew up playing MechWarrior which is very simulation: much slower and more strategic. It’s very niche because it’s like playing a tank game. And there’s the other crowd which more recently grew up playing Armored Coreor Virtual On, where it’s much more arcadey. What we tried to do with Hawkenis strive for a balance."

Considering that both types of gamers are here, that means that the team has struck a good balance between them. Adding a section for suggestions may end up changing the balance.

Source for qoute here: http://www.next-gen....en ... page=0,1

[lavalamp1138]

If it helps facilitate appropriate discussion on these boards, I say more power to the idea.

[Penguin8091]

Mech Mechanic said:

1. Artistic references such as Concept ship and concept robot blogs, etc.
2. A section for game music, sound and effects.
3. A section of fan art.
4. A section of suggestions on the game itself.
5. A wish list to vent our frustrations and hopes.
6. A section on game precedents. We want to show developers ideas of what we have seen.
7. A section of movies related to mechs.
8. A section of movies related to the game like District Nine, Blade Runner, Aliens II, etc.

I was thinking and decided this would be even better....

1.) Perhaps combine sections 1, 2, and 3 into a section called "Art & Music Of Hawken - Game Music, Concept Art, Fan Art, ect".  There won't be enough content on the forums  to have separate sections for concept art, fan art, and music (for awhile at least).

2.) Combine sections 4, 5, and 6.  The line between hopes/frustrations and suggestions is blurry at this point in the development. Also, showing the developers something we have seen is just going to end in a suggestion for improvement.  Maybe something like ""Things You Want To See - Suggestions and ideas for the game itself"

3.) There is a section for 7 and 8 already, it's called "Off Topic".  I'm not trying to be cold, it's just that Aliens has nothing to do with helping the Hawken community to grow.

[Zero]

I was thinking the same thing, so +1 to that. /me approves this message.

Also, I'm pretty sure these forums can have a chatbox, if so can the admins enable them please_

[Penguin8091]

Zero said:

Also, I'm pretty sure these forums can have a chatbox, if so can the admins enable them please_

I was wondering, how do you even tell who is a mod_  People who work for Adhesive games should have something on there profile so it's obvious when they are posting.

[Mech Mechanic]

Penguin809 said:

I was thinking and decided this would be even better....

1.) Perhaps combine sections 1, 2, and 3 into a section called "Art & Music Of Hawken - Game Music, Concept Art, Fan Art, ect".  There won't be enough content on the forums  to have separate sections for concept art, fan art, and music (for awhile at least).

2.) Combine sections 4, 5, and 6.  The line between hopes/frustrations and suggestions is blurry at this point in the development. Also, showing the developers something we have seen is just going to end in a suggestion for improvement.  Maybe something like ""Things You Want To See - Suggestions and ideas for the game itself"

3.) There is a section for 7 and 8 already, it's called "Off Topic".  I'm not trying to be cold, it's just that Aliens has nothing to do with helping the Hawken community to grow.

This seems more tight and better. You are right about the 7 and 8. The idea here is to help them instead of being intrusive and annoying. A good community could really help develop a game in the right direction if the community structure itself from start.

[lavalamp1138]

Penguin809 said:

I was wondering, how do you even tell who is a mod_  People who work for Adhesive games should have something on there profile so it's obvious when they are posting.

In the Board Index, there is a space labeled "The team." It contains a list of moderators, as well as the name of the administrator. On top of that, members of the Adhesive Games team will probably have some form of identification in their avatar or signature.

[Mech Mechanic]

Irrelevant said:

Considering that both types of gamers are here, that means that the team has struck a good balance between them. Adding a section for suggestions may end up changing the balance.

That's a good observation. The way the game is heading seems right. Once the game becomes available we can suggest things more precise and logical according to their visions. The game managed to make a balance between arcade and simulation perfectly. It's a well developed style.

[[HWK]Deuy]

Good suggestions, thanks.  The forum is a bit of an unholy mess so we'll look into dividing things into sub-categories this week.

What do you guys think about a category just for "Polls"_  There seems to be an abundance of them... but maybe it's not a good idea to group them together since they may pertain to different topics.

[Mech Mechanic]

Polls should be treated in each subdivision. However the idea of having a linker showing all the polls on one page can help you guys extract information faster. We can have a better idea what's going on and what people are thinking at that moment.

[The_Silencer]

Given that lots of new players are visiting the forums due to their interest in this promising game, I'd suggest you guys to split the forums into, at least, a General discussion and a Suggestions sub-forums.

And the Technical Support sub-forum once the game has been released, of course!

[[HWK]Deuy]

How's this for now:


Hawken Forum

-General Hawken Discusion: Anything about the game, including art, gameplay, announcements...

-Suggestions/Ideas/Requests:  Input, feedback and what you want to see in the game

-Community:  Clans, fan art, etc...



Let's just keep it simple at first and expand more if needed.

[lavalamp1138]

^ Sounds great! It's simple, yet organized so that we can better facilitate healthy discussion. I'm on board (no pun intended).

[psych0black]

Seems like the best way to really flesh out discussions appropriately without scattering everything. As long as there aren't too many sub forums than yes this seems like a good idea. (Accidently clicked No on the poll .woops. haha.)

[psych0black]

ChrisLalli said:

How's this for now:


Hawken Forum

-General Hawken Discusion: Anything about the game, including art, gameplay, announcements...

-Suggestions/Ideas/Requests:  Input, feedback and what you want to see in the game

-Community:  Clans, fan art, etc...



Let's just keep it simple at first and expand more if needed.

Sounds good!