Nathan Caroland Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Alrighty, if you've gotten into the forum and started reading posts then you've noticed that there are a few new things when you start to look around, mainly there are some colored bars underneath your reputation (the green dots) and at the bottom of a post on the right hand side you see a green circle with a check mark. I've installed two modifications which I'll be playing with over the next few days as I start to figure out certain aspects of it and have time to mess with them. The first modification is called 'Thank You'. This is the little green circle that you see on the right hand side on the bottom of a post now. When there is a post that you like, thought was helpful or was just damn cool, you can click that little button and it'll send a 'Thank You' value to the poster that you thanked. It'll show up under the post and its a way of letting folks know that you like it and also adds experiences and reputation points to that individual. You also get some small amount for being kind enough to say 'hey, that's cool, thanks'. That brings me to the next modification which is called 'Experience'. This tracks your length of time on the site, activity, posts, replies, threads, time spent browsing the site, amount of times you vote, say thank you, refer individuals, send PM's, post pictures within the gallery, comment within the gallery and pretty much any aspect of the site that you can think of. Each time you do these things you gain a little bit of experience and once you reach a certain level of experience you move on to the next level as well as become eligible for awards and medals which will show up on your user name. As you gain levels you'll get access to certain benefits which have YET TO BE DEFINED but ones that I will put in place, and welcome suggestions on. It's also a way to 'one up' the others on the forum. Some of the awards will be simple stuff, like a larger allotment of Private Message slots. Ability to add an animated avatar. Set your user name to glow. Gift certificates which are redeemable once upon gaining a certain experience level. Access to behind the scenes sneak peaks at concept art, upcoming releases and game information. This is our way of trying to make the forums a bit more fun, increase the activity, reward those for their time and their fun and generally have a good time. Again, everything isn't implemented and will take me a bit of time to sort through it and make it work, but I expect to spend a bit of time on it here over the next week or so in order to make it a worthwhile experience (pun intended!). Thoughts, questions, comments, critiques? The experience was automatically calculated when I installed it as it went through the database - I could set everyone to zero to level the playing field as well. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeafNala Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Hey Nathan, That's cool; kind of a non violent RPG. When I get enough experience points, I want A Vorpal Paint Brush [form Hell, BWAHAHAHAHA]. Keep those creative thoughts flowing, amigo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malebolgia Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 *Hits Thank You Button on Nathan's post* That was a nobrainer Cool features. I'm all for these gadgets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goblyn13 Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 sweet new toys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sculpta the squig Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Sounds really cool, thanks Squig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehard Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Some cool ideas. This is yet another example of why I find myself spending more and more time here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty1001 Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Yea seems cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brushmistress Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Very nice! This is becoming the only forum I go to anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Well, now I just have to post so I can see my little bars. Going back and looking for my old posts is just to hard Wheee! Thanks Nathan, this site gets more fun all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hinton Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Some very cool ideas, Nathan. I like the ideas you have in place for rewards (more PMs, able to get in on sneak peeks, etc); it allows people to become even more a part of the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboyjjb Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 I think that is actually pretty cool. Not big on any forums so I wouldn't know, but I think that is really creative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wren Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Very cool addition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty1001 Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Just noticed the little awards as well next to people's user names. How often is the activity bar totaled up? Daily? Weekly? Or an average of posts per day or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonherald Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 great stuff and another reason to stick around just wish I had more net time a lately I miss this site after a day or two.....good show.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewartoad Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Yes, some very cool things going on in the Forum. Thanks Nathan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Caroland Posted March 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 You can see your experience bars by clicking on someones name as well as going into your personal control panel which shows your information there. The awards (medals) will move about and go to different people depending on activity, use, etc. I'll be adding additional ones over time as I come to understand the program a bit more and particularly when we do another forum software upgrade which I hope to do in the next month or so when they go from a release candidate to a gold release version. Activity bar as well as a lot of other ranks, experience and the like goes back over the last 21 days I believe (if I've read and setup everything correctly). That was the default so I will probably set it up at a solid 30 days (one month). Hope folks find it fun and useful. Easy and quick way to gauge use and activity from visitors and more importantly I hope to use it as a way to increase forum activity as well as give out rewards and upgrades with additional activities on the site, access to advance preview forums, access to special coupon sales for members who have only reached X rank. If ya'll have suggestions or requests, feel free to voice them. Not sure if it'll get implemented but it'll certainly be given some thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiccanpony Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 ooooooohhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhhh....... nice shiny bribes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thryth Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Interesting, sounds like fun. Thanks for taking the time Nathan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzoangel Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Some cool idea's there, well done, makes things interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larkin Vain Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 NIce new features. Great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v22TTC Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 I love these little things that set forums apart from each other - give them a unique character... though I don't suppose it was a little thing in terms of effort! I suppose I should just say that I often find my internet connection to this site fairly precarious so usually go for the most `ain't broke don't fix it' approach when I'm having my daily mooch around; logging in often makes it all go horribly wrong, as does posting so I tend to keep such down to a minimum... which kind of relates to all this. You clearly care about this site and are obviously committed to excellence so if there's anything I can do to help you sort this out, I'll happily do so. I'm thinking stuff like make a note of the times/durations where I can't access the site, so you can see if there's a pattern or whatnot. Obviously, this could all be done by pm or whatever, if you like, since it won't make for the most interesting reading... unless it's a general thing and you want a bigger and more varied sample. EDIT: Like, it just logged me out when I posted this [searches for `wry appreciation of irony' smiley...]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Caroland Posted March 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 Can't know about problems if people don't mention them. Feel free to holler at me via a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 I've got a problem! I don't have enough points! And you have too many! Fork 'em over! This is a stick-up! :guns: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goblyn13 Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 shoot..i dare ya... :tomato: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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