Your input please...

First thought:

Ehh new forum system??? I think i've been a member for a year now but i'm afraid to report i don't see any diference?

(sorry)

Second thought:

Ohh a repeat of the first message , I don't know in some cases it is nice , but if the first post is really long i find it annoying since i have to scroll more.


Third thought:

Keep up the good work!


Fourth thought:

I really hope next time you ask for input, i'll actually be able to say someting useful :)

 

Personally I think you are doing a great job, with a great media team that is getting the top stories and bringing them to life. The information that is has been gathered is awesome and this is forum can only grow in leaps and bounds!

As for the repeated first post .. Sometimes I find it useful and sometimes annoying so I cant give you a answer on that one

Love the conquest system and the arcade ;)

Something I miss is the fun/spammy/silly aspect.... I know that you want the info/interesting/news type of stuff and therefore I find it hard to mess about much ( And I miss doing that, as its all Im good at )

 

You already know my thoughts, but I'll officially post them here.

THE NEW FORUM SYSTEM

• I really like the features we have available - (I'll get to the one I don't like in a minute)
• I like the ease of navigation and the information that is readily available
• I like how the front page is designed with efficient access to many other places that are useful
• I REALLY like that you created a split system so news bots don't bump articles on the front page
• I REALLY REALLY REALLY like the integrated EP Wicki - and how our Wiki Gurus ROCK
• and ... I ABSOLUTELY LOATH the 1st post showing up on every page - especially when they're long
• in the staff area you said that you might consider making it an option, and I REALLY like that idea

WHAT I WOULD CHANGE OR ENHANCE

• make the text maybe a point larger if possible?
• also - the text is rather faint and not that easy to read - can we change it to be brighter?
• pages seem to feed slow at times, and not sure what causes it - doesn't happen elsewhere
• the WYSIWYG feature doesn't easily get you out of the text size or color you use
• when doing a copy & paste from elsewhere - a right click to choose paste, highlights everything

OVERALL COMMENTS

Are you KIDDING? ... some might say I'm biased because I'm on staff here, but ... it doesn't mean that I lose my objectivity about the environments I engage in ... staff or otherwise.

I have been quite involved with many other forums, and not just as a casual observer or general poster, but as staff and a news reporter. I can say without hesitation or reservation that this is the first forum environment I've been heavily involved with where they truly get it - they being the owners of this forum - Peter and Lykke. Yes, they are long-time close friends, but ... if they weren't functioning in a way that was beneficial for this community, then I wouldn't be here. I was asked over a year ago to join them, but there were certain things preventing that from happening, so thus the long delay.

I have been on staff for a while now, and behind the scenes with the rest of the E-Team, and I just couldn't speak more highly of them. Each is incredibly hard working and go above and beyond anything I have ever seen before at any forum. So much so it makes my head spin - especially when our Admins implement something quite quickly, or our EP Wiki Gurus get pages created and content uploaded practically before information is known to the public - they absolutely amaze me.

The E-Team is a dedicated staff that truly cares about the quality of service we provide to our members and the community, as well as what we want to do to support the efforts of the planet partners in promoting their planets. We are an unpaid staff, which goes to show you just how dedicated everyone is to facilitate the best experience possible - and I think the E-Team accomplishes that.

As a side note ... I can also tell you that you will be able to expect the same type of environment at the new Planet Arkadia forum. As Media Manager, I feel a responsibility to the EP Media Team and especially to our news writing staff to pave the way for us to work more in harmony with planet partners, and I can say here too, that without hesitation or reservation, the Arkadia forum staff are incredibly cooperative in this respect, and we have built a mutual working relationship that will be beneficial for all. So ... you will be seeing great things about planet Arkadia here at the EP forum, as well as ongoing content relating to other planet partners as it becomes available.

The E-Team works in sync and very well together, and I think Peter and Lykke do an amazing job of running this forum, as well as taking the time to interact with the members. I have no doubt whatsoever that it's just going to get better and better.

The E-Team ROCKS

 

nHiya Peter and Lykke :)

I think that you guys have done a great job in getting this forum to where it is so far :)

But, it has not "sparked" yet. I have no idea on what the reasons for this is.

We have a great Media team and get all the cool articles etc.
We have the games arcade and Conquest thing.
We have more "freedom of speech" here for it's good and bad points.
We have the Wiki thing with all the info that is being put into that.
We have the whole Noob soc/help thing.
We have private soc forums etc (although TDO's is quiet as we were groundlessly accused of being a scamming soc and the references are still there)

But we have yet to get the run of normal posts.
Like, I died today, Where is the rig, What amp to put on this, RT is crap as I keep getting PK'd trying to get a TP, Marco has a big nose, what texture was soandso's coat, how eco is a EP40 vs an opalo, where are the crickets, does my bum look big in this, how many people can we fit on a pig, does crafting matter, etc etc etc.

I guess it is a case of critical mass. EF had it as it was there for so long so had all the posts.
Now we are all in limbo and not sure where to go or post. (speaking as a user)

Gotta get EP it feeding on itself, rather than seeding all the time.

And I dont know how to do that other than keep doing the good work in progress and letting people come.

Oh, and yes, lose the first post thing at the top of every page, it confusies the hell out of me LOL

Hmm. Need another Beer now - will have a further kerplunk.

And if you 2 (Peter and Lykke) ever wanna pop over to the hills of Snowdonia for some Good Beer and a Good natter, you will be most welcome :)

 

I really like some of the features you have here, the wiki, the mission list. I haven't been in all that much to see what all the options you have here. But I absolutely hate the repeating of the first post on every page and can say that it keeps me from spending more time on this forum.

From all other aspects it looks like you guys know what your doing and can tell you have put in alot of work.

 

For what it's worth, I joined not long after your forum went live, but have not been terribly active here (or other forums for that matter) so I probably missed a lot in the development of it. Being active again, I find that I regularly check new posts here since it is not specific to one planet, and that is needed, even more so as more planets come online. I admit that I'm already frustrated a bit with more and more forums to check for info, as time goes by I will only check the ones for specific planets I'm interested in, like Arkadia for example, and one place for a more all around touch, like EP (made a decision not to join the revived fresh start one that I had been a member of for years but was sold off as far as I'm concerned). At the end of the day, there is always going to be some good and some bad on any forum, but overall you guys seem to have done a good job, particularly on things like the wiki.

Specifically about your upgrade, there are a couple things that put me off a little. I'm not bothered about all the bells and whistles and gadgets and blogs etc etc that seem all over the web since everyone loves to use v bullitin, leaving us with a lot of lookalike forums. But that said, I can ignore the bits I'm not interested in or make use of (also don't pay attention to all the news bot stuff on other games, as sometimes that does seem to be a bit too much filler). The background color is hard on my eyes, along with the very pale text color, so I admit I don't tend to linger long as it gives me a headache if I do. I agree with ms9 about the text size as well (there are a few of us old farts who have to use reading glasses now lol). I also simply can't stand the repeated first post, have seen that on a couple of other forums and it always drives me mad.

That's my don't likes, otherwise, you are doing great, keep focusing on the news and interviews, and general discussion of ingame happenings, and I will be happy with that, and am sure you will grow more over time as the one place to go for checking up quickly on all of the planets.

 

I find the mission tracker incredibly handy, the wiki is awesome but i think i'd like it more if it was a bit simpler to use (though that more my fault an anyone elses)

The OP repeating is horrible (especially when they are long articles) so an option would be nice

Apart from that, you guys are doing a wonderful job, please keep it up.

 

Never new the old one...
I'm getting there, but a few explanations would be neat, like wth is gratz? how is activity measured? be 24h online for the 100%?

I. I'll start with what seems to alienate most people: the first post thing. it can be useful, if you want to re-read the op i.e. to remember the topic, but it gets REALLY annoying with frontpage articles and even more the shameless theft event.
it's simple :) replace the first post with a javascript(?) "show first post" button to toggle it on and off again. now, wether its hard or simple to actually realize, I have no idea :D

II. SKIN THE WIKI! pretty please with sugar on top :) switching between the wiki and the forum is a pain, especially if its dark in the room . no need to fit it to the forum if you dont have the time, just take one of the gazillion dark/black skins out there, like this one.

see first sentence :D the whole experience plugin lacks info.[STRIKE] i.e. the create album pictures achievement. what album? :P[/STRIKE] nevermind :D

- what happened to adding the ckeditor?
- more options to the quick reply, like align


Considering everything else: Wouldnt be here daily if I didnt like it ;)

 

Sorry i have not been more active here myself either. But it's nothing to do with the staff of this forum. My life has just been busy. I think thats the thing with a lot of the long time Entropia Players we've all kinda grown up hell it's been 7-8 years for a lot of us. So we tend to not post much or check as often. Plus damn work servers block the place and i can only check while i'm home.

But i made a point in putting you guys at the top of my EU start page (*cough* shameless plug Entropia Universe Start Page *cough*) It's like what Ed Robles said. We may n ot have quanity with the "i'm lost" "where is the rig" kind of threads. But we have Quality.

You know what i found in my google news Entropia search today? 2 sites QUOTING EP! had to translate them but they are quoting the Neverdie sale from HERE! thats pretty big in my eyes. they wheren't quoting any other forum or news sources EP was the NEWS Source.

the other thing I like and i hope you keep up is the facebook info. I like it when you post new articles there cause it gets me to come here and check them if i missed it.

MS9 i think has some good points about design everything is a little small and tough on the eyes to read. Honestly I think Arkadia's fourm hit the nail on the head when it comes to Fourm design so maybe take a look at there sizes and colours cause i love how easy to read they're forum is. It's easer then they're main site too.

I havn't had a lot of time to browse the wiki but the Harbigner Missions document on there blew me away. I'm on rocktropia and it's nice to be able to get all that info from there.

I'm not sure we want this place to become the place where EVERYONE comes because then it will turn into the slug fest EF and Entropia Pioneers became.

I think the key to this place is key people starting off disccusions with news articles like you have done that us old farts can then comment on.

As for the games and stuff on the site i really got no time for it. I'm here for the news and the content because it rocks.

 

I come to EP everyday and and often to check on what the news is for the Universe. I love reading peoples thoughts and the great interviews you guys get. I also love that your stories have now made it to a very large site, that says a lot about the team you have here.

Please keep up the good work. This community has become one of my web homes and I enjoy that the most here (saying this as a fan not a Planet Partner).

In my opinion you can only keep going up so keep up the great work.

 

Thanks Ed ... and I can tell you that the Media Team is looking forward to creating front page news and magazine articles about you and Cyrene as well. We can't wait to get started - and our awesome EP Wiki Gurus continue feeding information that is available to the Cyrene page - so we're all looking forward to that expanding as well.

Thanks for popping in now and then and letting us know how you're doing.

Catch you next time around. :)

 

I TOLD PETER


------------

Anyway I really like EP :D but most of all I like that you like EP!

We are talking about changing the forum skin / look again, but it won't happen this year, sorry. At this moment we're busy with a lot of other things, including the next Issue of our Magazine - but definitely there's a few things to have in mind from your replies here.

I too found it annoying, that the first post was shown on top of every page here - but I have to admit I got use to it. I don't mind really, if it gets removed either. I'm use to both versions - and sometimes it is a little frustrating, that you have to scroll down to find the next post.

If you have problems with the dark skin, by the way, remember there's also the default skin to choose (scroll down to the left corner and choose skin). Perhaps that's better for some?

The other day I told Peter, that there HAVE to be some analyzes out there about what colors people prefer on forums / web pages. But it doesn't matter much what we made - people have different experiences and wishes :)

We will do what we can though, and I will play around with something inbetween the default skin and this one!!

Thanks for the great input so far - it is MUCH appriciated :)


(OH and no worries, I will keep updating facebook too :D)

 

Thanks Peter, you just solved three of my most disliked feature, the top repeating post, and the background and font sizes (by your suggestions). Much better for me now ;)

 

Great improvements over the last year. first post on the top of the page is a great idea.

Was the arcade actually hacked or are the rumors false? (jk)

I'd like to see soc membership info and national flag back on the member profile. Actually a two flag option would be great.