Re: New Dedicated Pandora Forums

[b._.o._.b]

I intend to lurk where most devs are. Notaz is the equivalent of 10 devs, so I guess I will stay here

http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php?/forum/9-pandora-dev/

 

[SomeGuy99]

It is the words that are said, not the place they are spoken.

 

[atomicthumbs]

ED's right - didn't think about the "stealing posts" aspect. I think that the OP forum being an official support forum, and this being for everything else, would be a very good solution.

 

[Gren]

ED's right - didn't think about the "stealing posts" aspect. I think that the OP forum being an official support forum, and this being for everything else, would be a very good solution.

What kind of support though? I'll be wanting to dev on my Pandy when it finally arrives, which will involve lots of very silly questions to more knowledgeable ppl.
If the experienced devs stay on GP32X it looks like I'll still be needing to come here...

 

[SomeGuy99]

ED's right - didn't think about the "stealing posts" aspect. I think that the OP forum being an official support forum, and this being for everything else, would be a very good solution.

What kind of support though? I'll be wanting to dev on my Pandy when it finally arrives, which will involve lots of very silly questions to more knowledgeable ppl.
If the experienced devs stay on GP32X it looks like I'll still be needing to come here...

When I get my Pandora back, and start writing guides again (finally) can I be arsed to cross post? That's the question.

 

[Prometheus]

I'm not sure what I'll be doing yet, but I've just done a cross-posting of my legal emulation resources list.

 

[DaMummy]

this is just a hassle to us who check every single pandora info site like gp32x, openpandora.org, boards.openpandora, craig twitter, ed youtube, pandorapress....and who knows what else there is, and instead of bringing them all together into one place for info, theyre taking up even more space in the bookmark tabs on everyones browsers

 

[Aninhumer]

I've yet to see anyone give a convincing reason for a new community forum to exist.

Craig seems to be refusing to discuss it:

Let's just move forward rather than talk/argue about this.

If this had been a planned and discussed move, I'd be a lot happier with it.
As it stands it's just Craig telling everyone to use the new forum because he says so.

The end result is at best confusion and at worst a completely split community.

 

[Pleng]

At the end of the day, if I had to choose from a board where Mali was moderating, or one where "what's your order number" Craig was, I know which one I'd choose.

 

[-Tj-]

He also had this shootem up where the player could morph between a mecha and a jet, but I can't remember the name. For some reason, I wasn't that impressed by Sonic the Hedgehog.

Herzog Zwei, perhaps? That wasn't really a shooter tho, more RTS. There was also Heavy Unit (import only), and a couple others I can't recall at the moment.

Though I like Sonic, I do think the Mario games are better designed. Mario kinda grew into the mascot role while Sonic was essentially "hired" as the mascot. But that being said, Mario never really held my attention. To each is own.

Cause the Genesis sucked.

No it didn't!! FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU RAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!



But srsly, I dunno if you were joking. The Genesis held my attention longer than almost all my other consoles, second only to the Saturn.

I've yet to see anyone give a convincing reason for a new community forum to exist.

I posted this to the new forums, but it seems it's also relevant here:

A while back I was a member of the trueSpace4ums, a forum dedicated to trueSpace. It was a fairly thriving community, people helping others, etc. It was good. The only thing is it lacked funding, so it had to be ad-supported and such.

Then Caligari (makers of trueSpace) decided to open their own forums on their site. Pretty much everyone eventually jumped ship, and I was one of those left with a sour taste in his mouth because I had been a fairly large contributor to the trueSpace4ums.

Caligari's forums sucked, format-wise, but with the forums being hosted on Caligari's own site, users already knew where to go to get support, talk about the program, suggest improvements, etc. In the end it was ultimately a better move, even if it screwed some people over.

Craig's move may have been partly fueled by some awful behind-the-scenes crap, but for purchasers and users of Pandora and ICP, this more centralized forum will likely be a better move for everyone in the long run.

Edit: Perhaps you could think of the new forums as a company-sanctioned one and this one as a user-run forum. It exists all over the place so I don't feel like it should be any kind of problem. Also, lately I've found myself reading less posts than before, as most haven't really caught or held my attention (not having a Pandora yet is part of the problem), and it's only one extra bookmark link. If you really have so many bookmarks that you find one more troubling, perhaps it's time to clean your bookmarks?

 

[Gerix]

He also had this shootem up where the player could morph between a mecha and a jet, but I can't remember the name. For some reason, I wasn't that impressed by Sonic the Hedgehog.

Herzog Zwei, perhaps? That wasn't really a shooter tho, more RTS. There was also Heavy Unit (import only), and a couple others I can't recall at the moment.

Thanks for suggesting those. After checking them out, I went to wikipedia. I think the game I played was called Arrow Flash. But watching it on youtube doesn't seem to be the same as my memory of it. I thought it was a lot more vibrant, but that could be nostalgia.

 

[Aninhumer]

I've yet to see anyone give a convincing reason for a new community forum to exist.

Caligari's forums sucked, format-wise, but with the forums being hosted on Caligari's own site, users already knew where to go to get support, talk about the program, suggest improvements, etc. In the end it was ultimately a better move, even if it screwed some people over.

I don't see how hosting a forum on their site makes it any more discoverable than linking it on the company site.
It's not like people are in the habit of sticking "boards." on the start of a URL to find the forums.
And if they don't want to link the whole gp32x boards: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/forum/61-pandora/
The fact that it may work out in the long run does not make it a good move.

Still not a convincing reason.

Edit: Perhaps you could think of the new forums as a company-sanctioned one and this one as a user-run forum. It exists all over the place so I don't feel like it should be any kind of problem.

If there was some defined split about what goes where, that wouldn't be a problem.
Originally ED was saying it was just for official support, but apparently Craig doesn't agree.

Also, lately I've found myself reading less posts than before, as most haven't really caught or held my attention (not having a Pandora yet is part of the problem), and it's only one extra bookmark link. If you really have so many bookmarks that you find one more troubling, perhaps it's time to clean your bookmarks?

This is nothing to do with bookmarks.
If there was some way to magically make sure that everyone on either board knew the other one existed, and forced them to check it, then it wouldn't be a problem.
As it is, anyone who wants to post information has to do it twice, any questions about it are likely to get asked twice and people will endlessly be saying things like "oh someone said something about that in the other forum" when they shouldn't have to.

Of course even if you could do those things, all you'd have is essentially single forum but which arbitrarily splits topics up on two different hosts.

Sorry if I'm ranting a little. I'm trying to be heard over the Genesis discussion.
And on that note: Megadrive was a better name!

 

[Prometheus]

And on that note: Megadrive was a better name!

When I was a young'un, I encountered a shopping-centre Santa Claus with something of a sense of humour. "Mega Drive?", he said, turning to my parents, "That sounds like some sort of car, doesn't it?".

[/off-topic]

 

[Gerix]

How could he not know? Didn't he used to make them?

 

[Trip]

How could he not know? Didn't he used to make them?

Ah, you've just uncovered the ultimate lie

 

[Gerix]

How could he not know? Didn't he used to make them?

Ah, you've just uncovered the ultimate lie

This changes everything.



Edited for context.

 

[SomeGuy99]

This changes everything.

I bet you £50 your next post makes out I misunderstood you.

 

[Gerix]

Sorry, I was referring to Santa Claus. But I can see where the misunderstanding came from.

 

[b1ueskycomp1ex]

 

[-Tj-]

I don't see how hosting a forum on their site makes it any more discoverable than linking it on the company site.
It's not like people are in the habit of sticking "boards." on the start of a URL to find the forums.
And if they don't want to link the whole gp32x boards: http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/forum/61-pandora/
The fact that it may work out in the long run does not make it a good move.

Still not a convincing reason.

I probably wasn't clear enough (I tend to do that ). The difference is not only can the company host the site locally, but they also have direct control over what goes on on their site, including the forums. Here, they don't have that. Not total control, anyway. ED may have admin privileges, but what's to stop any other mod from overriding or revoking those privileges? In addition, they don't have to ask or discuss changes or additions/subtractions to the forums to be made, they can just do it. This, obviously, can be seen as a positive or a negative to you and I, having no part in the actual monetary creation of the product, but for people like Craig, ED, and everyone else who have some kind of livelihood-stake in the project, it can be quite the plus.

Tbh, I'm amazed ED is willing to moderate both the forums here and over there. It's a lot of work between what he's already doing. Anyway, like I said, it turned out to be a good move in the Caligari/trueSpace case, even though a handful of people felt screwed over. But that doesn't mean everyone will ever see their forums turning out to be a good thing as a "good thing." That, in itself, isn't wrong either. It's your personal opinion which you're entitled to. I'm just trying to point out that it can be a good thing for a company to host their own forums and it's something they probably should have done from the beginning.

If you still don't think my reasoning is enough to convince you, well... I tried.

If there was some defined split about what goes where, that wouldn't be a problem.
Originally ED was saying it was just for official support, but apparently Craig doesn't agree.

That's something that will most likely be defined by the community, one way or another. While they have some control over it, a product is only as successful as its community allows. If the majority of users go to the new boards, the "split" will define itself. If it doesn't I'm still ok checking two boards. I don't see how checking the first page of two boards is different from checking the first two pages of the same board, other than having to bookmark two links.

This is nothing to do with bookmarks.
If there was some way to magically make sure that everyone on either board knew the other one existed, and forced them to check it, then it wouldn't be a problem.
As it is, anyone who wants to post information has to do it twice, any questions about it are likely to get asked twice and people will endlessly be saying things like "oh someone said something about that in the other forum" when they shouldn't have to.

Of course even if you could do those things, all you'd have is essentially single forum but which arbitrarily splits topics up on two different hosts.

No one "has to" do anything they don't feel like doing. If someone wants to post on both boards, more power to them. If they don't, then they can either reap the "rewards" of one community or the other. Of course, this, again, could be seen as a good thing or a bad thing. I've seen boards split by those who are open and those who are stubborn (I'll admit, on the trueSpace forums, I was one of the stubborn ones), but you could also see it as two different audiences, like different focus groups, if you will. One board may share one opinion while the other might share a completely different one (proof of which is already evident with the current argument). Those who want to post on both boards can still do so, either as topic starters or participants, and you might even benefit from having two largely different community opinions. I use the term "benefit" loosely, because sometimes two opposing views can offer insight and clarity, or muddling confusion. Either way, we really won't know the true benefits or losses from this split till things have settled into their new states better.

Also, my apologies if it seemed like the bookmark aspect was directed at you. It was actually directed at DaMummy's comment before just before yours, but perhaps I wasn't clear on this one, either. Basically what I was trying to say is what I mentioned above in this post: Checking two pages of the same forum isn't much different than checking the first pages of two different forums, aside from one extra bookmark. The only potential disadvantage I see is that you could have the same thread appear on both forums, but as I've already mentioned you might reap the benefit of two community opinions.

In addition, the "lately I've found myself reading less posts than before, as most haven't really caught or held my attention" comment was meant to illustrate that most of the newer posts don't really mean much to me (there have been many, many repeat topics during my time here, and I haven't really been here that long), so if I have more Pandora info to check, I'll be happier for it. It means I'll potentially have more information that means something to me to take in. I'm terrible at explaining myself, I'll admit. Even now it seems I might not be clear enough. Ah well... I can only try to explain myself so much before I fill a book.

Sorry if I'm ranting a little. I'm trying to be heard over the Genesis discussion.
And on that note: Megadrive was a better name!

No worries. At least with me, I can still hear you. The Megadrive/Genesis thing is kind of off-topic anyway.

I can see from your sign-up date that you've been on these forums for a while, so I can see how you may take the new forums in a bad way. However, do try to see that there's really no reason for OP to not have their own forums. The previous post I made was to illustrate that company forums can do a community good, even if it has the potential to do another bad. GP32X forums won't die... GPH is still making systems, and I don't recall any mods saying anything about closing the Pandora section.

He also had this shootem up where the player could morph between a mecha and a jet, but I can't remember the name. For some reason, I wasn't that impressed by Sonic the Hedgehog.

Herzog Zwei, perhaps? That wasn't really a shooter tho, more RTS. There was also Heavy Unit (import only), and a couple others I can't recall at the moment.

Thanks for suggesting those. After checking them out, I went to wikipedia. I think the game I played was called Arrow Flash. But watching it on youtube doesn't seem to be the same as my memory of it. I thought it was a lot more vibrant, but that could be nostalgia.

Ah yes, Arrow Flash. I'll be honest, I never finished that game. The first level was so long (and kinda bland) that I stopped playing it shortly after that. Good thing I wasn't the one who bought it. :lol: