Changes and Opinions

[Hero-of-Time]

Hey guys. As you can see, there have been a few changes in the layout out of the boards. This has been on the cards for a while now and Ashley has been making the discussed changes this afternoon.

 

Myself and Retro have been moving a few threads around here and there. Topics that have been created in the past sometimes venture in to other console territory, which is why the General Gaming board has been created. Things like podcasts, general industry news, roundtables, polls and retro discussions will now be held in that board.

 

The Nintendo sales topic has also been renamed and placed in the General Gaming Board. This allows for talk across all platforms in regards to sales data.

 

In the past we have had Roundtable features and we are looking to bring these back. Not just with staff but members as well. Most of these occur when gaming events happen such as E3, Nintendo Directs etc. That being the case any time a ND, E3 or any gaming press conference is on then the topics will be placed in there, as will the roundtables.

 

A big part of the change is to see if we can create more of a community feel on the boards. There shouldn't be lines drawn because of the console you

play and everyone should be able to get their opinion across without it becoming hostile, Something that hasn't been happening recently on the boards.

 

This is still a learning process as to what's going to work and what's not. There are still a few changes to be made but we would like your support with what has been done so far. If you have any suggestions as to what topics you would like to go where then by all means post the suggestions in here.

 

For example, would you like general Nintendo discussions to stay in the Nintendo board or would you want them in General Discussions? Personally I would like them in General, so we can get rid of this barrier that has been created. We could then keep the Nintendo board purely for game chat, but we are leaving such things up to you.

 

Thanks again to Ashely and the rest of the team for making these changes and hopefully we can get past the bickering stage that we have been stuck in these past few months and get back to the friendlier conovs that this place was known for.

[Retro_Link]

Yeah, the idea is for General Gaming Discussion to be a place to really encourage discussions across all gaming platforms and things going on the industry in general; especially in this time of new console generations and technologies, studios closures, a stagnating of New IP and a reliance on sequels.

 

Hopefully it will also alleviate some of the pressure that builds up in the Wii U Discussion Thread by providing an outlet for people to discuss particular topics in their own individual threads. We've also tried to make the boards busier and uncluttered.

 

We're currently thinking along the lines of... if it's a thread about a dedicated game then create it in Nintendo Gaming or Other Consoles, but for general industry news and unspecific topics the New General Gaming Discussion is your place!

 

Hopefully you can all see what we're aiming for, but as we've said, this is a transition period and we'll try and work out the best solution possible for the forum to run smoothly, so please give us some feedback!

Edited February 8, 2013 by Retro_Link

[Guy]

New change seems cool. Way overdue in my opinion.

 

Now to continue my quest to fashion N-Europe into a Neogaf doppelganger with two separate forums - GAMING and the mysterious OTHER.

[Debug Mode]

I like it a lot! Some of the sub forums completely died at random points and it all slowed down, giving the impression no one wanted to talk. Having it grouped as it is now definitely highlights how buzzing the community is.

 

Also, thanks to all the guys who moved the posts around to have them comply with the new scheme, that must have been a wee bit tedious!

[bryanee]

Changes are fine, not so sure about mixing in the 3DS/DS stuff with Wii stuff it could end up being really cluttered and confusing.

[Retro_Link]

Changes are fine, not so sure about mixing in the 3DS/DS stuff with Wii stuff it could end up being really cluttered and confusing.

We're thinking of implementing Console Icons that would join the current list of Smiley's and Symbols you can select from when starting a new thread, so it will be easier to see which threads are Wii U, which are 3DS etc... as you can just look for the console picture in the side bar.

 

Merging the boards should also help keep the activity up for times when one or the other console experiences a bit of a drought.

Edited February 8, 2013 by Retro_Link

[-Dem0-]

This is a nice move, having everything I look at in one page is convenient.

Although, I expect to see pages and pages of new content in this part of the forum when there's an information blow-out.

e.g. E3

 

It's going to be absolutely hectic!

[RedShell]

We're thinking implementing Console Icons that would join the current list of Smiley's and Symbols you can select from when starting a new thread, so it will be easier to see which threads are Wii U, which are 3DS etc... as you can just look for the console picture in the side bar.

Nice idea.

If there was also a way to change the colour of the titles, that would be perfect I reckon:

 

[Mokong]

I'd like to get peoples opinions on the 2 eShop threads in here.... do people think the two seperate threads are ok as is or should we merge them into one "Nintendo eShop" thread

[Retro_Link]

^ Oh yeah forgot to ask that one!

[Ronnie]

Subtle background colours to distinguish different consoles/handhelds topics would be great.

 

The current 3DS logo is barely noticeable as such, the red handheld icon in Redshell's post would be much better IMO.

[Ashley]

This is a nice move, having everything I look at in one page is convenient.

Although, I expect to see pages and pages of new content in this part of the forum when there's an information blow-out.

e.g. E3

 

It's going to be absolutely hectic!

 

Default threads per page has also been increased from 30 to 50. E3 is hectic but I doubt Nintendo will announce fifty new titles :p

 

Red shell that would be nice, but not possible I think. Will look into it though.

[Magnus]

I'd like to get peoples opinions on the 2 eShop threads in here.... do people think the two seperate threads are ok as is or should we merge them into one "Nintendo eShop" thread

Merge them.

 

MERGE THEM NOW MOKONG.

 

DO IT.

[Retro_Link]

Subtle background colours to distinguish different consoles/handhelds topics would be great.

 

The current 3DS logo is barely noticeable as such, the red handheld icon in Redshell's post would be much better IMO.

But it is still very easy enough to distinguish from the Wii U logo which is all that's really needed from it.

[Ashley]

Once you start having the threads mixed up though, it will end up looking like a badly made Excel document:

 

 

It's a nice idea, but not entirely practical.

 

Although I do think RedShell just offered to make new icons (that have to be 16x16 )

[Jonnas]

Okay, I think the new form of N-E looks great. Hooray for fighting our community's divide

 

So, I guess business/industry talk goes in the General Gaming, and stuff that's about specific content on the Wii U/3DS/Vita/PS3/X360 goes in their respective boards. Anything vaguer (or...general) also goes in General. Sounds lovely.

 

So, that said, "General Fire Emblem Discussion" should be in the Nintendo boards, no? The series belongs to Nintendo, and only the games' content is being discussed, there.

 

Finally, MegaTen x Fire Emblem is likely to be Wii U (considering where it was announced), so your image is wrong, Ashley

Edited February 8, 2013 by Jonnas

[Retro_Link]

So, that said, "General Fire Emblem Discussion" should be in the Nintendo boards, no? The series belongs to Nintendo, and only the games' content is being discussed, there.

The GGD encompasses Retro Gaming discussion, so a thread about the history of the Fire Emblem series would belong there.

 

Nintendo Gaming encompasses Wii U and 3DS games, so threads for Fire Emblem on those console would go there.

[D_prOdigy]

I like the icons.

[Jonnas]

The GGD encompasses Retro Gaming discussion, so a thread about the history of the Fire Emblem series would belong there.

 

Nintendo Gaming encompasses Wii U and 3DS games, so threads for Fire Emblem on those console would go there.

 

Oh, okay. Makes sense.

 

Also, are Wii&DS games still going to be included in Nintendo Discussion, or are future (possibly revived) threads about Wii and/or DS games going to go in General?

[Retro_Link]

Oh, okay. Makes sense.

 

Also, are Wii&DS games still going to be included in Nintendo Discussion, or are future (possibly revived) threads about Wii and/or DS games going to go in General?

Wii and DS will go in Nintendo Gaming yes, as those two console heavily cross-over and are backwards compatible with the Wii U and 3DS.

[Ashley]

I archived any handheld threads that weren't posted in last year but if you really feel that some need to be moved over they can be. Or you can start new threads.

[Locky]

I archived any handheld threads that weren't posted in last year but if you really feel that some need to be moved over they can be. Or you can start new threads.

 

The reorganised boards look good and I'm already discovering new threads, which I wouldn't have seen otherwise.

 

The only thing that concerns me is what you've mentioned above – I quite like it when threads get bumped so that we can discuss older games. I've only just bought a 3DS and hadn't played my DS for a couple of years so I'm discovering old games that I missed, so it would be good to chat about them.

[Grazza]

It's good to have a General Gaming Discussion, as there could be so many threads that don't fit in any other category. That's really well thought-out.

 

Personally, I would have kept Nintendo handhelds and Nintendo consoles separate. It's not as though they were two warring communities and, to my mind, it's taking minimalism too far to merge them. Don't get me wrong though, it's no big deal and, what with Nintendo merging their console and handheld divisions, maybe you've prepared well for the future.

[RedShell]

Once you start having the threads mixed up though, it will end up looking like a badly made Excel document:

 

 

It's a nice idea, but not entirely practical.

You got the colours wrong, but yeah... I see what you mean.

The icons do the job on their own really.

 

Although I do think RedShell just offered to make new icons (that have to be 16x16 )

New icons?

[Murr]

 

In the past we have had Roundtable features and we are looking to bring these back. Not just with staff but members as well. Most of these occur when gaming events happen such as E3, Nintendo Directs etc. That being the case any time a ND, E3 or any gaming press conference is on then the topics will be placed in there, as will the roundtables.

 

Sorry maybe I'm not reading this correctly, but the next Nintendo Direct do you mean there will be an official thread in general gaming board and not Nintendo board?

 

No problems with that if it is the case, but just a general confirmation.

 

 

We're currently thinking along the lines of... if it's a thread about a dedicated game then create it in Nintendo Gaming or Other Consoles,

 

 

What about in the instance that we recently witnessed where Rayman goes from being a WiiU exclusive so warranting it's own thread in Nintendo section to being slapped out multi format... would the original thread in WiiU section be moved to General gaming?