Forum Upgrade Incoming

[Ashley]

Hmm yeah the spoiler tag does seem to be broken. I'll have a look. 

[Ashley]

Okay historic spoiler tags should be working.

It seems at some point they stopped parsing BB Code but there is a switch we can use to make that continue.

They do recommend that you use a WISWYG version instead (and run a script to update all old ones). The former I should be able to do, just can't seem to find it now and it's late so I'll look another time. The latter part I'll need to ask Shorty to do I believe but will look into it properly soon.

Oh wait I think I have found it but will still wait until I have more time/headspace to do it just to be sure. And turns out its the same WISWYG at work. Fun to be reminded of that.

[Happenstance]

While we are looking at the forum with the upgrade I just want to put out an idea and see what people thought.

Is it time for us to merge the Nintendo Gaming and Other Consoles sections? I don't know about anyone else but I think I miss out on some discussions now because I don't go into the Nintendo section very much (mostly due to historical issues with posters there that have since left or been cleared up) and with the new "rules" that if a game is available on Switch the thread must be placed in that section, regardless of if it was created in Other Consoles first it gets a bit confusing.

I also think we aren't nearly as big as we used to be so merging the sections could just help with all the threads being in one place.

Just an idea I wanted to float by everyone.

[darksnowman]

Just getting in. Every time I've checked this week it's been Error 500 Connection Refused but since I saw on N-E the forum would be down I knew you were up to something. Looking good.  

Will the classic theme be making a return or have themes moved? Going to need sunglasses if not.  

1 hour ago, Happenstance said:

While we are looking at the forum with the upgrade I just want to put out an idea and see what people thought.

Is it time for us to merge the Nintendo Gaming and Other Consoles sections? I don't know about anyone else but I think I miss out on some discussions now because I don't go into the Nintendo section very much (mostly due to historical issues with posters there that have since left or been cleared up) and with the new "rules" that if a game is available on Switch the thread must be placed in that section, regardless of if it was created in Other Consoles first it gets a bit confusing.

I also think we aren't nearly as big as we used to be so merging the sections could just help with all the threads being in one place.

Just an idea I wanted to float by everyone.

This is how the entire forum becomes a General Diary thread and a Gaming Diary thread.  

[Glen-i]

On 7/2/2024 at 6:43 PM, Ashley said:

Actually @Glen-i I'll have a look and see if I can find some better way of helping you manage the online sessions you do. There's various new things like clubs/groups and an alert system and all sorts. Will dig into it and then send you what I find out and see if we can find a slightly more modern way of arranging those sessions.

Intriguing. Especially the alerts thingy. Would save me the hassle of having to look back to see who is actually interested.

That reminds me, need to head to the GBA NSO app and tell everyone I'm up for Four Swords tonight.

Edited Thursday at 10:39 AM by Glen-i

[Happenstance]

4 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

  

This is how the entire forum becomes a General Diary thread and a Gaming Diary thread.  

To be fair I never suggested merging that general gaming section where those are found.

[Jonnas]

1 hour ago, Happenstance said:

While we are looking at the forum with the upgrade I just want to put out an idea and see what people thought.

Is it time for us to merge the Nintendo Gaming and Other Consoles sections? I don't know about anyone else but I think I miss out on some discussions now because I don't go into the Nintendo section very much (mostly due to historical issues with posters there that have since left or been cleared up) and with the new "rules" that if a game is available on Switch the thread must be placed in that section, regardless of if it was created in Other Consoles first it gets a bit confusing.

I also think we aren't nearly as big as we used to be so merging the sections could just help with all the threads being in one place.

Just an idea I wanted to float by everyone.

I think the structure makes sense as it is. The Nintendo section is plenty active on its NSO, Mario Kart/Smash Online Meet-up, and Switch eShop threads, and if we were to merge to a "General" gaming section, the majority of activity would still center on those clearly Nintendo-focused threads. And that's just the "evergreen" threads, surely there'd still be a lot more threads dedicated to first-party Nintendo games. I think such a merger would not quite reflect the activity that this forum usually gets.

My main issue with the current system is that part I bolded. The division of sections made more sense at a time where the majority of games were indeed divided, but more and more, we see worthwhile games come out for every platform available. It's silly that the thread location for, say, Balatro or Witcher 3, depends on whether or not a Switch version has been confirmed or not. And when it is confirmed, it goes straight to the section that also has all of the first-party content, the NSO threads, etc. Meanwhile the "General Gaming" section feels more like a "Misc. Gaming topics" section, rather than a home for multiplatform releases.

If we were to restructure, the main thing I'd advocate for would be:

• The "Nintendo Gaming" section for topics that only concern Nintendo matters and/or games (NSO, 1st-party games, current Nintendo consoles, etc.);
• Turn the "Other Consoles" section into a "Rest of Gaming" section, for other console exclusives, and multiplaform releases (such as indies, collections, etc.), including those that were also released on a Nintendo console;
• Keep the "General Gaming" section as it is, for miscellanous discussion (gaming habits, retro gaming, industry talk, etc.).

...I suppose a quicker way of saying it would be "I support moving multiplatform releases to Other Consoles, maybe rename that section to reflect this, and nothing else"

[drahkon]

Ehem, I'm back.

@Shorty @Ashley Sorry for annoying you with my myriad of messages that may or may not have gotten through. And thanks for sorting out my verification issue.

@Julius Thanks for annoying both admins on my behalf

Edit: And you can ban/delete drahkonforgothisemail, if you want...

Edited Thursday at 03:37 PM by drahkon

[Ashley]

Oh no he's back!

[drahkon]

I think we need to revert to the old forum...

"OK" and "Cancel" have changed positions and it's fucking me up.

Edited Thursday at 04:23 PM by drahkon

[Ashley]

9 hours ago, Happenstance said:

While we are looking at the forum with the upgrade I just want to put out an idea and see what people thought.

Is it time for us to merge the Nintendo Gaming and Other Consoles sections? I don't know about anyone else but I think I miss out on some discussions now because I don't go into the Nintendo section very much (mostly due to historical issues with posters there that have since left or been cleared up) and with the new "rules" that if a game is available on Switch the thread must be placed in that section, regardless of if it was created in Other Consoles first it gets a bit confusing.

I also think we aren't nearly as big as we used to be so merging the sections could just help with all the threads being in one place.

Just an idea I wanted to float by everyone.

 

7 hours ago, Jonnas said:

I think the structure makes sense as it is. The Nintendo section is plenty active on its NSO, Mario Kart/Smash Online Meet-up, and Switch eShop threads, and if we were to merge to a "General" gaming section, the majority of activity would still center on those clearly Nintendo-focused threads. And that's just the "evergreen" threads, surely there'd still be a lot more threads dedicated to first-party Nintendo games. I think such a merger would not quite reflect the activity that this forum usually gets.

My main issue with the current system is that part I bolded. The division of sections made more sense at a time where the majority of games were indeed divided, but more and more, we see worthwhile games come out for every platform available. It's silly that the thread location for, say, Balatro or Witcher 3, depends on whether or not a Switch version has been confirmed or not. And when it is confirmed, it goes straight to the section that also has all of the first-party content, the NSO threads, etc. Meanwhile the "General Gaming" section feels more like a "Misc. Gaming topics" section, rather than a home for multiplatform releases.

If we were to restructure, the main thing I'd advocate for would be:

• The "Nintendo Gaming" section for topics that only concern Nintendo matters and/or games (NSO, 1st-party games, current Nintendo consoles, etc.);
• Turn the "Other Consoles" section into a "Rest of Gaming" section, for other console exclusives, and multiplaform releases (such as indies, collections, etc.), including those that were also released on a Nintendo console;
• Keep the "General Gaming" section as it is, for miscellanous discussion (gaming habits, retro gaming, industry talk, etc.).

...I suppose a quicker way of saying it would be "I support moving multiplatform releases to Other Consoles, maybe rename that section to reflect this, and nothing else"

Realised I never responded to this sorry. 

I'm inclined to keep the Nintendo side separate if for no other reason than to acknowledge our identity/history but I am open to reconsidering the names* and how we deal with multiplatform releases. 

Will speak to the other staff for their opinions but if anyone has any thoughts feel free to share.

*And description as I'm pretty sure the Wii U and 3DS are dead now

[Hero-of-Time]

I agree with both Happenstance and Jonnas.

Happenstance is right in that our numbers are so small that I wouldn't see the harm in doing merging the boards but I appreciate that others may want to keep the Nintendo side separate, which is where I think Jonnas comes up with a good middle ground suggestion. The only thing I would change would be the name of the Other Consoles board. Other Consoles to Other Consoles/Multi Platform releases seems like a good fit. I think calling it Rest of Gaming clashes too much with General Gaming.

Question. Would doing what Jonnas suggested mean that retro Nintendo discussions would go in the Nintendo board or would that still go in the General Gaming side of things where most retro banter is taking place?

 

[Ashley]

I do tend to say retro Nintendo goes into the general. I know it can be a bit unclear what is retro sometimes but I think at this point anything pre-Switch. 

Could argue that Nintendo and Other are current, general is retro (and general chat obviously). 

And yes I appreciate this place has been round long enough that there are topics in Nintendo that would now belong to general/retro. I'm sure we still have some GameCube threads knocking about. 

[Glen-i]

1 hour ago, Ashley said:

I'm inclined to keep the Nintendo side separate if for no other reason than to acknowledge our identity/history but I am open to reconsidering the names* and how we deal with multiplatform releases. 

This is where I fall, by the way.

We really don't want to actually have to be called "Europe", you know, it just got fixed!

[drahkon]

11 hours ago, Jonnas said:

• The "Nintendo Gaming" section for topics that only concern Nintendo matters and/or games (NSO, 1st-party games, current Nintendo consoles, etc.);
• Turn the "Other Consoles" section into a "Rest of Gaming" section, for other console exclusives, and multiplaform releases (such as indies, collections, etc.), including those that were also released on a Nintendo console;
• Keep the "General Gaming" section as it is, for miscellanous discussion (gaming habits, retro gaming, industry talk, etc.).

Yes.

And that's it from me on that topic

[darksnowman]

It's pretty clear-cut, for me. If a game's on the current Nintendo hardware, I expect it to be discussed on the Nintendo board. Other Consoles is for anything current that isn't.

I'd venture it might be worth considering adding the online board back in to get that stuff out of the way, er, I mean, give it somewhere to flourish. 

[Hero-of-Time]

11 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

It's pretty clear-cut, for me. If a game's on the current Nintendo hardware, I expect it to be discussed on the Nintendo board. Other Consoles is for anything current that isn't.

The issue is though that many games are being released on other platforms first and discussion is being had in the Other Console board but when a Switch version is announced then people are wanting it moved over to the Nintendo side of things. Jonnas' suggestion of having a multiplatform board makes sense because then staff aren't having to be moving topics from one place to another.

Another example was the Balatro topic. Drahkon was originally the only person who had interest in the game and made the topic in the Other Console side of things because he plays on PC/PS5 and not Switch. Nobody else had expressed any interest in the game until it was released, whereas he was excited and talking about it in the PS5 topic before making the main thread.

Edited yesterday at 06:32 AM by Hero-of-Time

[drahkon]

10 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Another example was the Balatro topic

Shhhhh, they still haven't noticed that it hasn't been moved, yet

[Happenstance]

I don't like the way its done now with threads getting moved so I'd definitely be up for just the reworking of the current sections so multiformat games stay out of the filthy Nintendo section. Personally I'm still for merging the two sections so game threads could just be posted and discussed in regardless of format but I guess I'm just too progressive for this forum 😜

[darksnowman]

I don't see any issue. This is a Nintendo site, after all. The Playstation, Xbox or PC threads don't get to call dibs on what's discussed where. As the situation evolves, things move.

10 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

I don't like the way its done now with threads getting moved so I'd definitely be up for just the reworking of the current sections so multiformat games stay out of the filthy Nintendo section. Personally I'm still for merging the two sections so game threads could just be posted and discussed in regardless of format but I guess I'm just too progressive for this forum 😜

Sounds like the way people are suggesting taking it, the fair thing would be a Playstation-exclusive board, an Xbox-exclusive board, a PC-exclusive board, then a multiplatform board for anything on more than one.

Edited yesterday at 06:56 AM by darksnowman

[Ashley]

13 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

I don't like the way its done now with threads getting moved so I'd definitely be up for just the reworking of the current sections so multiformat games stay out of the filthy Nintendo section. Personally I'm still for merging the two sections so game threads could just be posted and discussed in regardless of format but I guess I'm just too progressive for this forum 😜

Getting some real mixed messages

[Happenstance]

4 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Getting some real mixed messages

As I said, I still have some historical rage issues I may need to work through that don't relate to the current section and they may slip out from time to time 😆

[Hero-of-Time]

6 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

I don't see any issue. This is a Nintendo site, after all.

True but gone are the days of us having a large community who play exclusively on Nintendo devices. If anything, they are probably the minority now. I don't do PC gaming but I imagine what little community we have left spend most of their time playing on PCs/Steam Decks.

[darksnowman]

4 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

True but gone are the days of us having a large community who play exclusively on Nintendo devices. If anything, they are probably the minority now. I don't do PC gaming but I imagine what little community we have left spend most of their time playing on PCs/Steam Decks.

Also gone are the days of needing a Zelda board and a retro board since basically everything is current nowadays. I don't think the goal is to make the Nintendo-related discussion as barebones as possible, we should be encouraging it to thrive. Sure there've been cases like Octopath and other timed exclusives on Switch. Those threads would have to be moved in the other direction with this proposal.

[Happenstance]

6 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

Also gone are the days of needing a Zelda board and a retro board since basically everything is current nowadays. I don't think the goal is to make the Nintendo-related discussion as barebones as possible, we should be encouraging it to thrive. Sure there've been cases like Octopath and other timed exclusives on Switch. Those threads would have to be moved in the other direction with this proposal.

Or we just stop feeling the need to move threads so if they started as Switch titles then they could stay as Switch titles