PREXUS'S PROFILE

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

'nuff said.

When the game is uploaded and you get a chance to play it, you'll realize this is a boss room. I kept it simple because of how the fight works. Trust me, you wouldn't want it to be too hectic.

author=kentona
Currently, there is no Latest Screenshots section. It has been replaced by random screenshots.

Even so, sometimes I actually kind of like that ALL of the latest screenshots show up on the frontpage. Sure a game might dominate it with 4 shots, but it increases the likelihood that one of them are interesting and worth checking out.

But I will take a look to see if what you suggest is even possible to do with the way we have the feeds set up.

"Everything is commentable" is one of WIP's central tenets, and one I agree with wholeheartedly. (I would also disagree that reviews generate nothing but terrible discussion, but that's a different argument for a different time).

Also, I enjoy getting notifications when people comment. It indicates that there is a discussion going on, and that usually means that something interesting is there worth checking out. If not, I just ignore the notices! But I know that Ankylo has been working on the notification system - he might have implemented greater control! I haven't paid that much attention, tbh!

I appreciate your response I have a better understanding of where you are coming from. I don't believe the 6 screenshots on the front page are random, though. They generally remain constant all day, and if they do change, they just get bumped down a bit to make room for one or two new shots. I don't know when those shots were uploaded, but the presentation implies that it is most recent shots.

I mean, there are games that just don't need that many screenshots. A lot of the puzzle games and such would only need one or two shots to really explain the entire concept of the game and give someone an idea of what it is about. Then you get visually centric games like Vacant Sky and Final Fantasy Essence that could potentially keep the screenshots rolling in and always have one visible if the developer were so inclined as always keep an eye on the screenshots.

Random would be better (if that is the case, it's not very random. It should randomize on every page load. Currently it looks like it just adds a single random image every couple of hours.)

That being said, I know Kentona posted a list of how he plans to layout the front page for RMN4. I had a bit of trouble understanding it, so correct me if this is something he already planned or something he already planned not to do:

The 'new screenshots' section shouldn't ever feature two screenshots from the same game. If there are multiple screenshots that are new for a game, it should show one and have something indicating that there are more.

Like

(more...) or (+#)

Also, when adding any new submission, the developer should be able to choose whether or not he wants it published to the main section. The current system is set up as 'Always On', so this does not lead to abuse, it leads to generous people being able to forfeit their limelight if they feel their submission is of little consequence.

As well, developers should be able to decide whether they want comments on a submission or not. Every screenshot, blog post, download, etc. should have a ' Allow Commenting' box near the submission.

Reviews should only allow commenting between the Developer and the Writer, and it should be hidden from other people. Or not allowed at all and be left to the PM system. A review does not need to be commented on, ever. The only comments are going to be 'Bravo!'-type or 'You're wrong'-type or the only type that warrants a comment which is 'You made a mistake playing the game'-type. And even those.. When a review has that sort of error, the developer should be able to take from the review "Fuck, I clearly didn't make that obvious enough or clear enough. I should rethink how I approach it and see if I can't make it better."

Also, a good change to the Notification system regarding Subscribed games. You really should only get a notification if there is something added (Screenshot, Blog Entry, Download, Review) or if the developer posts a comment. I had to unsubscribe to Necropolis because my Notice box was being flooded with asinine comments.

The 'Once Only' on the front page thing leads people to change the way they present their games.

a) People are going to wait until they are further in development to showcase their game which will lead to:
-con- Lower quality games due to lack of criticism from the community at early points in development
-con- Less activity because games often don't reach this point without encouragement
-pro- More serious game makers are going to be showcasing their games
-pro- There will be more of the game to criticize, making for more informed help

b) People are going to post their game page info on the forum, asking if they should upload it yet or looking for help as their gamepage is old and lost:
-con- This is against forum policy and will require extra moderation
-pro- While game-pages on the forum are frowned upon, you can't argue that if someone's gamepage gets lost in the website and he can't bump it back up to get help with something, that he shouldn't try to get help on the forums instead

edit after feld updated his post I am a little more informed on what is being proposed. I didn't realize this was more about completed games being updated with minor patches to get more face-time. I thought it was more about the Screenshots section being flooded with people's updates. I'll leave my post incase it's helpful in anyway but realize that it was misinformed.