[In Progress] 1/22/2014 Forums Updates – Please come and share your thoughts!

[Tay]

A tabulation of feedback + my responses:

 

Member of the Month

“Though I think it would be nice to have special exceptions in the month if a user were to do something especially over the top and helpful.” – Stanleys  (TAY: What do you mean by this?)

 

“it could work by some kind of voting system.” – maefdomn

 

A lot of people are creeped out by the wording of the MotM box and suggested it be replaced by my note in the “N” box.  I’m not able to modify the text at the moment, sorry!

 

I’m not sure where would be best to put the MotM stuff.  I could move it around on the index sidebar every few days so we can see what it looks like/find a position we like.  During the start of the month (first day or two when the new MotM is announced) I think I’ll even make it a banner.

 

 

Facebook Bar

“I don't personnaly like the facebook feature, because it doesn't blend with the website well (blue<>green) and it doesn't feel necessary.” – maefdomn

 

A lot of people echoed that sentiment.  I’ll try and see what I can do about it, but I doubt there’s much I can fix.  I thought having a FB link on the forums index would be a good way to bolster our FB activity.  I’d appreciate more feedback.

 

 

AWARDS

Proposed Ideas:

·       Tournaments

·       Competitions

·       Giveaway winners/participants

·       Those featured in blog user spotlight.

·       People that contributed to Visual Novel Aer

·       People with their own blog  (see limitations below)

·       Translators

·       People who are participating in certain projects, like the Fuwanovel creations, Solidbatman's VN project, or Kanpachi's dubbing project

·       Osu! players, or players of any other popular game or MMO (see limitations below)

·       I also liked the idea about the Fuwapocalypse survivors (see limitations below)

·       Member of the Month

·       Awards for # of Awards (“"Awardception" - Collect 5/10/20 awards” )

·       Tech support badges (I agree! But I’m not sure how to do this one)

·       Maybe VN master for those who posted enough on the VN Talk forum, Anime Library for the anime/manga forum and Fuwa Tech for the fuwanovel improvements and tech support forums. (see limitations below)

·       Facebook like fan (Tay: see limitations below)

·       @fuwanovel Twitter follower (TAY: We’ve lost access to that twitter, but that aside, see limitations below)

·       PSP/Handheld/Console VN Gamer, PC VN Gamer, Mobile VN Gamer (see limitations below)

·       FuwanViewer user (Tay: see limitations below, but I want to make that happen )

·       "Senpai noticed me!" 

·       "First post" or "First topic". (see limitations below, but a great idea)

·       "Greet x newcomers" (see limitations below, bug another great idea)

 

USEFUL COMMENTS

“I feel like it would be really hard for new members to get. I see it as something encouraging people to ge involved, but people new to VN or new to the forums wouldn't really get anything out of it. It only rewards older members. So maybe make it more progressive so people can climb up the ladder one step after another.” – maefdomn  (TAY: Good point. My response is that I haven’t come up with very many achievements yet.  Just walkthroughs (which anybody can do) and post count (member rankings award up to 300 posts, and then there are awards for 500, 1500, 2000.) (I think we need to brainstorm awards which, like you say, will encourage new members)

 

“The award images don't go well with the website, maybe we could redesign them so tyey fit the theme more.” – maefdomn  (TAY: Yup.  That was me.  I’m looking to all the talented graphics folks for help, here! : ))

 

“the button in the user info field is too big, the "User's Awards", its too fat, maybe it can be just text or at least as small as the buttons on the bottom of the posts.” – Steve (TAY: I agree. Working on it.)

 

Zhurai – being a rock is a good thing.  Wear it with pride!

 

“I think it's not necessary to show +500/1000/1500/2000 post at the same time.”- maefdomn (TAY: As I’ll mention below, I have no ability ATM to allow users to choose which trophies to display.  Right now it’s just a stream of the last 6 awarded)

 

“could show them off in their signatures.” - Yukiru (TAY: I actually have built-in functions for that! I just need to figure out how they work, and then I’ll share the info)

 

“Another thing is the "See award description" when you click a user's awards. Considering the box itself IS the description i see no need to have it there. One of them is already gone.” – Nosebleed (TAY: That’s my fault for reasons I don’t feel like explaining.  I removed that part of the app.  Shouldn’t display anymore, but let me know if I’m wrong).

 

“Also, i find it a bit odd that there is a "Staff" award when you can already tell who is part of the staff because of the thing below their name” – Charmanderson (TAY: Yeah, the badge looks pretty crappy, too.  The idea behind that was as follows: make badges to honor current and former staff.  Now that I think about it, I probably should just delete the “current staff” award and only make a “Emeritus Staff” award.  The current staff award is redundant, you’re right.”

 

@Kaguya – Yeah, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean any harm by it.  I’ll change it

 

 

 

IMPORTANT LIMITATIONS RIGHT NOW

Right now I’m trying to find a way to let users choose which awards show up on post view (under your user info when you post on the site), but I’m not having much success.  That might come later.  For now we may be stuck with a “these are the latest awards given to this member” sort of approach.

 

My ability to auto-award posts is very limited atm.  They’re all done pretty much by hand.  Thus I’m going to need to hold off on awards like, “Joined the site in 2012” or “Posted 200 times in the Introduce Yourself forum”.  It would quickly become a full-time job to identify everybody who qualified.

 

 

 

AND A FEW MORE IDEAS

One award idea I’d like to try is allowing certain members of the community to hand out awards.  For example, if Batman is interested, he could be the guinea pig and could come up with an award idea – pass it by me – and then abuse you poor souls until you earn it.  He’d let me know when somebody earned the award, and then I’d grant it.  (Actual offer, Batman.  Let me know.) (You’ll need to make your own icon, though)

 

Thanks to everybody who wants me to have an award!  I decided to wait on that because A) Self-congratulations is tacky , and B) There are dozens and dozens of people who deserve their own award.  I figure if I don’t have an award, they won’t feel quite so left out.  Once life slows down I’ll work on adding more unique awards!  (Also, I’d be interested if anyone had ideas for ways to “qualify” for having your own award.  Maybe a list of requirements like post count, time on the forums, good looks, and swearing fealty to myself?  Maybe not all those things, but I’d absolutely be up for a method for users to earn their own award)

 

I mentioned that I don’t know when the “choose which trophies to display” functionality will work.  Until then, are we okay with just showing the last six?  Did you want to do fewer? More?

 

 

 

And yeah the icons could be cuter! :3 – Beato

 

Aaaah.  Somehow, coming from Beato, this stings worst of all…

; P

[Tay]

In case I didn't say it clearly, above: the full list of awards is in the "Awards" tab.  If people want to re-do the icons (40x40 px), I'm not attached to any of them.

[Kaguya]

 

A tabulation of feedback + my responses:

 

Member of the Month

“Though I think it would be nice to have special exceptions in the month if a user were to do something especially over the top and helpful.” – Stanleys  (TAY: What do you mean by this?)

 

“it could work by some kind of voting system.” – maefdomn

 

A lot of people are creeped out by the wording of the MotM box and suggested it be replaced by my note in the “N” box.  I’m not able to modify the text at the moment, sorry!

 

I’m not sure where would be best to put the MotM stuff.  I could move it around on the index sidebar every few days so we can see what it looks like/find a position we like.  During the start of the month (first day or two when the new MotM is announced) I think I’ll even make it a banner.

 

 

Facebook Bar

“I don't personnaly like the facebook feature, because it doesn't blend with the website well (blue<>green) and it doesn't feel necessary.” – maefdomn

 

A lot of people echoed that sentiment.  I’ll try and see what I can do about it, but I doubt there’s much I can fix.  I thought having a FB link on the forums index would be a good way to bolster our FB activity.  I’d appreciate more feedback.

 

 

AWARDS

Proposed Ideas:

·       Tournaments

·       Competitions

·       Giveaway winners/participants

·       Those featured in blog user spotlight.

·       People that contributed to Visual Novel Aer

·       People with their own blog  (see limitations below)

·       Translators

·       People who are participating in certain projects, like the Fuwanovel creations, Solidbatman's VN project, or Kanpachi's dubbing project

·       Osu! players, or players of any other popular game or MMO (see limitations below)

·       I also liked the idea about the Fuwapocalypse survivors (see limitations below)

·       Member of the Month

·       Awards for # of Awards (“"Awardception" - Collect 5/10/20 awards” )

·       Tech support badges (I agree! But I’m not sure how to do this one)

·       Maybe VN master for those who posted enough on the VN Talk forum, Anime Library for the anime/manga forum and Fuwa Tech for the fuwanovel improvements and tech support forums. (see limitations below)

·       Facebook like fan (Tay: see limitations below)

·       @fuwanovel Twitter follower (TAY: We’ve lost access to that twitter, but that aside, see limitations below)

·       PSP/Handheld/Console VN Gamer, PC VN Gamer, Mobile VN Gamer (see limitations below)

·       FuwanViewer user (Tay: see limitations below, but I want to make that happen )

·       "Senpai noticed me!" 

·       "First post" or "First topic". (see limitations below, but a great idea)

·       "Greet x newcomers" (see limitations below, bug another great idea)

 

USEFUL COMMENTS

“I feel like it would be really hard for new members to get. I see it as something encouraging people to ge involved, but people new to VN or new to the forums wouldn't really get anything out of it. It only rewards older members. So maybe make it more progressive so people can climb up the ladder one step after another.” – maefdomn  (TAY: Good point. My response is that I haven’t come up with very many achievements yet.  Just walkthroughs (which anybody can do) and post count (member rankings award up to 300 posts, and then there are awards for 500, 1500, 2000.) (I think we need to brainstorm awards which, like you say, will encourage new members)

 

“The award images don't go well with the website, maybe we could redesign them so tyey fit the theme more.” – maefdomn  (TAY: Yup.  That was me.  I’m looking to all the talented graphics folks for help, here! : ))

 

“the button in the user info field is too big, the "User's Awards", its too fat, maybe it can be just text or at least as small as the buttons on the bottom of the posts.” – Steve (TAY: I agree. Working on it.)

 

Zhurai – being a rock is a good thing.  Wear it with pride!

 

“I think it's not necessary to show +500/1000/1500/2000 post at the same time.”- maefdomn (TAY: As I’ll mention below, I have no ability ATM to allow users to choose which trophies to display.  Right now it’s just a stream of the last 6 awarded)

 

“could show them off in their signatures.” - Yukiru (TAY: I actually have built-in functions for that! I just need to figure out how they work, and then I’ll share the info)

 

“Another thing is the "See award description" when you click a user's awards. Considering the box itself IS the description i see no need to have it there. One of them is already gone.” – Nosebleed (TAY: That’s my fault for reasons I don’t feel like explaining.  I removed that part of the app.  Shouldn’t display anymore, but let me know if I’m wrong).

 

“Also, i find it a bit odd that there is a "Staff" award when you can already tell who is part of the staff because of the thing below their name” – Charmanderson (TAY: Yeah, the badge looks pretty crappy, too.  The idea behind that was as follows: make badges to honor current and former staff.  Now that I think about it, I probably should just delete the “current staff” award and only make a “Emeritus Staff” award.  The current staff award is redundant, you’re right.”

 

@Kaguya – Yeah, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean any harm by it.  I’ll change it

 

 

 

IMPORTANT LIMITATIONS RIGHT NOW

Right now I’m trying to find a way to let users choose which awards show up on post view (under your user info when you post on the site), but I’m not having much success.  That might come later.  For now we may be stuck with a “these are the latest awards given to this member” sort of approach.

 

My ability to auto-award posts is very limited atm.  They’re all done pretty much by hand.  Thus I’m going to need to hold off on awards like, “Joined the site in 2012” or “Posted 200 times in the Introduce Yourself forum”.  It would quickly become a full-time job to identify everybody who qualified.

 

 

 

AND A FEW MORE IDEAS

One award idea I’d like to try is allowing certain members of the community to hand out awards.  For example, if Batman is interested, he could be the guinea pig and could come up with an award idea – pass it by me – and then abuse you poor souls until you earn it.  He’d let me know when somebody earned the award, and then I’d grant it.  (Actual offer, Batman.  Let me know.) (You’ll need to make your own icon, though)

 

Thanks to everybody who wants me to have an award!  I decided to wait on that because A) Self-congratulations is tacky , and B) There are dozens and dozens of people who deserve their own award.  I figure if I don’t have an award, they won’t feel quite so left out.  Once life slows down I’ll work on adding more unique awards!  (Also, I’d be interested if anyone had ideas for ways to “qualify” for having your own award.  Maybe a list of requirements like post count, time on the forums, good looks, and swearing fealty to myself?  Maybe not all those things, but I’d absolutely be up for a method for users to earn their own award)

 

I mentioned that I don’t know when the “choose which trophies to display” functionality will work.  Until then, are we okay with just showing the last six?  Did you want to do fewer? More?

 

 

 

Aaaah.  Somehow, coming from Beato, this stings worst of all…

; P

 

No, no. It's hilarious. That's why I even proposed to change the title of the award to "Legendary Spammer". I just didn't like the icon that much.

 

About giving awards- that's probably something I could help with, if you'd like. 

 

To have an award about yourself- maybe either 500 or 1000+ posts and 20 or 50+ Rep, plus swearing loyalty to you. 

Oh yeah, I tried messing around with my sig but no success- the only way I can show an award there is uploading the image of the award to a site such as imgur and then putting it there. Good luck trying to figure it out!

[Nosebleed]

I'm okay with the last 6 and i hope the whole redunctant thing can be fixed (having silver and gold walkthrough awards or the 1000 and 1500 post award at the sametime) or an option to select which badges to display as mentioned above. No pressure of course.

 

I guess i'll redesign the loli badge because that one is 60x60. I will make it happen!!

Loli submissions for the badge are accepted. PM me

 

I liked  most of the proposed ideas as well. 

As far as badge designs i think we can all help and vote for which we like best later on.

[Yukiru]

@Tay I think an award brigade would take a load off you shoulders, kind of a mod but only with power regarding the management of the awards (i'm not sure if that's only possible with admin powers or not but if it is, a special account could be made and used by such brigade), giving an honor badge to every new member would be rather hard to do on daily basis specially if you're already busy managing the already registered members.

[Guest]

Wow you are handeling this alone ?

That's impressive, don't push yourself too far though, we have time ^^.

 

Award per member can be an idea but the criterias for earning such an award is kind of vague.

 

People like awards because they are unique in some way.

Making too much could be a problem too (maybe) since it could lose it's value.

 

*I'm sorry i'm only showing the flaws, but i'm only good at figuring there is a problem rather than solving it.

People call me pesimistic T_T*

[Nosebleed]

Wow you are handeling this alone ?

That's impressive, don't push yourself too far though, we have time ^^.

 

Award per member can be an idea but the criterias for earning such an award is kind of vague.

 

People like awards because they are unique in some way.

Making too much could be a problem too (maybe) since it could lose it's value.

 

*I'm sorry i'm only showing the flaws, but i'm only good at figuring there is a problem rather than solving it.

People call me pesimistic T_T*

It's not being pessimistic. What you said is very true you can't just have an award for everything or else it loses its value.

[Charmanderson]

The way I see it is: This will need a bit of an addition to the staff, some people to do the badges, some people to handle the distribution of the badges and this distribution would be best if it was split by theme and so on... because this much work in only one person is too much, i don't know, i may be over-thinking it.

I guess what i am trying to say is that this seems as difficult as it seem fun, so if any help is needed i would gladly help.

[Nosebleed]

The way I see it is: This will need a bit of an addition to the staff, some people to do the badges, some people to handle the distribution of the badges and this distribution would be best if it was split by theme and so on... because this much work in only one person is too much, i don't know, i may be over-thinking it.

I guess what i am trying to say is that this seems as difficult as it seem fun, so if any help is needed i would gladly help.

I agree we don't want to overwork Tay. I can try and help with anything including badge designs.

[Yukiru]

It's not really an award, it's the honor badge for registering this year. 

Yeap, we only have one Tay so let's not overuse him~

[Stanleys]

“Though I think it would be nice to have special exceptions in the month if a user were to do something especially over the top and helpful.” – Stanleys  (TAY: What do you mean by this?)

What I mean by this is if the MOTM had already been chosen for that month, and something major had happened during that month and a member was a major player in fixing it, like during the Fuwapocalypse how Nayleen played a large part in fixing it, another special recognition box would feature them for the rest of the month.

[Flutterz]

It's not really an award, it's the honor badge for registering this year. 

Yeap, we only have one Tay so let's not overuse him~

This post made me realize how we can solve all of Fuwa's problems! We just have to clone Tay!

[SieghartXx]

This post made me realize how we can solve all of Fuwa's problems! We just have to clone Tay!

You deserve an award.

[Nosebleed]

So i simply could not fit a loli in a 40x40 tiny frame so i decided to use some pantsu

Official lolicon badge:

 

Yes i can change the colors if required.

[Steve]

So i simply could not fit a loli in a 40x40 tiny frame so i decided to use some pantsu

Official lolicon badge:

 

Yes i can change the colors if required.

 

As I mentioned, I would love if when creating the icons you would actually cut the background so it is not a square box with image but just an image on the page background.

I'll work on the icons this weekend, I would also like to have them be a part of a matching set, if you get what I mean. That way it would look natural and nice in the user info.

[Nosebleed]

So just an image, no caption and bg? I have the psd file i can do that when i get home ( on tablet now)

I wanted to use a loli but at the same time 40x40 makes thst task hard so i went with some pantsu. Either way i'll try both and post them.

Also regardeding the matching set i don't think i can make a set for lolicon badges. Or a set for any specific badges.

[REtransInternational]

The staff one looked too Georgian to me at first glance... since we already have a regular staff icon.

[Steve]

The staff one looked too Georgian to me at first glance... since we already have a regular staff icon.

 

Indeed, I will remake that one as well. Unless someone decides to do it before I start xD

[Nosebleed]

Okay Steve here's both badges i made earlier but with no bg or caption just the main image

Both transparent png so you can work on their backgrounds if you want

Nijihara Ink ver:

Why i used her: Symbol for moe lolis (If you haven't seen Moetan. Do it).

Was probably the best image i found that could fit a 40x40 square and still be recognised as well.

 

Pantsu ver:

[Steve]

Okay Steve here's both badges i made earlier but with no bg or caption just the main image

Both transparent png so you can work on their backgrounds if you want

Nijihara Ink ver:

Why i used her: Symbol for moe lolis (If you haven't seen Moetan. Do it).

Was probably the best image i found that could fit a 40x40 square and still be recognised as well.

 

Pantsu ver:

 

Oh the round one was fine

And there can be text if you know how to make it transparent The biggest problem is when the icon is a square xD

 

Gonna sleep now but tomorrow i shall start working on some of the icons.

[Nosebleed]

Oh the round one was fine

And there can be text if you know how to make it transparent The biggest problem is when the icon is a square xD

 

Gonna sleep now but tomorrow i shall start working on some of the icons.

Nahh i figured since the icons have a description it's not really necessary to have wording on it.

 

I can still have the round thingie around Ink. I'll give that a try and post it here in a bit.

The main issue is that having the round thing makes Ink TINY and almost unrecognisable. Thus i think going with the icon like that is the best if you want some sort of regocnisable feature.

[OriginalRen]

I definitely feel like the award system for the website should follow the same format used in Little Big Planet 2 and their PSN trophy list. For those of you who haven't played that game, all the icons for the trophies look like little badges and have certain achievements associated with them. In addition, the game has a series of badges itself which also have the same look to them that you can showcase on your profile when people look you up in game. Heck, one of the badges in the game relates to being on the staff for the LBP2 team.

 

Here are some of the icons the game uses, just to showcase a few:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously we could use our own designs for the awards, but I do like the rounded "badge" feeling to them. Just a thought.

 

On another note, the staff icon makes everyone look like they work for Red Cross or something, or are part of a medical staff. If that was the intention of the icon, works great! Haha.

[Tom]

AWARDS

Proposed Ideas:

·       Tournaments i cant rlly see how this would work

·       Competitions basically same as Tournaments

·       Giveaway winners/participants a random chance of getting seomthing? well may be interesting but in another concept

·       Translators They deserve it ALOT

·       People who are participating in certain projects, like the Fuwanovel creations, Solidbatman's VN project, or Kanpachi's dubbing project this would be messy i think

·       Osu! players, or players of any other popular game or MMO (see limitations below) dont think its a good idea, would be also a mess

·       Member of the Month would also work as an "Upgradable Award" determined by how many times that person was MotM

·       Awards for # of Awards (“"Awardception" - Collect 5/10/20 awards” )  seems like a great idea, this would be the ultimate the Award then. Maybe even make an animated GIF Badge for     

        that one

·       Facebook like fan (Tay: see limitations below) yea, i wouldt display a badge just for that (same goes for twitter)

·       FuwanViewer user (Tay: see limitations below, but I want to make that happen ) they sound great

·       "Senpai noticed me!" lol

·       "Greet x newcomers" (see limitations below, bug another great idea) that will be spamtastic

 

USEFUL COMMENTS

“I feel like it would be really hard for new members to get. I see it as something encouraging people to ge involved, but people new to VN or new to the forums wouldn't really get anything out of it. It only rewards older members. So maybe make it more progressive so people can climb up the ladder one step after another.” – maefdomn  (TAY: Good point. My response is that I haven’t come up with very many achievements yet.  Just walkthroughs (which anybody can do) and post count (member rankings award up to 300 posts, and then there are awards for 500, 1500, 2000.) (I think we need to brainstorm awards which, like you say, will encourage new members) there is nothing rlly a newcommer cant do except fo the Honors atm

 

“The award images don't go well with the website, maybe we could redesign them so tyey fit the theme more.” – maefdomn  (TAY: Yup.  That was me.  I’m looking to all the talented graphics folks for help, here! : )) yea, very important to remake those. an idea i have in mind how they would look great is to hav outlines on each in different forms like a circle, hexagon, square, star and such

 

“the button in the user info field is too big, the "User's Awards", its too fat, maybe it can be just text or at least as small as the buttons on the bottom of the posts.” – Steve (TAY: I agree. Working on it.) i would remove it totally, it just creates a mess

 

“I think it's not necessary to show +500/1000/1500/2000 post at the same time.”- maefdomn (TAY: As I’ll mention below, I have no ability ATM to allow users to choose which trophies to display.  Right now it’s just a stream of the last 6 awarded) choose which to display? i think it would be more logical to display the highest one. i also wouldnt put any number in post count badge, but having medals in diff colors

 

“Also, i find it a bit odd that there is a "Staff" award when you can already tell who is part of the staff because of the thing below their name” – Charmanderson (TAY: Yeah, the badge looks pretty crappy, too.  The idea behind that was as follows: make badges to honor current and former staff.  Now that I think about it, I probably should just delete the “current staff” award and only make a “Emeritus Staff” award.  The current staff award is redundant, you’re right.” id also remove the , no reason for them to eb there anymore

 

IMPORTANT LIMITATIONS RIGHT NOW

Right now I’m trying to find a way to let users choose which awards show up on post view (under your user info when you post on the site), but I’m not having much success.  That might come later.  For now we may be stuck with a “these are the latest awards given to this member” sort of approach. same answer: choose which to display? i think it would be more logical to display the highest one. i also wouldnt put any number in post count badge, but having medals in diff colors

 

My ability to auto-award posts is very limited atm.  They’re all done pretty much by hand.  Thus I’m going to need to hold off on awards like, “Joined the site in 2012” or “Posted 200 times in the Introduce Yourself forum”.  It would quickly become a full-time job to identify everybody who qualified. dont stress urself

 

 

 

AND A FEW MORE IDEAS

Thanks to everybody who wants me to have an award!  I decided to wait on that because A) Self-congratulations is tacky , and B) There are dozens and dozens of people who deserve their own award.  I figure if I don’t have an award, they won’t feel quite so left out.  Once life slows down I’ll work on adding more unique awards!  (Also, I’d be interested if anyone had ideas for ways to “qualify” for having your own award.  Maybe a list of requirements like post count, time on the forums, good looks, and swearing fealty to myself?  Maybe not all those things, but I’d absolutely be up for a method for users to earn their own award) i would let that decision to u on which ppl u wana giv an unique award

 

[Tom]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

something like that seems great but for example, id go with instead of

makes it more attractive

[SieghartXx]

i think i would say doing somethng like this.

 as simple as a gradient line around an image with transperant background. 

 

or 

 

just using (for example) 

as an layer above the image with linear light.

making it look something like 

 

or idk. just throwing in ideas

and certain badges wouldnt look good with borders in general so.. hard to say

I like this :'D