Suggestions Appreciated.

[Karnstantine]

Zyros and I are wracking our brains, trying to figure out how to draw in a larger permanent user base, preferably with some manner of forum-wide thing that will keep people coming back for more. We have come up with little.

So, we are now open to suggestions that will be considered in the areas of plausibility, effectiveness, and maintainability.

[Mikado]

Build further upon the RP section to attract RP members (like me).

A 'point' system, with regular contests giving them. You only need to code point counter in the user profile (or find it somewhere on the net, I'm sure it exists) and organize contests every week or so, to keep people coming back. They can be about whatever. The difference between these and the ones you already have is that these are actually rewarded, and if people want points they can win them. Eventually you can add a shop system, where members can buy things for their points, like custom rank icons, name colours, bolds in their names, etc. (With a timelimit to keep the economy flowing).

Hold a large multisectioned forum wide RP, with all elements that this forum keeps its members (out of the top of my head, spriting, megaman, gaming, writing)

But the forum won't be active if the staff isn't. The staff was pretty much death for almost a whole year, the damage has been done. You guys need to STAY active now and slowly rebuild from the ruins. Because we got active staff now, don't expect suddenly the forum live again. You need to keep your staff activity for at least half a year, and then you should notice some differences. And its very hard, because you easily get bored with being staff, I have experienced it, and so have the 'inactive' staff members of this forum.

Staff members should be devoted people, that's the key. And then wait.

Oh, and maybe update the main site? There are about a million sprite rips on this forum waiting for update. At least have someone from the staff organize all the images (series, style etc.) so that future updating won't be so hard.

[Lern]

How about an Embodimental RP? Or, member groups for crap. :o

Idea A:
Basically an RP where everyone just makes up his own character, which should show him one way or another in SI, but look like his avatar/sprite; Basically an RP of yourself :D

Idea B:
Like... uh... A... SI Club. Yes.

[NDraxian0]

More contests (Spriting or otherwise) would definitely help. Perhaps contests in not megaman style. Like a weeky contest run by a mod or something.

Maybe even set up a place for spriting duels even.

The RP improvements might attract other people, but we're better known for sprites.

[Terry von Feledae]

I personally believe that we should wait until the main site gets back on its feet before thinking too much about boosting the forum activity. I believe the main reason visits are sparse is that SI pretty much appears to be dead to anyone randomly stumbling across the site.

On that note, I would also put off larger "bait-projects" until autumn/winter since visits are generally lower when it's sunny outside.

Mikado: A points system would be cool, but difficult to implement. What would they be rewarded for, and how could we prevent posts made only to gain those points? What may sound like simple questions could be much, much more difficult to handle.

Lern: We had something similar to your "RP" idea before, called "The Party Thread".

Basically, it went straight to hell and got banned.

Of course, with a bit more common sense and moderation it would be workable, but what's the point? I mean, we have the chat for random discussion and nonsense, and there really isn't much to play if there isn't an underlying story/reasoning.
And giving it its own story and setting and everything would pretty much equate to a normal RP, of which we already have a multitude.

Of course, it's not like activty didn't only drop because I left and people missed me. *smacked*

[Mikado]

Mikado: A points system would be cool, but difficult to implement. What would they be rewarded for, and how could we prevent posts made only to gain those points? What may sound like simple questions could be much, much more difficult to handle.

*smacked*
No, no, it's not rewarded for posts, it's rewarded for activity in events. For instance contests, art/sprite galleries, RIPS. etc. Both simple quesions easily handled.

[Terry von Feledae]

That deoesn't make my scepticism go away, but I guess I'm just being overly paranoid.

[Barubary]

There's something I've been toying with for a while now, but I'm not really sure this forum would be the best place for it. I might as well post it just to see if there'd be some interest.


Since the EXE:OSS was not really what (at least part of) the EXE fanbase expected from the EXE1 remake, why not make one ourselves? I'm not talking about a remake with some beefed up battle system and upgraded sprites. I'm talking about a 3D remake. Yes, a full 3D remake.
There would seem to be some problems with that however, some more obvious than others.

There's already a game being made that's visible on the main site. This'll be no problem if ACE thinks it's OK, of course.
We're with too few. If we want to make the game as good as possible, the current userbase might not be sufficient to provide everything we need to make the game. Including other communities will increase the chance of the game being made, the speed with which the game can be made, and the overall popularity of the game (the more people know about it, the more people can provide feedback). Of course, INC should remain the home base of the project, unless we for some reason decide it needs its own website.
Capcom might not like fans making another remake of EXE1 when it just released its own. It's unlikely, as it'll be of a different calibre, but possible.
This is a site about sprites (and MM). It might be a bit odd to create a 3D game on a website full of sprites (ok, and textures). Also a reason to expand the projects to other communities. I think the percentage of creative people present in this community (which are certainly necessary if we want to create such a game) is higher on sites like this than on more generic MM sites though.
We need to find the proper people to manage this project and create the game. Even though it should be a community game, not everyone should be actually working on it. We'll need programmers, gameplay designer(s), 3D modelers, skinners/riggers, animators, 2D artists (shouldn't be a problem here), concept artists, sound artist(s) (although we could theoretically snatch sounds from the various games, it'll be more awesome if we had our own), and more I cannot think of at the moment. Of course, we'll also need to give one from each category the main responsibility for development and quality of that aspect of the game.
What are we going to make it in/with. My preference would be using XNA Game Studio (C#), as I have some good experience with it. I might also be able to get an engine for it that provides a lot of extra functionality (I know the creators personally, but the engine is far from finished). Also, being able to play the game on the Xbox 360 as well as the PC should generate some more interest. (also, I believe I've heard them talking about having support for playing the (smaller?) games made with the engine in the future, but I'm not sure if and when that will happen)


Even though I had the idea for a while, I've not thoroughly thought about anything yet. It might be a good idea to use a general Legends style gameplay, but it's also possible a completely new style of gameplay would be the best option. It might be a good idea to keep the team small, or it might not be. It might be a good idea to ..... you get the drift. In short, we'll have to build the game from the ground up. This means there will be no playable demo or video near the start of the project; only game design and maybe some small 'spike solutions' to test gameplay elements.
Also do not expect to finish the game within a year, even with a lot of people working on it (or maybe especially with a lot of people working on it).


Also note that I had this idea long before EXE:OSS was announced. The point of remaking EXE1 instead of making a new game in the series was that I/we did not have to come up with the entire story. However if it is going to be a community game it'll probably pose no problem to come up with a new story instead of using the one from EXE1 or the anime.


I would not be surprised if this was my longest text-only post ever.

[DragonZero]

I would have to say that Updating the Main Site would probably be the best way to go about gaining more Members and Attention in general. As Mikado said, there's a Vast amount of Sprites on these Forums that have yet to be displayed in the Gallery.
We could try implementing other things such as Contests and the like, but ultimately, I think they would prove to be only temporary fixes.

[Plaz]

gameplay designer(s)
Hello world!

This is a good idea, sort of. A big project like this that requires a large community in order to attract a large community doesn't quite connect in my mind.

[turpinator]

There's something I've been toying with for a while now, but I'm not really sure this forum would be the best place for it. I might as well post it just to see if there'd be some interest.


Since the EXE:OSS was not really what (at least part of) the EXE fanbase expected from the EXE1 remake, why not make one ourselves? I'm not talking about a remake with some beefed up battle system and upgraded sprites. I'm talking about a 3D remake. Yes, a full 3D remake.
There would seem to be some problems with that however, some more obvious than others.

There's already a game being made that's visible on the main site. This'll be no problem if ACE thinks it's OK, of course.
We're with too few. If we want to make the game as good as possible, the current userbase might not be sufficient to provide everything we need to make the game. Including other communities will increase the chance of the game being made, the speed with which the game can be made, and the overall popularity of the game (the more people know about it, the more people can provide feedback). Of course, INC should remain the home base of the project, unless we for some reason decide it needs its own website.
Capcom might not like fans making another remake of EXE1 when it just released its own. It's unlikely, as it'll be of a different calibre, but possible.
This is a site about sprites (and MM). It might be a bit odd to create a 3D game on a website full of sprites (ok, and textures). Also a reason to expand the projects to other communities. I think the percentage of creative people present in this community (which are certainly necessary if we want to create such a game) is higher on sites like this than on more generic MM sites though.
We need to find the proper people to manage this project and create the game. Even though it should be a community game, not everyone should be actually working on it. We'll need programmers, gameplay designer(s), 3D modelers, skinners/riggers, animators, 2D artists (shouldn't be a problem here), concept artists, sound artist(s) (although we could theoretically snatch sounds from the various games, it'll be more awesome if we had our own), and more I cannot think of at the moment. Of course, we'll also need to give one from each category the main responsibility for development and quality of that aspect of the game.
What are we going to make it in/with. My preference would be using XNA Game Studio (C#), as I have some good experience with it. I might also be able to get an engine for it that provides a lot of extra functionality (I know the creators personally, but the engine is far from finished). Also, being able to play the game on the Xbox 360 as well as the PC should generate some more interest. (also, I believe I've heard them talking about having support for playing the (smaller?) games made with the engine in the future, but I'm not sure if and when that will happen)


Even though I had the idea for a while, I've not thoroughly thought about anything yet. It might be a good idea to use a general Legends style gameplay, but it's also possible a completely new style of gameplay would be the best option. It might be a good idea to keep the team small, or it might not be. It might be a good idea to ..... you get the drift. In short, we'll have to build the game from the ground up. This means there will be no playable demo or video near the start of the project; only game design and maybe some small 'spike solutions' to test gameplay elements.
Also do not expect to finish the game within a year, even with a lot of people working on it (or maybe especially with a lot of people working on it).


Also note that I had this idea long before EXE:OSS was announced. The point of remaking EXE1 instead of making a new game in the series was that I/we did not have to come up with the entire story. However if it is going to be a community game it'll probably pose no problem to come up with a new story instead of using the one from EXE1 or the anime.


I would not be surprised if this was my longest text-only post ever.
I'm willing to help with stuff like that if the idea goes through.

[Barubary]

Hello world!

This is a good idea, sort of. A big project like this that requires a large community in order to attract a large community doesn't quite connect in my mind.
One does not need to start with a large community; use a small one to lay the foundations, and then expand. It's not a very good idea to advertise to every community without anything but this vague idea of a game.*
As far as I've seen, most positions/abilities necessary to start with are already present here on INC.


*For more reasons than one, actually. You might sound like some advertising spambot, and you do not want to have too many people involved at first. (You cannot please everyone, thus the decision making stuff gets harder if there are more people involved, unless a proper hierarchy is maintained)

[Plaz]

OK, you convinced me. When do we start? : D

[Blackbeltdude]

Sprites Inc has ALWAYS been about posting sprite rips. The main site needs updated more, no matter what people decide to do.

The PD section needs to be sorted out, because that adds to the community aspect of the site.

We need more Megaman games released. :P Honestly, that's the MOST important part considering this particular community's roots and theme.

I joined the Megaman community in 2003, through Bob and George. That community lasted as long as the comic did (bit longer even), and it was a VERY strong and large forum. The main reason was the comic; it drew people into the forum, and inspired people to post their own comics and sprites. Sprites Inc doesn't have something like that, because it's a resource site- and a very specific one at that.

Would a game project accomplish that draw? I'm afraid my pessimism says, "no."

For starters, if the scope of the project is really something large and impressive, it'll probably run off of it's own site and forums. Which is really for the better, as most fan games don't seem to progress all too well. The problems will range from never starting, to real life, to constant member replacement, poor organization, loss of assets, and just general loss of interest.

Barubary's suggestion, as neat as it may be, really should be ran as a game project and not a community project (in my opinion at least). I promise that all the people you would need for it aren't all here. :P

If everyone wants to go in that direction though, then keep in mind it's got to be something that's actually VERY open to the community. If it's a game, and there's some quality control, not everyone will get to participate.

Pixel Joint does a good job of including the community in the site (though, it's also a site that's based around a community). For example, they've got pixel apartments, which members submit, and show up on a huge apartment complex. They've got other stuff too, but I think that's the neatest thing. The weekly contests too, are also very smart.

Could try a pixel quilt if you really wanted to. :P

Regardless, the problem here IS the main site; it's a resource site before anything else. And if there aren't a lot of Megaman games being released, then there's not much for the community to talk about when the site isn't being updated, or rips aren't being submitted. And really, this site staying active is largely dependent on rippable games being released (plenty of stuff from older games needs to be uploaded, but the point still stands).

If you want a LARGE community, then decide what to do with the main site. Either update it on some kind of schedule, or add some kind of entertainment content that compensates for the lack of the IP specific games the site's community primarily is focused on.

[Ukyo]

I always thought SI should shift it's focus to either all capcom sprites or sprites in general. When I first came to this site I was looking for sprite sheets from some odd Japanese game (forgot which one). I liked the orginization and site design, but alas, it only had Rockman sprites. I guess the Castlevaina section is a step in that direction, but I think we need to offer more. We also should put a larger emphisis on community made sprites. They're making less and less 2d games, and providing only rips from a dying race of games will kill inc. Sprite based games may be dying, but sprites themselves are not. Should we offer better reception for PD sprites, I think that would draw more people.

[turpinator]

Or at least add a new series for ripping into the mix. When ACE was announcing the opening of a new section for rips, I was expecting something like Sonic or Metroid, I never would have guessed it was a Castlevania section.

In fact, I recall asking him about it soon afterwards and getting a response of something like Metroid almost WAS one of them...

But I digress, adding more series would make this site benefit. Maybe not open it completely to whatever may be, but a few more series may be a good idea.