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Khallayne

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There needs to be some sort of dragon cave chat that is linked from the forum and isn't IRC based.

I'd support this =)

 

Some things that I've noticed that make the DC forum feel a lot more restricting and less comfortable-- just some feedback =P

 

Locking of threads that have been answered in the help section. The purpose of that is probably to cut down on spam, but if people honestly insist on spamming, just warn them I say. There have been a couple threads I would have liked to continue the recent discussion on, but found the topic locked. Creating a duplicate thread just to continue the discussion seems rather redundant and probably would've been considered spam as well. You could say that the Help Section isn't for discussing things at all, but if it's just about a buggy feature or something, I don't see the harm =p

 

Less censors-- not talking about swear filters, but for things like "No-offense", it's rather excessive. It's okay to have pet peeves, but forcing them onto the way others type is a bit edgy. Especially for conversations that aren't even related, ex. "The defense was lacking, there was no-offense".

 

The A Lot monster is cool though-- it's like a forum meme thing.

 

Something a lot less tactile, but I'll mention it nonetheless; less paranoia about "drama". I see clear reasons for not wanting conflict, but sometimes a bit of heated discussion can benefit. Not talking about mud slinging, flame wars, of course-- if those happen, warning should be enough. For instance, trying to find older topics on the discontinuation of Frills, or why Dragon trading couldn't be its own feature are somewhat difficult since most topics have been since deleted. Even mentioning such topics seems to be treading on thin ice, which is concerning to those who aren't as well informed.

 

S'all I can think of at the moment. Take what I said with a grain of salt, none of it is meant to be offensive =) Just trying to give some feedback on what I feel could be improved.

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I'd support this =)

 

Some things that I've noticed that make the DC forum feel a lot more restricting and less comfortable-- just some feedback =P

 

Less censors-- not talking about swear filters, but for things like "No-offense", it's rather excessive. It's okay to have pet peeves, but forcing them onto the way others type is a bit edgy. Especially for conversations that aren't even related, ex. "The defense was lacking, there was no-offense".

 

The A Lot monster is cool though-- it's like a forum meme thing.

 

Something a lot less tactile, but I'll mention it nonetheless; less paranoia about "drama". I see clear reasons for not wanting conflict, but sometimes a bit of heated discussion can benefit. Not talking about mud slinging, flame wars, of course-- if those happen, warning should be enough. For instance, trying to find older topics on the discontinuation of Frills, or why Dragon trading couldn't be its own feature are somewhat difficult since most topics have been since deleted. Even mentioning such topics seems to be treading on thin ice, which is concerning to those who aren't as well informed.

 

S'all I can think of at the moment. Take what I said with a grain of salt, none of it is meant to be offensive =) Just trying to give some feedback on what I feel could be improved.

Yes please. I was way weirded out when I first tried typing that out and it went poof :|

 

A Lot is from Hyperbole and a Half, I believe.

 

ogod yes that so much. Half the time, it's drama because you label it as such, not because it actually is >.>

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I think all the mature section would need, is a warning that the topics are more mature, are debated, and it's likely you might get into one. A member shouldn't have to prove they're of age, because nothing should change, except the seriousness of the topics and the maturity needed to debate them wholly. The more lighthearted ones would just go in General Discussion as it is now, and ones with controversial topics can go in the more mature subforum.

 

My two cents anyway. :U

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Speaking of the alot.png, was permission gotten to use that on here? I'm assuming permission would be needed to use it... I read Hyperbole and a Half all the time and Allie (the creator) has stated that she doesn't mind others using her creations but would like credit and would also like to be asked before anything is used.

 

I'm just curious since everyone around here (especially in Dragon Requests) is real big about permission and such...

 

 

 

Anyway... on topic. I agree with a bigger inbox. I'm always having to delete all my PM's and sometimes I forget that I promised someone an egg or whatever. I usually never delete my mail (I still have mail from 2006 in my aol and yahoo inboxes) and I hate having to do that here. And even though a bigger inbox doesn't mean not having to delete my PM's, it still means I can save more and not have to delete all of it. If I'm making any sense...

 

I also agree with a trade subforum, multi-quoting, and reduced time between searches and flood control.

 

 

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I think all the mature section would need, is a warning that the topics are more mature, are debated, and it's likely you might get into one. A member shouldn't have to prove they're of age, because nothing should change, except the seriousness of the topics and the maturity needed to debate them wholly. The more lighthearted ones would just go in General Discussion as it is now, and ones with controversial topics can go in the more mature subforum.

 

My two cents anyway. :U

Murder has the right idea actually.

 

add that and options for a darker skin and it might make some people's day

 

I second this

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Actually, IIRC there was a thread about reducing the search time and TJ said it would never happen b/c of the strain. Lotta posts and such. So, yeah. Can't find the thread, figured it's deleted...

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I know this was tried once before, and discontinued for a logical reason. But would there be another way, perhaps, to add an Online/Offline indicator? One that can be controlled by the members, so that if they wish to remain anonymous, they will show up as "Offline"?

 

I realize with Teleport coming that it won't be as big of an issue to coordinate being online. But PMs aren't always about trades, and sometimes still require a quick answer. Knowing whoever you're PM'ing is around and likely to reply quick would be lovely.

 

And the Forum Clock idea? Yes. Please. Pleasepleasepleaseplease!

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Actually, IIRC there was a thread about reducing the search time and TJ said it would never happen b/c of the strain. Lotta posts and such. So, yeah. Can't find the thread, figured it's deleted...

I could have sworn, though, that at one time it was just 60 seconds, not the 120 it is now. Isn't 2 full minutes a bit... Excessive? I understand there needing to be time, due to the strain and all, but... I wonder if the long wait time might deter some people from doing proper searches before posting a duplicate topic? Like "Meh, I don't care to wait 2 full minutes to try a slightly different keyword search. I'll just slap up one of those 'searched, did not find anything' things at the top and post anyway..."

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I'd support this =)

 

Some things that I've noticed that make the DC forum feel a lot more restricting and less comfortable-- just some feedback =P

 

Locking of threads that have been answered in the help section. The purpose of that is probably to cut down on spam, but if people honestly insist on spamming, just warn them I say. There have been a couple threads I would have liked to continue the recent discussion on, but found the topic locked. Creating a duplicate thread just to continue the discussion seems rather redundant and probably would've been considered spam as well. You could say that the Help Section isn't for discussing things at all, but if it's just about a buggy feature or something, I don't see the harm =p

 

Less censors-- not talking about swear filters, but for things like "No-offense", it's rather excessive. It's okay to have pet peeves, but forcing them onto the way others type is a bit edgy. Especially for conversations that aren't even related, ex. "The defense was lacking, there was no-offense".

 

The A Lot monster is cool though-- it's like a forum meme thing.

 

Something a lot less tactile, but I'll mention it nonetheless; less paranoia about "drama". I see clear reasons for not wanting conflict, but sometimes a bit of heated discussion can benefit. Not talking about mud slinging, flame wars, of course-- if those happen, warning should be enough. For instance, trying to find older topics on the discontinuation of Frills, or why Dragon trading couldn't be its own feature are somewhat difficult since most topics have been since deleted. Even mentioning such topics seems to be treading on thin ice, which is concerning to those who aren't as well informed.

 

S'all I can think of at the moment. Take what I said with a grain of salt, none of it is meant to be offensive =) Just trying to give some feedback on what I feel could be improved.

Feedback is EXACTLY what we are looking for. Thank you. =)

 

Things that we, the moderators, can change and affect. =)

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Things so far:

A larger inbox space.

More characters allowed in signature (without the size limit being affected).

Reduce the time between using 'Search'.

What merits a warn, and what are the possible consequences.

 

Yes, please! :D I would like most of the others as well (nothing I would actually dislike suggested there), but these I would particularly love.

 

Also, would really, really like different smilies. Not necessarily more, but... I really dislike most of the default ones, and even the ones I don't dislike don't actually seem to express the feeling I usually associate with that smiley. So... I'd love either different ones, or the ability to disable them without disabling all images. I get annoyed with constantly having to disable them in every individual post.

 

As for a mature section, I wouldn't use it but I think I'd be for it, if only to confine some of the more borderline discussion already present to a defined area. Even some of us who are adults prefer not to be running across some of those discussions, and it would be nice to have an easier way to separate them. :3

 

On the whole, though, I would say that I'm extremely happy with the way that the forums are run. And I've had nothing but good experiences with the mods. I appreciate all the hard work y'all put in to make this such an enjoyable place. <3

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the ability to disable them without disabling all images.

the ability to disable them without disabling all images.

YES.

 

It's 120 seconds? I thought it was just 60... *Checks*

Odd...

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Something a lot less tactile, but I'll mention it nonetheless; less paranoia about "drama". I see clear reasons for not wanting conflict, but sometimes a bit of heated discussion can benefit. Not talking about mud slinging, flame wars, of course-- if those happen, warning should be enough. For instance, trying to find older topics on the discontinuation of Frills, or why Dragon trading couldn't be its own feature are somewhat difficult since most topics have been since deleted. Even mentioning such topics seems to be treading on thin ice, which is concerning to those who aren't as well informed.

This. Sooooooooooo much of this. I would much prefer treatment to prevention in this area. Let people discuss whatever they want, and if trouble happens, punish the people causing the actual problem.

 

I also think there should be much, much, much more transparency concerning the mods and artists. I understand why the mods need a private forum, but I think a private forum for the artists is more detrimental than helpful. If annoying jerkwads are giving the artists guff, ban the annoying jerkwads instead of hiding the artists away in a little room. I feel like some of them (not naming names, mostly because I don't remember or can't spell them) are subconsciously taking advantage of this. I get the feeling from the forum that the artists want something completely different out of Dragon Cave than the rest of the users, or at least some of the rest of the users, and separating the artists from the rest of us just serves to propagate that.

 

I'm digressing here, but I just want to add one more thing on that subject. The DR forum is way, way too closed. I occasionally read something on there and am afraid that anything I say will be either taken as rude and offensive or ignored completely. I think sprites should be presented to the entire userbase so they can comment on them before they are put on the site, so we can avoid issues like "the Albino's neck looks weird." I think this sort of reviewing would cut down on the "cave cloggers" and prevent Frill-esque fiascoes in the future.

 

Also, on a completely unrelated note: I would like to see something in a person's profile saying when they were last on the site.

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I think mandatory/built-in links to user scrolls would be a good plan - there are always sooo many new people in help who want to know what's wrong with their dragons but can't describe it and don't link to their scroll and don't even know how to. If you had to enter your scrollname on registration at the forum and it is linked in your profile by default it would make it much easier to help those people.

 

Of course, for the few people who don't want to link to their scrolls, there should probably be a hide-scroll option.

 

Plus if the information was there it might possibly be searchable? That would help find people with non-matching names.

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Perhaps we should discuss how the forum is unfriendly to new members.

 

We appear to have a reputation, Suggestions?

 

Also this:

 

This.  Sooooooooooo much of this.  I would much prefer treatment to prevention in this area.  Let people discuss whatever they want, and if trouble happens, punish the people causing the actual problem.

~Members discussing what ever they want, with out limits? Nothing in life is limit free. Approved topics should remain open and the members warned for breaking rules 'causing problems'. Until the topic has out lived its usefulness.~

 

I also think there should be much, much, much more transparency concerning the mods and artists.  I understand why the mods need a private forum, but I think a private forum for the artists is more detrimental than helpful.  If annoying jerkwads are giving the artists guff, ban the annoying jerkwads instead of hiding the artists away in a little room.  I feel like some of them (not naming names, mostly because I don't remember or can't spell them) are subconsciously taking advantage of this.  I get the feeling from the forum that the artists want something completely different out of Dragon Cave than the rest of the users, or at least some of the rest of the users, and separating the artists from the rest of us just serves to propagate that.

 

~Topics not viewed by members are there for a reason, we get work done that is otherwise distracted. Also TJ likes surprises.~

 

I'm digressing here, but I just want to add one more thing on that subject.  The DR forum is way, way too closed.  I occasionally read something on there and am afraid that anything I say will be either taken as rude and offensive or ignored completely.  I think sprites should be presented to the entire userbase so they can comment on them before they are put on the site, so we can avoid issues like "the Albino's neck looks weird."  I think this sort of reviewing would cut down on the "cave cloggers" and prevent Frill-esque fiascoes in the future.

~Why? DC is a free site, do you really think members should approve everything?~

 

Also, on a completely unrelated note:  I would like to see something in a person's profile saying when they were last on the site.

Edited by _Z_

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Actually, I'm very ok with the way the Forums works. It's nice to know about the Trade Forums, thank you, guyz. I got used to search wait, and I really value the job of mods and T.J.. Sometimes, rules here might look too strict, especially for new members comparing with different popular forums, but those rules help to keep the board friendly and helpful.

 

As for R-rate section, I don't really see why we need it. Seriously, to discuss pron? cool.gif DC Forum is attached to the Dragon cave site, so it's normal it is dedicated to DC mostly, plus we have general Discussion and Role Games. If I want to discuss Sasha Grey in a new movie, there're thousands of special forums for my service, not that I need to discuss it here.

 

Also, as far as I can see, the idea of checking maturity level itself could lead us to madness: even censorkip.gif-sites just have a "Are you 21?" disclaimer, and some members here suggest to scan IDs.... Lol, I imagine myself scanning my Russian passport (32 pages!) to a get a permission for discussing pron at DC Forums tongue.gif I wouldn't say that idea sounds mature like.

 

I absolutely agree with _Z_'s answers in the post above. As for me, Forums are not unfriendly at all, but I can see why some members think so. Also, I've never understood, why not taking a mentor, if you experience some problems, May be a mod should advertise Mentoring project for persons who get warned (I mean newbies, who don't know the right place, rather than hot-tempered debaters)? _Z_, what do you think about it? Also, it may be useful to have a Compendium on the main page, listing all the threads that a new member might need: trades, help, dragon requests, lost in trade, fansites, role plays, all the active threads in alphabet order and updated to time. Perhaps, it will reduce the number of duplicates / wrong topics. I don't know, just an idea.

 

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Outer Space I can post the mentor topic in my CP, Intro reply or in my siggy, I try to give all the info I think will help But some read some don't. If you have a suggestion I'm more then happy to try. smile.gif

 

~Since I approve topics for introductions,(which I need eye bleach for p0rn and other spam more often then not.)I post a CP so I know I have checked the topic for eggspam.

(I can not tell what is in a Signature until I approve the post unless I check every profile.)~

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~Members discussing what ever they want, with out limits? Nothing in life is limit free. Approved topics should remain open and the members warned for breaking rules 'causing problems'. Until the topic has out lived its usefulness.~

Except, erm, freedom of speech?

 

I have often felt that this forum keeps much too tight a hold on what members are allowed to mention and discuss. The Frills are a perfect illustration of this. No one could even mention Frills or query about why they were being removed without being jumped on for "causing drama"-- and 8 months later, people still feel trepidation at the mere mention of them. I mean, obviously mods should intervene with true flame wars, but more often than not I've found that mods' reactions to any conflict in a thread, even valid - if heated - debates, run along the lines of "zomg lock it" or "WIPE EVERYTHING." With all due respect, it sometimes feels like we are being shepherded about by the Thought Police. >>

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Perhaps, but all topics started in SD were attack topics on the artist. If a member started a topic that wasn't

  Hello, I'll be playing as the Frills Defender.
or in the wrong section perhaps they would have been allowed.

 

As I remember we had a topic in site by the artist of the frills that was going no where in changing the artists mind.

 

Drama or the thought of drama doesn't get a topic closed. A topic gets closed when the mod repeatedly tells a topic to stop or it goes so far off topic it has lost its purpose. One member can not keep a topic active.

 

Members can and should always pm a mod if they have questions.

 

Edit to add: I forgot to address the freedom of speech, I believe we have TOS and the board rules, if your freedom of speech doesn't break the rules feel free to express them.

Edited by _Z_

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For the Mature section, I don't see why we can't just have a warning disclaimer up. It'd be enough to warn people. Worried about "corrupting" the kiddies? Get em off the internet then. They'll find out eventually.

All this application and approval stuff sounds like a lot of work and rather silly, really. I mean, IDs? Scanned IDs? Seriously?

Agreed.

All it takes to see the worst stuff on the internet is taking 2 seconds to use google. I would say a simple warning message would be more than enough, especially since I doubt anything in the mature section would be shock-site levels, or anything like that.

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my 5 cents, even though i'm not very active in the forum *g*.

 

- i'd like to see more organization in the site discussion. split the subfora a bit more up perhaps, to have the whole thing more clearly arranged

e.g under breeding:

one forum Lineages

one forum General Questions about breeding

something like that, to make things easier to find. with searchwords that are very VERY common, the search doesn't help because there are to many results coming up.

 

- re mature forum. I am not sure this is needed here, at least in my opinion. it seems to me rather family oriented, plus its a forum relating to and supporting an online game, so i don't see the necessity of having a subsection for mature content. wouldnt people , that feel the need to discuss certain topics really discuss them here and not rather find a forum specially suited to that interests where there would be more people with the same interests/problems?

also there might be legal problems as to how access for minors to mature content should be restricted?

having people verify their age would probably mean a lot of work for the mods. wouldn't the only reliable method be to demand something like a permit from the parents for those underage ? i cannot imagine it would be possible without lots of paperwork involved.

 

- as has been said before, some different boards styles would be nice, like dark grey or black or maybe seasonal styles.(which i wouldn't use, but i a a board admin myself and most people just love seasonal styles *g*.. bah..humbug *g*)

 

-if its possible for this board software, a *thank you* mod would be nice, that is, having a button under each post, which people can klick if they found said post helpful. if people klicked thank you, it would say something like "333 people want to thank user xyz for this post"

 

- as for the hidden group for artist, i didnt realize there was one, but i think its helpful to have such closed spaces. i would imagine many users giving input on a developmental stage would be rather counterproductive?..and sometimes , well, you just need an area where you can vent off steam ;-).

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I dunno if it has been suggested before, but maybe a guestbook would be nice - a guestbook for each User, so we don't always have to PM somebody.

 

Oh, and I'm totally for the bigger space for PMs.

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Thanks for the topic. I think it’s nice to get to talk about these things every once in a while. smile.gif

 

IMO, the forums run pretty smoothly. I like the mods and think that they’re a hardworking group that are trying to keep things functioning in the best way possible for all users. That can be a difficult balancing act, especially in a forum this size, so kudos to you guys and I don’t have any complaints from that end.

 

Some thoughts:

 

1. I’d love to see the News posts change if possible. I know that everyone gets really excited about new site developments and they want to give much deserved thanks to TJ, and I think that’s great, but I was wondering if there could be a discussion post put in the SD section that is linked to in the News section and then restrict replies in the news thread to questions.

 

Sometimes I don’t get online until a day or two after an announcement and there are 20 or 30 pages already. Reading through all of that to ask a question or to request some clarification isn’t always feasible and I’ve noticed that it generally results in the same question getting asked over and over, and a number of people answering each time, which makes the thread even longer. I don’t know about anyone else, but dividing the information and the excitement would be really helpful.

 

2. I really do think that the mods are doing a good job, but I think that possibly adding some with different time commitments would be helpful. I’ve noticed that the beginning and end of school periods can mean a lessened mod presence and it seems like there’s a larger presence during the summer. It’s completely understandable, but it might help to have some whose time ebbs and flows differently.

 

3. I also support the call for clearer guidelines as far as what’s appropriate here. I think that the ratings system is good as a general indicator, but it’s not always as helpful when using it to judge the specifics of a topic. Asking users to apply a system that’s open to wide interpretation when applied outside of movies isn’t always realistic.

 

However, I’m not really in favor of a mature forum. There are a lot of serious discussions that can be had without the need to move into “R rated” discussion. That probably covers most of the discussions going on in GD. If a topic is appropriate to post here (by which I mean the mods don’t delete it), then I’m not sure why it can’t be discussed in a manner that’s not particularly explicit. I don’t even think that would really be a problem with most threads on religion, politics, and many, many current events.

 

IMO, one of the main problems with a mature section is that there is a distinct benefit in the game to visiting the forums. The news is posted here, trading will be official and be organized largely through this forum, and it’s the best place to come to ask questions and make suggestions. Bumping up the rating, in any part of this forum, will most likely keep a certain amount of users from being allowed to access it. A lot of parents will be more likely to allow their kids on a forum that limits content due to the presence of children than they will for a forum that is simply divided up. Since this forum is so greatly connected to the game, I think that it’s more important that it’s accessible for the players than that there are places to talk about things that merit a mature section.

 

I don’t think that it’s necessary that every topic is available for discussion. If some things aren’t allowed here, then there are probably hundreds of other places to discuss them with folks as equally interesting and insightful as the great members we have here.

 

Also, a more detailed clarification of spam would be nice. "Messages that do not contribute to the topic or forum" is a lot more vague to members than it is to those in charge, IMO. I understand wanting to keep the rules short to encourage people to read them, but maybe we could have them like they are now and then have a "read more" thing after some of them to explain them in better detail.

 

4. I agree with the non-IRC chat if possible.

 

5. I also agree with Outer Space about stressing the Mentor Project more if possible. I know that it’s not an official DC project and so there may be limits to the ways in which it can be presented by the site and/or moderators, but I think that heightening its visibility to the edge of those limits would be very helpful.

 

6.

Perhaps we should discuss how the forum is unfriendly to new members.

 

Honestly, I think that some of that comes from the fact that, with respect to the game aspect, there’s a lot of information here as far as facts about how the game works, specifics about each dragon, how events run, etc. and that can be intimidating. And as wonderful as I think that the vast majority of the people are who are kind enough to haunt the help section and answer questions are, sometimes I think that the way a question gets answered (and I’m including my own responses in this) can seem kind of short to the person who has only asked it once in a way it didn’t seem to the person who’s answered it 53 times already. Same goes with the suggestion section. That's one of those things that I think would be helped some by increasing the visibility of the mentoring project.

 

Also, I’ve noticed that a lot of people who are either new or who have older accounts but never posted here much seem to think that the unwritten rule of what we can and can’t discuss about the game is still in effect. I think that it makes people wary of participating at times.

 

And not that I can think of much that can be done about it, but warnings are ominous. I understand that they’re used here as a convenient method of communication (which I think is efficient for a forum this size) and that getting one isn’t necessarily indicative of something dire, but IMO that can be hard for a lot of new members to understand. I think that may be because there are a lot of forums out there that don’t use warnings in this manner. Coming from a place where a warning is a serious thing as opposed to a “knock that off” message, can make for some anxiety for new folks when they’re warned here.

 

There’s also the chatting thing. I completely understand why it’s not allowed in various threads, but a lot of how people build a sense of community and new people get a foothold is through chatting about things. Understand, I’m not suggesting that be changed, I’m just pointing out that there may be a certain difficulty for new members that’s inherent to the way in which the forum is structured, even though that structure may make it function better overall.

 

Two not really important things –

 

mad.gif Has this smiley ever been used for anything good? It’s kind of hostile and accusatory and, personally, I think that it starts conversations off poorly from the beginning.

 

I don’t suppose there could be a prominent place to put “No, you’re zombie hasn’t disappeared!”

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I also think that the Rules thread for each board should be more universal, in that their basic rules all say the same thing.

 

Because if you see this thread:

Please click on my eggs!Thank you!

 

This person has made a thread requesting clicks, which is against the rules.

 

And in the rules thread in other boards, even POSTING in this thread, even if it's something helpful, will warrant you a warn(I'd know, I've received plenty for posting in a thread like that even when at the time GD did not have a rule stating that posting in a spam thread, regardless of what you say, was still considered spam ). But the Rules thread for that board does not say that posting in a spam thread is considered spam. But technically, all of those people who posted in that thread should be warned if you follow the rules from other boards, which some moderators do. So it's confusing when different boards don't even have the same basic rules. Obviously there's going to be additions to the rules for things like roleplaying, but I think the basic rules should be universal across the forum.

Edited by Syaoransbear

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In my opinion, we need more mods for the Dragon Requests forum. Right now all we really have is Sockpuppet, who according to her sig is on suspension. DR has enough issues without having no mod available.

 

Personally, I think 3 or 4 mods who also have some art background would be a good idea. Running the DR forum the way it's being suggested would be a ton of work for just one mod, but DR is kind of a mess right now the way things are.

 

As for the other suggestions being made, I'm totally in favor of more total messages and a higher character allowance for sigs. Clarity in rules and enforcement is always a very good thing.

 

As for the suggestion that artists should not have a hidden forum, _Z_ answered well, but I would take that a step farther. Not all opinions about an artwork have equal value. Putting sprites before the entire community for judgment would only create frustration for the artists. You would have pages of comments like "I like it!" and "I dunno, sumthing seems off to me." Neither of those types of comments are helpful to the artist. Critiquing artwork in a way that helps the artist improve that work has nothing to do with what you like or dislike. Of the comments I see in DC now, 90% of them are of the not helpful variety as above. The helpful comments come from other artists, whether they're in-cave spriters or not.

 

Having an area where they can work on their sprites away from the public eye is invaluable, in my opinion, and not just because TJ likes surprises. I don't have access yet, though I hope to someday. For anyone thinking I am implying that I don't want criticism on sprites I'm working on, that's not true. I welcome any helpful comments. But before you say anything, read "The Ultimate Guide to Spriting" pinned at the top of DR. In particular, read:

 

The specifics about constructive criticism:

1. Be objective. When you are offering crit on a sprite, there is no room for your own likes and dislikes. You are only offering opinions on the artistic integrity of the piece. If you don't have the artistic training or understanding of anatomy to evaluate the artwork objectively, it is better not to say anything, as your comments won't be helpful to the artist.

2. Be specific. "I don't know, something seems off." gives the artist no help either. An example of good crit would be, "I think the far shoulder is a little too high." or "You have stair steps happening there on the tail." If you think something's off, but aren't able to specifically say what that something is, be sure one of the other artists of the site will see it.

3. Be positive. Only telling the artist what is wrong, without mentioning anything he/she has done well doesn't help the artist in the long run. If all you do is point out where we've failed, we don't know where we've succeeded, and will quickly get discouraged. A good example of what I'm talking about would be something like, "The colors you've chosen here really work for this concept. However, I'm not sure I can tell what direction the light is coming from."

4. Be polite. Any other person's concept or idea has as much validity as yours, even if you don't agree with it. The whole idea of the Requests forum is to work together to create the best possible sprites for the site. We should be focusing only on the subject at hand, not on each other, or on personalities.

5. Be mature. Of course, this is easier said than done, but remember this isn't really about you, or about me. It's not about who is the "best" or "they don't like me so they won't ever take me seriously." This is about putting aside our self interest to produce a high quality sprite that is an asset to the game.

 

If your comments follow this guideline for criticism, then by all means speak up.

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