Where did they go wrong: Shmups Chat edition.

[Twiddle]

visitng irc must be like having a lobotomy

<Zeether> I want to fuck Reimu's armpits

[Icarus]

Not a good thing. I think it would be better if Shmups Chat was a lot leaner, like high scores/strategy. News and organized discussion, or else it's just a second playground after visiting Off Topic.

That can and will never happen, simply because:
1) very few people play the games with any real seriousness (hence the slow movement of the HS/Strat threads);
2) very few "experts" ever bother writing up guides;
3) even fewer players bother to ask for help when they are stuck;
4) People like to talk about stuff, on-topic or not.

[Twiddle]

Not a good thing. I think it would be better if Shmups Chat was a lot leaner, like high scores/strategy. News and organized discussion, or else it's just a second playground after visiting Off Topic.

2) very few "experts" ever bother writing up guides;

let alone finish them

[Icarus]

2) very few "experts" ever bother writing up guides;

let alone finish them

I am guilty as charged.

[Twiddle]

on the raiden fighters jet ST, a three inch layer of cobwebs

[shoe-sama]

that reminds me

i should probably finish that guide im doing

naw too lazy nobody plays that game anyways and they probably wouldn't benefit from the extra info

[Twiddle]

honestly i'd rather do a sispri gauntlet guide

i also have to evaluate hundreds of shitty doujin games he;lp

[Rob]

That can and will never happen

All that'd have to be done is an announcement and a brief period of moderation until people get a clue. I've seen another forum (with a lot more users than this) with a much more organized, less stupid discussion. One thread per game/issue would be an excellent start.

What I want when I go to shmups chat is news that Ketsui DL is being released tomorrow. What discussion outside of news, STGT, top 25, etc. threads would people really miss?

[shoe-sama]

I've seen another forum

i bet its the one in ur sig

[Rob]

Nope. I said a lot more users. Like thousands more.

[CIT]

What I want when I go to shmups chat is news that Ketsui DL is being released tomorrow. What discussion outside of news, STGT, top 25, etc. threads would people really miss?

^You made the first "When did they go wrong" thread.

[Rob]

You made the first shitty one. gg

[Twiddle]

That can and will never happen

I've seen another forum (with a lot more users than this) with a much more organized, less stupid discussion. One thread per game/issue would be an excellent start.

That applies to Something Awful only if you exclude the general purpose forums (all 4 of them)

[shoe-sama]

hey guys someone needs to make one on konami

[Rob]

hey guys someone needs to make one on konami

Never went wrong.

[Twiddle]

Also nobody here has played Otomedius

[Icarus]

I've seen another forum (with a lot more users than this) with a much more organized, less stupid discussion.

And much more anally-retentive, virtually uncontrolled banhammering and sniper deletion, I'll bet.

One thread per game/issue would be an excellent start.

And what do you propose when the forum's inbuilt search function doesn't work properly (and I'm not sure if bloodf will upgrade the phpBB software to v3), people don't know how to do more advanced manual searches, and the mods/admins don't seem motivated enough to do a mass manual index of all threads?

[Twiddle]

I've seen another forum (with a lot more users than this) with a much more organized, less stupid discussion.

And much more anally-retentive, virtually uncontrolled banhammering and sniper deletion, I'll bet.

seen on all the four general purpose forums. They are extremely easy to identify.

They leave the other forums well enough alone these days, thankfully. Though I've personally never heard of a general purpose forum not eventually becoming a cesspool of bad posting and circlejerking.

[Rob]

And what do you propose when the forum's inbuilt search function doesn't work properly

One of the big reasons search doesn't work are the thousands of threads that don't need to be there. They've made an index of strat/hs threads, wouldn't be much different.

[shoe-sama]

search works fine

it's just that people are too retarded to read the instructions

like

OMG put * after your search term for wildcard searches

they also seem to be unable to adjust their search options to omg any/all search terms or display results as posts/topics and whatnot

it still sucks since you can't do title only searches
still pretty easy to find what you're looking for unless you fail badly though

[Icarus]

One of the big reasons search doesn't work are the thousands of threads that don't need to be there. They've made an index of strat/hs threads, wouldn't be much different.

That is because Strat/HS is more focused and is easy to index anyway. With both on- and off-topic discussion, you'll get more variance in discussion focus - sometimes strategy sneaks into a Shmups Chat thread discussing a particular game, for example. When the focus of a particular subforum is wider, you'll invariably get more repeat threads and a larger variety of discussion, even when talking about the same game at hand. That should be expected.

The other thing is that bloodf and the other forum admins won't purge older threads as they prefer the "archival" aspect of the forum, even if it is difficult to backup, maintain and index.

Not only that, but Strat/HS are relatively slow when it comes to new topics, unlike OnT and OffT which see maybe thirty or forty new topics a day. That would be a nightmare to index, and you'd probably need a dedicated team of admins outside of the current group with indexing-only duties and access.

So I ask you again: how do you propose indexing OnT and OffT?

it still sucks since you can't do title only searches though

There are plugins you can install on phpBB for that.

[CIT]

You made the first shitty one. gg

Yes, because a two-line provocation, insinuating that all Compile games but Zanac are crap anyway, is a certainly the best way to start a serious discussion. The quality of the responses your post elicited is testament to that.

Everybody here already knows that you think Compile sucks and Mars Matrix and Psikyo is the nonplusultra. It's time for you to develop a new theme.

My Takumi thread is not at all about Takumi, btw. It's a comment on your posting style.

[Zebra Airforce]

on the raiden fighters jet ST, a three inch layer of cobwebs

I don't know what to do after area 15. HELP

[Rob]

Strat/HS is more focused
...
OnT and OffT which see maybe thirty or forty new topics a day.

That's the point of my suggestion. It's useless to elaborate since it's not going to happen, but I think one thread per game would be fine in SC (or if the game is new, pre/post release threads).

how do you propose indexing ... OffT?

I don't.

[Rob]

My Takumi thread is not at all about Takumi, btw. It's a comment on your posting style.

Which is why it's the type of thread that should be locked. You have no place to complain.

[CIT]

My Takumi thread is not at all about Takumi, btw. It's a comment on your posting style.

Which is why it's the type of thread that should be locked. You have no place to complain.

You are the one complaining about the forum's qualitiy deteriorating on the one hand, while making troll threads on the other.

I'm just complaining about your hypocrisy.

[JoshF]

Now That's Italian!

[Rob]

while making troll threads

Nope. I actually like Compile games a little or a lot, or I wouldn't bother making a thread about them.

[CIT]

Now That's Italian!

Part of my family is Italian.

[CIT]

while making troll threads

Nope. I actually like Compile games a little or a lot, or I wouldn't bother making a thread about them.

Certainly didn't come across that way.



EDIT: Maybe you should express opinions in a less normative style.