Author Topic: Where We Go From Here (Read 65046 times)

Alondite · « **Reply #30 on:** September 11, 2012, 02:22:49 am »

Leave it to the man behind it all to come up with the ideas.

All in all though, I agree. I've always felt that the core of TSC was the community, not the competition. Hell, that's why I've stayed around (and why I came back). It seems to be the one thing we have that other competition websites don't have, and I think that sets us apart.

I think that the stream was the first step, or the first glimpse at the future of TSC. I'm also happy to see the return of Epic Mafia; I don't even bother playing usually unless other TSCers are playing.

We will always be "The Sonic Center," but maybe that's not all we have to be? I think we are a community of gamers and competitors alike, and I think we should embrace that in it's entirety, even if it means branching out from Sonic a bit.

Rolken · « **Reply #31 on:** September 11, 2012, 02:40:27 am »

To be clear, I think moving away from leaderboards could energize a much healthier core of competition at TSC.

I also think it would be a good idea for TSC to have a mobile app that takes pictures and submits them as proof without an opportunity to doctor them.

Luxray · « **Reply #32 on:** September 11, 2012, 01:21:32 pm »

Quote from: Rolken on September 11, 2012, 02:40:27 am

I also think it would be a good idea for TSC to have a mobile app that takes pictures and submits them as proof without an opportunity to doctor them.

THIS.

DarkAura · « **Reply #33 on:** September 11, 2012, 03:02:05 pm »

Good, idea, mostly because I use my iPad and my phone on this site. I don't have a regular computer, but I do have a computer lab.

Cream147 · « **Reply #34 on:** September 11, 2012, 04:25:01 pm »

Firstly, I haven't been here properly in a while, though I should say that I check the website at least every week to see what's going on. I'm glad to see that something is being done here to address the current state of the website, which I would say is slight decline.

Ever since I can remember this website has been split into 2 separate assets. Competition, and community. The best way to move forward the way I see is to try and bridge the barrier between these two things as best as possible. The marathon was great. The idea of race nights coming back is also great, and exactly the sort of thing I need to happen. However, I think the whole website needs a reworking somehow that better integrates the competition with the community. 'Social gaming' is a buzz phrase at the moment, and these are the sort of lines I'm thinking along. How to achieve this, I'm not sure. I'm not the most creative person, but I think any changes that are made to this website need to be made with the idea of merging community and competition.

SpinDashMaster · « **Reply #35 on:** September 11, 2012, 05:03:23 pm »

Okay, it's my turn to talk. Most of you have heard some of this, some in more detail than I'm saying now. But I'm going on the record here mainly to clear up what exactly happened and why, as well as my plans with TSC in the near future.

What Happened to SDM
I've told the people who need to know what -exactly- happened. I'm not going to delve into complete detail to protect the names of the people involved. Suffice it to say there was a family emergency, I didn't know how to deal with it emotionally, and it led to me not going to school, work, studying, basically anything of the sort. I have more free time now that my life is mostly back on track, though I am devoting a moderate portion of my time towards helping that family member recover.

SDM's plans for TSC in the near future
I'm aware of my demotion from administrative status here. Honestly, it needed to happen. I was becoming less happy with my position, and the only real reasons I ever became admin were out of necessity. Those needs have been met a long time ago, and thus my purpose as an admin here is all but fulfilled.

That said, I still have many new things to bring to the community now that I can focus more on creativity than my own image. Here's what I want to do:

1) Emerald Challenges 2012 -- The all-teamwork series. It will uphold the 7 themes but each challenge will require 2 participants, locally or over Kaillera. More importantly however:

2) TRN 24/7 -- TSC Race Night, 24/7. This is an attempt to merge two concepts; one of which has been a strong idea on my backburner for 3 years, the other a strong concept already in-play, but in need of a boost. Combined, I think it will be a concept that will gracefully merge community and competiton, which is what everyone seems to be aiming for.

For those interested, this is what I want to do with TRN247: Players will be given small bar-shaped forum sigs that display their username and ranking for each game. This image will be hosted from an FTP: that way when a player's rating would change, they don't have to do anything except post game results whenever they race with someone.

The staff will update player rankings from the FTP, changing the image by editing the ranking number, then saving it while retaining the same filename. This will make the URL for their image point to the newly saved image automatically. It will also provide players a way to advertise TSC by bragging about their rating through their forum sigs on other websites.

TSC race nights would still be held every Saturday, wherein anyone who participates will receive double the normal ranking points they would have earned any other time.

Parax · « **Reply #36 on:** September 11, 2012, 06:39:32 pm »

One thing I brought up with Thorn and AD that I think is worth mentioning in the forum is this: if you take a look at the rankings, there are a lot of people on them. A lot more people than those who actually stick around and participate in the forums. There's a fairly large base of people who just join, submit stats and disappear.

I think something that would help is to address the question: how do we get those people to go to the forums or IRC and stick around the site instead of just leaving right after they submit? The talk of merging competition and community is a good idea, a lot of people liked the marathon and are happy about Race Nights coming back, but beyond that, how do we integrate the -rankings- with the community? It would work really well for us if we could figure out a way to do it imo.

edit: alsoooo! Anyone remember flyby's league? I'd so love if we brought that back.

flying fox · « **Reply #37 on:** September 11, 2012, 09:10:58 pm »

Quote from: Umbreon on September 11, 2012, 06:39:32 pm

edit: alsoooo! Anyone remember flyby's league? I'd so love if we brought that back.

That would be a good idea. I was actually thinking since TSC race nights and the EC board are being revived, that maybe we should try reviving this too. Has anyone asked her if she would do it again?

Parax · « **Reply #38 on:** September 12, 2012, 02:13:20 am »

I really doubt flyby would be willing to host it again, but that doesn't mean no one else can do it.

Cream147 · « **Reply #39 on:** September 12, 2012, 06:11:52 am »

I remember flyby's league. I really enjoyed that, so I'd be up for any sort of revival. Obviously it doesn't need to be run by her, as long as we have someone who is willing to run it.

SpinDashMaster · « **Reply #40 on:** September 12, 2012, 09:14:41 am »

The rankings provided in the TRN247 sector would sorta replace a need for a league.

Cream147 · « **Reply #41 on:** September 12, 2012, 02:46:34 pm »

Quote from: SpinDashMaster on September 12, 2012, 09:14:41 am

The rankings provided in the TRN247 sector would sorta replace a need for a league.

But if my understanding of your concept is right, there's still a place in the world for flyby's league. It was a friendly, trust-based sort of thing where a selection of levels were posted each week and you would submit the best time you achieved in a number of them in that week. Then your times would be scored based on how they compared to the other players and your points would count towards your league position. So you weren't racing directly against anyone, you could do it at a time that suited you, and you needed no streaming capability, yet it still encouraged healthy competition. Of course, my understanding of TRN247 may be wrong, and TRN247 may still cover all those bases. If it does then great. If not, I'd love to see both co-exist.

This is the topic of flyby's league, for everyone's convenience.

flying fox · « **Reply #42 on:** September 12, 2012, 03:54:22 pm »

Didn't flyby's league had two people working together getting the fastest time on a specific level? If so then it is a little bit different to TSC race nights, where it's just you racing and some races might be raced on a whole or have a goal. I can't see why the two can't co-exist.

Also flyby did have a sub-site for her league but it got taken down.

DarkAura · « **Reply #43 on:** September 12, 2012, 04:16:27 pm »

Is there anyway I can help host the league? I've had experience with running forums and competitions. I have free time to set stuff up. I'd need a partner, mostly because I only play a few games, and the partner needs to have knowledge about quite a few games.

SpinDashMaster · « **Reply #44 on:** September 12, 2012, 05:16:52 pm »

Quote from: cream147 on September 12, 2012, 02:46:34 pm

But if my understanding of your concept is right, there's still a place in the world for flyby's league. It was a friendly, trust-based sort of thing where a selection of levels were posted each week and you would submit the best time you achieved in a number of them in that week. Then your times would be scored based on how they compared to the other players and your points would count towards your league position. So you weren't racing directly against anyone, you could do it at a time that suited you, and you needed no streaming capability, yet it still encouraged healthy competition.

That is what TRN247 would cover. Competing on Race night (Saturdays) would net you double rating points for winning, but you can still race anytime with anyone in any game. That's what the "247" part is all about.

Cream147 · « **Reply #45 on:** September 12, 2012, 06:53:28 pm »

Well my interest is piqued. Obviously, I got what you were getting at with 247. However, I wasn't sure of how the idea's implementation would work. I look forward to seeing it. Also, I do love the name. Off the irony scale.

Parax · « **Reply #46 on:** September 12, 2012, 07:46:27 pm »

Yeah, the league allowed you to partner with other people to level the playing field a bit because different people were better at different types of games, and not everyone had every game.

The difference between a race and the league is the league was a competition on individual levels, and you were free to try to optimize that one level as much as you want. It wasn't a one-shot run through the entire game. It's a different type of competition, and could easily co-exist alongside a setup for races.

Alondite · « **Reply #47 on:** September 12, 2012, 07:53:47 pm »

I think the "always on" nature of the 247 concept is on the right path; it's technologically relevant in this day of "always on" connectivity. I do believe that it emphasizes the leaderboards, still, and won't really help actually change anything in practice.

I think Umbreon has the right idea here. How do we get people to become a part of the community instead of just posting stats and leaving? I don't quite think the 247 will do that alone, though possibly in conjunction with something else.

We need to look at what makes things like Facebook and Twitter popular. Twitter is strictly a social scene, no games or anything (and Facebook games are terrible, yet played by sometimes hundreds of millions of people), and it manages to be hugely popular. Why? How do we get people to stick around and become social like Twitter and Facebook do?

Parax · « **Reply #48 on:** September 12, 2012, 08:11:41 pm »

Hmm, on that note, maybe we should make a TSC twitter/facebook page. :P Like, if we have a "follow" button on the sidebar somewhere, then maybe people will find it easier to keep up with us and come back when something interesting is going on.

I dunno, just an idea.

flying fox · « **Reply #49 on:** September 12, 2012, 08:14:36 pm »

TSC does have a facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sonic-Center/204180452957035

Needs more work and activity on it.

SpinDashMaster · « **Reply #50 on:** September 13, 2012, 02:57:05 am »

Quote from: Umbreon on September 12, 2012, 07:46:27 pm

Yeah, the league allowed you to partner with other people to level the playing field a bit because different people were better at different types of games, and not everyone had every game.

The difference between a race and the league is the league was a competition on individual levels, and you were free to try to optimize that one level as much as you want. It wasn't a one-shot run through the entire game. It's a different type of competition, and could easily co-exist alongside a setup for races.

To re-re-re-clarify: The 24/7 concept will not be solely marathons, players will be able to race single levels or even play in VS mode on Kaillera for the Genesis games.

Zeupar · « **Reply #51 on:** September 13, 2012, 04:20:14 pm »

Quote from: SpinDashMaster on September 13, 2012, 02:57:05 am

Quote from: Umbreon on September 12, 2012, 07:46:27 pm
Yeah, the league allowed you to partner with other people to level the playing field a bit because different people were better at different types of games, and not everyone had every game.

The difference between a race and the league is the league was a competition on individual levels, and you were free to try to optimize that one level as much as you want. It wasn't a one-shot run through the entire game. It's a different type of competition, and could easily co-exist alongside a setup for races.

To re-re-re-clarify: The 24/7 concept will not be solely marathons, players will be able to race single levels or even play in VS mode on Kaillera for the Genesis games.

Maybe you should read carefully what people have written instead of "clarifying" over and over again... In races, two players or more play something at the same time, while on leagues, people play whenever they want (not necessarily at the same time) and whoever has the best record at the end of the deadline wins. They are completely different concepts and I like the idea of reviving leagues.

Parax · « **Reply #52 on:** September 13, 2012, 10:41:36 pm »

This^. Races are live competition, leagues aren't. They're different kinds of competition and imo there's plenty of room for both.

There's been a few people talking about organizing a new league, so it seems like it's probably going to happen.

Parax · « **Reply #53 on:** September 20, 2012, 07:28:49 pm »

I'm kind of starting to think Mike has a point about proof, heh. I'm finding myself looking at the charts and being suspicious of people far too often, particularly when it's a name I don't recognize with a bunch of records.

I still think requiring proof for every single record, let alone stat, would be ridiculous, but it would be easy to put something along the lines of "You can use your stat comment to link to picture or video proof. Proof isn't required but highly encouraged! You may end up under suspicion if you don't prove any of your stats." on the stat comment screen. Thoughts?

Millernusgaming · « **Reply #54 on:** September 21, 2012, 02:10:24 am »

I think the same way like you Umbreon, that's why i try to make videos for every stat thats a record or close to it. It's entertaining to watch, it proofes your stat and it can be advertising for TSC as well.

If you have no recording device i guess then it would be nice to make at least a photo, screenshot or something similar.

A suggestion from my side would be that the first 3 place have to have proof,
or when the stat seems iffy. like the previous was for example 01:30:xx and the new one is 01:05:xx
then it obviously needs proof.

Well but im not the one who decides this its just a suggestion.

Where We Go From Here

The Sonic Center > Forum > Welcome Center > News and Updates > Where We Go From Here

Author Topic: Where We Go From Here (Read 65046 times)