Potential Idea Forum Structure Revamp

The Ideas section is an important part of the forums but it’s become clear to me that an overhaul of the structure is definitely needed. While the current way the Ideas forum functions is fine, it leaves a bit to be desired in how Kano lets the original poster know that we've seen the idea and where it stands in our internal system.

Once the new forum updates hit, this is the proposed structure I have in mind for the Ideas forum. Please let me know what you think and if you have any feedback.

Ideas - This is where an idea gets posted and rated by the Community at large.

Ideas Under Review - This is where a thread will be moved to once it’s been added to our internal idea tracking system. This will let forum goers know that an idea is queued to be looked at by the developers as opposed to the current situation where ideas will hang around in the regular Ideas forum. If your idea is not added to this sub-forum it’s because it has a low rating, is a major overhaul of a long-standing gameplay mechanic, has been vetoed in the past or any number of other reasons.

Once the idea has been looked at by the developers, I’ll add their feedback and move it to either one of two sections:

Ideas to be Implemented - This means that the developers like the idea and plan to use it. Please note that unless we say something specifically there is not a hard time line for ideas to be implemented. It could be a couple weeks or a few months, depending on where it falls into our development pipeline and taking into account the overall complexity of the idea and what the developer tackling it has on their plate. Once we have a general sense of when an idea will be implemented I’ll update the relevant thread and when it is put in place the thread will be moved to the Implemented sub-forum.

Ideas not being Considered - This means that Kano/Apps doesn't feel like the idea fits in with the current iteration of the game and we don’t plan on implementing it. That does not mean that we think the idea is bad, but rather that we don’t believe it will fit in with our plans for the future of the games.

Implemented - Fairly straight forward, this is where ideas that have been reviewed, accepted and put into place in the games will go.

Hopefully this new structure solves the current problem of where ideas will just be stuck in the regular forum and it will also let you guys know that myself or a developer has seen an idea are reviewing it even if we forget to leave a comment saying so (sorry!).

Thoughts on this proposed structure? Anything you'd like to see changed?

 

this is the type of structure wounder bread was trying to create but it sorta fell apart as you can tell in the ideas section this mainly fell apart though because nobody ever took the time to put every idea into its correct space where it belonged. i agree with it it would be helpful t have it this way would make everything so much easier.

could you also post what ways you are planning to having the other sections? i have posted a way that it could be structured but would be nice to know how it is before the switchover happens

 

Yeah the onus is on me to make sure everything is put in its proper category.

As for an updated structure for the whole forum I don't think I can change that much right away because we're migrating all the existing posts. Once I move those posts around then I'll be simplifying things a bit like you suggested.

 

ok that sounds good. and only 2 days until the switchover been counting down the days and one thing i just thought of is could you guys have a custom background for the fotums instead of the plain color it is now. somehow incorporate all th games in one picture like you do with the monthly calanders/weekend. and now that i just said that i just got an idea, how about a compilation picture with all of the past calendar backgrounds and the more that get added to the game the more are added to the background. that would be really cool not sure it is possible though lol.

 

I think that's possible with XenForo I would just have to bug the art department to do it.

 

that would be really cool. and i was looking into xenforo a little bit and it seems to be a lot better and easier/more user friendly then the current forum software being used now. do you know around what time the transition will take place?

 

I'll have to co-ordinate with the IT guys but I should have an ETA tomorrow.

 

This could be great, If everyone actually rated ideas on their merit, but until something is done about ghost votes and automatic negative ratings from rivals I really dont see a big change.

Once an idea is moved from the original idea area to "under review", will members still be able to vote? My concern is that a in game or forum rival sees that an idea is being considered they will try even harder to trash its rating.

When u first mentioned that the forums were going to be revamped , you mentioned they may be a bit less restrictive. Thats sounds great, but if anything the ideas section should be more closely monitored and less inappropriate behavior allowed. Ive seen way to many good ideas get totally trashed by members trolling, instigating and derailing.


As has been proposed numerous times....ghost voting should not be allowed. There is a lot of thought and work that goes into some of these ideas and its quite unfair that someone can just trash it with out any type of reasoning what so ever. Somebody can be pissed off at the universe and simply go around ghost voting negatively. Its simple, ideas sit up here for long periods of time. If a member feels strongly one way or the other than they can find the time to explain their vote or not get to vote.


Players should be encouraged to come up with ideas, not just the same old players but as many as possible. Make the ideas section a place where people want to come and not feel ridiculed or shot down with no reasoning. All ideas can be improved upon but not unless someone is giving a sound and respectful counter arguement

 

you guys sure do spend alot of $ on forum software, it's not even all that active on here anymore *shrugs*

anyway good luck with the migration and lets hope the 3rd party plugin that allows us to vote for ideas works on XenForo otherwise all the current ratings will be down the pan

 

Yes well I'm hoping that upgrading to a more user friendly software and changing some of the less appealing aspects of the forums will entice more people to register and comment and get the activity back up.

 

I would also like to see all the ideas that come in through support get put in the ideas section and voted on before they get implemented. Seems unfair that members dont get a chance to vote/rate on those ideas when the members that go through the proper channels have to run the gauntlet of Ghost votes and personal bias. Not exactly enticing to come to the forums when one can have an easier go of things, not to mention better odds of getting ideas implemented through support. Seems to defeat the whole purpose of the ideas section. Perhaps all idea should be anonymous