New Message Board Features

[Guest]

We've installed some new features on the message board:

 

- Additional Status Names. These don't seem to be working 100% correctly yet, hopefully I'll figure this out.

- Stars for Status. Seems to be working, matched to the Status Name. Status is determined by number of posts.

- Avatars! These are the little personalized graphics on the left hand column of postings. You can go to the "my profile" link at the top right of any page and select a premade Avatar. You can also make a custom Avatar for yourself and send it to us at editor@atariage.com, and we'll get it set up. Be sure to tell us your Login name or Member Number so we know who to associate it with. For those of you that already had a picture selected for your profile page, this has now become your Avatar. You can change this at the "my profile" screen also. Finally, Avatars will be set to 64x64 - you can use a larger or smaller image if you like, but it will be compressed/enlarged if the size does not match. Whew!

 

If you encounter any problems, please report them and well look at the code.

[Alex]

Okay, I think I finally ironed out all the bugs (famous last words). Additional status levels, stars, and Avatars are all working now for all the members that I've checked. Please let me know if you encounter any bugs.

[+Random Terrain]

I asked what the stars were for in the 2600 section, but now that I see this, I'll see if I can delete it.

 

I think the stars look cool, but why are there status names and stars? Do the stars actually mean something a little different?

 

I had 3 stars below my name one time, then a few minutes later I had 2 stars. Does that mean I was a bad boy or is that just a bug?

 

 

Thanks,

 

D.A.H. from the F of i

[Alex]

Heheh, no that was me tweaking the system. There was a bug such that there was no status that displayed two stars, so everyone that should have had two had three.

 

Nobody has three stars right now, although at least one person is close, and then there's Tempest with four.

 

Stars and names are based on number of posts. It's just two different ways to represent the information. Other options we can set up include additional custom names that we can assign, and a member rating system.

 

Anything you don't like/want to request?

[+Random Terrain]

I don't know all the names you are going to use, but it would be cool if you used something close to Activision's Starmaster or Atari's Star Raiders. I always thought the ranking stuff was sort of cool on those games.

 

On a different subject, I do have some requests concerning the message board.

 

1. I wish there was a preview that showed exactly what your post will look after you hit "accept" or "add reply."

 

2. It would be cool to have the power to move your own post/thread to another category. Sometimes after posting a message, I realize it should have been posted somewhere else. It's easy to delete it and post the message in the correct place, but, if many people have replied, the only answer would be to move it.

 

 

I can't think of any more requests other than for people to send me free money. A few million would be nice. Please send check or money order to:

 

The Make Duane Alan Hahn Rich Foundation

 

E-mail me for the address where you can send your money. Serious inquiries only please.

 

 

Thanks,

 

D.A.H. from the F of i

[Alex]

Ah, not a bad idea about the rankings. I'll look into that and see how it would fit.

 

I'll look into the other two items you mentioned as well. I wouldn't want to make a mandatory preview, but an optional preview would be nice.

 

Thanks for the input.

[+Random Terrain]

I didn't mean to make you think I meant a mandatory preview. I should have made that clear. I should have said a preview option.

 

Also, thanks for looking into the Starmaster/Star Raiders rankings.

 

 

Thanks again,

 

D.A.H. from the F of i

[dollopx]

It'd like to make the point that I think that message board rankings could give some people an inflated ego. While it is cool and really makes the board interesting, rankings create a "class system" amongst users. And no, I ain't bithcing cause I have a low post count, thus low stars (I only post when I think I have a contribution to make), I'm just pointing out that before we were all equal (except for post count and member number), but now we are ranked.

 

I think I'm getting confused, but I'm sure you can understand what I'm trying to say...

[Guest]

Yeah, I hear you. It's really just meant to be fun, obviously just because someone posts more doesn't make them more important. Hopefully people won't take it too seriously, after all, it's just a graphical representation of post count. Now we *could* institue a true ranking system where members rate each other. But that might get ugly.

[Albert]

I personally like the new ranking system because it enables people new to the site to get an idea for who the "veterans" are. On other message boards I've frequented, these people are often very knowledgeable about the subject matter, and are usually quick to share their knowledge (which is partly why they have so many posts!) So new users can "look up" to these older users.

 

However, that doesn't mean that I would disregard someone's posts just because they only have one star. Everyone has to start somewhere, and hopefully most people realize that.

 

..Al