Foundry: Future of maps

[waauw]

So, the suggested plan is:

Phase 1: Restrict or eliminate some maps.
Phase 2: ?
Phase 3: Games start quicker / Profit!

Which maps are they going to eliminate to fix the problem? If you remove unpopular maps that only a few people play, then that can't really have much of an impact on how quickly games start. If you restrict some of the more popular maps, then you're going to drive away more players than you can bring in. I don't think this idea has any chance of achieving what you want.

I didn't say they were. You misinterpreted me.

Uploading unfinished maps however seems unlikely. There is another online risk website out there who does this and as I understand the system has serious flaws:
[list][*]Trolls have been uploading and infringing copyrighted works.

[color=#0000FF]This could be handled by having mapmakers request permission to be allowed upload privileges, which could be revoked if they upload copyrighted materials. They could also be required to host the files themselves.

It's too easy to make new accounts or even to change IP. You can't stop someone from trolling if they really want to.
Seems to me like tremendous non-stop effort has to be put into this and as it stands website staff is growing thin.

As for the rest of your arguments, they could easily be solved by just keeping the foundry as it is but letting maps stream into beta-phase faster. That would be simpler and safer.

My suggestion is to bring back isaiah40 based on the solutions posted above, or at least revisit some of his thoughts from a while back. He's been talking about this exact stuff for well over a year, even made a prototype version of a rating and sorting system.

I think I read somewhere he was trying to make his own website.

[isaiah40]

My suggestion is to bring back isaiah40 based on the solutions posted above, or at least revisit some of his thoughts from a while back. He's been talking about this exact stuff for well over a year, even made a prototype version of a rating and sorting system.

Unfortuately, the rating and scoring system was built into a map gallery which was mostly thenobodies80 idea, I just helped him with fine tuning it a little. The scoring and rating system left it up to the community. It was then submitted to ElJefe and I believe BW as well. All that had to happen as to insert the code into the site with a couple of very minor tweaks for CC and we would have had it. Do we see it, no. So will it happen? Maybe, but in my view it won't happen any time soon. The

[degaston]

...Which maps are they going to eliminate to fix the problem?...

I didn't say they were. You misinterpreted me.

Sorry if I misinterpreted you. I just think that it is such a bad idea that I don't know why it would even be considered.

Uploading unfinished maps however seems unlikely. There is another online risk website out there who does this and as I understand the system has serious flaws:

• Trolls have been uploading and infringing copyrighted works.

This could be handled by having mapmakers request permission to be allowed upload privileges, which could be revoked if they upload copyrighted materials. They could also be required to host the files themselves.

It's too easy to make new accounts or even to change IP. You can't stop someone from trolling if they really want to.
Seems to me like tremendous non-stop effort has to be put into this and as it stands website staff is growing thin.

I don't think troll prevention is a valid excuse for not doing this. If they only allowed mapmakers who have been around a while, (a year or more?) and who have a record of participation in the foundry, then it wouldn't matter if someone created a new user id or changed IP's. How many trolls are going to contribute to the foundry for a year, go to the trouble of making a map based on copyrighted materials and post it, only to have it be removed as soon as it's noticed, and have themselves banned from uploading any more maps. If they started with just the the five mapmakers who have maps out of the drafting room right now, do you think that any of them are going to troll?

As for the rest of your arguments, they could easily be solved by just keeping the foundry as it is but letting maps stream into beta-phase faster. That would be simpler and safer.

Putting maps into beta earlier would be counterproductive, and not help at all to achieve what I'm proposing. The purpose of this was to have a "sandbox" (alpha) area where new ideas could be tried quickly and easily, so that opinions about how a map would play could be based on experience rather than conjecture. Beta should be for maps that have already been tested, and don't contain any known major issues. Pirates and Merchants is not a beta-ready map, but because there is no other place to test gameplay, we wind up with maps with severe defects on the main page.

I think it's obvious that the foundry process is broken. Just keeping it as is will not fix anything. You can't just say that we have too many maps, and therefore don't need any more, and should get rid of the bad ones. New maps are one of the things that keep people interested in returning to the site, and they used to be a big part of the site, but not anymore:


Hmmm... where else have I seen that kind of a trend around here?

[iAmCaffeine]

Lack of new maps is 100% not the reason that membership is declining. Maybe a handful of mapmakers, but that's it.

[degaston]

Lack of new maps is 100% not the reason that membership is declining. Maybe a handful of mapmakers, but that's it.

I could quibble and say that 100%, except for a handful, is not 100%, or maybe you could just explain where your number comes from? But in any case, if mapmaking is so inconsequential to the site, and does not make any difference in the membership, then why should they waste another second trying to revive it? Just shut the whole foundry down, and they won't have to worry about any of this. After all, it's not like anyone ever likes to see something new.

Anyway, gotta go - I Love Lucy is on!

[iAmCaffeine]

Lack of new maps is 100% not the reason that membership is declining. Maybe a handful of mapmakers, but that's it.

I could quibble and say that 100%, except for a handful, is not 100%, or maybe you could just explain where your number comes from? But in any case, if mapmaking is so inconsequential to the site, and does not make any difference in the membership, then why should they waste another second trying to revive it? Just shut the whole foundry down, and they won't have to worry about any of this. After all, it's not like anyone ever likes to see something new.

Anyway, gotta go - I Love Lucy is on!

Let's not be silly hey? The site needs maps, ergo the site needs the foundry. However, I think it's rather screamingly obvious from the plethora of threads that have decorated CC for some time, that maps are not what causes people to leave the site. I shouldn't need to go into detail, you've been around enough.

[degaston]

Let's not be silly hey? The site needs maps, ergo the site needs the foundry. However, I think it's rather screamingly obvious from the plethora of threads that have decorated CC for some time, that maps are not what causes people to leave the site. I shouldn't need to go into detail, you've been around enough.

Okay, seriously then, the site has plenty of maps - some would say too many (though I think the problem is in the map browser). You claim that no one is leaving the site because of a lack of new maps. So if you are correct, then why make any more maps? For all intents and purposes, the foundry has been shut down for a while, anyway. Why spend any effort to try to revive it if it's not going to make any difference in the membership?

[iAmCaffeine]

It may or may not help increase membership, but I don't believe it's one of the major factors. However, if it was built up again to what it once was, that could attract new players because the Foundry used to be largely busy and successful, unlike competitor's sites.