Goonhub
07-28-2019, 03:36 PM
Title isn't the best description of what I propose, so here we go:
I suggest that there be a new subforum in the Ideas/Suggestions subforum, wherein any 'Potentially good' ideas would be moved to.
"But aft2001, we already have a good ideas thread!"
Yes, yes we do. However, that thread keeps posts locked, and posts only get moved there once the discourse surrounding the topic has reached a general agreement on what the relevant suggestion should be. In other words, the 'Good Ideas!' subforum is for good, but completed ideas.
Since it's all too common for genuinely good ideas to get buried underneath the flood of okay-ish ideas (which I totally am not responsible for part of, nope, not at all, that would be absurd), perhaps there should be a subforum dedicated to the discussion of actually feasible and/or workable suggestions that aren't quite finished being discussed and improved.
Yes, some of these suggestions will likely never get considered by the coders, who are admittedly probably busy with many other things like implementing dabbing. But, it would at least make sure that the ideas that are actually good enough to warrant further discussion continue to be discussed, while the okay suggestions which aren't bad enough to be moved to the 'Bad ideas' subforum (be it they definitely could work in principle but need a lot of work, or may be a tad bit too difficult/time-consuming to implement), don't bury the good ones.
How would posts get moved to different subforums? Well, there should probably be a moderator, preferably a coder (or several coders), which decide which posts are good enough to be given priority in discussion. I say 'preferably a coder', as they would be the ones who actually had to implement the suggestion, so it would be up to them to gauge how easily the suggestion could be implemented.
Hopefully, this would result in the community focusing more on the discussion of feasible, albeit underdeveloped, ideas.
As an addition/alternative, having multiple kinds of suggestions could help, too; either as dedicated subforums, or by using tags, much like bug reports. In theory, this would help to sort suggestions and be a requirement for posts, making posters think more about what they're suggesting. Some examples of suggestion types would be:
[Tweak] - for tweaks and changes that should be fairly easy to implement and have minor/moderate (sometimes significant) effects. Most of these would be changes to numerical values, such as percentages and cooldown times. Some examples of tweaks (of varying quality) are: Changing the energy needed to fire a taser; reducing the addiction chance of a chem; and adding low-severity and moderate-range explosions to where meteors impact the station.
[Content] - for content - typically items, events, abilities, etc. Essentially, something which doesn't really require its own dedicated set of scripts in terms of the code - maybe a gene power, or a chem, or traitor item, NOT a new antag, gamemode, or game mechanic.
[Mechanic] - A new game mechanic, or change to an existing one. These would typically involve changes to how a gamemode or antag works, how a certain game mechanic works (e.g how throwing works, pod mechanics, and reagent metabolism, to name a few). Said changes would likely be rather time-consuming to implement, depending on the suggestion.
[Misc] - For really anything else that doesn't fit the previous categories, such as this very post.
So, why did I waste 30 minutes typing this? Well, 1) boredom, but 2) good ideas are typically buried by okay (but cool-sounding) ideas. This isn't to say that speculation on, say, a new game mode isn't bad - that's how we get new game modes - it's just that most end up being not worth the effort needed to implement, regardless of how fun they may be. Tweaks need to happen to help balance the game, but they're less likely to be implemented if they're overshadowed by bigger discussions on antag concepts and revolutionary game mechanics.
I suggest that there be a new subforum in the Ideas/Suggestions subforum, wherein any 'Potentially good' ideas would be moved to.
"But aft2001, we already have a good ideas thread!"
Yes, yes we do. However, that thread keeps posts locked, and posts only get moved there once the discourse surrounding the topic has reached a general agreement on what the relevant suggestion should be. In other words, the 'Good Ideas!' subforum is for good, but completed ideas.
Since it's all too common for genuinely good ideas to get buried underneath the flood of okay-ish ideas (which I totally am not responsible for part of, nope, not at all, that would be absurd), perhaps there should be a subforum dedicated to the discussion of actually feasible and/or workable suggestions that aren't quite finished being discussed and improved.
Yes, some of these suggestions will likely never get considered by the coders, who are admittedly probably busy with many other things like implementing dabbing. But, it would at least make sure that the ideas that are actually good enough to warrant further discussion continue to be discussed, while the okay suggestions which aren't bad enough to be moved to the 'Bad ideas' subforum (be it they definitely could work in principle but need a lot of work, or may be a tad bit too difficult/time-consuming to implement), don't bury the good ones.
How would posts get moved to different subforums? Well, there should probably be a moderator, preferably a coder (or several coders), which decide which posts are good enough to be given priority in discussion. I say 'preferably a coder', as they would be the ones who actually had to implement the suggestion, so it would be up to them to gauge how easily the suggestion could be implemented.
Hopefully, this would result in the community focusing more on the discussion of feasible, albeit underdeveloped, ideas.
As an addition/alternative, having multiple kinds of suggestions could help, too; either as dedicated subforums, or by using tags, much like bug reports. In theory, this would help to sort suggestions and be a requirement for posts, making posters think more about what they're suggesting. Some examples of suggestion types would be:
[Tweak] - for tweaks and changes that should be fairly easy to implement and have minor/moderate (sometimes significant) effects. Most of these would be changes to numerical values, such as percentages and cooldown times. Some examples of tweaks (of varying quality) are: Changing the energy needed to fire a taser; reducing the addiction chance of a chem; and adding low-severity and moderate-range explosions to where meteors impact the station.
[Content] - for content - typically items, events, abilities, etc. Essentially, something which doesn't really require its own dedicated set of scripts in terms of the code - maybe a gene power, or a chem, or traitor item, NOT a new antag, gamemode, or game mechanic.
[Mechanic] - A new game mechanic, or change to an existing one. These would typically involve changes to how a gamemode or antag works, how a certain game mechanic works (e.g how throwing works, pod mechanics, and reagent metabolism, to name a few). Said changes would likely be rather time-consuming to implement, depending on the suggestion.
[Misc] - For really anything else that doesn't fit the previous categories, such as this very post.
So, why did I waste 30 minutes typing this? Well, 1) boredom, but 2) good ideas are typically buried by okay (but cool-sounding) ideas. This isn't to say that speculation on, say, a new game mode isn't bad - that's how we get new game modes - it's just that most end up being not worth the effort needed to implement, regardless of how fun they may be. Tweaks need to happen to help balance the game, but they're less likely to be implemented if they're overshadowed by bigger discussions on antag concepts and revolutionary game mechanics.
