Future Site Updates and Suggestions

Now that I'm finally settling in at work, I want to start working on adding to this site. We've been running for about 7 months now and I wanted to start getting to work on making this into something other than just a message board. I've had some ideas for the long haul of things, and while some of them aren't possible yet, so below are four ideas I've been kicking around that are a possibility in the near future. I haven't directly spoken with Dem on all of these subjects recently and are in no way a reflection of his ideas, but I figured that stuff will be added/removed/changed on here over time anyway.

Rent or run/own an actual server
I figure this one is fairly easy/cheap since at the moment we really only have about 10 active users with about 5 or so people that read the boards but not actively post (not counting bots here), so bandwidth should be relatively low, depending on what is implemented in the new future. Servers are fairly cheap, especially if someone is kind enough to run one from their basement or if I can scrounge enough parts to build one and go through the time in setting up all of the software. My friend Matt (wintermute) has offered to host a server and I don't think it'd be a bad idea to take him up on that, or at least have him help me set up a nice one since he's into that stuff.

One great part about this is if anyone has any custom graphics or anything to contribute to the site, depending on the size, we can just flat out upload it to the server. But you guys already knew that.

New Forums/Code
Going with an actual data server means ditching these free boards and going with obtaining our own forum code. There are ups and downs here, some of the downs being that we more or less lose these boards and more or less everything on them (though I'd probably work on archiving some of this stuff and we'd just keep this up with a link to it for reference......more or less ) and the fact that the forums out there that are any good you actually have to purchase to use. Obviously perks are we can do whatever the hell we want to the forums without the restrictions of Invision's site, and no I'm not saying we would now condone warez or porn on here, but it's that whole "freedom to be able to do it even though we won't" kind of liberation that would be nice.

In Depth User Profiles
This is one that's well off, but I wanted to point it out cuz I thought it was a good idea. wintermute said he's been working on a database application for websites to keep character data, for mainly stuff like pen and paper RPGs but can be expanded to whatever fields you want to generate within that bio. He wanted to beta test it on this site and I thought it'd be a good idea to give it a shot. It isn't a database just for MMO characters or pen and paper RPGs, we can tailor it to whatever we see fit. I'm not sure when this will be done, but it's something nice to think about.

Better Main Page/Other Pages
The portal site works great for what it is, but I would like to eventually move to a different way of how it works. This is the most ambitious and is probably going to require the most time and involve the most work and planning, but I think having some of you guys being able to contribute stuff to the main site would be nice. For instance Konger has news about Warhammer all the time and Brisk is giving us TONS of stuff about Age of Conan. Instead of not only posting it to the message boards, maybe have the possibility of adding this to a Warhammer and/or Age of Conan section with a compilation of their other news and information on it that they find. If someone wants to write a review on a game they just played, they would be able to post it on the site as well; like a Reviews section.

I have other ideas too, but the other ones I'd rather talk to Dem about first before moving on with those. If you guys have any suggestions on what we can add or change to the site, by all means leave some feedback or anything you think I should change with the stuff I just proposed. Constructive criticism is encouraged.

Adding to the main portal I think would really be great, and it would pull more people in, and give them a reason to keep checking back.

A straight video game news bulletin board on the main page would be a great start. Separate Portals for high-profile games would be killer also, though that would probably make more sense down the line. I think I'm the only person interested in WAR on the forums, but I like talking to myself at least.

Of course, there is the whole, "If you build it, they will come." If people are told by friends to check out the site, or just stumble upon it, and they see a whole community setup with links to games they are playing, separate pages/forums dedicated to individual game discussion and news and stuff, they are likely to stick around.

I'm also a big fan of fancy profiles.

My services are limited at the moment, should have more off time in the Summer, and I'll actually be working on making my own Portfolio webpage, so I may be learning some stuff. Of course, if you need any Photoshop graphics, I'm up for helping.

If you are going to obain forum software, I highly recommend vBulletin. It's $160 for a lifetime license, but god damn, their software is the best. Very modifiable through options, cusomisation and hacks, and it's robust.

http://www.vbulletin.com/

PS. Invision sucks

Free is free, man.

Update on the server thing though. Wintermute has offered a Sparc to use, we just need a place with a static IP (keep forgetting to check if we have one) and homeowners insurance (in case the house blows up, he can get a new sparc). Obviously it's gotta be in MD or damn close to the MD borders, not only for maintenance but if he needs it back for anything it'd gotta be easily attainable.

If we can't find a place for it I'll start looking into renting options as well as building the site on a test server, possibly his Sparc or a spare PC and go from there. I won't invest in a server until we have a nice site built and running as well as we can get it to maximize cash flow into it.

By the way, if anyone has any ideas for graphics or banners let us know. You can send anything you come up with to rhendal@gmail.com.

I could play around with some graphics over the Summer. Is this the color scheme you plan on sticking with? If you can give me a file dump of the graphics files, that would make things a little easier, since I could keep the names and dimensions intact. I guess I could just "save as" everything.

I guess depending on how the new forums will look and work depends on the color scheme. The invision boards we're using now are all templates, except for our banner up top. I think that's as far as we are with original stuff.

I guess we just gotta weigh the options on message board systems and see which one we want to go with first, then work on server and whatnot second.

Yeah you need a new Banner up top with a better non word art like logo. And don't forget your ™ if that goes through.

I made that banner....

*stomps his foot and walks away*

Free Forum Code

I didn't look into it too much, but if a lot of people are looking into something it might be halfway decent.

whats goin on guys

alright i got my tf2 server together and am currently messing with sourcemod and the configs... hit me up on steam if you want admin and whatnot. hopefully i can get some ppl together over the next few days to stress test