ArtifeX

I did actually mention something like this in my initial post, but my suggestion was to allow server admins to point all autodownloads to an alternate http address so that downloads could happen at high speed for all new players while the in-progress game suffered no adverse performance effects. The P2P idea is a good one, but I think that would be more technically difficult, as you'd have to start worrying about making sure that the files downloaded were exactly the right files using some kind of file id or crc-checking device. With an http solution, the server admin would be in total control of whatever files he wanted to make available. He could even slightly modify them and repost, while players wouldn't get annoyed by having to download a minor mod/map at 2/3kbps. LA/Raven: Are you listening?

I was going to write a post along these lines, then read this one. Suffice to say: ^ |-------What he said.

Whoa, wait a minute, you're not actually taking the same side of an argument as me are you?? Are you forgetting you're supposed to be the devil's advocate around here? :]

It's inevitable that there will be a patch. Adding a community link to the main page would be laughably easy. There are two possibilities why there's not one there already: they don't want to put one there, or they didn't think of putting one there. I'm simply trying to take care of the second case. Nothing to be done about the first one, especially when hard-nosed LA is involved.

Thanks man. I'd love to stop by, but I'm computerless at home right now (currently looking at building another), and my work firewall wont let me into irc. Would like to know what's going on with AOTCTC, since they're the only ones I ever gave my source code to.

Good point. That's why I always stuck to changes that altered gameplay rather than cosmetics. Better game now, pretty later.

I'd love to see some reliable statistics on how many game purchasers ever visit the lucasarts website. I'm still getting emails from people trying my old mod for the first time who weren't even aware that there were any official patches for the game! My point: put the links to the site(s) in a highly visible place within the game--the main screen. Nothing else will channel so many hits as that will. Mod writers/Content creators write create their work for one reason: recognition. If there is a site out there that will host their work and allow them to receive that recognition more easily from the community, then more people will create content and submit it for posting there. Grease the wheels between the author and the player. Remove any barriers that prevent the two from communicating. Having a separate central community forum (lucasforums) and filebase (lucasfiles, etc.) is a barrier. Integrate the two. Figure out what you can give player-reviewers as a reward for well-written reviews (I named a few) and put the mechanism in place that will give it to them. Figure out what makes authors' work super-visible and put that in place (community link in the game engine). Form a JK webring with other fansites, and make that visible! Anyone playing the game for the first time should be slammed in the face with, "Damn, this game's got a huge support community!", not, "I wonder if there's any sites for this game (types URL of search engine into browser)." No problem. I like to drop in every couple of months and stir the pot a bit.

Oh damn, don't you even get me started... I'd really have to be a masochist to get that started again. I can't imagine how many hours I spent on that. If I find myself with a bunch of extra time and a computer on my desk, then maybe.

I don't think the sites that are lacking, it's Raven/LA's willingness and ability to integrate their product with the community that supports it. Jkii.net, lucasfiles.com, jk2files.com, massassi.net, etc.--that's plenty of sites, but who the hell knows about them? We know about some of them, obviously, but someone who goes out and buys jk2/JA isn't going to know squat until they get on the web and start doing web searches. Why have the extra barrier to overcome before entering the community? Just put links to the big sites in the damn game and make it easy! Nobody's ever bitched and moaned about something becoming genuinely easier to do. Remember, this isn't hard to do technically. It's just a matter of getting them to do it. Some developer or publisher is going to figure this out one day, and I can't wait to see it.

Trust Kurgan to reply to one of my long-winded threads. :]

Nobody would need to be paid for putting links to their sites within the game itself. Remember, site owners want hits! That's what allows them to sell advertising, etc. If Raven/LA put these links into the engine, then I certainly don't think any of the site admins would be complaining!

It's such a shame that so many people, me included, spent so much time and effort creating something only to have no way of letting everyone know about it. The site you mention, for instance, was one I never knew of. Someone who is more casual about their gaming, and who doesn't participate in forums will likely never hear about it.

JK2 suffered from some problems that kept it from acheiving its multiplayer potential. Regardless of how people felt about the game balance, options, fighting system, or general fun of the original game, most of them stuck to the official version because they were unaware that there were other (sometimes better) options available. If Raven/LA wants to avoid making the same mistake this time, then they need to pay attention. The issue that needs to be addressed is a central, highly visible site which makes user-created content easy to access and browse through. Lucasfiles.com and jkii.net are great, but where are the reviews? Can you go to their site and know within a few seconds exactly what you want to download, if anything? But then, actually being able to find a download on either site is a moot point if you don't know about the site to begin with. Everyone who owns JK2/JA needs to be made immediately aware of the community that supports their new game. How much time would it take to add a couple of links on the main screen to lucasfiles.com and jkii.net (or another site)? Take it from someone who knows the code: not much. Yet, the rewards to the community would be huge. Imagine what would happen if the options on the main screen read: - Single Player - Multiplayer Player - Setup - JK2/JA Community - Quit Specifics: 1. Create a link inside the game engine directly to the user-content site. That would bring people there in droves. Even better, allow browsing and downloading of the file database within the game itself or within a linked tool of some sort (like the autoupdater). 2. It is all-important to coerce people into reviewing their downloaded files. Currently, review sites rely on nothing but users' goodwill to get their reviews. I would propose the site giving points for every review that you do, and based on the number of points in your account, you can do things like turn off advertising, submit editorials and articles, create larger numbers of threads in the forum per day, use more graphics in your reviews/forum posts, etc. 3. Add functionality to the game itself where all user-created content is broadcast to the master server. I realize this would be a large addition, but I'm speaking of ideal circumstances. Think of how unreal tournament's engine handles and broadcasts which umods it's using. 4. The front page of the site (lucasfiles, other?) should be a listing of New, Highest Rated, and Most Popular download for the Day, Month, and All-Time (no, their current sidebar is not sufficient). It should show specific numbers, so that you can say, "Damn, this file's been downloaded 5 times as much as the next highest, and it's rated 4.5 out of 5 stars by 4000+ people." It should also keep statistics on live servers that shows how many servers are using any particular file (this would be difficult with smaller files, but with mods this should be easy). This would end the problem of people saying, "What should I download?". 5. Don't set the autodownload option to false in servers by default. Don't set the autodownload speed option to rediculously low levels (~3k/sec) by default. Have an option to redirect autodownloading to another server on the web, so that high-speed transfers are possible without killing current users' gameplay experience.

I have to say Blackrose, that you're about the most persistent clan member I've ever seen. You should rename yourself to, "The One-Man Clan". :] I was wondering when I saw this thread if any of the old-schoolers were going to chime in. Nice to see I wasn't disappointed.

On the topic of movie/EU conflicts, how about the fact that an entire novel in EU was dedicated to describing Luke and Leia's mother as some mysterious witch-cult member? That was the big one for me. I quit reading anything but NJO after that. I figure that NJO's too far in the future for them to stumble across too many whoppers like that.