Switch Discussion with main Foundry?

[wcaclimbing]

Just a thought I had a day or two ago. Might be a good idea, might not. I'm not sure.
But I was thinking that the Main foundry is sort of off by itself, when it would seem better to me to be a subforum.

So, three subforums, Ideas, Main, and Forge. Then to take the main foundry's place, move Foundry discussion to there.
So its more like the discussion area is the center, and each part of map development is a separate section. Right now the main foundry is center, with Ideas and Forge off seperate. Figured they could at least all have an equal position, because Ideas and Forge are at least as important as, if not more important, than the main foundry area.

Like I said, its just a thought. Might be crazy. Might be stupid. But it makes sense to me. Don't know how difficult a switch would be for the staff to get organized, though....

[DiM]

considering the fact this change implies manually moving hundreds of threads i doubt it will be implemented

[edbeard]

this was suggested when the subforums were first talked about

I liked the idea but I guess some people thought the maps in the main foundry wouldn't get enough views in a subforum

I also think that only mods should be allowed to make threads in the main forum. that way you wouldn't have to move threads out of it and people would figure out that ideas is where maps start


I don't see why the way the tournament forum is setup couldn't work here. That'd only require moving the 'main foundry' threads to a new subforum

[ZeakCytho]

I think it's possible to change the order of the forums on the main listing to make the main foundry a subforum of the foundry discussion without moving any threads. I could be wrong, though.

[Mjinga]

I've thought the exact same thing, wcaclimbing. I always wondered why it is the way it is now. I'd think that more people would pop by the discussion if it was the main forum, and then upon learning that you don't have to be making a map in order to comment on them, they might go pop into the subforums and take a gander around. But that could just be what I would do if I wasn't a mapmaker.

[gimil]

considering the fact this change implies manually moving hundreds of threads i doubt it will be implemented

If would be a case or restrutcuting the current forums so that main foundry is a sub forum rather than a main one. Easy change. However I dislike the idea, the main foundry is the heart of what we do. When people first visit it what they see, the developments. Putting discussion as the main board would serve to confuse.

[AndyDufresne]

Agreed with much of what Gimil said.


--Andy

[cairnswk]

waclimbing...i don't think this would be a great idea. Feasible, yes. But the main focus of the Map Foundry is the Map making, discussion forums are secondary in nature to the map making and that is why the Map Foundry should be and is the main forum. When people come in here they need to be brought into the maps in development straight away so they can ascertain what is being developed.
Move this main foundry forum to a sub section forum and you risk losing the already low level of feedback on maps to the Foundry Discussion forum, and it would become essentially just another chat room.
I too sometimes question whether we could come up with a better structure and sometimes it does seem cumbersome, but I'd hate to lose to Map Foundry as the centre-piece of the Foundry.

[Natewolfman]

considering the fact this change implies manually moving hundreds of threads i doubt it will be implemented

If would be a case or restrutcuting the current forums so that main foundry is a sub forum rather than a main one. Easy change. However I dislike the idea, the main foundry is the heart of what we do. When people first visit it what they see, the developments. Putting discussion as the main board would serve to confuse.

i dont know if thats true... ive visited the foundry over months of time, and im used to the tournament forum... i use the mini links (go straight to create/join or ongoing) rather then click tournament first... so i did that here, i didnt even know the main foundry existed until like a month ago :S I always clicked on final forge or ideas right away...

just food for thought

[gimil]

considering the fact this change implies manually moving hundreds of threads i doubt it will be implemented

If would be a case or restrutcuting the current forums so that main foundry is a sub forum rather than a main one. Easy change. However I dislike the idea, the main foundry is the heart of what we do. When people first visit it what they see, the developments. Putting discussion as the main board would serve to confuse.

i dont know if thats true... ive visited the foundry over months of time, and im used to the tournament forum... i use the mini links (go straight to create/join or ongoing) rather then click tournament first... so i did that here, i didnt even know the main foundry existed until like a month ago :S I always clicked on final forge or ideas right away...

just food for thought

But it would still put newbs at a disadvantage.

[edbeard]

I think the forum would benefit from no main forum like the Tournament forum.

you can have one subforum devoted to how things work. if people miss a subforum with the title 'How things work' or something similar, then they're beyond our help.

[Night Strike]

I think the forum would benefit from no main forum like the Tournament forum

I don't think the foundry would benefit as much as the tournament forum does. In the foundry, comments from visitors are needed in ALL areas, but especially the Main Foundry for new people. Most of the posters in both Map Ideas and Final Forge are foundry regulars. In tournaments, the Create/Join forum is where people need to go to both start a tournament and participate in one. Reorganizing the Foundry similarly may help make the progression of maps clearer to new cartographers, but it probably would not help the discussions in other map threads.