Intuitive Design

So now that we have a few months under our belt.

I want to talk logistics, specifically in regards to thread and board organization.

Are threads in the right places? Are you able to find information when you need it? Are things easy to access or are there better places to put them?

For example, when you joined the URPG, were you able to easily figure out how to sign up and what you needed to do? Were there some questions that you had that you couldn't find answers to? Was there any confusion?

Just wanted to tidy things up a bit so when members see the URPG, they not only want to sign up, but also know how to do it.

 

I was actually just thinking about this earlier today, but wasn't sure the feedback would be that valuable.

Your Read First guide is invaluable - if it actually gets read. I've seen quite a few threads made or questions asked that already had their answer from that post, or from the Tips that Marth threw in the general board. The same thing seems to happen on the Stories board, though, where someone either asks questions or disregards the advice that were already fully explained.

However, I think that some sort of mentor program would be great; if I were to bring friends in, I'd be glad to stand by for any quick questions that they have. I didn't have anyone to do that for me, though; I pretty much just had to jump in and occasionally get corrected. Perhaps for completely new folks without an anchor already in place, we could have an apprentice program? Say, someone who's been with the program 3-4 months, knows a lot of the ropes, but hasn't been here long enough to get complacent (or perhaps elitist, as a few of the older members have unfortunately become).

Overall, though, I'd say that if people read the information given to them, most of their questions are answered, or they have a proper venue for finding those answers. It's just up to them to actually read it.

 

Every single master/apprentice program we have ever ran has failed...

Just sayin'

 

Yuppers. This

Just throwing in a little idea. Just organizing the rules thread isnt gonna teach people the rules. Fizzy Bubbles has a test to see whither you know the rules or not before you can start. Just saying

 

Yeah, we've had similar troubles with the club at my school; the trick is getting the people together in a non-constrained setting, and also the fact that people who need a mentor, and can find the thread to post in asking for one (for example) already have the tools at their disposal.

I just couldn't think of any way to make people read the first post or stickied threads if they weren't already inclined to do so.

 

I don't understand the distinction between this section:

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/forumdisplay.php?f=393

and this section:

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/forumdisplay.php?f=394

Mind you, the second link exists within the first.

EDIT: btw, this SPAM thread needs deletion: http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/showthread.php?t=68528

And I prefer this image over the current one in the Trading Machine:


Although I don't think this is the appropriate thread for that latter comment, quite a few thread images need a revamp.

 

This is because URPG on PE2K was a category as a whole, not a forum. So, to accommodate the structure of URPG, that forum has to exist. Its not really an option otherwise.

 

I think that there should be a bit more order and have things go a bit quicker. I know everyone here has a life, but it can be rather irritating waiting for ages for a ref or grader to do something on the battles or stories section, or to have your latest PokeMart purchase approved. So if things went quicker that would be nice.

Also, I think that the Ultra Dex should be on a few more threads to make it easier to find, as I always forget which section it is in

 

Understood.

I think all the threads in the forum should be moved to the sub-forum (General).

 

My opinion exactly. It seems that the Trading Machine and the rest are in General and URPG Chat is in the other thing.

 

I don't really see why it would when pretty much everything to do with the URPG as a whole works fairly smoothly. It would have been better when the URPG came to BMGf, but I don't see much need for it now.

 

Yeah. It took me embarrassingly long to figure out where the usual General threads were. Kept going to the wrong subforum. XD

Uh. The issue it that Masters aren't supposed to keep in touch, and Apprentices don't bother with specific questions. There's also not that much to be taught. It's the whole issue with long-distance communication--mismatched time, on different informational pages, et cetera. Plus, very few of the Master-Apprentice pairings end up getting anything done. Mine were actually really good, but I was one of the only people annoying enough to keep bugging my Masters, who were, luckily, very tolerant. XD

We're understaffed. Feel free to help us out. Current staff isn't plentiful enough to make things move any faster. If you want an approval in the Mart, you can always ask an online official; they'll usually do it for you in a second. If you want a grader, there are quite a few semi-active graders that only grade on request. Don't shy away from asking them. If you want a ref, we have potential problems. XD Although there have been, what, three new ones, recently? So that's good.

 

I moved some threads. How does that look?

 

Almost every one of my apprentices became refs and got much better, so it didn't entirely fail!

 

I see. I was thinking about applying for becoming a ref or a grader, so I might if there is a staffing issue

 

I'd say move all of them into the General board and leave that one empty. Having two just causes more confusion.

 

I don't know, it helps people figure out what to read first by having the only three stickied threads in the first board be the most important ones.

Oh, and does anyone have a good description for the URPG? I was trying to think of one, but... well... I couldn't think of one that seemed "EPIC" enough. We went with humor (A URPG Tradition) and chose "We have cookies!"

 

Looks good Harry, but the URPG Related Chat thread belongs in the General as well. Then that part can be for only official rule/introductory stuff. Maybe include Starter Requests there as well.

For description, something along the lines of "BMG's newest RPG that allows you to collect Pokemon, compete, and make new friends." Although I recommend something that differentiates us more from other RPGs that let you do similar things, rather than being generic.

 

About the whole Having more people becoming refs. I would just like to mention that i think more people would become refs faster and graders faster if the quizzes that they submitted were marked a bit faster then they currently are. For example i submitted my Ref quiz answers on the 23/7/2010 its been ten days and I haven't had any replies on it yet even though the person i sent it to ahs been active and on the forums and aim. I think if this was improved upon then clogs such as having 15 stories needed being marked or refs being needed for battles would be eased quite significantly.

One more thing to ask if its ok is about the rules of how long you have to be a ref before you can host a FFA, this 2 months of normal reffing I think could bore alot of people especially as hosting FFA's is one of the main reason that people want to become ref's.

 

Did you ask the person if they had looked at your quiz yet? Maybe you should keep asking, or ask them if you should give it to someone else. Also did you look at the date of the last post? 6-25, it's been over a month, we've had quit a few more refs since then.

The two month period is there for a reason and there are more than a few reasons why people want to become refs.