[As seen on the Halo 4 forum section. It’s different crowd, so I thought I’d gauge interest in both areas.]
Different people want different things out of Halo and often use “colourful”
language to describe it.
This is counter productive.
In order to create a more direct line of communication between developper and player,
I am suggesting a system for organized suggestions.
It is a set of guidelines for making suggestion posts informative and neutral.
This way, developpers can get a clearer idea of what individuals want or propose
without having to wade through piles of opinionated threads.
If successfull, this could help push for a suggestions section in the forums.
Conceptually, it is extremely simple:
-Copy and paste the “Message” guidelines below into the body of your thread.
-Fill in a 100% neutral and unopinionated fashion.
-Must fill all categories and nothing more.
-Polls only ask “Yes” or “No”.
-Thread should be discarded if this structure is not respected.
SUBJECT:
"SELLOUT" TITLE:
-Thread title.
-Eye catching but accurate.
-Must be related to topic in some way.
-Preceded by “[SG]:” (No quotes).
MESSAGE:
TITLE:
-One line max.
-Must convey idea in condensed form.
RANGE:
-Enter “Present” or “Future”.
-“Present” limits scope to current game and to changes that are actually feasible through DLC, Title Updates, or Server-Side changes.
(Suggesting large widespread changes that involve the game engine in any way would make your thread invalid.
Example of bad “Present” post: “Add weather effects.”
Example of good “Present” post: “Change weapon or vehicle X on map Y.”)
-“Future” is an expanded scope that may involve future games and allows suggestions involving engine changes, core gameplay, etc.
DESCRIPTION:
-Max 10 lines.
-Briefly describes suggestion.
-Overview, no details.
PURPOSE:
-Max 10 lines.
-Briefly describes what issue this suggestion fixes, what it adds to the game, what it improves.
DETAILS:
-Specifies elements in description.
-Lists examples.
-Lists practical applications.
-Bullet points, clear and concise.
-Additionnal related ideas (Part of the same suggestion, cannot put two suggestions in one thread.)
-References.
-Etc.
CONCLUSION:
-Max 10 lines.
-Short form suggestion (TLDR).
-Closing notes.
In short, these are all you need:
(Plus “[SG]:” tag in subject)
TITLE:
RANGE:
DESCRIPTION:
PURPOSE:
DETAILS:
CONCLUSION:
Examples:
"SELLOUT" TITLE: [SG]: Suggestionception…
TITLE: A Streamlined Suggestion System
RANGE: “Present”.
DESCRIPTION:
A set of guidelines for suggestion threads.
PURPOSE:
-To streamline the process of player feedback.
-To seperate opinion and empty praise/hate from content.
-To allow easier archiving of suggestions.
-To stir interest in a Suggestions section for the forums.
DETAILS:
-Copy and paste the “Message” guidelines from “Suggestionception…” into the body of your thread.
-Fill in a 100% neutral and unopinionated fashion.
-Must fill all categories and nothing more.
-Polls only ask “Yes” or “No”.
-Thread should be discarded if this structure is not respected.
-See “Suggestionception…” for detailed instructions.
CONCLUSION:
A streamlined system for managing suggestions could not only allow developpers to get more precise feedback, but will invariably contribute to improving the culture of the Waypoint forums by allowing users to express themselves in a more logical and non-confrontational manner.
Call it bureaucratic, but if it helps clean up this forum and organize us, I’ll happily be Hermes Conrad.