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The Suggestion...
I really like chatting with the folks around here. It's not only nostalgic of my sometimes-forgotten childhood days - the discussions are awesome and so are you. I am assuming that some of the "regulars" to the site probably have thought of the same - so I thought that something should be done.
Recently I've been interested in having my own home page, and as a result of that I'm starting to see the stagnation of TMB in a different light. Steve - if you have the time or care and want more activity on site, reminiscent of the "good old days" the site had around 2002-2008, here's my thoughts on how the website could be improved for the general user. It should in theory make more people register on the site and join the SDB:
- Identify the user demographics; an educated guess on the age distribution and interests would be helpful in maximizing effectiveness.
- Polish up MR:C/Evo - especially the descriptions on Created and generation on Evo need work I think.
- Encourage users to join the SDB - a catchy phrase in the Evo/MR4 pages like "Do you want to decide what makes it in the next game?" might be helpful.
- Start working on getting the next game out.
OR (inclusive)
- Encourage users to start working on the next game. I don't know what your relation and thoughts to MR as a series is, but it seems to me from projects such as Open and Created that a more community-driven self-sufficient development process would be more desirable.
- Enlist the help of talented users in case of time/interest issues both now and in the future.
- Identify the outlying reasons of problems and potential solutions.
Of course, all this is a huge amount of effort and you should decide for yourself what you want with the site. If the current state is fine and TMB is a thing of the past for you, then that's fine by me as well, but I thought that you might not want to abandon it quite yet. Therefore, I thought that some suggestions might be in place. After all, is that not the function of the Suggestion Database itself? ;)
I'm looking forward to hearing your opinion, as well as thoughts about what the site represents to you. :)
Comments
No I totally agree and I would love to get this site up to it's highest ever levels of activity. However as you say the site requires a lot of work and I would say it needs at least 1 full time developer to get things moving.
You're right that I am aiming towards more community involvement - it has always been the aim of this site to ultimately allow anyone to login and start creating the next MR or even other games based on the same engine.
The shockwave issue has become a huge problem and the game engine needs to be ported to a new technology. My current favourite is phone gap which would allow the creation of a web version but also the possibility to create spin off versions for Android and iPhone which could create funding to pay for the aforementioned full time developer.
My current attitude towards TMB is that it is reluctantly in "stasis" until I can get enough free time to get things moving again. To illustrate my priorities are
1 family
2 job
3 study
4 TMB
With the arrival of our second child just two weeks ago, family uses up all spare time not taken by my actual job. I am struggling even to do study. Right now I am writing this when I should be working on a project for college which is already desperately late. So I won't be able to do anything much on TMB until at least after my course is finished.
Even then to get time to work requires asking my partner to take the kids off somewhere to give me space. A tough sell even when it's for college, tougher again when it's just for my "hobby". Again, getting to the point where TMB was looking likely to bring in some extra income would make it easier to justify working on it.
So for now, I think about this site a lot and things I would like to do with it and I am busily working towards a situation where I will able to do them. It will be tight for the next couple of years but then I hope things will improve.
I appreciate your continued involvement megaman4ever - you have stuck around even through the quietest times. And equally thanks to everyone else who has logged in periodically just to see what's happening. Rest assured that whenever I get an opportunity to continue working on this site I will.
You're right that I am aiming towards more community involvement - it has always been the aim of this site to ultimately allow anyone to login and start creating the next MR or even other games based on the same engine.
The shockwave issue has become a huge problem and the game engine needs to be ported to a new technology. My current favourite is phone gap which would allow the creation of a web version but also the possibility to create spin off versions for Android and iPhone which could create funding to pay for the aforementioned full time developer.
My current attitude towards TMB is that it is reluctantly in "stasis" until I can get enough free time to get things moving again. To illustrate my priorities are
1 family
2 job
3 study
4 TMB
With the arrival of our second child just two weeks ago, family uses up all spare time not taken by my actual job. I am struggling even to do study. Right now I am writing this when I should be working on a project for college which is already desperately late. So I won't be able to do anything much on TMB until at least after my course is finished.
Even then to get time to work requires asking my partner to take the kids off somewhere to give me space. A tough sell even when it's for college, tougher again when it's just for my "hobby". Again, getting to the point where TMB was looking likely to bring in some extra income would make it easier to justify working on it.
So for now, I think about this site a lot and things I would like to do with it and I am busily working towards a situation where I will able to do them. It will be tight for the next couple of years but then I hope things will improve.
I appreciate your continued involvement megaman4ever - you have stuck around even through the quietest times. And equally thanks to everyone else who has logged in periodically just to see what's happening. Rest assured that whenever I get an opportunity to continue working on this site I will.
Saving up enough money to afford one of few things might be the best solution regarding that, at least from the perspective of getting the stasis broken on TMB. Being able to afford things like quitting your day job completely or taking time off would definitely increase the time at your disposal. I think that looking more into the monetisation of TMB might be useful, since it might be possible to work independently or at least to make a considerable side income.
Of course, how much this advice can be applied depends a lot on your life situation. However, in my opinion 99% of "first-world" consumers have unnecessary habits regarding money usage which do not in any significant way contribute to their wellness. Not trying alcohol or caffeine and going around with a bicycle were probably some of the best choices I have made in my life. If you can hold on to the money saved by cutting down on unnecessary purchases, I wouldn't think of these ideas being unimaginable or unrealistic.
Still, I know barely anything about you outside of your image on TMB and lifestyle changes are both demanding and perhaps not even necessary. Nevertheless I think that this is something that might be worth thinking about for you - probably it's something you've given a thought to already - but whatever you choose to do, in my opinion growth and improvement are better than the alternatives.
As for rewriting the engine - I agree that the mobile gap looks interesting. HTML5 or possibly Unity both look like interesting options to me, but I haven't been following the recent trends at all nor do I have much experience working with mobile platforms. I don't know how Linux support is for Unity software, though, but at least HTML5 works on practically every platform. I don't know whether HTML5 software can be compiled into applications though, so... Which new technologies are you considering?
Anyway, from how my studies are progressing, it looks like I'll have lot of extra time on my hands in near-ish future though, and doing something for TMB might be better than a lot of other things my time could be spent on. I usually don't stay focused on one thing for long, but at least I'm enthusiastic about everything I do. If there's something else I can do, let me know! Either way, making enemies for MR or whatnot doesn't look like the #1 priority right now.
Lastly - congratulations on your second child, and hopefully your family will do well both now and in the future! :)
Of course, how much this advice can be applied depends a lot on your life situation. However, in my opinion 99% of "first-world" consumers have unnecessary habits regarding money usage which do not in any significant way contribute to their wellness. Not trying alcohol or caffeine and going around with a bicycle were probably some of the best choices I have made in my life. If you can hold on to the money saved by cutting down on unnecessary purchases, I wouldn't think of these ideas being unimaginable or unrealistic.
Still, I know barely anything about you outside of your image on TMB and lifestyle changes are both demanding and perhaps not even necessary. Nevertheless I think that this is something that might be worth thinking about for you - probably it's something you've given a thought to already - but whatever you choose to do, in my opinion growth and improvement are better than the alternatives.
As for rewriting the engine - I agree that the mobile gap looks interesting. HTML5 or possibly Unity both look like interesting options to me, but I haven't been following the recent trends at all nor do I have much experience working with mobile platforms. I don't know how Linux support is for Unity software, though, but at least HTML5 works on practically every platform. I don't know whether HTML5 software can be compiled into applications though, so... Which new technologies are you considering?
Anyway, from how my studies are progressing, it looks like I'll have lot of extra time on my hands in near-ish future though, and doing something for TMB might be better than a lot of other things my time could be spent on. I usually don't stay focused on one thing for long, but at least I'm enthusiastic about everything I do. If there's something else I can do, let me know! Either way, making enemies for MR or whatnot doesn't look like the #1 priority right now.
Lastly - congratulations on your second child, and hopefully your family will do well both now and in the future! :)
I look forward to seeing that Steve, but you really must put your family and work stuff first.
I'm sure any of us old timers who may or may not pop in from time to time would agree.
I'm sure any of us old timers who may or may not pop in from time to time would agree.
I still log in semi regularly, and will continue to do so for as long as TMB is around.
I'd love to see the activity increase around here, and outside of my other obligations I'd love to help any way I can.
Also...
Congrats on the new family member Steve!
I'd love to see the activity increase around here, and outside of my other obligations I'd love to help any way I can.
Also...
Congrats on the new family member Steve!
Thanks chaps!
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Making TMB more lively