gametechmods
Site Information => Site News and Feedback => Topic started by: Jamin on October 07, 2012, 06:16:13 PM
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Badnik96 and I had been chatting in Steam for a while about coming up with ways to help to elongate the life span of Gametechmods, the online Robot Combat communities, and specifically the RA2 fanbase for a while. Honestly, GTM seems to be the main place were most of the US robot combat fans, as well as many from all around the world, flock to, and we think that this place needs to be more popular and oriented around that if it is going to stay a stable and popular community. So here are some (major) ideas we brainstormed to help make this place be more friendlier and "on topic."
1. We need more focus on the Robot Combat fanfic. Some of you might not be too interested in it, but it has always been a cool and popular concept, and unfortunately in the last two years or so it has really begun to die off. We think that, to prevent the inevitable death of it, we need:
>An entire board section dedicated to it
>A board for fanfic tournaments
>And a board for showcasing fanfic robot concepts, renders, etc.
With more board focus on it rather than a subforum in the "games board" (I mean really, why did it even get moved there in the first place?)
2. Less off topic boards. Do we really need a politics, off topic, playground, and chatterbox? I do not see the point in that many boards when we could just compress it all into a single "Chatterbox" and make it public towards all members instead of this usergroup BS. and why do we need a "Games" board AND a Game dev board? Hardly either of those are populated enough as is, we might as well just make them a single board.
3. A "Hobbies" board. Instead of having so many off topic boards (Automotive, etc) Couldn't we just get a single board with numerous different subforums for our interests, such as art, automotive, music, sports, etc? It would keep things much less "cluttered" as it is.
4. For the real robotics section, it would be nice to see a "Competitions" board to discuss up and coming IRL tournaments, who is going to be there, etc. That could also help stir up more interest in the real life stuff.
Granted, this is purely the opinion of two peasants, so don't take this as any kind of serious idea on how things should be done here.
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TL;DR
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>A board for fanfic tournaments
https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/board,79.0.html (https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/board,79.0.html)
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we have already enough fanfiction sh** boards over these forums.
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In a last ditch to save this from getting completely shot down, How's about a section for replicas/realistic? I've introduced several people to this forum with my replicas, and not everyone wants to dive right in to building those ugly-ass bots that win tournaments (no offense).
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>A board for fanfic tournaments
https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/board,79.0.html (https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/board,79.0.html)
I know that we already have a board for it, but I think that it needs more attention. It seems like the people who ran ARC are done with that so someone needs to keep it going I think.
In a last ditch to save this from getting completely shot down, How's about a section for replicas/realistic? I've introduced several people to this forum with my replicas, and not everyone wants to dive right in to building those ugly-ass bots that win tournaments (no offense).
I totally support this.
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i think getting rid of some of the off topic boards (ie the actual board named off topic) and merging those threads with chatterbox would be best
those ugly-ass bots that win tournaments (no offense).
seism 13 wasnt ugly :<
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1. We need more focus on the Robot Combat fanfic. Some of you might not be too interested in it, but it has always been a cool and popular concept, and unfortunately in the last two years or so it has really begun to die off. We think that, to prevent the inevitable death of it, we need:
>An entire board section dedicated to it
>A board for fanfic tournaments
>And a board for showcasing fanfic robot concepts, renders, etc.
With more board focus on it rather than a subforum in the "games board" (I mean really, why did it even get moved there in the first place?)
We don't need fanfics, they're a waste of time. The last thing a forum with a shortage of contributing members needs is droves of fanfic'ers who are only interested in playing D&D: Battlebots Edition. I've seen it happen on several forums, including this one (*cough* *cough* story time).
2. Less off topic boards. Do we really need a politics, off topic, playground, and chatterbox? I do not see the point in that many boards when we could just compress it all into a single "Chatterbox" and make it public towards all members instead of this usergroup BS. and why do we need a "Games" board AND a Game dev board? Hardly either of those are populated enough as is, we might as well just make them a single board.
We don't need less, we just need to organize them better.
3. A "Hobbies" board. Instead of having so many off topic boards (Automotive, etc) Couldn't we just get a single board with numerous different subforums for our interests, such as art, automotive, music, sports, etc? It would keep things much less "cluttered" as it is.
You're complaining about it being cluttered? Let's say all these topics are combined into one - just try and find the GTA:IV thread when it has to compete with "Rate one, post one", "Hay guys I'm watching football", and all the other combined content from the other boards (and it would only get worse if we somehow ended up with more members).
4. For the real robotics section, it would be nice to see a "Competitions" board to discuss up and coming IRL tournaments, who is going to be there, etc. That could also help stir up more interest in the real life stuff.
The real robotics section in general needs reorganization.
And now I present to you some counter-proposals. Some of these address things sparkey addressed, some of them address other things:
1> Reorganize the general boards
Currently we have the Chatterbox, Playground, Politics and a separate Off-Topic board. It's a mess. Firstly, we have two boards for general, off topic discussion. Why? There's nothing all that racy in the chatterbox. Secondly, the playground is a mess. Nobody is sure whether its purpose is for forum games or random crap. Here's what needs to be done:
- Get rid of off-topic.
- Rename the entire section to "General Discussion" or something of that nature. Junkyard just doesn't sound good.
- Add rules to the playground; turn it into the "Forum Games" section.
- Un-hide everything from the general members.
- Add a new board - "The Crackhouse" (or whatever you think it ought to be named). This board's only purpose is to have ridiculous, off-topic threads like the ones in the playground right now. The board's only rules are not to post anything illegal or anything that compromises the well being of the forum in general.
- Make the proposed "Crackhouse" board hidden to users who aren't in a special usergroup (like the entire junkyard is right now).
2> Amend foul language rule
This is the internet - we make jokes about 9/11, post pictures of mutilated accident victims, and watch videos where pornstars eat feces. Bad language colloquial language here. This isn't Nick Jr's website - this is (or it ought to be) a website for people mature enough to handle the f-bomb. The only rule there should be regarding foul language is when someone uses it to flame or harass another user.
But if you really care if Billy's mom says he can't visit the website because we say words that make Jesus a sad panda, then do the following:
- Have a word filter (kinda like the one we have now) that censors curse words. It is on by default, but members can chose to turn it off.
- Make a rule stating that users can't circumvent the censor on purpose (if someone wants to drop the f-bomb, they gotta spell it out as it should be so the filter can censor it)
- Bad language cannot be used to flame or harass another user, as I sated before
- If the last two rules haven't been broken, DON'T WARN SOMEONE FOR USING LANGUAGE (no really, I'm getting sick of this).
*Also, censor racist words and treat them as regular curse words.
3> Reorganize hobby boards.
I don't really need to go into detail with this - they're a mess. Do this for massive damage:
- Get rid of "Off Topic" (see proposal 1)
- Rename the entire section to "Hobbies"
- Make "Software & Computers" a board. It would be for general computer discussion.
- Combine all the discussions from "Computer & OS" and "Software" into the new "Sofware & Computers" board.
- Keep the "CAD Showcase" sub-board, but rename it to "Digital Showcase"; it will cover any digital works (sorta like it does now).
- Rename "Games" to "Video Games" in order to make its purpose more clear.
- Move the "Fantasy Robot Battles" board to a sub board under the proposed "Forum Games" section.
- Combine all the discussions under "Game Development" and make it a sub-board of "Video Games"
I may add more later, but I have homework I really need to do.
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We don't need fanfics, they're a waste of time.
"I don't like them, therefore no one else should be allowed to like them." Nobody said that you had to enjoy it, but there is still a lot of members here who do you know, I don't see what's the big deal about dedicating a small part of the forum to it for those who do. Especially because its, for the most part, on topic with the theme of the forum. But I do agree that it should be make a sub forum in the forum games section.
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We don't need fanfics, they're a waste of time.
"I don't like them, therefore no one else should be allowed to like them." Nobody said that you had to enjoy it, but there is still a lot of members here who do you know, I don't see what's the big deal about dedicating a small part of the forum to it for those who do. Especially because its, for the most part, on topic with the theme of the forum. But I do agree that it should be make a sub forum in the forum games section.
Because the forum was almost taken over by RP fags once already. We saved it and now you propose we give them another chance to take over. That's like telling Al Queda "We know you flew planes into our World Trade Towers, but we're gonna rebuild them without changing any of the security issues that led to it. Feel free to do it again."
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We don't need fanfics, they're a waste of time.
"I don't like them, therefore no one else should be allowed to like them." Nobody said that you had to enjoy it, but there is still a lot of members here who do you know, I don't see what's the big deal about dedicating a small part of the forum to it for those who do. Especially because its, for the most part, on topic with the theme of the forum. But I do agree that it should be make a sub forum in the forum games section.
Because the forum was almost taken over by RP fags once already. We saved it and now you propose we give them another chance to take over. That's like telling Al Queda "We know you flew planes into our World Trade Towers, but we're gonna rebuild them without changing any of the security issues that led to it. Feel free to do it again."
I don't get what is so wrong about having Robot Combat fanfic though. As far as my history knowledge goes, it has always been partnered with RA2, even since the early days, mostly because of communities like ARC and RFSHQ and what not, I don't see why we should just cut it off. It's not the same as "Hurr durr dragonz and casuls" fantasy garbage, its based around what we all came here for and I think it belongs for those who want it. There are all kinds of other forums for story time esque bs, but the CFL stuff is starting to fall apart and someone needs to keep it alive for those who love it.
Also, unless my memory is skewed GTM has always had the fanfic robot combat board since it launched as well
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If Noodle's suggestions were put into place, I'd be a happy Craaig.
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Yeah I agree with most of noodle's suggestions as well.
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I just noticed that the chatterbox was moved, and some other sections were moved. This looks much better now, Great Job.
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Where the heck did my thread on steak go
Looks much better now
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I like the changes, however may I still request a 'Forum Games' section (not Fantasy Battles or whatever it is) for stuff like https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,10040.0.html (https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,10040.0.html), https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,10821.0.html (https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,10821.0.html), https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,9244.225.html (https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,9244.225.html) and also https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,9962.0.html (https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,9962.0.html) (although it also fits where it is).
Thanks for the effort, 'CAMS (:
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My suggestions weren't ignored?!?
(http://files.sharenator.com/spit_coffee-s576x416-126987.png)
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We don't need fanfics, they're a waste of time.
"I don't like them, therefore no one else should be allowed to like them." Nobody said that you had to enjoy it, but there is still a lot of members here who do you know, I don't see what's the big deal about dedicating a small part of the forum to it for those who do. Especially because its, for the most part, on topic with the theme of the forum. But I do agree that it should be make a sub forum in the forum games section.
Because the forum was almost taken over by RP fags once already. We saved it and now you propose we give them another chance to take over. That's like telling Al Queda "We know you flew planes into our World Trade Towers, but we're gonna rebuild them without changing any of the security issues that led to it. Feel free to do it again."
That's a bit melodramatic isn't it? It was one thread in the playground where it belonged, not really my definition of a hostile takeover. In my view the people who create a million threads at once are doing more damage because it actually makes the other threads impossible to find.
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My suggestions weren't ignored?!?
Some were .... foul language is STILL not allowed!
Filtered words are still foul!
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My suggestions weren't ignored?!?
Some were .... foul language is STILL not allowed!
Filtered words are still foul!
Well, son of a bitch...
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Well, son of a bitch...
(http://puu.sh/1dfeV)
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Interesting... I hid Politics & Playground, and I can't post to Chatterbox.
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I don't see how this has made the forum better. Putting the Junkyard out in the open just clutters it up if you're just interested in the robot side of things. It's going to be annoying filtering the irrelevant stuff in the unread posts. Seems like its just moving things from one place to another, not really changing much. This forum needs to be robot oriented and have all the other stuff in groups like before. People find this place when they get into Robot Arena and are interested in robots. Could put people off if they see a load of irrelevant sub-forums and childish posts like this crap (https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,11723.0.html). I can't be bothered with that stuff and I bet a few others might be feeling the same way.
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I don't see how this has made the forum better. Putting the Junkyard out in the open just clutters it up if you're just interested in the robot side of things. It's going to be annoying filtering the irrelevant stuff in the unread posts. Seems like its just moving things from one place to another, not really changing much. This forum needs to be robot oriented and have all the other stuff in groups like before. People find this place when they get into Robot Arena and are interested in robots. Could put people off if they see a load of irrelevant sub-forums and childish posts like this crap (https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,11723.0.html). I can't be bothered with that stuff and I bet a few others might be feeling the same way.
Posts like that shouldn't be in the chatterbox, and if ACAMS followed all my suggestions the playground should be hide-able.
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I don't see how this has made the forum better. Putting the Junkyard out in the open just clutters it up if you're just interested in the robot side of things. It's going to be annoying filtering the irrelevant stuff in the unread posts. Seems like its just moving things from one place to another, not really changing much. This forum needs to be robot oriented and have all the other stuff in groups like before. People find this place when they get into Robot Arena and are interested in robots. Could put people off if they see a load of irrelevant sub-forums and childish posts like this crap (https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,11723.0.html). I can't be bothered with that stuff and I bet a few others might be feeling the same way.
Perhaps give it an even harsher name than "junkyard?" the point of calling it the "junkyard" is for people to expect posts like that.
And I still maintain my suggestion to have a seperate "just for fun/beginners'" board. Whenever someone starts a showcase, it seems like it's standard protocol to hold them to Inf/Psyc's level of standards, and push them into building overweaponed behemoths & abandoning all conventions of real life robot building. I'd wager that a very small percentage of new members have both the skill level and interest to get there.
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I wish I had discovered robot arena back in the 2000's when this place was buzzing with creativity and expertise. I would have been the right age as well to really get into everything and get properly good. I think I am too old for this forum now so my point of view and what I come here for is different to most. I still think if you want this place to grow again it needs to be 100% robot arena focused on the face, for people who are seriously into the game and build regularly. All the other stuff should be out of sight in 'special interest groups'. I'd go further and say there are 3 types of people here: 1.serious builders who are just interested in robot combat as a sport and the ra2 game. 2. People from point 1 who have done it all and mostly lost interest in robot building but still come here for whatever reason and mostly lost the passion. 3. People who want to mess about or don't have a clue. I'd say this place is mostly frequented by 2. Not their fault, but I don't see many people of category 1 here very often. In short I think the buzz went a few years ago (say 08-09) and we don't seem to be getting it back. Seeing how this is the last RA2 forum out there: It's fight or die time. Action is required!
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Action is required!
That action was supposed to be DSL 3. That got real far, eh?
What we really need is a new mod - a proper mod not an AI pack. The biggest problem with making a proper mod is dealing with the finnicky GMF format. You have to find a version of 3ds max that nobody cares about, run it on a version of XP that nobody cares about, and even then it doesn't work properly half of the time. I tried it once and never did again - its a royal pain.
In regards to interest, I personally am only interested in tournaments at this point. Showcases are really only for posting concepts, but nobody seems to get that. If you post anything that isn't an autistic mess of razors and other crap, your robot gets shot down.
Come to think of it, even tournament building has stagnated. Stock is dominated by the same cookie-cutter popups and HSs, and DSL is dominated by cookie-cutter flail applications. Everyone has gotten too well adapted to the game...
...which brings me back to my first point: we need a new mod.
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A mod dedicated entirely to IRL style building would be nice.....wait isn't that what DSL2 was supposed to be?
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A mod dedicated entirely to IRL style building would be nice.....wait isn't that what DSL2 was supposed to be?
DSL3 will be this
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A mod dedicated entirely to IRL style building would be nice.....wait isn't that what DSL2 was supposed to be?
DSL3 will be this
Assuming it ever gets completed.
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I will say my final piece on this issue and leave this discussion for others (I've not been a member long enough to have the right to say any of this but what the heck):
My Suggestions (suggestions not demands):
1. Forum structure:
Forum Information: Same
Robot Arena 2:
General Discussion: Modifications, Modification Ideas, Challenge Board, BOTM
New Member Area (GTM Academy) Tutorials - all versions/mods, links to tools and utilities - new user friendly/orientated. Organised for skill progression.
Stock Sub-forum:
Showcases - for stock, starcore, custom etc.
Tournaments:
General Discussion, rules etc.
Tournament threads - Display tournaments etc.
DSL Sub-Forum:
Showcases:
General Discussion - rules etc.
Tournament threads - Display tournaments, etc.
Real Robotics - same
Software and Computers:
Game Development
Other Games
Hidden/Group membership: 'Junkyard'
2. BOTM completely open, no limits - submit what you like. Get everybody interested and building something at least once a month.
3. Rule that showcases should be designated/tagged in title by their owner: Art, Efficiency, IRL, Fun/crazy, Beginner etc. one of or multiple of? Everyone knows where everybody stands.
4. All new members get a showcase set up for them, with a link to tutorials section and beetlebros - no pressure, its just there if they want to look at them.
'Beginner' until a set number of posts or judgement by Nar or Acams or someone that they display advanced ability. Beginners get constructive advice only, not with attitude or ego boosting.
5. A 'continuing committee' of the most advanced/senior/long-time members: Acams, Naryar, Click etc. to keep everything running in the same direction and to keep the knowledge/spirit of GTM going.
Overall just a tighter organisation, more new user oriented/friendly, refocus on robot combat as a game and a sport that we are all crazy about.
(Congratulations to anyone who read this rant all the way through).
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I still can't post to Chatterbox.
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I still can't post to Chatterbox.
Everything is going much better than I expected.
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Action is required!
That action was supposed to be DSL 3. That got real far, eh?
What we really need is a new mod - a proper mod not an AI pack. The biggest problem with making a proper mod is dealing with the finnicky GMF format. You have to find a version of 3ds max that nobody cares about, run it on a version of XP that nobody cares about, and even then it doesn't work properly half of the time. I tried it once and never did again - its a royal pain.
In regards to interest, I personally am only interested in tournaments at this point. Showcases are really only for posting concepts, but nobody seems to get that. If you post anything that isn't an autistic mess of razors and other crap, your robot gets shot down.
Come to think of it, even tournament building has stagnated. Stock is dominated by the same cookie-cutter popups and HSs, and DSL is dominated by cookie-cutter flail applications. Everyone has gotten too well adapted to the game...
...which brings me back to my first point: we need a new mod.
this is why in dsl i just around and build giant ass ghw's
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I believe what is lacking is variety.
*Less mods - We don't have many modders left here and they are all pretty busy.
*Hardly any major AI packs, none at all in stock - Inf AI, Pys AI and Starcore all seem done and dusted and Nar AI seems to be the only recent AI pack of note.
*Tournaments can have more variety - Instead of just giving people 1 on 1 deathmatch tournaments people need to try out different things and be more creative.
Other things to note:
*We are missing BBEANS (I would love to see an AW or BW stock BBEANS next).
*People spend a lot more time in off-topic. People like myself don't get many comments when posting bots, AI packs or new tournament videos, this makes us feel unappreciated.
*We have lost lots of great builders who may never return. It hurts to see people like Inf, Pys, Barbie etc. leave, their designs often inspired people to build and without them the community takes a hit.
Things we can do:
*Comment more - People like it when they get comments, it makes them feel like they are getting noticed and people actually care about their work.
*Be different when building - Inf, Pys, Barbie etc. inspired us with their designs because they were different, I don't think many people are trying to be different and they just try and clone designs.
*Post more stuff! - Instead of just chatting and spending time in off-topic try and post something! why not try and build a new stock AI pack, post your new bots or host a new kind of tournament?
We can't replace anyone who leaves the community but we can try and make our own legacy here.
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A mod dedicated entirely to IRL style building would be nice.....wait isn't that what DSL2 was supposed to be?
DSL3 will be this
Assuming it ever gets completed.
DSL2: EP3
Seriously though, there's usually always a way to help with something, and DSL3 isn't much of an exception.
The only problem is that there's a special sort of experience needed to help, but that's really all that's stopping anyone. Once that gate is bypassed with as much perfection as possible, that's all. Anyway, I'm running off topic.
I agree with Sonny's "Make an IRL/Replica/whatever showcase area, for the people who don't really want to pull a MOAR RAZORS and make extremely bland but overkill effective bots." idea, or something like that. The average newbie might wade through pages and pages of (DSL and Stock alike) efficiency-incarnate bots before getting some inspiration for something Aesthetic/Artbot/Replica/whatever. Although, that last bit is more DSL than anything.
Just putting my 2% of a dollar in here.
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I still can't post to Chatterbox.
DAMN....... acams must have hit the wrong button when blocking you from playground
*Hardly any major AI packs, none at all in stock - Inf AI, Pys AI and Starcore all seem done and dusted and Nar AI seems to be the only recent AI pack of note.
i am currently making a stock ai pack, but i cant really call it "major" yet as its only in its beginning stages
basically the only big ai pack in stock atm is restocked almost being finished with the occasional SC4 bot from virus bomb or whoever decides to rebuild something
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I have just noticed, in group membership, there is a Playground 'group', so you can leave Playground if you do not enjoy/want to put up with the drama and whatnot in there. Didn't know this, and not sure if anyone else has picked up on it - Thank you, ACAMS.
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Yes, I suggest everyone who is not an idiot leave Playground Immediately ....... ON SECOND THOUGHT ...... most of you need to just stay there!!!!!!!!!
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Is it set to hidden as a default? That may be slightly useful, rather than corrupting new members the moment they walk through the door :P
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Is it set to hidden as a default? That may be slightly useful, rather than corrupting new members the moment they walk through the door :P
Yes. It has been that way for a while. People were joining just to take part in the Junkyard conversations.
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Is it set to hidden as a default? That may be slightly useful, rather than corrupting new members the moment they walk through the door :P
Yes. It has been that way for a while. People were joining just to take part in the Junkyard conversations.
yeah, i HATE when people join then immediately head to junkyard and have to be forced to actually build a bot/when they make a petty effort to "contribute" then rush over the off-topic and live there.
being a legend of RA2 then fizzling out and retiring to off-topic is one thing, but this.....
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I may build a new bot!
I will paint it pink ..... or green, maybe both!
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I will paint it pink ..... or green, maybe both!
****'S GETTIN' REAL.