I think that the classified ads section could really do with a stricter set of guidelines. It would be beneficial to the projects with actual potential looking to recruit team members.
As it stands, the place is untidy. Almost all of the topics are created by not-so-serious developers looking for a full set of staff to make their game for them. They offer no skills, no compensation, and let's be real - their project isn't going to be finished any time soon.
They give off the vibe that BYOND classifieds isn't somewhere worth checking into. The section would be a lot more useful if we clean out the clutter, in my opinion.
ID:132349
 Apr 9 2011, 2:59 am (Edited on Apr 9 2011, 3:05 am)
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The policy of deleting replies that clearly won't be looking to fulfil the ad is currently in force. It's funny, as I've had people asking after me to complain about this.
As for the policy of deleting things that are half filled in, that is also in force, but I can't say I see it often. I'm about to do a sweep now, so at the time of posting there may be a few offenders. The matter of improving ad quality is a bit tricky, but I guess we can see what we can do. The issue is enforcing better standards without also killing it. | |
Stephen001 wrote:
The matter of improving ad quality is a bit tricky, but I guess we can see what we can do. The issue is enforcing better standards without also killing it. I don't think that you would have to set the standards very high to sweep up a good portion of the classifieds. Right now, there are no ~real~ standards set - that's a bad thing, especially on BYOND. If you have an idea, no skills, and you're not serious about the project, you can post a classified ad. Just having posters having to offer actual skills with samples if they're looking for partners would axe half of the advertisements. On-topic, somewhat: "DO NOT make posts for projects which knowingly make use of another person's intellectual property without their permission." This requirement confuses me. The classified section is filled with people illegally making use of copyright from various Anime. Why are we not enforcing this rule? | |
I'm still in favor of enforcing [Paid]/[Unpaid] tags in the subject line. Seriously, I would be willing to monitor the forum and put them in myself.
Administrative privileges, credit, and "a cut of future profits" do not count as paid. | |
KhaosParadox wrote:
On-topic, somewhat: The rule was enforced for a while. Then the policy changed and ads for these games were permitted again. Shame, but oh well. | |
Another option would be take it's forum aspect away and make classified ads into more how the current Games list is. You could "create an ad" including a screen shot and fill out some information. It's a major piece of work but I hope my brain fart amused you some how.
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I think this is getting way over the top.
Not everyone is here to create blockbusting games that have a lot of 'Potential'. If some kid wants to make a half ass-ed game then let him. He has the same right as anyone to make a post about the game he wishes to create and advertise for some help whether its paid or not. Happy Easter. Slic3y | |
Slic3y wrote:
Not everyone is here to create blockbusting games that have a lot of 'Potential'. If some kid wants to make a half ass-ed game then let him. Which is definitely a problem. BYOND needs more people with some vision and the ability to see an idea through. That being said, having paid/unpaid tags is hardly going overboard. It just makes the ad listing that much easier to scan through. The only posts being deleted are the ones for games which don't even last a week. If someone can't spend five minutes writing a good ad, how can you expect them to spend months working on a game? | |
SuperAntx wrote:
Slic3y wrote: Your probably right. Maybe I didn't think that option through enough. paid/unpaid tags could work well to separate serious projects from not so serious ones. At-least its still giving them a chance to post an ad. I know this is pretty off the topic but Ive also noticed people have to become a BYOND Member to submit their game for listing now? This cuts out a fair chunk of people's motivation for creating a game in the first place. no-one will know their game exists. Ive been motivated to buy a membership for this reason(processing atm) but some people cant afford one. Look at what happened with J.K Rowling. Give the dog a bone to play with. Its as if BYOND are saying non members have no persistence for creating a really great game so well cut them off from free advertising. | |
Slic3y wrote:
I know this is pretty off the topic but Ive also noticed people have to become a BYOND Member to submit their game for listing now? This cuts out a fair chunk of people's motivation for creating a game in the first place. no-one will know their game exists. There are some other options. If a hub moderator spots the game, they can manually add it to the listings. Non-members can also assign a member as a "helper" on their hub, who can then submit the game for listing. Ideally, the Creations forum would be a good place to showcase your game once it's ready for listing, as you're likely to find a member to submit your game for you or a mod might spot it and add it outright. This new restriction really cut down the listings, which is a double-edged sword. I think once more original games start to appear, it'll have been for the best, however. | |
Ahh, thanks for clearing that up. I was under the impressions that non members couldn't get their games published whatsoever.
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Something more forum-ish
would be cool.. Instead of showing all replies just the most recent.. and some kind of link to view them all without it being displayed publicly? | |
Slic3y wrote:
Ahh, thanks for clearing that up. I was under the impressions that non members couldn't get their games published whatsoever. BYOND also appears to subtly encouraging people to make their own websites for their games. Which makes sense in a lot of ways. Not only does it actually help give BYOND some extra advertisement, which it so sorely needs, it also forces people to stop suckling on BYOND and take their projects a lot more seriously. I know that if I'm going to put the effort into making a website to advertise a game, I want the game to be the best I can offer with the tools I have, and I'll learn all I can to make it so. But I can see where you're coming from. Not being able to advertise your game to a group of probably like-minded people straight off the bat is a bit of a bummer. But ultimately, doesn't that force you to take the project more seriously so you can garner the interest of people capable of submitting it? | |
I think someone with experience advertising should write a guide on how to properly advertise your website to the target audience. Surely theres tools you can use, and/or a good strategy to buying the right ad space.
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Slic3y wrote:
I think someone with experience advertising should write a guide on how to properly advertise your website to the target audience. Surely theres tools you can use, and/or a good strategy to buying the right ad space. There are already a lot of websites to help with that | |
I do believe that there should be stricter moderation on that forum. If someone is unwilling to fill in all the necessary information, remove the post and send them a message as to why that action occurred. Heck, I would be willing to do such a job.
Along with that, I've recommended this several times in the past, but I think the Classified Ads should be read-only. This means one must provide contact information. People tend to feel that it is necessary to reply to an ad, in which they were never going to apply to, and criticize the game, post, or author. Of course, you can allow replies but once again, have stricter moderation.
Lastly, when creating an ad, there should be a dropdown list which provides two options: PAID and UNPAID. Your selection will appear next to the title of your ad: "[PAID] Programmer needed for Calus' Quest Online"