Forum Changes - Quick Info Thread

I'm keeping this topic for news of forum changes, whether they are minor or major.

Jan 29  2015 :  I've added 18 extra smilies to use in posts.  The more smilies the better IMO...   I may add a few more later on.

EDIT:  And so I have.  Added 8 more and counting.  

I am adding some smilies that can be used in posts in the game forums...eg an archer, a katana smilie, and one to reference the famous "spin to win" (Dark Souls reference.)

Added a Category for lesser known games that I, and perhaps others consider to be gems in the rough, or just for other games besides the main Categories.

EDIT:  As mentioned here, What Does This Forum Have To Offer You I will be adding a forum for TES Oblivion before the other games, and probably soon, so I can add info about my Oblivion mods.    Oblivion was the first, and is still only, the first game I ever learned to mod, so it has a special place in my heart.

If anyone was wondering why I haven't added a theme yet it's because I don't have time to do that and add interesting content, which I think is more important just at the moment.    I know it helps with presentation and I will get to it.    After all a facade is just that if there's nothing of interest behind it.  

Added a Category for the Elder Scrolls Oblivion. I will probably add one for Skyrim later on if there's any interest. I'm personally not playing either of the games at the moment but that may change at any time.

I'm currently playing through the Gothic series again and will be adding topics for those when I get to it.

There's been a bit of a hiatus on content over the last few weeks for one reason or another, but I'm going to try to rectify that as soon as possible.

As you will no doubt notice the forum has had a makeover. I have to do some small tweaking but for the moment it looks better and more attractive than the default style.

I have added the image resize option so when posting images, eg screenshots or images from the Web they will be auto resized.

There is an option at the top of each image to click to enlarge if desired. This is to prevent large images requiring scrolling and looking messy.

I need to change font colours for members etc and will do it soon.

Changed the Category Spotlight: Lesser Known Games to Other Well and Lesser Known Games because there are many other games that are also popular, but probably won't get their own forum, as well as little known gems that people might be interested in.

However, when Fallout 4 arrives, assuming the system specs allow me to play it, I will probably create a category for Fallout in general as I do play Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas and most likely will continue to do so.  

Oblivion will stay as I have my tutorial and mods and "might" play it again some day, or more likely do some things in the CS, but there won't be a Skyrim forum as I'm fed up with the game and it's issues.

OK, we now have a LIKE button.  

NOTE:
The Like button will display 'Loading...' when it has been clicked, until complete.
There will be no option to dislike a post.   I'm not getting into that.

The members names who "Liked" a post won't be shown as it's not a function of this forum.  ie it doesn't have access to the database of members to do this.  A simple "Like" should be sufficient since we have only a few members anyway.

We also have a THANKS button now.  This will give reputation points.  

NOTE:  Only the TOPIC STARTER can see the "Thanks" button.  For example, if I created a topic, then someone replies to my topic, the "Thanks" button will show. But when you just reply on a topic, you can't see the "Thanks" button.

This is just to give thanks to someone who helped you in your own topic, or just because you liked what they said.  Reputation points will show under your avatar.

The Thanks button will fade out when you have used it once so people can't thank a post multiple times.

In the very near future I will be adding categories for both Fallout 3 and New Vegas as I play and enjoy both games and with the announcement of Fallout 4 I've returned to FO3 and NV and I'm having a ball.

There will also be a category for the big one....Fallout 4... and after watching the E3 presentation I cannot wait, which is a huge understatement.   To put it mildly, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  

I'm going to pre-order it next week and though I've been burned badly by a few other AAA games recently, I'm pretty confident I'll be OK with this one.  

It's released on 10:Nov:2015, a week after my birthday so it will be my present to myself, albeit a few days late.  

My only concern is system requirements and although they haven't been released yet, there's some speculation about the place that they might not be as high as I fear, and I might be OK on minimum to medium.   I don't give a damn about god rays and fancy lighting as long as I can play the game and one of the great things about Bethesda is they think about the folk with older PC's and give us they ability to scale back a lot.  

I want the dog more than anything....lol The way he looks and moves is so natural and the interaction is amazing.

Todd didn't mention mods, but I guess it's a bit early for that.

This is the video which I will move to it's new home when I get it sorted.  Probably on the weekend.

I am getting around to adding the Fallout categories, even though I said I would probably do it last weekend.   However, since it most likely will be another area where I'm pretty much the only one adding content I'm not in a great hurry.  

I am currently playing though Fallout 3 which is going to take me quite some time so I have screenshots and other things to post, but I'm going to wait until I have it all ready so the area isn't empty in the meantime.

That is not to say members have to contribute of course, that would be silly, but since I added the Oblivion forums more or less on request and because I have my own mods (not all yet) and tutorial there, it is otherwise basically empty.

I've read on other forums on how to get started and encouraging people to join that having empty categories is a turn off for anyone looking to join a new forum and I tend to agree. There are a lot of empty areas here.   I don't wish to add more that won't be used and I can only play one game at a time.

That's another reason why I only have main categories and forums for games I play, and where anyone else who enjoys the same can add their own posts.   I would add more for other games on request IF they would be used, but that seems unlikely so far.

OK Fallout forums are added.   I'll add a Fallout 4 forum closer to the game's release.

In the meantime I will be adding my own content to FO3 and NV forums as I get time.   Feel free to start new topics before then.

One other thing:  A couple of the forums from other Categories that currently have no content may end up being deleted unless I can find the time to add content to them.    

It never works out when someone says they are eager to help (in the formative days of this forum) and then doesn't follow through.   Then they spit the dummy when asked to contribute one measly post, let alone what they said they would do. One reason why I usually loathe to ask anyone for help with anything.

We now have a "Report" button at the bottom left in posts. I never really noticed it wasn't there by default and it will probably never be needed, but now the option is available to members if they have an issue with anyone's posts.

Sorry about the lack of content lately, but I've been busy with one thing and another. I'll try to remedy that as soon as I can.

Sometime soon I will be adding an area where members can post short stories, fan fiction, or their own art if they wish.   I like to write as a hobby so I'd like to post bits and pieces and people can either read them or not.

However, this will only be able to be viewed by registered members.

Unfortunately, unless someone wants it and will use it, I won't be adding a Fallout 4 forum.

Sadly,     this is because since the system specs came out I had to cancel my pre-order because my PC doesn't even reach the minimum requirements.  There's possibly a chance it might play on very low, but I'm not buying it on a "just in case" basis.

Maybe if things change and I can upgrade it might happen, but that doesn't look promising for the future.

Besides, by that time maybe all the expected bugs will have been patched, either by Bethesda or the modding community....the more likely scenario.

Coming soon, probably the next day or so, a forum for The Secret World MMO.   Just want to take a few more screenshots and read up a little more on the mechanics.
 
EDIT:
[I did say in a day or so from this comment, but things came up, not to mention playing the game obsessively.  I'll get to it soon.]  

I'm really enjoying it so far, but it's a bit of a learning curve.  I like that it has a lot of RPG style, with lots of puzzles that make you think and that it can be completed solo, except for dungeons, or with friends.

The only other MMO I've played or been interested in is also by the same devs, FUNCOM, and that was Age Of Conan: Unchained.   I was addicted to that one for a long time.

On the 16th of this month Dragon's Dogma:Dark Arisen is also out for PC on Steam.  I've already prepaid that so it will most likely get it's own section, or I might add it to the Dark Souls 2 forums and rearrange them a bit.  The game has a similar feel I believe.

Then in March Dark Souls 3.  To be honest I'm not sure about it.  It looks too much like Bloodborne which I haven't played due to not having a console.  I did watch a full Let's Play though and it didn't inspire me.  I guess I'll wait and see what the verdict is on Dark Souls 3 and what changes have been made.

The Secret World forum is up.  However, it might be a couple of days before I get content into it, but it's a start since I announced it awhile ago. 

I have a stack of screenshots ready for sorting but that's as far as I've gotten.  The game is absorbing all my spare time.    240 hours and counting so far with a very long way to go.


I just need to get things organized and write some information, but any member is welcome to start a new topic first.

So it seems our membership has grown somewhat in the past few days.  However, I strongly suspect these are spam registrations.  Not one of them has posted anything but I will be watching.

If it continues tomorrow or the next couple of days I will turn off auto registration and delete these new ones.   Anyone who wishes to become a member will have to wait for my approval.  I look in every day so for genuine people this should not be too long of a wait.

As much as I would love to see new people come here to visit and possibly stay, I'm not taking chances on the security of the forum.

Thank you for your understanding.


EDIT:

Update. Yes only a few minutes after the original post..

I've done some quick investigation and have now made it so new registrations are to be approved by me since there have been a couple of new ones in that short time.

The forum host has good security measures but can't stop useless human spammers even with a CAPTCHA. I can see their emails and IP so I'm not giving them a chance to start with their tricks if I can help it.

As a follow up to the previous post, I have reactivated user registration for the time being so new registrations don't have to go through me.  It seems the forum host's filters are extremely good and the spam accounts that did get through were deactivated automatically.  

I just went ahead and deleted them, although it still shows we have more members than we actually do at the bottom of the main page.  

Before very long I'll be adding a section for Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen since I finally got around to playing it.   I must say it's a lot more involved than I expected, which is a nice surprise and I'm enjoying it so far, even though it is quite hard.  But that's also nice.  I like a challenge.

I might change around the Dark Souls 2 category to include Dragon's Dogma and Dark Souls 3 when it arrives, depending on the system requirements and if my PC will play it.  Combining these games will save having too many categories with not enough content.

I know it's been awhile between updates, but I haven't been very well of late so I've let things slide a bit.

However, as soon as I can get to it I will be making a few changes to the category sections to cut down on the numbers, remove areas that have no content and also to organize things better...I hope.  

As far as Dark Souls 3 goes, my PC is very underpowered for this game and from what I've seen in Let's Plays and read in other forums, it's not for me anyway.  I have been able to play a little on a friends console though so I have experienced some of the game.  However, I have some very strong opinions, some negative, that I might post somewhere later. I might just have a little section for game reviews in general for comments like this.

Currently, I'm playing Lord of the Rings Online and thoroughly enjoying it.  So much so it's going to be keeping me busy for a long time to come.  It might be an old game but it's still being updated and maintained, the community is great and lots of people are playing.

I stopped playing The Secret World, at least for the time being.  Mainly because the area my character is currently in is a pain to navigate and I'm finding it a chore to get through.  City of the Sun God, I'm looking at you.     However, I do have quite a lot of store points to use and I do want to see the next areas, so maybe one day...

I haven't forgotten Dragon's Dogma:Dark Arisen.  I still play it and it's probably top of my list of favourite games at the moment besides LOTRO.  I think I've put as many hours into it as I have in Dark Souls 2 and Scholar of the First Sin and that's a LOT. I actually think it's better, more fun and as intense as the Dark Souls series itself.

Anyway, I'll try and get to all this soon.

Created MMORPG category for all online games on this forum instead of having their own separate categories.

LOTRO is a new addition. There are no posts as yet but I'll get something up ASAP. Just have to organize some screenshots and take some new ones since the game has had a revamp as far as grass, flowers and other foliage and the screens I have look a bit bare now.

Feel free to start the first topic in LOTRO if you have something you'd like to say.

I will also organize other RPG's into one category and add Dragon's Dogma as well as I keep saying. The game is too good to not talk about.

New registrations have been enabled. I discovered they had been blocked by the host due to inactivity, so apologies for not noticing.

I know I haven't been around lately, but I'm now dropping in to quickly mention what's happened with all the posted images, or at least mine hosted by Photobucket.

Photobucket in their wisdom have decided, without previously telling people, that they now charge $400 if customers wish to post their images on forums, blogs and other 3rd party sites.   I hope they are happy with their decision because it's made a lot of people angry.  I'll be looking for another host or other way to show my images, however I don't know if I'll replace them all here.  

In other news I'm now playing The Elder Scrolls Online and loving every minute of it.   When I get to it I'll add a section for it, but obviously not screenshots unless or until I find another host that's upfront with their terms of service.   Sadly, I've been with Photobucket for over ten years with no issues at all.  

Oh, well, all things come to an end.