5punk in 2007

[Woo Elephant Yeah]

This is just a simple post to let you know a bit about what's going on behind the scenes.

A redesign of the site and forum are underway, however this is being held back a bit, due to me buggering about with the new release of phpbb3.
The skinning system in phpbb3 is completely different to that of phpbb2, which is why it is probably going to take a long time to do.
I don't want to go to the trouble of implementing everything on phpbb2, to then have to completely rework everything in the newer release.
However, if it looks like the phpbb3 release is a long way off, and if no skinning tutorials are posted soon, then I plan on releasing the new style "sometime soon".

The Advanced Dungeons & Rabbits mod is ready to be installed, and it's just down to my laziness that this has not been done yet, but I promise there will be a way for all of you to earn that 5perm you've been gaining over 2006.

In regards to other stuff, we still need to create a "Gamer List" (or whatever we want to call it) and this would compile all the xfire, xbox, urban dead .... profiles onto one page.
I'm thinking of adding the Wii codes as well, but once again, it all depends when I can find time to do it. (On a side note, this sort of thing is extremely easy and quick to set up in phpBB3 which is why I'd like to go that way here at 5punk)

Also, without wanting to turn this thread into a bitchy moan about anyone in particular, it seems that towards the end of last year, 5punk was getting extremely bitchy both on and off the forums, and I'm starting to lose my patience for that sort of thing.
I'd really like for 2007 to not have any more occurances of this, and I'd like to state that 5punk has zero tolerance for any form of verbal abuse towards a specific individual.
We all like to call each other badger molesters and horse fisters from time to time, however I will not tolerate any further personal attacks on people.
I was guilty of it myself at one point, and I understand why it happens, but if you have any issues with someone at a personal level because of something they said, then please PM me and refrain from flaming off or on the forums.
This obviously means I'll be getting more PM's from you all, but hopefully it will make you all think before blurting something offensive on the forums.
Please just use a bit of common sense, we are all different people with different opinions, having fun, and trying to constanly make this community a better place to be, so a little more patience, and more tact is all I'm asking for.

Also, I would really like any suggestions on things regarding 5punk as a whole. Rather than simply asking you what hacks or addons you would like on the forum, I'm also interested in hearing what else you think 5punk could possibly diversify into, or get involved with other sites across the web.
I know it was a fairly obvious one, but things like the Entertainment forum have been really popular, and the content posted there has been excellent, so this is the kind of thing is what I'd like to venture into in 2007.

Anyways, lets hope this year is even better, and with the game line-up this year (Team Fortress 2, Quake Wars), and a renewed interest in some of the older/current games (Garry's Mod, Call Of DUty : UO) I think it's going to be a good one.

[mrbobbins]

Also, without wanting to turn this thread into a bitchy moan about anyone in particular, it seems that towards the end of last year, 5punk was getting extremely bitchy both on and off the forums

I'd like to think it was down to end of year crazyness (Personally December was a insane month for crapness and being very busy) and that we can all be sooper* nice now that the shiny new year is in, well maybe in a month or 2 when the back-at-work/skint/weather factor has less of an influence!!

And I am quite looking forward to PC gaming this year, Quake wars is the next big one I'm exited about, also planning a new PC at some point.

As for 5punk, I'd like to see more people joining in the games, not sure how this could be achieved though... anyway, last night was the best COD I've had in months

*

[Dog Pants]

As for 5punk, I'd like to see more people joining in the games, not sure how this could be achieved though... anyway, last night was the best COD I've had in months

I think just by talking about it. When people see others talking about games, even if it's just to say 'how I lolled at Roman's Elvis joke on TS last night', it encourages more to play. Eve is a good example, and lately futurebeef and CoH have been picking up, likely due to forum activity.

If you like your game, talk about it!

[mrbobbins]

If you like your game, talk about it!

Hmm yes true, screenshots always help as well

As for last night, I laughed at Roman laughing at his own Elvis/Rubber duck 'joke'

[Dog Pants]

As for last night, I laughed at Roman laughing at his own Elvis/Rubber duck 'joke'

Pffffft, yes.

After a little more thought on it, the forum mods are ideal for this sort of thing. They're mods because they have some degree of passion for their subject and so maybe encouraging them (and myself as site mod) to try and pimp their games a bit more might shake a few people off the fence if they're unsure.

Scheduling games in advance too, although I'm as guilty as anyone for not doing that. I'll try and keep on that a bit more actually...

[cashy]

I think just by talking about it. When people see others talking about games, even if it's just to say 'how I lolled at Roman's Elvis joke on TS last night', it encourages more to play.

I didn't reinstall COD for the reason that i thought nobody played it any more, so i may have to install it and therefore validate you're theory.

[Hehulk]

More flaming and bitching? Awww, ok

It's been mentioned before, I think this is what you ment, but a list of who has what gaims possibly linked to our profiles would be nice. Also, and I've no idea if it's possible, automatic PMs when someone schedules a game that's not one of our regulars that's listed in your list of owned gaims to make sure your aware of it?

and more of you lot playing eve please

[spoodie]

Anyone that doesn't play BF2142 is a c.u.n.t

I've been thinking of a review competition for sometime, with a small money prize which I'd be willing to put up. Obviously with rules to stop people abusing it, like a minimum number of reviews from different people must be added for any prize to be awarded, no plagiarism, etc. All mods could be judges if they want. What do you think?

[shot2bits]

ive been trying to get my CoH/CoV account moved to the us servers for 9 days now and they still havnt done it

[Dog Pants]

I've been thinking of a review competition for sometime, with a small money prize which I'd be willing to put up. Obviously with rules to stop people abusing it, like a minimum number of reviews from different people must be added for any prize to be awarded, no plagiarism, etc. All mods could be judges if they want. What do you think?

I like the idea of encouraging people to review stuff - we could really pimp the site with some well written reviews. 5punk isn't well inclined to a clear, readable review though. Maybe to have a locked review that's an amalgamation of the points we discuss in a seperate thread, sort of a living document if you will. It'd take quite heavy moderation of course, and locking threads is a little anti-5punk, but it'd maybe lead to a clearer read for a third party in the long run. A product for us to 'sell', effectively.
A competition (certainly with a prize) is a good poke to get people writing, and I'd like to write more reviews myself, but I just get a bad feeling about offering cash.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

I just get a bad feeling about offering cash.

That. HARD.

I suspect the best way would be offering games 5punk plays, like copies of beef or cod.

[spoodie]

I guess I'm not being as paranoid as I should be over this but what's the problem with cash? I can make some guess I would just like to know your thoughts.

Games as prizes is a better idea though.

[cashy]

I just get a bad feeling about offering cash.

It's ok, i don't mind *bends over*

A forum really isn't the best way to present reviews, if we really really wanted to we could always make a html based review site and just pull the reviews straight out of the forums.
Not sure if anyone would bother reading it mind you, but it would make it a hell of allot easier to read through

[Grimmie]

Notice how the bitchiness increased the less Vlad was posted on the disco board?
I think I may hold the cure!

[pixie pie]

I guess I'm not being as paranoid as I should be over this but what's the problem with cash? I can make some guess I would just like to know your thoughts.

Games as prizes is a better idea though.

I guess the problem is people are greedy (This isn't me being mean, its human nature), so as soon as a prize that well pretty much everyone wants, competition increases (which can be good), but most probably leads to people becoming bitches again. And of course, people will complain as to the fairness of comparing these reviews. This isn't removed by giving gaaims as prizes. But meh. It is a nice idea to have a review site, I wouldn't mind throwing in some reviews for more hardwarey stuff (As I know I am one of those extremely guilty of not joining in games (May be due to being a mac-whore (Bracket DEATH!))).

[Dog Pants]

Yeah, I think Pixie mostly has it there. It's the potential problems that may be caused by people competing over money, less so by a game because money is seemingly more sought after.

A seperate page within 5punk might not be a bad idea though - it expands the site past the forums, and the reviews would still be in threads, just replicated in a similar manner to how I suggested up there ^.

[Roman Totale]

anyway, last night was the best COD I've had in months

It's the only CoD game I've played in months - I felt like so long since I last played it.

As for last night, I laughed at Roman laughing at his own Elvis/Rubber duck 'joke'

You all loved it you fucking slags!

[FatherJack]

I rather like the way the reviews are built into the forums, as everyone sees if there's an update, and has the opportunity to comment on them, although it might also be good to have them viewable elsewhere as an externally-visible thing. For that, it wold need to be easy to find reviews for given games/plaftorms, whereas it's just a posting-order list at the moment.

I suspect a few of phpbb3's thread-splitting/merging features would help a lot with achieving this, as the current mod toolset is a little limiting when trying to organise posts. Other posting tools would be handy too, like a "save as draft" or dictionary/thesaurus.

I'm uneasy with offering money as a prize, regardless of where it comes from, although it's very generous of spoodie to offer. Having specific games as prizes could also be problematic unless there were a selection, as people who had, or weren't interested in the prize might not enter. Perhaps something gaming-related, which you wouldn't necessarily bother to buy yourself, but everyone would find useful - mousemats, screen cleaners, action figures or fluffy toys to put on your desk sort-of-thing, or gaming "tokens" (if such a thing exists) redeemable over Steam, or MMO subs. Competitions of any sort always create lots of posts, and it's good to have a range where everyone can feel they can have a go, whether it's mucking about in gmod or making funny pictures.

As far as general stuff, I like the changes that have occured with the forum design and new sections (such as in the hardware forum) in recent weeks, and the ambition of WEY to expand our ranks, as well as the enthusiasm of mods/posters in creating new content.

As well as the much-discussed games list, it'd be nice to find a way to involve console gamers a little more - all the modern consoles connect over the internet, but finding friends and arranging games is always a bit random. Maybe some how-to guides, and perhaps some tools to hook people up via the consoles messaging services, yet still keeping 5punk as the central point of contact. I mentioned something in another thread about having a trusted email address or a page to visit to link up Wii players, but I'm sure the same sort of thing exists for 360s and the handhelds.

Another idea, which probably doesn't have much mileage is game guides. I know gamefaqs has this pretty much sewn up, but they tend to be rather lengthy text files, with no indexing - it took me forever to get to the bit I wanted in the Zelda one this morning. Unfortunately I guess not many us us have the time to create our own guides, and gamefaqs are rather unlikely to like us linking their data and manipulating it.

And lastly, musics - I know Pete has been reminding us we have a radio station recently, but does anyone make their own musics or mashups they'd like to broadcast and get comments on? Maybe videos set to existing music, game videos, pics, or any other sort of 5punker-created content.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

just a little one springs to mind now.

whenever we move over to phpbb3, would it be possible to not use /phpbb/ as the directory (dunno how much hassle this would be) it'd probably give spammers a little more trouble automation wise.


*goes to bed*

[Joose]

just a little one springs to mind now.

whenever we move over to phpbb3, would it be possible to not use /phpbb/ as the directory (dunno how much hassle this would be) it'd probably give spammers a little more trouble automation wise.


*goes to bed*

One of the phpBB forums I set up was set to /forum/, and I *know* I wouldnt have bothered if it were difficult. Cant remember off the top of my head how to do it though.