[Suggestion] Basic forum features that have been used over a decade ago.

Forum is not centered. Most people have a monitor wider than 600pixels.
No way to tell which poster started a thread.
No way to tell when a thread was started.
No way to tell who the last person to reply to a thread was.
No way to tell when the last reply was posted to a thread.
No url links in signatures.
Only one image allowed in signatures, including emoticons.
No custom avatars.
Only 8 usable avatars.
No Polls.

Probably some more that I've missed, but it's only day one.

Shoxy has a point, one of the second things I looked for when I logged onto the forums was a way to see or be notified that someone has responded to one of my thread. As far as suggestions go, that would be one of the first one. Forum view should also include when the thread was started and the last posted response and who posted it. Links in signatures I could honestly do away with (seeing as the intent of the forums here is slightly different) - but the "No Way To Tells" Shoxy mentions are big ticket items

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shoxy

Forum is not centered. Most people have a monitor wider than 600pixels.
No way to tell which poster started a thread.
No way to tell when a thread was started.
No way to tell who the last person to reply to a thread was.
No way to tell when the last reply was posted to a thread.
No url links in signatures.
Only one image allowed in signatures, including emoticons.
No custom avatars.
Only 8 usable avatars.

Probably some more that I've missed, but it's only day one.

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Well this forum is still in beta, but some of your suggestions will make it better.

Does it really matter who started the thread? One image in the signatures is a good thing, helps with bandwidth. Custom avatar uploading is most likely on the way. Is there any reason to have more than 8 avatars, there aren't more than 8 races in this game. Also there's a blue dot to the left of the thread name that takes you to the last reply since you read the topic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nicodemus

Shoxy has a point, one of the second things I looked for when I logged onto the forums was a way to see or be notified that someone has responded to one of my thread.

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I'm not sure if it notifies you by email or not, but at the top of a thread under "Thread Tools" is a "Subscribe to this Thread" link. I take it when someone replies to a thread you subscribe to, it'll notify you via your Subscribed Threads, which can be accessed from the "Quick Links" at the top of the page. Alternatively, you can subscribe to entire forums/sub-forums by clicking the little green check mark to the right of them.

This forum uses Vbulletin, all those features are already in and can be activated very easily. Thread subscription is not intended for those spamming refresh on the forum, it's aimed as people who post and log out for days.

I agree we need the usuals options to be activated: custom avatars, thread creator/last reply, dates information (all of this will come useful when some sections start to be deserted), etc.

Also please, change the design to screen-wide. It feels like I'm on a 4/3 monitor here.

Edit :
Oh, and I just noticed: Please add the number of posts in each section of the forum. This will allow users to find the active sections in a single glance.

I assume that the only reason to have official forums is for the development team to be able to better communicate with the player base. Therefore, being able to see that a thread was started by let's say, a member of the development team, would contain more significant information as opposed to a thread started by others.

In regards to the images in signatures, how does it help bandwidth when the number of images is limited but the size of the images are not? I've already seen some signatures larger than the entire signature box. 2 smiley faces would use a lot less bandwidth, yet they are not allowed but that huge thing is. I don't think bandwidth is the reason.

I agree with this thread. I had to go diving through misplaced threads to find it.

Something to add,

A way to tell when somebody is online. There should be an indicator next to the poster's name if they are logged in to the lodestone. Perhaps make it a profile option for those who prefer to be hidden.

I agree with everything besides 1 image in the signature. I don't believe signatures should have the ability to become walls like they our on some forums where

-
- this is the size of the post
-

----------

-[facebook link]
-[myspace photo link
- this is the size of the signature
-[I've played hundreds of MMOs, here is all of my characters]
-[member of anime club]
-[xbox live gamertag picture]
-[play station network ID picture]
-[narutoxbleachfan]
-[sephirothxxxxinuyasha]
-
-
-

need I go on? Everything else I agree with, but only 1 image per signature.

I'm so annoyed now that I realized this forum isn't centered. :[

I agree that the forums are currently lacking some very basic features, but they are brand new and still in beta, so I'm sure these things will be addressed in the near future.

I agree with most of the suggestions, however having seen what kind of abuse people can do with other elements, I think its prudent to keep the other restrictions in place.

No url links in signatures.
-> You have no control over what people will link. Some people will link keyloggers, RMT sites, pron, etc..

Only one image allowed in signatures, including emoticons.
-> One image is already very generous, and I won't be surprised if they remove this later. Before you know it people will be embedding in full length animated GIF movies of copyrighted adult anime features.

No custom avatars.
-> Same deal as the above point. You cannot control the content from an administrative level. People will be using avatars of adult film stars, pedobear, you name it. No one who administrates a forum wants to deal with having to babysit what people use as avatars, it costs time, and time = money.

Only 8 usable avatars.
-> I'd definitely like to see more stock avatar choices, although frankly they need to provide more character feature options as well for this to happen I feel.

No Polls.
-> Polls are a bit of a 2-edged sword when you allow members to create them. I'm sure the mods have poll-creating ability. But when you give poll creation to members, you're gonna get some biased and probably dumb polls.

To the person complaining that you don't need to see who started a thread: have you used a forum before?! Anyone who has spent any amount of time on a public forum getting to know regular posters will know a post started by person x will probably be an informative and well thought out post which hopefully sparks a good debate and one started by person y will probably be an avoid at all costs post due 2 teh bad grammr and teh l33tspekh and teh tRoLl5!!11!!1

The OP is spot on though, this is sadly lacking in standard features but I also think it was thrown together quickly so lets hope it improves.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sonic_the_Hedgehog

Well this forum is still in beta, but some of your suggestions will make it better.

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Have you noticed if we change the word: forum with the word: game, we have the same result? :p
(I am joking)

Would like to add to this by saying it would be nice to be able to mark topics as "read".

No need for more then one image in signature...there really is no need...