Discussion Forum

Can't wait to hear the suggestions guys, currently we're thinking stuff along the lines of most deck likes in a month and that sort of thing. I want to hear your ideas too! :)

[quote=Gary]Can't wait to hear the suggestions guys, currently we're thinking stuff along the lines of most deck likes in a month and that sort of thing. I want to hear your ideas too! :)[/quote]
Unfortunately, I dont think this is so good an idea. Cheating etc etc etc... Not to mention you could have people colaberating to make certain people win one month and the next month and so forth... I hate to rain on the parade, but I think this has the potential to do more harm than good. And, to be honest, I think if you do decide to go through with this... your going to have to have more than one competition a month and of ALL varieties. Not just one format, multiple because if you dont your alienating one group. This is a very touchy idea and I think it needs to be HEAVILY moderated not by anyone on this site, JUST you and ONLY you and the website donating the products as prizes. I hate to make your job harder, but you need to decide... either YOU moderate this and select the winner because they actually put time and effort into their deck and didnt mass advertise it or bribe anyone to vote for their stuff, or just not do it at all for fear of cheating, collaberated sharing of prized, bribing other users, and alienating people. Thats just how I feel.

Thanks for the feedback riley.

Obviously this is something we are going to think through thoroughly. Hence getting suggestions from the community. You are the guys that play the game with such interest, you are the guys that take part in the deck challenges, you are the guys that use the site and are part of the community!

It could be anything - such as "create a custom card" to "find the most amusing flavor text". We are totally open to suggestions. It could even be something as simple as "In 5 words, describe MTG Vault"....

Ian

I actually think the "make your custom card" would be nice, but it would have to be based in another card.

Each month, a theme. prizes awarded to best casual, best legacy, best standard.

Single card challenges are my opinion. Just pick out a rare, set a format (preferably the one with the rare in it), and challenge everyone to make a deck around it. The best deck wins the prize.

I'm with riley, the challenges on this site as they are now are a nightmare.

Look at a guy like surewhynot who posts an average of 2 challenges a day, that's his contribution to this site. Todays challenge, and lets pick a radom card, is about... (and yes I know he started writing articles too)

I used to join in on the odd occasion when the challenges were still rare and people made an effort. Guys who make a deck every day don't make an effort, they make untested crap that wasn't even planned out properly. It's just another way of drawing atttention.

With no offense intended to the makers of this site but the state of the forum is pretty sad (member wise, not content wise), you have what, maybe 10 guys, actually replying to decks and trying to help and over a 1000 guys who only post their own decks and want us to grade it or give feedback to their deck but never even bother to contribute anything themselves.
The way the challenges got out of hand is even more proof of that, it's about "look I posted a chellenge" or "look I have a deck that sort of matches your challenge subject". I bet most don't even look at the decks others post in these challenges and why would day with 10 new challenges each day.

I know this all sounds very negative. But it's not all bad, I enjoy reading what guys like Seras, scumbling1, NightLoki, Aneximines and Riley have to say and I have learned from their responses. As for myself, I reply a lot and from time to time I stuble upon a guy who really wants to chat about deck design and that's fun for me. Wish there were more poeple contributing and interacting with the forum like that.

Such a sad truth. I tried to get a rally going for everyone to say something productive about a deck every day. From the looks of things it just fizzled. It's kinda sad. Anyhow, I find this place to be a place for innovative ideas, and unexplored areas. That's the point of deck posting, isn't it? To get feedback on ideas you've had?

*sigh*

Why is it that every time I try and do what I think is best for this website and its members, I seemingly get it completely wrong? Do I not know what people want? Do I not know why people use this site? This wasn't the direction I thought this thread would take when we first posted it...

I think the underlying problem on the forums is the same problem we have on the site, loads of people trying to get help and not enough people to actually do the helping. The majority of people on this site (and indeed most other places) are out to do one thing; better themselves. People want to either show off what they have or make what they have better.

So if this is indeed the problem, what's the solution? If I knew the answer to this then I'm pretty sure we'd already have one of the most active, friendly communities out there but alas, I guess I don't. Just to remind everyone, I originally made this site as I wanted a quick way to link the decks I was building to my friends so they could look at them and give me feedback. I then thought I'd expand this system and allow other people to do the same thing. The site has grown beyond belief since then and is now getting more and more traffic, people and decks every day. The site has evolved or at least tried to evolve into something more but I think the users and what they want/expect of the site has grown a lot faster than we can keep up with. I honestly don't know what direction we're supposed to go in anymore...

Getting some sponsorship was supposed to be a good thing; a bit of money we can use to help pay the server costs and something we can use to better the site. The competition/prize thing was supposed to be a good thing for the community, to try and get people together, talking and communicating with a central goal; to win a real-life prize!

Don't let the actions of the members get you down. Judging seems to be a main problem here, with people out to better themselves and all. Those of us who are the biggest participants, the ones who like to comment and improve other peoples' decks no matter who they are, are the ones who should be judges. These people have more experience in looking at decks and saying what needs to be improved.

[quote=Gary]*sigh*

Why is it that every time I try and do what I think is best for this website and its members, I seemingly get it completely wrong? Do I not know what people want? Do I not know why people use this site? This wasn't the direction I thought this thread would take when we first posted it...

I think the underlying problem on the forums is the same problem we have on the site, loads of people trying to get help and not enough people to actually do the helping. The majority of people on this site (and indeed most other places) are out to do one thing; better themselves. People want to either show off what they have or make what they have better.

So if this is indeed the problem, what's the solution? If I knew the answer to this then I'm pretty sure we'd already have one of the most active, friendly communities out there but alas, I guess I don't. Just to remind everyone, I originally made this site as I wanted a quick way to link the decks I was building to my friends so they could look at them and give me feedback. I then thought I'd expand this system and allow other people to do the same thing. The site has grown beyond belief since then and is now getting more and more traffic, people and decks every day. The site has evolved or at least tried to evolve into something more but I think the users and what they want/expect of the site has grown a lot faster than we can keep up with. I honestly don't know what direction we're supposed to go in anymore...

Getting some sponsorship was supposed to be a good thing; a bit of money we can use to help pay the server costs and something we can use to better the site. The competition/prize thing was supposed to be a good thing for the community, to try and get people together, talking and communicating with a central goal; to win a real-life prize![/quote]
To be fair, you really are not giving yourself enough credit. You have done plenty of things for this site that have been of great benefit to the community you have. Sure, some things do not go as planned, but that is why you keep testing and adding and removing things. If it doesn't work it doesn't work, thats just how it is. Why would be be discouraged by that? You shouldn't be. I am signed up for just this site, ONLY this site when it comes to Magic: The Gathering. I have not tried or really want to join another site. This one has what I want, a easy way to post my decks and an easy way to keep in contact with people. Your doing the right thing here, by asking, you can manage things like a Manager does and that is something anyone can do. To be a Leader you have to guide, inspire, and be like the people you want to lead and last but not least and definetly the most important is you need to be a servant or SERVE. Gary, your bring a Leader by simply asking us what you can do to help us better this community. The problems on this site, are not just limited to this one. Just about every site faces these same problems! It really isn't a surprise. Me and Seth are not against what you want to do, we are simply stating how we really and honestly feel on this kind of situation. Do not take it for being negative, think of it as an honest opinion. If I did not care, I would have just said to do it and be done with it. Want to know a secret? I actually do care what everyone says about me and what I put on this site, even the little things. I do really care when someone doesn't like something I have, do I show it well? Not really, but at the moment this site is honestly all I have as far as Magic goes and that means a lot to me. If this site went spiraling out of control, what would I have to fall back on as far as Magic? Nothing, just being honest! My usual store doesn't want the older and more expierienced 'sharks' in his store and treats us like we are garbage, we arent, and he raises prices on some people, not me, and makes people including me wait on a price 10 minutes at a time! I have been goin there since 2002... and now I cant. That is why I post what I can and take what I do here seriously, its literally my life saver.

Thank-you guys, comments like this mean the world to me! I always want to try and make this site the very best it can be and often, certain comments can throw me off track and make me think I'm doing the wrong things. I guess you could say it's my biggest flaw... :P

I agree with Riley. I might come over as negative sometimes but I do like this site a lot, far more then any other magic site. Also the site has improved a lot In the time I've been here. So I'm the first to agree that you are doing a great job.

So, when would this start?

It would start pretty much as soon as we have a thoroughly thought out idea. That might take a while though ;) It won't be for a little while, as we have a few other tasks on our minds at the mo!

Ian

NO! Don't Let This Idiea Die!!