automationgame.com

With the coming steam release in the next month or so (please correct me if I am wrong) it wouldn't be that hard to assume that the forums will explode, for a while at least with 'newblood'.

Is there any way, within reason that a private thread of subsection could be created for people who purchased the game and who have been active in the forums before it went 'mainstream.' Not to sound hipster or anything, but a private thread for the 'originals' (albeit that I have only been part of the community for 3 months at this point) would be a way to keep the personal touch that the automation community has without a bazillion (real number, I promise) people coming and changing that.

Just an idea, I thought I would throw around.

I get what gutfeeling you have that makes you think of this idea. There are definetly pro's and con's to this. But I think the con's will weight up a lot more to the pro's than vice versa.
Where will you draw the line? Who deserves to be in that 'select group' ? Will new people that enter here and grow out to be really active and die-hard members, be allowed to join that 'select group' ?

A lot of things to think about, really, and eventhough it would feel good to belong to those select few, it doesn't make any sense. We just have to stick together in a large group of people, just like other communities in our real life society do. Eventually, it will be like separating the wheat from the chaff anyway. Hardcore members stay and I think that group will grow. The others come and go.

I think this is a brilliant idea, I have suggested it myself before on the irc. I think it could be implemented on the moulds of the beta forum section, which require the user to be on a certain group. For this new-old section, there could a group for the users that came before the steam version. And the open forums would be free to newcomers. If this last one didn't turn into mayhem, the special section would be used less and less often anyway.

Did you take my post into consideration? How and where do you draw the line? people will plead to allow newcomers into that area when they get hardcore with the game.
The more I think of this, the more i start to really dislike the idea.
This will only put a wedge into the community, thriving them further apart, while we actually got big by being 1 big, warm and fun community.

I actually like this idea,


just a thought on how we could decide who does get access and who doesn't is to see who is actually using the forum and actually contributing, and or has been with the forum since the original turbo release.

edit,

after thinking about it, maybe your right wizzy I can see how this could lead to trouble and just push people away, there are definitely some positives to this but the negatives out weigh the good.

It could be for beta purchasers only, kind of like how people who 'pre-order' call of duty get a bonus map etc.

The line would be set between people who preorderd by PayPal and people who got in via steam. If the newcomers are as good as the people already in, we will use the open forums and the old one would be rendered useless.
Considering how forums normally work, I am pretty sure it would become a lot more childish with more trolls and stupid people. The ones that eventually come here are pretty damn annoying, imagine a whole load of those. It would be chaos.

I'm all for this idea. I think one of the best things about this community is our forum, it's one of the things that keep this community together, and is one of Automation's best assets. If a bunch of newcomers and troublemakers (of which there only has been a few as of yet) come along, it could tarnish the very nature of this forum, so I think an area for 'old timers' would be exactly like this forum is now: full of familiar people, people who you know and trust as good people already.

Look at places like the BeamNG forum; we don't want to be forced into a community like that when Steam comes. We need an option to escape 'back to the golden age'.

I'd personally be pretty upset if the forum got flooded with random 13 year olds whose only form of conversation is troll face memes and smack talkin' about how their (insert brand name here) is WAAAAY faster then so and so's car.

I really like this idea. Just split the total group of people in half. Those who arrived pre-steam / those who arrived after.

It's not hard.

I do have a possible solution, but it is a bit rough around the edges as it has only just come to me. I'll share it with you anyway

With the possible introduction of the like button and other things that would determine helpfulness I don't see this as an issue.

It is inevitable that we will get inundated with a load of people who simply use the forum to make themselves seem bigger. As you may know by now, the Rigs of Rods forum was (and I do mean was, I will explain why) atrocious. The BeamNG one isn't that great.

This like button could literally determine everything related to the future of this forum. With thanks you will gain people's trust and respect. If you're an arsehole, you won't, therefore meaning it will be unlikely that you gain people's trust and respect.

The Rigs of Rods forums was full of people who didn't not respect anybody until recently when a new moderator was added to the team after I argued with the forum owner and game developer who didn't give two shits about what was going on (and yes, he is the same one as BeamNG). It was given to someone who once spent more time banned than able to access the forum, but suddenly changed and became a far more respectful person. He has literally transformed the entire forum. That is why the BeamNG one is no longer that one people turn to in order to get away from the crap, because that one has got worse, whereas the other one has got far better.

My solution is this. People with a certain level of thanks/helpfulness rank (or whatever you want to call it) should be able to access a separate forum. The same applies in order to be a moderator. The only people that are going to whine and moan about this will be immature and most likely the trublesome ones.

This thanks button seriously needs to be implemented, as it could determine absolutely anything. Devs, I do hope you seriously think about this!

There could be a much subtler way to do it which I commonly see on forums: a subtle logo or status or pin without the forum separation, if that's at all relevant.

I like strop's idea best.

Frankly, I do not like the idea of overt segregation. It makes sense for the beta testers because we're using a completely different version of the game. What would I do if trolling became a problem? Hire more moderators to police the forums.

We could separate by number of posts, or length of time on the forum. After so many or so long, one gets a badge under their avatar designating them as being "official" in some way.

I would like the option to have a filter, so that I could never see the posts from a specific person. Just click there and I would never see the person again.