Staredit Network

Answer or do not answer the following in either incomplete or complete setences. Answers or non-answers may or may not be graded.

1. What is the purpose of SEN now? This means both for you, and what everyone else uses SEN for?

2. What do you think the purpose of SEN should be? I want this answer to be in no way affected what it is now.

2b. What is required (code, time, effort, policies, hiring, etc) is required to bring about such a function of SEN?

1)

I always for SEN was for Starcraft Map Making and things Related to map making eg; Mods. These days doesnt seem like much map making happening on forums. Purpose of SEN was Map Making. As well posting ideas for map making, helping others out with map making and getting few pointers on improving your map making.

2)

Meh, Map Making / Staredit / Map Making Related. Who knows, could be alot of things.

3)

No Comment

i hope ur not going grade me now, sigh. What ya mean your gonna grade?

Really i only came to SEN Start with was because of moose, other then that i rarely post and i just mod now. Too busy with real life.

I come to SEN to share modding ideas, chat with the community, help people in Modding Assistance and show off my mods.




I think the purpose of SEN should be exactly why I come here. (Of course, you can substitute maps for mods, etc...)



Stricter moderation, especially in the clan forums. Perhaps a mineral reward for DLDB submissions. I'd really like to see the karma system reimplemented, or some other type of community rating for users. And somewhere to display a user's average rating of their DLDB entries would be nice too, I think.

Will partial credit be given based upon answers?



To help any person create any type of map, be it UMS, Melee or a Mod. It is also a place of discussions of interest to the community.



SEN should always strive to help the mapmakers/mapmaking community/mapmaking as a whole. Policies should be based upon the motion to spread knowledge, to let the little guy make his own big project, even if we know it's "crapty".



The motivation, time and policy changing to help the mapmaker while providing a structured and ordered community.

1. I use SEN almost solely for discussion these days, and reading what other people think about popular issues. Other people use it for these reasons, and also to get help with mapmaking/modding. Some people use it to collaborate on group efforts for mods and maps, whilst others use it to show off their completed maps. Still other users just use the DLDB to obtain maps and utilities.

2. A place for the discussion of maps and mapmaking, where assistance can be given to mapmakers and their works showcased and reviewed by the community. Also a place for topical discussion and a repository of knowledge and files related to the function of the site.

2b. That's a difficult question, but also the one which I think you see as most important. I can't answer it currently.

1. SEN now, for me, is for hosting my clan forums, and for dishing out map making knowledge on the assistance forum, this is pretty much all I use it for. The crazy drama is funny sometimes, but it can get irritating.
For other people, seems mostly like a generic community site with the members having a common interest in Starcraft map making. That is, they don't necessarily use SEN to do things related to the game, but more to just mingle and communicate with eachother when not on battle.net.

2. It's all well and good for people to burn time on the forums with eachother, but there really should be more emphasis on actually making maps and playing them.
One thing that SEN should definetly not do is "branch out", covering more than what is related to a map editor. Losing focus is the death of many organizations.
A goal "of the website" should be to push people to create new and interesting maps. It supposedly is "pushing starcraft maps to the limit", but I'm not really sure anyone pays attention to that presently.

2b. When you get right down to it, the community is the heart of SEN. People need to know they they are valued. Not for their spending all of their time on the forums, but for making maps, and for playing maps, because that's what SEN should be about.
Currently there's no way for a person to stand out in the community other than making himself seem important on the forums. The person really has no reason to use the other functions of the website.
Take the map rating system in the DLDB for example. There's no incentive for someone to rate maps or even to believe the ratings that they see on a map. For someone to thoroughly play a map and decide on a rating is a waste of their time. They need to know that their opinions are actually used for something.
Also, people are rewarded with minerals for the sheer amount of text they spam across the boards, which is obviously not good. Instead, the fake-money reward system should be based around there usefulness to the community. In a community that is about map making, this means they will be rewarded for making maps, rating maps, and helping other people do the same effectively.

Map making. UMS centered.


Only change I can think of would be tactical-level ones to reward actual productivity (and most of all, actual completion of maps and projects). Perhaps also to start expanding a bit into a more cohesive stand-alone community (why are we making maps at all if not for the community?)


Well a lot of forums lately are adopting systems of 'kudos', which I think can be adopted here too, only more thoroughly, since we already have the minerals system established. I think the minerals system itself therefore should also be made more meaningful as well (probaby just as easy as more and better stuff to buy). Also my earlier suggestion about user content "Rating and Rewarding" (I can't recall where I posted it...) would really improve productivity, and by giving people something to work for, improve the community itself.

Note by user content I'm refering to more than simply maps or DLDB submissions.

These days I use it mainly for social interaction. I found this site because of the need for map making assistance, but I admit that I've drifted pretty far from that over time (especially after finishing my campaign and not starting any new projects since). I also believe that the same can be said for many of the members here. Most of them come here for starcraft reasons and hang around after they've lost interest in mapmaking. Personally, I'd like to make a new campaign or RPG sometime, but no good ideas have come around.


I too think it should stick to starcraft mapmaking. Indeed, with the declining popularity of starcraft, the site will get less activity over time. Call me corny, but I have faith that someday Blizzard will release SC2, and if this site is still standing and adapts to fill SC2 mapmaker needs, it will be the hottest mapmaking site on the net.


IMO, we need someone who really cares about starcraft to volunteer to encourage innovation and have some hand in creating a wider variety of map making challenges. I know Yoshi himself spent a good deal of time searching for SC news and interesting little things about the game, and would post them here. But that was because he cared. No one forced him. Perhaps a position for someone devoted specifically to looking for interesting things about SC elsewhere on the net, and play a larger role in creating mapmaking and playing contests.

Hmm, SC2. That brings up an interesting point. What ARE we gonna do when (if?) SC2 comes around?

Well I mean are we gonna need a new DLDB for SC2 maps? Do we just create a new SC2 forum section or do we divide up the forums between SC and SC2? Assuming SC2 is a 3d game, we'd need to also expand a bit with modelling, texturing, possibly programming, etc.

This is all 'just in case' considerations, though.

I think splitting it into something like this might work... although we have a long time to think about it...

SC--------
UMS:
-Maps in Production
-Mapping Assistance
-Map Showcase
-Concepts

Melee:
-Maps in Production/Showcase/Concepts
-Mapping Assistance

Mods:
-Mods in Production/Showcase/Concepts
-Modding Assistance


-General Discussion (Perhaps a merger of Terrain, Staredit Related and Team Projects)

And then a similar setup for the SC2 section with the possible additions of model request forums, etc.

...and if not, SC dies anyway.

It may not necessarily die. What if SC2 sucks, horribly? I'm sure there would be a portion of SEN that would stick with the original.

Look at Morrowind, a game that thrives even though another game in the series has been released. Hell, the Outpost 2 community outlasted the company that made it! Perhaps the drop in SC activity might justify merging the Melee and UMS forums, but I think it would be worth keeping forums for them.

This is good, though I'd condense it to the following:

• Maps in Production
• Map Assistance
• Mods in Production
• Mod Assistance
• Map Showcase
• Mod Showcase
• Concepts

Simply because SC2 Map Making will clearly dominate, so I doubt we'd need to have entire forums devoted to each section like that. We could just put it all under a "StarCraft" forum.


EDIT:
And I'm convinced it will dominate because it will most likely be like WC3 map making.

Blizzard most likely make SC2 Editor more powerful then WC3 editor just another massive modding editor. But still Wc3 editor has alot of nice things.

Since when was this thread for SC2 speculation?

I thought SC2 was publically announced or something.. because of this thread.

Since I posted the question. Though you're right, it did sorta go on a little tangent back there.

I wonder how many other staff have yet to reply to moose's questions, though...

I've noticed a trend at this site. It seems every winter there are always topics about how sen might die, and then in the summer, it gets revitalized again. I'm thinking its just that people have school and other stuff during winter.

1. Same as it always has been? To be a hangout spot for people who enjoy starcraft and/or map making. (or modding now to!)

2a. To be the founding fathers of the United Earth Directorate, so we may be well prepared when the zerg come. (and they WILL come.). Honestly though, I'm not really pressing this concept.

2b. Storm the government until they give in and make us their leaders? Then conquer the rest of the world? Although I'm not to upset with policies we have now. What I would like is if the PM sent to members for denying a map was actually automatic.