I think Muz is right, we just need more people who use click products. People who start making games now have a lot more choice than they did in 2003, we just have to tell them click products are the best way. So it's not about making TDC better as it's already very good, but about having more people who would be interested in visiting a site about click.
Hmm I also think there should perhaps be a posting limit, or Rikus should ask people to take it easy on posting. Some people post in every single forum post, and sometimes its with things like "I agree" or just comments that will boost their post count. I have nothing against these people, but it's just an off-putting sight to see.
Edit: Especially when they have huge signatures that take up the room of another post
When I think about TDC, I only think about clickteam product made games
And the site seems to be too "classic" it may need to be recoded to add extra futures and be "flashy" perhaps.
These could be the problem for the visitor numbers being low...
Peblo Custom ratings must be 50 characters or less
Registered 05/07/2002
Points 185
22nd January, 2009 at 17:52:47 -
I'm slowly starting to advertise MMF2 at my school. It's a hardcore CS school, and so MMF is a perfect product because: it allows us write a prototype for a software very quickly, and then writing the code in Java,C#,C++ or something, having an image of the product in our head.
The advertising of click products would work better if MMF is offered as a solution instead of a piece of software to be used on your free time to make things on your free time. TDC could then adapt the scope of it's userbase. Right now, it feels awfully directed at small games, and it feels unstructured in a way.
I did make a point some time ago about having TDC be micromanaged by more people over different segments of the site, giving the site a translucent hierarchy system and structure. This also gives the leaders of TDC a chance to lead, instead of manage over TDC. Then, naturally, more ideas will come on how to attract more members.
By the way, I've been going to school for marketing and game design. I'm not pulling things out of my ass entirely. If you seriously want to improve TDC, take it seriously.
"Isn't it always amazing how we characterize a person's intelligence by how closely their thinking matches ours?"
~Belgarath
I don't know if you mean to use Flash, but no! That's horrible for sites outside of band and fansites
Maybe not a recode but I wouldn't say no to a new name and a more open attitude to other applications. We've got the foundation already to support a large number of users.
Yea, it's amazing how obscure this awesome product is. I don't think TDC needs a redesign or anything, but I do agree with Peblo's hierarchy idea. Having sub-admins that take care of certain sections would certainly be a good idea.
We have to remember that this community can only get so big, even advertising it-- and if it gets too big it will become unpersonal. I won't stick around when things are detached in such a way.
In short, I'm here for the community, not the site.
I think it's to bring up a proper chatroom again. Something that the whole community could join in.
Aye. I agree much. It might also be nice if we could do something with the Points. Maybe something like... A customized avatar maker or something.
E.g. Take a look at this. http://create-games.com/download.asp?id=7553 \/\/olf and Shahan made this character creator just recently. What if we did something similar to this for avatars? Not our Picture avatars, but something like A Mii in Wii, just not a Mii. Like, once you have enough Click points you can get new accessories for your avatar. And If we EVER finish That TDC game We could use our Avatars in the game. If we finish it it could probably bring in more people.
TDC Merchandise never really sold well for some reason
Heh, I would welcome a "What have you worked on this week?" thread section, but chances are I'd scare everyone. I'll just say that I wrote 14.5 Word document pages on creatures, world development, and notes on future features. And I'm slacking about 8 pages from my target for the week; most of the stuff being rushed so I could attach it to that Planning article I wrote
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
Originally Posted by OldManClayton In short, I'm here for the community, not the site.
That wasn't worded quite right. I love the site too. What I meant is that I wouldn't likely post much in the forums if there were too many people I didn't know. You knew what I meant.
That avatar thing sounds a bit... useless. :\ It's like dressing up barbies or something. I'm all for fun ideas, but I'm not too fond of that. It would be cool to customize yourself in the DC game though.
That wouldn't scare us, Muz! It would make us aspire to be more awesomer game makers.
1. 'Opening' the site up and encouraging non-Klick users to join. I know we tend not to discourage non-klick games but we do nothing to shake off the image of being a Klick site. I think if we had more pages used to encourage non-klick games and advertised on non-klick sites we would see more non-klick coders join.
2. Advertise more. We need more links on other sites, especially games sites like IGN, GameSpot and CVG. Anything mainstream will do.
3. Clickteam need to get their arses into gear and start marketting their products! This is another big reason why there aren't as many Klickers as there should be - NOBODY EVEN KNOWS IT EXISTS!!!
"3. Clickteam need to get their arses into gear and start marketting their products! This is another big reason why there aren't as many Klickers as there should be - NOBODY EVEN KNOWS IT EXISTS!!!"
Or you just need to do your research. The guys at clickteam go to a lot of shows and give presentations on the software.
1) Do you want to target Click developers only?
2) Do you want to target also other game developers?
3) Do you want to target also gamers?
If it's 1) I think the main thing is to ensure that TDC has good visibility at Clickteam.com and it appears in search results for Google with "TGF/MMF games" and stuff like that. As Muz pointed out, it's really about the size of the Click community. Clickteam has failed to find a proper publisher for their products since 2004, unlike was the case with TGF and partly still with MMF1, and this has its effect on the number of active community members.
One a bit more extreme view is stronger cooperation with Clickteam. After all, these kind of sites are something that brings indirect revenue to CT all the time in terms of customer retention (keeping people active, ready for future products), and CT also needs a show window which really illustrates how fun it is to make games with Click products and what you are missing if you don't buy them. If this site would be slightly more "moderate" in its content and somehow controlled/managed by CT, I wouldn't be surprised if they actually would like to include a visible link to each and every MMF trial version to enhance conversion from trial to purchase. Result? More visitors for TDC, more revenue for CT. Happier community? Maybe not.
2) Re-positioning the site as a general indie game developer site would take much time, would allow it to grow significantly, but the downside is that the userbase would become more heterogeneous and different sub-groups in game developing don't exactly love each other.. just look at C vs. Java, all languages vs. clicking, clicking vs. constructing - a lot of conflicts ahead. Well, if the goal is to get more traffic, never mind the conflicts.. This of course requires a whole lot of more than just "accepting creations made with all tools", it's a long term change.
3) There are many non-developers lurking around the site and playing the games. The thing is that the site is built for developers in mind (and it is very well done!). One possibility is to try to activate this gamer group, and grow it especially in casual gaming side of things. One idea would be to build a huge and high-quality online arcade section at TDC connected with member profiles and the rest of the site. What I mean by this is casual Java games with community features, simple rankings, competitions and stuff. That's of course not yet possible due to limitations in the current Java runtime for MMF2 but perhaps it's something to be considered in the future. It would combine developers' interests (make games, get good visibility) and gamers' interests (get good and easily accessible (=non-downloadable, non-vitalized, just java) gaming content). Personally, I think this could be the way to go. Make a new "V-Cade in Java" and integrate it completely inside TDC. (I love making suggestions when I don't have to do the work!)
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Edited by Ski
I don't think TDC needs a redesign or anything, but I do agree with Peblo's hierarchy idea. Having sub-admins that take care of certain sections would certainly be a good idea.
It would make us aspire to be more awesomer game makers. 
