Proposing to (re-)organize the Graphics forum.

[Gaspard]

I personally think that the Graphics forum is very chaotic and could use a "READ BEFORE POSTING" or similarly titled sticky to give some pointers on how to name new threads. The rules would be simple and pretty loose, but provide more clarity for new-comers by introducing a format for naming the New Topics/threads started.

What I have in mind is naming threads according to what they are dealing with, like

• WIP (3D/2D/...) - work in progress
• Proposal - obviously, for proposals
• Finished (3D/2D/...) - change title from WIP to this, when the image is finished or the discussion/critique has ended
• Discussion - a discussion topic
• Portfolio (your name here) - for newcomers who want to show off any of their older work

Can anyone think of any more sub titles, that could be necessary ?

Here's a couple of examples of how it would look:

"WIP (3D) - model for the main gate, need thoughts on the textures plz"
"Finished (2D) - Banter Town enviro sketches"
"WIP (concept art) - Main Antagonist character and eq design"
"Discussion - Should we go for bluish of purplish shadows for the snow?"
"Proposal - Gaspard's GUI proposal, comment away !"

I wouldn't mind going over the old ones and renaming them, too, because right now various different discussions have scattered throughout all the different Topics.

[mvBarracuda]

I'm all for it, sounds good to me. In case there are too many threads in the graphics board, we could add additional subboards instead of tagging the threads in one board. I would propose to wait for additional feedback from the others for a couple of days and implement the proposed changes in case nobody objects with valid reasons. I'll give you mod status at the forums.

[Gaspard]

Yeah I think the sub-forums idea is good.
But in addition to that there should still be a template-like system to naming the threads, not just naming it "Bla snow" or similar.

SO I guess it wouldn't hurt either if the whole Forum had a section or topic like Forum Rules, which would enforce the general accepted behavior at the forums and in the community in general.
Something like the http://wiki.parpg.net/Project_philosophy at the wiki, but Forum-oriented + some simple rules.

[mvBarracuda]

I'm all for it Gaspard. The main reason why such rules are not in place yet is because nobody wrote them down. Project management is a bit tricky because it's not really clear where your responsibility ends and where the departments rather kick in. So I would be very grateful if you could come up with a general getting started / how to post / rules thread(s).

[zenbitz]

I think if a dept. has no head (or acting head), than project manager is de facto head... <grin>

[Gaspard]

I think if a dept. has no head (or acting head), than project manager is de facto head... <grin>

haha


So I thought about the sub-forums a bit. And I came up with these categories:

• Discussion Board and Assignments - for links to assigments, Q/A, discussions (duh!), requests from other departments, (finished) proposals waiting for feedback
• Finished Work - for all the finished work, any proposals that are accepted go here as Drafts and all the finished 3D models and 2D art
• WIP (Work In Progress) and Concept art - this, along with the Discussion Board, should be the main battlefield, while the Finished Work section serves almost a ceremonial function, because for all the finished work we also have the Wiki.
• Recruiting New Artists/Recruitment Board - here, all interested artists should post samples of their art and a link to their portfolios, if they have them. The titles should be max. informative: Portfolio - 3D/2D artist *artist's name here*

Right now I went through the Graphics forums and labeled most threads as WIPs or Discussions or similar, but if we divide the Graphics department forums in such a fashion, then titles wont be needing those labels in most cases.

Each sub-forum would have a STICKY with rules and templates on how to post and what to include/what not to include in their topic headings and content.

Okay, sleep time !

[Q_x]

Lets maybe link it on the main site of forum, like "Graphics - general/idea exchange/random discussion", "Graphics - concept art/ things in production", "Graphics - new people", "Graphics - finished 2d artwork" and so on instead of just "Graphics" and some boards later?.
It will mess up forums main page - maybe this is disadvantage for greenhorn people, but there is much more beneficial features - having what you want accessible within one click is the first coming into my mind.

BTW - you treat this new names prefixes like tags, so maybe put it in square brackets or sth, as it is hard to read it now.

[mvBarracuda]

I would prefer [] for tags as well. How do you feel about it Gaspard?

[Gaspard]

Could the front page Graphics board work something like this:

• Graphics
  All kind of graphics-related discussion: concept art, 3d modeling, GUI mockups, Recruiting Artists and Graphics-related FAQ
  
  • General Discussion, Idea Exchange and Assignments
    Ask your questions, discuss topics and get/post assignments and requests here
  • Finished work
    Post threads with only finished art for feedback
  • WIP (Work In Progress) and Concept art
    Post all the un-finished art and models, sketches and graphic ideas
  • Recruitment Board and FAQ
    Start portfolio threads and find answers to your questions in the FAQ thread.

When you go to the Graphics board then you get a list of those new boards. The front page of the Forums would look the same.

Oh and yup  - agree about the tags, though they (the prefixes) wouldn't be as necessary anymore if we split up the Graphics board.
EDIT: tried out the [] idea with some of the topics on the first page, comments. Looks better indeed, Q_x