Micah
We're deploying a new feature tonight: player secrets. Essentially it works a lot like the GM Only section, but it allows for posting text that is visible only to the GM and a single player.
I wanted to get it out, but it has an unfinished feeling to me. I'd like some feedback on ways we can make it better. As always, no promises on anything. It may change, it may stay the same, and it may disappear altogether.
*Multiple Players*
Before anyone asks, yes, it could be possible to make it work with multiple players. BUT! While it's not a major technical issue, there is an issue of how to make it user friendly. Believe it or not, people already get confused with the GM Only textarea and the "whole page GM only" option. A secret-to-some-but-not-others field will just compound this. So, the user interface is *the major issue* here. The technical side is fairly simple.
*Update* - It now works with multiple players.
*Display on the Page*
The actual display of the page will get very cluttered if there are multiple sections. This will only be an issue for the GM, but is there a better way to aggregate everything for display?
Those are just a few things to think about. Please, play with the feature, think about how it could be improved, and leave *constructive* feedback. Or, if you like it as is, that's fine too. I just think it needs some time in the wild to be refined.
*Characters Too*
Yes, it will be added to characters as well. I just want to nail the interface down first.
Comments
Love the option. At the moment I can't edit a page though...looks for text in all of the player fields secret fields and says there is a error in editing page.
Thanks for the hard work
I can mock this up tomorrow if you like, but what I'd suggest is eliminating the "Secret" edit box by default, and just adding an "Add Private Section" button that allows the user to add an arbitrary number of secret sections. Each section would then have a drop-down menu of players, any or all of which can be checked as able to view the section in question.
As for the display end, there's probably not a whole lot to do for it. About the only thing that comes to mind would be knocking out the private section with it's own set of tabs across the top, one for each private chunk, but that's got a bunch of other issues. I think however that when you get down to using these private sections, you're probably more interested in content than beauty.
But yeah, I can neither edit an existing page nor create a new one. :(
Hopefully, that gets cleared up soon! :)
As to Chainsaw's idea, that's sort of what I was afraid of, the "Add Private Section" button. This could be done fairly easily, but I just know it will confuse people. Oh well, the current method will probably confuse people as well, plus frustrate everyone who wants to add a section that multiple players can see.
Part of this is me looking out for myself. Whenever we add a feature with any complexity, my inbox starts filling up with "ur website is broke!" emails. But, I kind of treat those as the canary in the coal mine. If a lot of people are sending me angry emails, it probably means the feature is poorly explained.
I'll play with it a little and see what I can come up with. Keep the feedback coming, I appreciate it.
2) Thanks for fixing the create/edit bug!
As a simple suggestion, here's what I propose: focus on the Characters. From all the examples the people have been giving this is the single biggest use for this feature anyway ("my character is secretly a werewolf/republican/etc"). Of course the full-fledged feature you're developing will fit the bill, but I'm wondering if it wouldn't be easier to "keep it simple".
So I suggest you simply add a "Secret to GM+" section in the character write-up, with a bit of explanatory text to make things clear ("this section will only be visible to the GM and
Good thoughts regarding KISS, but in this case it's almost as easy to make the general case, and I know deep-down that people won't be satisfied with it just on characters. A perfect example is a wiki page on a particular organization, like a thieves guild, then a secret spot between the GM and the player who happens to be the secret leader of the guild.
I set aside some time this afternoon to work on it, and I'm making good progress. I hope to have something to deploy tonight. *fingers crossed*
bq. Note: These player secrets are a new and in-progress feature. They may change significantly in the near future, and they are a litte unstable, so please be patient.
I'll add that to the top post to make it clear.
Keep the feedback coming...
Edit: You might even choose to remove the default GM only section, which would all but eliminate the common complaint mentioned earlier.
pfft... so what if it does not work yet!
The fact that the most missing feature through three years is here, is so exciting!
From the bottom of my gamer (and GM) heart: thank you!
...Troels
Idless
Love it, can't wait to see it on characters.
There are still some usability updates, like background color and possibly a delete button, but overall I'm very pleased.
Since you're looking for constructive input, here are the things I noticed:
positive: I was happy to find that copy & paste were allowed! Previously, I had to transcribe anything I wrote in document programs.
positive: Spell check! Always a welcome feature. ;)
negative: As with your standard editor, the text field feels stiflingly narrow.
negative: It doesn't look like I'm able to rearrange the order of my secrets. When I wanted my new secret placed just below my first one, I had to make an empty one at the bottom, cut-paste the last secret into it, and repeat for all my secrets in order to get the one I wanted where I wanted. Fortunately, my character is new, so the only person allowed to see my secrets was the GM. Otherwise, that could have been a lot trickier to keep straight!
negative: It's a minor thing, but I noticed all your text editors are missing the underline feature. Perhaps there's good reason for this, but I wanted to let you know it's been missed. :)
I hope all this helps! Keep up the good work! :)
~Nezumi
A player has typed up a good bit of information only to be unable to see it since he forgot to check himself as in on the secret, so maybe some way to auto check the secret starter as being in on it? It might not be that important, but kind of a whack in the head the first time they go to use it.
nezumih - Lots of good points there. I'd also like to be able to reorder things. I'll put that on the TODO list, but it's a low priority so it may be a while before we get to it. I'll also see about adding underline. That's something that should be there.
My main issue with current functionality (which is awesome, btw) is that when my players get the email informing them that secret info hit, it emails them the stub for the main page - I'd love for the updates in secret areas to focus to that character's secret block.