"Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life." - - Kevin Smith
1. Excellent job improving the communication (quality, frequency, timeliness)
2. Agile development is being used for OP development is very good news. I have been doing software for 30 years. I have been a PM/Scrum Master for long time and I can say that when Agile is done right it is the best way to develop applications like this one.
3. Small incremental releases would be a great value to me. For instance if the name generator for humans and dwarves is ready for beta testing then please release it for us to use. Give us a good way to provide feedback - sticky thread or specific bug report type. When the beta testing is done and the next racial name generator is ready release that one for beta testing.
4. A road map for the stretch goals with a timeline would be good. Make it something simple. Details for near term items and vague for things farther away. For instance:
- Name Generator: New racial name generator to be released every 4 to 6 weeks for beta testing. We are planning on implementing {list of races} name generators. Expect the name generator feature to be completed by Q4 2015.
- Natural Editing: Minimal feature set for beta testing (provide list of minimal feature set) will be ready Q4 2015. We expect to be completed by Q2 2016.
5. Bug trend charts would be very useful. Show us how many bugs have been found and closed over time and how many are open.
I am with almost everybody else in saying that the most important thing is the good communication we are now getting. No matter what hiccups or technical issues, I can handle it a lot better with the transparent and informative messaging coming from schwing, etc.
twigs
"I met a traveller from an antique land....."
CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign
Twigs nailed it: I can deal with all the issues, as long as I'm hearing from you about it!
-bort
"Morwindl":https://morwindl.obsidianportal.com - first and only campaign I've DM'd (first experience with CSS)
"Tales of...":https://talesof.obsidianportal.com - campaign I'm helping a friend design the layout for
@killervp - Oh, agreed, I probably should have put that in the post (I just didn't since I took it for a granted facet). All in all, I know that is doable as well since I have done it (moved a forum from one platform to another without losing my content). As you pointed out, it would be a huge loss to have many of these posts disappear to the aether.
"Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life." - - Kevin Smith
Just had to install some updates and restart the servers so we were down for a few minutes. We'll make sure there is more time between the maintenance notice and the actual downtime next time.
UselessTriviaMan, You'll be happy to know that you and everyone else now have a sweet new name generator in the character edit section underneath the name! Just in time for your weekend session :-)
This is still being developed for better grammar structures and races but let me know what you guys and gals think. I'm very interested to hear how we can improve this.
Also, after config, updates, and a restart the new server seems to be doing really well and there aren't any more errors expected. It's still very early and we're still monitoring performance but so far so good.
Brilliant, time to go fiddle with the name generator.
*EDIT:* Ok, I have fiddled with it already (it is a micro update so far and not the full generator, so didn't take too long). From what I am seeing so far it is pretty decent. Now one consideration I would potentially make for the long term with the generator would be to eventually have a "Generic" pool and then additional game line pools. I'll give an example:
Presently, for me, the name generator is not actually very handy. That has to do with the Campaigns I am running/working on. One is Dragon Age, which has a solid lore and some specifics of naming conventions in the world. Much of what the generator produces presently would not be of much benefit to me. My other game is a Vampire: The Masquerade one that would need more real world conventions thrown at the names.
Granted, this is just me, I can see what is already present being useful to a number of Campaigns on the site. But as the generator grows it can have a lot of potential to it. My suggestion would be to approach a "Generic" bucket first, adding the supplement based generations for later on (and probably based on number of Campaigns on this site for the system - popularity would kind of have to rule the day here). The "Generic" bucket could eventually be setup to have some minor options to it, like a list of generic races for fantasy (what you have going now) and maybe a couple other generic like categories such as "Modern" or "Alien" as examples.
Either way, great work, and so far things do indeed seem to be running smoothly - much faster load times and no errors yet. Keep up the great work, nice to see the life breathing back into this place again.
alex_redeye, I definitely agree and that's the path we will be taking.
Trying to knock out the ones that will have the biggest impact for users first. The long term goal is making it apply to all RPGs.
Also, if any of our tech savvy members are interested in seeing how we're generating these and would like to help build out the other races I'm happy to share info on all that. Just add me as a friend and message me from within the app.
Hey killervp and the others who have asked, my name is Adam and I'm the Lead Dev of OP(as you probably already know)
What you might not know is that I'm from Austin, Texas and just recently moved out to Venice California about 3 months ago. So if any of you are in the area message me and maybe we can get some local hangouts going on!
As for my experience with tabletop gaming, I played D&D quite a bit with a few close friends in middle school and freshman year of high school but those friends were army kids and unfortunately all moved around the same time so I haven't played really any rpgs since (I still provide Wizards of the Coast with a ton of money due to my MTG habit!)
If any campaigns are looking for players and have the patience of the Dalai Lama maybe we can get something going ;)
I'm happy to answer any specific questions you guys have about either myself, OP, or really anything
Hey killervp, thanks for pointing that out early on.
It was an issue due to me including a javascript script meant for testing. I just redeployed with the fix. Can you let me know if the issues are still there?
"Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life." - - Kevin Smith
I make extensive use of random NPC generators for my games both in play and for inspiration when writing scenarios: I have comprehensive name lists for Latin, 'olde worlde' Anglo-Saxon and Celtic names. Also my name generator includes a random trait generation as well (e.g. suspicious, late for a meeting, looking after children, mono-brow, limp etc.)
Are you guys interested in any of this? You are most welcome to take a look and use any or all of it if you think it useful (it should be very simple to incorporate into your exiting code)
Just popping in with a quick suggestion for a future update. I would like a "dark theme" if possible for the main pages, forums, etc. It's much easier on the eyes for some (like myself), and I find it's more battery-effecient.
For those of you that had open help tickets, check your help folder. Seems that they closed many help issues that were never resolved. I myself reopened 5 of mine.
Sorry I've been away for a bit but I've been hard at work on the file storage locker and natural editing and they're getting so close! Looking at the end of this week for a push of the storage locker and end of next for the natural editing(fingers crossed, it is a little tricky)
Also, as far as new names gens go, we have a couple badasses from the community, alex_redeye and NikMak, who have offered to help get some more together for everyone. So big shout out to those guys!
Lastly, we're also vetting new forum and ticketing platforms to make your lives easier as well as Jerry and Travis'.
Comments
I'm with SkidAce. Please, just keep talking with us and I'll joyously sing your praises across the Aether.
Ptolus, City by the Spire - 2016 Campaign of the Year
"Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life." - - Kevin Smith
Thanks Schwing.
Unconquered Kingdoms, July 2016 CotM
1. Excellent job improving the communication (quality, frequency, timeliness)
2. Agile development is being used for OP development is very good news. I have been doing software for 30 years. I have been a PM/Scrum Master for long time and I can say that when Agile is done right it is the best way to develop applications like this one.
3. Small incremental releases would be a great value to me. For instance if the name generator for humans and dwarves is ready for beta testing then please release it for us to use. Give us a good way to provide feedback - sticky thread or specific bug report type. When the beta testing is done and the next racial name generator is ready release that one for beta testing.
4. A road map for the stretch goals with a timeline would be good. Make it something simple. Details for near term items and vague for things farther away. For instance:
- Name Generator: New racial name generator to be released every 4 to 6 weeks for beta testing. We are planning on implementing {list of races} name generators. Expect the name generator feature to be completed by Q4 2015.
- Natural Editing: Minimal feature set for beta testing (provide list of minimal feature set) will be ready Q4 2015. We expect to be completed by Q2 2016.
5. Bug trend charts would be very useful. Show us how many bugs have been found and closed over time and how many are open.
I am with almost everybody else in saying that the most important thing is the good communication we are now getting. No matter what hiccups or technical issues, I can handle it a lot better with the transparent and informative messaging coming from schwing, etc.
twigs
"I met a traveller from an antique land....."
CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign
Inner Council Member
-bort
"Morwindl":https://morwindl.obsidianportal.com - first and only campaign I've DM'd (first experience with CSS)
"Tales of...":https://talesof.obsidianportal.com - campaign I'm helping a friend design the layout for
Campaign of the Year - 2018
Just trying to help out.
Just trying to help out.
November 2012 CotM: Dresden Files RPG: The Emerald City
June 2016 CotM: Star Wars: Rise of the Infinite Empire
JUNE 2020 CotM & 2020 CotY: Mass Effect Accelerated
FEBRUARY 2022 CotM & 2022 CotY: Dresden Files Accelerated: Emerald City-Requiem
Current Campaigns: Traveller Osmium Buccaneers: Pirates of Drinax, Cyberpunk 2077 Accelerated
Ptolus, City by the Spire - 2016 Campaign of the Year
"Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life." - - Kevin Smith
Just had to install some updates and restart the servers so we were down for a few minutes. We'll make sure there is more time between the maintenance notice and the actual downtime next time.
UselessTriviaMan, You'll be happy to know that you and everyone else now have a sweet new name generator in the character edit section underneath the name! Just in time for your weekend session :-)
This is still being developed for better grammar structures and races but let me know what you guys and gals think. I'm very interested to hear how we can improve this.
Also, after config, updates, and a restart the new server seems to be doing really well and there aren't any more errors expected. It's still very early and we're still monitoring performance but so far so good.
*EDIT:* Ok, I have fiddled with it already (it is a micro update so far and not the full generator, so didn't take too long). From what I am seeing so far it is pretty decent. Now one consideration I would potentially make for the long term with the generator would be to eventually have a "Generic" pool and then additional game line pools. I'll give an example:
Presently, for me, the name generator is not actually very handy. That has to do with the Campaigns I am running/working on. One is Dragon Age, which has a solid lore and some specifics of naming conventions in the world. Much of what the generator produces presently would not be of much benefit to me. My other game is a Vampire: The Masquerade one that would need more real world conventions thrown at the names.
Granted, this is just me, I can see what is already present being useful to a number of Campaigns on the site. But as the generator grows it can have a lot of potential to it. My suggestion would be to approach a "Generic" bucket first, adding the supplement based generations for later on (and probably based on number of Campaigns on this site for the system - popularity would kind of have to rule the day here). The "Generic" bucket could eventually be setup to have some minor options to it, like a list of generic races for fantasy (what you have going now) and maybe a couple other generic like categories such as "Modern" or "Alien" as examples.
Either way, great work, and so far things do indeed seem to be running smoothly - much faster load times and no errors yet. Keep up the great work, nice to see the life breathing back into this place again.
Trying to knock out the ones that will have the biggest impact for users first. The long term goal is making it apply to all RPGs.
Also, if any of our tech savvy members are interested in seeing how we're generating these and would like to help build out the other races I'm happy to share info on all that. Just add me as a friend and message me from within the app.
What you might not know is that I'm from Austin, Texas and just recently moved out to Venice California about 3 months ago. So if any of you are in the area message me and maybe we can get some local hangouts going on!
As for my experience with tabletop gaming, I played D&D quite a bit with a few close friends in middle school and freshman year of high school but those friends were army kids and unfortunately all moved around the same time so I haven't played really any rpgs since (I still provide Wizards of the Coast with a ton of money due to my MTG habit!)
If any campaigns are looking for players and have the patience of the Dalai Lama maybe we can get something going ;)
I'm happy to answer any specific questions you guys have about either myself, OP, or really anything
Just trying to help out.
It was an issue due to me including a javascript script meant for testing. I just redeployed with the fix. Can you let me know if the issues are still there?
Thanks for being quick, and thanks for the awesomeness!
Ptolus, City by the Spire - 2016 Campaign of the Year
"Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life." - - Kevin Smith
Just trying to help out.
~Mae
CotM Selection Committee
Sorry for any confusion!
I make extensive use of random NPC generators for my games both in play and for inspiration when writing scenarios: I have comprehensive name lists for Latin, 'olde worlde' Anglo-Saxon and Celtic names. Also my name generator includes a random trait generation as well (e.g. suspicious, late for a meeting, looking after children, mono-brow, limp etc.)
Are you guys interested in any of this? You are most welcome to take a look and use any or all of it if you think it useful (it should be very simple to incorporate into your exiting code)
Cheers
Nick
_~Mae_
~Mae
CotM Selection Committee
twigs
"I met a traveller from an antique land....."
CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign
Inner Council Member
Just trying to help out.
Just trying to help out.
Sorry I've been away for a bit but I've been hard at work on the file storage locker and natural editing and they're getting so close! Looking at the end of this week for a push of the storage locker and end of next for the natural editing(fingers crossed, it is a little tricky)
Also, as far as new names gens go, we have a couple badasses from the community, alex_redeye and NikMak, who have offered to help get some more together for everyone. So big shout out to those guys!
Lastly, we're also vetting new forum and ticketing platforms to make your lives easier as well as Jerry and Travis'.
How is everything else working out for everyone?