cheesemonger wrote:I am a bit of noob, but even in the short time I've been here it seems that there are various problems with the NUMA system, i.e. n-arts hogging the hotpages, maps by good authors (I don't mean me) getting ignored, etc.
A few suggestions:
1. Reintroduce the old rating system - By this I mean having the calibration at 0.5. I never understood why this system was removed anyway...
2. Have changeable ratings - I have often found that my opinions of a map can change after subsequent playing. I don't know whether you're familiar with the rating system on IMDB, but you can change your vote whenever you like.
3. Combine the comment and vote function - Meaning that if you comment on a map, you have to leave a rating too. This could work with some modifications.
4. Impose a limit on the amount of maps allowed to be submitted per day - Say 4, and leave gaps of at least 1 hour between each, e.g. you submit a map and get a message saying: "You may not submit a map for another hour. You are allowed to submit 3 more maps today."
5. Lower the amount of votes needed to get a rating. One of the most annoying things on NUMA is having a map get 3 votes and then die. This could be useful as a sort of guide for how good a map is.
6. Have separate submission pages - I know we have tags, but they aren't a very efficient solution. If we have different places to submit different types of map, then people can view n-arts and action maps at their leisure while not worrying that the n-art is stopping them from seeing playable maps. The categories could be something like: Action, Race, DDA, N-Art, Survival, Nreality, etc.
7. Similar to point 4, rates for submission - Meaning that you need to rate x number of maps before you're allowed to submit another.
8. Similar to 6, have a separate place for rated and non-rated maps - This would mean people can look at the latest rated maps on a hotpages specifically for rated maps AND rce unrated maps without being distracted.
9. This last one isn't really about rating/commenting: Change the search engine!!! This is so annoying, why can't you search for authors and/or titles of maps? Iinstead you can only get tags which hardly anyone knows and aren't specific. The tags are only useful for nreality and n-art, and I've already explained possible ways to filter those.
Anyway, I hope someone reads this, I'd like some feedback on whether any of these are good ideas or not.
1. After long debates about this, I've come to the conclusion that although many people would like 0.5 ratings it's up to Arachnid in the end. He changed it to how he wanted it and that's the way it's going to be for a while. If there's another update to the website he may change it back, though I seriously doubt it.
2. I don't know exactly what the point of this would be. I think people are pretty content with the rating they give a map. Rarely does anybody accidentally give a wrong rating, and ratings reflect the score you'd give the map /at the time you played it/, not how you felt about it 2 or 3 months later.
3. This has been discussed immensely and the answer has always been "NO." Nobody wants to be forced to rate when they comment and nobody wants to be forced to comment when they rate. It's best to have them separate. For example, I don't rate maps anymore by my choice. I only favourite the ones I really like. I leave comments letting people know I added their maps to my favourites though. If this idea were implemented many people would probably stop leaving comments and stop rating and eventually leave NUMA altogether.
4. There used to be something like this, and although it hasn't been implemented yet, it's on the list of things to do. Unfortunately (and this is said a lot) we just have to be patient and be thankful for what we have already. Unless someone wants to develop the code for this idea that could be easily implemented into the source code for NUMA (see:
Arachnid's source code), you're just going to have to wait it out.
5. I think 5 votes for a public rating is good. I don't know many people that would want to lower the amount for public ratings unless they just wanted more rated maps.
6. Old old NUMA used to have a drop-down menu that had the main categories of maps, such as action, puzzle, race, dda, n-art, and a couple others I think. That was a great way to sort maps because you had to choose one before you could submit it. I never understood why it was taken away when the tag system was introduced. I guess Arachnid felt people would add that in if they wanted to and if they didn't then whatever.
7. Similar to point 3 - nobody wants to be forced to rate. If they are forced they'll probably either just rate randomly and not accurately and will eventually leave. NUMA will be full of 0 votes just so that someone can submit a map.
8. That's what the search function does. Just type in "unrated" into the search box and you'll get the most recent unrated maps.
9. From the FAQ:NUMA thread that is pinned in this forum:
"The first is the
author: tag, which is in the format "author:[username]" (example:
author:Arachnid) and simply says who created the map.
...
Unfortunately, the NUMA tag system is currently unable to search for map titles. This feature is expected to return as soon as Arachnid can get it working again. Sometimes you may also get a notice that says, "Truncated results." This is an issue that is planned to be fixed, but as always it is important to be patient and ignore it for the time being.
There is also an advanced search available which makes complicated searches easier, in case you get slightly confused about your search results."
I hope that gives you some insight into why those things wouldn't work or why they aren't implemented yet.
-GloomP
-NicNac14
-Universe_Zero
-NicNac14
