The Current Path of FFR

[Reincarnate]

I strongly feel that the answer should *not* be in the form of a tutorial. That isn't addressing the key issue, here. The game is simple enough that it acts as its own tutorial provided you give them a proper path/incentive structure.

[devonin]

I dunno, I'd think there'd be a little more discussion about exactly where I'd be and what I'd be doing.

[Rebirth0]

I feel nothing new will happen, unfortunately. It seems that we're going to have the same problem as we did 4 years ago:

Too few people doing a monstrous amount of work on something with no compensation, thus a lack of interest in doing anything more than the bare minimum.

I could be mistaken, but from what I see is Velocity and nois are the only ones that do much work on the site. With Velocity working on the game itself, and nois coordinating events and news posts and stuff (with some assistance). Eventually, if not already, its going to become too much work for 1 - 2 people to keep up with

[i heart candy]

Lets start by removing the Legacy files and develop easier songs for newcomers that aren't necessarily with a level of 40+.
Fix the tier point system.
FFR needs a new layout. If you guys need any photoshop gfx, hmu.
Video chat please. Not everyone who visits this website plays this game. For example: xxASHLYNXXXXXXXX
Maybe try to put more coders on the team. I'm not sure how this would be done, but I know it would help out Velocity by a ton.
FFR needs a new server too. This server is a potato.

I'd also like to see more people in the SM community but I know that I'd be asking for too much.

[i heart candy]

~ oops

[justin_ator]

Tbh if the whole rest of my last post gets ignored, that's fine, but I really do think a "Programmer" group to help along FFR development in different areas could prove very useful. There are plenty of capable (not necessarily willing, but in any case) people on FFR that could help out in different areas to implement and fix different things. Maybe start a new thread or subforum with different coding tasks that need to be done to fix/add things, and see who is willing to attempt to help/tackle those things.

[Velocity]

qqwref is in staff chat, and is going to be helping out on site code. Once everything's setup at least.

We might even get the site recode done now, with the extra help.

[Reincarnate]

I learned Actionscript not too long ago (and already know Python/PHP/blahblahblah), so I'm always open to help if needed. I think there are plenty of people around here who have enough coding knowledge to help out.

[Trogdor!!!!]

Whatever happened to music on profiles again?

[Velocity]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

I learned Actionscript not too long ago (and already know Python/PHP/blahblahblah), so I'm always open to help if needed. I think there are plenty of people around here who have enough coding knowledge to help out.

I have you on skype right?

Originally Posted by Trogdor!!!!

Whatever happened to music on profiles again?

It was hosted on another server that no longer exist, and there's no copy of it.

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by Velocity

I have you on skype right?

Yesh

Originally Posted by Trogdor!!!!

Whatever happened to music on profiles again?

I think that was Rithum -- which is pretty much done for: www.rithum.com
Last person who was working on it, IIRC, was Maldon, and he's pretty much long gone. The Rithum stuff's been dead for a long time, now.

[igotrhythm]

Originally Posted by Rebirth0

Honestly, if anything, this game is getting too LARGE. I think we need to cut 300 - 500 of the weaker simfiles.

Originally Posted by Xiz

We could remove 50 of your files.

****ing BURN

On topic, though, with the resurgence of team activity, the creation of an unofficial RPG and GamerShadow's classic Phantom Challenge story, a story mode involving going around, rising in rank and beating bosses of various "guilds" practically writes itself, though I will have to respectfully disagree with Rubix about lack of visible progress...we have the shiny skill tokens, do we not? Those work kinda like badges in that they're only for specific levels/games and ask that you fulfill certain requirements.

Add in the various other distractions that FFR has had over the years (MeTrivia, anyone?) and you had a veritable Facebook--even an informal community of ecchi enthusiasts lurking amongst the profiles that could serve as another model for clans, teams, guilds...whatever you want to call them.

Admittedly, stuff like PianoCore and one of the tokens in particular is getting more and more difficult to unlock with each new release slash front page post...I'm personally in favor of phasing out the normal tokens altogether, as most of them are so 2007. Token hunting detracts from the core FFR experience, IMO, and the sooner it's lopped off the better. (Besides, Flash being open source means any script kiddie could sniff around and find the appropriate URLs.)

As I've said several times, I blame the death of the multiplayer system on the rise of profile chat, and the rebirth of video chat will only exacerbate this problem. There was a time when the MP system was the only way to instantly communicate with other users within the confines of the site, and for that it was constantly hopping.

I fear that the temporary downfall of FFR is something from which it will never truly recover, and the schism between it and ThirdStyle isn't helping matters either. If this site is serious about undergoing a renaissance, the people running it need to have a serious discussion about how, not if, they want FFR to change with the times.

As for my 2 cents? Much ado is made when someone gets 100n AAAs or gets X billion points, so perhaps there could be a script that pops up much like the skill tokens. "Congratulations on your 100th full combo!" would be a nice surprise for people that don't keep serious track of this sort of thing, and why would a newcomer care that much about their statistics when their focus is on developing their vocabulary, so to speak?

[Trogdor!!!!]

Oh, that's lame. That was my favorite part about profiles back in the day. :<

[00Razor00]

Originally Posted by Velocity

qqwref is in staff chat, and is going to be helping out on site code. Once everything's setup at least.

We might even get the site recode done now, with the extra help.

about time. maybe some shit will get done around here now

[justin_ator]

Originally Posted by Trogdor!!!!

Whatever happened to music on profiles again?

Originally Posted by Velocity

It was hosted on another server that no longer exist, and there's no copy of it.

You know what this sounds like to me? It sounds like a freakin amazing time for someone to rewrite it! All it has to do is access the level swf's and play them through a player that saves what songs you chose, etc. I mean seriously, we already have a player on each of the songs level ranks pages, perhaps half the code could be ripped from that?

edit: if you guys have the source to prochat still, make it a separate tab in prochat or something even, that'd be tight

[DarknessXoXLight]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

I strongly feel that the answer should *not* be in the form of a tutorial. That isn't addressing the key issue, here. The game is simple enough that it acts as its own tutorial provided you give them a proper path/incentive structure.

I wasn't saying a tutorial explaining how to play the actual the game. When I first joined this site, I didn't come from Stepmania or any other rhythm game, I just jumped straight in and had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea how to change my set up or that changing the speed is helpful. I was playing arrow key set up 1x speed for about a year before Superfreak04 explained to me that I was doing it wrong lmfao. I would have enjoyed the game a lot more and not gave up right away if I knew that from the start. Tis all I meant by "tutorial".

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by DarknessXoXLight

I wasn't saying a tutorial explaining how to play the actual the game. When I first joined this site, I didn't come from Stepmania or any other rhythm game, I just jumped straight in and had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea how to change my set up or that changing the speed is helpful. I was playing arrow key set up 1x speed for about a year before Superfreak04 explained to me that I was doing it wrong lmfao. I would have enjoyed the game a lot more and not gave up right away if I knew that from the start. Tis all I meant by "tutorial".

Sure, I mean I think this is a good idea and all.

But I'm mainly addressing Dynam0's main thrust of the thread, here, which is a concern that FFR is basically turning into Stepmania, which caters to the elite players and ignores the newbies.

A tutorial's nice, but I think what turns newbies away is that they hop in and are suddenly overwhelmed with choice paralysis and no idea what to do with no actual goal other than tinkering-around-and-having-fun-then-quitting-after-getting-bored.

Actually I just read the read of his post and we have the exact same idea:

Originally Posted by Dynam0

If this game were structured like say guitar hero where you have a systematic increase in difficulty that demands development of techniques like reading/speed/jacking/trilling etc. as you progress through a "series of levels" or even something as corny as a story, this game would be a lot more appealing to newer players. New players would play through these challenges and unlock more difficult songs upon attaining certain criteria (similar to skill token unlocks). Sorry but if I'm a new player and I understand the basic premise of the game (arrowsmash *cough*), I'm obviously going to find the most difficult files and play them with no recognition or conception of how they can actually be played well. After all, this is EXACTLY what I did when I first played StepMania. The reason why I stuck with the game is plain: I have an insane attention span and, unlike the average person, I had no problem playing a game with no set goals other than my own which was to achieve better scores, despite the fact that there were no rewards or unlockables. Even the old "pat-on-the-back" rewards that Nintendo is so popular for don't exist in these games, furthermore making them less appealing to the average person. An unlock system or progression would encourage improvement in order to play the 'wtf hard' songs which is an attractive reward for new players.

The in-game files have developed too many parodies and inside jokes that newcomers wouldn't understand, and would have no patience in understanding them. Show them a basic introduction to the game that progresses them down a path (I would discourage a linear path like guitar hero and would encourage a branching set of avenues) so that eventually they reach the point where they unlock all the insane and quite silly files. This gives them something to look forward to, instead of completely immersing them in a world full of terminology they don't understand and inside jokes they would simply stare blankly at.

Which I agree with 100%. You need to provide something extra to make the game ideal for newcomers, and it can't just be a tutorial + tossing them into a sea of songs to choose from. There should be an immediately obvious, structured challenge to pursue right off the bat.

[DossarLX ODI]

I should add that the amount of credits you receive from easier songs is absolute SHIT.

Maybe gradual progress prizes, like say 50 AAAs gives you a 5k credit reward to encourage newer players from not having like 400 credits and then having songs that cost 10k credits to just totally decimate what they worked for.

[i love you]

Wow, awesome thread/post Dynam0. You truly understand what this community needs. <3

Originally Posted by Velocity

qqwref is in staff chat, and is going to be helping out on site code. Once everything's setup at least. We might even get the site recode done now, with the extra help.

ABOUT TIME LOL

[andy-o24]

Originally Posted by DarknessXoXLight

When I first joined this site, I didn't come from Stepmania or any other rhythm game, I just jumped straight in and had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea how to change my set up

This is why I'm stuck playing left scroll. That and I'm way too lazy to even try to change my muscle memory at this point.

-o24