What's happening in here?

[YoshL]

I would cry if spin it up was made into a mobile app, that would be amazing.

[justin_ator]

I've actually had hopes of turning SIU into a mobile app but haven't had the time to pursue it further

[_Zenith_]

Turning SiU into a mobile app imo would gather quite a bit of interest, and it would give another dynamic to the term "Skill" in FFR; and it's quite apparent that a handful of people have this very interest to make it happen.

Can this be labeled as "Important" for FFR's To-Do list? Because it totally should be.

EDIT: It would also provide something new for the step-artists that are still around.

[Lambdadelta]

Originally Posted by Izzy

I'd subscrube to an FFR patreon if it helped everyone continue developing the site. I don't even play ffr anymore, but it would be nice to see things happen.

I've offered to donate money for years now, pretty sure a bunch of other people did too.

What's $5 a month anyway.

[psychoangel691]

Originally Posted by justin_ator

I have been advocating for this HARD for years. It's LONG overdue. We utilize the Facebook page rarely, there's no way to share your scores over Facebook (Facebook API has tons of documentation... it's fairly simple to set up the engine to use the API to send a screenshot of your score through to your profile wall...), and you can't log in to the engine using Facebook (which would also generate more sign-ups and in my opinion, help with retention of brand new members).

We are missing a HUGE platform opportunity here and always have been, and it makes me sad to have to say this same thing along with others over and over and over and over and over and over again.

I've said it a number of times already - if FFR needs someone to do Facebook media promotion, I'm more than happy to volunteer on that. Twitter updates were integrated to post when the change-log was updated, which is even better than no social media presence at all, which is what the Facebook page had for the longest time.

Definitely could use the facebook sharing scores thing but I was updating facebook pretty regularly for a while and unfortunately the post reach is total shit. I posted about the photo scavenger hunt and it reached like 80 people out of the over 7000 that have liked the page. Facebook is setup so that you either need to pay to boost your posts to reach more people, or you have to make sure that your likers set the proper settings so they actually get your posts.

[justin_ator]

Originally Posted by psychoangel691

Definitely could use the facebook sharing scores thing but I was updating facebook pretty regularly for a while and unfortunately the post reach is total shit. I posted about the photo scavenger hunt and it reached like 80 people out of the over 7000 that have liked the page. Facebook is setup so that you either need to pay to boost your posts to reach more people, or you have to make sure that your likers set the proper settings so they actually get your posts.

Perhaps another use for supporter or ad money~

[-JiZ53-]

i would donate to the cause, but i am currently broke.... i do have a few pairs of crusty socks i might be able to send if someone can pay postage.

[MarioNintendo]

I am cautiously optimistic, but I am glad that admins are talking to each other. Hopefully, we will hear from that talk soon to see what came out from it.

This is the only community I am part of. I love it to death. I spent a third of my life on here, playing the same free game. As long as the server is hosting the game and the forums, I am not going anywhere. I tried to be part of the staff as a judge, and just plain hella sucked. Now, I'm here because genuinely fell in love with the game. I am starting to AAA real files for once!

I have played this game more than any other in my entire life. In case you missed it, I have a pretty huge video game collection!

All in all, I want to thank you guys for taking this issue so seriously. Periodically, the subject gets brought up, but reading that there was a skype meeting today genuinely surprised me in a good way. My whole history is here. This place matters a great deal to me. I've made great friends, and great personal progress through the years on this platform.

goddamn I love this place

[Frank Munoz]

Originally Posted by XelNya

I highly disagree and this is why:

This game studio literally got people to pay for a free game and people to buy the dlc songs

or how about their other game cytus:

which had "the million project" go on, and they reached their goal I might add.

I agree SIU would be a great mobile game with changes and stuff, I feel that's not even a debate. But FFR could be made into a mobile game fine. Just tbh I think we'd have to tone overall difficulty down / maybe add holds or what are those notes in sm where you have to press them semi rapidly.

btw yeah rayark is awesome and if ffr delved into a mobile game there's a lot we can learn from them. Just sayin' it CAN be done.

Well, I'm sure FFR would be good for the larger sized devices, but I know I wouldn't really feel comfortable playing it on my S6 edge(which is still pretty large for a phone to me).
Same thing with Cytus(which i've seen alota my friends play), but i think it works a bit better for mobile play due to it's giant circles and use of tracking.
I just find it a problem that though it is totally viable, it wouldn't be an efficient way to draw in the majority of mobile gamers imo.

(and that's all i got on cons for it)

Buuuut, if we do decide to or just for fun do so as a community project, we would have to either
A: decide to use all current charts for mobile play(which is okay i guess)
B: make all new charts(meaning, as always, more work) but are all INDEX friendly(or THUMBS for some people).
C:???

(B)This will not only cater to some newcomers but might draw in some players who left because FFR's charts are made with mostly SPREAD play in mind.
as i said before though, I just don't believe the 'work' to 'potential users' is worth it as much as SIU
I'd talk more about SIU but I feel I've talked enough on it in my past post. Only thing I can say is lets do it.

Originally Posted by rushyrulz

I suggested this to Zag in like April as part of a meeting. He wrote it down but idk if he's working on it or really anything at all that's going on.

Interesting to hear... I don't see any downside to it other than the obvious 'more work' needed to do so(which will always be an important factor to consider) and maybe a "they don't like my stepfile" feeling.(which might put off some steppers)

Originally Posted by justin_ator

I've actually had hopes of turning SIU into a mobile app but haven't had the time to pursue it further

I saw that when I was looking up past threads for SIU and you put in tons of work for it. Maybe with some help soon all that work won't be for nothing.

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

Maybe I am just too cynical, but I see threads like this every year or so, and it's always the same stuff that gets brought up. People focus too much on the minutiae and not enough on what would actually fix things overall.

That's probably because most of us aren't familiar with how things work in managerial FFR, and thus we cannot really supply answers they/you need for what yall see as the highest priority.
I mean, we try kinda... but even if we(the common ffr player) continued to debate on things we don't understand as much as administration does, which even then it's been at a standstill(which is why there are meetings going on between them as of now I'm guessing), I don't see it progressing much.
So instead, we discuss matters that are tangible to us.

With all the time and thoughts we put into these discussions hopefully it'll show our passion for FFR, and passion is contagious.
which i know has been said n done countless times before, but here i feel we are making valid and considerable suggestions that can not only benefit the community but staff as well.

[Crazyjayde]

Don't get your hopes high about mobile play. It requires a remunerated management and dev team and entails unprecedented attention to the engine. Technical support for instance would prolong contracts. While fundraising could alleviate a part of its financial aspect, its in no way a catalyst for the extent of such an undertaking.
Following development of the HTML5 engine should give it a better picture.

Best not to work from the ground up, but rather reconcile avenues that have been left neglected, at least for now. Social networking presence and promotion is in mind.

Originally Posted by MarioNintendo

goddamn I love this place

So do I. I've left enough communities disheartened after countlessly doing my best to know the potential FFR always had. Consider FFR is still around after dropping off the earth for several years and that should give you an idea of how well it fared in comparison to the industry. It had the right timing back then and is simply falling out of favor now. Doesn't take a market analysis to know this. Give it time.

[Wayward Vagabond]

Oh cool things are finally moving again. Maybe I'll hop back on board

[Crazyjayde]

Originally Posted by DossarLX ODI

Take the idea noname mentioned similar to an osu approach.

About that, does anybody still knows how to futz with those alternate engines? Because it would be entirely possible to have a small test batch run through it and have the community vote on a dedicated thread. It'd be way better than nothing and we'd be able to speculate results.

[justin_ator]

Originally Posted by Crazyjayde

About that, does anybody still knows how to futz with those alternate engines? Because it would be entirely possible to have a small test batch run through it and have the community vote on a dedicated thread. It'd be way better than nothing and we'd be able to speculate results.

This is a lot easier than it sounds, provided someone has prior knowledge of the R3 XML setup and hosting. Adding files into an existing alt engine is fairly simple though it takes a tad bit of time. If the alt engine has an XML file, it will be able to be loaded through R^3, and tested from there without another engine anyway.

If Charu or someone else that has done this in the past wants to PM me I can maybe discuss getting my engine back up with XML support and this could become a thing relatively quickly (I believe I still have all my files for the community engine but I never had an XML file associated with it so I'm not familiar with that one aspect - I would also need some help potentially with the conversion and information tracking for files as it can take some time and I work really odd hours at work right now)

[YoshL]

also, where's metrivia

[MosaicMan3]

Originally Posted by shenjoku

^ Ditto on this.

Double ditto

[andy-o24]

If we are fixing up the site (the potential transition to HTML5) would it be better to hold off on brining more members to the site in case we have to shut down the site temporarily as everything is converted? I don't know how that all works, but if that's a risk, we don't want to lose the people we just gained, you know?

-o24

[V-Ormix]

you guys, clearly osu has smarter leaders than our leaders

:quality post:

[rushyrulz]

Originally Posted by andy-o24

If we are fixing up the site (the potential transition to HTML5) would it be better to hold off on brining more members to the site in case we have to shut down the site temporarily as everything is converted? I don't know how that all works, but if that's a risk, we don't want to lose the people we just gained, you know?

-o24

Definitely something to consider.

Overhaul needs to happen before the popularity contest does. Like Synth said, we have all the pieces in place to springboard this site into popularity again, especially on the SEO side. I've noticed that Stepmania is actually growing more popular in general which is a good proof of concept that rhythm games (especially those of the 4-key arrowsmashing variety) are still alive in 2015.

[Vendetta21]

Tbh these forums are managed terribly there should not be this many stickies or this many subforums, it's clunky and overwhelming to anyone who hasn't been posting for a long time. There should be way less strict enforcement of rules as pretty much every other discussion website out there is way more flexible and administrators and moderators should not operate from the standpoint of "it is my job to police the forum because it's out of control" (it's mostly dead except for TWG and TGB) and more from the perspective "it's my job to create an environment that harbors discussion."

The bulk of this forum is geared towards nerds chatting and the forums staff does almost nothing to foster that. They barely fucking post in discussions. Honestly think a person who staffs a forum should also be invested in the community. This is a leisurely discussion community, not a derelict ghetto that needs occasional policing.

Who decides what gets stickies and how long it gets stickied? Does anyone ever reevaluate them? Do they seek out good discussions and sticky them to generate discussion?

The process for locking threads in chit-chat seems almost arbitrary. Some terrible one line self-involved threads get the good to go stamp and other threads that are slightly edgy but interesting get locked. I don't understand the thought process here. The web is literally flooded with places to discuss shit and none of them are nearly as bizarre or restrictive. I get banning flaming and hate speech but I don't for the life of me follow the logic used in moderating discussion here.

The bulk of the people in control of the forum seem to be in a closed off in some cliquish Skype group that doesn't even pretend to use the forums to chat. You could call TGB cliquish but like 90% of the regular posters are extremely welcoming and nice and way more funny and meaningful discussions go on in TGB than nearly anywhere else.

Like don't get me wrong Manti is the fucking best, but like he doesn't post THAT much anymore and can't really be the entire backbone for the two major discussion areas on the site. And the rest of the forums don't have a Manti to help curate them presently.

[Vendetta21]

Like on every other forum I post on nearly every mod and admin is a part of the discussion. I get that the Modqueue for reports is annoying but it is self-defeating to let forum administration to be defined by annoyance and aversion to a modqueue and it signals some structural problems on the level of tone and atmosphere if that's the nature of it.