I'm an admin at Klik-Me, where it's probably taking it's final bow in a few weeks or so due to me being the only one updating...
So, I thought about asking your opinions about a new Klik blog, not purely based on Klik news (although it will be a prominent feature) but also on the many aspects of game design and suchlike. Further to that, I'll probably be writing about other amateur games from other freeware communities such as GameMaker/AGS ..etc, to give an idea of what ideas are coming out and to hopefully inspire a few more people from outside the Klik bubble.
Basically what I want to know is, do you care? I'd really like to give the community somewhere fresh to be inspired not just by the games themselves, but through imaginative thoughts and ideas. A blog seems to be the easiest way to both display and discuss these things, so that's what I've come up with.
I've got a post at KlikMe (http://www.klik-me.com) so don't hesitate to post there or here, but yeh, it'd be cool to hear your thoughts on the subject. TDC is an awesome hub for game making, but some things don't come across quite as well. Hopefully, I'm not talking too much gibberish...
I care. But I would rather never hear the word "blog" ever again. Cover whatever you like. I never really thought the problem with Klik-Me was what it covered, but rather how little went on there. I guess it just didn't have a lot of community interaction. The development logs were a nice feature, but unless you had a lot of stuff to tell people about, there wasn't much use to it. Other things, like those little collectable icons, were done better elsewhere, and no one really used the forums too much. It was just kind of an also-ran kind of site, so... whatever you think is worth doing to generate some interactivity is probably worth trying, because, right now, it's kind of the old, junky garage of Klik sites. Sorry. I know it's a pain to put a lot of work into something like that and have people not appreciate it, but... you know. Just my opinion.
Heh, don't worry about it, I didn't design the site in the first place, I'm just the only one left to see it running. I call it a blog purely because I'm using a blog system to display what I want. It's only a few steps away from a 'devlog' either way and a rather handy way to organise news and ideas. Don't worry, I won't start pictures of my cat or anything...
how about using the idea of multiple game sites/sources to inspire but keep it a place where klikers can write devlogs (with a set way of writing them) and when a decent one comes along feature that devlog and so forth. ths time, rather than put a list of updated devlogs, make them actual topics of focus where they will be easier to find and generate activity.
I've been toying with that devlog idea, but I'm going to wait until the Wordpress-multiuser thing becomes stable and a little easier to use, because at the moment, it's hell to set up.
Cheers for the comments.
Why don't you just blog your bloggy blog and bloglink to other people's blogs if they want to blog blog their own devlogblogs? I mean, there's not a lot of sense in setting up devlogs on your site if people can just sign up for their own blogs and write their own devlogs on Blogger.com if they want to, or whatever. You know what I'm saying?
I don't know. Just have comments, and forums, and hopefully you'll attract an interesting mix of people to talk about pointless BS over there. Like, I used to read Pix Fu a lot. It was interesting conversation, not too many hyperactive attention-hungry children or power-tripping admins. It was a good time, so do that, but with Klik/indie games news on the front. Also, don't make hidden or private forums. The biggest thing that pissed me off about Klik-Me back in the day was that most of what little forum activity there was there took place in private forums. Not outsider-friendly.
Well the whole point with the providing a devlog service on this site would be to have everyone's progress ON GAMES in one place, removing the need to actively link to everyone's blog under the sun (plus, tell me how many people actually have blogs that display their Klik game progress?). A lot of people don't have decent webspace of their own either, so providing a slot with some sort of webpresence would be a very nice thing, especially for free. And then particularly interesting posts could be highlighted. Of course, this is if I were to provide devlogs for everyone, and at the moment, it's not viable.
BlitzBasic has a very simple devlog system set up which allows for users to quietly log their progress (on separate projects) while they can point a link to it in a forum post if they've made some particularly decent progress. It's just a simple, common way of logging progress, while trying to track 100 projects on different blogs would be a nightmare.
I'll leave it at that, but I hope you understand why the idea is not a write-off.
I read PixFu as well, it's quietened down a little but there's good discussions in there sometimes. I'm not too keen on forums though. There's a reason a lot of forums are dead and that's because usually there's a better alternative (usually with a bigger userbase). The Daily Click is the most active Klik forum, and in essence there doesn't really need to be another one. Look at every other klik site and find one that's even remotely as active as it (TK is trying but it's lacking). However, I'm aiming for each post on this blog/newssite to be like a forum discussion, only without all the baggage that a forum usually comes with. I'd also have the ability to highlight interesting discussions pretty easily - another problem with forums is the noise-to-actual-decent-discussion ratio.
It all makes sense in my head anyway. I guess I'll find out when I open it (and figure out a name for it.... any ideas?)
Yeah, I didn't really mean you should personally scour the internet for updated Klik development blogs and link to them. I just meant that people could post links to their own devlogs, wherever they might be, in their profiles, and they could post a notice when they'd updated. Then you have a little spot on the front page, like Klik-Me already does, for the most recently updated devlogs. Instead of leading to a user's devlog space on Klik-Me, it just links to wherever they said their devlog was. It just sounded like it would be a lot of work to implement a feature that most people think is cool, but then end up not using, so if you've got a plan in mind to handle it, then... sally forth.
As far as the forums go, more active is obviously not necessarily better. It's about who goes there. But, you're right in that there are plenty already, and more, I think, just spreads people out more when it would probably be better to bring them closer together.
I guess it just seems like the new Klik-Me would concentrate on news, and have development logs and user comments. Well, it already has all that. The difference will be that it covers a broader range of indie game development, which is fine, but it just seems like you run the risk of spending a lot of time looking for news to post and then not having much reaction from the readers.
Then again, if it all makes sense in your head, I guess you know all you need to know. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with, and I hope it all goes well.
umm, how about just using a forum system, and when people decide to create a game, create a seperate forum for them and allow them to moderate it. that way if they could make it private or public as the see fit but the admin would always be able to super moderate them and if you ever found anything that would generate a fair amount of activity you could ask the person(s) if they would allow a front page feature (that's if they make their forum provate).
edit:
or maybe you could allow people/groups to ask for a forum created for them and they can create sub forums for seperate games and they would be able to moderate those sub forums
I've thought of a better way to have game log pages, I think, that doesn't involve forums (I don't want a forum, it'd be rubbish). Klik-Me already has these subforums and pages for people's own projects and companies, but look how far that took off (it may have something to do with implementation as well, but you get my drift).
I'm not concentrating on just news, I'm concentrating on game design ideas and thoughts, news about upcoming projects and things like that will be included and updated a lot, but they'll be displayed as asides to the main discussion (unless they contain notable ideas). Plus, the current Klik-Me wasn't made by me, so I actually have no idea how it works, how I'd alter it without screwing up the whole system, and it's not something I want to keep up.
It's not going to (or try to) be a Total Klik, Planet Klik, Desolation Click, Daily Click, TFGF, Klikkety Klik, Klik-Union or even Klik Academy. Because if it was, there'd be no point in it. I was just curious in seeing if people are interested in reading something like this, because it is different to most (or all) klik community sites at the moment.
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Edited by the Author.