Mod Shop Break Off - Why we have chosen to break it off

[Eudemon]

[headline]Mod Shop split-off[/headline]

We have decided to break off the Mod Shop from the main forums by removing it from the main forum display and giving it a Mods navigation tab of its own. The Mod Shop is a big part of us and we don't want this to look like we are hiding it away. That's not what this is about at all.

 

Splitting it off into its own area has been done to make it easier for those of our visitors who frequent that location to be able to stay within that ecosystem and have their preferred info available to them as when you visit Recent on the Mod Shop you will only see items from that area. (I am trying to get other options to do the same sort of thing but they are hardly used so it's not a main priority right now)

 

On the other side, those who have no real interest in it are able to check on and see items that they too are more interested in without having to filter out or skim past mod topics and postings. And of course for those visitors who enjoy both, they can switch between them to their heart's content. :p

 

There are other aspects we will get to in the coming days and weeks but for now this is the main of it and we hope you will understand why we have done this and can also see the benefits we envisioned.

 

Thanks. :cool:

[Ryzza5]

Would that vision include opening mod shops for other games? (don't ask me to suggest any)

[Minime891]

I have to say it seems you really have an ulterior motive for doing this.

 

For me there is always some truth in what people say, so that fact that you wrote " The Mod Shop is a big part of us and we don't want this to look like we are hiding it away." give me the imprseeion that this is what you're trying to achieve.

 

If your actual goal was to grow the forum and get members engaged in other sub sections of the forum that's great. It would be nice for you just to say so.

 

Obviously i will have a biased view though i try not to being that i'm a modder. I just get the impression you are trying to distance yourself from why i and a lot of people signed up for. Maybe this is just the time that you wish to head in a different direction which i understand.

 

I saw in chat that even Jorgemodek a long time member even went to chat first before seeing the Mods tab. This makes me believe that a lot of members or even non members not seeing the tab and just moving on. Yes that seems a little extreme but is possible. So in turn will get less activity and there for die out.

 

Christ, i hope i don't come across as angry. I'm just looking for further clarification on what's going on.

[Ryzza5]

Ignore the style/appearance - but perhaps this location would be better suited

 

 

What do you think?

[CarMadMike]

Might work in addition to what we currently have Ry, but I don't think it works as a replacement.

[Eudemon]

Would that vision include opening mod shops for other games? (don't ask me to suggest any)

Yes, that is another reason for making it into its own section.

 

I have to say it seems you really have an ulterior motive for doing this.

 

For me there is always some truth in what people say, so that fact that you wrote " The Mod Shop is a big part of us and we don't want this to look like we are hiding it away." give me the imprseeion that this is what you're trying to achieve.

I debated with myself on whether to mention this actually and I chose to do so because even though I knew some people might and would read it like you have. However, leaving it out would in my opinion make more people think that this was actually the case because of its omission – basically a damned if I do, damned if I don't scenario. :(

 

If your actual goal was to grow the forum and get members engaged in other sub sections of the forum that's great. It would be nice for you just to say so.

 

Obviously i will have a biased view though i try not to being that i'm a modder. I just get the impression you are trying to distance yourself from why i and a lot of people signed up for. Maybe this is just the time that you wish to head in a different direction which i understand.

The idea behind it isn't one or the other. It is about giving the people easy access to what they want. You want typical topics then that's there for you, you enjoy the modding side then that is all there for you too. The extra work to make this the case wasn't easy (for an idiot such as myself), and if it was my plan to just stash it off to the side I could have simply done just the tab and left everything else as is, but I didn't. :twisted:

 

I saw in chat that even Jorgemodek a long time member even went to chat first before seeing the Mods tab. This makes me believe that a lot of members or even non members not seeing the tab and just moving on. Yes that seems a little extreme but is possible. So in turn will get less activity and there for die out.

Change catches people off but if there is one thing I have learned from just being a simple web user myself and that is that the navigation always gets a look first. None of the links have changed, so search engine visitors and browser history locations will still work just like before too.

 

Christ, i hope i don't come across as angry. I'm just looking for further clarification on what's going on.

I can sense something from what you've said but it is not anger, and I get why. Understand though that this change is an attempt to make it easier for visitors to get what they want. Think about it: does it make more sense to have a forum displaying in the main listing or a navigation link that is immediately accessible on visiting? If you are used to scrolling down then yes there will be a few cases of 'haha oops, I scrolled down again' but that will quickly pass. :) (same thing happened when the 'Quote' options were moved with our latest style if you remember)

 

Ignore the style/appearance - but perhaps this location would be better suited

 

https://monosnap.com/file/yurstextn83SBtPrHND9A4vymRTc6S.png

 

What do you think?

For desktop users sure but the growing amount of mobile and tablet users wouldn't see that unless they scrolled down a good bit on their screens. You have to take all these things into account when you do these things. ;) Just a note, this was not a factor for this change, I've wanted to do this for a loooong time and after some serious researching, testing and A LOT of errors I figured it out and so made it happen.