Centralizing information for new players

[Maarschalk]

I guess that should be Vice!....

[Viper]

Another item added to the list: Rules for Clan control of a system, by DaveK (how could I have overlooked that one!).

Any other suggestions, please do post them now. I intent to create the final post this evening, or tomorrow at the latest. Although adding items after posting will always be possible.

[Viper]

The info thread has been posted > HERE <.
Comments and feedback are appreciated, both here or on the thread itself.

[DaveK]

Hey Dave

It appears there is a misunderstanding as to what this thread is going to be like, I sort of got this impression from some of the other replies as well. My apologies for creating a misunderstanding if I haven't been able to explain it sufficiently. I'll try my best to paint a detailed picture this time.

This thread (I mean this actual one in which I'm posting right now) is not going to be 'the' thread. It's meant to serve as a basis for discussion regarding the contents of the thread I'm eventually going to produce. This 'final' thread is going to be called something like 'Reference Thread for Guides and Useful Information' or something along those lines, and will be posted in the Rookie Pilots / Newbies section. That post will not contain actual information about anything, but will contain a list of links referencing to such threads and other informative items, such as the links as shown in the post above yours. The thread will serve as a base of reference in order to help players new to the forum, who will probably not have a clear picture where to look for the right info, find the most important posts easier. They will be able to look at the index in the thread (the link list) and simply click on the link, which will take them to the appropriate thread, Youtube video, offsite item (like your guide), etc.
Linking all those thread and items will counter the fact that all these wonderfully helpful topics are slowly drowned in all the other posts on the forum.

That will be basically it. At most, I will add a general 'welcome to all players' intro, mention the risk of spoilers when clicking on one of the links, and add a credit list of the people responsible for the threads and items listed in the post.
So there will not actually be anything informative in the thread itself, just a list of links. It will be the 'help index' of sorts for new forum members. I have deliberately taken this approach, because if I had attempted to collect the actual info itself and put that together into a thread, there would have been a good chance it would just cause confusion as it would just be 'another thread' and like you said yourself, get buried underneath the others. This would have been counter-effective. All the hard work has already been done by you guys, I'm just creating a reference point so people will be able to keep finding your work.

Regarding moderating the thread, there's 2 sides to the story.
On the one hand I would like to be able to keep adding links if someone would propose one not yet listed, which would mean I would have to have access to the thread.
On the other hand I would like to prevent the thread from turning into a 10 page discussion about all sorts of 'newbie' questions, but retain it as the reference index it is intended to be. This would mean I would ask a moderator to close the thread, which would prevent any further posting - including me. So I'm still undecided on that one.
In any case I will definitely ask a moderator to pin/sticky the thread, so it remains on top of the Rookie Pilots / Newbies section at all times, so it will always be easy to find for any player and doesn't get lost in all the other posts. This would defeat the entire purpose of the idea.

With that said, there will also be nothing you could take from the thread itself to add to your guide (since it's basically just a list of links). However, I have been chatting with Flying Brick. He will probably be sending you a u2u shortly with information he has collected over the last couple of weeks, which might prove to be a helpful addition to your guide. We talked about posting that info separately, but for the reasons you stated and him and I second, we decided it would be better to send it to you so you can add whatever you deem useful to your guide. The last thing I want is for my 'info' thread to take away from any of the hard work anyone else has put in. On the contrary, my thread should help find that work easier, so your hard work is enjoyed and used more often.

The Wiki is a whole different story. Like you said, it will need a lot of time and commitment to maintain it. It would however be a very valuable asset to our community and the game at large, so this might be an interesting topic for the near future. Especially now with the game's popularity exploding all around us.

So basically, what I'm looking for right now, until I post the actual thread, is more links to informative posts that I might have missed.


Sorry for the ginormous wall of text. I hope I have explained it clearly enough this time. Thank you for the feedback.

[Edited on 1-26-2012 by Viper]

Sorry for the delay in replying

All in now clear - and I think that it's an excellent idea, avoiding the pitfalls but bringing stuff together to make it easier to find!

Well done, my friend

And it will be a great source for the hints guide as well!