I haven't participated in this forum that much over the years, but I think it should remain. The information here is invaluable and I'm afraid that it would get lost if the topic of Modding was merged into SD.

I also think this forum could be more active than it's been lately if we (the members and staff) support it. For instance we have recently had some of the most amazing developments in modding ever, with AGE and MWS, and neither have made the news.

Now I don't want to heave responsibility for the lack of activity soley on the Staff, because there must be some reason that three very popular Mods have threads in SD Forum and not here. In my opinion AoK Mods (Modpacks not Staff Moderators) have always suffered from poor promotion and the lack of good PR. It seems that Modders have not formed the same kind of relationship with their fans or each other as Scenario Designers have. I don't have all the answers to how we might solve that, but I think the solution begins when we recognize the problem.

Perhaps it's too late for a solution that involves remaining as a unique forum for the majority of members here? If so, I wouldn't want to get in the way of that. However if enough of you want to remain I have some ideas that with the help of Shadowflare and Aro might turn things around.

[This message has been edited by AnastasiaKafka (edited 09-07-2008 @ 11:40 PM).]

If they are to be merged, I don't think that Scenario Design would be an appropriate name anymore; more likely 'Editor's Pages' or something similar.

However, I stand for keeping them separated.

Another reason to combine the two forums is that we have less traffic in ModPack Discussion. I miss a forum for the scripter in AoKH, a forum for the AI scripter and Random Map Scripts, a MPS file is a Modification Pack Script.

My vote would be 'No' for the merger. I propose to add RMS and AI Discussion to the ModPack Discussion forum to close the gap and to generate more traffic.

The Scripter's Guild
(AI, ModPack, RMS Discussion)

Nobody really does RMS or AI scripting any more, Aok is quite poor in that area. Besides they are more related to SD than modding.

This has been asked before. From an activity standpoint, merging them makes sense. But the subject matter is just so different and specialized that it might be better left on its own.

If merging them were considered though, a solution would be a couple of modpack design only stickies, including the MP Guidance Center and maybe an FAQ regarding GeniEd that would help centralize and preserve MPD issues within a merged forum.

Alrighty folks: the majority has spoken, and the forums will be merged late September / early October. I would like to thank you all for your feedback on this -- it's truly invaluable, and helped a *lot* in shaping the final decision. In the meantime, our team will plan for the merger.

If anybody has any questions or concerns that they'd like to relay in private, feel free to e-mail me (aro at heavengames dot com).

SD:

What is your vote, Aro

I'm playing the neutral party. The AoKH staff should *not* make this decision; rather, the community should make this decision, and our team is a part of that community, so their voices are included. After listening to both sides, it appears both modders and scenario designers would benefit from a forum merger, and the biggest problem would be the different subjects the two forums present. However, I don't believe it will be a problem that the benefits of a merger won't solve. There will always be an option to go back, with just an MP forum and an SD forum, if it doesn't work out, but you can trust that I wouldn't have asked if I thought, for even a moment, that a merger wouldn't work out.

It sounds like an interesting concept, but I am against it until we can come up with a way to satisfy SD'ers who dislike modding(like me )

The pure SD'ers can simply go to the threads that interest them. There will always be designers who play vanilla and don't use mods. It's similar to how you use the forums now -- you avoid topics that don't look like they'll interest you.

Do the guys in SD really want to field lots of questions like,"How do we change stats?" "My goodness there's a white box around my new unit!!" etc. The people in the mps forum have been dealing with those for years and thus are able to quickly help newbies.

The idea is that the communities themselves will be merged together; MPD and SD will be united, and not only will those vets be able to answer questions, but they can teach a new generation of modders, in a very active forum, the ropes so they can answer the questions of the next generation.

There will be more positives than negatives with this merger; a more active forum will not only give modders more publicity, but modding questions will have a better chance of being answered. The SD forum is filled with quick learners and some of the most innovative people you'll ever meet, and I think that would only benefit the genius MPD is quickly unlocking with these new mods.

MPD:

I haven't participated in this forum that much over the years, but I think it should remain. The information here is invaluable and I'm afraid that it would get lost if the topic of Modding was merged into SD.

Because this is the larger forum, the old information in MPD will always be preserved in a forum archive, while the MPD community as well as the new information they carry will transition into this forum. We have all kinds of awesome modders who approve of a merger, so in addition to the forum archive always being there for you all to consult, we'd be losing nothing.

I miss a forum for the scripter in AoKH, a forum for the AI scripter and Random Map Scripts, a MPS file is a Modification Pack Script.

I'm just not sure if that'd increase activity enough to solve the issue of MPD being a generally inactive forum. SD has always been the AI forum, and even with an active community, we barely get any serious scripters.

I'm all for discussing ideas on how to expand upon our AI community, and if there was a growth of AI/RMS scripting discussion in this forum, I'd be more than happy to open up a new forum. But that's where the line is drawn -- I have to know the forum would be used.

If merging them were considered though, a solution would be a couple of modpack design only stickies, including the MP Guidance Center and maybe an FAQ regarding GeniEd that would help centralize and preserve MPD issues within a merged forum.

That will be done. ^^ It will be a complete merger.

The forum name will have to change too; I hope everyone's keeping that in mind. I opened a thread in Scenario Design where you can vote for the name. I'll keep this thread opened if anybody has any more questions or concerns about the merger.