quote: Original post by Jester101
Did I convince you? Maybe some of my "friends" - as Lord Kronos stated it - want to join the discussion now too?

Given that IXS ReCharge is mentioned, I feel obliged to say something - but I really don''t know what.

I actually did a number of linkbacks with developers, including Jester. I''m not sure though how much traffic is actually generated by them (my webstats aren''t very useful, I''m afraid).

It does provide a nice opportunity to make game development contacts though, and meet some (usually) friendly folks. Given that there are so many unknowns (and unknowables) in this business, it''s good to hear other people''s approaches. I''ve thought about doing secondary sites as well, so I''m curious to see how things like downloadpal will turn out. Yes, there is always a conflict of interest with such sites, but I believe that same conflict exists with the larger sites such as download.com as well.

Jester: once suggestiong about the design - why does every category open in its own window?



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http://www.midnightsynergy.com

Again thank you for your replies. I would like to go in detail now and ask for direct suggestions how to do it different. I am really interested in making it better:

Well, sites like download.com, filetransit.com (was it .net?), etc. all have so called "featured listings". You can get those listings by paying $$$. Because I honestly cannot use anymore money right now (sounds stupid eh?) and nobody would pay for a site just starting up, I decdided to give those places to someone who helps me.

I guess so far that's ok?

Now how should the policy look like?

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I understand that it is not good if a program of someone who drives less traffic to me, simply drops down the list. But isn't this like in all shareware sites? Is there a way to not do that? From my opinion as developer I was hating alphabetical sites! My new freshly submitted program would rank somewhere in the middle (S = Smugglers) and some old old program would rank above, just because it started with A.
Do you have any better ideas here?

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The rating is a different thing altogether. In your opinion everything below 5 stars sucks. In this case though I would need to raise a lot of programs ranking to 5 stars. I am not listing software that's not worth downloading or buying. The ranking is a ranking of the elite.
But I understand your point. The only solution I see is to remove the ranking altogether. But doesn't the player want to see what's what? And I want to point out that all other shareware sites offer such a ranking.
So should I not rate or how should I rate?

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Design: The idea was that the front page always stays there and if you open a category from the front page a new window pops up. This guarantees that the user always finds back to the front page and that he quits the page accidently. If he changes from category to category no new window pops up.

[edited by - jester101 on June 29, 2002 5:50:00 AM]

Jester,
yes, as my other post mentioned, I realize there are similar problems with other download sites. The idea way to rank games is by user feedback, but like I said thats impossible because of the counter spammers.

In light of that, I dont know what the best way to handle it is. Maybe have some random distribution. Have 2 of the top 5 spots be a random selection of other games from the category. Every day, pick 2 new random games and throw them into these spots. If the game does well (I guess you would judge that by number of downloads) then you increase its ranking. This way, good games would work their way to the top more easily (they get a little bit of random help now and then).

I dont know, maybe this isnt practical, but its the best I can come up with. It has the qualities of "the rich get richer" but it has the advantage that everybody get the chance to be "CEO for a day" so they can show off their stuff and get more recognition. If they get their show and blow it, then they stay where they are (or fall down farther if a better game rises from below it)

The biggest problem I see with this idea is how to do this when you get more than 40 or so games in a category.

Ron Frazier
Kronos Software
www.kronos-software.com
Miko & Molly - Coming July 2002

What about this:
Generally the listings are NOT rated. If I believe that a software is not of good use, I don''t add it, but there is no ranking.

However some might get a special reward. Like "Editors pick". Most popular awards could be given to those the users like the most.

The first two listings of a category are featured listings (not favorite) and are for sale (or right now for special promotion). The next three listings are spotlight listings. The first two are chosen randomly between the awarded software and the last one randomly between the not-awarded.

The top featured (not top favorite anymore) listing is again for sale or for special help (read = as long as I don''t have a really helping hand, that''ll be me). Or randomly chosen between the awarded software.

Hi there,

I've not got the time to read throught the entire thread here as I'm just too busy today, but just like to say that you've got our vote OK !.

All publicity is good publicity in my books either way and especially if it's for free or via mutual benefit !

Your site is now linked to ours and details have been direct mailed to you today.

Best regards,

Adrian Cummings (Proprietor)
Mutation Software
www.mutationsoftware.com
www.dweebs.info

[edited by - Mutation on June 29, 2002 12:04:28 PM]

Yes thank you Adrian. I am looking forward to get your programs listed the next hours.

I thought about a new system more and I think I found a really good compromise. Although it can happen that a compromise makes all unhappy, in this case I believe it makes all happy.

Editors pick: Personal decision of the editor.
Sponsor award: Everyone who helps us gets this.

The listings in the categories are listed as follows:

First all editors picks.
Second all sponsor awards.
Third all other listings.

Some categories might have spotlight positions. They are sold or for extraordinaty efforts. Temporary.

What this has changed:
The visitors know that "sponsored listings" not necessarily mean that they are the best. On the other hand the developer gets better exposure.
The editors pick gives me the opportunity to test & promote the best products = good for the visitor.
On the other hand the developer that only had a 3 star program in the old system, can still link back and get a sponsor award.
And last but not least: I can still give few programs very special exposure for extraordinary reasons.

Does that sound good? I already have prepared that and bring it online the next hours.

I am also adding the light grey background and a new logo.

Hi there,

I have no problems with any of that really but I'm sure you will get some negative feedback whatever you choose to do heh

Criticism is fine of course but I never let it stop me that's for sure in the past.

Go for it !.

Best regards,

Adrian Cummings (Proprietor)
Mutation Software
www.mutationsoftware.com
www.dweebs.info

[edited by - Mutation on June 29, 2002 12:54:14 PM]

quote: Original post by Jester101
First all editors picks.
Second all sponsor awards.
Third all other listings.

That sounds better, as long as a few things hold:
1) Editors picks will be done fairly (you wont pick someone because they helped you, only because you believe the game is good).
2)You will be sure to give some random games a chance to show up in the Editors picks and not have the editors picks category dominated by the same group of games for 6 months at a time.
3)Sponsored listings are clearly marked as such, so the user knows exactly what they are looking at

The only other concern would be how many sponsored listings there will be. If 40 people in a given category link back to you and you have 40 sponsored listings, thats going to push the third group down quite a bit. Unless you somehow put the sponsored listing and the other listings side by side (like google does).

Ron Frazier
Kronos Software
www.kronos-software.com
Miko & Molly - Coming July 2002

Done and uploaded. I believe it looks better now.

The strategy section is still heavily dominated by my own products, but with hopefully some new games being submitted in the future, this should change.

Talking about fair...I guess a staff of editors or at least judges would be best. Any volunteers?

Just a suggestion, but you should probably set your background color to white for your pages. I use a non-white default background, and it looks kind of funny (and probably not what you intended).



Mark Fassett
Laughing Dragon Entertainment
http://www.laughing-dragon.com