Better guild support

[kia345]

It worked for me >:

Perhaps something like Gk's Kingdom menuGUI could be implemented for guilds.

[Admins]

Originally Posted by Rufus

There are tons of things that could make guilds 100 percent better, but I honestly don't think this is one of them, it kind of takes the purpose from the website. Now all the website is used for is registrations, and that really pisses me off to be honest.

Um why exactly? I've made this tool because people have requested it. It's telling you when there is a new post made on the guilds forum, and you can click on the thread to watch it. We could also add links / buttons for the other parts of the guild panel.

I'm not sure why you say it pisses you off that the website is only used for registrations. Actually you can also create an account within the game (or even simply by inviting a friend). Everything important is done by Graal anyway, the website is only an interface to it.

[xXziroXx]

I like it, Stefan.

And Rufus, look around on other online game's websites. I only see an account management site on them, where you pay for your account, change your account information, parental control etc. Why should Graal not do the same? Makes the game itself less crippled by adding in-game functions over website ones.

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by Stefan

it pisses you off

olol

It would be nice if the entire control panel could be put into the game, that way it is easier to keep guilds together. Imagine a private IRC server that can be opened on any server (Imagine an IRC window that can be opened on any server that lets you chat with anyone in the server, join separate channels, or join their guild on every server, also can be scripted so server can add channels).

Basically a way to unite guilds better. I think the IRC like I said, or even global toguild messages. Most successful guilds are all on one server, such as Cherry, etc, since there is little way to communicate.

[Rufus]

Originally Posted by Stefan

Um why exactly? I've made this tool because people have requested it. It's telling you when there is a new post made on the guilds forum, and you can click on the thread to watch it. We could also add links / buttons for the other parts of the guild panel.

I'm not sure why you say it pisses you off that the website is only used for registrations.

The suggestions Dusty made are good, but the suggestions made towards the in-game Guild CP are probably due to the fact that it was already planned to make it in-game. Personally I feel with local guilds, staff guilds and local guilds acting as other means (Kingdoms, Gangs, Nations) the guild CP is going to be extremely inconsistent with a lot of the other servers content if it is in game. A lot of the local guilds have custom interfaces that don't match the guild interface, but they're essentially the same thing -- it's annoying how disjointed everything is. This is why I believe the global guilds should stay as a part of a website-only interface.

The website is so incredibly disjointed from the client, and things probably shouldn't be made on the client because it's more convenient to add. Ziro you musn't be looking at many games, because in online gaming, it's rare to find websites that are poorly constructed and lack feature development while gaining and retaining a strong playerbase. Granted, many of their subscribers play for the high-quality in-game content itself, but most of the games have their interfaces for features like guilds on their websites.

The Graal website should act achieve 3 goals, especially in a marketing sense.

1. Connect users to game content and features
2. Drive sales
3. Build customer (and potential customer) databases

The website is currently being rendered obsolete, but it is a massive tool that should be turning casual browsers into consumers. Other games utilize their sites much better, and return visits to their site it adds to the gameplay itself and works more as a community function. Content is an accelerator for this, and Graal's website currently has next to nothing, other than of course the guild panel.

Originally Posted by Stefan

Actually you can also create an account within the game (or even simply by inviting a friend). Everything important is done by Graal anyway, the website is only an interface to it.

Features such as inviting a friend usually happens when you've first discovered a game, I highly doubt anyone has invited a friend using the client, because that is generally when they're more immersed in the game itself. Inviting a friend would be a more distinguishable call-to-action situated on the website, not the client.

Hell, if I'm wrong I'm wrong but over the last few years I was a big guild-orientated player and I never had an issue with the guild control panel being on the website, and wouldn't find it any more convenient in game. It's my personal opinion though, I just feel as though everything is being done so they can be edited easier, but that doesn't necessarily make them better. Just my opinion.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by Rufus

...

Well said.

[zokemon]

I can see where you are coming from Rufus but in all honesty, I do not like waiting for my browser to load a stupid page because of all the html it has to send. Sending the data to the client is much faster and much more efficient and I don't see why we can't just have both?

[Rufus]

Originally Posted by zokemon

I can see where you are coming from Rufus but in all honesty, I do not like waiting for my browser to load a stupid page because of all the html it has to send. Sending the data to the client is much faster and much more efficient and I don't see why we can't just have both?

What kind of internet connection do you have, 28k? That was kind of a stupid statement.

[Admins]

Rufus I think you are overseen some parts of Graal and the website. We are running a forum and a wiki which are quite tightly integrated with the game (using the same accounts, displaying wiki news in the game), most Games that I know run really ****ty forums which are basicly a replacement for non-existing support. We are also running the support center where each day a lot of tickets are answered and resolved.

What Graal is missing is not adding more disconnected stuff, but to more unite the players - e.g. reusing the same look on several servers (not needing to type sethead etc. each time you login to another server), using global guilds, and not duplicate content on each server, more focussing on delivering things that are unique to the servers and do the other things with tools that work on any server.

[Rufus]

Originally Posted by Stefan

Rufus I think you are overseen some parts of Graal and the website. We are running a forum and a wiki which are quite tightly integrated with the game (using the same accounts, displaying wiki news in the game), most Games that I know run really ****ty forums which are basicly a replacement for non-existing support. We are also running the support center where each day a lot of tickets are answered and resolved.

What Graal is missing is not adding more disconnected stuff, but to more unite the players - e.g. reusing the same look on several servers (not needing to type sethead etc. each time you login to another server), using global guilds, and not duplicate content on each server, more focussing on delivering things that are unique to the servers and do the other things with tools that work on any server.

The Graal website is far from community based, and the wiki is a niche area reserved for people who want to collaboratively create articles and referrences for things like development (that's currently what it's all about) but not everyone is interested in that, especially not a regular everyday player. The forums seem detached from the website (a minimalist link doesn't give them justice) and doesn't cater for the entire community sadly, which I've tried to bring up. I think you're aware that the forums could do with some organizing though.

The servers are generally different, but most of them carry the same themes or gameplay features. The features might be slightly different per server, but as a whole they're the same familiar gameplay concepts. This, like you said unites the community and is what Graal is today. Graal is one game with many different servers, but there still should be some degree of consistency between all of the servers else it's not a game you can develop for generically, just a hub.

The fact that some servers use local guilds as their main guilds, while others rely on global guilds is an example of the inconsistency. Perhaps local guilds should be turned into staff-only, or for use of other systems (as mentioned previously, Kingdoms/Nations/Gangs, server specific concepts with the same idea) instead of confusing the players by having local and global guilds, then having local interfaces and global interfaces for guilds -- they're the same thing.

Consistency between the features provides a comfort, so perhaps the servers need to start working together as Graal, instead of their own piece of the pie.

[cbk1994]

Originally Posted by Stefan

****ty

Who are you and what did you do with Stefan? :O

[Desear]

Originally Posted by Rufus

Big Words, something about trying to bring the community together, Final point: Local and Global Guilds need some connection to be able to implement a guild GUI seeing as some servers, Kingdoms, Zodiac, and Era have unique ones.

A simple solution could be to just make this new in-game Guild GUI only work with Global Guilds, it could work by checking the lists within the Guild CP (Pending, Active, Special, Suspended). But this would still cause problems for servers like Zodiac, so I suggest why not simply disable the Global GUI for servers with their own custom Guild GUIs, such as Zodiac, and Era, because they don't allow global guilds in the first place. Although, Kingdoms should be fine as long as no one makes a guild called, "Zormite Republic", "Forest", "Crescent Pirates", "Samurai", or such.

Note: Disbanded would not be included in the check seeing as how they are well.. disbanded.

[cbk1994]

Of course, I would hate it if Graal tried to automatically manage my local guilds.

[Admins]

Has anyone an idea what should be added next to the guild cp tool? What stuff should be changed before releasing it to everyone?

[Rufus]

Originally Posted by Stefan

Has anyone an idea what should be added next to the guild cp tool? What stuff should be changed before releasing it to everyone?

Eh here's a few, they're not specifically for the in-game Guild CP though..

Changes

• In the Guild CP, the icons should flash on new event. For example, the Membership Applications and Discussion Board icons indicating that there are new applications/thread replies. When you've checked them, the indicator stops until a new application/post is made. The indicator would be for those who have the rights to access such things.
• On the main page of the Guild CP there should be a direct link to your application that you can send to players when recruiting.
• You should need to specify why you're removing a player when you do.

• Better formatting on the Discussion Board options such as smiley's and the ability to sticky important threads.
• Ranks on the discussion board reflecting the actual player ranks. Currently the ranks are displaying old ranks from when the guild system was restored.

• In your Public Information you should be able to specify what type of guild you are from a predefined list, which would split the guilds up into definitive areas. For example -- Beginner-Friendly, Casual, Community, Competitive, PKing-Focused, Sparring-Focused, Social, Roleplaying, Fun, Development, etc.
• In your Public Information you should be allowed to upload 3 screen shots to appear on your guild listing page (thumbnail hyper links, of course). It would make the pages a lot more attractive and specific guild based. Along with that, the fields that haven't got any input shouldn't be displayed.
• In your Public Information you should be able to enter allies, then make a check to match it up with the other guild's ID. Once they're matched up, if both guilds are listing the other, the guilds shouldn't be able to hit each other on servers, and should act as one guild in terms of fighting. This has been suggested many times before and it's on Classic, I'd love to see this officially and easier to do.

New Ideas

• Each guild makes their own icon, maybe? I don't know.
• We used to have the "Event Informations / Subscribe to Event" but it was never really finished. It would be nice if each guild had their own calendar to input events, and for users to be able to subscribe to that event. Perhaps if a calendar is too hard to do, just a basic list of events with information fields. It would really help when organizing events such as spar tournaments, developer discussions, fun..
• GUILD OBJECT FOR SCRIPTING!! ..just thought I'd slip that in