Welcome Guest ( Log In · Register · Change Skins )
Global PokedeX Plus
Lab · Shelter · Main · Dex · PC · Shop · Stats · Help · Rules · Users Online · IRC Chat
GPX+ GPXPlus Forums Member Options
X   Site Message
(Message will auto close in 2 seconds)
GPX+ Discord Suggestions
Rating 5 V
Plain Jane
post Jan 31 2020, 09:03 PM
Post #1


Pokémon Trainer
Group Icon

Group: +Donors
Posts: 56
Joined: 1-November 18
Member No.: 255 848

Active Squad



Introduction

I've been a fairly active participant on the GPX+ Discord (invite link; please join it's fun there!!) since I came back to GPX+ on this new, blank-slate account, and the most thriving discussions on there tend to involve suggestions as to how GPX+ could improve. Because of the way Discord works, however, that discussion is quickly swept under the rug of time as the chat moves along to different topics. This means that I typically tend to repeat my own thoughts on suggestions periodically when they're on the mind, and more importantly, it prevents the points I and other people make from being consistently seen. So I've decided the best idea (and I really should have done this a long time ago) is to make a comprehensive forum thread about common topics on the matter of suggestions and site improvements, so that there's a permanent location for those ideas.

Foreword

Before getting into the actual suggestions, I'd like to discuss the state of GPX+ coming into its 11th year, and why the suggested improvements to the site that will be covered later in this post are important.

It's known to people who have been around long enough, and to those who are dedicated enough to pay attention, that GPX+ was mere moments from shutting down after Wymsy stepped down in 2015 before Zerxer (Nick) decided to allow the site to continue on, "frozen in time" for the remaining users to enjoy, without much being done in the way of serious change.

However, it's been almost 5 years, and I’d say we've seen a healthy amount of additions. The bimonthly Scavenger Hunts and Site-wide Shiny Hunts march on, holiday events are still a regular occurrence, and novelties are always being added to spice up the site’s unique flair. A Pokemon game released just last November has already seen a handful of its regional Pokemon added to GPX+, and a new contributor (LightKunai) has even been tasked to help the effort of spriting Galar’s Pokemon. None of these are truly the kind of fundamental, large changes you might have seen before the “freeze”, but nor will the suggestions in this thread suggest something so broad to begin with.

Unfortunately, despite this activity preventing the website from truly feeling “frozen”, the past 5 years (perhaps even more) have seen a slow, steady decline of active users. A once-popular website that set a record of 1,896 users online at once in January of 2011 now typically only sees a maximum of 250-300 users online at once, usually at absolute peak hours during an event or when a multiplier is active. On non-multiplier days, site activity can sometimes feel entirely pointless to people, mostly because GPX+ fundamentally runs on user interactivity; now that that activity has lessened, everything slows down.

However, to me, GPX+ never died, and was never “frozen”. It has merely become a more tight-knit, dedicated community committed to playing an overall well-oiled, timeless game, where there’s always something to focus on, whether it be interactions, explorations, shiny hunting, dex completion, trinkets, or any other such thing. The fact that many of the remaining core of active users have been here for over a decade speaks to how important GPX+ is, and how it could continue to persist into the future. I would hate to see the flaws that I intend to cover in this post persist, as I believe not accounting for them will create a situation where the site WILL eventually “bleed to death”, so to speak.

An important note to make is that the two remaining root admins (Big Bidoof/Jeff and Zerxer/Nick) are both quite busy with their lives, and have been for some time, so change to this degree hasn’t been in the cards for a while. However, what motivated much of the recent discussion in the Discord and eventually led me to create this thread are these hopeful words from Nick:



With that being said, here’s the meat of this post.

Suggestions

Speaking the most broadly, I believe all of the main points I intend to cover come back to the idea of shifting the “perspective” of how GPX+ runs to account for a more tight-knit, dedicated community rather than a massive, ever-growing userbase, as it used to be years ago. It is, essentially, all about the idea of balancing a game that at its core runs on mutual user interaction.

There are three main, very broad areas of suggestion that I tend to see discussed:
1. Activity-based adjustments
2. Further encouragement and broadening of activity within a smaller userbase
3. Removal/adjustment of certain limits (ties into #1 somewhat)

These are ordered by what I believe can be most strongly argued in favor of.

Activity-Based Adjustments (click to show)


Encouragement and Broadening of Activity (click to show)


Removal of Certain Limits (click to show)


Miscellaneous/Extra (click to show)


That's all I've collected in a Google Doc so far from what I remember and what people have reminded me to add to this in the past day or so. If you'd like to read all of this as a Google Doc, here's the link.

As large as this post is already I'd appreciate feedback and further suggestions below.



--------------------


Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post

 
Start new topic
Replies
Kingis
post Feb 1 2020, 01:35 PM
Post #2


Gym Leader
Group Icon

Group: +Donors
Posts: 156
Joined: 20-March 10
From: Prague, Czech Republic
Member No.: 89 638

Exploders~ (no pun)



Regarding the Mobile version, I don't think only loading 25 at a time is too problematic, because you can check "Load more when finished" and it will just keep loading more until there's nothing left, which is a feature not present on the Desktop version (but it should be).
However, it is slightly impractical when you need for example 150 interactions and need to count that it's 6x25 and then pay attention, I agree with that. (And basically everything else written here.)


--------------------

Also helping edit the GPX Wiki, PM me if you have any information that can be added
Spread the positivity! (GPX+ Appreciation Station)
Kormi#1421 @ Discord (click below to join and say hi!)

Shiny list (144) (click to show)
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post


Posts in this topic



Reply to this topicStart new topic
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:

 

Lo-Fi Version Time is now: 28th March 2024 - 10:48 AM
All content and images ©2007-2015 GPX.Plus and Shiny New Software, LLC. Powered By IPB 2.3.1 © 2024 IPS, Inc.
Optimal viewing in the latest version of Safari, Chrome, or Firefox, 1024x768+.