TWotA Survey (please do this!)

[Solo]

I've just written up a few questions, which I would really appreciate if everyone answers. Your answers will influence the future direction of this site; it isn't just for statistics sake. At the moment I am presently unsure of where to take The Will of the Ancients. There isn't, after all, much in the way of new Panzer content around, so any comments about what you guys want will help when making future decisions about how this place is run.

I would be really helpful if everyone could do this, not just a select few. Even if you just copy/paste one (or more) of the possible answers for each question that I've listed, that alone would be a great help.

Also, if you want to keep it anonymous for some reason, feel free to email or PM your answers to me.

Thanks a lot!


1. What operating system(s) do you use?
- Windows XP
- Windows (other, please state which version)
- Linux (state which distribution)
- Mac OS (state which version)
- BSD
- Unix
- Other (state which)

2. What web browser(s) do you use?
- Internet Explorer 5
- Internet Explorer 6
- Internet Explorer 7
- Firefox
- Opera
- Netscape
- Safari
- Konqueror
- Internet Explorer (Mac or older than version 5)
- Other (state which)

3. What resolution(s) do you view this site in?
- 640 by 480
- 800 by 600
- 1024 by 768
- 1152 by 864
- 1280 by 1024
- 1920 by 1200
- Other (state what)

4. What devices do you view this site with?
- PC
- Laptop
- PDA
- Mobile Phone
- Console, such as a Dreamcast
- Other (state what)

5. When it comes to forums, how do you prefer topics to be viewed?
- Flat view (like this one)
- Threaded view (for example, the comments in http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/14/1859218&from=rss)
- Other (please state)

6. How do you find the size of the forum text?
- too big
- too small
- just right

7. How do you find the forum colour scheme?
- too bright
- too dark
- just right

8. When formatting posts, which of the following would you prefer (in order of preference)?
- BBCode, like these forums use, for example:

[Kimimi]

1. What operating system(s) do you use?
- Windows XP


2. What web browser(s) do you use?
- Internet Explorer 7

3. What resolution(s) do you view this site in?
- 1280 by 1024


4. What devices do you view this site with?
- PC


5. When it comes to forums, how do you prefer topics to be viewed?
- Flat view (like this one)


6. How do you find the size of the forum text?
- just right

7. How do you find the forum colour scheme?
- just right

8. When formatting posts, which of the following would you prefer (in order of preference)?
- A WYSIWYG editor (like Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer)

*Although I'll happily get used to anything, as long as there's a "How to" FAQ.*

9. What do you think of the way these forums and the main site are moderated?
- The level of moderation on the forums is just right as it is.

*Nobody get it's right all the time, but I am usually happy with moderation on this site.
Got no issues with the main site, apart from the recent "Theory" definition problem*


10. With the lack of Panzer Dragoon content at the moment, would you be happy if more general content was added to the site?
- The main site should only feature Panzer Dragoon content, as it does now.
- The forums should contain off topic posts, but just as it is now.

*I think it would dilute some of the sites authority and impact (as you're one of very few dedicated PD sites out there) to suddenly change it to "PD and freinds. I do think though that a "Please visit our sister site!" button or similar on the main page would allow for new content to be covered without eating into what makes this one different from all the rest.

Forums aren't really busy enough IMO to warrant boards more specific than ones now - I'd personally just keep an eye on things if any expansion goes ahead and go from there.*

I hope that's been helpful, Solo.

[The 9th Emporer]

1--Primary PC: Windows XP

2--IE 6

3--1024 by 768

4--Laptop

5--Flat view (good lord, FLAT VIEW)

6--just right

7--just right

8--BBCode

9--The level of moderation on the forums is just right as it is

10-- The main site should only feature Panzer Dragoon content, as it does now.
-- The forums should contain off topic posts, but just as it is now.

[Al3xand3r]

01 - Windows XP, Ubuntu Linux
02 - FireFox
03 - About 1280x800, usually*
04 - PC
05 - Flat view
06 - Just right
07 - Just right
08 - It's all good
09 - There isn't enough moderation on the forums. The website is fine.
10 - Other content is fine for both the site & forums**


* My desktop is set @ 1680x1050 but I usually don't maximise the browser windows which are set to a bit less than that size.

** Only as long as it doesn't take over the website completely. But it's up to you, it's your website. If you want to include your opinions on current happenings or something, for example write about how you love your Wii, then that's fine and I'll probably wanna see what you have to say anyway.

[D-Unit]

1) Windows XP
2) Firefox
3) 1280x1024
4) PC
5) Flat view
6) just right
7) just right
8) BBCode
9) The level of moderation on the forums is just right as it is (for now).
10) The main site should only feature Panzer Dragoon content, as it does now. The forums should contain off topic posts, but just as it is now.

[Drenholm]

1. Windows XP

2. Firefox

3. 1024 by 768

4. PC

5. Flat view

6. Just right

7. Just right

8. BBCode

9. The level of moderation on the forums is just right as it is.

10. The main site should only feature Panzer Dragoon content, as it does now. The forums should contain off topic posts, but just as it is now. (I've never seen the point of forums having about 20 different types of "off topic" board)

[Ehndow]

1-Ubuntu Linux (and sometimes Win XP)
2-Swiftfox (based on Firefox so as far as compatibilities are concerned I use Firefox)
3-1024 by 768
4-PC(seldomly with a laptop)
5-Flat view is just fine
6-Just right
7-Just right (new colour-schemes/themes would be nice tho)
8-BBCode
9-I can't complain that much but there are times when a word from the mods on certain topics could be good.As for the main site either keep it how it is (which is good) or if anything would be changed in order to quality control it let it be something the people who read the articles could have a say about.Something like grading each article on a scale.I think everyone should be able to submit their article (just like it works now)
10-The main site should definately be PD only imo.Which doesn't mean we couldn't have a separate smaller project about games in general.The forums should remain with this 3forum scheme.
_________________
The second year of the dragon is coming.

[Shadow]

1. What operating system(s) do you use?
- Windows XP

2. What web browser(s) do you use?
- Firefox

3. What resolution(s) do you view this site in?
- 1280 by 1024

4. What devices do you view this site with?
- PC

5. When it comes to forums, how do you prefer topics to be viewed?
- Flat view (like this one)

6. How do you find the size of the forum text?
- just right

7. How do you find the forum colour scheme?
- just right

8. When formatting posts, which of the following would you prefer (in order of preference)?
- BBCode, like these forums use, for example:
Code:
bold text

9. What do you think of the way these forums and the main site are moderated?
- The level of moderation on the forums is just right as it is.

10. With the lack of Panzer Dragoon content at the moment, would you be happy if more general content was added to the site?
- PMed
_________________
Power gives birth to ambition... and ambition to war...

[Solo]

Thanks people, those answers have been really helpful.

Suprisingly, most of you have very similar answers on a lot of the points when it comes to what you want.

[alavaliant]

1. What operating system(s) do you use?
- Linux (Debian, Ubuntu)
- Mac OS (OSX 10.4)

2. What web browser(s) do you use?
- Firefox

3. What resolution(s) do you view this site in?
- 1600 by 1200
- 1920 by 1200


4. What devices do you view this site with?
- PC
- Laptop (rarely)

5. When it comes to forums, how do you prefer topics to be viewed?
- Flat view


6. How do you find the size of the forum text?
- just right - I'm not too fussed on this point however, thats what Firefox's increase and decrease text size options are for :D

7. How do you find the forum colour scheme?
- just right

8. When formatting posts, which of the following would you prefer (in order of preference)?
-I don't care what formatting is used as long as it's kept sane, no 150px fonts with blink tags please c.c

9. What do you think of the way these forums and the main site are moderated?
- The level of moderation on the forums is just right as it is.

10. With the lack of Panzer Dragoon content at the moment, would you be happy if more general content was added to the site?
- The main site should only feature Panzer Dragoon content, as it does now.
- The forums should contain off topic posts, but just as it is now.

[alavaliant]

Out of curorisity Solo... Whats your answer to the resolution, o/s, broswer questions? (Yes I know I'm a geek, you guys just have no idea how much of a geek ^^)

[Abadd]

1. What operating system(s) do you use?
- Windows XP

2. What web browser(s) do you use?
- Firefox

3. What resolution(s) do you view this site in?
- 1600x1200
- Other: 1280x768 (laptop connected to HDTV)
- Other: 1680x1050 (laptop w/out HDTV)

4. What devices do you view this site with?
- PC
- Laptop

5. When it comes to forums, how do you prefer topics to be viewed?
- Flat view (like this one)

6. How do you find the size of the forum text?
- just right

7. How do you find the forum colour scheme?
- just right

8. When formatting posts, which of the following would you prefer (in order of preference)?
- BBCode, like these forums use, for example:

[Solo]

[legaiaflame]

1. What operating system(s) do you use?

- Windows XP

2. What web browser(s) do you use?

- Internet Explorer 7


3. What resolution(s) do you view this site in?

- 1152 by 864

4. What devices do you view this site with?

- PC


5. When it comes to forums, how do you prefer topics to be viewed?

- Flat view (like this one)

6. How do you find the size of the forum text?

- just right

7. How do you find the forum colour scheme?

- just right

8. When formatting posts, which of the following would you prefer (in order of preference)?

- BBCode, like these forums use, for example: Code:
bold text

9. What do you think of the way these forums and the main site are moderated?

- The level of moderation on the forums is just right as it is.


10. With the lack of Panzer Dragoon content at the moment, would you be happy if more general content was added to the site?

*****The main site should have other content besides Panzer Dragoon (such as other similar games or games on the Saturn).

I mean it's not like we're going to have loads and loads of more content for TWotA and PDS Oasis in the near future, right? Well, unless a miracle occurs and we get the privilege to play PDS 2 (like that's ever going to happen ). We've all pretty much analyzed the PD series to such a degree, we should be ashamed of ourselves (sarcasm)!

Okay, here are some suggestions:

Just make a section called Other or Other Video Game Media. Maybe even better a section called The Future of Gaming. This section of the site (what ever you decide to call it) would be for anything that's not panzer related.

Like for instance: you could have a small news page sort of like www.the-magicbox.com (maybe not as complex) and you could state your opinions on important articles or ground breaking influential games, that we would all be interested in and want to discuss. Then, under the article have a link that will bring viewers to a forum topic in which we could all discuss.

Of course, you would have to make another Forum section, just for these discussions.

And if you want to make a section containing media about games that are similar to the Panzer Dragoon series (Which I was thinking about doing myself, but never got around to it, maybe I could help you), make a section called: Panzer-like Games.

And just put these new sections right below the Interactive section of TWotA, that way it would be at the bottom and separate from the Panzer Dragoon Content. These are just some ideas, you can probably think of some better names for these new sections, that is: If you do decide to do it.

I personally believe it's a good Idea.
_________________
Dragon Pup Fetch- "That's a good boy... Bring the item here!?"

[Pedro The Hutt]

1. What operating system(s) do you use?
Windows ME

2. What web browser(s) do you use?
- Internet Explorer 6
- Firefox

3. What resolution(s) do you view this site in?
- 1024 by 768

4. What devices do you view this site with?
- PC

5. When it comes to forums, how do you prefer topics to be viewed?
- Flat view (like this one)

6. How do you find the size of the forum text?
- Just right

7. How do you find the forum colour scheme?
- Just right

8. When formatting posts, which of the following would you prefer (in order of preference)?
- BBCode, with perhaps some limited html.

9. What do you think of the way these forums and the main site are moderated?
I don't even think this site needs much moderation, most members are well behaved.

10. With the lack of Panzer Dragoon content at the moment, would you be happy if more general content was added to the site?
Keep it mainly Panzer Dragoon. Although if you're desperate to add content to the site, feel free to dedicate it to the Saturn.

[Kimimi]

[Ehndow]

[The Ancient]

1. Windows XP

2. Firefox

3. 1280 by 1024

4. PC

5. Flat view (as far as I can say)

6. just right

7. just right

8. doesn't matter but I like this actually

9. The level of moderation on the forums is just right as it is. Within the established membership it's not really possible for things to get out of control anyway.

10. Well this site is an anomaly for me at the moment, I stay away from message boards in general so the off-topic forums here are my only recorded outlet for discussing current events in videogames. I dunno if that's actually a good thing for me or anyone else, but I don't think any forums should be taken away.

I think the 3 forums work perfect as they are, as Kimimi said there's not enough activity to warrant any more boards. However... if your concern is increasing activity then I would be happy enough if more general content was added, I will agree that Saturn dedicated sections would be appropriate for even the main site.

I like the grading/voting idea, and it could possibly take care of any "Theories" section complications if you set it up with something like a slider vote for how fanciful it seems? If enough people were willing to vote it would give new readers some context for how to take the submissions. That might lead to some other distasteful issues but who knows.

[Team Andromeda]

1. What operating system(s) do you use?
- Windows XP


2. What web browser(s) do you use?

- Internet Explorer 6
-

3. What resolution(s) do you view this site in?

- 1024 by 768


4. What devices do you view this site with?
- PC
-Console, such as a Dreamcast (now and again)
- PSP (now and again)

5. When it comes to forums, how do you prefer topics to be viewed?
- Flat view (like this one)


6. How do you find the size of the forum text?
- just right

7. How do you find the forum colour scheme?
- just right

8. When formatting posts, which of the following would you prefer (in order of preference)?
- BBCode, like these forums use, for example: Code:
bold text



9. What do you think of the way these forums and the main site are moderated?
- The level of moderation on the forums is just right as it is.


10. With the lack of Panzer Dragoon content at the moment, would you be happy if more general content was added to the site?
- The main site should only feature Panzer Dragoon content, as it does now.
_________________
©SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD 1995
©STARWATCHER GRAPHICS INC, 1995


MADE IN JAPAN

[Taor]

1. Windows XP
2. Firefox
3. 1024 by 768
4. PC
5. Flat view
6. text size: just right
7. colour scheme: just right
8. bold text
9. moderation: Just right
10. The main site should only feature Panzer Dragoon content, as it does now.
_________________
"Tu cognitum igo?"

[Scott]

1. What operating system(s) do you use?
- Windows XP
2. What web browser(s) do you use?
- Firefox
- Opera
3. What resolution(s) do you view this site in?
- 1152 by 864
4. What devices do you view this site with?
- PC
- Laptop
5. When it comes to forums, how do you prefer topics to be viewed?
- Flat view (like this one) (<3 flat view over anything)
6. How do you find the size of the forum text?
- just right (the minority can alter their browsers text size..)
7. How do you find the forum colour scheme?
- just right (I like it, its panzerish)
8. When formatting posts, which of the following would you prefer (in order of preference)?
- BBCode
- HTML
- No formatting should be allowed, just plain text.
(Html i am worried about future exploits.. i just stick to BB code. not wiki code plz =S )
9. What do you think of the way these forums and the main site are moderated?
- There isn't enough moderation on the forums. (its lucky cos we don't usually have many problems)
10. With the lack of Panzer Dragoon content at the moment, would you be happy if more general content was added to the site?
- The main site should only feature Panzer Dragoon content, as it does now.
- The forums should contain off topic posts, but just as it is now.

Hope that was ok.
_________________
Brandt - "OMG STFU SHADOW STUPID N00B"
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[Felix]

1. Windows XP

2. Firefox

3. 800x600 & 1440x900

4. PC, Laptop

5. Flat view (like this one)

6. just right

7. just right

8. BBCode

9. The level of moderation on the forums is just right as it is.

10. The main site should have other content besides Panzer Dragoon (such as other similar games or games on the Saturn). & The forums should contain off topic posts, but just as it is now.

[temjin747]

1. Home: Windows XP Pro
School: Windows XP Pro and Linux Redhat

2. Home: Firefox
School: Firefox mostly, Konqueror if FF screws up

3. 1024 x 768

4. Home: Laptop
School: PC

5. Flat View

6. Just Right

7. Just Right

8. BBCode

9. Moderation is just right

10. Main site: only PD content
Forums: should contain off-topic posts it does like right now

[Jimkemon]

1. What operating system(s) do you use?
Windows XP

2. What web browser(s) do you use?
Internet Explorer 7 but on rare occasions I use Firefox

3. What resolution(s) do you view this site in?
1024x768

4. What devices do you view this site with?
PC

5. When it comes to forums, how do you prefer topics to be viewed?
Flat view (like this one)

6. How do you find the size of the forum text?
Perfect

7. How do you find the forum colour scheme?
Perfect

8. When formatting posts, which of the following would you prefer (in order of preference)?
Wiki code (like Wikipedia uses)
BBCode, like these forums use, for example:

[legaiaflame]

10. With the lack of Panzer Dragoon content at the moment, would you be happy if more general content was added to the site?

"What do you mean a lack of panzer dragoon content? There's more panzer content than you could ask for. It's a great panzer dragoo site. Don't fill it up with other shit. Panzer Dragoon only please."


He means the lack of any new Panzer Dragoon content. Not the all ready available content.
_________________
Dragon Pup Fetch- "That's a good boy... Bring the item here!?"