Civ Duel Zone - View Single Post

Markstar · 11-09-2007, 11:18

Hmm, first I was going to post here;
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/to...?TOPIC_ID=1841, then here; http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/to...p?TOPIC_ID=532 and finally here;
http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/to...?TOPIC_ID=4269.

All confused I decided to open a new thread.

I came across this thread when I was looking for some info about the future of CDZ. Recently (I guess a delayed reaction to the timeouts we had a while back), I thought a lot about what would happen if the domain would disappear from one day to the next. Who owns it? Anarres (who hasn't been here for the last two years) or PP (who isn't here much either)? Who has some database backups? Where and especially how do we meet if this site goes offline from one day to another? Who is in charge (my guess is Melifluous and Shabbaman)? I know some of the answers now (http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/to...?TOPIC_ID=4269), but at that time I was thinking about it "offline".

I guess I panicked a little but it still made me think: -> Maybe a backup site might be a good idea (you can get free domains and free web space everywhere nowadays) -> Why not do a little redesign of CDZ? (Again, this was all offline - before I actually went here and saw that this actually came up before)

From my perspective, CDZ was at its height with C3C. Now, many people from the old days disappeared or moved on to other things (job, kids, Hattrick

). While I am happy that we have some new faces here, overall there is less activity on CDZ and it has become more of a meeting point to chat (correct me if I'm wrong), which is not necessarily a bad thing.
When I joined, CDZ was the place to play against elite players. It was not as big as other sites, but it had class and you could play against the best players here. A lot has changed since then and there are many large sites out there that concentrate on Civilization MP. CDZ will never be that big, but does it have to? I like it that we are a small community and imo it should definitely stay that way. But also, some fresh wind would do us good as well. Some new faces that are not only interested in playing but also want a community. Older players participating more when it comes to shaping this site. Some new features that spice things up a little.

We could invite (good) players from other sites to join us and compete with us. After all, that is how Digger got me to join CDZ.
<center>Mess with the best,
die like the rest.</center>

[u]About the possible content changes/additions:</u>

- Redesign of the page so it is easier/more comfortable to access other content than the forum itself (for example, I never visit the start page). This information could be:
o Featured forum threads (patch discussions, interesting game spoilers, etc)
o News (Patches, rumors, ...)
o Feature announcements (see below)
o Cool design (sorry, but the current design is not the greatest and doesn't really fit Civ imho)

- Bring back the ladder!
This was an exciting feature which sadly never really took off (iirc PP was in charge and he had only limited time back then). While I regret that I hardly have the time to play Civ anymore, I think this would be an exciting feature for this site. We are a [u]Duel Zone</u> after all. [

]
If I were still an active player, I would really miss a cool ranking system and some statistics.

While writing this (and doing some research on it, I came across this site:http://www.myleague.com/. If we don't want to make our own ladder (or don't have the manpower to do it), maybe we can use an existing system and integrate it into our site?

- CDZ own Pitposs server/featured MP games
I don't like CIV that much, but it might be a nice thing to have a server where some games could be hosted.

- Tournaments
Besides being exciting, this may also be a good way to attract new players.

- IRC chat server
I don't use it myself yet, but wouldn't that be a good way to communicate outside of the forum?
o it may also be a good way to attract players who are reluctant to join right away
o could make some discussions much easier (I'm thinking ISDG right now)

- Featured articles
o Maybe some stories about Civ MP or MP strategies in general.
o Analysis of different strategies
o Strategy discussions

I have some experience in web design (HTML, PHP+MySQL, phpBB) and would offer some help if it is needed. I actually have VERY good experiences with this: http://ptifo.clanmckeen.com. It is a phpBB Mod (basically a new system) with a lot of cool features. Starting over may not be the worst thing to do here.

11-09-2007, 11:18	#1
Markstar King Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Germany. Posts: 1,746	Future of CDZ? Hmm, first I was going to post here; http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/to...?TOPIC_ID=1841, then here; http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/to...p?TOPIC_ID=532 and finally here; http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/to...?TOPIC_ID=4269. All confused I decided to open a new thread. I came across this thread when I was looking for some info about the future of CDZ. Recently (I guess a delayed reaction to the timeouts we had a while back), I thought a lot about what would happen if the domain would disappear from one day to the next. Who owns it? Anarres (who hasn't been here for the last two years) or PP (who isn't here much either)? Who has some database backups? Where and especially how do we meet if this site goes offline from one day to another? Who is in charge (my guess is Melifluous and Shabbaman)? I know some of the answers now (http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/to...?TOPIC_ID=4269), but at that time I was thinking about it "offline". I guess I panicked a little but it still made me think: -> Maybe a backup site might be a good idea (you can get free domains and free web space everywhere nowadays) -> Why not do a little redesign of CDZ? (Again, this was all offline - before I actually went here and saw that this actually came up before) From my perspective, CDZ was at its height with C3C. Now, many people from the old days disappeared or moved on to other things (job, kids, Hattrick ). While I am happy that we have some new faces here, overall there is less activity on CDZ and it has become more of a meeting point to chat (correct me if I'm wrong), which is not necessarily a bad thing. When I joined, CDZ was the place to play against elite players. It was not as big as other sites, but it had class and you could play against the best players here. A lot has changed since then and there are many large sites out there that concentrate on Civilization MP. CDZ will never be that big, but does it have to? I like it that we are a small community and imo it should definitely stay that way. But also, some fresh wind would do us good as well. Some new faces that are not only interested in playing but also want a community. Older players participating more when it comes to shaping this site. Some new features that spice things up a little. We could invite (good) players from other sites to join us and compete with us. After all, that is how Digger got me to join CDZ. <center>Mess with the best, die like the rest.</center> [u]About the possible content changes/additions:</u> - Redesign of the page so it is easier/more comfortable to access other content than the forum itself (for example, I never visit the start page). This information could be: o Featured forum threads (patch discussions, interesting game spoilers, etc) o News (Patches, rumors, ...) o Feature announcements (see below) o Cool design (sorry, but the current design is not the greatest and doesn't really fit Civ imho) - Bring back the ladder! This was an exciting feature which sadly never really took off (iirc PP was in charge and he had only limited time back then). While I regret that I hardly have the time to play Civ anymore, I think this would be an exciting feature for this site. We are a [u]Duel Zone</u> after all. [] If I were still an active player, I would really miss a cool ranking system and some statistics. While writing this (and doing some research on it, I came across this site:http://www.myleague.com/. If we don't want to make our own ladder (or don't have the manpower to do it), maybe we can use an existing system and integrate it into our site? - CDZ own Pitposs server/featured MP games I don't like CIV that much, but it might be a nice thing to have a server where some games could be hosted. - Tournaments Besides being exciting, this may also be a good way to attract new players. - IRC chat server I don't use it myself yet, but wouldn't that be a good way to communicate outside of the forum? o it may also be a good way to attract players who are reluctant to join right away o could make some discussions much easier (I'm thinking ISDG right now) - Featured articles o Maybe some stories about Civ MP or MP strategies in general. o Analysis of different strategies o Strategy discussions I have some experience in web design (HTML, PHP+MySQL, phpBB) and would offer some help if it is needed. I actually have VERY good experiences with this: http://ptifo.clanmckeen.com. It is a phpBB Mod (basically a new system) with a lot of cool features. Starting over may not be the worst thing to do here.