Zecronious' Site - Allowed To Create HUBs For Other People?

Allowed To Create HUBs For Other People? in BYOND Discussion

ID:694673

Apr 22 2012, 3:20 am

Recently 2 of my posts offering to create a hub for another person were deleted. I was given the space to create hubs and some data. Surely how I choose to use these two factors is up to me... I did pay real money that I scrubbed *#&@ off walls to get so I think I'm entitled.

I understand that Tom is apparently sick of his Ramen noodles but not everyone can buy membership and I would like to help said people but I can't because the Moderators are tracking down my offers and strategically deleting them.

Seems like there should be a rule stated that we can only use hubs for ourselves, but even then I doubt it can actually be enforced except to delete offers on the forums.

What are people's thoughts?

#1 Apr 22 2012, 3:37 am

Tom

You can probably get away with it, but it goes against the spirit of the system and will only lead to more restrictions down the line. The helper system is intended for games you are involved in, for one because it requires a certain level of trust ( and we have to field the complaints when such things are abused). If you feel like you aren't getting your money's worth, contact support and I'll see about a refund.

#2 Apr 22 2012, 4:14 am

Zecronious

Okay well I morally couldn't accept a refund because I don't honestly think issues with the helper system justifies it. However... I'm still stuck with an objection and that's probably just going to have to be the way it is, as these problems often are.

I admit segregation is an answer to your problem, but I don't believe it's the right answer. There are far better ways to make Byond more viable that should be explored here.

I would say let everyone have access to hubs and all the benefits members have. They're really common courtesy additions that were removed and labeled exclusive. I don't know a forum on the planet for example that only allows members to have pictures.

But.... You charge each person $1 for 50mb of storage space. Think about it... Think about it...

Byond would be 1000% (not exaggerating) more appealing to new people and you'd make as much money as before. Not only this but the community would grow and as such the revenue would grow. Not the standard 1 - 5 new accounts a month.

As far as I can tell the business model for game makers is offering as much as possible to the user free but capitalizing on very tiny add-ons that you know a lot of people will want.

#3 Apr 22 2012, 6:25 am

Forum_account

You shouldn't need to make hub entries for other people. I may have made this up, but I remember reading somewhere that the BYOND staff can create hub entries for games that are deserving*. If someone makes a good game it's in BYOND's best interest to make that game more visible (by giving it a hub entry). It's also quite possible that if someone made a good game, someone else would buy them a gift membership. Not having a hub entry doesn't prevent you from making a game and good games will likely end up with a hub entry somehow, even if the game's author isn't a member.

* I may have this wrong, it may have been about making hub entries for non-members listed, or something like that.

#4 Apr 22 2012, 8:25 am

Deathguard

Creating a hub for someone else is fine provided you are an active member of that game's development team, arbitrarily making hubs for people is just going to be abused. If you make a hub entry for something that then gets complained about a bunch and causes us problems, you're going to be the one that gets glared at. =P

As F_a said, if you make a spectacular game, I have no doubt someone will provide a gift membership, or one of the staff will just make a HUB entry for you.

#5 Apr 22 2012, 2:17 pm
Zecronious	Yes it's true that you can get a gift membership but I can't find anywhere that says that. No one is making games for the sake of a membership because they don't even know that the Admins do that. Not to mention, how as an Admin are you supposed to evaluate a game without developers being able to even create a basic hub for their model....????

#6 Apr 22 2012, 2:23 pm
Deathguard	Simple; if your game is good, it gets popular. If it gets popular, we hear about it. One of us plays it and mentions it.

#7 Apr 22 2012, 2:24 pm

In response to Zecronious (#5)

.screw

Zecronious wrote:

Yes it's true that you can get a gift membership but I can't find anywhere that says that. No one is making games for the sake of a membership because they don't even know that the Admins do that. Not to mention, how as an Admin are you supposed to evaluate a game without developers being able to even create a basic hub for their model....????

Similar to other gaming making suites, you advertise outside of the website. The hub is not a necessity for creating a BYOND game. It is an addition for those who support the future of BYOND.

#8 Apr 22 2012, 4:40 pm

In response to Zecronious (#5)

Forum_account

Zecronious wrote:

Yes it's true that you can get a gift membership but I can't find anywhere that says that.

There's also nowhere that says you need a hub entry to make a game. People won't assume they need one so they won't need to know that they might receive a gift membership. The only thing people need to do is create a game and upload the .dmb and .rsc files so they can link people to their game. Free file hosting sites are well-known and readily available.

Also, as it has been mentioned, the hub isn't the only way to advertise a game. While it gives you free exposure on the BYOND site, a good game should be aiming higher than that and seek players from outside the BYOND community.

#9 Apr 22 2012, 4:46 pm

In response to Forum_account (#8)

A.T.H.K

Forum_account wrote:

Also, as it has been mentioned, the hub isn't the only way to advertise a game. While it gives you free exposure on the BYOND site, a good game should be aiming higher than that and seek players from outside the BYOND community.

Just like NEStalgia did hence why they were in the Game Informer magazine :)

I just wish BYOND had a proper way to report players back to a page rather than world.Export...

#10 Apr 22 2012, 8:11 pm In response to A.T.H.K (#9)
Audeuro	A.T.H.K wrote: I just wish BYOND had a proper way to report players back to a page rather than world.Export... Sounds like you want a DLL?

#11 Apr 22 2012, 8:39 pm In response to Audeuro (#10)
A.T.H.K	Audeuro wrote: A.T.H.K wrote: I just wish BYOND had a proper way to report players back to a page rather than world.Export... Sounds like you want a DLL? Very true as I do not have much experience in that field I am left with BYOND + PHP ... sadly that would be my problem.