Is it time to re-tool Public Designing?

[Good Pig]

I like the themed boosters, and pushed for it in the sanctum. I think it adds more interest to the project and helps give structure to what is usually one-off characters. I also think it provides opportunities for allies and sidekicks to work together in creating units that have synergy and can work together.

That being said, ultimately I think the allies and sidekicks should be the ones to decide what they want to do going forward so I'll abstain from the poll.

AYP your Toxic Waster Barrel didn't go unnoticed. I think it is a cool design and it's on my list for the booster. Fwiw, I think if you posted a photo of the miniature you had in mind next to some super heroes it would get more attention.

[IAmBatman]

Maybe we should have a "waiting list" for eligible designers and once a thread is open, you have 24 hours to submit your top five designs for the slot (or as few as one if you really want to get that one out there). If the heroes decide none of them is up to snuff for the open thread or if the person on the list doesn't respond within 24 hours, we move to the next candidate. That would take some of the guess work out of the process.

[Porkins]

I'm not real familiar with the Public Design process, but I think this conversation is interesting. As I have stated before, some of the public designs have not really interested me that much, maybe because they are obscure characters and I'm more familiar with the characters that were depicted in cartoons when I was a kid and movies.

I think Batman's idea for submitting the ideas within 24 hours is a good one, but to make sure I understand the process: do you work down the list of eligible designers one at a time? Some people have mentioned that there used to be a race to get the open slot. Working down the list seems like a good/fair method to give everybody a shot at designing...eventually.

And for LD's, the more everyone stays on top of the designs' progress and gets them done, the sooner you will get a chance to design again.

[Swamper]

I'm wondering... If you don't like what C3G is doing, why don't you just go to your own custom thread? There, YOU are the hero and YOU make the decisions. You can make your customs are complex or as simple as you want, and do whatever character you want.

Honestly, I don't see the appeal of C3G. I'd much rather do what I want to, not what other people tell me I can do. Of course, the C3G system turns out amazing customs, but so can single custom creators.

My two cents.

[CharosInCharge]

I'll remain neutral in the poll.

I like the themed boosters because like GP said, it gives us a chance to really work on synergies of an entire faction at one time. Plus I have always been a sucker for everything "theme" in Heroscape. I always built all undead, android, samurai, knight, etc etc armies... So I like it when something like a Gotham booster is released.

On the other hand... Being able to LD just 1 card has been my goal in C3G for a long time. It's also no secret that I am pretty much a mutant fanboy, so obviously I'd love to be able to LD a mutant as my first LD. The problem there is that I could have to wait a long time to be able to cash in and do that with the theme booster setup.

Perhaps if we got away from the themed boosters it could give all of us allies and sidekicks a better chance to design what we really want to, but at the same time we must be patient with personal desires and think about the project as a whole and what design would benefit it the most.

If it where up to me to make a suggestion for a possible change in the public design system it would be this...

When a public design spot is gearing up to be available the heroes would make a list of X amount (2-3?) of Units they feel would benefit the project the most. Us design eligible allies/sidekicks would then submit our designs for those units either by PM to heroes or by just posting them in the thread. The first 3 write ups submitted for each unit will then be reviewed by the heroes and after collaborating they would announce which unit and designer has been chosen to be the next public design.

This sort of system would have the "public design race" sort of feel to it, but instead of going in blind you would know the direction the heroes are wanting to take the project and submit your designs accordingly. Obviously if the announced units don't do anything for you, then you wouldn't submit a design for them.

It kind of has a playtest signup meets public design signup feel to it.

Just a idea *shrug*

[johnny139]

I'm a big YEA for the themed boosters, BECAUSE it takes away from the personal push. I mean, I like people designing who they want; that's how you get good designs, I think. But giving an outline to fit units into helps tone things down a bit and makes sure there aren't any "unnecessary" units. I mean, given a choice of who to design, I probably wouldn't have picked Ronan first; I would have done Stature or Gorilla City Warriors or something like that. They'd be cool, definitely, or at least I think so, but Ronan is a good balance of "character I like" and "character C3G needs."

Honestly, I don't have any problem with the public designs, other than the sort of "meandering" feel to them. And that's just something that comes with the territory. If you're doing a design in public, everyone is going to have their say, and things'll bog down. But you just have to cut through the guff.

I can't really think of any way to improve it. We post our favorite designs. The Heroes pick which one they like best. How can you improve on that?

[Margloth]

I'll throw my vote behind themed boosters as well. But I'm the new guy here, and I've never done anything anyway...

[Porkins]

So...now I'm sorta confused. Which past public designs were put into a themed booster release? Or has it not been done yet? My understanding was that the public designs to date were released when they were finished, without any fanfare at all, and were totally unrelated to any of the "official" themed wave releases.

[Griffin]

If the public ends up not wanting their boosters to be themed, I will support that. In the end, the Theme Booster Nerds probably don't remember what booster half of the designs were released in anyways.

There are 3 things I aim to get from and for the public:

1- Playtests
2- Quality work (LDs, pics, playtesting, suggestions, etc.)
3- An overall fun experience for as many as we can realistically please.

Playtests: We need them. It is one of many important steps that takes all of our designs to a higher level of quality than what is typically found in a personal custom thread.

Quality Work: We need our members to care about what we are working on. Whether it be taking pics or building a map for the Map Dept. it is important that everything we do have the same high standard of excellence that C3G is now notoriously known for.

Fun: Not everyone will find our process fun. Heck, at times it isn't fun for me either. But it is COMPLETELY impossible for us to expect everyone to be having fun all the time. One way we keep things fun I think is with theme. Getting rid of the themed boosters could take a great deal of fun away from many people, members and fans. How many they are though, this poll should help determine.



Not to be rude, but it should be said openly without being too personal or specific, but many design writeups will NEVER be chosen from the Sanctum - not because we don't "care" about a design, but bluntly, because it isn't good enough for us to care about it.

[A3n]

I like the themed boosters, but I don't like trying to review every bodies top 5 to find out which one is next.

What I like to see (& this just my opinion because ultimately it is you sidekicks & allies that have to make something of it), is:

• The theme of the next booster is voted on when the last design of the previous booster is started.
• Everybody interested & eligible in the being the LD for the next design put up 1 design in the public design thread (you might also state why you think the character fits the theme if is a bit iffy).
• The public is only allowed to comment once on each design in the public design thread at the time (this would be like the sanctum's brainstorming phase).
• The designer can take any & use any feedback they want to or not to change their design until the heroes decide the next design.
• When the next design slot is open the heroes decide what is the next design based on what is in the public design thread at that time.
• Heroes provide feedback why the designs didn't get picked.
• And the process starts again. If a designer wants to put forward the same design again he can as long as it fits the theme the next slot will be for.

What this does for an individual design is allow everybody to voice their opinion on it's direction but the designer will still be responsible for what he puts forward. Then hopefully a lot of the white noise will be spared when it comes time to design.

I also think this will help the growth of all designers & you won't be stuck with a list of designs that us heroes don't want to go forward.

On a side note (now this is not an attack on you Quozl please don't take it as so, but I think yours is a perfect example), all us heroes wanted to give Quozl the chance for another LD because we believe he deserves it, however on his list of top 5 we believed only Ronin was appropriate & we found it lacking when compared to Johnny's version. But without feedback or help tweaking things I think all of you may get stuck in a rut. I think this proposal will offer the feedback without the white noise & give the excitement of competing but at the same time the opportunity to help you & others improve.



Cheers

[Scapemage]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Maybe we should have a "waiting list" for eligible designers and once a thread is open, you have 24 hours to submit your top five designs for the slot (or as few as one if you really want to get that one out there). If the heroes decide none of them is up to snuff for the open thread or if the person on the list doesn't respond within 24 hours, we move to the next candidate. That would take some of the guess work out of the process.

I think that this would be an excellent idea. It gives everyone a fair chance and still can be worked into themes if done right.

But for the poll, I abstain.

[Good Pig]

Originally Posted by Margloth

One thing I would point out is that I think it's important for us allies & sidekicks to read the design portions of each private design book. There's a lot to be learned in those first 5 or so pages. I know I've read almost every single one, and I personally have learned a lot from seeing how you guys work.

Also, notice I said first 5 or so pages. I think that's also something for us allies to take away from the Private designs. I rarely see a private design that isn't on its way to playtesting by the 7th page.

Was just thinking about this. One of the things you won't see in the design threads is some of the work that goes into a design before it even has a thread started. For instance I've had a few concepts that I thought were great concepts and needed some fine tuning mechanically. In these cases I've sent a PM or used skype to talk with IAmBatman and Griffin to get some advice because their having more experience with designing super heroes were able to help smooth out a few rough spots before it even gets posted. So if you have a design that you are really passionate about, but it doesn't seem to be getting any traction a PM to someone else can sometimes help you get some honest straightforward feedback that someone might be reluctant to give in the public threads. Just don't flood anyone's PM box now.