why does www.mtasa/mtavc.com go to news first ?

[CoZ]

why does http://www.mtasa.com go to news first ?

this is basically annoying and stupid

it is cool for the regulars .. but here is the thing

people hear about a online mod on gta called mta:sa

they search and end up on http://www.mtasa.com

they see DM news

they download game

and on every server there are 'players' connecting asking why they cant DM

people tell them only race is out and mta is working on dm

they keep whining bout dm and get send to sa-mp

so mta news on frontpage imho

- is causing a huge loss of player base

- is causing a lot of annoyed regulars who keep having to explain dm isnt out etc

im not usually suggesting imperative but make a normal frontpage

- and the note your working on dm linking to news

--- anyway i can think of a few cool ways to have the frontpage - but just having it is my suggestion - nevertheless

catchy site with a few animated pictures or flashvideos with current possibilities of race/copsNrobbers/freeroam/DM maps/and some wicked maps like rollercoasters and maybe even something obscure like mta football with a boat - and a good explanation of mta

a good way would be to record movies with 4 players simultanious and show it in a split screen style

Edited August 29, 2006 by Guest

[BigBadBob]

yea, it happens all the time.

Someone joins. I just got this mod. It's fun.

Hey, wtf. Why can't I get out of my car? You can't. What? It said I could. A few will understand what's going on. Many get angry and leave the server.

If they insist they want to get out of the car and don't want to "race only mode" tell them go play SAMP. If they want to whine and complain, let them go bother someone else.

[CoZ]

yea, it happens all the time.

Someone joins. I just got this mod. It's fun.

Hey, wtf. Why can't I get out of my car? You can't. What? It said I could. A few will understand what's going on. Many get angry and leave the server.

If they insist they want to get out of the car and don't want to "race only mode" tell them go play SAMP. If they want to whine and complain, let them go bother someone else.

exactly

and imho this will happen a lot less if mta has a normal frontpage about race - instead of the (from a noobie view) frontpage about dm

besides that arguement - which imho is a extremely powerfull one because its causing mta to loose a lot of new players, and annoys the regulars

its just plain odd to have a internet site without a frontpage

examples ?

http://www.rockstargames.com/sanandreas/

http://www.atari.com/rollercoastertycoon/

etcetcetc

now i can guess your probably on a lot smaller budget but surely its possible to have a nicer frontpage

[Ransom]

I do agree that the question is asked alot. This is one weakness of removing the beloved 'progress bars' which can be seen here:

http://web.archive.org/web/200406150519 ... mtavc.com/

Of course, people whining and constantly refreshing hoping the bars would change was not good either. It was not possible to measure progress. A good alternative was download links directly ontop of the news permanantly. You can also see this on the link above.

[CoZ]

I do agree that the question is asked alot. This is one weakness of removing the beloved 'progress bars' which can be seen here:

http://web.archive.org/web/200406150519 ... mtavc.com/

Of course, people whining and constantly refreshing hoping the bars would change was not good either. It was not possible to measure progress. A good alternative was download links directly ontop of the news permanantly. You can also see this on the link above.

k im going to stress something

mtasa.com just needs a normal frontpage and not a news page - whatever the reasons and results

let them whine .. thats not the issue im trying to solve

there will always be whining people

but with the mta:DM as the first thing people see its a whole lot worse because people dont read well and expect mta:dm to be mta:race and download that

mtasa.com just needs a normal frontpage and not a news page

-- there are several reasons, and i'll bet one of the side effects is less whining and more -staying- players

[erorr404]

It's perfectly normal to have the news on the front page for a site like this. But there should be a clearer indication that the current release is racing only, and that the DM release is being worked on. I'm not sure what form it should take, maybe a big info box above the news column.

[orappa]

It's perfectly normal to have the news on the front page for a site like this. But there should be a clearer indication that the current release is racing only, and that the DM release is being worked on. I'm not sure what form it should take, maybe a big info box above the news column.

And don't forget links to 0.5 as well. It may be an old version, but it is the most recent version for GTA3/VC.

[CoZ]

It's perfectly normal to have the news on the front page for a site like this. But there should be a clearer indication that the current release is racing only, and that the DM release is being worked on. I'm not sure what form it should take, maybe a big info box above the news column.

depends on your view of course

if im on sourceforge sites its pretty normal

since this team has several mods imho its pretty normal to have a nice frontpage with info on what can be done now - mtasa:race & (good point) mtavc - and current projects later

its not bad to have news and the regulars can all find the - take me to the news page - button on the frontpage

think of the amount of forum posts and talk about it in mta it will save

or .. just think of how often any of you have explained this last week

Edited August 29, 2006 by Guest

[erorr404]

I never said ALL websites should have news on their front page. The vast majority of gaming sites I've seen do, however.

[CoZ]

I never said ALL websites should have news on their front page. The vast majority of gaming sites I've seen do, however.

i didnt mean to imply ..soz i reread it .. my post started with quote but end was meant for anyone

i just agree some sites it makes sense to start on news. but youve all heard my point of view by now ill throw in a poll

[erorr404]

I didn't vote because I don't think the only solution to this is getting rid of the news page.

[CoZ]

I didn't vote because I don't think the only solution to this is getting rid of the news page.

the other suggestion about -this-players wondering where dm is- (ive seen in this thread but can think of more) is at least have a huge textbox above news clearing things out - which is basically the same as separate frontpage but on same page as news and less grafix

and the problem being adressed in this thread still is (only this) - the newspage at start - (and nothing else) i just happened to point out this -the news page- might be one of the causes for confused players wondering where dm is in race and on forum .. so unless "I don't think the only solution to this is getting rid of the news page." means "I don't think the only solution to 'mtavc.com goes to news first' is getting rid of the news page" were talking about different things ..

( and im not saying news should go - it just shouldnt be the frontpage in the format it is now - but i understand you meant 'getting rid' different )

im not trying to solve the other thing (at least not in one go - or with this suggestion)- im just saying imho mta site needs a better frontpage - and my guess it the other problem will be less as a sideeffect:P

so again .. the problem this thread is about is the lack of frontpage - and nothing else

but im intrigued in your suggestion about anything

maybe we also need a thread - general things which can be improved so players whine less about dm (besides launching dm)- )

[MAD_BOY]

i don't see anything wrong with it going to the news page, specially because it's the main page of the mta site

[lil Toady]

No need to touch the main page imo, easyer just write somewhere in the download page that the current release is race mode only

[Ransom]

I vote for option D: bring the downloads quicklink back to the top of the news page. If you can miss that, I don't think we want someone like you in our community.

There, problem solved.

[Blokker_1999]

Most people who come to our frontpage do so to check the news. Therefore it is better to have the news on the frontpage. Even if we put some text on the front page that explains what MTA is and the fact that the latest release is race only people would still just search for the download and complain later. Don't forget that most players actually get here from external sites/forums or simply download the modification somewhere else.

I do agree that we should change the description a bit on the downloadpage to indicate that the current release is race only. However, i would like to point out that the installer itself does mention that it is a race mod.

[CoZ]

No need to touch the main page imo, easyer just write somewhere in the download page that the current release is race mode only

see thats the thing

people dont read - else you would have seen its already stating on the download page - at the moment its race

(no offence - dont take it personal - but good example , couldnt resist )

[Ransom]

Everyone asks questions before reading written text. Its called lazyness. Happens on the internet, happens in real life. Ignoring people is the best solution sometimes.

[lil Toady]

i had no need to read though, i knew its race only but you see, you need to read all that text on the download page to find out that its race mode, if it was some big line that no-one could miss, or a line right above the download link saying that its current release is race only, people will notice it and be sure what do they download

[CoZ]

Everyone asks questions before reading written text. Its called lazyness. Happens on the internet, happens in real life. Ignoring people is the best solution sometimes.

true true - tell me about it

( *coz works at helldesk - so manny calles can be saved by just RTFM)

i think were nearing the end of this discussion

- mtasa site can be improved in saying current download is mta:race not mta:dm - in several places

- having a grafically rich welcome page - (with cookie check : take me to news) site, could be a suggestion ..

(but its not critical - and certainly not the only way to reduce confusion of new players)

[erorr404]

and the problem being adressed in this thread still is (only this) - the newspage at start - (and nothing else) i just happened to point out this -the news page- might be one of the causes for confused players wondering where dm is in race and on forum .. so unless "I don't think the only solution to this is getting rid of the news page." means "I don't think the only solution to 'mtavc.com goes to news first' is getting rid of the news page" were talking about different things ..

( and im not saying news should go - it just shouldnt be the frontpage in the format it is now - but i understand you meant 'getting rid' different )

im not trying to solve the other thing (at least not in one go - or with this suggestion)- im just saying imho mta site needs a better frontpage - and my guess it the other problem will be less as a sideeffect:P

so again .. the problem this thread is about is the lack of frontpage - and nothing else

You're not making much sense. Saying "the problem is the front page being news" is meaningless unless you explain WHY it's a problem. If I come up with an alternate solution to this WHY, the front page being news is no longer a problem.

So here's what happened...

You said: Having news on the front page is a problem because it confuses players about the contents of the current release.

I said: There are other ways to let players know that the current release is race, without drastically changing the front page. Therefore getting rid of the news is not necessary.

[CoZ]

soz ..that was a 4am post

[CoZ]

almost month later

no big changes to site

k .. so its decided that news is going to stay as the FP ..

well , thats not a bad choise* .. but pretty please with sugar on top

(*k.. maybe, maybe not.. but well .. ill just drop the part about a extra 'home' frontpage thingy)

how hard is it to include at least a -bigger and more clear - notice on the download page that SA:DM is not yet released and atm SA:Race is

although

This is the first release of MTA:SA which contains a race modification

probably is clear for people that actually take the time to read the site, the blog, the download page and the forum.. it can be improved drastically - because we all know a lot of people dont read carefully

[erorr404]

Now I agree with you.

[MD_Reptile]

I totally agree with coz in the fact that when I originally heard of MTA was when vice came out...never got vice for PC....so when i eventually came to MTA's homepage (the news) I immeadiately thought "sweet man...this has got to be better than SA-MP".

At which point I went to downloads...and READ the text stating that MTA:sa was only in RACE now...so it is there...and you can read it...but if I had been lazy for like 7 more seconds I would have missed that...so indeed the Downloads page could use a more straitforward announcment that MTA is ONLY RACE in big bold print....for Teh Newbs like I was when I DL'd MTA:sa

At the same time though if you dont read that...are you just gonna be one of those players who doesnt even notice the BIG BOX with text in it...(the admin trys and trys to get the players attention...without response)...and then just sit there and dont change their NICK to something else...stopping other players who are new from joining. I must see that like 3 times every time I join a game.

Finally after rejoining the game with no clue as to why they were kicked...they say "HEYZ whats Up WitH the funny going awayness" and "whyZ is MEs car locked...I wants TO BE run ArounD and shootz"

know what im sayin