This is a temporary topic to address concerns over the "new" Theory & Design board. Anything you don't feel is clear, or concerns or questions you would like addressed specific to this board can be asked here and will be answered.

Remember, the Purpose and Rules board may be useful to knowing those things about the board, so be sure to look at them first.

I did want to mention that, before anyone starts complaining about not being informed previously of any changes, we gave everyone an opportunity to input their comments about the whole "Theory and Design changes" idea in this topic (which has been there for feedback relating to these ideas since the beginning of this month).
So please do not begin to complain that there was no community discussion about this project. Furthermore, the changes taking place here were sparked by members (like you) who wanted to see changes, and we allowed discussion for almost a month before implementing them.

If you did not know about the topic (or did not contribute to the discussion and still wish to complain), then it is likely you aren't around often enough to contribute good material/ideas to these types of forum changes and you have no business complaining about it here.

I want to make that clear before we move forward - please disregard this message if you are not interested in complaining. Thank you. =]


Legitimate questions and feedback/ideas are welcome; complaining (not offering useful feedback) is not.

Why was this implemented when there was a lot of negative opinions about having Hard Theory and Soft Theory forums?
[and the discussion got derailed, which would explain the lack of discussion - shame to see so little effort put into trying to keep the discussion going]
What makes this significantly different to the other 2 forums in Gameplay?

Also, I want to add that there was no discussion about these changes. What was discussed in the Hard Theory and Soft Theory thread is not the same as what has been implemented, which is 3 redundant forums and a new, redundant category.
If you really want 5 forums about game design it would be better to put them in one category called Theory and Design, it makes navigating the index much easier and organized.

I think that's a bit harsh, especially consider there was never any indication on the actual theory and design board that any change was planned.

That said, I think it could ultimately be a good thing, but I question whether there's enough interest. T&D was not posted in nearly as frequently as other boards around, a split may just confuse people and reduce discussion. I do support the "hard theory" concept, a lot of people seem to want to discuss specific game ideas in a theoretical setting, verymuch in-between a "game under construction" and "soft theory."

The current set-up seems confusing, and will probably turn away new posters: some clarification as to the purpose of each board would be most welcome.

T&D is actually one of our most popular boards. The Purpose of Each board is posted and pinned, however the changes you may see coming are not yet made available. Expect something soon in Feedback or Announcements.

Theory and Design involves the discussion of existing professional commercial games, like Zelda's Puzzle Structure, along with Idea only and Theory only designs. Typically designs which have not been added to a working game to see how it does with other systems.

We do not, and have not, allowed the discussion of how you are specifically using a system in your game or allowed questions on how that specific system you're thinking of will function best in your game you're working on. We typically directed people to discuss these in their game threads, which no one would do and some would complain about having to do. Now that is what Design Critique is for.

I will address your questions specifically, Harry, in the thread you posted on the Feedback topic you made.

Okay. So, for clarification, what differentiates this "Theory and Ideas" board from the old "Theory and Design"?

Actually, not much.

I'd say the only real difference is that gray lines where the person discusses their own conceived game mechanics for their game are not closed anymore but instead moved to Hard Theory.

This is still a place to discuss general mechanics of games not in production by a member on the board, or to talk about how to work on a Video Game Project.