The Future of TLS

[Joker]

TLS is going to write a remake walkthrough when the game releases. Yop pointed out that this will draw in a load of people. I suggested writing a guide for the original game as a community event which I'm happy to head up/ direct. Arguments in the past have been that "the best" guides exist elsewhere (think Absolute Steve), but this doesn't need to be an in-depth mechanics guide. It just has to be a walkthrough, it's fairly weird that we don't already have one. A poll will be created to determine whether this is minimalist/ missables by section or a full walkthrough. Writing this guide will be practice for the remake.

Various parties have been contacted for interview.

Interesting. Very interesting.

I'm gonna throw a hissy bitch fit.

standard

 

[Lex]

That "various parties" thing isn't supposed to sound so closed-doors/secretive XD, I was just being lazy.

I've contacted teamfourstar about a possible collab/ interview for a linkshare idea for their FFVII abridged, JasonTandro has contacted a few folks, and so has Vader. And then there's Marc Papeghin (FF medleys YouTube guy) who said yes to Flint but wants to wait until his next medley is ready to go

 

[Cthulhu]

With regards to interaction design, we've basically come to the conclusion that first and foremost, we'll need Goals - what content do we want to highlight, etc. From that follows function in the form of things like clickpaths (I'm just talking out of my ass here, I know little of that shit), or, how quickly do people get to the information they need.

Say for example we want to be the primary source for things like character profiles; top priority #1 would put those right on the front page, #2 would put a list with direct links (and thumbnails) to each of them on the front page, #3 would put them behind a menu or screen, #4 would hide them away somewhere (but TBF I don't think we'll need to have a deeper level of navigation - two to three clicks to get to a page like that would have to do). Ideally, for all FFVII / remake pages/static content, you'd be able to get there with a few clicks or directly from google.

Another thing, and I think this is an important one, would be to have a comprehensive walkthrough - I've linked to Gamepressure.com's guides, which (at least the few I've seen) aren't that in-depth, but they're clear, to the point, have a few images, and probably why I like them the most, a long and prominent index on the side.

I'm imagining it to have three levels of sorts; the primary one would be to just give a to the point walkthrough, only a little more than a bullet point list. The second level, hidden behind either collapsible sections or links, would be things like spoilers, 'did-you-know' tidbits (including for example differences with the original - although at this time we won't be able to predict how big those will be), and comprehensive yet boring lists of things like character and weapon statistics. Links from the guide to other pages (character profiles, LTD analyses, etc) would be vital to promite in-site navigation and retention.

Finally, I'd like to finally bring some ads to the front page. TLS is costing me money, which I don't mind paying, but I'd still like for it to one day break even. More of a personal achievement than anything really. Alongside that would be a means to get a bit more predictable income from the site - ads get ups and downs and shit (peak month was shortly after the remake announcement where I actually made moar money off of ads than I spend on expenses!11one. So we're pretty close. I actually had a look just now, right now it's at about half to 2/3rds of expenses covered)

 

[Pixel]

I'm surprised you don't have ads. This place will earn money over the next few years. As long as its not intrusive, or video ads that cause lag, its fine

 

[Joker]

That "various parties" thing isn't supposed to sound so closed-doors/secretive XD, I was just being lazy.

I've contacted teamfourstar about a possible collab/ interview for a linkshare idea for their FFVII abridged, JasonTandro has contacted a few folks, and so has Vader. And then there's Marc Papeghin (FF medleys YouTube guy) who said yes to Flint but wants to wait until his next medley is ready to go

I thought it was TLS folk?

 

[Lex]

Some of them are, but when it's TLS folk it's fan works so that's the people JT's dealing with.

 

[Claymore]

With regards to interaction design, we've basically come to the conclusion that first and foremost, we'll need Goals - what content do we want to highlight, etc. From that follows function in the form of things like clickpaths (I'm just talking out of my ass here, I know little of that shit), or, how quickly do people get to the information they need.

Say for example we want to be the primary source for things like character profiles; top priority #1 would put those right on the front page, #2 would put a list with direct links (and thumbnails) to each of them on the front page, #3 would put them behind a menu or screen, #4 would hide them away somewhere (but TBF I don't think we'll need to have a deeper level of navigation - two to three clicks to get to a page like that would have to do). Ideally, for all FFVII / remake pages/static content, you'd be able to get there with a few clicks or directly from google.

Another thing, and I think this is an important one, would be to have a comprehensive walkthrough - I've linked to Gamepressure.com's guides, which (at least the few I've seen) aren't that in-depth, but they're clear, to the point, have a few images, and probably why I like them the most, a long and prominent index on the side.

I'm imagining it to have three levels of sorts; the primary one would be to just give a to the point walkthrough, only a little more than a bullet point list. The second level, hidden behind either collapsible sections or links, would be things like spoilers, 'did-you-know' tidbits (including for example differences with the original - although at this time we won't be able to predict how big those will be), and comprehensive yet boring lists of things like character and weapon statistics. Links from the guide to other pages (character profiles, LTD analyses, etc) would be vital to promite in-site navigation and retention.

Finally, I'd like to finally bring some ads to the front page. TLS is costing me money, which I don't mind paying, but I'd still like for it to one day break even. More of a personal achievement than anything really. Alongside that would be a means to get a bit more predictable income from the site - ads get ups and downs and shit (peak month was shortly after the remake announcement where I actually made moar money off of ads than I spend on expenses!11one. So we're pretty close. I actually had a look just now, right now it's at about half to 2/3rds of expenses covered)

That sounds awesome, and the 'multiple levels' angle could actually easily be applied all areas of the site. It would bridge a lot of content, provide extra insight, allow for more game content to be focused, and would also allow people to delve or explore further if they wish (and by providing ease of access, this push to do so will be a lot more tempting and simpler).

 

[Cthulhu]

I'm surprised you don't have ads. This place will earn money over the next few years. As long as its not intrusive, or video ads that cause lag, its fine

TBF, there's no ads on the front page right now because I've always been too lazy to fiddle for like an hour to cross-reference with the forums to determine if someone was a donator or not to hide ads,

I have to add to that too that the forums gets over 9000 times more page views than the front page. Off course, said page views are probably mostly made by the donators and staff that don't get ads.

 

[Joker]

Some of them are, but when it's TLS folk it's fan works so that's the people JT's dealing with.

Now I know where to direct my indignation