BIG NEWS!

[graymar]

Wow...the rankings went away already!

Graymar

[toasterboy]

I too am bummed the rankings are going away. I enjoyed them immensely. If this is indeed a permanent decision, can we at least get the ability to sort the 'Singles Standings' between men and women? Right now they are all mixed up.

I'm VERY glad I've been keeping up my Excel spreadsheet in addition to the StatTracker.

[Avarice]

Also what I've been waiting for a while now is more specialty matches. If you're gonna market this to pull in new people, you're gonna need the tables match, the ladder match and others. The classic matches just don't cut it. It's just something I see that a new customer would want that they see in today's society on TV.

[MonkeyDBain]

that rankings were useless to me, and I am glad they are gone. Though I understand people not liking them gone.

There are many things I would like to see added, and hopefully one day they may be.

[cyclehog2119]

Well I for one am disappointed that the "Rankings" are gone... I used the rankings exclusively for the GWFz fed that i play out with cards and post online. I spent time using the tag feature so I can have a rankings specifically for my lower titles (i.e. Super 8 and Women's championship) in my GWF New Beginnings fed. Under my online name BigMike, i use the stat tracker for my cards ACE, Z and New Beginnings... One of my useful parts for the stat tracker was rankings. I don't think removal of this is a positive. I like the rankings option in some form or another.

[Deleted]

As always guys, your feedback, comments, and suggestions are noted and appreciated.

I just want to stress how the COTGonline team is well aware that the removal of the Rankings system is upsetting to alot of users. It's upsetting for us to have to remove it! Unfortunately, it's a necessary evil at this time as we prep for a serious Champions of the Galaxy push into the gaming market.

One last thing to note is that this change isn't necessarily a permanent thing. It is simply the course we need to take for the immediate future.

We promise to keep on building a better system for all users, new and old, even if it doesn't always appear to be the case.

Thanks everyone...



~ :-Xsk

[tystates]

Could someone explain why the removal of rankings is necessary in order for there to be an easier interface, etc.?

[Thunder]

To start I just want to say that I have nothing but respect and admiration for the online team and the effort they put forth in creating CotGOnline. I'm a programmer by hobby and profession so I know how difficult a task of this magnitude can be(in fact abotu 10 years ago or so I created a briefly supported program called the GWF Simulator). So don't take my words as hurtful or malicious, they are just how I feel. And these feelings stem from the possibility that I may have to stop playing a game that I love and have played for 20 years and have found renewed interest in thanks to the magic of CotGOnline. I kid you not when I say the rankings were that important to me.

I've thought about the removal of the rankings feature and I can only think the decision stems from 1 of 2 areas, I could be wrong mind you but this is my belief.

1) It was a feature that was added at the last moment by the programmer and was never fully supported and only worked due to some techno duct tape and wishful thinking. With the introduction of new matches, powers, abilities and other areas of rankable and sortable data it's simply too much hassle to rework the rankings system so that it remains functional with the new and updated material in CotGOnline.

This would be done because it's the easiest solution to a problem. Believe me, I've been there. You look at a feature in your program and think 'man, /everything/ else would go more smoothly if that feature was taken out' which translates into 'I'd have a lot less work to do if that feature wasn't there'. It's a lazy answer to a problem. If this is the reason the feature is being removed than I say 'shame on you'. I'd like to think this isn't the reason, however, as the online team has shown that they are better than this.

2) I keep hearing about the big 'push' that CotGOnline is going to get. This has me worried. Why? I've been a part of similar 'pushes' and there's one invariable rule when it comes to cult things getting mainstream 'pushes'; the cult that started it all gets left behind. I keep hearing about the stat tracker getting streamlined. Who thought it was clunky? Not me. New users maybe? By 'streamline' do we mean 'simplifying' so perhaps less than smartastic new customers aren't scared away by confusing buttons and drop down menus? By creating a user friendly experience for new customers are we taking away features that long time customers clearly enjoy? That's kind of how it appears to me. It comes down to balancing out cult following loyalty and mainstream money and, as it always does, cult following loyalty loses out.

Don't get me wrong, I think this is a push CotG has needed for years. I've never understood how this game was never covered in any major gaming outlet(I sent letters for years to Inquest hoping they'd do an article on it). This is a game, a hobby, an obsession that has outlasted just about every other game I've played since I was a kid. Only DnD has a longer history with me. And it's sad but without the rankings system the rest of the online features kind of lack for me. I don't use the game table, that always seemed clunky to me, and I do love the pbp sim but wihtout the rankings it's just not of much use to me. I know there will be people who say 'I'm glad the rankings are gone!' or 'I never really used them anyway' and that's great. It takes all kinds to make the digital world go 'round. In the end, however, there will be people like me who post their displeasure at this situation, wait out their subscription and fade quietly away and, even more distressing, there will be those people who just stop coming around. No posts, no re-sub, just gone. Ultimately our passings are meaningless though as we'll be replaced by new fans from GenCon Indy and beyond.

At least for a little while. Then, as is the way of all things, the cycle of inevitable popularity for this game will wane and the newbies that we're apparently pandering to so willingly drift off to find something else new and shiney to keep their interest and the former cult craze that gained mainstream popularity for a few fleeting years will find itself back where it started, looking for those cult followers who were so loyal for so long and who were forgotten so easily at the prospect of mainstream $$$.

Or I may be wrong and it may be some other reason entirely. Or a combination of several reasons that lead to one sad conclusion; the loss of the ranking system.

At any rate, please don't take this post the wrong way. I'm just angry and bitter and upset that I'll be stepping away from CotG just when things looked like they were getting good(bootlets and the inevitable addition of LOW). I think the ranking system added a sense of versatility that was simply astounding. I was actually planning on splitting my fed and the ranking system was key to that, one fed with match tags to seperate brands for the ranking system. I was very excited. Now this is like a brick in the face. I, however, am just one customer who is clearly ranting and likely should have shut his mouth a long time ago. Again, and in closing, the online team for CotGOnline has nothing by my respect and admiration. They took on a monumental undertaking and did a fantastic job, IMO. It's just that they did such a good job that losing 1 facet of that is damaging enough that it may cost them some customers. But it may also gain them the mainstream popularity, respect and recognition that this game very richly deserves so I truly wish them well with the future of the system.

[MonkeyDBain]

Wow, were the ranking so important to ya? I did not see a need in them other than just something to look at.

[toasterboy]

Jul 22, 2008 16:07:11 GMT -5 MonkeyDBain said:

Wow, were the ranking so important to ya? I did not see a need in them other than just something to look at.

Obviously they were. I too am saddened they are gone and hopefull they will make a return. I liked being able to rank depending on Personalities. My GWF was ranked by the Commissioner's likings and my GWFZ was ranked by the Championship committee. I liked knowing the feds were ranked by different 'personalities'.

I also liked how you could sort by men and women, something you can't do on the standings pages. If this feature was added, it'd be an okay fix to the rankings leaving for however long they are going away for. I know I can just skip the women listed, but I like being able to jut copy and paste. I'd also love if a 'set working dates' was added to the standings page so I don't have to keep switching back and forth.

The rankings were ONE of the things that drew me to the stat tracker in the first place. I would have purchased it regardless because I believe in the game and want it to continue, but the rankings were ONE selling point.

So you didn't use them, that's totally cool. Some of us did use them and based story lines around them. I find it hard to believe you're GLAD they are gone. Were they bothering you by being there as an option?