Here's Your Chance

I know we have the JTV chat box, and I guess some of the oldtimers might do this anyway, but I'd love if there was a irc chat room where we could just chill. I sometimes miss the random chatting from my irc days, and I know we have the forums, but they don't really encourage randomness. :) Sometimes I just want to chit chat (without the "idiots" that jtv gets) and I feel forum posts are for definite discussions.

Yeah no, that whole IRC thing didn't work out, next idea.

You guys are generally pretty good with podcast turnaround, 1-2 days after you record it. Keep it up, it really helps the listeners to know when you guys will have the podcast up for download.

In the form of forum improvements, It'd be nifty if the mods could control and add things to the KShop/Kbank. It would make it much easier to add cool things the members may want to use their forum money to buy. We could even give rewards or prizes in the form of F$.

I disagree with you Z. Nobody wants to see randomness. It makes no sense.

I think you should add a box for news. I'm pretty sure not many of us check out whats happening outside of the live broadcast, so it would be really nice I'f we could just look to left and know that the two dudes from Activision were kicked. Also a box with announcements of upcoming games??? Thats just an extra that would be nice but not necessary.
Thats all I have right now, can't wait to see the improvements!

Beast...

I want you guys to pick up a stationary gaming PC.
There is some interesting stuff the PC exclusively gets.

yeah, see I should have just kept my mouth shut :) this is why I don't like to come up with ideas.

I would like to see a little box on the side of the page that indicated the next podcast or event with a date and time stamped on there, maybe a countdown, or just time and date.
I really like how the page is set up now though, clean design, and easy to use.
Hope you all can think of some more improvements, cuz I really can't think of more.

I've really been enjoying the more regular stream of blog posts lately. It'd be interesting if a few of you guys tried to do a reoccurring blog series that we could look forward to at the same time every week/month. Perhaps something similar to David's "Coffee Experiment" or Brad's Decade Lists.

I would like an ending to that Suda-51 story.

This one is also for the forum and I don't think it's big, but... you think that you could kinda decrease the price for some of the things in the KShop? Either that or increase the amount of F$ we get from posts and other stuff. I find that it takes a VERY long time to just get enough money to buy 1 color name which is about 10,000 F$ I believe. I've been here for a while and only have around 5,000 F$. Like I said though, it shouldn't be dramatic decrease or increase, maybe a slight decrease maybe, thanks.

I believe Joseph already went over this, but a new form of viewing pictures would be great. The current way is pretty bad.

Well I guess I'll throw on the dunce cap, because definitely the thing I want most is a video on the site that isn't the JTV one.

Luigi says:
May 19, 2010 at 4:16 pm
I would like an ending to that Suda-51 story.

^ this. :D

The site is pretty good and clean as it is. Not much to improve on. One thing I'd like to see is a search bar on the site though. It's kind of hard to find an old post with just the tags.

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH PAVEHAWK!!!

I agree with the reoccurring blog series, but I know how hard it is to keep that going in the long run. Maybe a weekly "community discussion" blog post where you guys start a conversation on a particular subject and then mention some of the feedback in the community section of the show. I would also like a more streamlined podcast delivery method along the lines of the 1up or giantbomb streaming interface.

Keep them coming, this is good stuff

Also Sabrejag, are you talking about for the forum or for the site?

I REALLY like the suggestions on here so far. I agree with all of them, and the big "dunce cap" ones too, of course.

My biggest complaint about the site is with this gravatar business. It's really hit or miss on whether or not it will work and that's just not cool. So maybe fixing this issue so that the gravatars work, or changing the system itself. I personally like gravatar, I just don't like that it doesn't work on your site but it does on others lol.

Also, I don't know about anyone else, but I'd really like to get ahold of 4PPs old podcasts. Like Podcast #1-whatever iTunes currently has now. Is there a way you could archive them somewhere? Or am I making a fool of myself and they are already posted somewhere?

Other than that, and what has been already suggested, I think the site is already pretty fine-tuned and well-functioning :)

Well it seems one of my wishes has already come true!
Yay gravatar!
:)

@vanquish12v Do to the change we made this morning Gravatars should work. Before Usernames (for comments) were being pulled in from the forums and therefore not tied to the Gravatar stuff. Now we split the two as it was pain to work around the bridge.

Was wondering what was up with the log in today. Didn't know if my account was hacked or there was a glitch in the site. Still, was no biggy to create a new one. Thanks for making the clarification though.

I think a rework with how the Podcasts and Broadcasts are listed could be done. There could be properly structured/themed webpages instead of keeping them in Wiki form. So, in the top navigation bar there could be a Broadcast button with a scroll down menu that show a hyperlink to the current Live page and one leading to a new Previous Broadcasts page. The Podcasts could be listed similar to how Giantbomb do with their podcast as well.

The Players bio pages could do with some updating, or formatting them so they have a more consistent structure.

Lastly, the background to the website could do with a change. Perhaps matching the BG to the JTV channel page?

http://i45.tinypic.com/2niuudl.png

Also you can find most of the old podcast here, http://4playerpodcast.com/wiki/List_of_Podcasts

I'd like to see you guys update your profiles more often in "The Players".

I think you should update the live page. You should make that the go to place rather than JTV. You could add all the nessersary information like, the channel description, rules and whats coming up on the feed. You could also link to JTV features you wouldnt be able to put on your site like the archives. You could also do something like a top highlights section.

Also i always wondered why you never had advertisements on your site, it would make sense.

Actually, speaking of the Live page, whats happened to it? Its now widescreen instead of 4:3 and now the chat window is being squashed and pushed down the page. Is this something wrong with the site, or is JTV needlessly fucking with shit again?

Maybe consider a scroll bar for your Review shortcuts box on the main page? That way you wont have to phase out older reviews for space in the box as you create new ones. Just a thought.

Not saying it's really necessary as you have a shortcut to your reviews in the [Categories] tab, though.

The site. I really haven't been in the forums so i can't comment there.
The problem is really with large photo galleries.

Some people mentioned /live as well. JTVs messing around or can we either put it back to normal or possibly just stretch the feed some and make it as big as the chat is.

I'm just annoyed that it's so difficult to make an avatar. :V

How about a section of the site devoted to thoughts on upcoming game's trailers? It'd have impressions by all the members 4PP with an opinion and a normal comment section on the bottom.

Also how about another feed displaying y'all playing the game. I'm pretty sure a lot of us would like to see y'alls reactions to games without the PIP causing lag. (Not sure if it'll work but it seemed functional way back when David played "Just Dance" for the Wii)

like other have said, i think dressing up the 'live' page would be a welcome addition and 'the players' profiles are screaming to be updated. maybe instead of 'currently playing', you can just put a list of all games played so you only have to update them when you finish one.

i'd like a separate section for reviews. the way it is works for now, but when they start to stack up, they'll all need to go somewhere, and i think a reviews section is just more organized than other solutions.

it is a very small update, but I would like to see Carlos' name under writers :)

I would like to see a community member on the show every now and then, either through skype or in person.
I also wouldn't mind a community member being pointed out as the "dunce" of the week either.

I would love to see a more organized structure that summarizes the feeds you guys air and gives a detailed explanation of them, either by utilizing bullet-points located on the side of the site or by making a standalone page on the site altogether. Similar to the Most Recent Shows box you already display on the right-hand side, something along the lines of "Recently Played on 4PP: David creates his own sprite in 3D Dot Game Heroes! [link] click here to see!". If I miss a broadcast I'm interested in, the only way I can find it is by going to 4PP's JTV site, clicking on "more videos" underneath the Live feed and browsing through multiple pages of videos which range anywhere from 10 second highlights to hour-long broadcasts, with said videos usually being marked with a poor description. I don't always have enough free-time during the week to listen to the 2 hour long podcasts along with catching up on the latest live feeds, which is a shame! I love hearing your guys' thoughts on the latest games and watching how you all react to the humorous occurrences while playing them. There is so much hilarious content you guys create and most of it is lost in a sea of older videos shortly after broadcasting.

Also! I greatly enjoy your guys' themed nights such as one-time Terror Tuesday, Wayback Wednesday and (rarely) Online Night Thursday. It's something I can look forward to and that I can make time for in advance. Right now it's usually hop on late at night and see whoever is playing. With this format you can schedule ahead of time what games you'll play and advertise it on the main site, which would be great for consistent viewers such as myself to clear my schedule.

Gathering your guys' thoughts on the latest game trailers is another brilliant idea and is something I would love to see implemented to the site. I do believe that your podcasts can drag on at times. I mean no offense by suggesting changes to your formula, but moving some of the content from your podcasts to blog posts on the main site would be great in making more room to hold articulate, yet concise discussions in both mediums. In the case of the main site posts, a personal discussion with fans and in the podcasts, a professional discussion between the four of you.

You guys are doing a stellar job and have grown immensely over the years. I will follow you no matter what changes you guys decide to implement. Can't wait to see whatever they may be!

I don't know how you guys would do this but have the feed from JTV still show up on this site but have a separate chat that's on this site only. It wouldn't be random chat, people would still discuss whats going on the feed and people would still discuss things with the broadcaster.

You would have it so if you're a member of the forums you could chat in the chatbox on this site, if you aren't a member than suggest they sign up.

This way the community here can discuss things without jtv tards spamming things left and right and the broadcaster can chat with the community here easier.

By separate chat I mean a chat that only the 4pp community can see and all that, jtv comments wouldn't show up.

Feed: Changing the status whenever you switch games, hopefully this cut down on the "what game is this" or "who is casting" spam.

Blog: If someone creates a really awesome piece of Fanart or posts something great/insightful about whatever, feature it on the blog. Maybe allow trusted members to become contributors to the blog.

The Live Page: Maybe you guys could talk with Swiftor or one of the other GameON casters for advice for bettering the /live, since they all have well done and made /live pages.

Forums: Nothing much here, other than tweaks to the Kshop and $f.

My other suggestions have already been said, so best of luck with the upgrades.

I think the site could be organized better and made more user-friendly for those who aren't familiar with 4Player Podcast. I also think the site could be utilizing space a lot better.

Right now everything is piling up in the right column while the left really holds little to nothing. Since 4PP are primarily looking for more subscribers/activity with the podcast, it'd be a good idea to have the subscriptions list higher ("above the fold" as they say), because as more reviews are added, the subscriptions links are dropping lower and lower, out of immediate sight. Despite a subscription link being present below the header image, it's not as attractively displayed as it is in the right column. While on the subject of the reviews, I think the way they're displayed needs to be improved. There's too little consistency and some of the text is hard to read at first glance. Perhaps agreeing on a regular, legible font or relying on HTML to display the game title of the review would be easier on the eyes.

If the 4PP guys aren't necessarily intent on updating their personal pages (judging by previous comments, they aren't), I would suggest getting rid of them altogether and simplifying the whole thing, perhaps with something similar to the Wikipedia entry (when it isn't being vandalized by trolls). A brief description/history of 4PP would be good. Just so people interested can get to know the group better.

Wordpress is pretty powerful and now that you guys aren't held back by Blogspot and restrictive programming of the sort, I'd like to see it utilized more to present the content 4PP desires both regulars and non-regulars alike to see when they first visit the site. In some ways, I'd also like 4PP to give the general public a run down of the latest content that requires its immediate attention, for example the podcast awards or fundraiser events. So instead of being pointed towards a default website containing pages of posts, you save anyone interested in something mentioned on the feed or podcast time and effort by having those items immediately available.

Overall, despite my criticisms, I still enjoy what 4PP bring to the gaming community and while I may not comment on the blog/forums as much as I'd like to, I hope by voicing my opinion that it shows even the "lurkers" do care. Good luck with the changes, 4PP. :)

Please, please, please, make a bot or some kind of entry for that Feed Chat so whenever someone enters it displays a link to the rules.

I will start with something others have been saying, to utilize the main page more and make it more clear so it is accessible to newcomers.

Also a separate chat feed would be nice, perhaps tied with the feed (if there is a way to do this) so regular 4pp viewers can chat generally on and off broadcast, to the community and 4pp. This might also help with some of those JTV viewers that ruin chat for everyone, by using a separate chat to run alongside the feed. This would be great because I watch the feed a lot but never participate in chat because of the idiots that spoil the experience.

I would also like to see the players pages used regularly (perhaps add Nolan and Joseph now) and keep them updated as if you would with the main blog, just so the community has a real insight into who is gonna be doing what and what they are doing now.

I think some new emails could help out as well, because it may just be me but it has become hard on my computer to use the Outlook Express (I have no idea why), so it would be nice to be able to use my hotmail or live accounts. This would just be great as it would make things a little easier.

Finally its not really much of a site specific change but I would like to see more Nick feed time, as I love watching him play.

So thats all

I know you guys work hard to do what you already do for the community, but if possible, could there be a schedule / calendar that's maintained regularly? It would help a lot if people knew when you guys were starting the podcast, etc. Sometimes Nick will make posts about a recording in advance, but not always. It would be nice to see (in one place) what you guys are thinking about doing for the week etc. Obviously you're not going to know exactly what games and such, but you know.

Just as a quick note to what Iront said:

In JTV's channel options, there's a box to edit what comes up when someone enters the channel, and it only appears on the client's side when they enter. With a bot, chat would constantly be spammed with the link to the rules, every time someone enters. If someone on the 4PP staff uses that option, it only shows up on the person's screen when they come in.

@Red Frenzy: "I think some new emails could help out as well, because it may just be me but it has become hard on my computer to use the Outlook Express (I have no idea why), so it would be nice to be able to use my hotmail or live accounts. This would just be great as it would make things a little easier."

You realize that you can go into your hotmail/whatever else account, hit the "compose new email" button, and then just send an email to one of their email addresses, right? You don't have to use Outlook Express.

I agree with some of the posts regarding a schedule available. Perhaps with a general idea of when there'll be a broadcast, with some idea of what might be played, we could cut down on the "when does it goes live" spam in chat. Then again, I can see why you wouldn't want to do this, since it does give the impression that the schedule is to be followed no matter what. You could, say, add in big red letter at the top that it's just a general idea of what's going down and is, by no means, a binding resolution. Just some idea of when stuff will happen seems like a good thing to be able to point to when someone asks when you'll be live.