If a build isn't tested though, how do we go about deciding if it's good? I mean if it's not viable, why would we teach people to use it? I feel like a guide should be made, if that individual has experience to back it up.
Another drastic solution could be to auto archive every guide/build (even season 4 ones and good ones) and then set a new strict criteria for what a build/guide should contain to be uploaded, and if the guide/build does not meet this criteria, they are archived.
That would hinder creativity. I do feel like there should be a criteria, to get the guide listed in a serious/mod selected section. This website NEEDS a section for good guides ONLY. Creativity is the BEST thing about this website. Though RULES need to be set, for the Mod Selected Guides. It would weed out the meh guides. Auto Archive should also exist, I know it would make the website EMPTY, though empty space is better then 1 year old bad guides. (In my opinion)
If a build isn't tested though, how do we go about deciding if it's good? I mean if it's not viable, why would we teach people to use it? I feel like a guide should be made, if that individual has experience to back it up.
I mean that if a build is easily seen as good (Ex.: Meta builds), mods don't need to test it.
Auto archiving guides from some months ago (6-8) would be useful, there's no point in letting those guides in the site (aside from nostalgia purposes). That wouldn't apply to non-Smite guides, such as Techno's Color Compilation or Zero's BB-Code guide. Guides like those need a "Non-Smite" or whatever you want to call it tag.
If it's a meta build then sure, though "meta" to some people can be taken out on context. I'll drop it here, I'm sure I've spammed enough. I do hope to see a change if possible though.
@Branmuffin17 About the moderator label, perhaps make the "play-tested" label a separate thing.
What I mean by this, is that a moderator and perhaps also Veterans, could read a guide and mark it as "Moderator approved" if they think the build and/or guide is good enough. They could then, only if they wish to do so, play with said build and if they find it working most of the time, could also add a "play-tested" tag?
This idea is, of course, open for feedback and should be monitored carefully if implemented (abusive personnel may perhaps mark "weak" guides as approved, etc...).
What I would like to see, aside from most of the aforementioned ideas:
A way to delete and/or re-order guides in the profile page, to allow us to create a better overview of our guides.
A stats screen on the side while creating builds in the guide builder. Similar to what sites like "Smite builder" offers, but from the comfort of the very site.
Better guide Criteria, instead of simply "characters". Perhaps the higher-ups could all get together to brainstorm about possible criteria sometime.
If possible, a live chat and mail update, as well as the ability to see what users are online. I think this'd be amazing to improve the sense of "community" that we've been trying to achieve.
Sooooo let's see. First of all creds to Bernardozoomer since I think his suggestions were fire. For me these are order of priority.
Gamemode tags: I agree that this would probably be the most helpful addition, while I always listed the gamemodes associated with my guides in the title it would be a great addition to the site overall.
Search engine: I agree that the default tab should be all, not gods. I very rarely have even used the gods tab, most of the time I'm searching people or items. I also agree that being able to search forums/blog posts would be a cool feature, but just having an all tab would be the easiest and best addition IMO.
Deleting guides: Let players delete their own guides. Don't let mods delete other people's guides. Done and done.
Template guide: (I know this is shameless self promotion) but I've said before that it probably should be added to the getting started section of the God Guides tab on the front page. A lot of people don't want a full walkthrough on how to make a guide, they just want something to work off of (like me when I first started on this site).
Tagging users in forums/blogs/comments would be a cool feature, but idk how easy it would be to implement. Still, would be a nice addition.
Being able to see what users are online would also be a cool feature just on a sidebar or something.
And then finally, moderator approved guides.. sigh. Well first of all, let me get this clear. I do not regularly play smite. Thus the entire weight of this feature would weigh far too heavily on Bran, and as wonderful and dedicated as he is I don't think that would be fair. The workload would be pretty heavy to review every guide in such a manner, so we'd almost definitely need to expand it to Veteran approved guides.
That being said, there's still a problem with that kind of feature. While most of the veterans' judgements on what's a good vs mediocre build/guide are pretty sound, we're not pro players. Most of us play casually, and while we're probably better than the average reviewer, we're not some kind of 'elite core'. Additionally, are we talking about moderator approved guides or builds? I've seen fantastic guides with good build explanations that chose items that were... subpar at the very least. At the same time I've seen guides with absolutely perfect builds but... nothing else. So what does approved actually mean?
TL;DR: A system like this would be very hard to make legitimate and help the nature of the site. I think that just having the ability to tag guides as 'Conquest' or 'Serious' would help far more with players being able to find what they need, and then seeing what has the most votes from there.
SMITEFire is the place to find the perfect build guide to take your game to the next level. Learn how to play a new god, or fine tune your favorite SMITE gods’s build and strategy.
<Administrator>
Awards Showcase
Exalted (395)
Posts: 8723
View My Blog
Bernardozomer
<Meat Shield>
Awards Showcase
Prominent (33)
Posts: 1164
View My Blog
TheZodiacWolf
Awards Showcase
Established (23)
Posts: 318
View My Blog
Kriega1
Awards Showcase
Renowned (143)
Posts: 6957
View My Blog
TheZodiacWolf
Awards Showcase
Established (23)
Posts: 318
View My Blog
Bernardozomer
<Meat Shield>
Awards Showcase
Prominent (33)
Posts: 1164
View My Blog
Bernardozomer
<Meat Shield>
Awards Showcase
Prominent (33)
Posts: 1164
View My Blog
TheZodiacWolf
Awards Showcase
Established (23)
Posts: 318
View My Blog
xZeroStrike
<Hunter Master>
Awards Showcase
Prominent (46)
Posts: 841
View My Blog
Blizzard: Zilby#11991_________Twitch: TheZilb
I am the most foul, cruel and bad tempered rodent you've ever set eyes upon!.. Oh, her? Yes, well... she's with me.
Feel free to PM me with any questions or comments. I can offer feedback on gameplay and BBcoding tips, as well as moderation help if needed.
Zilby
<Moderator>
Awards Showcase
Renowned (132)
Posts: 2074
View My Blog