[nirvAnA]

A bunch of us have been hard at work over the last week and now we can finally make an official annoncement introducing a series of new features on the site - to explain a little bit more and how to get the best out of them. Also feel free to give feedback, e.g new achievements u like to see, new avatars or more suggestions for improvements on the site.

Would also like to use this opportunity to thank the people who have helped in making these features possible.

#1 Revamped Avatar/User title system.

+ Show +

We have done away with the User Title system replaced it with a spanking new Avatar system. The more posts you have, the cooler your avatar becomes!

You start out as a larvae then morph into a zergling >..etc.> reaper >..> void ray >... > and finally into a mothership.



Special thanks to jaczie who painstakingly went thru all the avatars, cropping/resizing them and making them transparent and finally rejecting the ones which didnt look good on the site after testing them out one by one!

#2 Achievement badges

+ Show +

In a bid to encourage more particiapation on our forums and in SEA tournaments, i thought it would be cool to come up with some Achievement badges you could have displayed in your profile everytime you post. These badges range from Winning BSGs to the "Seasoned tournament player" for having played in more than 10 tournaments to achievements recognising valuable members of the community be it through streaming, organising, or making quality posts.

Check out all the badges we have here - who the awards have been given to and how to win such awards!
http://www.sc2sea.com/awards.php

Also feel free to suggest any cool achievements you can think of.

#3 Streamer Status Widget

+ Show +

100% functional already and still undergoing refinement, this is pretty much our very own version of TLs streaming status notifier. Basically everytime your stream is on, the site will highlight it and display your stream link on the right, alerting visitors of our site to your stream. Submit your stream in our thread here and our admins will have you listed in less than a day.

A huge thanks to Erasmus (who had previously wrote up code but my server language was too outdated ) and Veteris who has thus wrote up the new code all by himself for the stream widget.

#4 Quick Find Player Widget

+ Show +

A brand new idea, where instead of scrolling through our "Find a partner" thread to find AT or 1v1 practise partners, you will be able seach with extreme ease in the box on the right hand side of the site. Find players by game type, race, league level or country and submit your details so other players can search for you!

And of course a huge thanks to Veteris who was behind all the coding for it.

#5 New Infraction Ban System

+ Show +

Pretty self-explanatory, i had to come up with a system to help with the growing popularity and activity on the forums. i wrote up a whole article explaining it, so admins could better deal with the growing trolls, ensuring the sc2sea community stays as a friendly and positive home for us. Basically you are giving points for doing something wrong and if u reach a certain level of points you get temp banned/perm banned. Read it here and beware the ban hammer!!

#6 Tweaked Site Staff Distinctions / Heirachy

+ Show +

Basically there needed to be more distinctions between normal forum users and those who have contributed alot to the site. As a little something for their contributions, these groups of users have their own special colors so people will take more notice when they post/chat and they are also the only ones who can upload their own special customised avatars and hence dont follow the avatar system as above.

These positions can be earned only by thoses dedicated enough(organisers), put effort into quality posting (mvps) and in addition to these two qualities, have also proven themselves to be absolutely trustworthy and responsible (moderators). So if you want to one day be a moderator, it definetly is possible but it is a gradual path meaning before being a moderator you have to be a mvp or organiser and it will take time to prove yourself.

MVPs - A user who has contributed on sc2sea through a history of well written posts or articles. Most recent inductions are Benji and Pinder and so have a look at their recent articles about "small money tournaments" and the "new ladder map pool" respectively to get a feel of the quality needed, in two very different writing styles.
Other MVPs are Unstable, HuT, Apth, and DFM and MvP/Partial mods kelly and hdphoenix.

Organisers - A dedicated and responsible user who has contributed to the community thru regular tournament hosting.
Organisers are Mukade, Santi, Kaz, dogsi, Baka, Zergtastic, frequency, eddie, Sixth.

Moderators - The highest level on the site, moderators have proven themselves to be highly responsible and trustworthy in addition to the qualties listed above. Moderators have the ability to edit anyones post, move/open/close threads, give out infractions and of course wave their ban hammer!
Moderators are Mezza, skybreaker, torniquet and jaczie

#7 New tournament format for our regular tournaments next week

+ Show +

Finally with Benji's "small money tournaments" article which i mostly agree with, it made me realise a new system would be needed to basically get the streams listed on TL so there would be more exposure for the SEA community and to this site. So he suggested intead of running a series of $10-$25 tournaments weekly we should just run it once at the end of the month so there is a $100 minimum prize. I dont however, agree with stopping the smaller tournaments entirely cause i beleive pple would like something to play with for the fun of it even when there wasnt any prize money so what i came up with was a hybrid of this.

Using the Community Opens as an example:

-Tournaments are continued to be held every week at the same timeslot on Wednesday.
-The prize pool is $0 but instead the top 2 players qualify for a $100 tournament at the end of the month.
The 2 finalists fight it out for glory with the winner receiving an achievement badge on their profile, a short interview and a higher seed in the final tournament.

The $100 tournament will be held at the end of the month on a weekend and will either be
1) an invite only based on the top 2 every week, 2x4weeks = 8 players OR
2) a 128 man tournament where the top 8 winners are directly seeded into the ro16.
I will need feedback on which would be better.

We were actually spending $100/month spread over 4 weeks at $25/week so this change in format actually helps us get listed but keeps the exact same budget!

The BSG will run as usual as it has always been a no cash prize tournament meant for fun.
The prize however has been improved and the winner will receive 1 hour free coaching with Pinder / deth.

The GPD might be slightly changed as well to a more hybrid type model.
Will have to talk to eddie first about this

iMaster of SEA will be changed slightly, ill have to think about a new format as well while its being put on hold.

So with recent donations it is actually possible to run this new tournament format for at least the next 2 months.

#8 Re-organisation of forums.

+ Show +

The forums as viewed on the index is now alot neater and readable.

Shifted some modules around in a more organised manner.
Broke the general forums into Non SC and SC.
Got rid of various unpopular modules
.
Thank you for reading and may you continue to enjoy being part of sc2sea!

Quick Comments

	UncleTom:	Wise as the day is long
	[TA]LoSt:	:)

[cure]

Love the new additions! Esp the achievement system

Btw, why no archon avatar D:

Quick Comments

nirvAnA:

thanks babe. added the reputation idea as you suggested. love it!

[nirvAnA]

zie tested all of them one by one and she didnt like t he way it looked i guess.some of them look bad as its transparent. I made her put the mothership in tho, coz thats like ultimate haha

[Benji]

Originally Posted by nirvAnA

zie tested all of them one by one and she didnt like t he way it looked i guess.some of them look bad as its transparent. I made her put the mothership in tho, coz thats like ultimate haha

Mothership = Ultimate? Cool.

[ZanooKu]

Pretty decent, nicely done. Although I feel like a cab driver with this portrait...

[Eddie]

Great stuff, like the new changes

[Crankenstein]

Damnit benji. First you win trade now you portrait cheat.

What are we going to do with you?

I do like the changes though Perhaps a few less GOSU awards could be added in so that you dont have to be pro to get one? That might encourage more people to join? Perhaps not... I guess most people won't know about them till after they join. I dunno, just a thought.

[nirvAnA]

Originally Posted by Crankenstein

Perhaps a few less GOSU awards could be added in so that you dont have to be pro to get one? That might encourage more people to join? .

Yea definetly, ive run out of good ideas tho, would love to hear some and add some more.

[deL]

Why don't I have The Manner Man achievement?

[Draxy]

Avatar Request:

http://scblog.ru/wp-content/uploads/...ren-marine.jpg

[Satu]

Originally Posted by nirvAnA

Organisers are Mukade, Santi, Kaz, dogsi, Baka, Zergalicious, frequency, eddie, Sixth.

Unless you meant to do that. O.o

Edit: Also, on the community opens setup now, I really do approve. Same price but with free advertising now, which means better competition? Hell yes.

[nirvAnA]

lmao opps!! fixed! Was too tired

and wow benji with the custom avatar abuse already t.t

[Benji]

Originally Posted by nirvAnA

lmao opps!! fixed! Was too tired

and wow benji with the custom avatar abuse already t.t

What are you talking about, I worked hard for this avatar :P /trollface

[test1]

test warning

[test1]

test infraction.

nirvana: Ok mods i realised that if you tick the warning box in the infraction area, they are sent the warning PM along with the reason as per normal, but are actually given 0 infraction points as its just a "warning". As this is the case i think we should not let infraction points expire, so first time offenders are given a chance and "warned" and repeat offenders users get lifetime infraction points. Hmm i dunno need dicussion

[BaKaiNu]

Custom avatar! nirvAnA

[SkyBreaker]

Looks great Nirv; loving all the new changes and especially the changes to the tournament lay-outs! The streamer/find-a-partner are also awesome additions to the site, props to you, Veteris and Jac and all the others who put in the hard work for these changes!

[BaKaiNu]

Petition for getting Veteris an MvP status on the site for the awesome great work he put in!

[inFeZa]

How about an of SEA?

on a on topic note, gj guys, love to see this site improve.

[kellyMILKIES]

The new web looks amazing

[deL]

kellyMILKIES looks amazing

[ProAnnn]

How about infraction points lasting a month instead of a week? It will make it better since it wont be too short and it wont be FOREVER.

nirvana: great idea, implemented!

[deL]

Yeah getting 8 in a week would be hard even for me.

[Unstable]

Originally Posted by del

yeah getting 8 in a week would be hard even for me.

challenge accepted!

[NvPinder]

Originally Posted by Unstable

challenge accepted!

Mate you dont even have cruel entertainer achievement.

get on me and del's level son!

[Unstable]

Originally Posted by JPMoney

Mate you dont even have cruel entertainer achievement.

get on me and del's level son!

I dont want to make u guys look bad!

[BaKaiNu]

^ So Barney!

[JacziE]

I think the point system is effed, how can Benji have mothership already!

[LennX]

All achievement holders can have their own custom DP which I assume Benji is using a mothership as his custom DP.

nirvana: not achievement holders but Mvps/staff. yea thats exactly what he did! DP abusing omg

[JacziE]

I did the avatars in 2 hours; might make improved ones over the weekend. Hopefully I can get a nice zergling out (since it's my favorite unit!)

[nirvAnA]

Achievements soon to be added when i find the time or already in place:

Ayo Technology (Implemented)
Awarded to those who have helped sc2sea through the creation of banners, programming code and other funky techy stuff beyond the ability of us normal humans.

A vote of confidence (To be implemented at a later date, not used enough!)
Given to vote happy citizens, who have used the voting system on posts more than 30 times. Currently the easiest achievement to get but only two users, me(100+ votes) and frenzypain(30 votes) lol!! oh yea but blatant abuse results in never earning the achievement ever.

http://www.sc2sea.com/helpfulanswers.php

A little help goes a long way - suggested by sky (To be implemented at a later date, not used enough!)
For members who have received 40 amount of votes and at least x % positive through the eyes of voters.

Current leader board
nirvAnA 35
deL 25
JPMoney 20
Benji 15
kellyMILKIES 12

+ [Current LeaderBoard] +

username #thumbs up posts
nirvAnA 29
deL 17
Torniquet 11
JPMoney 11
SkyBreaker 8
mezza 7
kellyMILKIES 7
HDPhoenix 7

So guys please start using the "Like Post" feature more!!

The Legionnaire - by del (To be implemented soon)
Has visited Korea (as a player or SC spectator!)

[cure]

Originally Posted by nirvAnA

The Legionnaire - by del
Has visited Korea (as a player or SC spectator!)

I visited Korea 4 years ago, does that count ? LOL

[nirvAnA]

haha only if it was to be an sc spectator like poison ^^

[JacziE]

<- Legionnaire
Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2007 - Savior vs Bisu!
Also, announcement of StarCraft II :>

[Whisky]

liking the new site.. regards from the uk

[AxSGRiM]

Wow these are sick additions to the site, I would love the seigetank portrait.

[nirvAnA]

5 New achievements have been implemented. Any achievements to suggest would be much apprecaited.
Special attention to some badges for non top gamers would be good and no negative awards for trolling etc, we dont wanna encourage that behaviour.



Full list here: http://www.sc2sea.com/awards.php

Also im probably missing alot of people for the "legionnaire" award so fill me in with those names please!

lol@ah_chua being a legionnaire, but its true, he actually was back in the day!! haha

[Champi]

im liking where this is going

[NvPinder]

I vote for 'The legionnaire' icon to be a reaver instead of kerrigan... i mean come on, it is after legionairre.

[kellyMILKIES]

Icons are so cool. Me like shinies.

[TargA]

I've been to Korea for e-sports!

[LaoRen]

Thanks for all the hard work, guys~~~ Thump up for that!!! Keep it up yeah?

Cheerios~~~

Quick Comments

nirvAnA:

thanks, its nice to know the work we do is appreciated! :)

[nirvAnA]

I've gotten rid of the "Like this post" which no1 seems to use. Instead i've replaced it with something better...

Reputations!

Reputations are now displayed under the users name (the small green rectangle) and will change color depending on the quality of the posters reputation.

How does a person's reptuation change? Simple! When people post you can click on the small notepad icon at the bottom left of their post, and add a +1, -1 and any comments you would like to add.

These ratings/comments will display at the bottom of their post like how i added to LaoRen's post.
Anyone can leave comments. existing MVPs start with 50 reputation points, mods 100.

Lastly IN THE FUTURE, if people wish to change their forum names they will have to use their reputation points which will get deducted so they can add streams, (20 points), participate in chat (10 points) or change their forum name (30 points). might be good later down the road if the forums get too big so only the truly good posting members rewarded and we dont get trolls in the chatbox or streams that are never on.

Quick Comments

	test1:	nice work son
	Zeion:
	EveJeonSa:	awesomenator testtest

[Zeion]

+1, cool add in!

[Torniquet]

But now we can see you used that test account to give yourself props =/

Quick Comments

nirvAnA:

lol it was deliberate! thoguht everyone could see the name

[ThisIsBlurry]

Nice avatar. Keep it up. =)

[Insom]

ooh, that might be why i cant talk in the chat anymore

Good changes though, forces people too get involved and not just spam the chat

[nirvAnA]

Insom it was just a thought and hasnt been implmented yet. if u cant see the chat still let me know, probbably a browser problem?

UPDATED smilies

These new icons now are displayed in the header of your posts if you have filled up your Location and Race. You can also use them in any forum post by typing the following codes.

Use of Smilie Example

NEORedArchon

PHP Code:

iThailand NEORedArchon iTerran 


Full flag smilie list

PHP Code:

iAustralia iNew Zealand iSingapore iMalaysia iVietnam iPhilippines iThailand iIndonesia iHong Kong iSouth Korea iJapan iChina iTaiwan iItaly iBrazil iSweden iNorway iGermany iSpain iEurope iUkraine iRussia iCanada iUnited Kingdom iUnited States 


Full race smilie list

PHP Code:

iProtoss iZerg iTerran iRandom iUnknown 


[Monk]

Just a rant, when you go to the right side and click an upcoming tournament, it gives no details on how to join it, what it's about etc etc. I think either making information or even redirect it to a forum thread is a lot better then just saying 'Hey BSG #18 is on but guess what? There is no way to join it so haha'

[Aean(:]

Originally Posted by Monk

Just a rant, when you go to the right side and click an upcoming tournament, it gives no details on how to join it, what it's about etc etc. I think either making information or even redirect it to a forum thread is a lot better then just saying 'Hey BSG #18 is on but guess what? There is no way to join it so haha'

The thread will be up today. Patience is a virtue.

[Monk]

Originally Posted by Aean(:

The thread will be up today. Patience is a virtue.

It's not about 'it will be up later' it's about the Upcoming Events thing. You click on it and it just tells you when it's on, that's all.

Originally Posted by Upcoming Events

BSG Open #18 - 6pm SGT 8pm AEST
Calendar: Events
BakaInu
Sat, 30th-Apr-2011
*The times shown may change, depending on DST settings
SC2SEA Bronze, Silver and Gold Tournament, hosted by Zergtastic.

That's all the information you get from clicking on it, The GPD has a thread linked to it, but how about instead of doing that, make the upcoming event contain the event information, and having a link to the thread for discussions etc? It just looks cleaner and more organized imo

[BaKaiNu]

Originally Posted by Monk

It's not about 'it will be up later' it's about the Upcoming Events thing. You click on it and it just tells you when it's on, that's all.



That's all the information you get from clicking on it, The GPD has a thread linked to it, but how about instead of doing that, make the upcoming event contain the event information, and having a link to the thread for discussions etc? It just looks cleaner and more organized imo

The reason why the BSG update on the calendar is not linked to the tournament page is because the tournament page is not my responsibility this week and that I am usually the one who updates the calendar with BSG events, so there was no way for me to update the calendar with the sign up link before the tournament page is up.

[nirvAnA]

Thanks for the feedback.

Yeap we are working on a better tournament modifer atm which will link the status and brackets of our upcoming tournaments on the main page