I'll post it here for general scrutiny, as well as send this to you via e-mail.
One of the first things I would like to address, is the options for adding(and editing) a character's information when he is placed in the roster. There are five sections for editing a character's roster:
- General Character Info
- Game Stats
- Game Skills
- Journal
- Flags & keys
One of the great things about Eve Online? 90% of the ingame data is exportable. Eve Online has many different data exports, ranging from raw data of the entire eve universe and it's 5000 solar systems, down to a personal data export for each individual character. The character data export is a simple XML file, small in size, that details this basic information:
- Character Name & ID(for downloading a portrait thumbnail).
- Character Race, Bloodline, and Gender.
- Current Corporation.
- Amount of ISK in Wallet.
- Personal skill attributes(for training skills) and total skillpoints.
- List of all trained skills, their ranks, and what level they are currently trained to.
As you can see, the first three sections of your character editor can be completed with a simple XML parser and an exported file, with extra detailed information on the side! Not to mention, with 300+ skills in the game, creating you skilltree manually is simply not worth the time.
There are some options within the character editor that I believe should be altered or removed. Here is a list of them:
General Character InfoCharacter Name: Although this data will be filled by an XML file, being able to do it manually is always a plus.
Game: I guess it's nice to remind you what game your playing.
Server: Since there is only one server in Eve, and there always will be, this option should be removed.
Thumbnail URL: Useful for manually linking/uploading your portrait. Even though the XML file can do it for you, there are many reasons to have the option of doing it manually.
More Info URL: I guarantee 100% this will not be used in it's current form. Instead, this option should allow you to enter a custom HTML string for a search engine. This custom HTML will appear as a link within the person's roster information, and clicking this link will run the HTML with the character's full name added at the end of the HTML string.
One of the most popular things for a corporation to have, other than a website, is a killboard. By implementing this suggesting, you will allow people to effectively "plug-in" their killboard's search string into your rosters page, plus any other search able database that corporation has.
Guild Associations: (located under General Character Info): Again, I guarantee this will not be used in its current form. Due to the metagaming and security usually involved with running a corporation website, people will either make separate guildportal.com accounts for other games, or not use this option at all. Also, there is no such thing as belonging to multiple corporations in EVE, as other game mechanics render it useless and unnecessary.
This option should be changed into "Character associations." Most Eve Online players have multiple accounts, and sometimes they live outside the corporation for anonymity. It is very important to keep a listing of these alternate characters, as they tend to have specialized roles that aid the corporation itself, even though they may not be officially in the corporation. It also helps to identify which of your corporation members are active and contributing, as they may not be using their main account to do so.
Mechanic-wise, the "Show on Guild Rosters?" ticker should be replaced with an "Alt Character" ticker, flagging the character as an alternate account, and not a main one. Flagging a character as an "Alt character" should also open a new edit field, letting you input who the main character is.
I suggest that you also add a global option to enable/disable the viewing of characters flagged as "Alt characters" from the Roster's view page. This will allow people to change views between their "total" corporation numbers, and their "true" active member numbers.
Short Biography: Useful for jotting down additional information about your character, and his skills/abilities. Keep this in.
ADD - Corporation title: Each member of a corporation has a title which describes their rank and position in the corp, their role within the corp, and what level of access they have. This should just be a simple text entry field, so a person can enter their title manually.
ADD - Timezone: This is a necessary field for a game like Eve online, as dictating which player is on which timezone is extremely important. I imagine this option will be popular for many other supported games on your site as well. This would be a simple, drop down box to select a certain timezone, much like when setting up a calendar or scheduler.
ADD - Upload XML data: This will be where you upload your XML file to be parsed and inputted by the website.
ADD - Killboard Banner URL: Many Eve Online killboards will take your character's stats and compile them into a simple .jpeg banner image, and host that image dynamically from the killboard's database. This entry field will let you input the location of that banner image, so that it will show up in your character's detailed roster information like a forum signature.
Game Stats, Game Skills, Flags & KeysThese three sections should be removed. The first two are made redundant by the parsed XML information. The "select a ship" option is pointless when the average eve player owns multiple ships and has the skills to fly at least 10-20 different classes. Neither Flags, nor keys are used in Eve Online in such a manner worth devoting a whole section to them. They are mostly unimportant and disposable.
JournalThis option is not going to be used at all. Contrary to what the makers of "Star Trek" would like to believe, the players of Eve Online do not keep captains logs or space journals. Even if they did, there are dozens of better ways to record them, like through message boards. The "Journal" section should be removed.
However, the site mechanics used for the Journal can be altered for something that is incredibly important, and that is "Specializations"
Specializations(add)Each character in Eve Online can specialize in different things, and the number of things you can specialize in is only limited by time itself. Alt characters are sometimes made to specialize in one thing, while older main characters can specialize in dozens of different things. It is very important to list all the specializations of each character, so corporations understand how each member can contribute, and other corporation members know who to look for when performing different jobs.
By using the existing Journal mechanics, the "Add Entry" button can be changed to "Add Specialization." In order to add a specialization, two fields must be filled out:
"Title" of specialization: Such as miner,manufacturer, combat, exploration, etc. This can either be a custom field, or a drop-down box with selectable choices. I prefer the drop-down box, since it forces all members to make uniform choices, instead of using different spellings and words for the same kinds of roles, which would make searching the roster by "specialization" a nightmare. If you need a list of categories to put in this list, feel free to ask.
"Detailed Description" of what exactly you are specialized in. For example, if you are specialized in "Combat," well what type of ship/loadout? If you specialize in manufacturing, what exact field is it and what blueprints do you own? This should be a large text entry box for players to add the fine points of what they specialize in.
In summary, if these above changes were implemented, then the guildportal.com's support for Eve online would improve by 1000%, and you could seriously advertise your services to corporations looking to put together a web site. I also have other, more advanced suggestions, such as improving the bank system and converting the DKP system to something more Eve oriented.
Just keep this in mind: The average Eve player owns two accounts. Is is common for a player to own 3-4 accounts at a time. That is $15 an account. In retrospect, a $30 subscription fee for 6 months is nothing to an Eve player, and any successful corporation launched in Eve will pay that. I haven't even started launching my corporation yet, and already $30 seems like a nice price from local hosting, and getting rid of that annoying advert banner. :-)