Some changes to Polycount, please read
mod
As you may have noticed, we've reordered things a bit here. If you take a look at the main page you'll see some stuff is a bit different. We wanted to make sure everyone was aware of everything going on here, and that means 2 relatively new sections of the forum.
We've taken contests and challenges out of 2d/3d and added it back in as an entirely new section. In here you'll find;
Contests and Challenges as it always has been, this is the place for dom war, unearthly, and any of the other contests that we tend to run from time to time
Low Poly Challenge We've had this up for a month or so now as a sub-forum, but have pulled it out of its exile and listed it on the main page for all to see.
Bi-Monthly Game Art Workshop This is a brand-spanking new section of the site, put up by popular demand. We'll be hosting workshops here where everyone can take on a similar task, learn and share ideas and totally be best buds.
So take the time to check everything out guys!
We've taken contests and challenges out of 2d/3d and added it back in as an entirely new section. In here you'll find;
Contests and Challenges as it always has been, this is the place for dom war, unearthly, and any of the other contests that we tend to run from time to time
Low Poly Challenge We've had this up for a month or so now as a sub-forum, but have pulled it out of its exile and listed it on the main page for all to see.
Bi-Monthly Game Art Workshop This is a brand-spanking new section of the site, put up by popular demand. We'll be hosting workshops here where everyone can take on a similar task, learn and share ideas and totally be best buds.
So take the time to check everything out guys!
Replies
Apologies to anyone who's keen on the old theme.
Expect this to happen before next week.
EDIT: As well, as an experiment, we may reorder the forum list a bit to bring emphasis on the nature of the boards (3D & 2D game art). This means bring the General boards down a couple in the list. Sure, you'll have to readjust your clicking habits, but we'd like an even larger presence in the art, help, and resources found on the boards. I'll likely do this on the weekend and only run it for a day or 2 so don't be surprised.
Cheers.
"You may want to post you final work in the P&P forums too"
You're using the old theme which will be phased out. Try switching to polycount.black. There is a dropdown in the very bottom left corner.
As polycount isnt supported by adds, and the site doesnt get much income other than the shirts and stuff that we sell, its unlikely that we'll ever get attachment support. The bandwidth costs would just be much too high.
Use dropbox
If I remember correctly, we tried this back before/during the board switch and everyone got pissy and it was switched back to the old way. Personally I don't care where it is, but I'm leaning toward leaving it alone, since it's been this way for many years now and there's definitely no shortage of badass art on this board.
What surprises me is that despite the fantastic collection of great artists that visit this forum, you see very, very few job postings. Maybe HR people don't know the site, or maybe they don't like posting in these kinds of forums, but either way I wish there was a plan to get more job postings in here. Maybe you could remove the sign-up requirement for posting in the job openings section.
The Freelance jobs and Requests section titles are a little ambiguous. I know what they are now, but at first I was very confused. Maybe adding the word 'UNPAID' to the Requests section, and instead of Freelance Jobs call it 'Artists available for Freelance' since that's basically what it is.
As a minor note, it sometimes bothers me that artists post their freelance resume, but don't really contribute to the forums. They'll join the forum just to pimp their site while looking for work and never come back. I guess in the end it's their loss because some of these portfolios could really use some advice.
But other than that, I love polycount! I like that it is a smaller, tighter, and very very very talented community. Way better than that overbloated mess that is cgSociety. Love and kisses to everyone(on the lips, very wetly).
I am also on the side of keeping General Discussion at the top. I remember (as Slum does) when we tried to change it around, and everyone got confused and upset - personally I think it's fine as it is. Everyone knows what they're looking for on this site anyway, I don't think changing the order of existing forums is going to re-dress that balance.
I second that. That's one of the feature I like with Zbrushcentral. I can go back after months and recheck interesting thread without worrying about broken image host, etc. An alternative would be to get a photobucket polycount account or something?
As a side note, I'm with people who want to keep the actual forum order. I personnaly like to check out birthday,event and various stuff thread BEFORE blowing my mind with awesome art, it's like my refreshing stop before the big deal !
cool job guys
As for the THEME of the forums: Go to the VERY bottom of the forums, there's a drop-down menu in the bottom left. Change it to polycount.BLACK *now* if you haven't already.
Asherr: I use 4 different monitors throughout the day. And even on my Cintiq, which are notoriously dark, I can read things just fine. Not sure what else to tell you here, and the colours will likely not be changing.
As far as the paid jobs section goes, i think one thing that would help a bit is to separate freelance into 2 sections, Hiring freelance where people post freelance jobs, and seeking freelance where people post their portfolios. Right now its a bit messy, because both are in the same section. This way when you're looking for JOBS all you see is JOBS, and when you're looking for ARTISTS all you see is ARTISTS. I think adding a "For Hire" section, that is ambigous to freelance/onsite would be a good thing to have, because as it is right now, there isnt actually a place specifically to post your resume if you're looking for an onsite job, only freelance.
As far as job posts go, i think at least some part of the lack of posting there is the current economy. Not a whole lot we can do about that, and yeah, companies just not knowing to post there? If anyone has ideas on how to raise awareness there let me know. Polycount is like the ONLY place on the internet you can post game jobs for FREE.
Not requiring registration will never happen, because we'll just get shitloads of spam then
Agree with registering and never again posting, but meh, their loss really.
anyway..... good work guys
oh - and a suggestion - i know you've got the calendar thingy, but maybe have a generic reminder flashing (like the unread prvt msg icon) about upcoming contests e.g...
meh
I wouldn't be apposed to the default text being brighter, the same color as the signature text, which is just a small bit easier to read.
I dont wear high-heals because they're comfortable, i do it because it makes my ass look fantastic.
To an extent, less contrast = worse for your eyes as well, there is no rule that more contrast is always worse, you need a good balance.
Also default text is #999999
and signature is #cccccc [edit] Actually links are this color, which is what i have in my sig =D
Or so says photoshop atleast. I think switching to the sig color would improve readability enough, without adding any extra eye strain.
i thought it was perfect as it was.
I've tried this theme on dozens of computers and monitors, and I know lots of people who use this theme every day and have zero problems with it, so I'm pretty convinced that it's monitor or graphics driver settings (or maybe even actually eye problems) which make some people say that it's hard to read.
Vocal minority, I reckon. Still, now that the text has been brightened, if people still have a problem with it, then there is definitely something wrong with their eyes
Edit: Agree with what a couple of people said, that the "unread thread" link text is now too bright. It's making my eyes go a bit weird looking at it.
DON'T FORGET: The old theme will be GONE this weekend!!
The forums are really confusing with the unread text changed. It's like it just highlights and bolds whatever threads it wants to and doesn't sort them according to new. Mind-boggling!
That's my two complaints, in fact. The text in the editor, where I'm typing right now, is too dark. And the text below it, where you can read the last few posts in the thread while typing a reply, is also too dark. I can read it fine now, because there's a rainstorm going on outside. Once that goes away and the sun bleeds through my blinds and mixes with the natural bleeding from my monitor, I won't be able to see a freaking thing. I'll have to make sure only to type replies on Polycount on rainy days or after sundown.
I KNOW I need a new monitor. It's not exactly good to be an artist on a monitor this bad. But there's a lot of things I've been trying to save up for, literally for years, and I haven't gotten a single of those things because I can never get a job that pays me long enough. One of them is a large LCD monitor. But before I get that, I need a desk that my office chair can fit under so I don't have to sit on a broken couch while working. I'd rather strain my eyes for a bit longer than break my back for a bit longer, frankly. And those things are expensive! Besides, out of all the sites and forums I visit regularly, including other darkly themed forums like Metroid2002 and Machinae Supremacy, Polycount is the only one I've ever had problems with. Maybe it is just me. But that still makes this the darkest forum I've ever seen on the whole Internets...!