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Some changes to Polycount, please read

1
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!

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  • praetus
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    praetus interpolator
    This is awesome. It's really nice to see you guys continuously working on the site to make it better.
  • aesir
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    aesir polycounter lvl 18
    mucho better-o
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    As well, we're going to be getting rid of the OLD polycount theme; "polycount" and "polycount_wide". We're going to be going with polycount.BLACK and polycount.BLACK-wide. They're supported by us and have the most recent changes.

    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.
  • hobodactyl
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    hobodactyl polycounter lvl 18
    Cool, thanks for all your hard work, guys :D
  • JasonLavoie
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    JasonLavoie polycounter lvl 18
    Change is in the air... smells good :)
  • Mark Dygert
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    Awesome stuff, good to know about the juggling ahead of time. =)
  • Rory_M
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    Rory_M polycounter lvl 10
    very cool, ty.
  • killingpeople
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    killingpeople polycounter lvl 18
    a small typo in "Contests and Challenges" description:
    "You may want to post you final work in the P&P forums too"
  • HntrLuc
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    HntrLuc polycounter lvl 18
    really cool stuff. would be awesome if there was attachment support for the workshop section, so we dont lose all this information as various image hosts go down/move
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    The columns are jacked up in the new subforums when I look at them, the number of posts column is taking up about 75% of the screen. this is in IE7
  • EarthQuake
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    The columns are jacked up in the new subforums when I look at them, the number of posts column is taking up about 75% of the screen. this is in IE7

    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.
  • EarthQuake
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    HntrLuc wrote: »
    really cool stuff. would be awesome if there was attachment support for the workshop section, so we dont lose all this information as various image hosts go down/move

    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 =)
  • Asherr
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    Asherr polycounter lvl 18
    I'll switch to polycount.black when someone finally realizes IT'S FREAKING HARD TO READ and changes it!
  • Slum
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    Slum polycounter lvl 18
    adamBrome wrote: »
    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.

    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.
  • ArtsyFartsy
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    I haven't been visiting these forums for all that long, but it seems like the "Work Opportunities" section might need some revisiting too.

    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).
  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    Woop! Good to see the sub-forums getting the exposure they deserve.

    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.
  • Renaud Galand
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    Renaud Galand polycounter lvl 19
    HntrLuc wrote: »
    really cool stuff. would be awesome if there was attachment support for the workshop section, so we dont lose all this information as various image hosts go down/move

    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 :)
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    I've no problem keeping things in the order they're in if thats what you guys prefer. I thought, though, that this time with a heads-up it may be less impacting.

    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.
  • D4V1DC
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    D4V1DC polycounter lvl 18
    A well needed addition, nice missed out on that lowpoly contest :(.
  • EarthQuake
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    I haven't been visiting these forums for all that long, but it seems like the "Work Opportunities" section might need some revisiting too.

    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).

    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.
  • achmedthesnake
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    achmedthesnake polycounter lvl 17
    hahaha for all those whiners about the visual of the "polycount-black/wide" theme - didn't you hear about those statistics that said game players are able to identify contrasts blacks and greys more better - so stop whining and PLAY MOAR GAMES!

    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
  • Asherr
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    Asherr polycounter lvl 18
    well I've used black background with white text in mIRC (9pt fixedsys font) for years just fine but the same scheme on forums is really hard to read. I know I'm not the only one to say this and other said the exact same thing when you first showed the polycount.black. guess it's too much work to lighten to 75% grey or something and see how that works?
  • EarthQuake
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    You're asking for brighter text, correct?

    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.
  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    I agree. --polycount is ugly as ass but much easier to read than --polycount.BLACK :P
  • EarthQuake
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    Hey, its pain to look good.

    I dont wear high-heals because they're comfortable, i do it because it makes my ass look fantastic.
  • jocose
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    jocose polycounter lvl 11
  • frostymoose
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    frostymoose polycounter lvl 17
    There's people out there who can't read polycount.black?? Srsly??
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    Ya I don't get it. The signature font colour is the same as the default font colour. Going brighter = more contrast = worse for the eyes, I thought?
  • ArtsyFartsy
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    You know you're in an artists' forum when people spend 2 pages talking about which shade of gray is best.:shifty:
  • EarthQuake
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    adamBrome wrote: »
    Ya I don't get it. The signature font colour is the same as the default font colour. Going brighter = more contrast = worse for the eyes, I thought?

    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.
  • EarthQuake
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    Alright we changed the text, made it just a little brighter, so should be a little easier on to read. We bumped it up the the "link text" and it was way bright and painful. This should be a good median here.
  • Wells
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    Wells polycounter lvl 18
    ah, fuck. it's burning my eyes. toooo much contrast.

    i thought it was perfect as it was.
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    It's been adjusted. EQ posted a little early as I was changing numbers. The difference is VERY slight, or should be. Any problems let me know, its easily revisable.
  • bounchfx
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    bounchfx mod
    not a fan of the superwhite unread thread text honestly
  • Luxury
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    Luxury polycounter lvl 18
    Screw it! If we can't come to a conclusion on what shade of gray the text should be, then let's just SHUT THE WHOLE GODDAMN THING DOWN.
  • Wahlgren
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    Wahlgren polycounter lvl 17
    I have zero problems with polycounts textcolor. I can read it perfectly. (Even before the change) :S
  • kwakkie
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    kwakkie polycounter lvl 12
    Nice! Any chance of having a Portfolio subforum soon?
  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    I'm really certain that anyone who has been saying the polycount.BLACK theme (before the text was brightened) was too low on contrast, either has their monitor calibrated incorrectly, or has eye problems. Seriously!

    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.
  • bounchfx
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    bounchfx mod
    yeah I thought it was perfect before ;(
    whine whine yada yada
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    Will adjust unread links when I get home.

    DON'T FORGET: The old theme will be GONE this weekend!!
  • EbolaV
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    EbolaV keyframe
    ooh i have to cry. Polycount is growing more and more =)
  • Daaark
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    Daaark polycounter lvl 17
    I started a group on STEAM to boycott this change.
  • Vrav
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    Vrav polycounter lvl 11
    Yeah. The bright white text totally clashes with Daaark's avatar, negating its appeal.

    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!
  • Daaark
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    Daaark polycounter lvl 17
    Vrav wrote: »
    Yeah. The bright white text totally clashes with Daaark's avatar, negating its appeal.
    Well.. shit.. I tried to make it more appealing.
  • Vrav
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    Vrav polycounter lvl 11
    Scarred for life.
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    *DING* Job's done!
  • Rox
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    Rox
    MoP wrote: »
    I'm really certain that anyone who has been saying the polycount.BLACK theme (before the text was brightened) was too low on contrast, either has their monitor calibrated incorrectly, or has eye problems. Seriously!
    It's called having a 20 year old CRT. Yes, it's incorrectly calibrated, because the hardware can't do any better. Here we go again, I can barely see the rightmost word in this text box because the bleeding from the light grey frame where the smilies sit is brighter than the font itself.

    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...!
  • Pedro Amorim
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    ok. time to change monitor.
  • Mark Dygert
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    Rox wrote: »
    It's called having a 20 year old CRT. Yes, it's incorrectly calibrated, because the hardware can't do any better.
    That sucks =/ I feel for ya but its kind of crazy to adjust it to something with higher contrast just for one person with some really old hardware.
  • Pedro Amorim
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