It's about time to start talking about the changes coming to our little home and what to expect in the coming months. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
This post isn't meant to be a feature blast about what's in V4 (in fact V4 is a much more paired down version of 2o2p) but instead to let you guys know some time lines and things to look out for when it drops. I've been working on V4 behind the scenes solely in my freetime, and because of that I can't really give an accurate release date, but things are moving along fairly quickly at this point so I wanted to go through some things before hand to try and mitigate any surprise when we launch.
1) Why Do we need a V4?
Truth be told we don't. I suspect most of the members won't really care either way. Especially since over the past few year 2o2p has shrunk a substantial amount. Most members now do all their posting in chats, on social media, or have left and built their own copy of 2o2p. However there does remain a core group of dedicated members and an even larger group of readers.
The reason for the revamp is really to cater to this group while allowing me to experiment with some new tech and keep my coding chops up to date. It's probably 70% for my benefit and 30% the members, but it should make things a bit smoother going forward for everyone. I've added in things like mobile/table, simplified the navigation to only 3 buttons, and removed a lot of the clutter that 2o2p does't really need anymore to function. Simply put the revamp will focus primarily on what 2o2p was in the beginning; a forum to meet older gamers.
2) Will it be buggy?
Yep. The goal with the new launch is to push things out overtime, but launch with something that is minimally viable and work from there. I've got a list of some new features like tournaments and realtime chat, but those things will come together slowly and probably need a lot of testing from members before they're solid. I don't think we will have the same issues with the site that we had with V3 however. The speed problems were largely solved after V3 and with V4 a ton of the bloat is being removed in favor of something solid and simplistic. Having said that, there will be issues, errors, and bugs. I've only tested a little here and there so feedback will really be what drives solutions.
3) What about all the data?
Most of it will makes its way over but some things are going to get lost along the way. To specify blogs, comments, forums, and news are the main pieces of data that have been ported over. I will not be moving over Private Massage so if you have some you'd like to keep i suggest saving them now. Site points will also be ported over, but since it is a part of a new system on V4 it wont be there in the beginning.
Everything else not mentioned will be deleted forever. Unlike V2, there will not be a legacy link to fall back on after the launch. The goal is going to be a completely reboot of 2o2p. Some items here and there may get lost so be aware that your pictures, sigs, etc might need to be replaced. I suggest copying anything you might want to save for V4 now.
4) Forum mods and grou leaders?
There will need to be some heavy testing on permission once the new site launches. This is especially true for mods, writes, and leaders who have enhanced permissions. The new tournament systems allows for any member to build their own RoundRobin, Knockout, or Ladder style tournament and will need extensive testing by mods. Please keep in mind that posting privileges, access issues will be resolved as they come up. I'll really need all your help on this front!
5) What about the future of 2o2p?
More then likely 2old2play will not reach the size it was 3-4 years ago. There are simply to many games, copy cat sites, and social media avenues out there to compete with. However my goals with the site are to focus on our core. I'd like to develop more ways to allow both new and old members to jump into our community with as little barriers to entry as possible. Forums will likely be paired down even farther in favor of tagging posts by game and allowing people to easily sort through our site based on the games and people they want to play with.
2o2p will remain open to all clans and older games for years to come regardless of our size or the changes that time brings. Our writers, members, and mods are some of the best people I've had the pleasure of meeting and I look forward to continuing to be a place for older games in the future. As always we welcome old members, departed clans, and new people alike into our home regardless of past historoy or future. Thanks so much for being a part of 2old2play. See you all soon in Version 4.
