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GameKnot related: interface for team games
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rejected_2
04-Nov-10, 08:10

Deleted by rejected_2 on 04-Nov-10, 09:19.
rejected_2
04-Nov-10, 09:25

Interface for team games
Hi , i received this from one of my team members and i think it is a good idea , i am aware that you can look at team games , but not in such an easy way if this came about , its asking to have the same on the left of screen team matches , so you just click on it the same way you do for games,anyway , any comments and support would be welcome.



"But in any case I think Gameknot is just not team friendly. Not good at all for the team spirit. As mentioned in the past (don't know if it was to you) what makes a team is a team match. But the way the interface is now is "My Games". You click and play your moves and you close the site. What would be nice if you had an option to view all team matches. What you would do in a real life team match, walking around seeing how your teammates are doing.

Concluding, without a nice easy interface to manage your team, I don't think players will really get together as a team. Which means that little by little you will just get close to some players. "




kingdawar
04-Nov-10, 11:36

Yes it would be nice if there was a page on which all diagrams from the current positions in a particular team match are shown next to each other
rejected_2
05-Nov-10, 08:42

interface
If enough players ask for it , then it might happen
dansuno
05-Nov-10, 10:49

good idea
it would be very intersting yes. Difficult for now to try to keep a team spirit
maca
06-Nov-10, 02:08

There are many things at the team games system that could be improved. This is one good idea for further development, but the basics should be fixed first.


Regards,
MaCa.
rejected_2
08-Nov-10, 09:25

basics
Hi , i am interested in what you mean by basics
maca
08-Nov-10, 10:53

Possibility for team Captains to remove the green dot from a player that is either on probation due to timeouts, or taking vacation from team games. Automated algorithm for Captains to seek well-balanced and fair pairings for team challenges among the available players of all teams, so that not everything needs to be done manually by hand.

These are very small changes, and take far less work to implement than building a whole new interface. Right now being a team Captain is pretty tedious, and that cripples the entire team play system.


Regards,
MaCa.
Gameknot.com
08-Nov-10, 17:38

It hurts a bit when getting comments like that ("Gameknot is just not team friendly" and "without a nice easy interface to manage your team"), considering that the team play is the part of GameKnot that took the most time and effort to implement *by*far* (excluding the chess itself of course). Even if you just count the number of pages, scripts and links dedicated to teams -- it's the biggest component of GameKnot so far.

Here's the link to the page with all active team matches for a team (accessible via the team's profile page):
gameknot.com
There you can click on "progress" for any of the team matches, and then move your mouse over the games to see the current position on each chessboard at a glance. It's of course not exactly the same as what heinzkat is suggesting, but pretty close.

The problem here is that if you put 10 smart people in one room and ask them how to do something that's not trivial, you'll likely end up with 10 different way of doing it. We of course always try to satisfy everyone, but try as we might, unfortunately it's not always possible. And then there are also other considerations at play that can turn something that seems simple enough to do from the outside, into a very complicated headache-inducing thing when looking at it from the inside. There is also the matter of limited resources and a very long future features list, complicated by conflicting priorities and inter-dependencies, which might make you wish you chose a simpler game like tic-tac-toe.   All in all, we are trying/doing our best and hope you'll enjoy the results. Keep those suggestions and comments coming too!
grege79
09-Nov-10, 01:14

Rivals
I would love to see the rivals feature moved across to teams as suggested previously, ie Team Balance grand score vs Fighting warriors.
kingdawar
09-Nov-10, 03:41

If you put ten team captains in a room you will have ten saying one should be able to turn off the availability of a player manually (either by the player himself or by enforced by the captain).
  and that an available player match searching algorithm wouldn't be such a bad idea either.
maca
09-Nov-10, 10:49

^^Heinz nails it perfectly, as he often does. GK, I wouldn't have played for life membership on this server if I didn't already respect the efforts you've put into the features that already exist. But arrange a poll among all team Captains, and the chances are that they all list these features as their favorite wishes for your development team. I know that the Team play system is the heaviest part of the site; you've made that quite clear many times before, and I can easily believe that. But the problem is that you're prioritizing the grand scheme of things over vital little details.


Regards,
MaCa.
rejected_2
09-Nov-10, 11:20

replys
Well , as the one that posted the suggestion in the first place , let me say that i am pleased with the response and comments up to date and i can understand what is being said and agree on both sides , but i do think that an easier way of checking on team games is important , why , because it helps team members to be involved with the team.

A lot of team members just play the games that they are given and rely on captains and co captains to keep them informed , if it was in front of them and easier , i am certain it would attract them to see how other team members where doing and the team overall, it is important that we keep them involved in all manner of things , but as has been said , can be hard and boring work for team captains and co captains , so , some help from gameknot on this front would be welcome by most i think.


John
cyprus_warrior
11-Nov-10, 19:37

Sorry to hurt you a bit GK, I am the one that quoted those words  
But mostly I wanted to say that it doesn't have a nice interface for team features. They are
like hidden extra bonuses rather than core features.

What I see as a software developer is that the site started with minimal features/ideas. A
simple site to play games with serious players. And it kept it this way that is why we are still
here. Then you add a lot other features. Which is great. Why not change a bit the interface
to add those features as core features. I believe you should completely focus on the interface
and unify pages. And especially focus on the "My Games" page. This is the heart of
everything.

What you have to do is make "My Games" to a team-interface. When you select a team match
you should go to a screen where all games of the team match are displayed. Then of course
you will focus on yours but at that exact screen you will see all the team progress for that
team match. That is the whole point. It is either a personal game that belongs to a team
match or a team match where you get to move pieces only on your board. It is just the idea
of things. How it is now is like playing in a room with only you and your opponent and you
have to go log in into a website to see what the rest of the players are doing. The feeling is
completely different from being in a room with your teammates!

So this is just to view a team match in a better way, not for team managements. The user
experience will go up and the team spirit and even team management for the captains. Then
the team matches will be something really different. You can follow this advice for
tournaments quite easily showing the progress in the same screen with the game board.

If not convinced imagine advertising this site to someone. You will be like "this is a team
match". "See if you go here and then here then click here....". On the contrary you should just
say "here is a team match" without further clicks.