Battlefront Moves!

[Moon]

Battlefront Moves!

This is an early headsup to all of our forum participants, website visitors and customers that in the near future (read: this month) Battlefront.com will be upgrading its infrastructure to add some new features and enhancements.

While we will do everything to minimize any downtime, there may be brief moments when our website, forum, order system or email is not reachable.

We have not yet scheduled the date for the upgrade itself, but once that is firmed up we will notify people via the normal avenues (news, forum posts, RSS feeds, and newsletter) in advance with more details.

What will change? Everything :cool:

This upgrade is really overdue as our continued growth has begun to outpace our existing infrastructure and internal systems. Digital Delivery has been rapidly increasing in popularity, many new technologies are now available for community and multiplayer features, and we want to offer you, our customers, the latest in the state of the art service and experience. Planned upgrades aim to introduce a number of exciting new features ranging from multiplayer applications to mod, scenario, and map repositories and much more. We won’t be able to introduce all of these at the same time, but the coming upgrade is necessary in setting the stage to permit such enhancements.

One of the most immediate impacts for you will be the switch to a completely new discussion forum package.

UBB has served us very well in the past years since 2000, and has been the home of nearly 1.5 million (!) posts. (If you count all the posts listed on the forum currently you will arrive at about 1.1 million posts. But this does not include a couple hundred thousand posts from a purged General Discussion Forum a few years ago as well as posts made for games which we do not longer publish). No other wargaming forum in the world is bigger than this!

But it’s time to move on. We’re going to be switching to vBulletin. It’s one of the most popular discussion forum packages out there and it is in fact already hosting several of our new beta tester discussion boards. If you create an entry in the Strategic Command Design Challenge, you’re in fact looking at the new board software already (however, you cannot register yet, and there is no point in saving the URL for later because it will change).

vBulletin will allow us to introduce a lot of new modern features that are sorely missing from our old UBB package. You will be able to subscribe to threads and entire forums via RSS feeds, just to name one. We’re also going to introduce a completely new system to regulate user bans and warnings called Infractions, which is inherently more fair and flexible than our current "manual" ban.

Obviously the most pressing question you have right now is: will I be able to keep my existing forum account? Well, we have good news, and some minor bad news.

The good news first: yes – you will be able to keep your existing forum account. In fact, we’re going to import all threads, all posts, and all users from UBB to the new forum! So if you racked up an impressive post count you don’t have to be afraid of losing it.

However, this feature comes at a price – which brings us to the bad news.

For one, such imports are never 100% clean. Especially not for such a huge forum as ours, with nearly 30,000 registered users and over a million posts. There are bound to be bugs and errors, which may lead to some posts and data becoming corrupted or unavailable. We are not going to keep an archive of the old forum, and we cannot possibly check 100% of all imported data, so if (rather: when) this happens, some posts or threads may get lost completely or partially after the import. Well, such is life.

The other minor issue is that due to a variety of technical and security issues, we will not be able to link your Forum Account with any of the other new online systems we have implemented already, or plan to add in the future as part of our new Customer Account System.

Anyone that has placed an order since last October has already seen the new Customer Account System at work. This system allows you to log-in to your own unique customer portal and access your past order info (from last October at least), look up license codes for your games and even re-download your digital version games.

So basically, the biggest change to this entire new system for you is that you may now have two separate accounts. A Forum Account which will allow you access the Discussion Forums (as you always have) and a new Customer Account which will allow you to access all the other new online features. As we said above, those of you that have placed orders since late last year have already seen this in action and already have a new Customer Account that was created when you placed your order. The key point to remember is that each account (Forum and Customer) is separate from the other and handles access to different, unique features online.

We feel that the new Customer Account System is a great way for us to make things much more user-friendly for you. As said above, in your secure customer account all your order data is saved, including links to re-download a game or to look up your license keys. In the past you had to always contact our support email address if you had lost this info and wait for us to email you back. Now, you can do this all whenever and wherever you want. In addition to the better management of your order info, Customer Accounts will also allow us to reward loyal customers with coupons and other special offers in the future.

We’re excited about all of the upcoming upgrades and the new possibilities that they will offer. But we also know that many of you (and us) have grown fond of one or the other feature from the old site and it may be difficult at first to let go of some of your old customs. However, you, the customer, will be the main beneficiary of all the coming changes and improvements, so we’re hoping that you will enjoy them, and once you get used to them, will never look back.

We can’t wait to get going and will let you know as soon as we have a firm date for the upgrades.

Thank you for your attention,

the Battlefront.com Team

[ChrisND]

Can we change the color? Because that orange is really ugly.

[Moon]

No.

[purpheart23]

So no tye dye, wavy gravy, experience possible for us forum visitors then?

[Dennis50]

I'm kinda partial to Orange Sunshine, Purple Haze and Window Pane.

Gunz

[Boo Radley]

As long as there are options, I'm happy.

[flammenwerfer]

Will the Peng Thread get its own pavilion?

[Bluefish]

Originally posted by Moon:

Planned upgrades aim to introduce a number of exciting new features ranging from multiplayer applications to mod, scenario, and map repositories and much more.

Nice. Kind of like the return of Combat Mission Headquarters! :cool:

[gibsonm]

Sounds good.

Of course all hell is going to break loose if the cut over isn’t perfect.

Someone is going to have a fun time until its all bedded in.

Good Luck, “someone”.

[salwon]

Does anyone want to get those old tactics threads saved now?

Anyone other than me, of course

[Combatintman]

Could be an opportunity to purge the bone (cr4p in US-speak) threads though.

[ElectricWraith]

Can we get rid of the horrid header that takes up half my screen?

[hoolaman]

Originally posted by ElectricWraith:

Can we get rid of the horrid header that takes up half my screen?

Yes

[Homo ferricus]

Originally posted by Hoolaman:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by ElectricWraith:

Can we get rid of the horrid header that takes up half my screen?

Yes </font>

[Pandur]

verry simple!

if you have firefox or opera like me, you should be able to do it like on the screen. i dont know how this could work with the crapy internet explorer.

basicly you do a right klick in the frame you want, and hit öffnen in my case wich means "open".

there you go, the intrusive header is gone, and you can bookmark that without header than and open it with a bookmark everytime without this header.

klickable thumb;

[Paul AU]

I've seen this 'infraction' system in action, and without an unbiased appeal system (of any kind) in place, it amounts to a fakely-legitimised "manual"-ban system.

"It's not that you make embarrassingly accurate points in embarrassingly effective ways, it’s just that in the past I’ve been forced to issue you all these ‘infractions’ you see? No, not because you make embarrassingly accurate points in embarrassingly effective ways... no, for, er, other reasons."

It's kind of more annoying than just saying, (manually), "Don't like you - go away."

(Oops, I just earned an Infraction)

[Moon]

One thing about the Infractions in vB is that there is no one fixed system. We're getting a framework within which we decide how Infractions will be handled on our forum, regardless of how it's handled on other forums

The advantage of the Infractions system is twofold:

- some people are very skilled at constantly bending the rules, but never breaking them so much that each little event on its own is enough to warrant a ban. You'd think they do trolling for a living, they're so good at it. With Infractions, we will be able basically keep a record of all these little things by giving out warnings, and they will sum up over time, giving us (and everyone else) a more clear picture of who's a troublemaker (but skilled at bending the rules to avoid an outright ban for a long time).

- Infractions make bans (and warnings) more transparent to everyone. Not only do the exact same rules apply to everyone equally (they do now as well of course, but now it's "written in stone"), but each single Infraction can be related to a very specific event, and is given out "as it happens".

The admins now only have to make a call about a very specific infraction, instead of making the call "do I ban him now? Did he make enough damage?". Of course it's still their call to make, and as such it can always be debated if it's the right call or not, but now it is much more specific and down to the point.

It is much more difficult to abuse such a system for personal dislikes in that way. Not that we ever did such a thing or even fear that it might happen, but this system makes it easier to defend against any such claims. Our current defence is only to make sure that no threads are ever deleted (well, except in extreme cases, I think it happend only a couple of times) so that people can see for themselves what happened and why, but it's not ideal because they really need to be looking for it, while Infractions make all of this, like I said already, more transparent.

This doesn't mean that people will like to get banned any more than they do now, of course But let's take your example. We could now fully prove that noone ever has received a warning or a ban because he made "embarrassingly accurate poinjts in embarrassingly effective ways". In the old forum, I can only claim this, while you can use this example to imply that we did. In the new system, people can look up each infraction and the reasons for it, and there will be no doubt that we only ban people if they go too far.

As for an unbiased appeal system: nothing happening on this forum or this website is unbiased. We're a games publisher and these forums are a means for people to discuss our games; they're not a forum on your local fan site. As such, different rules apply, and we will always keep the final say over what is happening here.

Martin

[Paul AU]

Yes, but everything you said works both ways, as I tried to say.

“Some moderators are very skilled at constantly belittling people, but never enough that each little event on its own is enough to warrant a comment. You'd think they do abuse for a living, they're so good at it. With Infractions, they will be able to incrementally abuse people with no recourse by the abusee.”

- Infractions make bans (and warnings) more transparent to everyone.

Do they? Aren’t these “infractions” issued privately with no possible discussion? Hence my initial comment.

It is much more difficult to abuse such a system for personal dislikes in that way.

I haven’t seen how BFC will go about this, but unless it’s substantially different from how it’s implemented elsewhere - I disagree entirely. As I said. It’s a perfect vehicle for disguising and legitimising personal grudges. Specifically designed for, I start to think.

I’ve earned myself another infraction. (And if I had, who would know? Where would I contest it?)

Don’t get me wrong, this is your forum, your home. You are fully entitled not to like people. To eject unwelcome visitors. Indeed, I hope you do. I don't want a forum full of d-heads either (er, except for me).

I guess the history of recent ‘bans’ here have me riled. (Nothing to do with me, except in principle).

As for an unbiased appeal system:

Obviously not possible on your scale, I know. So my point stands - it’s down to just what you guys personally reckon. It’s more honourable not to dress it up.

(That’s about all I have to say on this).

[OneShot]

Great ... hopefully the transfer to vBulletin will work out without too much trouble. I worked with a vBulletin board since about 2001 (Transfered from UBB to vBulletin myself) and can only say ... its a nice and well maintained as well as very comfortable system. Hopefully you guys have some good PHP coders on your hands ... that way you can add the stuff the vB community hasn't yet created and tie in other things where needed.

[Moon]

Paul AU, to be honest, I have no clue what you mean. Reading your posts you're implying a lot of things out of thin air. I also don't get the point of turning around what I said upside down and then arguing with yourself about it

Any system can be abused if we wanted it. But abuse aside, the old system is in all aspects inferior to the new one. And Infractions, as I might add, is only one of many other improvements. Temporary bans for example are something hard to manage right now, and he Infractions system will make it easier.

Anyway, whatever experience you had on other forums will be hard to transfer here. But thanks for sharing your opinion anyway. Not that our decision was up for debate anyway.

Martin