What do you miss from the old Gameful?

[The Mayor]

If there is anything you were a fan and is not being able to find in the new platform, what is it?

[Sarah Best]

The game elements, like giving treats and completing challenges, and the random monster heads at the bottom of the screen. 

[CK]

Since I just joined a couple of days ago, I'm looking for the Mayor icon where I click to keep up with the Mayor's challenges that "level up" my monster.  Otherwise there is a crispness to this site that wasn't there in the prior site.

[CK]

It also just occurred to me -- now that I am starting to "get my feet wet" reading some of the blogs and other content -- that I and other newbies would benefit greatly from some kind of a glossary where definitions of technical terms that seasoned veterans take for granted would be readily available.  Ideally, the terms could be a different color and "moused over" for instant relief. Alternatively, there might be a glossary site from which to bounce back and forth.

We could also develop a word game to make it easier for newbies to learn new words and thereby "brush up on their foreign language skills."

[The Mayor]

I hear you. I also loved the way everyone was always hanging on my office. It was nice to keep up with the latest news (gossip?)

So, to clarify, do you miss the challenges itself or the leveling up and seeing your little monster grow? Please try to explain what you miss, maybe with an example of something that you found awesome.

Sarah Best said:

The game elements, like giving treats and completing challenges, and the random monster heads at the bottom of the screen. 

CK said:

Since I just joined a couple of days ago, I'm looking for the Mayor icon where I click to keep up with the Mayor's challenges that "level up" my monster.  Otherwise there is a crispness to this site that wasn't there in the prior site.

[The Mayor]

CK, you are right, I believe every one could benefit of this! Why don't you start it? :) Create a blog post or a group about it and rock on. We can even feature it in the sidebar. :)

CK said:

It also just occurred to me -- now that I am starting to "get my feet wet" reading some of the blogs and other content -- that I and other newbies would benefit greatly from some kind of a glossary where definitions of technical terms that seasoned veterans take for granted would be readily available.  Ideally, the terms could be a different color and "moused over" for instant relief. Alternatively, there might be a glossary site from which to bounce back and forth.

We could also develop a word game to make it easier for newbies to learn new words and thereby "brush up on their foreign language skills."

[CK]

Okay, more specifics.  What I especially liked was the structure. I'm a great believer in steps. Even if I can't "leap tall buildings in a single bound," I can either find the elevator or take the stairs. THE VIEW FROM THE ROOF IS THE SAME!  The old Mayor site was perfect for me as a newbie: What's my next move? Fill out the profile, join one group -- whatever it was, it was specific, right now in small increments.

The one stumbling block was the idea of just going out and  "friending" someone at random. That slowed me down for a minute. I wanted to wait until I established at least a small connection with someone. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find someone.

"Leveling up" triggers mixed emotions.  IMHO validation can be addictive like chocolate or cigarettes. People who "really know" and people with titles are not always the same.  In my old age, I am more likely to take the extra time to accumulate "plus ones" (i.e. job titles, certificates, references, all that stuff) as opposed to when I was younger and "just getting stuff done" was more of a priority.

So, is the earlier Mayor function being discontinued, or will it resume on this new site after other tasks are accomplished?

The Mayor said:

I hear you. I also loved the way everyone was always hanging on my office. It was nice to keep up with the latest news (gossip?)

So, to clarify, do you miss the challenges itself or the leveling up and seeing your little monster grow? Please try to explain what you miss, maybe with an example of something that you found awesome.

Sarah Best said:

The game elements, like giving treats and completing challenges, and the random monster heads at the bottom of the screen. 

CK said:

Since I just joined a couple of days ago, I'm looking for the Mayor icon where I click to keep up with the Mayor's challenges that "level up" my monster.  Otherwise there is a crispness to this site that wasn't there in the prior site.

[The Mayor]

Hey CK, thanks a lot for your clarification!

This really depends on the community. If a lot of people come asking for this, we will have to look at it. It certainly takes a lot of effort. The Gameful minions and I started to think about the step by step you mentioned. Let's see how this goes. :)

And keep the suggestions going, they are helping us a lot. :D

CK said:

So, is the earlier Mayor function being discontinued, or will it resume on this new site after other tasks are accomplished?

[Pablo Espinosa]

I miss the game elements too, I mean the same that they've said before. Miss the level up dynamic with the task list that the mayor gives you, without it I feel almost lost.
I also miss a lot the random monster heads at the bottom of the screen. 

[Houle Nemo]

wow, i can't agree more with those that have posted above me. the game elements is really since we're all  newbies to this site. i'm sure there's new, improved and changed stuff here from the old one that some sort of tutorial/guide would be very helpful.

[Julio Vazquez]

Aside from agreeing with those who want to see the game elements back, I would also like to ask if we'll be seeing the Wiki on this new version of the site. In my opinion, it had great potential to serve as a database of all the games created by the community, tutorials on game making (or prototyping) tools, sources of inspiration, research papers, articles, and other things that might be useful for people who aspire to make Gameful games.

[The Mayor]

Ok guys and gals, we hear you! Just to summarize, that is what I got until now:

You miss:

- game elements (the missions from the mayor's office to get started, step by step process)
- random monster heads + phrases we had at the bottom of the page
- wiki

New suggestion:

- mouse over glossary of terms

I can't promise we will make all of that happen, but I will speak to the Gameful minions and see what I can do. 

You may keep shooting new stuff or add your voice to the things already mentioned. The more people asking, the more probably we will put our resources there to make it happen. :D

[Sherman Dorn]

I'll chime in with missing some of the game elements and the cute monster icons.

One disadvantage of game elements/challenges was that it encouraged people to propose individual responses instead of working in groups to playtest and hone specifics. I'm not sure how you'd create a virtual playtest session, but that would be a GREAT addition here that Gameful 1.0 didn't have.