Discussing The Transition And What's Going On...

[VintagePC]

As you can imagine, there is a LOT of stuff we need to do to complete the transition. Things like rebrand the servers, migrate databases, and clean out some of the cruft while we're at it.On top of that, I need to essentially rewrite all of the back-end automation we had on the previous site (automated addition of supporters to our Sourcebans database, server list widgets and all those goodies) to reflect the changes.

We want to do things right this time, and also make the community a little easier to manage for those of us in charge so we have more time to spend actually being a part of it and not just fiddling with everything when we need to make changes.

This takes a LOT of time to make sure we've got it right - but we also don't want to keep you waiting, so we're making this an ongoing process - during the next little while, some things may still be missing or behave as though tied to the old system - but we're doing our best to rectify that.

This thread is for discussion of things related to the transition (i.e. if you see something broken) and also where I will post status updates as to what's going on.

My next major change will be re-branding the servers to reflect Vault F4 - I hope to complete it within a day or so of the forums launching.

A sincere thanks for your understanding and patience - and welcome to Vault F4 gaming!

 

[Carcajou]

Take your time!! Thus far you guys have been doing fantastic with this... It's working well on my PC in Chrome...I'll check IE for you and my Droid if you wish....I will try to help where I can...I am not technically sound but I want to help!!

 

[African Grey]

I can't think of a single FFN or even Fug site remodeling or the like that didn't feel crummy at first. This thing though, nothing about this forum setup I don't like except that it's small and sparsely populated, so you all are doing awesome! I can hardly think of and tweaks or features that are lacking, and everything is so smooth and easy. I like it. Throw in some darker color schemes and it's all gold.

 

[textercist]

I'm glad a name was decided on, havn't been on tf2 much lately but I'll be playing to support the new community . I've got a few friends that joined me on the payload server, but I'm not sure if they were ever on the FFN forums. I'll point them this direction.

Keep up the good work everyone, vault F4 will be a great community

---textercist, a guy from payload a few of you may know.

 

[Nightshde]

I can't think of a single FFN or even Fug site remodeling or the like that didn't feel crummy at first. This thing though, nothing about this forum setup I don't like except that it's small and sparsely populated, so you all are doing awesome! I can hardly think of and tweaks or features that are lacking, and everything is so smooth and easy. I like it. Throw in some darker color schemes and it's all gold.

I'm currently working on a theme for us but since this is a whole new forum software its taking me a bit of time learning where everything is. You can check out the style I am working on if you want by clicking on the bottom left of the footer and selecting test.

 

[VintagePC]

Yeah, Night's got his work cut out for him I like what I see so far, though.

I have finished the server migration, all TF2 servers should now be branded with Vault F4 and tied in to VF4's Sourcebans setup.
There is some back-end sync I will need to finish to allow the automated handling of admins/supporters etc, but that should be done in the next day or so.

 

[African Grey]

I'm currently working on a theme for us but since this is a whole new forum software its taking me a bit of time learning where everything is. You can check out the style I am working on if you want by clicking on the bottom left of the footer and selecting test.

I already saw it last night and liked the palette. Only reason I'm not using it not is because of a few things, like chat, being the same color as the background.

 

[Carcajou]

This isn't bad!!

It's still a lil bright but hey... It's a start

 

[VintagePC]

In terms of conversion, everything should be complete now. The only exception is you may see a few stray FFN logos while we wait for Nightshde to finish with his new design.

 

[Link20799]

I'm wondering if someone can make a new in game spray for vault f4. I personally still am using one of the old FFN ones

 

[VintagePC]

Nightshde is working on a new theme and artwork.

 

[African Grey]

The current look of the dark theme is fantastic, but the background image doesn't seem to fit well. Something more abstract in the background or, I don't know, just something else, would be nicer. The tone is right but the content is distracting. Maybe an environment type of image and not a portrait would be better. Where's that image from anyway?

Also maybe making the background of the chatbox a shade or two darker in both themes would make it fit this one more. The contrasting off-white is still glaring.

 

[VintagePC]

I've been told it is still very much a WIP and that these things will change before it is final.

 

[VintagePC]

Shoutbox should be fixed now.

 

[Spago]

I really like how you guys are doing these little updates. Just a simple 1 to 2 sentence explanation of whats going on really helps keep the community feeling like its in the loop. I appreciate it a lot.

 

[.silence.]

I think someone mentioned this at some point, but a "Change Log" thread would be a good idea. Some sort of read-only place for the community to see the changes happening for the servers, forums, etc. Just a thought.

 

[VintagePC]

I'll look into that once this contest stuff dies down a bit

 

[CorruptDictator]

Hi, a long time ago I used to play on the freefrag DoD servers and just got the invite to the group change on steam the other night. Out of random interest, why the change to vaultf4?

 

[VintagePC]

Hi, a long time ago I used to play on the freefrag DoD servers and just got the invite to the group change on steam the other night. Out of random interest, why the change to vaultf4?

First off, let me welcome you to VF4!

Well, long story short, FFN couldn't continue to exist the way it did. We were not receiving enough in supporter donations to keep all our servers alive (we spent over $400/mo on servers).

There were also some other issues that resulted in FFN having a negative stigma associated with it, the result of actions (and inaction) by certain people - and we felt it was best to start over with a new name and shed all of that - a fresh new name to celebrate a fresh new start with reduced operating costs. ($250/mo).

Those of us involved in the change couldn't bear to see FFN just fade away and we wanted a new place to call home and have fun with the same great folks we'd gotten to know, and we're also doing our best to address as many of the issues people had with FFN as we can, and learn from the mistakes that were made there.

I hope to see you around in-game - and by all means, don't forget to look at our Raid The Vault holiday giveaway

 

[CorruptDictator]

Makes sense, negative stigmas attached to communities and clans happen because of jerk members sometimes. Likewise I understand funding issues very well (the community I have played with for years has hit a population low and funding issues). Always sad to see something long term fade away, even if something new comes from the aftermath.

Nowadays I only play LoL with a core group of friends on a daily basis, so you probably will not see me on any of your servers (I got tired of TF2 long ago), but that you for the cordial welcome and for answering my question.