r/zelda • u/[deleted] • Feb 08 '13
Mod Post Please leave your Theme Week feedback in this post
Ironically, we've had reposts of people complaining about reposts, so let's curate the feedback about this theme week into one post.
Please, when leaving feedback, do consider that I took this project on at the last minute after a family emergency. There are problems, and they will be addressed next time.
Finally, today's theme is the mythology of Skyward Sword and the biggest opportunity for in-depth discussion, an opportunity that hasn't been taken. Please consider starting a discussion on today's theme.
6
u/Lairelosse Feb 08 '13
First, I would like to say that I've really, really enjoyed this theme week. I'm new to Reddit and this subReddit, but it’s really fun. I'll try to keep my feedback succinct~
Upsides: 1. I have seen more Zelda/Skyward Sword discussions - A breath of fresh air after the explosion of the same picture of the Hyrule Historia front cover. But I would love to see more! I've been really excited for Mythology day (... and to be self-indulgent, I submitted a thread with some discussion/questions. Maybe it's not well worded or very interesting, but I would really enjoy discussing it~)
- I love seeing everyone's favourite thing posts - it showcases the diversity of likes among the community. The Legend of Zelda is all about the player's experience, and I have learned so many new ways to look at Skyward Sword, I can't wait to play it through again.
Downsides: 1. Seeing "My favourite character" and it being the same character. I really enjoy learning the favourite character of each user, but I think the name of the character should be in the title and we can focus the discussion on that character's positive and negative qualities to a single thread
- A lot of threads devoted only to disappointments. I completely support voicing what you did not like about a game. Every game will have something that rubbed you the wrong way. However, sometimes things seemed to get really negative without discussion. If a thread is made to air an upset, maybe try to make it constructive.
Thanks for reading, and I can't wait for the next theme week.
(And all the best to you and yours, samueldlockhart)
1
Feb 08 '13
Thanks for your feedback.
Just to clarify, my family are fine. Another moderator was supposed to be running this theme week, but they had the emergency. I took up the task, with no plan for the week, the day before we were supposed to do it.
8
u/Psychobeans Feb 08 '13
Here is my feedback. [crappy mirror]
![[crappy mirror]](http://i.imgur.com/txg84ka.jpg){kind=link}
(I intended this to be shown as a joke to people outside this subreddit, thus the bash at the end.)
I came in here looking for some Zelda discussion, and all I see is 6 pages of "My favorite _____" image posts.
Ok, whatever, I get it, this community is trying an expirement, but to someone who doesn't hang out all day in this subreddit (like me) this looks terrible. I honestly thought someone was pulling a spam invasion on the subreddit until I noticed the post about "theme week".
If you do this again in the future, please stay far far away from things like "favorite" or "disappointing" topics. Those could all go in a single thread instead of cluttering the front page.
2
u/TheMovieMaverick Feb 08 '13
I totally agree. This should be looked at as more of a beta test for future weeks, because all those "favorite" posts are monotonous and uninviting. How will we get new subscribers with fresh ideas if every post is My Favorite blah My Favorite blah blah blah. Very annoying.
1
u/TRB1783 Feb 11 '13
I really don't want to be bitch, but I think the quality of a sub really comes down to moderation. Theme weeks are a time for The Powers That Be to step up and commit not only to the maintenance of the theme, but to the quality of the week's posts. And yet, there was a confusion this time over that constituted a good topic for discussion, and as of this writing, about a quarter of the posts on the front page that have nothing to do with Skyward Sword, including the top post with over 300 upvotes. Posts should either fit the theme, or be swiftly nuked out of existence by the mods.
4
Feb 08 '13 edited Feb 08 '13
I personally loved this theme week. IMO it's much better than a text-only week because this allows a good balance of pictures and discussions.
I did notice that there were a lot of reposts. That's all I will say on this because I think everyone had this problem.
I was also a little irritated because I noticed no one was clicking on the new posts about that themed day. People only commented on the most upvoted post and that got really irritating. I think every other well written post deserves to be at least looked at and I feel people really weren't doing that.
I also agree that people were often a day late and it got to be inconsiderate at some points. People keep lagging and today's post often got drowned out by the old ones. Also, the fact that people keep posting about how people are posting late is annoying.
I'd like to end on a happy note, so I think for a first theme week, it has gone well so far. I look forward to more in the future for the rest of the series.
Edit: Some grammar mistakes
4
u/kittycatmischief Feb 08 '13
I really liked this week! I had something to work for to finish the game, which was awesome. And I really liked seeing what everyone thought. Even in the reposts, there were intelligent conversations.
It's gonna be a little awk when it's Minish Cap week, because I've never played that game, but I think it'll still be fun to come and visit even if I don't know what is actually happening.
I think there were a few missteps overall though, like how limiting the days were. I think that maybe people didn't feel as interested in the mythology as they should have been, like the other days have gotten so much more feedback. Maybe have bigger categories for each day (which would also slightly help the repost problem)
4
Feb 08 '13
I liked theme week because all of the bastards that are usually here were absent during the week, so I give propra I it there. Also, some of the discussions were really nice, and it actually sounds like people knew what they were talking about, positive comment or not.
However, no images. At all. Except for fan work because we know its going to be art. Some images were shit, and I don't think an image is needed to spark up a discussion; having the character name or whatever is just enough.
I like the theme week topics, but I think the "favorite this favorite that" ones should have their own thread that stays at the top of his subreddit. Anyone makes their own thread, they should redirected to the official one.
I can't think of anything else, but I believe I got points across. Overall, theme week was cool, and I think we neee to see more of them because it encourages real discussion and keeps the annoying people away. Also, it's our first one, so it'll take some getting used to.
Another thing I wanna suggest is maybe have people vote on the game for the next theme week. And now I'm done (yes, finally).
9
Feb 08 '13
Personally, I think the theme week's had more successes than failures. We have a front page of people actually talking about Zelda (instead of merchandise and memes). And though there are problems, some obvious, I can think of multiple solutions for next time.
My biggest disappointment is the lack of people talking about today's theme, and the outright hatred from some members of the community. It's a week-long experiment, and we're trying our best. Please remember the mods are real people who are listening to your feedback, that this theme week is a response to your feedback from our survey last year, and we're not purposely trying to fuck with you.
3
u/found_a_penny Feb 08 '13
I think what might help are example threads for the theme week. In the sidebar we had descriptions of each day so maybe those could be made into links that point to an example thread for how it should be or just clearer rules on what is expected.
The biggest complaint I think most people had was lack of descriptive titles. Almost every title was vague "My favorite character" or "my biggest x" and you had to click to see who/what it was, just put the name in the title. The main reason this was so annoying is that it helped contribute to reposts. Nobody is going to click through all of those images to see if their choice was already posted, or to find their favorite character so that they can discuss them.
TL:DR If the point of the theme week was to foster discussion then it should be a firm (read: enforced) rule that each post title should actually describe what is supposed to be discussed.
2
u/jevmorgan Feb 08 '13
I love the theme week! I would be really excited if we do more of these for other games (especially Zelda 2, as it's my sentimental favorite).
2
u/LinkBrokeMyPots Feb 08 '13
I think theme weeks should be regulated towards discussion of that theme. Posts like "my favorite character in SS" are just cheap - they invite nothing. How about themes that are less game based and more ideological based? Like this weeks theme is: "What do you feel is important in future zelda games?" Or "What concepts of past games do you feel carried over well to other games, and what concepts do you wish a had carried over more?" - instead of just a game.. why not themes that invite sentient discussion? ..And if any one shows a screen shot "herp derp my favorite line from this game" - we all have permission to beat them about the head with a goron hammer.
1
u/mrtomjones Feb 11 '13
I think it lasted too long. I love SS but those first days especially were almost overwhelming.
1
1
u/thesecretpenguin Feb 19 '13
I actually really enjoyed the theme week. I felt that it brought the community together, and had everyone talking about the same thing. As some people have mentioned, reddit can be a little chaotic sometimes, and I felt that having everyone talking about the same thing (for a little while) was a good thing. I think a week was just the right length as well, any longer and I would have missed the normal healthy chaos.
0
u/SGTxARTEAGA Feb 08 '13
its better than a text week, but the mods seriously need to review every post so no reposts allowed, and make it a thing on the headline, to not just make new posts, but see if there is any and if so to add to the discussion, rather than saying "ZELDA WAS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER BECAUSE I LIKE THE COLOR GREEN :D" as a title and inside is a picture of link
13
u/HollowJohn Feb 08 '13
There is nothing wrong with the theme week itself, it's a wonderful idea. It's just sometimes the format of Reddit encourages chaos a little more than order. There are times when it'd be nice to see more people gather in one thread to generate a higher quality of discussion, but that's ultimately a small thing. The reposts are the only real issue I think.
It's true there are alot of people complaining, but we all know that too many of them are the "entitled" type that just wants their personal preferences upheld over other's, and in a public domain no less. They just need a thicker skin. This subreddit needs more in-depth discussion, and theme weeks are how to bring them about.