Giving your idea the best chance of being accepted

[hailstone]

This is a post from the Wesnoth forums.

http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10152

[Omega]

Very good! I copied them here so we don't have to follow an external link:

If you have a good idea for improving Glest, that's great, but it's only half the battle. There's still the task of getting the community to (1) understand the idea, and (2) agree that it's a good idea.

Here's some suggestions to help you best deliver your idea.

0. Familiarise yourself with any previous discussion.
Read the Frequently Posted Ideas list and make sure your idea hasn't been shot down before with good reason. Search the forums to check if the idea's been discussed before. If anyone raised concerns with the idea, think about how to address those concerns before you post.

1. Give your post a meaningful title.

If your idea is good, people will be hunting for your thread in months to come. A clear name ensures that they can find it!

Similarly, if a thread inspires a new idea that's only loosely related to the initial post, start a new thread. Months down the track no-one will find your nifty idea about simulating rock damage if it's located on page 3 of the "Catapault unit" thread!

Examples of clear and unclear thread titles

Unclear: "Comments on my idea please?"
Clear: "Suggestion: Add 'Plague' ability to Necromancer"

Unclear: "Fiery"
Clear: "New ability: Automatically deal damage when struck"

Unclear: "Some ideas"
Clear: <Individual threads with meaningful titles>

2. Propose a solution, not just a problem

It's good to draw attention to areas where Wesnoth can be improved. But proposing a solution up front means that people willl be discussing the solution rather than just the problem.

Okay: "Draugs cost too much."
Better: "Draugs seem underpowered for a L3 unit. I propose we give them an extra attack and +10hp to justify the upkeep cost."

3. Suggest, don't demand

Remember that Wesnoth is developed by volunteers. They don't work for you, and if you speak to them like they do, they'll react poorly. Your goal is to show people how good and interesting idea your idea is so that they want to pursue it.

Bad: "The Dwarvish Thunderer's stats are just stupid! He needs to do more damage!".
Better: "I think it would be a good idea to increase the damage on the Dwarvish Thunderer's ranged attack because [...]"

4. Give clear reasons why you think your idea should be implemented

Bad: "Draugs should have an extra attack."
Better: "The (level 3) Draug stats are only a very slight increase from the (level 2) Revenant's stats. In play I often hope that the Revenant won't level up because the increase in power isn't worth the increase in cost (+1 gold per turn). I propose adding an additional attack and +10hp to the Draug to justify the additional upkeep cost."

To quote Dave: "Any new feature is by default bad. It's bad because it's more we have to write, and more importantly, more we have to maintain and test. We will only implement a feature if it solves some problem that we think is worse than the cost of adding the feature. If you don't tell us about this problem, then we might not notice it for ourselves, and we'll see your idea simply as being 'bad bad bad'."

5. Clearly state how your idea will work in practice

Be specific. Numerous threads containing promising ideas have died because the posters weren't quite clear on what was being discussed.

Bad: "Mages should have an aura that damages attackers".
Good: "I propose adding a defensive flame aura to red mages. After each successful strike an opponent makes against the mage, 2 points of fire damage is inflicted on that opponent. The fire attack would always hit, but would be affected by a unit's fire resistance as per normal. The aura operates in addition to the mage's normal melee retaliation (staff)".

6. Consider and address your idea's weak points

Consider reasons your idea might not be accepted. When you do this, occasionally you will realise that the idea should be discarded as unsuitable. But mostly it's just helpful to anticipate objections so that you can address them in your pitch.

eg. "My proposed flame aura ignores terrain and automatically affects units that are normally difficult to hit (eg. Elvish Shamans in forest). I don't consider this a problem because: (a) it can't be used offensively, (b) it does very little damage per attack and (c) it's associated with a relatively weak melee unit (red mage). This makes it a poor tool for (eg.) eliminating elves who are entrenched in forest. With superior damage and hp the elves will still slaughter the mage in melee".

7. Show that you're willing to put your effort where your mouth is

Bad: "Let's create a distinctive new race, unique to Wesnoth!"
Good: "I suggest creating a distinctive new race, unique to Wesnoth. Here's some unit art and stats I prepared to demonstrate the idea.".

8. Use clear language

This is an international forum where many of the regulars don't speak english as their first language. We don't expect perfect spelling and grammar. However, a good way to instantly alienate about 50% of your readers is to use 'leet' or 'txt' ("u shld make orcs more tuff"). Using words that are too flowery (superfluous magniloquence), slang ("I reckon he's telling porkies") or odd spellings ("prolly" instead of "probably") also make your post harder to understand. The goal is to have the reader understand your post and agree with it. If they have difficulty understanding your post, or find it annoying to read, they're a lot less likely to support your idea.

9. Revise

Before you post have a quick reread. Is there anything that could be made clearer or less wordy? Have you assumed people know what you mean at any point?

10. Know when to let go

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, people just don't agree with your idea. If you've reached a point where the community has made it clear they're not going to be convinced, let it go. No matter how good an idea is, if the community's opposed to including it, it's not going to happen.

If your idea is one that you can implement by yourself (eg. a custom multiplayer faction) and you feel strongly enough to do so, go for it; just don't expect it to be official. Once you've done some work on it, people might take a liking to it and chip in. Or they still might not.

That's it. Good luck!

I've lost track of how many "I have a cool idea" or "3 more ideas" topics we've had...

[ultifd]

Yes, I agree with most of the "suggestions" in that 3 to 4 years post...(not bad, good...)
Although, I would say, some of the "ideas post" on this forum is...not bad, for they are good ideas, and therefore is OK to have their own thread...usually not though.   

[wciow]

Good find Hailstone 

Stop being a forum cop  Its not like I am gonna make a topic saying" OMG HAILSTONE YOUR BACK?!?!?" Rather post it O_O

No, but you did recently make this post: https://forum.megaglest.org/index.php?topic=5573.0 a prime example of what we are trying to avoid.

I've noticed more and more that this forum is getting clogged up with stupid posts quickly followed by a flood of one word replies and immature arguements written by post whoring spamlords! 

Please mods get rid of the detritus and allow us to have a proper modding forum rather than a virtual creche.

If you must write something stupid do it in the OFF TOPIC section, thats why its there!

[ultifd]

Propose a solution, not just a problem

Yeah, what a lot of people need to do.
Also, the more information, the better. 

[Omega]

*Omega boots the off topic out the window, and that's down to editing it out of individual messages! Masterful!*
By the way, there is a chat, it's the IRC. While for glest in general, you can use it any way you wish I suppose?

Anway, I'd consider rules #2, 4, 5 to be the most important. Should some of this list be implimented with the forum rules thread (though it probably isn't read by many people who come here to do ONE post to make a suggestion).

[ultifd]

The Glest IRC Channel is now mostly used for megaglest development, maybe GAE sometimes, but they do it privately...or when I'm not available (different time zones)  ...
Sorry for continuing semi OT content...  ...
(Oh, if people most, create a new thread...better if not IMO) But...people won't really listen.
---------------------

Should some of this list be implemented with the forum rules thread (though it probably isn't read by many people who come here to do ONE post to make a suggestion).

Well, actually, not many people read it anyways, I only read it after I posted a lot of posts... 
People mostly "read" the Board Changes.
Sure, but if you do, make a few changes...I think some of them apply to Wesnoth...
2,4, and 5?
5 is the most popular problem, I think. 

[Little Helper]

OT: Why did the mod delete my post but not wciow  >.>   thats unfair!
Its kinda of offensive to everyone who OT on a topic or spams... >.>
Its OUR forum so I demand that everyone is fair!

[ultifd]

4. Give clear reasons why you think your idea should be implemented

Hmm, true.
Although sometimes it is obvious why...  

[John.d.h]

Should we stick this over in feature requests?

[ultifd]

Should we stick this over in feature requests?

Maybe, but maybe somehow let the developers be able to edit the "FAQ" then too...?
Forgot almost all are like...moderators or above.
Anyways, I guess this would be...like a "READ THIS BEFORE YOU POST..." thread.