State of the Site: May 2015

Scott Hardie | May 15, 2015
Here's another summary of where we are and where we're going in the next few months.

Every single change mentioned in the last announcement is complete. Most importantly, Funeratic is now being marketed across the web, and we're receiving 40-50 new visitors a week. This hasn't led to new memberships so far, but the program has only recently started, so I'm happy to give it time.

One priority of mine is to make the site more welcoming to newcomers. A small initial change is to put up a sidebar welcoming them and inviting them to register, since it's not clear enough how to do that, and since registration is necessary for most interaction with the site. I'd also like to put the login and registration forms inside a modal on every page, so that you don't have to lose your place on the site to sign in.

A bigger and more important change that I have in mind is allowing visitors to login with Facebook using the company's API. If I can pull someone's first name, last name, and gender from Facebook after they click a permission button on Funeratic, I can spawn an account for them on Funeratic as if they had created it here. Hopefully I can also pull other information as desired by the user; for instance, if they wanted to upload a photo of themselves, I could make a button to pull it from their Facebook account (and hopefully keep it up to date). Once this is in place for first-timers, I would like to give existing members an option to link their Funeratic account to their Facebook account, so that changes to the latter would automatically update the former (name changes, photo changes, biographical details, etc). If this works as planned, it will be just the first phase of more planned integration with Facebook in the longer term.

I plan to add SMS notifications (text messages on your phone) to the site soon. For most members, this will be another column on the Manage Subscriptions page; for instance, you'll be able to receive a text message when it's your turn in Rock Block, if you want that. SMS support will also be part of a new private page that I plan to build for Gothic Earth soon, that will notify players of a last-minute game cancellation. We've had a few of those lately and it's always a mess when it happens at the last minute, so automated text messages will help.

What's up next for Rock Block? We're heading for Venus, and still we stand tall! The game's first seasonal tournament will begin on Saturday May 23, inspired by Europe's cheesy 1986 hit "The Final Countdown." Players will race against an ever-reducing countdown clock, using wins and draws to buy themselves more time, trying to be the last person left whose clock hasn't run out. Here's hoping that launching the event on a three-day weekend will give it an extra boost.

Celebrity Goo Game will wrap up its spring season at the end of May, and I can't wait to see who wins! LaVonne has built up a very impressive lead at the moment, but the lucky cats can make a big difference, so it's still anybody's game.

At the end of summer, we are likely to start a fantasy football league, as already discussed in Tragic Comedy. More details will be offered later.

I have decided to hide Gothic Earth from view automatically, as if you had hidden it with in the Display Options, unless you specifically opt to show it. It will always appear for me and for its players, but nobody else really needs to see it. A single link to it will remain in the menu, as the RPG does drive some search engine traffic to the site, and who knows, it might always be interesting to someone somewhere.

I'm contemplating adding a new section to the site about board games and card games. Kelly keeps encouraging me to review the many games that I collect, and I do enjoy spreading the word about the really good games. I have several private-use applications on this site already that could be converted to public-use and made part of that section. I could program electronic versions of a few games that I'm considering making and selling for real, and I could use it to experiment with random things like blitzkrieg chess. But I have doubts about spreading myself even thinner, as I have trouble keeping all of the plates spinning for this site as it is. Would you have any interest in this kind of material?

What do you think of these plans? Is there something else that you'd like to see on Funeratic?

Scott Hardie | May 15, 2015
A quick disclaimer: This and any future "state of the site" discussions merely represent my plans at the time, which may change for any reason. None of this is a guarantee.

Aaron Shurtleff | May 16, 2015
My first thought: Wow.
Second thought: If you pull names/info from Facebook, what about people who are not under their real name? I know you've prided yourself on keeping this community with real names, and that could be compromised. I'm sure you've already got thoughts on it, but that was my first impression.
Third thought: I always like to read about new board games. I would definitely enjoy it, but if it's too much for you, it's too much. Besides, I disappear for long periods of time anyways! ;)

Scott Hardie | May 16, 2015
Facebook and I have roughly the same attitude towards real names, which is that we strongly prefer them and officially require them, but unofficially look the other way if people insist on using an alias as long as it's like a real name. I can deal with what Facebook gives me.

I was planning to integrate Google+ as well, especially since having G+-indentified authors on certain pages could raise our placement in Google's search results. But I don't know if that service is going to stick around, so it's not a priority.

Steve West | May 16, 2015
Awesome.

Scott Hardie | May 30, 2015
She kept up the lead! Congratulations to LaVonne Lemler on today's victory in the goo game, her first. It's well earned after seven years in the game and one of the top ten highest scores ever. Way to go, LaVonne! :-)

Congrats also to second-place scorer Justin Woods on pulling off another perfect season, his eighth. Amazing!

And here's welcoming back Mike Eberhart, who made a rapid ascent up the pagoda in the last two weeks.

The summer season starts tomorrow! I look forward to seeing what happens next. :-)

Chris Lemler | May 30, 2015
Nice to see you your name in the winners circle like Secretariat......lol :) After the turn for the homestretch and the last few goo's it was all yours......lol :) WTG Mom :)

LaVonne Lemler | May 31, 2015
Thanks, Scott and Chris, for your comments! It's nice being in the winner's circle, but this was a round for "the cats" --- definitely lucky for me!

Thanks again and, as always, I look forward to another fun and challenging round!

By the way, Chris, are you calling me a horse????? :)

Steve West | May 31, 2015
Sorry for the late congrats!

Russ Wilhelm | May 31, 2015
Congratulations LaVonne. Quite well indeed.

Chris Lemler | May 31, 2015
If the horseshoe fits whip it.....haha

LaVonne Lemler | May 31, 2015
Thanks, Steve and Russ! Never thought it was possible with players of your caliber in the game --- "lucky me"!!! :D Hope you both have a terrific summer round!

LaVonne Lemler | May 31, 2015
Where's my whip??? About ready to use it! :)

Mike Eberhart | June 1, 2015
Thanks Scott. Hey everybody! I figured I'd sneak back into the mix.

Chris Lemler | June 1, 2015
Welcome back Mike glad to see you back on the site playing