[POLL] Central store vs Manialinks

[adamkooo2]

At first we need special button to refresh in editors, no restart game (btw my game is restarting long time).

[TMarc]

if your game takes long time to restart, you should clean the cache and remove unused maps, items, objects, skins and replays.

[adamkooo2]

if your game takes long time to restart, you should clean the cache and remove unused maps, items, objects, skins and replays.

no
but now I can´t launch maniaplanet :/ because of application error (0xc000007b)

[TMarc]

Oha.... I fear you're now good for a re-installation...

[zocka]

tl;dr

• I like the concept of manialinks (creativity etc.)
• Unfortunately I don't have a better idea to promote manialinks
• (Apart from more prominent ManiaPub) I only can imagine some community robots, introduction of metatags or conventions
• Getting planets for your packs removes the need to sell stuff on a manialink (even better DRM )
• I don't see a central store having much success.

As I am developing manialinks for fun and have done so (with increasing quality - and decreasing complexy ) on quite some projects over the years, I really don't want them gone, as they are some way of expressing creativity and play with the possibilities of the game.


The current system indeed is not really working out for manialinks. There is this "Home" view with maniapub, notifications, maniaflash etc. which really is not that bad of an idea, but I doubt everyone is aware of it.
Sadly I can't think of a better placement off the top of my head with this whole discussion in mind about how many clicks you need to get playing. With this increased complexity of the game with multiple titles, I don't see a layout with all this information as prominently presented as in TMF.


What I would like to see was some (probably not official) index. Currently our only option is to get some manialinks, request their URLs, find all manialink="..." or GoTo("...") code parts to find linked pages to browse the known world of manialinks ^^
To somewhat determine the contents on a site, I could imagine either some selection on the playerpage when registering the code (what would undermine the determination between ?page=skins, ?page=...) or some meta-tag system in the manialink xml, which could also be read by some (community driven) indexing bot.
For that though the community would have to use some rules (like meta-tag formatting, maybe using data-role="..." or special classes on elements etc. for search engine optimization and self-imposed morals so you don't tag everything in your manialink to get more visitors).
(Maybe someone just has to start it and publish the conventions used )

But then again I don't see this happening either when no one really knows about manialinks.


Another point in my eyes is that with the introduction of packs where you can upload your skins etc. to carpark or persumably the steam workshop (never used that one or the steam version of TM2) and thus get planets for your creations much more conveniently.


I just remembered the manialink TheStore which had the intention for users to create an account and then sell there creations there (at least that's the concept I remember from TMF ). Well to everyone who didn't know the name, you can picture it's success

Another "central store" approach I'd like to bring up is ManiaSpace from TMU where you could upload your maps on an official manialink, even upload replays I think. Some kind of own TMX, but rarely used.
The conclusion I draw from this example is that there are some established community sites where you simply go to, if you want maps, skins, blocks etc. and probably won't be beaten by some ingame shop.


If you have the space to promote a central store, share it with ManiaPub. Not only the amount, but also the variety of user-made content lies within the core of this game series.