Newsletter improvements..?

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Socoder -> On Topic -> Newsletter improvements..?
Thu, 19 Nov 2009, 03:54
Jayenkai	I've been considering upping the scale of the newsletter somewhat. Not sure how, but I feel the need to do something with a little more oomph. Thoughts? -=-=- ''Load, Next List!''
Thu, 19 Nov 2009, 04:15
Afr0	Every newsletter should come with an invitation to invite your friends and family, cats and dogs to create accounts on Socoder! You should also include the latest YouTube videos from every game that's been posted the last week. Or the latest pictures. Pretty much the same thing... Edit: Are cats and dogs allowed on Socoder? What about pets in general? Edit: If you want to, I could write a weekly column called "Afr0's tips for MMO developers!" Edit: You could also include a weekly column with names for games from The Video Game Name Generator! -=-=- Afr0 Games Project Dollhouse on Github - Please fork!
Thu, 19 Nov 2009, 05:36
JL235	You could do a section linking to any good indie games you've seen over the last week that people could then go off and play.
Thu, 19 Nov 2009, 15:27
CodersRule	I just kind of ignore them in my email inbox, maybe it needs to be laid out like a newspaper. Then I'd start reading it.
Thu, 19 Nov 2009, 15:40
Jayenkai	That's one of my main issues.. That because I'm sending to Yahoo AND Google, I can't really do a neatly formatted thing, since it's meant to be just plain text. That, and Yahoo reformats everything to about 70-odd character width anyway. ...How annoying is THAT!?!? And, don't feel bad about ignoring it. You're not the only one who doesn't read it. -=-=- ''Load, Next List!''
Thu, 19 Nov 2009, 21:57
Stealth	I dislike how theres no original content in it. It's all just links to SoCoder and anyone who is an active member isn't going to want to re-read everything. It needs fresh material and it has to be relevant to me. That's hard to pull off since everyone here has their own interests. I wont care much about a Java article, though DD will. And MSN protocol is going to make Afr0 happy, but not me. You'd have to find a happy medium of content that interested the majority. -=-=- Quit posting and try Google.
Fri, 20 Nov 2009, 01:54
Jayenkai	<bad vibe jay> That's all well and good, but I can't sit writing everything myself. Way back in issues 1-about 7'ish, I did bother to ask folk to start submitting stuff. Then I got sick of writing "Submit stuff to the newsletter!!" each week, since nobody else was doing anything. As per sodding usual, a good idea became nothing more than an excuse for me to have even more to do every week. We've even run out of polls, I gotta go think up more crap to keep that going another week, whilst simultaneously writing this week's newsletter, and somehow managing to get a half-started game completely finished enough to send out the beta version to those who bothered making levels, by sunday.. </bad vibe jay> -=-=- ''Load, Next List!''
Fri, 20 Nov 2009, 01:55
Afr0	Again: If you want to, I could write a weekly column called "Afr0's tips for MMO developers!" -=-=- Afr0 Games Project Dollhouse on Github - Please fork!
Fri, 20 Nov 2009, 02:35
JL235	Jayenkai We've even run out of polls, I gotta go think up more crap to keep that going another week,.. I've given you hundreds of poll ideas over the last year, and I'm happy to give you more. I'm also not the only one who gives poll suggestions. That's one feature you get tonnes of support for.
Fri, 20 Nov 2009, 03:18
Jayenkai	@ Afr0, but also others.. The whole point of the newsletter is links, as opposed to gigantic chunks of text. If I shoved an entire "How to make a MMOROPG!!" in the middle, it'd look way out of place. On the other hand, if you posted something like that to your website, and told me about it, saying "I just posted something cool on my Website, I don't think the people on Socoder would appreciate it, but it could be Newsletter worthy" then THAT would go in the Newsletter as a link. Because A) it'd be new, B) it'd get you clicks, and C) it's not already on Socoder. -=-=- ''Load, Next List!''
Fri, 20 Nov 2009, 10:19
Phoenix	I agree with Stealth. When I get the newsletter in my inbox, I skip to the end to find the videos. Original content is needed, but original content should be posted on the site, not in the newsletter. Personally I think that SoCoder is too small to warrant a newsletter. If it grows large enough that people can't keep track of everything that's going on, then it would be a good idea to get a mail telling you the relevant bits every week. I'd have to read it all anyway though.
Fri, 20 Nov 2009, 10:23
HoboBen	I quite like reading Jay's write-up about each topic. Never managed to get it to arrive in my inbox though (confirm the subscription within a week? Argh, I don't check my e-mail that often!), so I read it on the website. I'm sure lots of people read it that way, so don't assume we don't read it! -=-=- blog \| work \| code \| more code
Sat, 21 Nov 2009, 05:26
LineOf7s	Seems I'm in the minority in reading the newsletters every week, and looking forward to them. I suppose, though, I'm not very active on the website, so the newsletter's very handy for me (in truth, with all the websites I visit regularly, Socoder sometimes gets forgotten, and the newsletter reminds me. Like... now!) I guess the first question one needs to answer before one can decide on newsletter content is: Who is the newsletter for? Once you work that out, you can maybe start to sort what you want to provide them. :o) -=-=- Life's biggest obstacles are your greatest opportunities to excel.
Sat, 21 Nov 2009, 11:40
JL235	I read the newsletter each week, but mainly to see Jay's opinion/description of each of the news/topic items. You could emphasise this a little more to make it more original from the SoCoder content. However I also like that it's such a quick read.
Sat, 21 Nov 2009, 14:23
shroom_monk	I too read the Newsletter each week. Even though it goes over stuff I've already read, it's nice to be able to see the past week here at a glance. -=-=- A mushroom a day keeps the doctor away... Keep It Simple, Shroom!
Sat, 21 Nov 2009, 17:51
CodersRule	I dunno if this has been suggested already, but maybe you should make a seperate page with the newsletters on em, and link to them in the email.
Sat, 21 Nov 2009, 18:35
JL235	I wouldn't like that, I'd prefer to have them in my e-mail box.