What do you look for in a fansite?

Zac • 15 February 2011 at 10:04 PM

Hi all,

I've decided to take the plunge and am deciding whether or not to open a fansite. But none of that webs.com business... the real deal. 😋

Anyways, I'm doing a little research. Do you guys think that fansites are useful, and if so, what kind of things would you like to see. The sky's the limit (ish) when it comes to this stuff, so let me know your wild ideas! 😃

Here's what I'm hoping to implement thus far:
- Up-to-the-hour news coverage and unreleased news
- Helpful articles (including a "creature ranking list")
- An in-depth wiki on everything Egg Cave
- Forums
- Contests/Plots
- My Egg Viewer Tool V3 (updated with unarchived creatures)
- Level Calculator
- Name Finder
- A browser plugin that will show an alert whenever the TA restocks with a rare travel.
- AND MUCH MORE!!!

What would you guys like to see? Would you join my site? 😊 Any feedback appreciated! 😸

Orderedchaos • 16 February 2011 at 7:02 PM

If I'm going to a fan site it's because I'm looking for information. So the most important thing in my eyes is an in depth wiki. *tosses in 2 cents*

thepells4 • 16 February 2011 at 8:24 PM

@Zac Wow, I'd say everything on that list would be handy for running a good fansite. 😉 Mine crashed and burned, so this stuff isn't for me. xD I'd say the helpful articles, travel restocks, level calculator, name finder, and Eggviewer V3 would be the best, plus forums and contests/plots, and the in-depth wiki. 😸 But what would the name finder do, aka how would you use it? 😋

Zac • 16 February 2011 at 8:30 PM

Im glad you guys mentioned the wiki, I think itd ve really awesome to have info on all the creatures and travels as well as important events, history, and people (aka Ian 😋). Anything I'm missing? 😊

@thepells4 I was thinking to make a tool in which people input names they'd like to have and our server would send out a little alert if they ever become available. Also, an "original name checker" which would list any original names available might also be handy. 😊

I'm sorry to hear that your site died. ☹️ I'm thinking I'll probably have to find a few volunteers to help me out... Running a site is tough. 😋

cubexline • 16 February 2011 at 10:51 PM

@zac: volunteers eh? jk lol id love to see a real fansite xD always love new websites/fansites 😋

redfire77 • 17 February 2011 at 12:11 AM

@zac id love to be a volunteer! so this is gonna be some kind of tdn for neopets, but instead a zacfansitemabboberthingy13371338cheesethingn00bhaiihasanugleborder for eggcave? if you play neopets. which you might not. oh well, i tried. 😸 it would also be cool to have contests and stuff every once in a while on ur site. 😸 plus the creature ranking system may come in handy for people who are unsure about what they should ask for for their creature. i really like that idea.

Zac • 20 February 2011 at 1:14 AM

@redfire77 Hahah, it'd be cool to be the TDN of Egg Cave (I used to work at TDN, so yea, I'm familiar. 😋)

Development is underway! Here's a preview of what I'm working on! 😃 (The name has been pixelated out.)

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/2074/fansitepreview.png

eggtrainer • 20 February 2011 at 1:15 AM

I really like the TA alert!
I don't really take part in fansites a lot because they're usually cluttered, unorganized, and are never updated. But you seem like you're really active and you're doing a good job on the plot! ;D

Zac • 20 February 2011 at 1:20 AM

@eggtrainer We're going to try our best to draw out users who don't like to participate in fansites. 😊

Hopefully we'll have something for everyone, and I can guarantee we'll be well updated. 😃

meg • 20 February 2011 at 3:37 AM

😱 i really think the creature ranking list will be useful 😊 it will help alot with trades!!

redfire77 • 20 February 2011 at 12:10 PM

@zac i think the creature ranking system should be kind of loose and open ended though. not a set value for each creature. after our conversation on the blog last night my opinion on the creature ranking list kind of changed. but i still think that you should make one, but in a way that says "foos and florns are about the same value" instead of a list like this:<br />
1. Onny<br />
2. Tine<br />
3. etc...<br />
I dont think that kind of list would be appropriate.

rabbitwanter • 20 February 2011 at 12:22 PM

if the skys the limit, then how do we have people walking around on da MOON 😱

lolol ummm a finsite wuld b so kewl 😉 I wuld totally sign up! and contests...i think v2 on eggcave ish gonna hav contests... wat were u thinking of? 😸

@zac

Zac • 20 February 2011 at 1:51 PM

@redfire77 I agree completely, especialy because different users have different perspectives.

i was thinking of a tier system to rank RARITY not value. I may end up assigning numerical rarities, but I'm not exactly sure how it will work yet. 😋

redfire77 • 20 February 2011 at 1:55 PM

@zac yeah, i think ranking rarity instead of value is much better! This is gonna be a really awesome site!

redfire77 • 20 February 2011 at 7:36 PM

@zac i think you should be able to enter two eggs and see if they are worth each other (in trade). ex. enter onny and voodoo and see if it is a fair trade? and since fair trade is an opinion, you can have a weekly poll saying if x-egg for y-egg is fair. idk, just an idea!

ps: this is Candy_Girl1298, who wanted to have input on your fansite. So she is speaking through redfire77's account. and I DID NOT HACK, WE ARE AT REDFIRE77'S HOUSE AND SHE LET ME GO ON HER ACCOUNT!

mellyottl • 21 February 2011 at 1:10 PM

[are you having a feed/click exchange/views section since that's really what eggcave is about?]

redfire77 • 22 February 2011 at 2:54 PM

@zac we should also have a creature directory! that lists all of the alive creatures and you can sort by name, species, travel...idk. that would be kinda hard to do. kinda like the ec search engine, except you can arrange how its listed. and search for species and stuff. 😸

joy • 22 February 2011 at 3:50 PM

Your fansite sounds/looks amazing! 😸 I'm usually not the type of person that would join a fansite, but yours looks exceptional. All the features sound so wonderful and helpful.

Some ideas that not sure you could code/do, but would be awesome:

- A browser plugin that will show an alert when a certain species your looking for has been added to the Trade Center. (Like the TA restocks you posted).

- Click Exchange, like mellyottl mentioned. It would be neat to have a place where you could choose 1 active egg to get points for. Every time you clicked an egg in the click exchange, you would get 1 point, and every time someone clicked your egg, you would get 1 point taken away. Like I said, not sure if this is possible to code or not. If the suggestion forums was up, I would love to put this idea in for EggCave itself. 😋

- Blast to the past. A place where we could view old images of EC. I always enjoy looking at the old Neopets images of how things use to be when they first started. 😸

Here are some images of EC that I have:

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/7350/arkp.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/2277/bolrogipuwetevent.png
http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/7293/eyleymoevent.png

redfire77 • 22 February 2011 at 4:02 PM

@joy wow, those r cool pictures.

joy • 22 February 2011 at 4:43 PM

Thanks. I like to keep screenshots and images of EC in case they ever change. It's neat to go back and look at how things use to be. And it's fun to show newer users too. 😸

redfire77 • 22 February 2011 at 6:08 PM

@joy i was on "hiatus" at least thats wat i like to call it, from mar-june 2010, so i missed on crw and the easter egg hunt and my foo died. ☹️ i was a n00b. o well.

Zac • 22 February 2011 at 8:05 PM

Nice ideas everyone! 😃 We do have a creature directory planned. (You can see the link on the preview.) I really like the idea of a click exchange, @joy. I'll definitely look into implementing one. 😊 We also have a tradeboard planned in which you can create your "UFT coves." It will be like EC's trade center but with more functionality. 😊

We also have an image database planned that stores every single image hosted on Egg Cave, but it might be a good idea to allow users to to upload their own. 😊

@rabbitwanter We are planning to host our own contests. 😊 We want you all to decide what kind we have! Right now all we are planning to have is a fully automated creature of the week program.

redfire77 • 22 February 2011 at 10:54 PM

@zac awesome! i missed the directory sign on the preview -_-. we should have creature design contests like people design an egg and vote on which one they like best and maybe submit it to ian!

rabbitwanter • 22 February 2011 at 11:07 PM

@zac
that sounds interesting 😃

evilyowling • 23 February 2011 at 1:30 AM

@Zac this site sounds awesome 😊 You know what I would add to it though an egg checklist (for members) so you can check off the eggs you have!

And an viewery where theres an page just for view eggs to be shown (if you submit your egg) And they swap around in order randomly 😃

But this is what I would add you don't have to 😉

Zac • 23 February 2011 at 4:44 PM

@evilyowling Nice ideas. 😊 The directory we are planning will have a "viewery" functionality to it. 😊

We are also planning to make "dream cove generators" which can function somewhat the same as the wishlists you mentioned! 😃

Thanks for all your support guys! 😸

joy • 23 February 2011 at 6:58 PM

@evilyowling The wish/check list is a great idea.

Wow, this is going to be one awesome fansite. 😊 So many helpful features.

Zac • 25 February 2011 at 11:18 PM

As a quick update, I just finished coding the user system back-end which is maybe like 10%-15% of what needs to be done. 😋

Hopefully I can get the rest hammered out for release soon! 😊

Building a website sure makes you realize how hard Ian works. 😋 Anyone who complains about V2's lateness obviously hasn't made one. xD

redfire77 • 3 March 2011 at 7:05 PM

@zac i made one before. it was really simple. it had all my screenies in it and random wierd stuff. mostly i was just practicing my javascript skills. 😋

Zac • 15 March 2011 at 9:48 PM

Coding profiles/achievement pages now! 😃 Achievements are little trophy like badges that users will obtain and can show off. 😊

For example, we have a "bug squasher" badge which is awarded to a user if they submit a valid bug report. 😊

Here's a preview: http://tiny.cc/xrn46

We have a couple cool ones planned, but we'd like to know if you guys have any ideas for what some achievements could be. 😊

And I apologize for my slowness and inactivity... School's a monster. 😋