vbulletin neighborhoods

[!!!]

When I suggest things that are to be done (should, could, can, will, etc.), I say this in the event that God is willing. That being said, let me continue this post:

Instead of forums, or solely forums, why not make neighborhoods? It should be divided into countries (made up or based off of real-life, it doesn't matter), counties, cities, streets, and then lots, etc. Houses could even be divided into rooms, areas, etc. so, users can settled into houses, and areas.

If users are friends or even family, they can occupy rooms to a house. Owners (whatever they own, be it a room, a house, a king of a country, an overseer of a county, a council of a neighborhood or street, a governor of a city, etc.) can then decorate and manage areas. Then, this being done, if lands (be them local or large) can be amassed to different things, such as their quality, topics, popularity, etc.

Statistics would be done for all of them in LOTS of VARIOUS, INTELLIGENT ways in order to figure out how to rank them. So, suppose a certain house is constantly posting spam. Obviously, for that neighborhood (the neighbors) it will not be good...and even for the country.

So, as a result, perhaps that person would be kicked out of that community or even put in some sort of prison and restricted so that the quality will be better. Essentially, if done right, the entire forums would be run by the members, and not necessarily an elite group of moderators and administrators. With this in place, it should make navigation and the overall appearance and flow of the forums, the management, and quality improve. So then communities can be separated also by interest. Suppose a country named A is constantly discussing evolution. Pretty soon, that country should evolve to being a strong discussing community in evolution.

The influence, choices, etc. should be governed based off not only statistics, but people's own influence. So, suppose a member spams frequently, his rating/influence would be lower than somebody who spams next-to-none. As a result, the statistics and whatnot should give the member whose track record is better much more leeway.

Members could even design their specific areas...so, suppose if someone is walking through (browsing) a neighborhood street, members can design and spiceup their yards (which should be some sort of table which indicates their house, their name(s), an address or something, perhaps some interests, statistics, information about the owner and possibly other people who live in that house, etc.) with maybe some avatar(s), altering the colors, playing around with various styles--like a signature.

Within a house, members can even decorate their rooms and whatnot...and perhaps house rooms are the various areas of the forum (notice I say "forum" and not "neighborhood", so I mean the FORUM is separate from the community living) where members can post. So, maybe the order, some information and statistics displayed, etc. of those rooms (tables) can be altered and changing and whatnot. So, suppose a member is very active in a forum discussing "Gaming", and is doing well there or something...they would earn "money" which would allow them to decorate their rooms and areas more and whatnot. Therefore, if someone has a high rating in the gaming forum, perhaps there should be some sort of way to show this. Likewise, if they post new threads in the gaming forum, based off of their current statistics, that will be how the thread appears (the table of the thread). So, suppose a blue background indicates that the user who posted it is usually a very good poster (with well information, educational, etc.), then the thread listed would have a background appearing "blue" when someone is browsing the gaming forums.

Essentially, the forums should, over time, evolve into very orderly and productive communities.

So, then, players can move and live in areas (sort of like the RPG Hack) where they fit best. Likewise, it makes navigation for forums easier. This way towns and countries and areas can be established (settled) by users, governed by them, and then managed to allow for nice navigation. If someone gets along with another person very well, perhaps they would both then take interest in living closer together so that when "Neighborhood Watching" (which sorts and allows navigation based on statistics and whatnot so that things which would most interest a person would be listed primary, and this is based on their interests and activity, where they live on the forums, their neighbors and their neighbors' activities, etc.) people can easily find topics and stuff that they like.

I don't know, I'm sure other people can come up with better ideas for such a system, so feel free to addon.

[BigIke]

Wow that would be a HUGE undertaking, but I like the idea. It would definetely the biggest vBulletin hack ever. However, I don't think anybody would be up to it.

[jugo]

I think that hack is called "life". And if you are willing to spend THAT much time on the internet, maybe it's time you find a hobby or two.

EDIT: And a couple of friends as well.

[BigIke]

Originally Posted by jugo

I think that hack is called "life". And if you are willing to spend THAT much time on the internet, maybe it's time you find a hobby or two.


EDIT: And a couple of friends as well.

Lighten up, it was just a suggestion. A good one at that

[jugo]

OK..I'm lightened.

I never said it wasn't a good idea. If he took the time to detail it as much as he did, I think it's a GREAT idea. But my opinion is that it may be overkill for most because it encompases too much and requires you to constantly spend time on such a "neighborhood" in order for it to be an effective undertaking.

[amykhar]

The one flaw I see with the idea is the allowing the users to decorate their "houses" or rooms which would essentially be forums. A similar hack was found by jelsoft to be a violation of the license agreement.

[!!!]

When I suggest things that are to be done (should, could, can, will, etc.), I say this in the event that God is willing. That being said, let me continue this post:

It's not necessarily "not having a life", but it would be a real, interactive, evolving community. When areas start to die off, the statistics will notice it and perhaps, depending on the previous "binge level" and the now "withdraw" will be a reaction.

Essentially, if there are members who don't even use some forum areas, in their house those areas would have maybe some spiderwebs or something on them and their colors would be darker, dimmed, and further at the bottom (maybe a black background with light text to indicate the lights are out). There would be lots of variations, allowing for lots of possibilities and a strong, evolving system.

When people log on, they can be taken directly to their house and then see a "bulletin posting" or some sort of "flyer" which details the recent activity/activies. They can view statistics of members in their own neighborhood, in their house, their town, country, and so on. So, basically, people can get a bird's-eye-view of the place.

This way people can view the forums based on the community, and not necessarily some built-in or personally defined settings...so, yes, I guess it is sort of like life, but at the same time, that doesn't mean people need to treat it like it's their life, investing all their time on the forums just because they're so nice and revolutionary. Rather, it's a whole new light in online communities and message boards.

So, now, members can have houses (sort of like blogs) and whatnot, and decorate their yards which will be seen by passer-bys and guests, etc. They can, apart from their rooms (maybe there will be something like an "inner room", or "living room") and apart from their activities elsewhere, they can, in their houses, post threads and personal things, sort of like their own sub-forum. Then, they can moderate their own houses--they can deem some members as "burglers" or something, or "intruders", they can require that threads be approved before they show up, etc.

Then, they can (with limited access/power) also post and be active in their own neighborhood, then also in their town, then their county, country, planet, galaxy, and so forth--whatever. Basically it's like a community road-map, and who knows, maybe there could be some sort of interactive graphical map which has routes and roadways and whatnot that display the communities graphically so that you can view them all on a single page. Then, there could be flashing red dots or something on individual houses when someone who lives there is online...and, a watcher can click on that house, or dot, or whatever, and then be taken to that local area (and, when they go to different areas, the environment, statistics, activity, etc. will all be unique, as the communities evolve and settle in, because of the unique characteristics, personalities, etc. of everyone in real life who operate the areas).

So, basically, this gives online communities relativity...taking forums to the next level. Communities should be built on interests, as well.

Yes, it would be a lot of work and it would require lots of graphics, thinking, and innovation, but if someone is willing to jump start the project, perhaps I and other people can help them build on to it to help make it even more complete--because I am aware that this is a big system and idea, and would require lots of different options, statistics, and all sorts of things that would need to be conceived (thought up) and figured out, worked out, and created in order to make it all useful, better, and worthwhile.

But, when all is said and done, the hopes are that it would, indeed, lead to a real, evolving community (a democracy of some sort) by which would make the old ways of forums (particularly intensely involved forums) obsolete, and at the same time all of these capabilities should not be confusing to anyone, nor may it difficult to navigate. Why? Because with a roadmap that gives it all unique environments and habitats, there should be still a forum (a gathering area) which brings it all together.

Sorry for babbling on and perhaps suggesting such a complex idea...but, hey, there has been more complexly scripted things before (even if they aren't for vbulletin)--and vbulletin itself took a lot of work, so it's useless to refuse to take things to the next level if they can potentially improve things drastically just because hard work is involved. But, at the same time, I am not much of a scripter, so far be it from me to judge (lest I too be judged).

Originally Posted by amykhar

The one flaw I see with the idea is the allowing the users to decorate their "houses" or rooms which would essentially be forums. A similar hack was found by jelsoft to be a violation of the license agreement.

Really? I'd like to hear more on that. And, besides, if people can have their own signature, avatar, and caption (and their own username, posting style, etc.), then what's wrong with allowing them to change the color(s) of the tables' backgrounds?...and, also the fonts and whatnot? I'd like to know more.

[twoseven]

!!! the hack was vbhosting(i think) was a good idea. its still out there on the net. the code was bulky though and alot of it. was def. a huge hack. and you have in mind even more, which is a crazy size. jelsoft would probably say that if they can decorate that area themselves its a breech of the EULA (just a guess there). the houses could be seen as subbing out your forum. aka you could resell those areas and only run 1 instance of vb. just would open a can of worms

[!!!]

Again, I speak as if God is willing:

I thought people were allowed to post comments and blogs with their accounts on vbulletin forums? It doesn't necessarily have to be a forum, and things can be compromised to suit the rules.

Basically, there has to be some sort customization...so, if a person has a house (which, in a neighborhood, exists as a table with some displayed personal information, such as statistics and other personal stuff) and someone sees it, they should be able to decorate their table (their "lot", or "area", or "yard") somehow--to personalize it. If they can have personalized profiles and whatnot, blogs, comments, and personal messages, what's wrong with simply making things more visual and realistic, mapping everything together? I do agree, however, why vbulletin would think members having their own subforum is a breech of contract...but then again, perhaps if the hack is made, there would definitely be some way of getting around it by making also a terms and agreement(s) for this hack.

That way, before someone downloads the hack, they must agree that they will not start selling lots, neighborhoods, houses, etc. (or, sub-forums). As such, I see no reason why vbulletin would have a problem with it then...and, I am sure there are ways of doing what we need to do without losing any essence.

That being said, let me say some more ideas: there could be windows or something to people's houses (outside in their yards), so when someone is in a particular street/neighborhood, if somebody is currently working on their own house and content, posting in their personal areas/blogs/personal messages, a light will be turned on in the window, and their avatar will be visible or something...and if somebody is visiting somebody's house, then their avatar could be seen in some sort of "guest's window", or a link to their house/profile and whatnot.

Essentially, what we will do is take ordinary life and turn it into the vbulletin forums so that even a child would be able to understand...and, also, this would be educational, useful, and a big improvement...and allow for many more new, bigger, and better things.

[tnguy3n]

I speak as if God is willing

:alien: :alien:

anyhow, it's an interesting idea.