Ideas for Metal Academy
I'd still like to see a clan filter option on the METAL ACADEMY LISTS page as I'd like to expand it in the future & think it's already pretty cluttered.
We've discussed this previously, but I never figured out a logical way to do it. I've got two main options, but neither is ideal.
1. The clan filter dynamically looks at the releases in the lists and sets the clans accordingly. This sounds great, but then certain lists will end up with clans that aren't at all representative due to one release having it. This would be particularly noticeable with the Clan Challenges, which would all have multiple clans and not just the clan that is actually relevant for them.
2. The clan filter could be set manually when creating the list. Once again, sounds good, but what about the label lists? Every time I add new albums to them, new clans could become relevant. The only way I can see it working is if I just set every clan on lists that could potentially cover more than one, but then that takes away from the value and could actually be confusing.
Thoughts?
I'll go with option 2 unless someone can come up with "a cunning plan that cannot fail".
I don’t really think it’s as relevant for label lists to be honest. Would you have to add the feature to ALL of the list pages? Couldn’t it just be for the Metal Academy Lists & Clan Challenges pages? Even then, we’d still have some lists like “Daniel’s Top Ten Releases Of 1983” which aren’t clan specific but I just thought that those wouldn’t have a filter category at all (i.e. if you select any clan they aren’t displayed) or they have a generic one for lists which relate to all genres.
Much harder to add functionality like that to specific lists rather than all lists.
OK, so I'm hearing that it can be done. NICE! I'm really looking forward to it!
One thing I particularly like about The Academy is the decision to ignore micro-genres and focus on the more general metal sub-genres. I was wondering, though, if it would be possible to filter the charts not just by clan, but also by genre. For example, I am a proud member of The Fallen but, as some of you may have gathered by now, I am no big fan of Gothic Metal, so I would like to be able to view a chart for, say, just Doom Metal, or Drone Metal, or maybe multiple filters could be applied. Maybe this could be a feature that is Clan-gated.
Sounds like a very laborious task for Ben to implement Sonny. I'm all for it!
I like the idea of being able to filter based on subgenre. If somebody wanted to search through the gateway clan, but also wanted to weed out nu-metal (since it is a very controversial subgenre and assuming it was declared a major subgenre in that clan) that could be beneficial. Not just for people in the clan to find new music, but also for new visitors who like alternative metal, but not nu-metal.
Perhaps each user could have the option to choose an album of the month that they can display on their profile page? I think it might make for an interesting talking point that encourages connection & recommendation.
Perhaps each user could have the option to choose an album of the month that they can display on their profile page? I think it might make for an interesting talking point that encourages connection & recommendation.
Yes, I could really go for this idea. A good way to start conversation and a touchstone for other members to get an idea of where you're coming from. Also a nice touch of personalisation that let's you put a "flag in the ground".
I’d also like the ability to @ other members in forum posts. For example, I recommended one of our members a release in the forum for The Revolution this morning however it’s really up to chance as to whether they’ll ever read the message. It’d be better if they were alerted to it without me having to send them a private message. Perhaps they could see a notification on their profile symbol at the top of the screen which would direct them to a notifications section in their profile?
I’d also like the ability to @ other members in forum posts. For example, I recommended one of our members a release in the forum for The Revolution this morning however it’s really up to chance as to whether they’ll ever read the message. It’d be better if they were alerted to it without me having to send them a private message. Perhaps they could see a notification on their profile symbol at the top of the screen which would direct them to a notifications section in their profile?
Seconded
I start working with my developer tomorrow on a whole bunch of stuff. Will take a few weeks to get through it all, but hopefully I'll be able unveil bits and pieces as we go.
Ben & I discussed the new features that are slated for this round of developments today & I've gotta say that I think we might be putting some space between Metal Academy & the competition shortly. We'll be heading into entirely new territory in some areas & will be filling the last remaining gaps we have with competitors in others. The clan concept is going to give us a clear edge in some ways & you'll see some things you've been asking for finally coming to fruition too. I'm very excited to say the least!
Ben & I discussed the new features that are slated for this round of developments today & I've gotta say that I think we might be putting some space between Metal Academy & the competition shortly. We'll be heading into entirely new territory in some areas & will be filling the last remaining gaps we have with competitors in others. The clan concept is going to give us a clear edge in some ways & you'll see some things you've been asking for finally coming to fruition too. I'm very excited to say the least!
(made my own "like" button)
Ben, I hope you're available for one more of my suggestions! I see you added an Atmospheric Sludge Metal clan challenge. I think that serves as a nice bridge to the possible post-metal challenge and clan challenges for the other remaining metal genres. Even though atmospheric sludge is not one of the main genres, that gave me a good idea for a suggestion: Please do clan challenges for the main genres' subgenres! Here's a list of subgenres from the main genres:
Alternative Metal - Funk Metal, Nu Metal, Rap Metal
Black Metal - Atmospheric Black Metal, Black 'n' Roll, Depressive Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Pagan Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal, War Metal
Death Metal - Brutal Death Metal, Death 'n' Roll, Deathgrind, Melodic Death Metal, Technical Death Metal
Doom Metal - Death Doom Metal, Funeral Doom Metal, Traditional Doom Metal
Folk Metal - Celtic Metal, Medieval Folk Metal
Grindcore - Cybergrind, Deathgrind, Goregrind
Heavy Metal - NWOBHM
Industrial Metal - Cyber Metal, Neue Deutsche Härte
Melodic Metalcore - Nintendocore, Trancecore
Metalcore - Deathcore, Mathcore
Progressive Metal - Djent
Thrash Metal - Crossover Thrash, Technical Thrash Metal
Wow, that's a lot more subgenres than I thought, even more than the main genres! Not only that, some of the bands in those subgenres are already in the main genres' clan challenges. So please ease yourself some time to go through those subgenres when you're ready, and move the bands in those subgenres out of the main genres' challenges to the subgenres' challenges if possible. Maybe that can be your next big challenge project after doing the challenges for those 4 remaining main genres. Seriously I wanna make sure the clan challenges are more suitable for anyone who only likes one or a few subgenres within the main genres, so they don't have to go through the nightmare of reviewing subgenres they don't like in the main genres' challenges, like when I was doing a clan challenge for my former clan The Horde. Please take the time to consider this idea, and thanks in advance!
Ben & I discussed the new features that are slated for this round of developments today & I've gotta say that I think we might be putting some space between Metal Academy & the competition shortly. We'll be heading into entirely new territory in some areas & will be filling the last remaining gaps we have with competitors in others. The clan concept is going to give us a clear edge in some ways & you'll see some things you've been asking for finally coming to fruition too. I'm very excited to say the least!
(First time using emojis here!)
Ben, I hope you're available for one more of my suggestions! I see you added an Atmospheric Sludge Metal clan challenge. I think that serves as a nice bridge to the possible post-metal challenge and clan challenges for the other remaining metal genres. Even though atmospheric sludge is not one of the main genres, that gave me a good idea for a suggestion: Please do clan challenges for the main genres' subgenres! Here's a list of subgenres from the main genres:
Alternative Metal - Funk Metal, Nu Metal, Rap Metal
Black Metal - Atmospheric Black Metal, Black 'n' Roll, Depressive Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Pagan Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal, War Metal
Death Metal - Brutal Death Metal, Death 'n' Roll, Deathgrind, Melodic Death Metal, Technical Death Metal
Doom Metal - Death Doom Metal, Funeral Doom Metal, Traditional Doom Metal
Folk Metal - Celtic Metal, Medieval Folk Metal
Grindcore - Cybergrind, Deathgrind, Goregrind
Heavy Metal - NWOBHM
Industrial Metal - Cyber Metal, Neue Deutsche Härte
Melodic Metalcore - Nintendocore, Trancecore
Metalcore - Deathcore, Mathcore
Progressive Metal - Djent
Thrash Metal - Crossover Thrash, Technical Thrash Metal
Wow, that's a lot more subgenres than I thought, even more than the main genres! Not only that, some of the bands in those subgenres are already in the main genres' clan challenges. So please ease yourself some time to go through those subgenres when you're ready, and move the bands in those subgenres out of the main genres' challenges to the subgenres' challenges if possible. Maybe that can be your next big challenge project after doing the challenges for those 4 remaining main genres. Seriously I wanna make sure the clan challenges are more suitable for anyone who only likes one or a few subgenres within the main genres, so they don't have to go through the nightmare of reviewing subgenres they don't like in the main genres' challenges, like when I was doing a clan challenge for my former clan The Horde. Please take the time to consider this idea, and thanks in advance!
But do we really want to encourage people to join clans when they only like one or two of the minor subgenres within a clan Andi? I'm personally against that practice as I believe it goes directly against the whole clan concept. I never intended for people that don't like classic death metal to join The Horde, for people that don't like doom metal to join The Fallen or for people that don't like black metal to join The North, etc. In fact, I originally only wanted one all encompassing clan challenge per clan but Ben talked me into the current arrangement in order to be a little more accommodating.
What does everyone else think on this?
OK, how about this; in order for anyone to lock in a clan via the subgenre challenges, they have to go through at least half of the amount of subgenres in a main genre, plus the main genre itself. How does that sound?
Alternative Metal + 2 of its subgenres
Black Metal + 4 of its subgenres
Death Metal + 3 of its subgenres
Doom Metal + 2 of its subgenres
Folk Metal + 1 of its subgenres
Grindcore + 2 of its subgenres
Heavy Metal + NWOBHM
Industrial Metal + 1 of its subgenres
Melodic Metalcore + 1 of its subgenres
Metalcore + 1 of its subgenres
Progressive Metal + Djent
Thrash Metal + 1 of its subgenres
It doesn't sound very appealing to be honest Andi. Some of the subgenres aren't all that relevant given the relatively low number of releases they contain (gorenoise, rap metal, Viking metal, nintendocore, etc.) & it will only make it even harder to complete a challenge than it already is. I mean we've only had a few people complete their fourth clan challenges in the current arrangement & I'm not seeing any other members attempting it at this stage so making it even more daunting an undertaking isn't something that we'd entertain. As I've said many times before, we just want people to be realistic about which clans are most appropriate for their personal tastes. We don't want people trying to make them fit at the expense of a clan's integrity because it's not in the site or the community's best interests & that's exactly why we encouraged you to swap clans. If the idea of completing a clan challenge sounds like it would be "a nightmare" that would see you having to review "subgenres that you don't like" then the clan in question clearly isn't a good fit for you. It really is that simple. So overall, I'm comfortable with the current clan challenge configuration.
Thanks for the suggestion Andi, but I'm pretty happy with how things are now. I'll probably make lists for some (possibly even all) of the subgenres at some point, but I think the clan challenges should remain as they are. If anyone finds completing a challenge to be a "nightmare", as you found when doing the Death Metal challenge for The Horde, then they may want to reconsider whether it's the right clan for them. At the very least they should consider whether it's the right challenge to be attempting.
I'd also like to state that while I agree with a lot of Daniel's comments above, I don't agree with this one:
"I never intended for people that don't like classic death metal to join The Horde, for people that don't like doom metal to join The Fallen or for people that don't like black metal to join The North, etc."
When I designed the system, I simply wanted members to join the clans that they feel most affiliated with. If someone is passionate about Folk Metal, but cares nothing for Black Metal, then they should still consider joining The North. There's no reason why they have to listen to or rate/review Black Metal albums to be part of that clan. In fact, I don't like to think of each clan as having major and minor genres. In most cases there's a genre that's more popular than the others, but that shouldn't lessen the other genre's positions.
Where things became more complicated for you was when you joined The Horde, despite not feeling comfortable affiliating yourself with either of it's two top level genres. If the Death Metal challenge made you reconsider your clan selection, then I think you were right to do so.
That's a LOT of reviews man, I'll just come out and say it. As someone who does write reviews semi-frequently, my review style doesn't fit the bill for churning out 100 reviews in any reasonable amount of time, which is the current amount in order to achieve a 4th clan. Under your idea that would DOUBLE if someone wanted to be inducted into The North, which hardly seems fair and is way too daunting for others with review styles like mine.
I think I agreed with your original point though, with certain subgenres needing a little bit more distinction and love somehow without getting too complicated. Daniel's Horde point makes sense for certain genres and Clans, like The Pit or The Guardians, but the biggest offenders for the way the subgenres are broken down are The Fallen and The North. The North especially. Black Metal has such a breadth of material and, more often than not, differs from Folk Metal so heavily that it's really not out of the question that a member of The North could be all about certain Folk Metal and not care for Black Metal. Forcing subgenres onto Clan members doesn't seem like the way to go.
As long as the Clan Challenges list has challenges for all of the subgenres listed on the main Clans page, I don't really see the issue.