+- PG-HQ Forums (https://www.pg-hq.com/comms)
+-- Forum: Panzer Grenadier (https://www.pg-hq.com/comms/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Forum: General Discussion (https://www.pg-hq.com/comms/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Thread: Is PG HQ falling behind? (/showthread.php?tid=194)
Pages:
1
2
Is PG HQ falling behind? - JayTownsend - 08-15-2012
No updated Library, no Panzer Lehr and no Patton's Nighmare?
Just asking?
RE: Is PG HQ falling behind? - vince hughes - 08-15-2012
I guess it will always be 'behind' as it is a re-active project. But the last year has seen the Heathster enter a very busy period of his life. The HQ I presume will simply be fitted in around that.
Unless of course he has a secret nominated Lieutenant with similar technology skills and time to hand that will jump in ?
RE: Is PG HQ falling behind? - JayTownsend - 08-15-2012
This Lieutenant won't be jumping in any time soon, as I doing game designs of my own presently.
RE: Is PG HQ falling behind? - campsawyer - 08-15-2012
Don't worry he has alot of time, time he is on an APL schedule.
RE: Is PG HQ falling behind? - larry marak - 08-15-2012
If we would all just paypal shad $80 per month he could put together a full time web crew to expand and extend the site.
RE: Is PG HQ falling behind? - campsawyer - 08-15-2012
(08-15-2012, 07:26 AM)larry marak Wrote: If we would all just paypal shad $80 per month he could put together a full time web crew to expand and extend the site.
go for it Larry
RE: Is PG HQ falling behind? - GeneSteeler - 08-15-2012
It takes a while for these additions to get to our side of the world! I've waited about 8 months once...
Life is a funny thing. We often do not get to do what we want to do...
RE: Is PG HQ falling behind? - Shad - 08-15-2012
(08-15-2012, 03:08 AM)JayTownsend Wrote: No updated Library, no Panzer Lehr and no Patton's Nighmare?
Just asking?
It's a fair question.
Got a cup of coffee ready? Good, have a seat while I give you a peak behind the camoflage curtain of PG-HQ...
In a Perfect World...
...Avalanche Press deeply values our existence and sends us advance copies of all PG products. This allows PG-HQ to keep the Library perfectly current so that Jay Townsend can record his plays on Day 1.
AP also provides us with copies of their original digital artwork so we don't waste time scanning maps and countersheets or begging for others to do so.
I have an endless supply of volunteers for data entry who compete amongst themselves to rack up more and more contributions.
I have 3 or 4 subordinate programmers to help me rapidly develop and roll-out site upgrades.
PG-HQ and its Library-based model becomes the preeminent board wargaming site on the Internet and expands to encompasse all low-level series games including ASL, LnL, ATS, and others.
That was a fun daydream, wasn't it?
In the Real World...
There was a brief period when AP sent me digital copies of the downloadable supplements, which greatly aided our data entry, but that dried up right about the time we launched these forums... which was also when AP decided to remove links to PG-HQ from CSW and most of the pages on their website without comment. I think it's safe to say that I should not be expecting a gratis copy of Kursk - South Flank in the mail anytime soon!
My entire support staff is only 5 guys who donate their time just as I do: campsawyer, GeneSteeler, plloyd1010, rerathbun, and Matt W. They do data entry, error correction, manage the annotated rules, help me vet development choices, and look good in suits. I'm the lone programmer.
The sheer magnitude of data entry cannot be overstated. One does not simply "add" a new game. Best-case scenario we have an electronic copy so we can cut and paste the introduction and conclusion for each scenario. This saves several minutes depending on your typing speed. If you're really on a roll you might spend 5 minutes recording all the data for one scenario. On larger scenarios with extensive OOBs it can be longer. It is not fun. It is dreadfully, dreadfully boring. It is also time that could be spent doing other things like... playing PG! It really takes a special kind of masochist to receive a shiney new wargame in the mail and immediately sit down to essentially retype the entire scenario book by hand... but that's what these fellas do for you without complaint.
Peter has voluntarily embarked on a journey through a very special kind of hell. He has just begun trying to make sense of the over 2,500 OOB formations we've stockpiled since starting PG-HQ. Looking at his formation tool's dashboard, he has confirmed 45 formations for Germany. He still has more than 500 to work through. This involves cleaning up the names, recording their parent formation, recording any alternate naming schemes used and the dates thereof, and double-checking their scenario appearances. It is beastly work. But when he's done you'll be able to pull up a Library page dedicated to the 10th SS "Frundsburg" Panzer Division listing every PG scenario they appear in, their average rating, and their place within the entire SS order of battle. You will then be able to traverse that SS OOB tree, either upwards or downwards. So give lonely Peter a pat on the back, because our resident OOB curator has only 2,500 formations to go!
Honestly, that we were ever remotely close to catching up is an achievement in and of itself. Especially when you consider that I only own 26 titles. Typically these sorts of nutso-fan sites are run by the guy who owns everything including the limited edition lunchbox and thermos. I literally cannot do it alone.
But we're making progress, even while you cannot see it. These past 2 weeks I've been working with Peter to give him new tools for managing his formations, a task that is nearly complete. That lets him really get to work without needing to bug me to fix this and that error in his old tools (errors that I am fully to blame for). Then I turn back to wrapping up the Library upgrade...
..which will immediately expose for all to see the glaring inadequacy of our unit counter image coverage. I've got (digital) piles and piles of counters that need to be sorted, labeled, and uploaded to flesh out the Library.
And then there are all the new toys people want like better search ability, counter inventories for games, printable play record sheets, more and better stats, I have a prototype line-of-sight tool that has been backburnered for months... it never ends!
Are we falling behind? If so, only because we are resolutely trying to offer you more and more. PG-HQ has grown immensely since we started and will continue to try and serve the PG community in more and better ways... we just won't do it quickly!
Cheers everyone!
RE: Is PG HQ falling behind? - JayTownsend - 08-16-2012
Thank Andrew and crew for all your hard work, now please don't band me from the PG-HQ for asking the question in the first place!
I bet CSW asked AP to drop it, so they won't lose customers on their site, but I don't know for sure?
RE: Is PG HQ falling behind? - Shad - 08-16-2012
(08-16-2012, 02:58 AM)JayTownsend Wrote: I bet CSW asked AP to drop it, so they won't lose customers on their site, but I don't know for sure?
I had not considerd the possibility of action being taken at the request of CSW, but that would not account for our removal from AP's main page. Given the AP propensity for aggressive censorship in their CSW folders, I would hesistate to place the blame at Sysop's feet!