Recent changes to our website

Announcements
1

Recent Changes

We have recently made a number of changes to the website.

 
Here’s the change log;

  • Announcements, Developer Blogs, and Patch Notes have been separated from the rest of the form.
  • Announcements, Developer Blogs, and Patch Notes now display threads in order of creation date. Previously they went with the forum default of sorting by the date of the most recent post.
  • Added an option to mark posts in Customer Service, Technical Support, and Bug Reports as Private. These posts will only be visible to the author, EHG, and forum moderators (currently all moderators are EHG employees).
  • The option to upload custom avatars has been disabled.
  • The option to upload attachments has been disabled.
  • Added a Purchases tab to forum profile pages.
  • Added support for a dedicated Downloads tab on forum profile pages.
  • Added a Log Out option at the end of the list of profile tabs.
  • Renamed some tabs on forum profile pages.
  • Adjusted the order of some tabs on forum profile pages.
  • Removed the tagline from the Classes/Builds category.
  • Trading has moved from a standalone slot to the Items category.
  • We replaced boards for mastery classes with boards for base classes. Existing threads have been moved.
  • Fixed a bug preventing some users from being able to subscribe and unsubscribe to / from forum threads.
  • Various miscellaneous back-end changes in preparation of the alpha beginning later this month.

 

Elaboration

The primary focus of the recent changes has been to enhance forum profile pages. We have also split the forum between the sections dedicated to threads started by EHG and the rest of the forum. This was done to give new threads in these sections greater visibility in anticipation of our alpha beginning next month.

 
We have removed the ability to upload avatars and attachments. Although we optimized uploaded images, allowing the community to host an unlimited number of files on our server isn’t sustainable. We did upgrade our web server last month, and there is a limit to how much of our budget we can devote to the website. We are exploring alternative solutions, however please understand our current priority is the initial release of our alpha.

 
We will be resetting avatars to the default image until we have a solution everyone can avail of. We will be delaying this for a period of two weeks to allow people to download their avatars before they are removed.

 
For advice on how to download your forum avatar, please see this support article;
https://lastepochgame.com/support/article/downloading-your-forum-avatar/

 

Future Plans

Our current plan for future changes to the website include;
  • Improving load times for logged in users through better use of caching.
  • Implementing the Downloads tab on forum profile pages and move downloads there.
  • Finding a more permanent solution for members of the community using different avatars.
  • Making the website more consistent aesthetically and generally improving its design overall.
2

The decision to disable the ability to use custom avatar caught me by surprise. Didn’t know that it would cause so much issues given that I thought that was a common feature in forum boards.

Having said that, agree that the alpha release is higher priority and it’s good to know that you folks are looking for a more permanent solution to allow for custom avatar.

I suppose it is perhaps for the same reason why GGG charges for uploading custom avatars? I am not averse to EHG going the same route.

3

GGG has a library consisting of art created for the game which players can choose between.

 
What do you think of that? It’d drastically cut down on the amount of server-side storage being used.

4

I think the exact solution GGG uses is good. Have a library of LE themed avatar for basic use. But allow supporters to buy custom avatars. The swag factor is real :smiley:

5

Would you prefer to pay a nominal amount to use a pre-existing image, or to pay more to have one created?

 
(Please understand none of this is a promise - just making sure I know what to discuss with the team.)

6

For reasons, paying (even if nominal) for stock images just feels like a cash grab to me. I would much prefer there be at least some basic avatars that can be used for free. If there is at least this option, I think it’s paletable to have an in between tier of fancier stock avatars - between free basic ones and more expensive custom ones.

Edit: to clarify what feels like a cash grab in my first statement is only if there are no free options at all (default avatar doesn’t count).

7

Sorry, that’s not what I meant. We’re not going to charge money for stock images.

 
I was just attempting to clarify whether you were meaning a relatively inexpensive option of someone paying to have Support set their avatar to a pre-existing image of theirs (within reason, of course) or a much more expensive option to pay to have one of our artists create an avatar for you.

8

Ahhhh. Well. I assume there would still be basic stock avatars available? In which case, I see this as a variant of what I just proposed - replacing the intermediate fancier stock art with users’ own avatar.

I would think it would be good to have both options available!

9

We’ll definitely have some kind of solution so that people can register an account, log in, and choose something without needing to spend money. I’m not able to say exactly what form that might take, or when it might be ready. It’s potentially something I’d be working on between other things.

 
Some of our skill art might be appropriate for a library-style solution. I use skill art for an avatar myself. :slight_smile: