Well, as you may know from our April update article, we are getting very close now to the accounts launch as we’re almost ready to enter into the main testing phase of the project. This means that we will be using accounts internally at Nitrome Towers and taking down notes on any problems that we come across.
So what’s next?
Until recently, due to the amount of man power it would have took to simulate the usage of accounts beyond a single user, I’ve pretty much been holding private messaging conversations and comments between two, three and sometimes four user accounts by myself. This meant I was opening multiple browsers and logging in to different accounts simultaneously. Needless to say, this type of testing is best carried out when a single person is locked down to using a single user account, as this better mirrors real world usage.
Main tests
The main tests will consist of the all of us trying to mess around with the user accounts to see if any of our calculated mischief gets past our moderation system. We’ll also try registering (with both Facebook Connect and Nitrome sign up processes) and using our accounts like the average community user to test for usability issues. The main reason we take such attention to detail on these types of tests is because we want the accounts to feel as natural and intuitive to use as possible (and we also want to have some fun with them too!).
Abusing the report button
Some of you have already expressed concern (on our Facebook feedback from last month’s accounts article) in regards to the way that the reporting badges may be obtained via abusive means (i.e. users may create dual accounts or users might spam the report button on every comment/user they see).
Well, you will be happy to know that we share the same concerns as our fans on this subject and feel that although there are no real foolproof ways to completely eliminate cheaters, we will do the best we can without hindering good community users that are interacting with the system as intended. We’ll be making use of a variety of measures to avoid account abuse as much as possible. This phase actually became a task in itself!
There are many mechanisms that are already in use by existing web communities to stem the flow of bad user activity. Things like CAPTCHA, IP based bans, duplicated email address checks, user assisted moderation, up/down voting of user generated material etc. For each of these effective methods, there is usually some way of defeating them. The more tests we use to insure that genuine user activity is carried out, the more we might negatively affect the user experience flow for genuine users.
So, with usability in mind, our “anti-bad guy” measures that we intend to deploy are going to be mainly frictionless for the end user. By frictionless we mean they should not interfere with user experience whilst browsing the Nitrome site in any way.
We know cheating can take place in pretty much every online community in which there is something of worth to gain (such as badges and avatars in our case). We will diligently enforce the community rules as best we can. As we said in the previous post, the accounts are going to be considered to be in beta as we monitor the use and miss-use of the website. The more we understand about the community trouble makers, the better we can implement preventative systems.
Collecting new avatars
As well as having a lot of awesome avatars to choose from when you first create an account, there are also going to be some even more awesome locked avatars that won’t be accessible straight from the start.
Your Avatar acts as the graphical identifier for your user account. Along with your username, it will be one of the first things somebody sees. Some avatars are going to be more difficult to collect than others.
You will be able to unlock avatars primarily by finding them as objects in certain Nitrome games. You’ll need to check out the descriptions for avatars on the selection page for ways to unlock them. Some of the avatar descriptions may be written in a slightly more cryptic fashion than others which may, in-turn, involve you thinking about the unlock message and making educated guesses as to where you want to start the hunt for them!
We really feel confident that the harder to collect avatars will make for fun challenges for our community!
We hope you are all as excited as we are!
Also, as a quick teaser, we thought that we’d include the profile page with updates since the last post
Screenshot Before: Click Here!
Screenshot After: Click Here!
Hi Nitromians!
We have updated B.C. Bow Contest!
Remember when we updated our game Twin Shot 2?
When mochicoins were discontinued, we made all of the extra (previously paid for) content free to unlock as you play through the game. We even added Touchy support for anyone that buys the Touchy App.
Well guess what... B.C. Bow Contest has been given similar treatment!
Whats New?
B.C. Bow Contest: Click To Play!
Touchy: Click Here!
Happy Gaming!
As the Easter weekend is on its way, we are going to be bringing you a Thursday Update!
We won't be back in the office until Tuesday next week, which means we won't be featuring a Pixel Love game next Monday.
Don't panic! I'm sure that we will think of something we can bring you next week, so we will see you all then!
Enjoy the long weekend everyone! :D
We are now distributing our tiny icon winter game Ice Beak for use around the web!
This means you can add this and many more Nitrome games to your site by copying the code from our Distribution Page and placing it on your web pages.
Distribution Page: Click Here!
Play Ice Beak: Click Here!
Thanks for Playing!
We are now distributing our action packed multiplayer winter game Bad Ice-Cream 2 for use around the web!
This means you can add this and many more Nitrome games to your site by copying the code from our Distribution Page and placing it on your web pages.
Distribution Page: Click Here!
Play Bad Ice-Cream 2: Click Here!
Thanks for Playing!
We have just released Super Stock Take!
Guide the chimp in this puzzle platformer to get items for Nitrome games!
You have to move the blocks by stacking them up or throwing them around to get to those hard to reach shelves!
This one is a real mind bender of a game in which you really need to use your head... and immense lifting powers!
Have fun and happy gaming Nitromians!
We are now distributing our action packed maze game Rainbogeddon for use around the web!
This means you can add this and many more Nitrome games to your site by copying the code from our Distribution Page and placing it on your web pages.
Distribution Page: Click Here!
Play Rainbogeddon: Click Here!
Thanks for Playing!
Ever wanted to play a really solid platform shooter as a Bandit?
...errrm we mean a trucker...
...Abraham Lincoln...
...A Psycho...
Okay okay, how about a cop then?
No? Well there is no pleasing you then. Thankfully those of you who do will enjoy this week's pixel love game. Random Heroes by the talented folks over at Woblyware. A solid run jump and shooter in which you must save the city from a horde of alien un-dead cyborg g zombies
It reminds us of the metal slug series, with plenty of gun and running, upgrades, secrets and bosses. With great music and nicely crafted pixel art...Need we really say more.
Also for those of you with iOS devices who like to play on the move you can grab it here for a measly sum of errrm ...'FREE'...
Random Heroes: Click Here!
Woblyware: Click Here!
Join us next week for more pixel love goodness.
Hi Nitromians,
It's been a while since we spoke about the accounts, so today I thought that we’d take a little peak at the progress made so far.
Registration
Upon launch, there will be multiple methods open to you from which you will be able to create a Nitrome account.
You will either be able create a Nitrome account from the registration page, or you will be able register with an existing Facebook account.
The second option will be great fun for people that want to enjoy that social network experience, like letting people know about the games you are playing or bragging about scores or new badges you've earned, we'll talk about badges a little bit later.
If you decide that you want to connect your Facebook account to your Nitrome account after registration, the option will be there for you to do that (there is also a shiny badge for connecting your Facebook account to a Nitrome account).
When accounts launch, we will be looking out for any bugs that we were unaware of during the development phase and ironing them out. The reason this is not as feasible in the development process is due to the high traffic / load that we would need the accounts system to experience and the different user scenarios that occur. There are many linear methods that can aid us in stress testing and unit testing the accounts, but we all know that nothing can emulate that human behaviour quite like you can! So you could say that, technically, accounts will be in beta when we launch them and the Nitrome community will be the account stress testers!
We have carried out some preliminary testing to make sure that any issues that can be found at this early stage are dealt with and the system will be monitored after launch to seek out any hiccups that may arise from then onwards.
Let’s talk about the badges, what are they exactly?
Badges are cool new unlockables which will be introduced alongside accounts at launch. You can earn badges by performing actions that are not necessarily linked to the games themselves. This could be things you do around the site, like commenting, private messaging, unlocking new avatars, reporting abuse etc. We thought we would keep them separate from any game specific achievements that will be introduced after accounts launch and things are all running along smoothly.
Upon launch, we will have included a light content moderation system which will try and help us keep the site as clean as possible. The moderation system may need the help of a few good Nitromians to start with, and by this we mean reporting any bad behaviour. Remember, this is going to be a community and we want you all to take pride in it and be apart of it. You will also be able to earn the reporting badges if a user you've reported is dealt with by an admin.
A typical scenario.
Let’s say that a rogue user decides to spam in the comments of a game or blog post to achieve badges quickly, what can you do about it?
Well, if you are one of the people that report them, you will be rewarded with a report badge for your community support effort and we will remove the badges from the offending user, possibly even removing their account if they persist. So in essence, you get something - the community gets something and everyone’s happy.
Features to expect at launch
Facebook account integration Badges Notifications Commenting Reporting Friending Private Messaging Personal 'hearted games' Avatars Unlockable AvatarsFeatures to come after initial launch
Things we will be working towards, once the accounts are considered stable, are game saves and achievements.
Game saving is something we know you all want and we know why it’s so sought after. We’ve had plenty of emails that come through regarding saved games being lost from computers.
There are two main reasons for this:
Local Shared Object (LSO) files size limits Some browsers mark the LSO content to be deleted along with your browser history.This is something that a cloud saving system could help us fix for you all so it is on our road map.
Game saves and achievements will be coming after launch as they need to be fitted into every game that will support them. This means actively going through our games catalogue to retrofit them with this new functionality.
Profile Page Screenshot: Click Here!
We are getting very close to launching accounts now. We hope you are all as excited as we are!
Hi Nitromians!
We've got a bit of a treat for you all today!
This week, we thought we'd show you a teaser screenshot of one of our latest upcoming games.
It's currently very close to being finished and we thought we'd show you some artwork and find out what you all think of it!
Super Stock Take is set in a storage warehouse where items for Nitrome games are stored. You play as the chimp that has to take on the laborious and often hazardous tasks set by the Nitrome Boss.
Super Stock Take Preview: Click Here!
Does anyone recognise the boss?
Post your thoughts and comments on Facebook!
