Competition

Am I the only one that thinks everyone benefits from when people try to outshine others when it comes to something as simple as coming up with a macro for something simple? Like someone might have one idea that works for what someone is trying to do, then someone else comes along and has something that does the same thing, but a little simpler, and then the first person to put up a solution makes and improved version and such. 

Healthy competition is good for any industry. =D

Yup. The competition that I see around here isn't one of really trying to put the other down, but rather trying to find the best solution for a given task, which in turn, every benefits from the result of that little "race". Some people take it upon themselves to even try and flare things up by adding in some little visual bonuses.

Totally. =D  Competition is good for the consumer. =D

It's good for everyone. I plan on joining the fray once I get better at the macro scene. I actually think that would be a good idea for the site. Every once in a while, there would be a competition to see who can make the best macro for a specific problem that's voted upon earlier on. And I feel that to keep it fair, there would be different tiers of the competition based on something (not entirely sure yet). I just feel that would spark a huge surge in solving kicking the butt of some of the issues people are encountering.  And once the competition is over, the best macros would be posted in a stickied thread so that everyone would be able to use them. Just a passing idea. I'm pretty sure that it'll never happen though.

It's always a good sign of an awesome community when people try to be the first ones to answer a post with the most useful information/solution, and even after solutions are offered more people post with alternative methods. I've seen a lot of different online communities over the years, and Roll20's still stands out far above as the most eager to help.

It's all about everyone trying to have fun and making sure everyone else has fun.

Mark G. said: I've seen a lot of different online communities over the years, and Roll20's still stands out far above as the most eager to help. This.  x1000

I haven't really seen many online communities simply because I tend to play games alone because I simply like to avoid all of the a-holes that comes with those communities. I joined R20 because everyone I've known that has played MTG, D&D,etc. has always been pretty cool and usually really nice. So I took a chance, and I do NOT regret that decision.

This community boils down to a few things. Active management that has a positive attitude, active members of the community that bring to the table a positive attitude, and the willingness to help each other in a positive and constructive manner. Now as to the original post qwerty4132 said: Am I the only one that thinks everyone benefits from when people try to outshine others when it comes to something as simple as coming up with a macro for something simple? Like someone might have one idea that works for what someone is trying to do, then someone else comes along and has something that does the same thing, but a little simpler, and then the first person to put up a solution makes and improved version and such.  While I do not think there will be any official competition (you never know with those crazy and wonderful devs :P ) there is nothing in the rules to stop you from posting a challenge. You are not the only one but there are many members here that do not know nor understand macros as of yet or they don't have the time to dig into the workings of them. If you wish to post up a simple challenge in the specific use forum and lay out an example (include the sheet name) that people can work from, go for it. Just include some of rules like must be original macro and not based on the wiki examples or something like that. I would personally love to see some macros from the more obscure systems.

Right now, I'm trying to specialize in PF macros, and even more specifically... the query system (which I've gotten to work pretty well but requires modifying the sheets). I think that the PF sheets are the easiest to work with due to the fact that you're able to see EVERYTHING that's used (attributes names, macro calls, etc.). But I do think it'd be pretty awesome for there to be official macro competitions where the top 2 or 3 get rewarded with a subscription, modules, tokens, or something for their hard work. And I'm keeping this glued to macros because EVERYONE can use macros. If I had the means to do so, I'd personally host these competitions. I just feel that by introducing legitimate competitions with rewards for solving some complicated problems in the easiest/best way, it would bolster and skyrocket the macro developing community. Right now it seems kind of a personal project kind of thing and many people are struggling to get the kind of macro that they really want. Like someone could have the perfect macro for someone else's needs, but never know because they don't come across the thread asking for help, there might not be a thread for it, or they simply aren't really up for sharing their secrets. I picked up the query system fairly fast simply because I'm weird like that, but there are some things that I still don't really know about because I've never encountered them. One little trick I discovered on my own simply out of curiosity and because I didn't want to end up saving a bunch of macros to my computer, is that you can save global macros that have the HTML entity conversions into a character sheets Abilities section so that you don't have to constantly convert the global macro whenever you go to edit it. Everyone who's had to do the HTML conversions can find some sort of use in this little trick. I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't know about this nifty little trick that can save some time. Another idea I just had would be to have an entire section of the forums dedicated to macros. Like people could post into that forum section like they would into the General On-Topic, Specific Use, etc. sections. They'd put the Sheet they're using for the macro, a name for the macro, explain what it does, and post the code. If I could, I'd post this idea into the Suggestions & Ideas forum. In no way am I trying to change the site. Just putting out a couple ideas that I think might be valid points and be beneficial to everyone.

qwerty4132 said: If I could, I'd post this idea into the Suggestions & Ideas forum. In no way am I trying to change the site. Just putting out a couple ideas that I think might be valid points and be beneficial to everyone. You best shot, if you don't have the votes, is to write up your suggestion and ask someone, that you know, in a pm that has votes to post it for you and don't spam or harass them.

Bah. It's not that big of a deal. I'm sure that someone probably would've come up with this idea already. As I've said, these are just passing thoughts, and aren't expected to cause any big changes. If somebody does read this and feels like using one of their votes to put this in, feel free to do so. Just mention me somewhere in your post if you first read about it from here (pretty sure there's other posts about this out there).