The new standard.

With the creation of frhd, clearly marketed to attract a younger group, it seems we have lost our high expectations, and the community has become crap as a result. On .me, CR, DB, etc, there was a high standard on what a track should be. How ride-able, what genres appeal, and artwork. There was always a younger and/or less skilled group that posted horrible, spammy tracks that flooded the 'new' sections on these sites, but this time it's different. The huge influx of kids from this newer generation coming into the community is overwhelming, but not necessarily good.

'Tracks' with no purpose other than to draw a huge "picksel ahR t !!1!1!" are the only things that get popular nowadays. Halfassed artwork with a huge watermark imprinted over it is looked up to, even praised. This not only deters the good trackmakers from wanting to stay in the frhd community, but it sets the bar super damn low, and real easy to reach with little to no effort. All the kids want is to get a ton of "subbz and ++1!!1"s for their crap, and it just gets worse by the day. The feature team is pretty selective about what gets popular via feature, but they just get tons of downvotes for being "too hard." BHR is the only place where the great trackmakers can really enjoy what this used to be. But I want to fix it, not give up.

I'm just shocked at how quickly things have gone downhill and turned into a huge circlejerk around here. I think we should step in and see how we can try and get people to really put some effort in, and appreciate the nature of the game, rather than look for upvotes, subscribers, and overall 'fame.' Don't halfass two things, whole-ass one thing. Quality over quantity. Regardless of how many tracks you make, if they're bad... well... they're bad. You can't really change that.

So, what do you guys propose we should do to improve the standard for trackmaking and restore the game to it's former glory? How do we go about filtering out the bad stuff and making people make some real nice tracks, and improve this new community? How can we stress the importance of other factors in a track other than the 'mad gosti ng sgilz,' and who can we get to help us establish this new standard? *coughcoughCHARcough*

 

The solution is to remove achievements from the game. Think about it.

But also I think there should be a big slideshow on the home page that show all the most amazing tracks in the game.

 

It was never any different on other FR sites, it's just that you're more exposed to it here.
Either way, as long as every player is allowed to make tracks, the quality will continue to reflect the majority of the players. You can't stop it unless you take away some of the freedom of enjoying the game the way it was meant to be, which would be worse than leaving things the way they are now.

 

Lmao crane you've been quoted good sir

Anyways, unfortunately neither Char nor anyone else can magically click their fingers and noobs stop posting cr*p tracks. This game, unlike that of BHR for instance is targeted at kids between 8 and 14, so obviously right off the bat the standards will be horrible. And 99% of people who play this game play for fun, not for 'Official Author' status, a feature or even a track in the campaign. When i started playing for the first time a year ago, i made spam not for myself (At first, anyways ) but for my irl friends to try and beat and to make quick times. As i continued, i wanted to put effort in and make tracks as good as iTzChuckNorris (Lol, those days). So i eventually worked my way up, putting in more and more time until i got to where i am today. Imo the best solution would be for EVERY single active Official Author to have a meeting of some sort and set an example for people to follow. If us 100 or so 'Official' authors start making top notch tracks (I know as well as anyone that at least 1 in 2 Official Authors arent too too good), eventually noobs will do what i did, be inspired and put in more effort. Its not guaranteed, but its probably a good start. BHR is such a good place for people who make feature worthy tracks everytime because its invite only, so there are little if any noobs their. All the pros their will give you good and honest feedback.
Another thing you could do i suppose is if a group of 10-20 of the best trackmakers on here, such as Cataclysm, Maple, Stig, Forlorn, lolz etc to do a mass as tutorial and tips and tricks thread and see if that sparks any new and improved track(s).

 

I agree, but what about icky cookie? It's pretty much the same thing as circlejerk. Ima come back with a bigger post later idk when.

 

I think my halfpipe sums up people at the moment. I wish people just shut up and ******* made a large sprite track but nope.
People are lazy, the db community suck.

 

Really good points everyone has made in here, glad CityShep could start this discussion

Straight off, heavy moderation and limiting track creation is something we never want to do. Not only is this an extreme time sink but it also restricts our player's freedom, something we are strongly against.
However, we do understand that our player base can be widely divided depending on their preference of tracks and we do wish to work with the community to help players of all ages and skill levels enjoy the game.
For example, the feature team was started in an effort to bring forward tracks which may not be appreciated by our newer players and while it may have some kinks to work out, I'd say that it's been a good system so far.

This is the kind of attitude that needs to be appreciated. If you want something to change, help make it happen
Whether that means creating tutorials for creating tracks, providing constructive (read:not mean, but helpful) criticism, or helping the track you love reach the front page is up to you!
Remember that voting is one of your most powerful tools!

If you guys have any ideas that the community or the devs can take, don't hesitate to let us know

 

The problem isn't that crappy tracks are being made it's that they are the highest rated most played tracks, and that is honestly the result of achievements, because people play tracks that are easy to beat and rate up tracks mindlessly just to get their daily achievements. Which is why on CR the best tracks were the most popular because there was nothing motivating people to like a track besides its quality.

 

Keep in mind that a new home page will be coming, exposing more types of tracks. We have discussed this before. I think Free Rider has always had a young audience, and you are simply noticing it more due to trending.

Hopefully we can categorize tracks better so you guys get the respect that you are looking for. In FRHD, detailed tracks must be also be fun in order to get played. Detailed tracks, that are simply art , but not fun to play, will not do well in respect to plays and rating. Difficulty plays a larger part in FRHD , so authors must be aware of this.

We shall see!

 

Still waitin on that trials campaign doe
EDIT: PS: Why isn't anyone making any fun tracks anymore?

 

Part of the reason has to be the new speed of the bike... As an experienced player, it still took some getting used to. I can't imagine the new speed makes it any easier for new players to enjoy harder tracks :/

 

I totally agree and I will start making more top notch tracks instead of the garbage I have been posting recently.

 

you guys eventually have to accept that this is a GAME made for KIDS. give up on wanting "good" tracks getting more attention than "noob" tracks, it's biased and unfair to certain players.

 

To be 100% honest I think your standards have just gone up too high. If anything, the overall quality of tracks has improved over time.
Also, this being implemented might help the exposure of good tracks and vice versa
http://community.freeriderhd.com/threads/different-rating-system.3054/#post-72297

 

I completely agree with this post. The standards are way to low. I was playing tracks and somehow the guy who made this track is an official author. http://www.freeriderhd.com/t/151567-rare-pepe-drawing

 

No track is bad. I view tracks as ideas. Some of the most fun and creative tracks I've played have been random.

That's how I created my style, I remember a lot of tube and grid ramp tracks that I played on a regular basis and found fun. I incorporated that with my love for trials, skateparks and absolute need for symmetry or a pattern, and that's where mine came from.

Before then also, I made tracks I called warehouses, which were inspired by really rough grid tracks.

So I believe "bad" tracks are a necessity to continually bring originality into the game. Otherwise, we'd all be making nature tracks.

 

CR seemed to have a more competitive nature which was driven by those who made badas tracks. It also seemed that the forums encouraged challenge among users to make bigger and better tracks through contests which didn't offer mere coins but something that goes beyond in-game currency. Such incentives gave a real drive for others to do better; a comparison of both the sites show that CR was more about being creative and really to accomplish more than just jumps. The name of the site Canvas Rider along with the site's artsy/unique background promoted the idea that cool stuff is to be made here. If I hadn't been charmed by CR I probably would've never bothered with FRHD since it just lacks so much character that CR had. Although this is the same bike game the awesome complexities have been dropped by FRHD in order to appeal to a greater audience. I feel like we are dumb-ing down everything in order to cater to a younger audience(which is probably the case). But by doing this you lose the deeper game play that surrounds the game itself(not sure how to properly explain).

Main idea I'm trying to get at here is the site's design and its developer's focus probably isn't about what CR was about. Also track standard probs won't be higher maybe a rearrangement of the site(feat. first page).

 

I agree here, the standards right now are through the roof. Many new players are putting in hours of effort to be overlooked or to be told they suck. What an inspiration killer. It's also becoming wildly difficult to wow a large array of players, both old and new.

 

I am a "kid", but that doesn't stop me from making detailed tracks. Honestly, higher standards motivate me to do better [and delete a lot of potentially good tracks].