TGTAP Experts

[Gerard]

This is a suggestion I've been working on as an idea of a new group of members. This would replace the unused Elite/Veteran system, and also help refocus the forum back onto GTA.

Experts would be those users who have shown considerable skill, expertise and helpfulness in a particular game/era or discipline (eg modding, multiplayer). If they are selected as an official TGTAP Expert, they get a badge, a few extra rights and maybe their own subforum.

There could be specific "Ask an Expert" topics, and the Experts would be responsible for the pinned topics (tutorials etc) in the relevant subforums. Some Experts could be given some moderator rights for their relevant subforums, such as closing and pinning topics.

This should be more successful than the Elite system, because it doesn't try and create a separate community. This isn't about bringing Experts together in their own world, away from normal members. This is about giving normal members access to these Experts, and giving the Experts the ability to show off their skills for the benefit of the forum and its community. Also, Experts are selected because they are good at what they do, rather than just being here a long time or being friends with staff.

This is just a suggestion in its early stages, so let us know what you think, and shout out any suggestions you may have.

[Husky]

Awesome idea, but does the awards for " Well Known of GTA.. " have to be included?

[Thomas.]

I quite like this idea. It sounds very simple and you're basically putting them to work instead of allowing them to sit back and watch (much like the current elite group). As for suggestions to help the idea, I don't really know but you could implement something in the MTA Server like certain members being 'Experts' towards the Gang Server or allowing these experts to have privileges.

Another few suggestions towards it:

1. If a member of the expert group hasn't been on TGTAP (obviously without some sort of notice like a holiday or family event) for say a maximum of 3 months or so, then they will be forced to stand down?

2. They must have a certain or some certain qualities over the specified subject they are supposedly expert on?

3. A brief introduction is required for each of the experts. I would consider this like the About.com 'expert' system where there are 'experts' on specific subjects and each have an introduction and information on the subject they are dealing with.

I can't think of anything else. Tell me what you think of those few ideas.

[Connor]

Sounds nice, would help keep the forums much more organized while also helping people much easier, plus we'd get rid of a lot of useless topics swiftly and easily with dedicated members having extra control.

Edited May 30, 2009 by Connor

[Husky]

Sounds nice, would help keep the forums much more organized while also helping people much easier, plus we'd get rid of a lot of useless topics swiftly and easily with dedicated members with extra control.

I agree with that statment one hundred percent. Maybe members or " No One Special " members post a question it should be posted into the Expert's forum?

[Gerard]

Thomas you ask some good questions.

Firstly, they would have to be helpful members, not just knowledgeable. This answers two of your questions. A genius who never helps is pointless and wouldn't get picked. Likewise, if they stop being helpful, then they stop being Experts. That doesn't mean it would be rigidly enforced (eg you MUST post 1 helpful topic every day), but if they aren't contributing over a long period of time, then there is no point them having experts.

An introduction is a good idea. I was originally considering a separate page where you can ask a question directly to an expert, however this is a forum, and the entire point is that the entire forum can contribute, not just staff/experts. So Experts would just be the people who usually answer questions, often write tutorials, and this is simply a way of helping them do those things even better.

[Noru]

I have to say that I like this idea. It forces members to work towards this privilege then just waiting around or becoming friends with the staff like you said. Another thing that was said is that the Experts should also work to keep their privilege by helping people in need of help and etc... You wouldn't want to choose someone that does help a lot of people around the forum then they suddenly stop.

I did have a suggestion but Thomas basically already asked it. I can't think of any other suggestions right now but I may have some when I get off work later today.

[Thomas.]

Yeah, I see what you mean by both of the points. How would these such members be picked, I know that they will probably be picked by the staff but what sort of things would you be looking for in these certain individuals? I know being knowledgeable is one of them and posting it is the other but what else?

Quality of posts?: You wouldn't want some guy who doesn't understand the concept of English grammar to become one (i.e. writes like: hi my names joeyyyyyyy lolololol) whose posts seem to contain lowercase characters and incredibly bad wording

Length of advice/expertise/tutorials?: Shorter, less detailed advise seems not to be good, I know this is probably different for most people but I prefer reading something that's quite long. Usually that would show to me that the person who wrote tried hard to bring it to such a good context but it may be wrong however, I would prefer reading it. If it's answering a simple question in a topic then it wouldn't need to be long, it depends really in what context I said.

Mood?: Will you be looking for a certain seriousness in a member's posts or would it be someone who is happy most of the time. Seriousness isn't usually good because it shows that a particular person doesn't often tolerate silliness or ignorance but the benefits would be that this person would do their job quickly and efficiently. Pros and Cons for each mood, so I think this one may be a hard choice.

Amount of Knowledge?: Would you go for something who the brain of a scientist and shares what they know or would you go for someone who knows quite a lot and shares it?

(I feel like a journalist right now, it's a very awkward position to be in)

[Husky]

I wanted to help out... I just hope everything what Noru said.

[Noru]

The Quality of posts and Mood are good points same with the Length of advice/expertise. Posts with good Spelling and proper words make me keep reading. With Mood, I like to see who who can help and get a point across without getting pissed off at something small that someone said or start arguing with other members. With Length of Advice, I also do like reading advice that is a good length but sometimes I have seen people just seem to drag on the same point which sometimes just makes me stop reading and move on to the next post.

I would post longer myself but since I'm not really that fast with typing. By the time I get something down, Someone else has already beat me to it .

Edited May 30, 2009 by Noru

[Gerard]

This isn't about rules and regulations, there won't be any specific criteria to become an Expert. This is simply about being helpful. Users who regularly help others in that subject area.

For example a user who regularly (correctly & helpfully) answers questions about how to install/fix/uninstall mods would be considered. If they manage to still be helpful even with spelling mistakes, that doesn't matter. If the spelling is so bad that they stop being helpful, then they wouldn't get in because they aren't being helpful. If their knowledge is crap and they don't know the difference between manual/IMGtool and VCM/SAMI installations, then they can't be helpful enough to qualify. Everything comes back to that one point.

As for long/short and friendly/formal, everyone has different styles. Again this won't be one person, there will be a few - so there ought to be an Expert who can solve your problem. I think each question tends to have an adequate length of reply, and it will be up to the Experts to judge what reply is required. "how do i install mods" needs a short reply with links to existing tutorials. "my mod is broken" probably needs a long reply to find out the cause. If someone always gives 6 pages of reply, no matter how simple the question, then that isn't helpful. Likewise if they don't say enough, that's not helpful either, so they wouldn't get picked.

I'm not looking for staff to give an impartial neutral viewpoint and a standard reply, just looking for someone who often helps people out. If we wanted people to act like staff (moderating, deleting, telling people what not to do) then we would make them staff instead. We're looking for something different to staff. I'm not looking for unhelpful geniuses who don't share their knowledge, or annoying idiots who reply to every topic they see.

[Nate10]

Liking the idea. Though, will the Elite be neutralized if this gets implemented?

[Deji]

Love the idea. I'd like to be a sa coding expert It'd also give me more of a motive to visit here. Although, maybe I'd be piling to much onto my list of stuff. Not to mention my ADD...

[Huckleberry Pie]

Now that will be nice; I guess I can be of some use at the Experts forum if you like...

[WRX22B1998]

hmm this sounds like a good idea.

all we need now is a script that if it picks up the word "i want to play without the cd." "where can i get a torrent for the game" etc immediately gives the standard no warez reply and closes the topic

[steveplayer]

What if there were people who were extremely helpful in not just one single topic? Don't know if I should be naming names but

UrbanOutlaw

seems to be popping up in pretty much every forum helping with what ever he can. Would someone like this get Expert rights/status over all GTA forums instead of just VC forums for example?

[Alvas.]

Amazing Idea, I love it. But I personally think that we will want members/experts who are multilingual since there are lot of the people who don't even know english enter this forum and start asking questions in a language which we don't even know.

I personally think that this is needed. I am not sure though.

[GTA Don]

Quite a few of our members speak English as their main language and there are always online translators available so it shouldn't be too much of a problem, unless they speak Klingon.

[Alvas.]

I know but still.....

[Hansui]

Quite a few of our members speak English as their main language and there are always online translators available so it shouldn't be too much of a problem, unless they speak Klingon.

but online translators are ftl, and it may cause more confusion for the user

[Thomas.]

Online translators are quite inaccurate but it is meant for you (the user) to search things up as a dictionary not as a whole sentence. I like the idea of experts on that though, it would greatly improve the quality of posts in the forum and allow some members to become bilingual or multilingual. But for a GTA forum it does seem rather pointless, I would understand if there were one or many English experts, that would be okay but tonnes of French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian etc. experts would be pointless. I would say that this forum could have the potential to have one-hundred experts at least but this would probably happen after a few months of it being fully implemented.

I'm just curious but how many experts would there be allowed under GTA San Andreas?

[Gerard]

What if there were people who were extremely helpful in not just one single topic?

I don't see why that shouldn't be possible. Once they've gained "Expert" status it shouldn't be too hard to let them take on multiple roles - but not too many, otherwise they would end up spread too thinly and not be able to get anything useful done. Theoretically we could just make people Experts, and not restrict them to a specific forum, but I want a list of Experts on each particular topic so that they can be contacted easily (not just a list of all Experts).

Liking the idea. Though, will the Elite be neutralized if this gets implemented?

Yes this would replace the Elite/Veteran system, since that never really took off. You became elite for registering a long time ago, and for being Chris' best friend. That doesn't indicate a good member, and certainly doesn't mean they're helpful at all. That's the big difference for Experts, as the entire point is GTA-related forum content and helpfulness.

But I personally think that we will want members/experts who are multilingual since there are lot of the people who don't even know english enter this forum and start asking questions in a language which we don't even know

That's quite a good idea. I suppose if you are picked as an Expert, we can list the languages you speak, so that someone from that language can contact you. It's probably a good idea to have a central topic dedicated to people who speak other languages, and all language-speaking Experts can be listed there, so they can contact you even if it isn't on your own subject matter, simply because it's easier and better than using online translators. Oh and cheating by using a translator whilst trying to become an Expert, by trying to pretend that you can speak 20 languages, will not help your situation.

I would say that this forum could have the potential to have one-hundred experts at least but this would probably happen after a few months of it being fully implemented. I'm just curious but how many experts would there be allowed under GTA San Andreas?

It's a good question, but ideally I'm thinking about 5 to 10 for each subject matter, depending on how deep down we go. We could have any of these:

• One Expert category for each Game
  
• One Expert category for each discipline (Modding, Multiplayer, Tech Support etc)
  
• Within each game, have one for each discipline (GTA SA Modding, GTA IV Multiplayer)
  
• Within each discipline have subsets (Modding:Scripting, Modding:Installation, Modding:)
  
• Have subsets for each discipline within each game (GTASA Modding:Scripting, GTA VC Modding:Installation)
  

But if there are more than say 15 Experts for each category (depending on how many categories we have), then it will get a bit messy to manage. So I suggest we start with either each game, each discipline, or Discipine-in-Era (eg grouping GTA III Era games together, since they use similar techniques).

[Alvas.]

That's quite a good idea. I suppose if you are picked as an Expert, we can list the languages you speak, so that someone from that language can contact you. It's probably a good idea to have a central topic dedicated to people who speak other languages, and all language-speaking Experts can be listed there, so they can contact you even if it isn't on your own subject matter, simply because it's easier and better than using online translators. Oh and cheating by using a translator whilst trying to become an Expert, by trying to pretend that you can speak 20 languages, will not help your situation.

Thats what I meant you actually got it. We will like give to handle three languages or maybe two to each expert. Right ?

Also If we can keep experts for GTA. Then why shouldn't we keep it for other things also like one for computer and tech who knows a lot about computers and stuff will be appointed there,one for gfx,one for the recruitment topic if anyone has any questions to ask...etc. Why shouldn't we ?

[Gerard]

Graphics and Tech Experts are good ideas too, but probably not Gang Experts or anything too general like Forum Experts (since these would be staff).

So my suggestion would be:

• GTA Classics Expert (GTA1-GTA2)
  
• GTA III Era Gameplay Expert (for help with missions etc)
  
• GTA III Era Modding Expert
  
• GTA III Era Support Expert
  
• GTA IV Gameplay Expert (for help with missions etc)
  
• GTA IV Era Modding Expert
  
• GTA IV Era Support Expert
  
• Tech Support Expert
  
• Graphics Expert
  

There would be up to 5 Experts in each category at first (maybe more in the GTA III Era sections). If the idea really takes off, we could split it up further (eg split GTA SA out, then later split out the other games). But one set of categories per era is probably best for now?

Any other suggestions?

[Noru]

Those suggestions are good but I agree that there should be a little more in the GTA3 era since it covers more then one or two games. Would GTA Chinatown Wars be Considered the GTA4 era in this case?