I really don't have any real authority to post this thread. I've been a long time member of the community, and many people have started these threads, and this is a discussion which has been discussed many times before.

I remember back in the 'golden age' of Jedi Knight when there were new tutorials every day. New tutorials daily, new daily level updates... the website was just as alive, if not moreso alive than the forums. The website itself had purpose.

It feels that the website, to no fault of anyone involved, has really fallen apart. It isn't that the cause has been lost, its that the games have been lost. Jedi Knight, while not totally forgotten, isn't really central to the community anymore. Even its sequels pretty much crashed and burned due to the new ring of games that have been released in the past few months.

Once again, I feel like I lack any authority to post this thread, but does anyone else feel that a lot of this sites resources are going to waste? Brian started something amazing with Massassi; there are seemingly hundreds of Tutorials which cover everything from the basics of JED to the most sophisicated elements of the editor. The Massassi Temple is a unique resource. Perhaps its simply because the SDKs for Source and Doom havn't been around for long enough for knowledge to spread on their use, but is it possible that Massassi could fill this void?

I feel somewhat ashamed making this post, but I feel that The Massassi Temple truely was an excellent resource back when it was completely relevent. Couldn't that meaning be harnessed once again and be made more relevent? An update of sorts?

YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH

Anyway, some decent Source tutorials would be really great.

*points at brian* I'll be banned for this, but he promised updates a while ago, and all we got was this forum. I'm not saying he owes us that, but that's the only thing that we're lacking. I'm sure people would help keep massassi alive, but brian isn't around enough to grant those people access.

I don't see how we'll ever get back to the golden age, so I just think we'll continue on as one of the better crappy forums out there.

JediKirby

It's Steam's fault!

Well, you really can't blame the website for lack of tutorials. Its just that not a lot of people are willing to write them anymore for the games that this website is dedicated to. Maybe once another Star Wars game with editablity comes around is when this website might pick itself up. Sadly, it seems that (at least for me) that massassi has become nothing more than a social hang out because of the forums and the chat channel. That isn't really much of a bad thing since the community is rather decent around here (give and take a few sour apples here and there but its tolerable for the most part.)

You know...it really wouldn't be a bad idea.

Think of the golden age...at least as I remember it:
Constant TC's, none made it
Lots of websites, lots of ideas, lots of mods.
Lots of revamps, lots of changes to websites, modifications, whatevers.

So..........

Let's revamp massassi.

[url]www.massassi.net[/url] : Half-life 2 editing at it's best! (or some other current relevant game, or maybe half-life and doom 3...or something, whatever)

In the info:
Massassi started out as a Jedi Knight editing website, moved on to Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy, when those failed, the Jedi Knight series was put into a sub-category, though still a promenant part, and massassi became what it is today--a major up-to-date Half-life 2 (or whatever) editing community, as well as a programming aid website and a 'personals' meet people website. (jk on the last one...though we do/did get alot of girl/guy threads)

(granted...there is no half-life 2 editing that I know of because...thers no tools or multiplayer, but oyu get the idea)

I"m only using half-life 2 because it's a huge game and it's fun...but we need to go where inspiration goes. Someplace...fresh...and interesting.

I'm rekindling the flame!!!

I downloaded JED again!

I'm gonna try and make an MP map for JK worthy of Massassi!!

NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

(No really I have, ask Daft Vader!)

Yeah, this has been mooted a couple of times before. Basically, it boils down to: should Massassi expand into non-SW games? Who knows, Republic Commando may revitalise the editing community without the need to expand out of Star Wars.

My feeling is that it won't hurt to cover other engines. I also think we need to be more of a resource for projects rather than just a reference. I outlined an idea for a more elaborate Editor's Corner which was a place to host your project rather than just talk about it and show screenshots, similar to SourceForge. ZeqMacaw came up with a similar idea that he calls the Editing Hub.

I think the main problem is that there are a lot of people who would say "Yeah, let me help - I can do X, Y, Z" but who ultimately would end up getting sdetracked by some other project. Also, I don't think Brian is happy about letting people he doesn't really know into the server for Massassi. This needn't be a huge issue, as you can have the people working on the site able to access a CVS repository only, and then only Brian can roll stuff to the server.

I've always said I'm willing to help out with any back-end programming.

Hey heres a cooky idea. Alot of the Mods that were going to come out during the Golden Age of Jedi Knight never came out right? Well why don't we finish them this time? I mean TDIR is coming back and is working at it again. Why not get back to finishing those?

And as for the JK sequals the only mods I even follow would be the Forcemod and Moviebattles. I wish there was more emphasis on making JK:A feel more like either Jedi Knight or the movies.

Also the idea of Massassi expanding itself to other star wars games (like battlefront maybe) and Star Wars mods (like troopers). I mean theres no need to completely change massassi, just have it grow to incorperate more into it. If we can get some dedicated members who want to interview team members from star wars mods as well as link up to thier website, we can possible make massassi take on the role of being a hub for all star wars editing and gaming. Just a thought

woah, the main page is still up?


.. but seriously, updates aren't the issue, we need a focus.

actually, nevermind, we don't. personally i don't want new people brought in, i like the community as it is.

I think its silly for Massassi to limit itself to Star Wars games. Star Wars games are marketed differently than they were when JK came out. When JK came out, there was dedication to the game itself. Newer Star Wars games are marketed differently; JK2 had no life. It practically was just a Star Wars TC for Quake III. Games which have their own engines are the games that last, because they're the engines that new games are built on.

HL2 and Doom3 are those types of games. They are new engines which will not be obselete for at least three years.

As I said, Massassi had a lot right. You can learn how to become a great Jedi Knight mapper by using knowledge from people inside the community. I don't know how many people here have been trying to learn Source SDK, but I personally would really like to learn but I have been limited by a lack of tutorials. I can't really grasp the editor the way I did with JED for that very reason.

Why does Massassi need a new purpose? We have a community of like-minded individuals who participate in discussion on a forum. The web-site still contains many great resources for its original purpose. People can still send in levels and tutorials.

Massassi isn't about Half Life. Massassi isn't about Doom. There are websites out there with communities dedicated to those games. Its unique purpose has and always should be first person Star Wars shooters. As briefly mentioned, Republic Commando could facilitate the process of Massassi being something more than a caretaker of the dying Jedi Knight legacy. But to move to Half-Life or Doom would take away from the unique quality of Massassi: that its a place for Star Wars first person gamers to get together.

We have a great community, and I'd hate to see it destroyed by bringing in a flood of people without the common background of Star Wars. It's not that diversity is a bad thing, it's just that it is more important that we can have discussion by like-minded, similar groups of people than it is important to have a "productive" website. Productivity may be the most important quality of a business, but it should not be the most important quality in a community.

Just because someone wants to edit a Star Wars FPS doesn't mean they love Star Wars. Me, for example. I don't really care much for Star Wars, but I loved Jedi Knight.

Look at this Discussion forum. How many people here have obtained HL2? Many of us. Massassi is really becoming not much more than a hang out.

Don't forget, Massassi's original "unique purpose" was specifically Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight. If I recall correctly, there was some discussion on whether Massassi should support JK2 (albeit it may have been short, but there was some discussion).



I don't know if you noticed, but on November 3rd there was a clear division in the mentality of the community. That division is just as clear when weekly there is a discussion on gun control, abortion, tax cuts, the war in Iraq, whatever. At this point, the only real thing that binds us to this website is that we know it exists.

That's cool, but you ignore my analysis that there are already sites dedicated to Half-Life and Doom. What makes this website unique is that it's not simply another Half-Life website. Everything we could get by moving Massassi to Half-Life2 can be accomplished by shutting this website down and having us all migrate to whatever popular HL2 website(s) exist.

And I agree Massassi is not much more than a hangout, but it's a good hangout specifically because of the people Massassi's "purpose" attract.




Political issues are not what make the interests of this community common. I'll grant you that not everyone on this website comes from a JK background. But the sorts of people who are attracted a Jedi Knight editing website are the sorts of people that make this community unique and wonderful. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the Half-Life community. :p

I think that Massassi has laid down a foundation of a community with JK that if it moved on to HL2 or Doom3 that it would attract a 'certain kind of person'. Those who really would want to learn would stick to the editing forums, and those who wanted to talk would have to be the type of person that Massassi would accept, or else they would be ostracized.

Don't pretend that you havn't seen it countless times before.

Yeah completely changing it wouldn't be bad. You'ed have a rush of noobs but most of them would be editors and rather intellegent.

I hate see a bunch of Counter-Strike idiots running arround here. Like the ones often seen online.

If Massassi goes into the HL2, Doom3 editing area, maybe make a sub-site (like Serious-Sam) and leave Massassi alone.

Massassi should stay the same JK editing site it has always been...there are only a couple others still alive and in a couple years I doubt those ones will still be, but Massassi always seems to hang around.

Adding new features to the website doesn't have to affect this one. There can always be like hl2.massassi.net or doom.massassi.net. Those who want to avoid the newer stuff could. They could stick to plain ol' massassi, or move on to the newer stuff as well.

Just a thought I had...

I say we take a vote.

Bring out the Polls!

damn, I wish I had made this thread a poll...

Just make a new thread. Or ask Admins to make a poll.

I'm going to wait for someone with 'authority' to check this thread out and comment.

I'm waiting for somebody to take me seriously!!

You? Seriously?

omg r0x0rd by Lennox MacDuff har har

you can showcase maps for games other than JK, JO, and JA.

I think the plan is to expand into Republic Commando editing when the game is released, as RC is apparently shipping with a level editor, and uses they very versitile Unreal Engine.

Massassi needs to stay the same. That way when I have kids I can show them this website and tell them all the great stories...


...or something like that.

A rush of new people really wouldn't be cool.

Another thing to consider: last I remember, massassi wasn't paying for hosting but was receiving free service from recongamer. That's fine, the site isn't too big and it's easy to support. But if we suddenly had a huge influx of members and tons more traffic, what if they dropped massassi?

I think Massassi should become a guitar site.

Fixed.

NOOO!!

The man speaks truth.

And as for the whole "Golden Age" deal, I think Massassi is by far the best on-line community I've been to. I love this place, for the editing aspect, the thought-provocative threads (and the "not-so-thought-provocative-ones"), but also just for the whole theme and layout, and ultimately the really interesting, funny, and lively characters this website seems to attract like a Proton Torpedo to the Death Star. This place may not be in its hey-day, but I'm thrilled with Massassi at the moment just the way it is.

I love you guys, never let this place die!!!

This idea seems good!

ReconGamer hosted the Day of Defeat site for years, and they recieved hundreds of times the amount of traffic that Massassi has had, even during the peak of our site.