I think that the major 'missing feature' is open discussion. Having everything moved to comments and reviews on each demo, versus a general discussion area, per quest, is clumsy. It would be nice to have a discussions tab, with one thread, to allow players, testers, and the questmaker, plus all those who may be otherwise interested, to discuss the quest in detail.
Dev Topics are a substitute of sorts, but the naming choice of the tab implies that only quest developers (i.e those who have been added to the project) may reply. I don;t even know if that is true, but either way, a 'Discussions' version, where anyone may make a new post/thread, would solve the problem in general.
As far as I understand, 'Dev Topics' can only be seen, created, modified, etc. by the quest creator; so people can;t start threads regarding quest help, suggestions, feedback, or any other topic. Beyond that, I recall that Dev Topics can only be read by quest project leaders. I know that I only see this tab for projects on which I am a contributor, or creator.
Adding something similar, as a 'Discussions' tab, that would allow for people to discuss a quest in the QPDB would be very useful, and much cleaner than the Custom Quest Discussion board in general, as it would make it easy to find all topic related to a specific quest project.
Discussions, and reviews, should always be separated in any event; for Discussions relate to the quest in general, and reviews relate to specific versions thereof. .
Even so, it makes topics far less visible. People stumbling through the forum will have to select a quest, then flip through various tabs, just to get information on it; and only if they pay attention to that area. One very important thing to remember is that most people are lazy, and aren't going to go through many steps to get to something, especially if they don't know it is there. It makes many quests less visible, and thus project discussions that may interest people, out of their sight.
You could probably automatically cross-link 'Discussions' for the QPDB to Custom Quest Discussions too, although how you approach something like that may make it very simple to administrate, or create tedium beyond belief.
Regarding the QPDB, I would put the 'Description; tab first, and make it the default, instead of 'Feed'. The Feed tab doesn't give anyone a clue as to what the quest is about, or lure them in at all.
Honestly, it would be a much more elegant, and usable interface, with the following tabs, in this order:
'Description' 'Screenshots' 'Discussions' 'Dev Topics' 'Downloads' 'Updates' 'Staff' 'Feed'
People in Western cultures are used to information being presented in an order, from left, to right; so placing the most important, and relevant information first, is important; beyond that, ordering it in the way that most people are likely to want to view the information is crucial.
The 'Feed' tab most certainly should not be first, as the first thing a person should see is the description of the quest, as this is what will grab their attention, rather than a pile of information on when it was updated. I would place that tab last, as bu the time the viewer has examined the description, and screenshots, and possible viewed some discussions, and downloaded files, they may want to know more about the authors, and contributors; and view an history of quest updates.
Edited by ZoriaRPG, 28 March 2014 - 01:10 PM.