HaloMods "Classic" Read-only Archive

well ive noticed for about 2 years the ending flow of things getting moved to outstanding. sure my account may be recently new but it doesnt mean i havent lurked here for some time now.

my main question is.. "what constitutes a mod being able to go into outstanding?".

ive seen some mods that have alot of praise by the modding community and figured they were a shoe in for outstanding and then i have a mod myself that got 300+ downloads within its first week of release and was praised heavily also.

is there a certain criteria a mod has to have in order for it to receive a outstanding move?

the main reason i bring this up is that alot of good mods get pushed down the line in the downloads forum due to topics that drown them out. its like you have mods people have put a ton of work into and the community love but now are being forgotten on pages 2-3 due to mods with meta swaps and halo trial.

to me it just seems daunting in keeping on modding or putting anything here when it seems to take a miracle of sorts for something to go to outstanding. im not trying to be pushy or flame in any way but im just wondering what a mod has to have in order for it to receive that "outstanding" nod.

some of the most simple mods such as skins for hogs and tanks are in outstanding now and i cant help but wonder what got thoes mods there with a single skin when there's mods in downloads that have either done complete conversions of all of halo or modified the games looks to the extent its totally new.

just has me curious thats all...

If you do something amazing, and that deserves to be in there, it will be put in there.

The Outstanding Mods system is broken.

We have two options:
Get rid of it all together.
Define a set of guidelines for how it gets decided.

A staff member does not speak for the entire community's opinions. Even the whole staff doesn't do so. There needs to be a way to let the people decide. However, this will (Not might, it will) lead to abuse. People will vote for their own mods and whatnot. I don't see there ever being a reasonable way to determine what is outstanding. In addition, nothing is gained from being in the Outstanding Mods board. Alright, it's in Outstanding, now what? Nothing. The mod doesn't get better in there, it serves virtually no legitimate purpose.

I say put take out the outstanding mods section and just put the mods in an archive of old mods that won't get deleted.

Tural wrote:
A staff member does not speak for the entire community's opinions. Even the whole staff doesn't do so. There needs to be a way to let the people decide. However, this will (Not might, it will) lead to abuse. People will vote for their own mods and whatnot. I don't see there ever being a reasonable way to determine what is outstanding. In addition, nothing is gained from being in the Outstanding Mods board. Alright, it's in Outstanding, now what? Nothing. The mod doesn't get better in there, it serves virtually no legitimate purpose.

I agree. In almost every mod in the Halo PC mod section, I see someone say "OMFG this iz cool, put in outstanding nao!" It's rediculous... I don't see any mods going in outstanding anymore anyways (Halo PC). I wouldn't miss it... I think people just like to know that their work is appreciated...

Yeah its like Halomods Elite, no mods have gone into there anymore.

CabooseJr wrote:Yeah its like Halomods Elite, no mods have gone into there anymore.

Oh yeah... I forgot about Halomods Elite...

the outstanding forum should be gotten rid of. good mods should have a way of not going to the last pages when bad ones are posted tho.

Well, Halo 2's outstanding mods section remains active. I wouldn't be happy if they decided to get rid of it.

but this is Halo PC your talking about isn't it?

My comment applies in general.

I can tell you there are problems with Halo 2's Outstanding section. I won't go into details other than to say it has its issues.

I didn't read your post thought Tural before...Defining a set of guidlines, at least for public reading is not right...

Basically if it has those criteria it has to be put in and is also up to user opinion...Also to make it public would make people just make a mod with that criteria, demand it gets put into outstanding. So even if it wasn't all that good, but it met the criteria, well then that doesn't work out does it?
Nah it can't work that way, a good mod is a good mod because of its features, fun levels, replayability and overall polish making a set of guidlines for it would make it the direct ticket into trying to get outstanding.

ScottyGEE wrote:a good mod is a good mod because of its features, fun levels, replayability and overall polish

And who decides what's good? One person? A small group of people? The current system does not work.

I was always under the impression that an outstanding mod was something that "stood out" for any reason, either because it was just an amazing mod, or something that just had not been done before.

Again, there's no way to judge "amazing." We need a more direct system than (Basically) the opinion of a single staff member, or even all the staff members.

I have an idea. You'll probably think it's crap, but here goes:

Rating system. The staff could rate each mod (say -/10) and put the overall rating in, I dont know, maybe the subject description. That way, people can easily see, when going to the downloads section (after Outstanding is obliterated), what mods are (generally, mind you) known as good or not.

But then you still have the same old problem with only the staff voting, etc, etc, etc.

Actually, not a half bad idea. Staff voting would be better than staff expressing general opinions. It's clean and would be a fair way to analyze the feelings of all of the staff. Rating gives a number, which can be a clear way to decide what gets moved and what doesn't. How to implement such a system? No clue.

I am speaking for halo 2, and halo 2 only. The hard thing about the outstanding mods forums is the mods that are put into it. When the forums were reset, the staff has to choose between the old and new mods to put into the section, and it is hard to decide. The old ones that should of made it into outstanding back then, wouldn't make it into outstanding now. So many discoveries have been made that were not around back then. So what do I suggest we do? Reset the outstanding mods section, and then have a selected group of staff (or expert modders) vote on maps and the ones that qualify can be put into the outstanding mods section. I also like Bibbit's idea, but I would rather keep the outstanding mods section, so people can work to achieve something.

Outstanding mods will always be qualitative, not quantitative...There is no unit of measurement for awesome...

There have been mods moved to outstanding I agree with, and ones I didn't agree with...And ones I really didn't agree with...I think the system works...There's never been a giant public uproar about it...That simple fact alone speaks volumes to me...

As for mods being overwhelmed and pushed off the front page...For starters, mods tend to be left in downloads and not moved to outstanding for awhile even if they are, because few people check the outstanding forum, and moderators know this...Also, if you watch these mods, even without a sticky, they hold their own...If a mod is good, then someones probably going to comment on it at least once a day for quite some time...

Looking at the H2 Downloads forum, it'd currently take about 2 or more weeks for your mod to be pushed to the 2nd page...After 2 weeks of inactivity, it's old news by everyones standards, and everyones long since forgotten about it, outstanding or not...

Now looking at the H2 Outstanding forum, nearly every thread has 4 or more pages...Most of which is cleaned up of generic fluff and team praise...Looking back at the H2 Downloads forum, few make it passed the 2nd page for their thread...And those that do, just don't stand out at this point in the H2 era of modding...

No amount of voting will ever work either...Just because most staff, or users, or whoever your voting pool is, thinks a mod is 9/10, 10/10...With the tools we have now, anyone who puts alittle time and effort into their mod can get in the top percentile of votes for their mod...That just means it's a really good mod, it doesn't make it outstanding...

Sorry if this discourages you from modding...Such is life...

foxfanatic23I7 wrote:I also like Bibbit's idea, but I would rather keep the outstanding mods section, so people can work to achieve something.

How about a combination of the two? That seems to be what the big T was thinking:

Tural wrote:Rating gives a number, which can be a clear way to decide what gets moved and what doesn't.

But how? HOW!? Sorry.
Edit: Goshdarnit, I_F, you stole my post. I do agree that just because it would be rated high doesnt mean it would be "outstanding."

well there are a few options you do have before you.

if you can see voting as in who has voted for in a specific poll then you could check on votes that way to curb abuse.

then again you could go by downloads and something being downloaded alot would make something popular hence outstanding.

the main purpose i began this thread was i myself was getting tired of the bickering also with who says what is outstanding. and yes i do admit on a person level when the "pepness project finale" didnt get a outstanding nod i was a tad upset as well with all the page views and downloads it received. then i turned my situation into looking at others with the same concern as mine.

is there a definite system on doing the outstanding section? i dont think. maybe a few ideas to be considered is this..

1. if a topic hasnt recieved any replies in a set limit (a month) then lock it. most likely the topic is dead and nothing to be discussed. this may curb the bumping that happens alot. if a topic needs to be revised by the original author then then can pm a staff member to do so. if install help is needed for the mod then there is a help section right?

2. outstanding section. kill it and merge in downloads would be the simple answer yes but then again having mods that stand out would be better for people looking for things "not so basic". if your looking for a way to judge then maybe set some variables on things..

a. user comments
b. downloads
c. creativity
d. does it actually work and make for a better experience
c. time invested vs. outcome

these are a few things i would consider what is outstanding. sometimes a simple skin can be outstanding if you look at the time spent in photoshop on it. theres a difference between textures and filters used then actually doing brush work and paying attention to lines and flow of the skin itself. mostly things being considered for outstanding.

sure the mods here do have alot on them considering what should go where as well as moderating the "children" who partake in the forum as well with flaming comments and "bad" feedback, but they maybe if you look at the people who are shouting "outstanding" and what thoes users have done and how active they are or have been might be a cue to look at a mod more closely. but then again just merging the two sections might be the final outcome. id hate to see that happen due to people trying their best like i just with my last mod project in hopes it would make it there. maybe the outstanding section is like a reward for hard work and time invested and making the outcome more worthwhile.

im going to stop this post on thoes points above and see what gets said from there. maybe a solution might be found but ignoring and complaining about it isnt going to solve anything so hopefully this thread is a step in the right direction on making things get sorted out.