Themed Challenges and Hall of Fame

I thought I would finish the update during the weekend, but I only processed 200 out of 500 submissions (no exaggeration, that's what happens when the HoFs aren't updated for half a year). Seeing how it might take another week or more, I'm gonna spare you the suspense and just say my piece now.

The nice-looking site Prestacious has been so generously hosting for us is actually a nightmare to work with. He doesn't know this, because he doesn't work with it. I work with it. I tried to negotiate a move to another platform, first when the site was being created, and again in 2018. Pres said no. All of this is old news, though. I always hated the site, but not enough to quit this job - until now.

What changed? Well, Wix (that's the platform the site is built on; like WordPress, but more shit) is going to retire one of the main building blocks of the site (a list-type container) in a few months. After that, the existing lists will remain viewable, but it will no longer be possible to update them with new content.

Something like 70 of the 80 pages that comprise the site use these lists. The challenges themselves, the leaderboards and most of the halls of fame are stored in them. If I can't update them anymore, I can't update the HoFs anymore.

What Wix suggests we do about this extremely shit move is paste the content into another type of container (and pray that they don't retire that too in a few years). But guess what? Pasting the content to another type of container in the case of this particular site is the same as building the damn thing from scratch. And I ain't doing that. I'm done with Wix and honestly, with Pres too. Once I finish the current update, I'm not touching this site again.

I said the future is uncertain instead of saying this thing is outright dead because we could go on - eslewhere. I could create a site of my own and keep the halls of fame there. The thing I have in mind would be much easier to maintain, as it would be displaying stuff from a database, so there'd be no more manual site updates. A few years back I made a partially functional prototype for fun, but eventually abandoned it as it seemed pointless to duplicate the already established Pres's site. I'd be happy to pick it up again, but it might be a long time before I can get it up and running.

Another option, obviously, is that someone else takes over the maintainance of Pres's site, does the copy-paste redesign, and then also does the updates in the future. The new custodian would have to figure out how to do stuff pretty much on their own. I could help initially (by which I mean answering specific questions rather than giving detailed instructions) but wouldn't want to stay involved.

Of course, other ideas are welcome. Let me know what you all think.

well this doesnt feel like there s much will around a new migration ...
In either case, Smehur , i would n t bother with the last 300 submission on presta's site, at least if it s more than an hour of your time

... She s asking for opinions and maybe support, not likes ;p (btw, starting again "against" @presta will isnt painless either)

Hi everyone!

First, I hope you are doing as well as can be during these times. Hello to old friends and to some new that I haven't had the pleasure of speaking with.

Smehur's message brought me back to the early days of this challenge thread and to what this site has meant to me over the years. I will always hold those early days dear to my heart. The enjoyment I got from putting those early challenges together and especially from the people I met through them, those who took part in the sometimes crazy challenges and those who took part in the conversation. This site was a way to add faces (so to speak) to gaming, which I found could otherwise be a pretty lonely pursuit. I was thrilled to be a part of the community and to also attempt to take part in the challenges (in my console lowliness). It was and will always be the the thing I remember most fondly about my life as a gamer.

When Smehur asked me to essentially take over a couple years ago, I think most can understand my hesitation. This was my baby and I was reluctant to see it go even if I couldn't but the time into updating it that it deserved. A couple years later, I am A - incredibly grateful for Smehur and for all of the effort that has gone into updating this (Smehur has now been the custodian of this site for longer than I was) on a not-so-great site for the cause and B - I realize and accept that this doesn't belong to me or anyone but the hundreds of players who have put in thousands and thousands of hours into those thrilling runs, all for the game, for the thrill of it and for the community.

I'm sorry to see that my name has kind of been since associated with paternalism and negativity. That was obviously never my hope with any of this, and I've always just tried to be a positive figure in all that I do. I think as someone who put many hundreds of hours into the challenges, I was hesitant to see that go (perhaps I'm a bit of a helicopter parent) and I apologize for that.


I've left it completely up to Smehur. It's the least I can do. I hope I can be a help in whatever is needed to keep the entity alive. It's great to see some of your names on this page as I type this. I honestly miss you folks!

Be well,
Pres

I'm sorry to see that my name has kind of been since associated with paternalism and negativity. That was obviously never my hope with any of this, and I've always just tried to be a positive figure in all that I do. I think as someone who put many hundreds of hours into the challenges, I was hesitant to see that go (perhaps I'm a bit of a helicopter parent) and I apologize for that.

Thanks, Doc. I fixed it. Thankfully the mistake was just in the post - the runs and the leaderboard seem fine.

Your veteran & hardcore runs make for 40 something, so it seems the numbers are doubled. I'll look into it. Thanks for reporting!