NoLimits tutorial and shortcuts?

Yea... dealing with the age, maturity, and uh... grammar, of some of the users there has been something the staff is working on.

On one hand, we don't (yet) ban people just for being young, in an effort to give people some time to get on their feet and get the hang of things. But... that may very well be coming. If it's a headache for me to read the forums, it's a headache for everyone else and on some days... it's a headache (especially if I've been gone for a few days).

There are a number of users there on their last warning, and to be honest, I'm rather excited for them to blow it. I'd personally be totally fine with an 18+ forum rule...

Ignore the 'overrate' comments. Haters gon' hate.

^I dislike the idea of age-restriction, but it's a reality that is probably needed. I had no clue as a teenager how crazy I was, I'm still trying to catch up to my age bracket in terms of maturity (whatever that means).

Makes me appreciate CBuzz more :)

I am not a fan of the rating system. Almost every track I have ever downloaded from one of those sites is so obviously flawed, it's pointless to do a detailed rating and say everything that is wrong with it. And I'm not interested in reading people's ratings of my own rides and having them tell me what is wrong with them. I make my rides to appease me, and occasionally I feel like sharing them with others.

If I stumble onto a truly great track, I'm happy to offer some praise, but usually I end up deleting a track after viewing it once, because it's so flawed and unrealistic. Does anyone else feel this way? I don't mean to sound like an elitist, but I just want to be able to browse the tracks and look for inspiration and not have to waste my time trying to explain to people what should be very apparent to them if they've ever ridden a roller coaster. I think the rating system should be totally optional and not a requirement to participate on the site. If I were to upload one of my tracks, I wouldn't care if no one took the time to say anything about it. That's not the point of sharing my creations. The system seems to be focussed on the idea that everyone is looking for suggestions on how to improve their models. Sure we can always improve, but that doesn't mean we need to. Some of us just want to showcase our art and hopefully people enjoy it. Is that so wrong? :)

^I hear ya, Matt. I posted some ratings to keep my 'score' up - so I could download more tracks. The main reason for me getting on the site was to try to learn more about NoLimits, after a long period of not using (see the title of this thread).

There are lots of things others do that I have no clue how to - like scenery and stuff. I figured giving ratings was just my little 'karma juice' in order to continue downloading.

When I think about it, I wonder if having a rating system in place was a way to weed out the not-so-serious types; to keep the 'noise' and other similar occurrences low.

It is very much 'karma juice'. Requiring a certain ratio of downloads to ratings is a way to help ensure that if you upload a track, you can expect at least a rating or two of your own, and *way* more than that if you have a really good track. Matt - you're pretty definitely in the minority when it comes to not wanting feedback on your tracks. Do we need to force it? Maybe not, but in practice it's a good way to spread the love and make sure that not *just* the good tracks get loads of rates. Plus, it does, as CD said, help force a more serious, less free-for-all atmosphere which is ultimately the goal.

As far as the 'most tracks are crap and not deserving of a rate'... well, the first part at least, yea. Absolutely. There are *maybe* 1-2 above-average tracks uploaded every month (out of hundreds). That's the nature of the game... a well-made track, even without scenery, takes at minimum *days* of work. Usually more... months is a more normal timeline, and it goes up from there if you're doing scenery. The number of NL users out there that are even capable of producing work of that quality is very, very small, so the frequency of truly top-tier tracks getting released is something like monthly at best. That's just how it goes.

A site like NLE (with its forced '20% of your downloads' rating system) is set up less to be a repository for every track and NL user out there, and more to be a place to get feedback and progress your skills. Some really talented people (and members of the NL team for that matter) hang around the forums, and most of them are more than willing to help you out if you show evidence of actually wanting to get better.

Is it a little over-serious for what's ultimately a game, maybe a little, but that's kinda the goal.

Matt - For your purposes, you're probably better off just going to the all-time list and starting at the top, and working your way down. The weekly top-10 isn't even that great of a gauge of track quality because a track with one high rate can shoot to #1, until other rates even it out.

One thing I was a touch miffed was some ratings of my American Eagle. It's NOT an original design, in the least. If I may toot my own horn, it's a pretty good re-creation. But then I get a lower score b/c some ding me on the originality score. *Not a big deal* just made me wonder a bit.

The protocol is supposed to be that, if your coaster is a recreation, treat the "Originality" rating as "Accuracy" or faithfulness-to-real-ride. Users don't always do this, but we kind of accept that we can't police everyone. We used to moderate/approve every rating, but quite honestly that got super tedious, and we were always behind. Now we just have a thread in the forums where people can report ratings they feel are under-explained, garbage, or otherwise 'bad'.

Honestly the only bit about your AE rec that stuck out at me was the final helix(es)... not quite circular with a noticeably "hey there's a control node here" kink in the middle. A nitpick on my part, but yea. Otherwise a very solid recreation I thought.

^Thanks, Bill :) By the time I got to the helix, I had worked so hard and so long on that ride, I didn't care much. Which is figuratively somewhat like the real ride - that last helix is kinda a waste/no thrill :)