There are dozens of threads here now gauging interest from potential packages to showcasing early in development packages with the intent to submit to Epic soon. According to the rules though all of these threads should be moved from this forum to the Works in Progress thread. I was subject to just this yesterday and it’s brought me to question whether this rule should be changed or not. There is a clear different between content that is aimed at being developed for the marketplace and showcase materials in general.
These are just threads on the first page of the Marketplace forum and these would all get shoveled off into the Works In Progress forum. Now in full disclosure this happened yesterday to my own Infinite Knives and Blades thread that I made yesterday and I can’t understand why my thread would be moved and these be allowed to remain. So I’d like start a conversation as to what the deal is with the discrepancy between the rules, the actual threads that are allowed to remain that don’t follow the “Only post items that are already available on the Marketplace” rule, the threads that moved to the WIP forum, and when topics can return from WIP to the marketplace forum at all.
Because either all of these threads should be moved by the moderators to the WIP forum or the rules should be adjusted to be more flexible now that the state of the UE4 community has evolved. I would like to keep conversation civil and polite. I think that by not moving threads like the above to WIP for so long this forum has implicitly accepted that the threads like the above, and my own knives pack, should allowed to remain in the Marketplace forum and that the official rules for this forum should be changed.
I think these types of threads do have a place in the Marketplace forum. They allow potential customers to help shape the content. And where do potential Marketplace buyers go? The Marketplace forum By moving them to the WIP forums, they’re going to be largely ignored, as they will have to compete with a multitude of projects (some serious, some experimentation). And it’s not like these threads are cluttering up the Marketplace forum, as there’s not a ton of activity to begin with
Here’s a valid question, if the Marketplace forum is only for released packs, what about when you want to advertise updates you’re working on for that pack? Do you start a separate thread in WIP?
My opinion is if the topic in question involves the creation or maintenance or discovery of marketplace assets, potential or not, they should be posted in this section. However it might be nice to have some regulated process for what the thread starter is showing. It is a little disappointing when someone makes a thread titled “super awesome thing that I really want right away” then I get excited and click into it and it says “I’m thinking about making this, would you guys be interested?”
Yes of course I’m interested, but I also know that awesome thing is hard to pull off and will take months of work, which means it will be many months before I ever actually get my hands on it! (and let’s be honest, if you have to ask if it’s worthwhile before you start, you’ll probably not finish it)
If we can somehow avoid the above scenario, or at least lower the frequency of it occurring (it’s about every 4th post now), that would help a lot.
I have been moving the threads that I can when I get the time, sometimes the threads slip through the cracks and I apologise for that. I have asked Epic to give me clarification on the rules in regards to this:
Once I have a definitive answer from them, we will take the actions necessary to sort this issue out. For now all threads that have been moved, will stay in the Work In Progress thread until further notice and all threads not moved will stay where they are. Thank you for your understanding and I will provide an update once I have an update from Epic.
You cant just say “oh its a tuesday I am going to decide to enforce a rule that NO ONE has been enforcing”. I mean this rule has not been enforced and it seems the description of the forum encourages discussion
This is a great thread CheapModeler and I think you bring up some good points because the lines do become very confusing. It’s also very confusing because we have options for Prefixes to threads like “Coming Soon” and “Submitted” but why are they there if we can’t use them. I also agree with and Necrophob30 that a lot of content would simply become lost in the WIP thread and never be seen because Marketplace users come here to check out content and future content.
It’s also confusing because in the forum board topic page under Marketplace Forum it reads this.
“All Things Related to the Unreal Engine Marketplace. Discuss Marketplace Offerings, Request New Content, Promote Your Work.”
It sounds like all things Marketplace. Does that mean past, present and future marketplace? Also what can be classified as Requesting new content or discussing Marketplace offerings? Like your blades thread. I don’t see it as much as a work in progress as it perhaps can be seen as both a marketplace offering discussion and checking to see from other users if it would be a request for new content. The same can be said about many of the other threads and mine as well. Is it discussing Marketplace offerings and content requests? So I’m very confused lol
I’m a little confused as to why Epic has this policy on the marketplace forums when they’ve adopted the philosophy of getting everyone involved from day one for development of Unreal Tournament. Allowing people in on the ground floor allows development to go in a direction the community as a whole wants.
When you wait to post to the last minute there’s a greater chance of silly mistakes or plain poor design decisions making it through to the final product. As disappointing as it may be to click on a thread and find out there’s nothing there, it can be a small blessing. This way you can have direct input into what makes it in and what stays out allowing the developers to maintain maximum productivity on things people really want, rather than spending the time making things that many people may not be interested in.
Having now been on both sides of the fence, I can say that following Epics policy of waiting to post was a mistake.
What bothers me is people taking a rule as an absolute perfect/complete rule instead of trying to adapt/renew it to a more helpful state. The rules need a review.
Jacob-3D pointed out all the proof we needed for it so there’s not much left talk about.
We have a decision from Epic and a representative from Epic will be making an announcement with regards to their decision and the reasoning behind it. I don’t want to elaborate on that but in order to start the process, I will briefly summarise the decision.
All items in the “Marketplace” thread that have not been submitted to the marketplace are considered works in progress and thus will be moved to the “Work in Progress” thread. These threads will be flagged with a special “Marketplace” prefix until such time as they are submitted to the marketplace. Once they are submitted to the marketplace, the owner of the thread can choose to have the entire thread moved to the “Marketplace” thread and have the prefix of “Submitted”, or the thread can be closed and a link to the new thread can be provided by the original owner.
The basic reasoning is that the Marketplace would be less cluttered by ideas and potential submissions and other users of the forums know that items in the “Marketplace” thread are submitted or have been released and anything being worked on is found under the “Work in Progress” thread. As I said, a representative from Epic will make an announcement, I am just providing an update as the moderators will start moving threads in line with this decision by Epic.
What is the crossover of clientele between the Marketplace forum and the WIP forum?
What percentage of primary WIP users spend money on Marketplace purchases in contrast to individuals who more often frequent the Marketplace forums?
Have you checked with the community whether they are okay with idea threads or potential submissions? What is the reasoning behind the assumption that the community cannot deal with idea threads or potential submissions?
But this isn’t going to be any different in the WIP forum.
But 99% of people were literally not displeased with how things were. That’s what doesn’t make sense. The only people who spoke up were the people who saw the conflict against the rule. Not the practice in and of itself.
If it was affecting the usability, after six months don’t you think more of the community would have had something to say about it other than the handful of nitpickers? It never affected my usability nor does it seemed to have affected the usability of everyone else who has posted in this thread. Only HausEstate went on a tirade and his issue was that the threads were against the rules rather a question of usability.
Then why don’t we put up a thread in the Marketplace forum and see what people say? Or why don’t you share what people have said to you?
That until I personally raised a stink about it that nothing was happening says that it clearly wasn’t enough of an issue for the staff to do anything about is what makes these “we know more than you” claims tough to swallow. If you know more than us why don’t you tell us? Why don’t we bring it up to the community first and foremost by moving this thread back to the marketplace forum and see what people have to say about it instead of letting a vocal minority guide your hand?
Saying “we know more than you” without elaborating on it any further can mean anything.
Suggesting that people get used to change is the laziest argument. You might as well be upfront and clear and say, “It doesn’t matter what anyone else in the community thinks.” The rest of it seems like a roundabout game to avoid getting input because you’re afraid of what you might hear.
Let’s not get heated here. We’re working on a policy for this right now and we’ll post it here once we hammer out the details of it. In the meantime, please be respectful towards one another and the rules of the forum as they stand now.
Moreover, the rule is STILL the same. The incorporation of the rule is being clarified not changed. The rule is STILL the same. What I want is for the community to be able to give their input on whether the rule should be changed. EVERY post in this thread said that this was a bad rule until the thread was moved out of Marketplace thread where it gets less visibility.
To clarify: This isn’t about my threads. My tone is far different than when it was ONLY my thread being moved. Now that everyone’s thread has been moved, I consider all things fair now. But that doesn’t stop the rule itself from being dumb in my opinion. Everyone should have their threads moved back. Not just me. Everyone. Or at least placed in a Marketplace centered WIP sub-forum like others have suggested.
I understand, and I appreciated the effort to try to stay constructive. The message was for everyone here. It’s fine to discuss things you’d like to see changed but please understand that the moderators are acting in accordance with the rules provided in the forum. We have moved and given the proper tags to the links you’ve identified and if we see anymore we will do the same.
I can promise that we are reading everything and taking everything into consideration. I just would like for everyone to take a step back and make sure your arguments aren’t becoming heated and losing focus of the discussion you’re trying to have here.
If anyone has any concerns about anything please reach out to one of us over PM.
By moving them to the WIP forums, they’re going to be largely ignored, as they will have to compete with a multitude of projects (some serious, some experimentation). And it’s not like these threads are cluttering up the Marketplace forum, as there’s not a ton of activity to begin with 
