-= Gametoast.com =-

As you all know Mav is the last active voulenteer on http://starwarsbattlefront.filefront.com/ It must be stressful for him every time he updates all the mods, pictures, etc. There are thousands of mods taking up 57.72 GB worth of space. Maybe we should only backup the files which the community enjoys and have a good level of quality, that reduces the work significantly and makes the project appear smaller.

Star Wars Battlefront II
Files: 1061
Total Size: 44.17 GB

Star Wars Battlefront I
Files: 425
Total Size: 13.55 GB

Yes Mav is reliable and he does his best to keep the site updated, but he can't do it forever! At some point he is going to have to stop, resulting in the site's death. Only previous mods will be available and new mods will be harder to find without the proper site. Gametoast does an OK job sorting its mods and assets but there are a LOT of dead links, it's nothing compared to a dedicated mod storage site.

Maybe someone should create a new mod data base? We could make use of dropbox or media fire to store mods. I have nothing better to do, if someone would be willing to do mod reviews I think we might be able to accomplish this. There are some skilled artists on SWBF custom we could really make the site look nice. Due to lack of funds xD we might have to stick with a free site. I just have to look for one. I'll keep you guys up to date.

Edit: List of ideas

Mod Overview System
-Critics: Very brief but sophisticated overview of each mod.
-Mod reviews (Critic and User Reviews)
-Accurate rating system for critics
-Accurate rating system for players
-Download Count
-Nicer screenshot layout
-Gameplay Videos

Search System
-Everything is categorized correctly
-Assets: Skins > Models > Animations > Asset Packs >
-Maps: Maps > Map Packs > Conversions >
-Sides: Republic > Confederacy > Empire > Rebel Alliance > Other >
-Media: Audio > Video> Screensavers > Wallpaper > Other
-Utilities: Tools >

File Submission System
-When file is submitted the link is checked for viruses and check play-ability/usage.
-After file is accepted it is re-uploaded to one of the dropbox/media fire accounts that the admins will have access to. This ensures file safety and eliminates the problematic broken links.
-Once on the site critics and players can then review, rate and download the file.
-Screenshots are taken by the more artistic critics and uploaded.
-Videos are uploaded only if the creators agree that it can be used.

I thought filefront had more than one staff member?

They're all inactive unfortunately. (For SWBF that is) I've actually contacted the other volunteers. I only received a reply from two of them, both saying they gave up on it years ago. Mav is all that is left. Because of gamefront's refusal to fix anything or ignorance to do so, they have left us with a broken apply to volunteer page and a buggy site. This is the only solution I could think of.

Last I checked (recently) Jedikiller still does reviews from time to time. But either way, you're right. There are problems with this idea, though, such as:

Who's going to pay for the GIGABYTES and GIGABYTES of bandwidth?
Who's going to pay for the domain name?
Who's going to pay for the server hardware and hosting?
Where's Waldo?
Who is John Galt?

I agree with Marth, it's a great idea, but someone would have to step up and say "I can pay for this, I have the time/resources to keep it going".
An idea, as good as it might be, is useless without execution.

Is there a way that we can volunteer to work with/for Mav at SWBFFilefront? Never mind, found it. The page is a little funky though.

http://starwarsbattlefront.filefront.com/info/volunteer

yuke5 wrote:Is there a way that we can volunteer to work with/for Mav at SWBFFilefront?

No. The system that allows me to add staff (or modify staff permissions) has been broken for a long time (along with many other things). It's been more than a year since I've had even one other staff member uploading any files, and even before then I had intermittent participation.

If there are any community-driven efforts to back things up, forget trying to do reviews. Or even pictures. Having them archived and in a text list somewhere (a la the spreadsheet that AlexSecura maintained) is the only thing anyone will even get close to doing to any level of completion. You would have a hard enough time even getting everything uploaded - we've tried to do this before, some 2-3 years ago when FF nearly shut its doors.

why you dont contact the hosters of Filefront? mabe they are able to reactivate the system for staff

I think the best idea is a network of dedicated individuals who keep as many mods as possible on external hard drives and such, then upload/reupload files when needed. It's basically what we're doing now. I do like the idea of having something - maybe on Gametoast? - where people can post mod/map reviews alongside a link. People who posted reviews could be responsible for keeping the link active.