The Tain - I want to help enter data.

Industry · Post by **Industry** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 4:29 am

This is a post for Magma members. I want to help enter data into the Tain. I have written a script that will generate a nice description and summary report of a Plugin, similar to the reports once seen on The Mill. I am not an artist so it not a nice looking html page its just the data. If I get a sample page from The Tain and more of the plugins I can generate an accurate page full of description for all of them.
Yes, that's right, I said all of them.

ChrisP · Post by **ChrisP** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 12:58 pm

That would be great, hope it works out.

The people you want to talk to are Infininight and Gholsbane. In case they don't reply here, their emails are in the "about us" section of this site.

TopGunZ · Post by **TopGunZ** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 5:45 pm

Cool! All of them? Thats a lot of work. :0

The Elfoid · Post by **The Elfoid** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 5:37 am

I can submit reviews, if that's going to be allowed. Would it be best for me to wait for the Tain.org to open or for me to e-mail a s*** load of them now?

Oroboros · Post by **Oroboros** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 5:42 pm

Industry wrote:I want to help enter data into the Tain. I have written a script that will generate a nice description and summary report of a Plugin, similar to the reports once seen on The Mill.

Hi Industry,

Around about February this year I wrote a Perl script that did the lion's share of Mill-parsing - That is, turning 2100-odd HTML Mill pages into Tain-approved XML. The program, MillGrinder, took two days to write, and about 15mins to execute.

I haven't been in contact with either Inf or GB for sometime. I believe Tain development has stalled.

The problem (at the beginning) seems to be one of perfectionism. Inf and GB want(ed) to get everything 'just right'. At the time I expressed concerns that the amount of detail they were going into didn't even come close to the simple, "meat n' potatoes" demands the average Myth punter would want.

Basically, they started 'sweating the small stuff'.

The output from MillGrinder was Web-ready. I suggested publishing what they had immediately and tailoring the pages that needed it as an when they were discovered. They opted for getting everything right first, then publishing.

At the time, Inf imagined he could get everything done by April. Using an estimated average editing time per page, I put the date at mid-September.

I'd be interested in knowing if there's a release date planned. Ever.

-Oro

Website · Post by **iron** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 5:47 pm

Heh, Oro, you weren't the only one to express those concerns :\

Oroboros · Post by **Oroboros** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 11:47 pm

Heya Fe, and Merry Christmas,

Concerns, schmoncerns. People do stuff cos they feel motivated to do stuff. About one conversation after I did the parsing, I kinda figured that was it.

When chat about the 'design of the site' exceeds chat about the content, that's it, it's all over Rover, forgeddaboudit, it's not going to happen.

I had fun writing the code. My work was done =>:-] Even if a third of the pages were broken I'd've happily put my moniker to it - There's no accounting for a Myth player's penchant for shoving ASCII art all over the place. Deleting/fixing broken pages seemed like a far less onerous task than perfecting already adequate pages.

-Oro

The Elfoid · Post by **The Elfoid** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:01 am

I think a beta-release would be great. Google do it all the time, and they're rich.

mauglir · Post by **mauglir** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:14 am

When chat about the 'design of the site' exceeds chat about the content, that's it, it's all over Rover, forgeddaboudit, it's not going to happen.

This happens in the real world, too. I've seen many marketing meetings begin with "today, we're going to talk goals and strategy for the next two years" and quickly switch to "I think red is better than blue."

Edited By mauglir on 1103732071

Post by **Doobie** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 1:01 pm

regarding a time line, I believe inf is working on getting SOMETHING up in the relatively near future. Might not be as interactive at first, but at least people will be able to download stuff.

Edited By Doobie on 1103738511

The Elfoid · Post by **The Elfoid** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 2:03 pm

That's all we need. Instead of descriptions, just have people submit reviews.

sillek · Post by **sillek** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 9:27 pm

Why not just set up a file mirror, for now ? Hell, most Mythers won't appreciate any more than that. After you get the file links up, then you can work on getting interfaces, pages, what have you up around them. Just seems silly to me to wait forever to put the perfect product up when you can atleast serve the files for now.

ChrisP · Post by **ChrisP** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:25 pm

True, sillek, but as far as a no-frills approach for now, many plugins can be found at http://hl.udogs.net/files/ if you poke around.

Website · Post by **iron** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:04 pm

yes, however something does need to be done. There's no way of knowing what's good and what isn't, or of what is likely to interest you before you download it. Browsing a list of files is not the same as browsing something that gives you descriptions, no matter how brief.

TopGunZ · Post by **TopGunZ** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:01 pm

Good point. I have wasted many a senseless download on stuff that I don't like or doesn't work. I also have loads to throw away in the trash

. Nonetheless, it is a convenient alternative, and its a good access to betas to the public.