Split forum ?

Ever try Forums.XNA.com/forums? There is an XNA Game Studio specific forum there.

They are not different according to the failed marketing of Microsoft which they still insist on.

Quote:

Microsoft XNA is composed of industry-leading software, services, resources, and communities focused on enabling game developers to be successful on Microsoft gaming platforms.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/xna/default.aspx
Yet in reality we all know what XNA is, as also pointed out by an ex employee

Quote:

*I'm delighted to be able to say "XNA" again when I was previously obligated to say "XNA Game Studio/XNA Framework", in spite of reality. Nobody thinks of "XNA" being anything else _but_ "XNA Game Studio/XNA Framework", in spite of the marketing team's feeble attempts to convince the world that XNA is a much bigger brand (didn't you notice the branding when you installed the DirectX SDK, causing you to think, "Oh, the DirectX SDK is part of an XNA product line"? I didn't think so :-). When I was at Microsoft, I was constantly reminded to drill people to not say "XNA" when they meant "XNA Framework-based Game" or "Game written with XNA Game Studio". Talk about mismanaging a brand launch (All aboard the FAILboat). Glad I don't have to suck up to that ridiculous notion anymore :-) [No offense meant toward the outstanding developers that are creating a rockin' game development tool for everybody!]

We generally only split forums if there is enough traffic to warrant it; I don't believe this is currently the case. Many of the topics overlap anyway.

Quote:

Original post by johdex Is there a reason why the same forum is used for DirectX and XNA? These are two different APIs, I think they should have different forums. I find it irritating to read a seemingly interesting topic dealing with a problem I have encountered, only to find out it uses DirectX (I'm only interested in XNA).

The only issue I have is that Google results tend to get a bit poluted because 'XNA' is tacked on to every post because of the forum name, which can be annoying when searching for info on particular XNA problems. But even though it might be a bit of a pain there's plenty of overlap API-wise as Josh said and techniques/concepts/effects in DirectX typically also work about the same in XNA, so a forum split might not be a good idea.

It would not be a bad idea.

Apologies for the delay, I was out at a Microsoft UK event on Friday/Saturday and busy all day yesterday [smile] - As your local imperial overlord kind and benevolent dictator moderator I thought I should comment...

Quote:

Original post by jpetrie We generally only split forums if there is enough traffic to warrant it; I don't believe this is currently the case. Many of the topics overlap anyway.

This sums it up quite nicely really, but to add a bit more depth...

For at least a year, if not more, there had been various calls to fold the "DirectX" forum into what you now see as the "DirectX and XNA" forum. I'd resisted this for much the same reasons as johdex states. Also, the fact that XNA is a brand but also taken as meaning "XNA Game Studio Express" which is a sort of everything-and-nothing buzzword. Lots of topics that people might think are "XNA" will actually be better served by other forums - as I initially outlined here (was sticky until quite recently!).

Anyway.

I'm open to the possibility that this merge doesn't really work, and I personally am undecided on whether it has been for better or for worse.

BUT, the staff (well, Richard) is working away on the next revision of the forum software (don't ask when [wink]) which will include a tagging system. This will be the best long-term solution.

When tagging is in place you'll be able to create your own forum based on your preferred choice of keywords. If you don't want to see any native DX questions you won't have to [smile]


Hope that makes sense and sounds reasonable enough!
Cheers,
Jack