History keeps repeating itself.

As with the forums, there has been no serious attempt to collect information from the end users. While it is impossible to gauge everything beforehand, many problems and complaints could have been prevented by just asking us, the members.

It could have been so easy. A frontpage article, a sticky in the forums, outlining the proposed changes to the galleries, and asking for user input. While not every suggestion could have been implemented - probably there would have been contradictory ideas - this input would have given the staff and programmers a much clearer vision of when the new galleries were ready to roll out.

There would have been a few problems, of course. But not as much as there are now. Basic, essential functionality would not have been forgotten. As it is now, we have a gallery system that  should be described as an early alpha version, not a final beta or release candidate.

As with the forums, Bondware/Renderosity has missed a perfect opportunity to create a good product. As with the forums, many things will have to be patched and missing functionality will have to be stuck on somehow, which will compromise the basic software design, making the system slower, less stable and less maintainable.

Good software design starts with specifying functionality in cooperation with the end users.

The pen is mightier than the sword. But if you literally want to have some impact, use a typewriter

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