It’s not a HUGE deal but it’s kind of frustrating when I’m trying to hire other developers and the only place I can really make a detailed thread about it is in the Collaboration section.
That’s great and all but that section is only available to DevForum members, and a Tweet isn’t long enough to include the details I want to include for the job 99% of the time. Yeah I can screenshot the topic and attach that to the tweet but even then sometimes the whole topic doesn’t fit on the screen and I have to use multiple screenshots.
I think there should be a category that’s similar to Collaboration but is public or just make Collaboration itself public. Obviously not every developer out there is a part of the DevForums, so it’s not fair to ask that if they want to see details they must apply for DevForum (and even then they’re not quite guaranteed acceptance).
I’m open to any concerns or issues about this too. I put some thought into what some consequences might be, but other than the possibility of spam (which is already possible on public categories) I can’t find a big issue.
I guess one solution would be to make it publicly visible, but only accepted DevForum members can make threads. So sort of like @TheNexusAvenger’s suggestion, where it’s like a bulletin board and any contact info would just be posted in the thread so a reply to the actual thread isn’t necessary.
On the fateful day that the bulletin board was added, pretty much an hour later, this smart person realized that nobody would give a crap about the bulletin board unless they were posting in it, and created a tutorial on how to mute the bulletin board. My point is, the bulletin board is a bad idea. As for recruiting people outside of DevForum, I’m pretty sure anyone who couldn’t even become a new member is most likely not ready for a collaboration.
Well my point is that there are some developers that just don’t want to take the time to apply for the DevForum, and then wait weeks to months for a reply on whether or not they got accepted. There are plenty of capable developers who would likely get accepted, but just never apply.
I personally think it’s unfair to force every developer onto the DevForum if they want to find a job. Yes, it gives access to resources that are extremely helpful, but placing the fault on someone who doesn’t want to join is wrong.
Either way, there are no major repercussions for adding such a category, even if the blame could be placed on developers who don’t want to apply.
It’s because it’s way too risky for the person that’s looking for help. In theory, it sounds great but in reality, it would be a bad idea. There’s a quite low chance that you would be scammed by a DevForum member and if you somehow do, I believe DevRel could help with that in some way (I could be wrong about that though). However, because there are no safe guards against others scammed you, then there is really nothing that can be done. You also run the risk of hiring people that suddenly abandon (most DevForum members won’t if they are getting paid) the commission that you hired the person to do.
I can see what people are saying about the concerns behind such a feature but would really like to see something like this implemented, it can be pretty hard finding work without access to the Collaboration section.
I have a couple developer friends who either:
A) Too rooted in “blacklisted” Roblox sites to be accepted into the DevForums or are just too radical in the way they express their opinions about the developer community
B) Don’t want to wait weeks to months for a response from DevForums about their application
Sure you can blame them for being on bad websites and doing “black market” things for point A, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t trustworthy and/or aren’t good developers. I’ve worked with a couple people who are actually some of the most trustworthy developers I’ve met (as in they’ve held their parts to deals), though they use sites such as V3 and other ways of getting things like cheaper robux.
Obviously I don’t condone using such sites but nonetheless they’re good developers
I wouldn’t want someone who consciously breaks the Roblox rules (i.e. buying almost always stolen Robux off-site) to work with me on a game unless I was their best friend or some other related situation.
Yeah, me neither. But there’s also a lot of situations where I literally can’t afford to pay the prices that some crazy Collaboration prices offer. I’ve seen 5 million+ robux for a single coder, and competing with those prices is just impossible for any developers who haven’t already made it big.
Surely if someone wants to hire someone off-site, they can already do that by going to Twitter and even the actual Roblox website. It’s not like there’s already a safeguard against the risk of hiring developers off a site separate from the DevForum, and the risks are pretty obvious. If they aren’t obvious enough, a notification can just be pinned that says be aware of the risks of hiring developers off-site or something along those lines.
My point is the way the Collaboration section is currently set up, it tends to lean towards the side of developers who have already made it big or already have huge funds to fuel a new project. I haven’t seen more than a couple “no name” developers able to hire a team of developers from the Collaboration section because the competitive barrier is already so high.
Higher risk/newer developers who might not make it into the DevForum haven’t hit that point where they can confidently charge a million robux for their work, and for many people that risk is worth the discount price.
The 5 million+ offers for developers is for high class games where most aren’t going to be accepted. Trust me, freelancers are scared by those offers too.
Well sure, but that still doesn’t explain why a public Collaboration forum would be detrimental to the DevForum community.
Saying that DevForum members are more trustworthy than Roblox developers who aren’t a part of the DevForum isn’t true. On top of that, anyone who just simply trusts a badge that says the person is a DevForum member is taking a risk already. Everytime I hire someone, I check their past work, their history with “sketchy” websites, and their history with transactions, regardless of whether or not they’re a DevForum member.
Additionally, the risk of a developer not finishing a project after being hired is a risk that comes with every developer. DevForum developers shouldn’t be placed on a higher pedestal than those who aren’t. Yes, it’s likely there are more “risky” developers that aren’t DevForum members than there are, but the argument that “it’s a higher risk” can’t be made when it’s so easy to just go out to Twitter, Roblox, and other sources to find these other, usually cheaper, developers.
The goal of a public Collaboration forum would to put every developer in one area so it eliminates the need to go to 5 different sources in order to find developers to hire.
I don’t believe Roblox would want anyone involved in the “Roblox blackmarket” to be involved here. Upon applying, your moderation history is checked.
If there was a public section, there’s no way of knowing that the person you’re working with has a history of rule-breaking, scamming, etc. Seems far too sketchy to condone.