Why Use OPS-CENTER?

[Iguanaman]

I think OPS-CENTER is great ,I believe it's potential has yet to be reached,it will only improve once vendors get on board too.

[tygr701]

Ops Center works well. Needs some bugs fixed though. Couldn't edit the rules for the game without the same ones reappearing when I had taken them out initially.

[Scarecrow]

Originally Posted by HeadlessChicken

Sounds almost too good to be true. Is there a "but" in there? Any cons to Ops-Center yet? I've looked up a couple of game postings of yours Brian and it looks exactly as you've described; everything we need to know and from what I can tell, what you need to know is right there.

No cons. Its banner supported, and will soon have an event ticket model for hosts to use to streamline signup and payment. We get a small porition of the convenience fee. So yes, in that respect, its intended to make money.

Brent and I are going to be posting a series of videos that will explain the genesis of the project in a little more detail, but suffice it to say for now, this is a project Brent and I have talked about doing for years, and having left our full time jobs, we've managed to start doing things we want to do, rather than things we have to do.

So, there is no con here. We hope you like it and that it appeals to both the player and the host. I'll address the Facebook questions in another post.

[Scarecrow]

Originally Posted by horto

Curious about the OPS Centre-Facebook integration/single sign on and privacy. What if I want to draw a line between airsoft and facebook. As in, I'd rather not have my airsoft interests leak out to facebook. (Caveat: But I like using it for authentication so I don't have to manage any more user names and passwords).

If I log into OPS Centre via facebook, what happens? Does it just use my name/profile pic? Does it post shit to my wall?

Good question. We've answered that a number of times as its a common concern. I'll repeat it again as its important for everyone to understand.

You don't have to use Facebook to log in. You can establish a direct account using the sign up function.

The Facebook functionality helps you to establish your initial account information, purely as a convenience. It also lets you post "Likes" if you want to. It also lets you invite your friends from Facebook to join Events being hosted on Ops-Center and to announce Events. But it is purely a convenience and all those things are optional. We don't send unsolicited email, and we don't mine your Facebook data, or send information from OPS-Center to Facebook except for the things mentioned above and only at your explicit command. It is a single sign-on convenience that lets you leverage your social network if YOU want to. It is there for YOU to use, not for us.

If you go to your Account Settings there is a Notification section that also lets you control what OPS-Center sends to you. The notification system is designed to keep you in the loop on Events, when you join, when you leave, when a favorite host announces a new game, etc. It isn't a marketing tool, and we don't use any of the information we have for unsolicited spam and comply with all the new spam laws. The system is designed to help hosts promote their events, for players to find them and to control their participation.

Bottom line is if you like single-sign-on technology, we're no different than lots of other sites out there using the Facebook Connect app features.

If you have problems, Brent and I are very visible, available and reachable and most importantly, ACCOUNTABLE to this community. This isn't some site that just came from some faceless corporation - this community knows us and we frequently respond directly to it and the individuals who make up this community. So, this isn't an attempt to mine your identity to send you dieting and ***** enlargement spam. We really do care about airsoft and want to make a difference for all of us.

[Scarecrow]

Originally Posted by tygr701

Ops Center works well. Needs some bugs fixed though. Couldn't edit the rules for the game without the same ones reappearing when I had taken them out initially.

Agreed, and we are working on it daily with a full time and costly programmer.

Once we get the Event ticket system done, we'll go back and redesign the rules selection system - right now we're just debugging it as we get reports and have worked on the issue you mentioned as early as yesterday. We'll stabilize what is there for rules, but, it is going to undergo an overhaul to make rules development and selection easier.

[BennyBoy]

Can't you link to ASC

[Scarecrow]

Originally Posted by m102404

I'm kind of a picky guy...here are some picky things. Take it in a constructively...it's meant that way

1. (New look I suppose) When you go to Ops-center.com there's no "Login"/"My Account"/etc...just the "SIGN UP NOW!" button. Counter intuitive for guys that have an account already.

From there you can get to a page (Ops-center.net) that has Sign Up / Sign In buttons.

Actually it says "Sign in with Facebook" and the links at the top are Sign Up / Sign In. When you're not signed in, we can't tell if you have an account or not, so we offer both Sign Up and Sign In. There are also security considerations that have curtailed what we show if you have no account. So I am not complete sure I understand the problem with the way it is now.

Originally Posted by m102404

2. Just tried to sign in with Facebook (big link on page)...error. It's been 8/10 times going to this site that I've not been able to get into it over the last month. Not sure if it's my computer, my network, etc...I can get into everything else just fine.

Clicked on Sign In (top corner)...get to login prompt...choose facebook, sign in...get prompted to allow OC to post on my behalf (F*CK THAT). Click on do not allow...only option is to skip....then still not logged in. (Tried to join a side and was told I had to be 18....so guessing it didn't log me in).

To be used...it's got to simply be there...working.

Less functionality, bells and whistles, but being able to get in...that'd be ok and do what needed to be done to sign up for a game.

I use it daily and the only problem I am having is if I have a tab open that has timed out and already has a logged in session. When the session expires but you click on something that requires you to be logged in, sometimes it does weird stuff. We're still working on that but our priority is security and privacy so we instantly block any calls by timed out sessions (a common PHP attack vector by the way).

If you are denying Facebook Connect to have access (as you say, F*CK THAT), then you are not authenticated to log in, so, it won't let you join because it does not know who you are. You NEED to log in with some method, Facebook or manually. We are not allowing anonymous player joins (akin to +1 on a dboard).

I think its not so much bells and whistles but whether you trip over them. We're trying to not make features get in the way of the app, but event management is actually more complex than we even realized. Bear with us as we streamline the program.

Originally Posted by m102404

3. (dunno if it's changed)...I thought it was neat to see others close to me...but really I DO NOT want others to see where I am.

Set your address to your city, province. Its general enough to be useful to you but not specific enough for someone to home in on you.

Originally Posted by m102404

4. (dunno if it's changed)....I DO want to get e-mails about the games I've signed up for....I DO NOT want to get e-mails that I've not solicited.

Go to the Account Settings and adjust your notification settings. We don't send advertising, but we are instituting an optional "What Happening Near Me" email which will let you know what games are going on around you and the events any of your friends are attending. This is a once a week email (Wednesdays right now).

Originally Posted by m102404

5. Game Fee is grey out checked...but not paying through site...that seems odd, but I know where you're going with this.

This just tells you the cost of the game. Eventually Hosts will be able to collect fees online.

Originally Posted by m102404

6. "Forgot Password" page just has a box and a submit button...not clear on what you want. I guessed e-mail address. Then e-mail sends me to page with two boxes and a submit button...guessing you want new password typed twice.
- you should go through and lable your boxes or put a note in about what you want entered

(BTW...still can't get in...I'm giving up on it for today and will try later this weekend. Brian M...if you get a whole wack of sign ups for tonight from me...sorry, I was testing)

I'm a little dated with some of the latest website stuff and am a bit old fashioned...but I'm pretty computer litterate.

I think you're having browser issues. We should take this discussion to Skype or some other medium to more directly address whatever it is you're experiencing. I can also wipe your account and you can start over with a non-Facebook account if you prefer.

[Scarecrow]

Originally Posted by BennyBoy

Can't you link to ASC

Sorry, link what to ASC?

[Scarecrow]

Originally Posted by Janus

My only issue is that it keeps asking for permission to post to my wall.

What are you doing when it asks you for this permission?

Thats also an example of where OPS-Center doesn't do anything to your account without explicit permission - its an annoying example.

If I know the circumstances I can suggest an approach or solution.

[BennyBoy]

lol what happened to rest of the post......anyways...
disregard anyways, you guys have made massive changes in pass two weeks

[Mr.Shiney]

I cannot seem to get it to realize I am over 18. Everytime I try to edit my account profile, I get a 403 Error, that there is a server issue.
So how do I update my age, so that it knows I am over 18

[m102404]

No problem Jay

There are some spelling mistakes and some other issues when using iPads in one orientation vs another.

I think that some code is not being translated properly. I'll redo the sequence on some other machine builds and detail it with some better specifics. My system filters are stringent, but not crazy locked down. I was using three different builds today.

The Facebook posting on my behalf is the same as what Janus is referring to. I'm not sure if I'm interpreting it right, but it seems to be asking for permission for OpsCenter to post to my Facebook wall...which is not what I want to happen. If you click on the x to not allow...you're left with just a skip button...and the next time you login, it asks you again.

Found the email notifications..thanks.

It's definitely better than it was...and heading in the right direction.

For some reason I originally signed in with Facebook because I could not create a manual account...now the manual account works. Maybe by design...but weird.

Anyways, we can go to alternate comms if you want, it might be easier for detailing stuff and adding screen shots, etc.

[m1lk0r]

From what I've seen thus far, I like it. I found far more fields/events close to me, then I knew of to begin with. (that map is awesome.)

[Grudge]

I've been signed into it as a player for quite a while now. I'm looking forward to hosting some games through it in the near future!

I've had no issues signing in, didn't want to use the facebook option and it worked just fine for me!

[Janus]

Originally Posted by Scarecrow

What are you doing when it asks you for this permission?

Thats also an example of where OPS-Center doesn't do anything to your account without explicit permission - its an annoying example.

If I know the circumstances I can suggest an approach or solution.

I switched to the direct sign in. Easier and it doesn't annoy me with wanting to post to my wall (I get nervous when ANYTHING wants to post to my wall. Also, I hate facebook.)

One thing... I noticed when drafting up an event for the first time, the selection for rules had a lot of redundant speciality items in the rulesets. Things that apply to other fields that don't apply to the fields we use; some of the items under the rules tab in the Create Event section (like under basic field rules where one of them is 'visit the JOC forum' for full rules.)

Now they looked community created, but perhaps a standardization might be in order. And basic safety rules for events at the same location aren't going to change much. Perhaps a preferential ruleset for event organizers?