Please just tell me how to install it. This board UX is ugly

by **ethermuchacho** » 05 Jun 2021, 22:53

Sorry for the negativity in the topic title but until things change you deserve it.

Here's my UX
As a MTG lover, I come to slightlymagic,net because I want to install the great work which has been done with manalink and am immediately redirected to a forum.
Have to browse categories.. find Manalink, go there, click on the initial thread, and after all this tedium I still get an ugly initial post going nowhere, posting vaguely to a "patch" section with no clear indications whatsoever.
This is hellish UX; I have spent 30 minutes and still not know what to do, just my anxiety is increasing.

Here's how to FIX IT
Put a bold, giant link at the top as soon as someone opens slightlymagic,net with UPDATED short and clear instructions on what to install, with links to the actual executable.
Please!

How to help out a fellow MTG lover
Please let me know what to download! It's a no-brainer that YES I want to play manalink and YES I want the latest patches, please don't tell me to browse endless threads.

by **Aswan jaguar** » 06 Jun 2021, 07:19

First of all welcome ethermuchacho.
Collectible Card Games Headquarters whose address is slightlymagic.net per it's name is a place for card games not only MTG programs and certainly not only for Manalink.3.0, so each program has it's own forums where you can find anything about it. I don't know from where you were redirected here but on Manalink forums - installation ones, wiki,too you get redirected to patches forum where one of the two top Topics that are stickied is the latest update with full installation info and links.
One of those two topics is always the - Manalink updates "mailing list - which apparently is not an update and the other is always the update. The only confusing part is that at patches/ the top link is - Patch Index - which though is an announcement and not a topic.
So, the info above will get you to the Latest patch here:
viewtopic.php?f=85&t=30281

I hope you enjoy it

.

by **ethermuchacho** » 07 Jun 2021, 23:10

Thank you very much for your help. I thought this was the main website for manalink.

by **Daneyul** » 30 Jun 2021, 06:12

Have to agree. The Manalink 3 forum is extremely un-user friendly to the uninitiated. And this forum seems to be the main site for information about Manalink 3 when googling it.

I'm just amazed there's not a stickied "about" post that describes what manalink 3 is and gives a basic introduction. There's no clear starting point and no attempt to welcome potential new users whatsoever. What a wasted opportunity!

I imagine most who wander in here quickly become confused and wander back out. Like I will shortly.

It's a shame that such obvious work and dedication is put into a project whose audience is then unnecessarily limited by not putting in the relatively small extra effort to make it accessible to newcomers.

by **Quoth** » 24 Jul 2021, 17:18

100% agree. I came here to try to play this updated version of Micropose's masterpiece that people have clearly put a ton of effort into but this forum is really user-unfriendly.

After a bit I've managed to get the two folders downloaded and put the card art folder into the Manalink folder but I cannot get it to start on Win 10.
There appears to be a thread about this but it just links to a post that makes no sense to me.

I'm amazed there isn't a clearer install and troubleshooting guide when so much work has clearly been done on the game itself.

BTW - if anyone does know how to get this working, please let me know!

by **Aswan jaguar** » 27 Jul 2021, 05:13

Your issue Quoth seems to be an issue either of windows 10 not letting Manalink 3.0 run or your antivirus. There are scattered info on windows 10 and tricks that worked for some people still don't work for all.

Unfortunately, some people with windows 10 don't manage to make it work. Even worse people that were running successfully Manalink3.0 in the past sometimes after a windows 10 update can't run it any more even one of our devs had and possibly still has this issue. I am here many years and if we omit windows vista that were a menace and caused lots of installation issues, windows 10 are by far the windows that have caused the most issues to Manalink 3.0 users or potential users, usually the security systems and updates to them and the worse is that they don't notify why they don't let a program to run.