Things It Feels Like Episode Forgot About 😅

[amberose]

I’m very aware that there are several things Episode is working on introducing, fixing and improving that… um… they just never seem to get around to I personally find it a bit annoying not knowing where these updates are at. I know Episode doesn’t really communicate these things very well, but I guess I’m still waiting for certain things and I am getting worried they might have been abandoned.

So I decided to make this thread as a reminder that there is at least one community member (me) who is still keen for these updates and waiting.

Updates

Feed Feature

Ok, most people know about this one already, but Episode’s “feed feature” has been around for over a year and most of us don’t have it.
Here’s lots of topics about it if you are curious about the history of it…

May, 2018: I don't have the new "Feed" update on Episode!
May, 2018: What is this "Feed" feature and why I don't have it?
Sept, 2018: Why on my sister's phone the app looks different
Dec, 2018: APP: Social Feed for EVERYONE
April, 2018: Episode Feed - Still being released?
May, 2019: Episode Social Media
Update

@Melani3

We’ve been testing the Episode Social Feed for the last year with a small portion of our players. We’re still working on testing this, and seeing if it’s ready to roll out to everyone. Sorry for the confusion around this, we’ll let you know if the status on this part of Episode changes any time in the near future!

Update - Feb, 2020: Saying Goodbye to the Social Feed

Community Advisory Pannel

This was another thing that was going to be implemented on these new forums, but as far as I know it hasn’t? Unless there is a group operating in secret
The original thread is here: Applications for the Episode Community Advisory Panel are now OPEN!
And according to Liz’s topic here: An Update from Liz the members would be announced when she returned from maternity leave.
Update

@Melani3

We really appreciated all of the people who stepped up to be a part of our proposed Community Advisory Panel. The Episode team member who was leading this process has since left the team. After that, we stepped back from this initiative. At the moment, we don’t have plans to restart this process, but if we do, we’ll be sure to reach out to the community for applicants.

Tappables

Tappables - although widely used in stories now - are still in beta testing and haven’t offically been released. They are still pretty glitchy, so I can see why it hasn’t been released but with them being used so much in published stories already and with the guide for how to code them being public on the forums, I am still wondering if there will be an official release or update/announcement for them?
Update

@Melani3

For our Episode Originals, our team occasionally develops special features with a one-time intended use: tappable overlays and timed choices were examples of this. Sometimes, they don’t work perfectly in other applications until our team has had a chance to prepare them for an official release. We don’t officially support these features right now, but you can use them if you want. However, please be aware that they might cause issues and that if we do officially support them in the future there might be changes to their functionality that you would need to correct.

Timed Choices

The first time timed choices were discovered by a user was here Aug, 2018: Timed Choices Code
But this is another thing that still hasn’t had an official release. I’m not aware of any glitches from anyone who uses it, but there was this semi-announcement about it’s status:

@Jesse

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the enthusiasm on this feature! We’re pretty excited about announcing this soon as well, but just so you know, timed choices are still under development, so be aware that things can change with the next app update. We’re putting some final updates on it at this time and hope to share it officially soon!

Update

@Melani3

For our Episode Originals, our team occasionally develops special features with a one-time intended use: tappable overlays and timed choices were examples of this. Sometimes, they don’t work perfectly in other applications until our team has had a chance to prepare them for an official release. We don’t officially support these features right now, but you can use them if you want. However, please be aware that they might cause issues and that if we do officially support them in the future there might be changes to their functionality that you would need to correct.

Other Donacodes

Not sure what to call this one tbh. But this was another comment on the Timed Choices Thread

@Jesse

Great find! Much like the Timed Choices this is a feature that we’re still working, so you can expect changes to how the feature works in future updates. Once we plan to do a final roll-out of the feature you’ll see a message from us on the forum!

This is in reference to if you type the timed choice code incorrectly, you will get other suggestions. Some of the listed suggestion are “layout”, “visual”, “shouldGiveXP” and “tACE”. I’ve found that “layout” works, but the others don’t

10.5 App Update

A topic was made here, April, 2019: Episode 10.5 App Release: Device Support Update about the next App Update, but there’s been no follow up announcement yet for its release or new features introduced to explain why Episode was no longer supporting the devices listed.
Update

@Melani3

The 10.5 update for iOS users has been held up, but the Android version went live several weeks ago. When we are able to update the iOS app again, this will take effect. As we upgrade Episode’s internal tech, we’re no longer able to support some older devices.

Glitches

Community Story Gems

So still there are some people (myself included), that can’t see gem choices at all.
Here is the original post May, 2018: Community Author Gem Choices are here for everyone!
The issue was touched on in this paragraph

@Liz

Similarly to the slow rollout we’ve done with authors, today we’re starting by giving 15% of readers these gem choices in the app and will increase it over time. This means the features under the Readers heading will be slowly released over the next several weeks. For authors, regardless of whether a reader sees the gem choice or not, it will still count towards your gem choice chapter reads (more on this in a bit).

Update

@Melani3

Gem choices in community stories was rolled out as a tool for all authors! Authors can use gem choices to gain faster entry to our Writer Payments program. Our Editors also look for community stories with popular gem choices when it comes to choosing stories to feature. Right now only about 15% of readers can see these gem choices in the app. Currently, we have no plans to roll out community gem choices to all readers, but are continuing to test this feature.

The Naked Character Glitch

I feel like every single reader must have come across this at one point or another. It’s gotten so bad that people need to put disclaimers in their stories. Here’s some topics about it already if you want to know more about the discussion:
Sept, 2018: Naked Characters . . . ? (in the app)
Oct, 2018: Naked characters in my story
Nov, 2018: Naked Character On App
Dec, 2018: Characters naked in scenes
Mar, 2019: Why are the characters naked?!
Mar, 2019: Characters naked glitch

Update

@Melani3

This isn’t a glitch that we can fix. It’s happens when art assets do not fully download into the story you are reading.

If you experience this issue as a reader, you should close and relaunch Episode, then try playing the story again. The missing items should load at that point. In some cases you might have to do this a couple of times

Missing Shelves

Since Jan, 2019, some users are unable to see shelves. There’s an update on it here: https://episodesupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022071373-Event-shelves-are-missing-
It’s a known issue that Episode is aware of and is already trying to fix.
Just a thing that I’ve concluded on my own regarding this (aka, Episode has not confirmed so don’t quote me), but the shelves this year have not performed as well as they have in the past. Some stories that have been featured have not reached 5k reads or 10k reads while they’ve been on a shelf, which I think could be related to some readers not having the shelves show on the app.

If there’s anything else you feel like Episode might have forgotten about, comment it below and I’ll add it to this OP. I would just ask that you provide links to threads or posts to prove that it was definitely confirmed to be in the works.

[EliseC]

When you put it all together like that, that’s one big list . Some of those things have been in the works for over a year.

I’d really like to know what’s going on with that community advisory panel.

[amberose]

Yeahhhh… I sort of knew about these things individually but writing them all out and realizing I need to use “hide details” to make it look organized really put it into perspective for me

[OreoBiscuit]

I am still waiting for the episode feed. I just don’t understand why everyone can’t have it. People who just recently downloaded the app get the feed yet we who have been wanting for a while still don’t get it.
I’ve become impatient lol

[amberose]

I think, since it’s been over a year now, Episode could at least update us and explain why it’s roll out has been so slow.

[Lurhu]

Not certain, but that “other” feature almost looks like an image choice. Like in 1 or 2 of their latest featured stories, where you have a choice and on the screen 2-3 bubbles with different images pop up like tappables? Just a guess

Also yes-- I can’t wait for the social feed!! (And an update to the in-game character creator features, which hasn’t been mentioned, but is needed). Also the 10.5 update in general… it’s been quite a while since they announced it

[amberose]

I was wondering if that might have been it haha, glad to see I’m not the only one thinking this way

[Apes]

I wish they would at least give us an update about stuff, I tagged and asked many times and nothing
Like with INK updates, we had to ask several times to find out that last update was in September… they only edited an original post on the forums but not made an official statement.

When it comes to Community Advisory Panel we found out that someone who was in charge of that left while Liz was on the maternity and it’s been postponed but till when I don’t know. I feel like this should be a priority since a lot of questions is unanswered and everyone are just frustrated.

[loveyourself]

I’m still waiting for the Episode Feed.

[Scarlet_Sapphire]

Geez, I didn’t know that the social feed still wasn’t rolled out completely. I downloaded the app in December and have always had it.

I was going to mention the missing event shelves, but I’m one of two—maybe three—people I’ve seen who don’t have it. So maybe it’s more of a bug than a feature that was only half-released.

Event shelves are missing.

[amberose]

@Apes

When it comes to Community Advisory Panel we found out that someone who was in charge of that left while Liz was on the maternity and it’s been postponed but till when I don’t know.

Oh I didn’t even know this part

@Scarlet_Sapphire

I was going to mention the missing event shelves

Thanks I’m going to add this to glitches because I know it’s been around for a while and shelves aren’t really performing that well lately so it’s probably happening to more people than we think

[Annieways]

I’m not sure how relevant and “forgotten” this is, because Episode never said they would give feedback to us, but there were two recent announcements that I really liked and I would love to know what was the outcome.

For this one I actually raised a few questions and concerns, but I guess those will never be answered

New Portal Account Settings Beta Test!

Hey Episode Creators! We know you’ve been looking for a way to have more options to customize your Portal account like being able to choose what email notifications you receive and which of your stories you or your readers can see. We’re excited to announce that we’ve been working on a major update to the Account Settings in the Portal to tackle these issues! As we get ready to release these new features we are running a limited beta test to get your feedback and make sure everything is working…

And for this one I’m hoping they would share the survey results sometime, because I think it would be really interesting to see:

[SURVEY] We want to hear from YOU about our Creator Tools

Hello Creators! Can you believe it? It’s been over 5 years since we first released our Writer’s Portal on the web to make it possible for any author to tell a story on Episode! We’re incredibly grateful to have had such an amazing response – and this entire community! – come out of a passion project and we can’t thank you enough for continuing to support us (and each other!). A lot has changed in 5 years, and we know that the tools we built back in 2014 are probably not the most e…

[amberose]

The survey might be too recent for me to add just yet… I feel like there will be an update next week or the week after about it. But the archiving feature doesn’t “work”. You can still find your story on the app which is what was not going to happen as was my understanding. I’ll research further before I add it but thank you for your contribution Annie

[Annieways]

@amberose

The survey might be too recent for me to add just yet…

Yes, that’s true. It would be great to have an update about this, I hope your predictions come true. Thanks for checking the other one

[goth.gaia]

Idk if this counts, but I’m still waiting on their newest 10.5 update. It’s been almost 2 months since they announced it and some people have it, but others don’t… sort of like the feed feature

[amberose]

@Annieways I just checked that other one about the account features. The thread you linked was about it being in beta, but there was also an announcement one too. I thought there was still issues with the fact that stories that are archived are still on the app, but in their announcement post, they said that if you archive a story, people who are reading it will still be able to continue and you can still search for it by name, so I guess I can’t really add it unless there was more issues with it that they said they were going to fix?

[Melani3]

Hey! These are all really good things to bring up. Here are some answers, directly from our team!

Feed Feature

We’ve been testing the Episode Social Feed for the last year with a small portion of our players. We’re still working on testing this, and seeing if it’s ready to roll out to everyone. Sorry for the confusion around this, we’ll let you know if the status on this part of Episode changes any time in the near future!

Forum Badges

Good catch! It looks like some of these were never fully turned on, so over the coming weeks, we’ll be doing our best to get them working across the forums. Keep an eye on your badge page for some new flair!

Community Advisory Panel

We really appreciated all of the people who stepped up to be a part of our proposed Community Advisory Panel. The Episode team member who was leading this process has since left the team. After that, we stepped back from this initiative. At the moment, we don’t have plans to restart this process, but if we do, we’ll be sure to reach out to the community for applicants.

Tappables and Timed Choices

For our Episode Originals, our team occasionally develops special features with a one-time intended use: tappable overlays and timed choices were examples of this. Sometimes, they don’t work perfectly in other applications until our team has had a chance to prepare them for an official release. We don’t officially support these features right now, but you can use them if you want. However, please be aware that they might cause issues and that if we do officially support them in the future there might be changes to their functionality that you would need to correct.

The 10.5 App Update

The 10.5 update for iOS users has been held up, but the Android version went live several weeks ago. When we are able to update the iOS app again, this will take effect. As we upgrade Episode’s internal tech, we’re no longer able to support some older devices.

Community Story Gems

Gem choices in community stories was rolled out as a tool for all authors! Authors can use gem choices to gain faster entry to our Writer Payments program. Our Editors also look for community stories with popular gem choices when it comes to choosing stories to feature. Right now only about 15% of readers can see these gem choices in the app. Currently, we have no plans to roll out community gem choices to all readers, but are continuing to test this feature.

The Naked Character Glitch

This isn’t a glitch that we can fix. It’s happens when art assets do not fully download into the story you are reading.

If you experience this issue as a reader, you should close and relaunch Episode, then try playing the story again. The missing items should load at that point. In some cases you might have to do this a couple of times

Limelight on MC

Currently we aren’t working on bringing Limelight to Mobile Creator. If you want to work with Limelight, you can do it on the Writer Portal.

[JemU776]

@amberose

Ok, most people know about this one already, but Episode’s “feed feature” has been around for over a year and most of us don’t have it.
Here’s lots of topics about it if you are curious about the history of it…

OMG the feed feature…

Me want

[amberose]

Thanks for replying @Melani3. I’m going to update my OP with these so people can see it easier, if that’s alright?

My only follow up question is about the gem choices in user stories not being rolled out to all readers so that they can see when something is a gem choice…

@Melani3

Right now only about 15% of readers can see these gem choices in the app. Currently, we have no plans to roll out community gem choices to all readers, but are continuing to test this feature.

The whole concept of giving authors the ability to add gems into their stories seems kind of pointless now if it’s only 15% of people can actually see those gem choices. Plus it’s only that 15% who will actually have gems deducted from choosing those options too. That doesn’t seem fair to the 15% Did I misunderstand something?

[episode.anon]

So out of all of the thousands and thousands episode users in this app I just HAD to be one of the 15% that have to deal with user gem choices.