Since it's rainy season now, a topic like 雨 or 梅雨 would have been nice.
Also I'm still waiting for 月 and 花 to appear as topics.
Can't we have a list somewhere, where people can suggest topics? Then you could just pick something from that list.
Sometimes I have an idea for a haiku but none of the topics suits me. E.g. recently I wrote two haiku on "mourning", but I'm not happy with where I put them.
Also is there maybe an easier way to move an existing haiku into another topic? A while ago I accidentally wrote a haiku under the wrong topic and to copy and paste it to the right topic and delete it from the wrong topic. That was very awkward.
2. I get it. Still, "rainy season" is not only in Japan, and for those who live or vacation in Japan during this season may be interested in the topic after all. Maybe next year. ;)
Rain exists year round, and since we already have "snow" more than once, I feel that "rain" gets neglected.
3. Too bad. But I understand that you have other priorities.
I'm admittedly not a haiku expert, so I really appreciate this.
I'd also love to hear your thoughts on the current state of the haiku system (although it really extends to all the communication based games). I don't think it's reasonable to continue to add to a huge list of topics. I don't think those should be removed , just hidden by default. Maybe, have 5 or 6 categories (broad categories), for example (I'm just spitballing here for the sake of the post)
Seasons:
Everyday life:
Feelings:
Me
Uhh..kao-chan?:
And those would be highlighted at the top - with the latest theme for that category displayed. Then, inside of each category, you could see older themes as well.
It could utilize the icon/tab based approach utilized in other areas of the site (like the dashboard). Instead of icons, though, we could use Saki's artwork for each category - it would add a bit more color to the page.
Also - are the leaders really needed anymore? Or maybe, bring them down from the top of the page.. I feel like the top visual layer should be as inviting as possible to new users.
I love the idea of having categories, that makes it so much easier to find the right topic for your haiku. Categories have been utilized in e.g. the kokin wakashuu, where they have sorted 1111 poems into 20 categories. However these categories can be further compressed. 1-6 seasons 7 congratulations (maybe this could be changed into "celebrations" to list events like festivals etc.) 8 partings (Being apart from family or loved ones. This could merge either with "travel" or with "feelings".) 9 travel 10 物の名 is quite an interesting topic. One has to include a given word into ones poem. The interpretations is quite free though. E.g. うつせみ becomes 波のうつせみれば・・・ (When I look at the torrents of the beating waves...) 11-15 love can be merged with 16 sorrow into "feelings" 17-19 misc. (It is always nice to have one of those.)
Is it possible to have subcategories? Once you open a category, there's more categories to choose from.
everyday life
family
friends
celebrations/events
work
travel
nature etc.
Of course it depends on the number of topics listed for each category. If there's only 3 topics, subcats would be quite redundant. But everyday life is such a broad category, that it would make sense to break it down even further
I can't imagine how you'd implement artworks instead of icon without getting this panel too large, but please go for it. I like Saki's artwork. Maybe something like a banner that contains the category name instead of the header?
As for the leaders, I never really cared about rankings, but sometimes I would look at the list telling me who's posted how many poems this week and especially how many I have posted. I certainly don't need to see them right at the top.
I'm working quickly towards the end of the current beta - I'd plan on implementing this in the next beta (mid July?), so I have some time to think on the layout.
I do think that it needs to be considered that on renshuu, we put up topics (sometimes silly ones) that would not typically be considered in traditional haiku, but might be more inviting for users. The goal, after all, is to give people different outlets for using their Japanese.
Since "write a haiku" is one of my challenges today, I looked into the topics again. I wrote one this morning, but I have no idea where to put it. So instead I spent some time pondering possible topics that may appeal to the modern non-Japanese user.
nature
風・嵐
天気・天候 (for a broader spectrum of weather situations incl. global warming, sand storms etc.)
海 (people like sea bathing, or surfing, right?)
the 5 senses (not a traditional topic, nontheless, ever present in tradional haiku)
音 (whether people write about noise that keeps them awake at night, their favourite music, the songs of birds or whatever is up to them)
飲み物 (we have "food" twice, but let's not forget about the beverages. It's 飲み放題!)
activities
趣味・興味 (people like talking about such topics, may they like writing poems about it, too?)
学校・レッスン・勉強・練習 (we've got "work", but isn't everyone here also a student)
睡眠・昼寝・sleepless night (don't we all like to sleep in from time to time or complain about the lack thereof?)
I'll be adding several of these to the new haiku batch (I add them every 6 months). The next beta keeps getting pushed back due to app development and the never-ending grammar preparations, but I'll get to this one day.
