The more friendly topic about the forum in The Forum.

[chalkitdown]

the big difference between here and rllmuk is that what rules there are over there are enforced vigilantly without people being whining about such-and-such a person being banned.

C'mon now. There's huge threads in the feedback section about the bannings of Smitty & Chase, for starters. And that's just off the top of my head.

[The Alchemist Penguin]

There is already something like IMDB for games. It's part of a larger website, but I've used it before to check out who the key players were in recent Rare games. It has all the names listed, and then you can click on a specific name to see all the games they were credited in and their roles, along with the date the game was published.

I think the reason it isn't that well known is because the sad truth is that most people don't care about the faces of a dev team, they're happy with just a company name, so nobody (I say nobody, but it actually seems fairly popular) ever bothers using it.

EDIT - Here it is!

http://www.mobygames.com

And an example page: http://www.mobygames.com/developer/shee ... perId,682/

Sounds like exactly what has been suggested in here, which would make it a bit of a waste of time.

[SEP]

Sounds like exactly what has been suggested in here, which would make it a bit of a waste of time.

I don't remember it being a rule that only one site can use a concept. We'll just have to think of something that would make us unique.

[frogg]

so we get less 1cmanny's here who provide nothing.

Bit harsh, anyone has the right to post here.

[The Alchemist Penguin]

Sounds like exactly what has been suggested in here, which would make it a bit of a waste of time.

I don't remember it being a rule that only one site can use a concept. We'll just have to think of something that would make us unique.

I never said it was a rule.

It would be a waste to do the exact same as was suggested in here as everything in here has been done by that website already, is all I said. It has user reviews and ratings, discussion places for the different games, game specific trivia and the cataloguing of game staff. It is a waste to copy that site directly, which is what we'd be doing (unintentionally). I didn't say to scrap it, just pointing out that it's been done since the big idea behind this seemed to be that there wasn't already an "IMDB of games" when that is exactly what mobygames is.

[SEP]

Sounds like exactly what has been suggested in here, which would make it a bit of a waste of time.

I don't remember it being a rule that only one site can use a concept. We'll just have to think of something that would make us unique.

I never said it was a rule.

It would be a waste to do the exact same as was suggested in here as everything in here has been done by that website already, is all I said. It has user reviews and ratings, discussion places for the different games, game specific trivia and the cataloguing of game staff. It is a waste to copy that site directly, which is what we'd be doing (unintentionally). I didn't say to scrap it, just pointing out that it's been done since the big idea behind this seemed to be that there wasn't already an "IMDB of games" when that is exactly what mobygames is.

Hence the second part of the post. Give me time, and I'll put together some ideas of how to make it unique. I'll have to browse MobyGames first, though, to get a bearing on what they have.

[Moggy]

On some sites (the BBC "Have your say" for instance) next to every post there is a little button marked "Report this post". The notifications would then go to the mods/admins who would then discuss whether the poster was out of order or not.

I would imagine that a lot of people feel like "a grass" by sending a PM, even if something does offend/annoy them. A system that keeps you anon might lead to the mods having a better idea of what the forum as a whole thinks goes too far.

Could something like that work?

[SEP]

Right, a quick list of things I think are missing from MobyGames.

• There is absolutely no hardware information whatsoever. All it gives you is lists of games released for hardware.
• The sidebar is horrible. Too game and database focussed, without allowing to have one-click access to lists of, say, companies.
• No videos, not even trailers.
• The game information pages provide no real plot info. I believe this kind of thing could be "spoilered" in some way or other to enable those who wish to read to do so, without spoiling it for others.
• In fact, the info for all games seems pretty sparse in general. It gives you the basic premise, who made it, a selection of review scores and maybe a little bit of trivia, but nothing else.
• Not even soundtrack information, which I think could be popular.
• There is no information about any future games. In fact, some current games aren't even up on the database yet.
• A podcast would be good, too.
• They seem to do absolutely nothing for E3/Liepzig or anything like that. You'd expect a games site to at least mention the things, and that is also the time to expect an influx of visitors.

So, work from that how you will.

[bear]

http://www.giantbomb.com

The basic idea for a gaming IMDB is good but it seems overly ambitious for a grcade considering how small the userbase currently is.
A regular Podcast would be a good idea though.

[Exxy]

http://www.giantbomb.com

The basic idea for a gaming IMDB is good but it seems overly ambitious for a grcade considering how small the userbase currently is.
A regular Podcast would be a good idea though.

About to post GiantBomb.

What MCN is suggesting would require more a lot of work. Seems pointless when there are sites out there that do it already which is ran by people who do that full time.

[SEP]

http://www.giantbomb.com

The basic idea for a gaming IMDB is good but it seems overly ambitious for a grcade considering how small the userbase currently is.
A regular Podcast would be a good idea though.

Hmm, GiantBomb is rather more complete in terms of information. And a little ambition never hurt anyone. After all, IMDb started from a single Usenet post about actresses with beautiful eyes. From small acorns, mighty oaks grow.

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Of course, any other ideas are more than welcome. I'm just thinking out loud here.

[Atreyu]

As I said in the last post in the locked thread, the big difference between here and rllmuk is that what rules there are over there are enforced vigilantly without people being whining about such-and-such a person being banned.

In all seriousness I think there's a case to be made for the line that the Admin sets the tone for the forum. Rollmuck has a sensible Admin. Here, Garth is fine, but largely invisible on the enforcement front. Steve is - we're being "friendly" in this topic so I will be charitable - a complete plonker. How are entreaties for less banality going to be heeded when the guy at the top of the shop has spawned a thousand 'wankers' threads?

[Cuttooth]

Steve's "Wankers!" threads are a precursor to the rise of Twitter.

He should have cashed in.

[SEP]

As I said in the last post in the locked thread, the big difference between here and rllmuk is that what rules there are over there are enforced vigilantly without people being whining about such-and-such a person being banned.

In all seriousness I think there's a case to be made for the line that the Admin sets the tone for the forum. Rollmuck has a sensible Admin. Here, Garth is fine, but largely invisible on the enforcement front. Steve is - we're being "friendly" in this topic so I will be charitable - a complete plonker. How are entreaties for less banality going to be heeded when the guy at the top of the shop has spawned a thousand 'wankers' threads?

What do you suggest the solution to this should be? We can't just kick Steve off the admin team. He's the one paying for all this, after all.

[Madness]

We don't need a main site. We're a small site, we'd get the exact same traffic with a website as with a forum. Take Poopgang, the constant launching of a 'main site' on there hasn't increased the memberbase at all. An IMDB for games has already been done, not to mention the lack of demand for an idea, and the amount of effort we'd have to put in as a community.

I think this whole thing has been blown out of proportion anyway. Yes this place isn't very mature but old GR wasn't either. We need stricter rules but I've said this for months (and been ignore every time, much like I will be this time). Given that old GR was a haven for gore threads before the rules got tightened up we just need tighter rules. If we banned the C-Bomb again (and it should never have been unbanned imo) and also got rid of the ludicrous nudity rules we've got at the minute (which was actually voted against on old GR, if memory serves).

There aren't really that many cliques anyway, the ones that are here have been on old GR for ages anyway. We're not as full of goodwill as we were when this place opened, we're just back to how we were before Future announced they were closing us, but with titties and swearwords.

And anyone thats complaining about wank threads must have amnesia as we had those all the time on old GR.

[SEP]

We don't need a main site. We're a small site, we'd get the exact same traffic with a website as with a forum. Take Poopgang, the constant launching of a 'main site' on there hasn't increased the memberbase at all. An IMDB for games has already been done, not to mention the lack of demand for an idea, and the amount of effort we'd have to put in as a community.

Yes, but there's never been anything on that site worth reading.

[Atreyu]

As I said in the last post in the locked thread, the big difference between here and rllmuk is that what rules there are over there are enforced vigilantly without people being whining about such-and-such a person being banned.

In all seriousness I think there's a case to be made for the line that the Admin sets the tone for the forum. Rollmuck has a sensible Admin. Here, Garth is fine, but largely invisible on the enforcement front. Steve is - we're being "friendly" in this topic so I will be charitable - a complete plonker. How are entreaties for less banality going to be heeded when the guy at the top of the shop has spawned a thousand 'wankers' threads?

What do you suggest the solution to this should be? We can't just kick Steve off the admin team. He's the one paying for all this, after all.

You're quite right: it's a structural problem. Plan A is to hope that Steve has a major personality change overnight. Plan B - currently being executed - is to rearrange deckchairs. (I do hope my pessimism is misplaced, btw.)

[Cal]

If we banned the C-Bomb again (and it should never have been unbanned imo) and also got rid of the ludicrous nudity rules we've got at the minute (which was actually voted against on old GR, if memory serves).

I did argue against the use of the c-bomb when this place was started up. The will of the majority beat me. Curses!

And anyone thats complaining about wank threads must have amnesia as we had those all the time on old GR.

Then I must have amnesia. Wait - ?

[Madness]

There were plenty back in the day. We also had a piss or gooseberry fool? poll which is still preserved on there to this day.