Hi everyone,
I guess I'm taking advantage of my logging in to the site for the first time in a long while to give what I consider positive feedback to the site for the site administrators, leaders and regular users.
Maybe it will make a difference, maybe not, but I'm hopeful that I'm not the only one that thinks this way.
To start off, I adore this site and have followed it continuously for my gaming news, gaming follow-ups, reviews and entertainment mashups since my early teens when I read the Znet affiliated Computer Gaming World. I remember this site and its wide categories of
As I've followed the site lately, I notice that there is a shake-up lately, a change of staff and direction.
My suggestions are possibly based more on nostalgia, however I believe my opinion has its place in the discussion as feedback:
-Avoiding political topics as news: I believe this is first and foremost a gaming site that brings across divergent views on many political topics. I've noticed throughout the past year or so (perhaps longer, I can't remember) that there have been a lot more politically contentious topics that seem to go into LGBT and feminist activism, perhaps encouraged by certain reviewers and editorialists. I think that these have no place here and probably push away some people.But worse, I remember some that had absolutely nothing to do with gaming at all! I know a shooting at a school or by a deranged individual in California is a tragedy, but I don't believe in forced "soul searching", nor that this can't be read about on the BBC or CNN website.
-Consistent site layout: This is one of my big turnoffs. I remember that this site had a more of less constant and manageable menu and setup for about a decade before a series of large changes were made, including around 2 in the last year, if I'm not mistaken. Why? Do some people think layout changes attract more users? And not confuse the others around here that have increasing difficulty
-Cut articles: I've noticed, even through wikipedia, that there are links to old articles, news stories and specials that have now been disappeared through the upheaval on this site, such that it becomes difficult to find them, and others flatout impossible. How about the extensive articles, game ratings and news for old games from old consoles? This site has a long history that is apart of living gaming history! It could be a compendium for our long hobby.
I could add that on the old layout, you could look up games, cross-referenced by genre,rating and platform to identify and pick out what you now need a 30 minute google search and read to figure out.
-Gimmicks vs Mainstays: The Gist; Feedbackula... just two of a number of other specials on here that may or may not be around long term. Although experimentation is a good thing, why not keep it at least some continuity or look back at the past for ideas and methods that kept going for a while?
-End of Year Rankings and Prizes: One thing I've mentioned before on this site were the end of year awards that I thought were great and entertaining: The Best Game noone played! The Best *Insert Console* Game! The biggest disappointment! Flat out worst game! The other "dubious honours"! There were lot of other fun categories, voted on in part by the fans and guided by the editor (I can't find any of these anymore, even the old ones, reinforcing the "cut articles" point)
I adored this and I suspect others did too. Did these articles and attached videos for the winners not work well enough? I can imagine that a lot of people did like them. Looking at the success of similar specials elsewhere (check out Angry Joe at the end of each year), there is definitely room here.
Still, thank you for this great site, with many new functions that never existed back then: The extensive commenting system on articles, the user ratings and user reviews. The long video reviews and special shows that we can enjoy. The site has come a long way, but I respectfully also believe it has lost its way in other areas, as outlined above.
All the Best,
Fabs
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