General Site Feedback

[grad]

Maybe I'm getting old, but it seems like the HG101 banner doesn't change as often as it used to. Back in the good old days. Before the internets.

Anyway, you could have another contest. Pick a runner-up from the old contest if you want. Surprise us all with a new one if you want. Something. Anything to make the front page fresh and new I'm tired of foolin' around with the same girl.

[ReyVGM]

Yeah that banner should be changed already.

[YourAverageJoe]

I think so too! I think there's some concepts I can dig up, and I think there are a few people here with enough skills (or just patience) to make it happen.

[Discoalucard]

I AGREE.

Let's make this official, shall we?

[Revolver Ocelot]

Hey all. I just wanted to pitch this idea because I think it'd be beneficial to the site, its readers, and those who write for it. It could also be one of the most ham-fistedly bad ideas in history for any number of reasons I didn't analyze well enough, though, but I leave that up to you.

I think it'd be great if we could break larger articles into "installments". Taking on a game series with 6, 7, or even 10 games and beyond can be a truly daunting task. It's not only daunting for the writer, but also the person reading it. Rather than merely articles, we can think of the pages as "sections", which can be updated. Take a look at MAHQ.net. It has extremely comprehensive articles and reviews on tons of mecha shows, but they don't tackle them all at once. Rather, they break them up into bits, covering several episodes at a time varying on the length of the series. I think this format would work really good with dynamic, multi-faceted game series'.

Let's assume for a moment that someone were to write a Mega Man article for HG101. How do you go about doing that? Well rather than take on the nigh impossible task of writing the entire thing over the course of several months, let's break up it so that we have one section put up about the Mega Man NES series, followed a month or two later by a Mega Man X section, followed by a Legends section, a Zero section, etc. I think there's quite a few pros to this format.

1. The articles will be easier to write.

This is pretty self-explanitory.

2. The quality of the writing may improve.

No offense to anyone, but I think typically, the quality of one's writing is inversely propotional to how much they have to write. By the end of an article covering 5-10 games, one tends to take on a mentality of "Oh god I just want to get this over with". If the article was to be broken up, one could focus all their talent on one section, take a break, and be reinvigorated to write about the next section whilst giving the readers something to read in the mean time.

3. The articles will be easier to read.

Let's go back to the Mega Man idea for a second. Do you think anyone on earth would be able to read an article that size in one sitting? So why post it all at once? Post it in installments so that we can read them in smaller, more managable chunks. Not only that, but the readers will also have something to go on rather than having to wait for months on end after an article has been announced. Plus, the readers can give the writers feedback on what they've done so far and maybe give them ideas on what they should do for the future updates of the section.

4. The articles will be easier to edit.

I think it goes without saying that a 5000 word article is a lot easier to edit than a 20000 word article. Breaking up the articles will allow the editors to focus more on individual chunks and thus pick up on more mistakes and generally edit better.

5. A writer wont have to be held back by the lack of a certain game in the series.

If a writer hasn't played a certain game in the series, it usually means they're going to have to get help or it's going to be a no go. But if we break the articles up, then the fact that they haven't played some obscure port or don't yet own a next-gen system wont mean they wont be able to write it. They can cover what they've played so far and then wait until they have the missing games in the series.

[zzz]

This would pretty much change the entire nature of the site. I really do not believe this would work. If somebody is not willing to do the work on a write up than there will always be somebody else who is. I wrote about thirty nine games for my Pre-Street Fighter II Fighting Games thing in just a month and a half. It was a pain in the ass, but if you are interested in writing about that kind of thing for this site than it is necessary to do the work.

[justjustin]

Revolver, I'd say that sounds like a fine idea-- except maybe leave the mini-articles for the forums. I see your point though, I'm not too excited about writing the Toaplan article I said I'd do. The more Toaplan games I play and the more research I do on the developers of said games... The less interested I become. I would rather see a complete article on Toaplan stuff done by someone else, than mini-articles done by me. That's just what I think, though.

And I would totally read that Mega Man article in one sitting!

[dai jou bu]

One thing I find amusing about this idea is how my Senko article would work using this scheme.

[Shellshock]

I was always up for this. I do get tired of reading long articles and I sometimes like more than just a paragraph for a series' entry, but then again that's why I have my site and do it my way: lots of trivia and info in not-too-long pieces.

[Discoalucard]

Getting back to this - yeah, I'm cool with it. Back when it was only me writing articles, I'd usually put segments up in parts, if only because it would be months between updates if I only put 100% completed sections. So, if there's a huge article, breaking up into pieces is fine. I'd prefer it if only established authors do this though - mostly because I don't want someone new to come in, begin writing about something, then disappear off the fact of the planet and leave the topic hanging. It's already happened with a few work in progress articles that are just kinda floating around...

[Warchief Onyx]

As a reader (and hopefully contributer one day), I think this is a really good idea. Some of the articles on the site can be pretty daunting to read, and then my "Internet ADD" kicks in and I just end up looking at the pictures and screenshots before moving on to other things to do on the internets. Breaking things up into sections could make the articles more accessible to readers who are interested in the subjects, yet intimidated by the articles' massivosity (yes, I just made up that word).

It's also beneficial for the writers who want to keep this a labor of love, instead of it becoming just a labor.

[zzz]

Having seen people disappear after expanding GWED into 2-D Gundam Fighters, I am weary about this idea. As I see it, the site is best served if this is applied only when absolutely necessary for a write up to get finished.

[vysethebold]

It's a done deal, zzz. Dave is already beginning the first part of his Masou article. We'll just see how it goes from there.

[Revolver Ocelot]

zzz said:

Having seen people disappear after expanding GWED into 2-D Gundam Fighters, I am weary about this idea. As I see it, the site is best served if this is applied only when absolutely necessary for a write up to get finished.

I did everything I could for that Gundam article. I wrote a great deal of the stuff for it on all the games I'd played. I thought it was turning out pretty nice.

[zzz]

I wasnt directing that comment to anybody. I had completely forgotten that you even worked on it. My point was that this process was applied to the expansion of that piece and it resulted in it being abandoned.