I have been quite inactive these past two months, mainly because I have been concentrating on my final exams, and the opening of a website that we, Ron and I, have been working on since September last year.
Now since May I see NoobFeed has improved a significant amount. I see articles being posted every day and they look more professional than in the past. However big of an improvement this may be from the lack of anything but news from a few months ago, we are still in a shape-of-things phase. NoobFeed should change heavy through the next year, as we have to pursue something more specific and oriented. Right now we cannot compete with any of the big corp. games websites, that's obvious. We cannot even compete with the medium sized ones. That is why we need to establish a niche that we will be able to sell, so to speak, to the people. Meaning we write only features with a game database plus some extras, or we go heavy into video reviews or even, and this is by far the best idea in my opinion, become the very first social gaming website. Think of it as Facebook for gamers, but not only that, we’d also have features, contests and much more.
Right now these are all ideas that need to be shaped as they’re nowhere near something we could use for now. It would take a long time to incorporate anything as huge as that. So for now we will simply do what we do best, and that is to supply you with reading material and continue evolving in the same way we have been thus far. And bit by bit we will grow bigger and stronger and will be competitive on the field of gaming websites.
Its gonna take some time. This is a big project and any rush thing can surely kill so slow and steady wins the race. Patience is the key!!!
We users are trying out best. But I don't think we have enough officials working hard for the community. Yes, this is my personal opinion. Except Horgen, I don't see any moderator participating much at the forum. King is a writer but he is active, but that's it. No one else.
"The very first social gaming website"? Uh, sorry to inform you, but I think we've been beaten to the punch in that regard by Whiskey Media, the parent company of Giant Bomb. Their company phlosophy states that they're all about creating "social networks" suplimented with editorial content, which is basically what you're suggesting. And given that their sites control most of that market, I'd say our chances of using that as a springboard to success aren't good.
But, really, when you think about it, it's for the best, really. I mean, "Facebook* for gamers"? That's not exactly a good niche. In fact, I think that's basically what Raptr is, except it has the added benefit of achievement tracking, which is all the rage these days. What do we have? Nothing except a loyal, but small community. And we can't exactly use that to make money, now can we?
So, what do we do? I don't know. But not following the same old methods seems like a good place to start. We could also try and, you know, set a higher standard for games journalism by hiring some people with real education in journalism and such. A lot of the writers you guys have brought on may be able to write up some good reviews, but when it comes to news, we all suck. The reason? Because we aren't real journalists. We're just a bunch of amature (no offense, guys, but it's true) who are posing as such. That, I imagine, is why we hardly produce any content each week.
But getting back on track, if we were to actually try and increase the standards of this industry we could really draw in a good audience. If you've been reading Bitmob or GJAIF, you'll have no doubt noticed that there is a vocal minority that really wants things to improve. No one's really trying to meet those demands, though, which means there's a market there that we can pursue. I don't know the profitability of said market, but hey, at least it's something we can use a starting point.
Of course, I'm just a simple, lowly freelancer. So my words probably don't mean much to you actual staff guys who make all the decisions and whatnot. Still, you guys should at least think about it some.
*This has nothing to do with anything I've said above or the subject of this blog but, I hate Facebook and everything it stands for (well, except for them forcing people to use their real names. More sites need to do that). And if this site becomes like that, then, well... yeah.
it is true that the concept which noobfeed is based of already exist. but if some of c_rake's point is taken there are still room for innovation and demands need to be made. yes noobfeed is new to the industry what if we all have the self belief it can grow a lot. so in this case we need to have intense research on this. c_rake actually provided the starting point. kudos to all the users who are putting the great show.
@c_rake : you really did mentioned a lot of nice points. but i am concerned of you saying you writers are being amateurish. ok point taken. that does not mean that it will stop you all to write contents. if you say you suck, that is not good, coz this will discourage you. if you think you are good at writing then have belief in yourself. your writing will improve day by day and i am sure about it. it will take time to practice. there are some people here in NF who have improved their writing. I have seeing some of the writings (although I always look at the blogs coz I am more of a blogging person). if you keep on practice and have the belief that you are not amateur anymore then one day you will be good at it and you might not know. even bigger sites can hire you as well. apart from writing there are people who makes videos (myself included). they are also improving too. why not you try to study those sites, study their demands and then write something. this can bring exceptional articles too. and this message goes to everyone here. overall summary: dont think yourself low, have faith in yourself and improve.
NoobFeed is just a year and half old. NoobFeed is not earning yet coz there is no earning mechanism implemented yet. It will be done when time comes. So there is no point of hiring pros. No site can develop fully within a year. It takes hell lot of time. A lot of sites tried to grow unrealistic fast and failed (and that includes my extinct site that i owned). It can take 5-10 years for this thing to be a capable competitive site. I have seen sites grow and die but the way NoobFeed is going ahead is really impressive and all the users, staffs, writers should be proud about this. yes we all can make this grow bigger. As Barrack Obama says, "Yes, we can!!!!"
another thing to note. we all have personal problems. so maybe some of us may not give enough time here. understandable. everyone should keep their priorities right. but another thing is that noobfeed can only improve if we all keep bonded together.
@Koshai - The comment on us being amatures stems from the fact that we're falling into the same rut that most young writers fall into: writing in the same dry, professional prose as everyone else. And that's fine if you're gunning for a position at Gamasutra or GameSpot, but not if you're trying to draw in an audience.
If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that people want writers to sound like, you know, people instead of robots or something. And frankly, that's kinda how we're sounding at the moment. We aren't doing anything that makes us stick out, nor are we trying to win people over with our personalities. If you look at, say, Bitmob or Giant Bomb, you'll see that the reason those sites are so popular is because of the writers above all else. That's the key to success.
It's not that we can't write well or anything (though we really need to start editing each others work like every other publication in existence does), it's just that we aren't good at producing content in a timely maner (though that's just because we're kinda lazy). Well, that and we really ought to be more...entertaining, lets say, in our work. That's what the people like, so why not deliver, right?
As for the whole money thing, I understand that we're still a really small site and that it will take a while before we earn income. Still, that doesn't mean we shouldn't have a plan of attack as to how we're going to earn it. Better we prepare ourselves now, right?
Also, sorry to anyone who I may have ticked off or offended (double-sorry if that's the case) with my last post. Seems I have a bit of habit of going on tirades when it comes to subjects like this.
@c_rake: Made some really good points there. I've never called myself a journalist; I've always referred to myself as a freelancer, nothing more (which isn't really a bad thing). But amateur? Now that hurts. :P
Kidding aside, I have faith in every NoobFeed writer producing content; it's just that, well, like you said, we need to do so in a timely manner. Other than being lazy, some of us also have other stuff in mind as well, like college. But w/e. Hiring actual people with an actual major in journalism is a sound idea, but with such a small and young site like this, I think it's a little bit too farfetched at this point.
As for content we put out, I agree; personality is a definite plus. I don't see anything wrong with applying it more towards news/previews. It's way better than reading generic articles that have been re-hashed from 50 billion websites everyday. I mean, this is NoobFeed. When I read a news article at this site, I want it to sound like somebody from NoobFeed wrote it instead of it sounding like the site's MCP (that one robot dude from Tron) wrote it. I think users like writers that have a lot to say and not afraid to speak their mind (in a professional manner, sure). But what do I know? I haven't exactly been going that route when it comes to news articles lately. Maybe I'll improve on it, like Koshai has said.
Right now, NoobFeed's biggest strength is the community. As for other ideas for making NoobFeed a bigger site, I'm sure NoobFeed videos, images, etc are a must-have. Or we could do a NoobFeed podcast (I heard international podcasting is possible). No? Yes? Maybe?
Lol at that one guy. You mad bruh?
Whys he always so sour about everything?
@azn_pride - Hey, I included myself with that comment, so I insulted myself, too! So there! ...Wait a minute...
Yeah, I know. Life happens. I get it. Still, it makes the whole "planner" we have to follow that much more of an aggravating presence. I think we need to talk to Craig about removing that because it certainly ain't making want to work more; in fact, it's making me want to work less!
Agreed, those areas are the most lacking in that regard. Our reviews could use a bit more personality as well, but the other areas are definitely in need of that more. Staying professional in news articles is definitely important, if only because the rules of journalism say so, but that doesn't mean we at least can't do something to spice them up a little.
A podcast is certainly possible, but the means in which we would have to do it don't exactly produce quality. I mean, if the staff wants it, then sure, go ahead. I still think that it would be best not to, though. The same goes with producing original video content. Since we're all spead out all over the place, we can't really do much with it. But we can worry about that later.
Oh, and we really need to make this site stop automatically logging us out after a few minutes of inactivity. Makes writing up comments and the like here unnecessarily difficult. Yo! Tech guys! Get on that will ya?
@shaokid - Yeah, I agree. That dude needs to calm down and take a chill pill. Seriously, what is up with him? Why he always gotta be so negative? I say we ban him -- that oughta teach him! Who's with me?!
As far as I can tell, proper advertisement and partnership with other content provider sites will help NoobFeed. But I firmly believe once the major part of development is done, NoobFeed will be more renowned. You can't expect a gaming site become popular in just few years. I appreciate your fair comment @c_rake and your suggestions are nice too. Perhaps consistency is what lacking most from the officials. But I never doubt the quality @fishdalf, @azn_pride, @King and you have. Over time as the site grows more mature, your content writing will get mature too. And, we do have one professional journalist. @bluezy, who has just graduated and will return to join the writers team soon.
And, our strongest point is our community. Most user complain about the friendliness of other gaming sites. But in NoobFeed, the scenarios are different. Over the site when our community will grow later, we will set example for others. For now, we just have to keep contributing and believe in ourselves that we can do.
We definately have a plan, the main brunt of it is smaller, not bigger.
NoobFeed needs to first and foremost be cut down somewhat, in the sense that thing's need to be compacted so that better content can come through and thing's run themselves more than us running thing's.
When we say Facebook for gamers we mean making the community a whole lot better, so that the process of writing to each other becomes a much a part of what you do as posting in the forum. A live feed would help keep people on the site also, and as well as content from your friends cycling through it; site content will also come through, and as a result the site will become a more tightly worked component.
I don't think we will EVER become successful if we maintain what we're doing and throw in a games database, that is the work of 50 people attempting to be managed by 5. I also don't believe getting users to post to a games database is also the right thing to do. Game pages yes, if done right, and integrated right, but until that is figured out 100% and EVERY single part of a game page can be directly related to a live feed and connected to each and every persons profile then this shouldn't move forward.
Anyway, it's a prcess, it will happen, and all ideas from you guys are completely welcomed.
@Callum: The reason more of our personalities aren't coming through in our writing is simply because at the moment we're trying to keep news and content and such moving through the site in order to maitain a certain quota, which I'm totally convinced is the right thing to do. When future changes are implemeted and we not only get more writers, but their workloads are lightened, that's when we'll see much high quality coming through. Trust me.
@Sleven - Oh, I'm sure the podcast itself would be awesome; it's just the audio quality that I'm worried about. If we were to do a podcast at this moment, we'd have to resort to using Skype to record it, which doesn't exactly produce quality. Oftentimes, podcasts that use that method end up having varying volume levels between pannelists, and that makes it nigh impossible to listen in most cases. I'd rather we not make you all have to strain to listen to a simple podcast, which is why I don't think doing one would be the best idea right now. It's definitely something to look into, though.
@fishdalf - Who says we can't meet this "quota" you speak of while still delivering some of our personality? You're not really giving an answer in that regard. Seems to me that you're just dodging the question with these abstract answers. Just give us a straight answer already!
As for the rest of your post... I don't follow. What exactly is it about a games database that would hurt us? It's just a simple site feature. Surely such a small thing couldn't affect our writing, right? Or is there something you're not telling us? Elaborate, please.
@c_rake and @Sleven : podcast is a pretty good idea. as for audio quality option yes it is a pain if there are multiple computers involved. as for leveling is concerned the voices can be normalized easily so it wont be a problem. we can do that if you guys are willing to go for it. maybe an experiment wont hurt us.
As far as I'm concerned, NoobFeed will become whatever it will become. I'm looking forward to anything really, I just sit back and enjoy the time given on the site.
I do wish the best for the community of NoobFeed, and wish we can get it to the next level, but I don't know how we will make it happen specifically, but eventually it will reach somewhere higher.
@c_rake: I'm currently satisifed with the level of writing at the moment, it's more than suitable. If you feel anyone is dropping below a certain standard then speak to me about it in private. Can it get better? Of course.
@fishdalf - Then let's make it better. I mean, why wait? There's no time like the present, right?
What happened to the "hardcore" gaming sites? I know the money isn't there anymore, since every site now tries to be so social after Facebook and MySpace had their huge success. Keep improving the core before heading for any direction, and don't head anywhere without knowing what to do to get there... (I really suck at giving ideas:P )
@c_rake : I think @Koshai @FetusZero can give you guys ideas about recording online conversations and turn it into a podcast. These guys are experts.
@c_rake @Sleven
If it's on a computer, you just need a software that can record the input/output sounds, though since it will generally record only one of them at a time, you'd need to set your microphone so you can also hear yourself in your speakers, which then you simply record the output. Audacity is a free software that could do this, you can then save the recorded conversation in WAVE or MP3, but I can't promise anything on the quality this would give.
If you're up for even more work though, you can have everyone participating record their own input rather than output, and then have one person merge all the files together and balance the volumes.
Well I didn't know this little blog of mine would turn into a comment fest. I like it though as many good points have been shared.
I shall give my reply now. Mostly to @c_rake that is:
Yes, I see that it might not become the very first social gaming website, but it would neverthe less (if established) be one of a few. Moreoever it might be quite differnet than anythin tha Whiskey media offers. And as said these are ideas still to be shaped, maybe even dropped.
What I think would be best for NF is for us to grow into a social-community website where gaming enthusiasts share their ideas, visions and generally opinions about gaming. Every voice heard, acknowledged. Of course normal forums won't work, thus I am thinking of something much bigger, much more extensive, comprehensive and complex. What? I do not know yet.
Yes, setting standards higher bring more professional work, and this is where we should aim, however, stick to a somewhat friendly writing wheres we'd differ from sites like GameSpot, IGN etc. And yes, we all are a bunch of amateuers, writers as writers, mods as mods, and admins as admins. I am no professional, I am young and still have to educate myself far enough to be a real manager of any sort. However, we can gather a long of experience this way, grow and establish a great foundation from which we can work forward. Don't be hasty, business comes slow and money is not the first thing we should be thinking about, however, not the last as well. It is very important to have a source of income, VERY vital for growth because with it we will fall quickly even if our work is over the top. We need publicity! And don't worry, a plan of attack is taking place as we speak. For any company, corporation or any organizational structure to succeed, plans and visions for the future are needed, and of course we are not without them.
We have to find a way to impress the readers another way, or at least differ a bit from how everyone else does it. I mean, that's the whole point of innovation. For that we need experience, dedication and a lot of creativity - not something too common. But yes, generally, if we improve our work we will reach more audience.
As for you being a lowly freelancer... well that is simple bullshit! We're all freelancers here, no one is professional as said. And who is "Actual staff guys"? If the writers are not actual staff then we can just stop here and dissolve. No, we ALL can decide and come up with new ways to attract people! After all most people here are young and eager to become successful. We all have young brains and we are capable of a lot!
How to become better as a writer? Read, read, read and once more read other articles, then, write write write write. That goes for all of us. Takes a certain amount of talent, thus not everyone can do it, but all of our writers here have what it it takes.
To comment on @fishdalf
Just as you've said, we need to move forward in an other direction and absolutely narrow down our products, our writings. Either one, or the other, or the third.
What to choose? Well, what brings more interest and more audience and what we can perfrom in best.
Long, bumpy road ahead. Veeery long. But, I KNOW it's worth it in the end, if not for anything else, then for experience!
- Get an idea of what we want and what will be best for the future.
- Begin planning for the execution of it.
- Execute.
Just to keep you guys updated, I think the next few major points will be as follows...
Secure Advertising
Add Game Pages (not a games database)
Expand Pages and Expand Writing Team
Introduce LIve Feed and Other Major Site Changes, EVERYTHING interlocks
Hey I like the new banner. Just need time to get used to. Hope that you all are doing well. Blessings of March on the way!
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I like the idea. facebook for gamers. Amen to that :D