Anyone else tired of empty databases?

[stalepie]

For years now I've noticed the top hits in Google are often websites that promise information but don't offer any. They are just empty databases

For instance I looked up Falcom Classics because I wanted to see what games were on it, but there was no Wiki entry, and instead I got this from Giant Bomb: http://www.giantbomb.com/falcom-classics-ii/61-19077/

Which tells you nothing. Then I wanted to know about Shintaro Majima and I got this page: http://stars.ign.com/objects/142/14261244.html which also tells you nothing. I clicked on "Shintaro Majima pictures" and it doesn't take you to any pictures.

[buzz_n64]

Yes, I hate it very much indeed. I search for info and pics of a rare game I'm interested in, and I get tons of results for empty pages where there might be very basic information. It would be up to people like us to create pages with that info since it's not out there.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Giant Bomb is mostly empty because people add new pages without any information. A lot of those empty databases exist just to feed off the content of others, creating false results when you search for stuff via Google. Sometimes I wish we could customize searches to keep certain sites out for good.

The only database where most of the entires have quite a bit of content is MobyGames. IF the game has been added.

[Greg2600]

Google, quite recently, stated that they were in the process of improving their searches to stop worthless sites from showing up. The most common are sites like e-how, which post topics but usually no answers.

[Lewton]

......

[NaturalChemical]

It's one of main reasons I made Adventure Point (http://www.adventurepoint.co.uk/#/ap-home/4546738569). It's an enormous database. Check it out if the games there interest you.

Good lord, it's like I've stepped back in time to 1998.

[Lewton]

......

[darkslime]

I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks. :kiss:Its not a compliment, your website is poorly designed

[Kitsune Sniper]

Its not a compliment, your website is poorly designed

Nah, it's not as bad as say, Kotaku.

But for god's sakes man, GET RID OF THE MIDI.

[Lewton]

......

[Lewton]

......

[Berserker]

Weird.

[Lewton]

......

[Berserker]

The site seems relevant, so I don't see any problem with mentioning it here. My post was directed more towards your response to the comments, which just seem a bit, uh... unsettling?

Anyway, their criticisms were directed toward the design of your site - not you. Don't take it so much to heart. It's not a big deal.

[skaar]

It's a great site dude, lots of good content. Props to you for it.

But... it's the delivery I think they're objecting to. Maybe a redesign would remedy that.

It does have an early web feel to it with the frames and animated images, so in that respect it's a much better version of something I'd probably put out if I blew dust off my HTML skills.

Content A+
Special Effects C-

[Aussie2B]

Don't let it bother you, Lewton. Content is what matters. I will happily visit a site with bad design if it has great content. It's true, the design on your site is rough and outdated, but it's not like everyone goes to college for web design nor should everyone be expected to create something that looks really slick and professional. You can at least take pride in that your site design isn't as bad as mine, haha. (Although my site dates back around 10 years ago, so I have some excuse for it.) Most Japanese web sites look like they were made in the 90s too.

If you guys really want to see the worst of 90s web design, check out 1 Place 2 Party:

http://www.1place2party.com/

[Berserker]

If you guys really want to see the worst of 90s web design, check out 1 Place 2 Party:

http://www.1place2party.com/

MY EYES, THEY BURN

And agreed with the above two posts. A well-designed site with zero content is meaningless, except perhaps to serve as an example of good design. Your site on the other hand has content in spades. The gold is there, and the design then is merely a question of how easy or difficult it is for folks to get at it. In other words: it's a minor issue, at worst.

So, I hope you'll take that to heart and stick around here for awhile.

[Lewton]

......

[Zing]

Sometimes I wish we could customize searches to keep certain sites out for good.

http://blekko.com/

[Kitsune Sniper]

Now then, Kitsune and Darkslime (particularly Darkslime), your - yes- intentionally antagonistic comments tell me a lot about you. It certainly shows that, at this point, it would be pointless to get to know you as it appears I'd learn nothing. Thankyou for saving me some time there. :)

Hmm! Kitsune. I'm sure you won't mind me reciprocating your helpful advice to "But for god's sakes man, GET RID OF THE MIDI.". I will . . politely, of course. Your site appears to be quite basic and uncomplicated, doesn't it? Congratulations on maintaining a clean looking, though simple website. What did you intend to evoke with yours? I like its elementary Blog-like feel. Very appealing. You must congratulate yourself on surpassing the challenge you set yourself. I'm fairly confident you do, regularly. :)

Unfortunately, Darkslime, I couldn't access your website. I'm sure it's extremely well constructed, clean and highly educative. :)

To sum up (and I will say no more - "Thank the F$7k!", I hear them say), amongst the nice comments I've received I've certainly received a few negative comments about particular elements of the site since its inception and taken them all on board - many of them quite rightly mentioned too. Many have been extremely helpful to this particular newbie to website creation. Adventure Point was created when I was made redundant from my work as an Industrial Chemist (note - Irrelevant info). It was something to take my mind off more pressing things outside of trivial game talk and gameplay. Thankfully my redundancy period was extremely short-lived and I now maintain the site around my job. I have absolutely no problem with intelligent criticism. To the contrary. I appreciate it greatly. But, I must admit, brainless, empty comments fall on deaf ears here. I do know antagonistic,, ignorant insult when I 'see' it. And, unfortunately, Darkslime and Kitsune, sheep do tend to congregate together.

I doubt, after this, I'll hang around more than I currently do, Berserker. But thankyou anyway. Much appreciated.

Negative criticism has never upset me. It's ignorant, empty comment a%%h01es that get up my nose. But I can live with it. :ass:

Now, if you read all this garbage, go get some sleep. :deadhorse:

If you were trying to get the look of a circa-1996 Geocities site, you win the prize.

... Antagonistic? Really? If you thought THAT was antagonistic, you really need to get out more. I'm pretty relaxed when it comes to criticizing stuff in comparison to other posters who've shown up in this same thread.

And no wonder it froze my browser for a moment (which I didn't mention, because I figured it was caused by the MIDI plugin being loaded.) It was overloading on so much Flash content being displayed on a single window.

There are better ways to create the look of a website from that early era of the internet. Overloading browsers by using Flash isn't one - especially now that the plugin itself keeps getting progressively worse over time.

I'm not sure if you were dissing my website, which admittedly doesn't contain much content. I suppose I prefer to play games instead of writing about them. Maybe one day I'll be able to spend time on the site and actually get that off the ground... but eh. At least I have a fully functional site backend and had the foresight to plan ahead. Or something.

Oh wait, you're ignoring me because I complained about your site! Why, this half-wall of text won't even be read. So sad. ... Or am I?

Wub and kissies,
Foxhack

[Haoie]

Can't we just go on Mobygames and avoid this debate?

[Lewton]

......

[Famidrive-16]

dp drama owns

[jordandavid]

admittedly, I'm not adding jack to this thread, but seriously dudes? just get over yourselves..

[Kitsune Sniper]

Tweaked a nerve, have I pal?. \\^_^/

Dissing your website? Hmm! What website? It's a simple brainless self-loving blog. I taught myself in a week and, yes, that may well show. But you're supposed to be an expert!! You obviously know all there is to know about Flash and browsers anyway.

:above me:

You're right Haoie. How naive of me to think that . . Oh! Never mind. :roll:

BTW, I'll remove my post when I'm satisfied the couple of morons here have been annoyed enough to keep me laughing for a few weeks. :above me:

Sincere apologies to everyone else who've been very civil toward me and my initial post. My personal opinion, but I hate cocky idiots. I definitely agree with what you say about the "special effects" and its rough amateur look. But I did learn in a week and I tried my best at the time. I had no wish to start again after the initial surge of work on the site. And, as I say, people do seem to love it. The visitor book is small, but there are even good comments there. And I get good visitor numbers for what's just a 'little hobby' of mine. I'm still proud of it to be honest. Thanks, anyway, for your polite comments. :)

Yep, you're not going to be here very long if you keep that attitude up. Your site's contents may be great, it's just too bad you don't have the modesty to back it up.

Ah well, I'm sure the mods will keep an eye out for you from now on.

[Lady Jaye]

As someone pointed out, a nice website design is pointless without good content, but good content also does get lost when the design isn't too good. I'm on broadband like most people; seeing a loading sign on the page is not a good thing. You can have an old-school site without it looking like it actually was designed 10 years ago. And also, do remove the music file from the site. It's just annoying.

[Oobgarm]

Any type of background music on a site for me = instant close.

[Flack]

For those just joining us, a quick summary:

"We need more game database websites."
"I have a game database website. Give me your feedback."
"My feedback is, I don't like it."
"Well you're a dummy."
"Well so are you."

And, curtain.

[skaar]

It's sad too, because it really does have some great content.

Lewton, off the ledge man. Just take it in stride.

[fishsandwich]

What a bunch of dicks.

"Assholes being dicks" is the number 2 reason I stopped updating my website. There I was, spending hours and hours coming up with decent content and making changes, changes, changes and then some dick sends me an e-mail with nothing but flippant insults. "Your pictures take too long to load' and "you have ugly font" and "the 32x is a shitty system why are you wasting your time" and other such nonsense.

Yes, my pictures DID take too long to load. Yes, I DID have an ugly font. My website was a mess in many ways. I'm not a professional web designer. I was learning as I created. It would have gotten better but I gave up, partly because of a bunch of dicks. For every

My number 1 reason for quitting my website? It takes up too much damn time. Creating a website from scratch is a lot of work. Creating respectible content is 100x times more work. It's all work and no pay, all for the love of the hobby. Then some dick comes along and the only thing this dick has to say is "your website sucks". That's it. No mention of the hard work you've done. No mention of the time you have devoted to sharing your love of the your hobby... a hobby that the dick presumably enjoys as well.

It all boils down to COMMON COURTESY. Unfortunately, the term seems to be an oxymoron these days. COURTESY is no longer COMMON.

What a bunch of dicks.

[Bratwurst]

What a bunch of dicks.

dicks

dicks EVERYWHERE

[Lewton]

......

[Lady Jaye]

So, giving an opinion about your design makes us automatically dicks or a-holes or whatever? *shrug* Fine, it's your site. You do what you want with it, and constructive criticism is simply that: advice to give you a hand to improve what you have.

About the music on your site: Yes, it can be disabled by the user. But it is a turnoff for many people to access a site that automatically plays music, even if it's just for a few seconds.

[Guru of Time and Space]

Anthony1.

-GoTaS

[fishsandwich]

There is a differance between "constructive criticism" and "insult".


"Your website is poorly designed" = insult

"Your website is poorly designed. I think you could improve it if you XXX" = constructive criticism


Lewton is enriching the hobby (and this forum) with his contributions. Can we not throw him a bone when we post something negative to say about his website? Is it so hard to say "Great content, man" or "I appreciate the work you've done" before we launch into our criticism? Why are we posting casual insults?

If you met Lewton at CGE, would you open a conversation with him by saying "Your website is poorly designed" and that's it?

This guy is/was an enthusiastic and educated new member of this community with something to add, all bright-eyed and eager. Then we tell him his website sucks. Now he thinks we are a bunch of dicks. If someone asks him about his feelings about DP he will most likely say "Those people are a bunch a dicks" and he'll be right.

Who cares what other people think about DP? I do. I've been coming over here for close to 13 years.

ALL this negativity could have been prevented with a few kind words.

[buzz_n64]

Lewton, so you're leaving because a small handful of members may have insulted your site? Dude, it happens. To be honest, I may have been mildly thinking the same as some of them, but I didn't wish to insult your work. The websites I have made were not as good as yours anyway. I posted my student film project, and it got blasted by a good amount of people on here, but I stick around. I have noticed that most of the people who talk crap on youtube don't even have their own video, so they don't have any appreciation for the work people put into it. I guess what I'm trying to say is you can't judge all of us for one or two people's harsh criticism. I'm sure they have their own work that might be bashable as well if you decide to go that route. Change your mind and stay here, we're a good group, honest! :)

[SpasticFuctard]

Change your mind and stay here, we're a good group, honest! :)

I'm not, and your website is truly an amalgam of the worst elements of HTML1.0; I find it hilarious that it's actually built in Flash, so clearly intentional but the fact that it's ironic doesn't make it easier to look at. But hey, I'm glad you're 'leaving' (believe it when I see it, goddamn drama queens do that crap all the time) we need more thin skinned drama queens around here like I need elocution lessons (which is to say that we do not.)

SF - The tiled background gif that wallpapers your nightmares

[GrandAmChandler]

http://cdn3.knowyourmeme.com/i/000/103/625/original/bender-hatersz-gon-hate.gif?1299301051

[megasdkirby]

There is a differance between "constructive criticism" and "insult".


"Your website is poorly designed" = insult

"Your website is poorly designed. I think you could improve it if you XXX" = constructive criticism


Lewton is enriching the hobby (and this forum) with his contributions. Can we not throw him a bone when we post something negative to say about his website? Is it so hard to say "Great content, man" or "I appreciate the work you've done" before we launch into our criticism? Why are we posting casual insults?

If you met Lewton at CGE, would you open a conversation with him by saying "Your website is poorly designed" and that's it?

This guy is/was an enthusiastic and educated new member of this community with something to add, all bright-eyed and eager. Then we tell him his website sucks. Now he thinks we are a bunch of dicks. If someone asks him about his feelings about DP he will most likely say "Those people are a bunch a dicks" and he'll be right.

Who cares what other people think about DP? I do. I've been coming over here for close to 13 years.

ALL this negativity could have been prevented with a few kind words.

EXACTLY! So... QFT!

There is a clear difference between insulting and giving constructive criticism.

I personally like the site, thanks to it's contents. Sure, it might be a tad rough on the edges with regards to presentation, but it's definitely not bad because of it. Problem is, many can easily disregard a great site for having "bad looking" presentation page layout, similar to those who disregard an EXCELLENT video game because "it's graphics suck butt".

Keep up the good work, Lewton. Try to ignore the negatives comments and focus on the positives, no matter if its on your site or elsewhere. Follow your dream...THAT is what's important.

[understatement]

thin skinned



dicks EVERYWHERE

I think this sums up the thread.

[Lewton]

......

[Kitsune Sniper]

I Emailed via the Contact Us form yesterday and I'm still waiting for my account to be deleted.

I said I wouldn't post again and I won't after this, but listen here you complete moron.

Matey, you may be only 6 months old but if you live anywhere near me you'd better watch your step because, after that little illiterate tantrum, believe me you'll need to keep looking over your shoulder.

Oh my god, this thread just got hilarious.

PHYSICAL THREATS OF VIOLENCE OVER THE INTERNET IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.

Don't you EVER get close to me or I'll just, I dunno, give you a wet willy or something. Maybe hit you with a pillow. THINK BADLY OF YOU. Or somesuch.

The more you reply to people with stuff like that, the worse you're making yourself look. Think about that.

[understatement]

I don’t think you will need to wait much longer after a post like that.



P.S. a wet willy... shit just got real! LOL

[jordandavid]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DksSPZTZES0

[megasdkirby]

Don't you EVER get close to me or I'll just, I dunno, give you a wet willy or something.

That's it. Just the though of getting Kitsune koodies makes me terrified.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Aww, he deleted all his posts! :(

[Guru of Time and Space]

Get close to me and I swear I'll kiss you.

-GoTaS

[SpasticFuctard]

Admin powers Activate; form of reading pre edit compositions!

dude? did he really threaten an admin?

Sweet.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Admin powers Activate; form of reading pre edit compositions!

dude? did he really threaten an admin?

Sweet.

I didn't realize you were an admin, but yep. Reverse his edits! Make this post public! Maybe now he'll actually bother to make a working website. :P

[Aussie2B]

I think it's a damn shame that this topic turned out like this. Lewton may have flew off the handle, but I don't think any one of us would be immune from producing similar behavior if you took away our years of experience on gaming forums which has made us thick-skinned. There was no need to respond to his link with such negativity, and I think it's damn rude to suggest that all his work is for naught just because he doesn't have great design. It's laughable to suggest that his site is unusable because of it. I mean, here's a news flash for you guys, the Digital Press website has pretty outdated design too.

[megasdkirby]

I mean, here's a news flash for you guys, the Digital Press website has pretty outdated design too.

And it does the job properly, like his site.

Although presentation matters, material is much more important. And his site did deliver. It's a shame he won't be part of a community all because of nonsense that occurred in this thread. He could have been a valuable asset to the community in general...well, he still is, just not part of this one.

[Berserker]

And it does the job properly, like his site.

Although presentation matters, material is much more important. And his site did deliver. It's a shame he won't be part of a community all because of nonsense that occurred in this thread. He could have been a valuable asset to the community in general...well, he still is, just not part of this one.

Agreed. I was realllly hoping he would just let all this stuff lay for awhile, and maybe come back around later on. Or at least leave the channel open. There were criticisms about the design of his site, but there were also a lot of people who praised it for its content and urged him to stick around. But he just didn't seem to hear that side of it.


Lewton may have flew off the handle, but I don't think any one of us would be immune from producing similar behavior if you took away our years of experience on gaming forums which has made us thick-skinned.

Yeah, but there was also sort of a spooky "I know where you live" type of quality he had going on in his posts that was totally uncalled for, and I have a hard time believing that anyone else here would do that under similar circumstances, thick skin or no.

[MachineGex]

This thread reminded me of a true story...
My buddy once bought a car with a really ugly paint job. He got into so many fights with people because they said his car had an ugly paint job. Sure, it was ugly, sure he knew it. Then one day his Dad told him to paint the damn thing. Sure, his Dad was right. The car was so ugly it needed to be painted. Did he listen to his Dad? Nope!!!! He burned his Dad's house down along with his ugly fuck'n car. There ya go, problem solved!!!

What did that have to do with this thread? Both are a waste of my time.

[skaar]

This shit just got real, yo.

[portnoyd]

I always miss the good ones (unless I create them myself).

*goes back through the posts, finds site in question*

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

My god, my eyes are bleeding. There's just so much... blue.

[Zthun]

When I create websites, I make them as bad as possible with no content and really annoying design. Who wants to meet up and fight to the death about it?

[Kitsune Sniper]

Agreed. I was realllly hoping he would just let all this stuff lay for awhile, and maybe come back around later on. Or at least leave the channel open. There were criticisms about the design of his site, but there were also a lot of people who praised it for its content and urged him to stick around. But he just didn't seem to hear that side of it.

I stopped caring about the whole flash site pretty fast. When he started attacking people...


Yeah, but there was also sort of a spooky "I know where you live" type of quality he had going on in his posts that was totally uncalled for, and I have a hard time believing that anyone else here would do that under similar circumstances, thick skin or no.

... and that? He threatened a mod with physical violence. He could've easily left the minute he said he would, and maybe come back later. But he chose to stick around, flung crap back at people, then ran away with his tail between his legs once I said he was only making himself look much worse.

I know this is the internet, and (almost) everyone is a dick. But he seemed to be somewhat sheltered, or just not used to hearing any sort of criticism. I've only seen that sort of reaction two or three times over the past fifteen years.

I said this before, he has the content, but without the modesty... what's the point?

[NaturalChemical]

I know this is the internet, and (almost) everyone is a dick. But he seemed to be somewhat sheltered, or just not used to hearing any sort of criticism. I've only seen that sort of reaction two or three times over the past fifteen years.

To be fair, if his site is any indication, he hasn't been on the internet in fifteen years.

[skaar]

To be fair, if his site is any indication, he hasn't been on the internet in fifteen years.

Victory.