Ign + Gamespy
Legionnaired
Join Date: 2002-04-30 Member: 552Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2002-04-30 Member: 552Members, Constellation
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">May God help us.</div> <a href='http://games.ign.com/articles/444/444326p1.html' target='_blank'>http://games.ign.com/articles/444/444326p1.html</a>
As put on the firearms forums, "The crappyest games site merges with the second crappyest game site."
As put on the firearms forums, "The crappyest games site merges with the second crappyest game site."
Comments
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->what exactly do you have against Gamespy and IGN?
Do I read IGN regularily, no, sometimes I check their reviews, what reason is there to hate them exactly?
Gamespy on the other hand started as a little server scanning utility (that everyone praised just a few years ago) that has grown into a very nice network of gaming sites and other software programs. Their software alone has been used in hundreds of game titles and has significantly contributed to the way games are played online in the last several years.
About 4 or 5 years ago I bought Gamespy for $20 and still use it to this day. Best $20 I ever spent. And recently I even got a Fileplanet subscription so that I can get high speed downloads without having to wait in line to download behind hundreds of other people.
Just to add, a few years ago when Gamespy announced the Fileplanet site and it had a miniscule 50 or less downloads available listed under a couple of categories, people we touting it as a great idea. Now that Fileplanet is a huge success the same people are bad mouthing them for being successful and making a good business out of it.
So getting back to my point...what legit reason do you have to hate these companies? They are more successfull than you and contribute to the gaming industry, is that your problem?
You dont like that they have ads all over their websites? Neither do I, but that's the way the internet is these days. You have to deal with the ads. At least they offer payment options to get rid of the ads. Blue doesnt even do that, even though I've posted several times requesting it, and emailed him about it too.
If you dont think they have journalistic integrity then don't read their reviews. I rarely read their reviews and articles, when I do it's a quick scan and a look at the summary of the review and overall score, actually I do this on most sites anyways. From their company I like the software, Fileplanet, and the network of game sites. The game sites, I might add, are run by fans, not employees.
I've said this before on these forums, when in comes to "exclusive demos" I completely agree that demos should be for the general public not for paying subscribers. However, "exclusive movies, and betas" I think are great to offer to subscribers only.
As I said, for internet advertising, if you don't like the ads, pay for their subscription. Running a website, let alone a huge network of gaming sites (like IGN) is extremely expensive and their main source of income is from advertising. Both of these companies provide a very large amount of free and usefull content to the public with alot of employees behind the scenes, they have to pay for that somehow.
As I recall IGN almost folded a couple years ago with the dot com crash because there was no money coming in. They adjusted to survive.
You have NEVER had to pay for Gamespy, ever. It is a free program that has full server scanning functionality upon install. Paying for Gamespy opens up the chat service (which I never even use). Many years ago I payed $20 for it because it was a great pieces of software that the developers deserved to be compensated for, so I contributed.
So if you want to complain about a game requiring Gamespy and you wont do it, that is your own ignorance. It's free. What have you got to lose? Nothing.
Beyond that, I have never heard of a game requiring Gamespy to be installed. They either are "Powered by Gamespy" or they suggest you install Gamespy to browse for servers. There are however several free utils out there that still do server scans even when its being powered by Gamespy.
People complain about the stupidist things.
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but Ign?
Whyyyyyyyy.
edit:
Shortened the why...
I don't like IGN just because it looks bad <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> it really hurts my eyes to read. Gamespy though, it's great! The dailyvictim always makes me laugh out loud and they update daily with information I actually care to read.
I like the cut of your jib, good show <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
However I can see the point, as they say, Gamespy provides everything your Average Joe PC gamer requires with its downloads and reviews, and IGN provides discussions boards and console gaming schtick. One company = larger market + lower overheads = higher profits.
I'm also not really a fan of Gamespy Arcade, so I don't use it... but I use Fileplanet all the time. If they hadn't "sold out", they'd probably be gone by now. I wish I had the money to subscribe, but I don't. Such is life.
And the know-it-all smart****s on Firearms forum will have one less gaming site to diss.
(The "haet" usually comes from 1) their reviews not agreeing with a persons taste and 2) people taking themselves too serious!)
IGN used to be one of my favorite sites back in the days of N64, until they sold my e-mail address, littered the front page with ads, and did something to make it totally unreadable for me. If I want reviews, I have PCGamer, if I want demos, I have other mirrors, and If I want guides, a simple google search brings up hundreds of little tips and tricks to try.
Both sites offer good services, and I don't think there is reason to hate either of them. However, there are other sites which offer the same services, and don't require a long line of whole-page ads that interrupt my browsing to use. They offer their wares at a level I consider sub-par, and for that, I poke fun at them.
As for adverts: Open a magazine. Go shopping. The internet isnt the only place in life we get confronted with adverts. If youre not used to dismissing adverts already, go outside for a bit.
though their lines are annoying, they are moderately bearable and through the use of alternate mirrors increasingly avoidable <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
I was once an avid user of Gamespy Arcade / Gamespy 3D, it's been the only server browser i've used up until about 3 months ago. It's a good piece of software, but it's just too much of a memory hog and takes far too long to get into a game compared to the likes of ASE.
But i guess i have to stick up for Gamespy, as you well know one of their sites is planetquake.com, i've been a regular at that site since it's birth, and with gamespy the same quality and standard of game site has spread to most popular games, this is good.
As to all the people who complain about ads, look into the cost of running a webserver using as much bandwidth as they do, find out the monthly fees. Ontop of that work out an average salery for however many people they have working for them. Then figure where that money is coming from. The ads. Without the ads the sites will go down. I'll take the ads and popular, informative gaming sites as opposed to no ads and no sites.
Just think what would happen if GameSpy just disappeared today.. No planetdeusex, no planethalflife, no plantdiablo, I would have had no place to get the old Theif2 demo I wanted...
The only way they could annoy you is if you interact with them, meaning you've used them at some point in time. Just think if you couldn't.
Fileplanet/gamespy is fine with me.
*gives Mullet a medal*
I agree, we as gamers have only to benefit from this merger. PC+Console=good info base. I am fans of both Gamespy (not counting Vileplanet) and IGN (avid fan since ign64.com....come on, you remember) so I'm not as worried as much as others are.
<ul>
<li>First and foremost, there are dozens of horror stories from ex-employees of Gamespy. From writers of the main site to the webmasters who run the Planet_______ sites, Gamespy treats their workers like crap. Sometimes the webmasters of the Planet sites don't even get paid like they had agreed to (I think this is why Lowtax left and started SA, only to end up not getting paid again).
<li>Their site hosting of mods/etc is perhaps what I would call, at best, hostile. Sure they host you for free, but they try to make you do so much crap its just crazy. Its probably best summed up with a story:
Back when FLF was the most hotly anticipated up-and-coming mod (and many people were for some reason predicting we'd replace CS as #1 mod) Gamespy actually contacted us, practically begging us to let them host us (no, I'm not making this up). We had a few other good offers too, so we had negotiated w/ Gamespy to give us a little extra that some of their other hosted sites might not get. They had agreed to let us have our own domain name (just like counter-strike.net) and also let us use our own forums package (as theirs was terrible). They also gave us the standard bs pitch of them having fast speeds and blah blah blah.
After moving our site over we had nothing but trouble until the day we switched sites to a now defunct gaming site in the UK. Gamespy's private FTP to upload at the site is 1) insanely insecure, I could see the directory for EVERYONE on PlanetHalflife) 2) sloooooooow. Like 5k a second upload on a cable modem. Not good when you have 100mb+ beta builds of your mod. Also, they went back on both of their offers regarding us having our own domain name and our own forums package, and added insult to injury by claiming they never even made such offers.
You're better off hosting your site on Geocities than on Gamespy...
<li>Insanely biased news coverage that's more in tune with marketting rather than what gamers actually want.
<li>Artifically making the lines on FilePlanet longer. I forget the exact link, but somebody brought this up a few months ago. Yup, Gamespy inflates your waiting time if you're not a subscriber.. But that doesn't matter because...
<li>False Advertising. Even if you ARE a paying FilePlanet subscriber, you STILL have to wait in line a good deal of time in front of other subscribers. Instant Downloading is a croak of ****.
</ul>
IGN, while I don't hate them, I certainly dislike them.
<ul>
<li>They are very, very biased. Moreso than Gamespy even...
<li>They want me to register to view screenshots. Screenshots. WTH???
</ul>
So yeah, I have my reasons...
<b>Note:</b> While I may be upset at Gamespy Industries as a company, for the most part the people who work there (at least the front line workers) are very cool, such as Sluggo and Hellchick (who now works at Activision). I talk to them both every year at Quakecon and they are extremely cool cats. Also Fragmaster from PHL is a nice guy, and Fargo is perhaps the funniest journalist ever to walk upright.
<a href='http://forums.seriouszone.com/showthread.php?t=14562' target='_blank'>http://forums.seriouszone.com/showthread.php?t=14562</a>
I no longer go to PlanetHalflife, I go to Halflife2.net for news.
I don't use Gamespy3D or GameSpy Arcade, I use All Seeing Eye.
I get my gaming news from Shacknews and Blues News, and my reviews from Gametab.
Demos I can get off FileRush, Bittorrent, or a dozen other file sites.
Pretty much the only way Gamespy will change is by either gradually getting better or by remaining headstrong and bleeding out money.
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Ok, finally some rather valid points against GS. That does kinda suck (for lack of a better word). As for IGN requiring you to register for screens: registering is free, it only happens for more than "x" amount, and it resets every week.
And I'd like to examine this "biased reporting" claim. Where have you seen a unanimouly declared "objective" reporting service, and I'll let you look through magazines, newspapers, and websites not dealing with video games? Chances are, you're bound to offend someone and will be declared "biased" by some groups (i.e. LA Times after the Arnold-groping scandal, Fox News in general, www.aintitcool.com...the list goes on). So if it offended you or you believe it to be "paid off" or biased, can't help there. As for bad reporting...crap happens, they aren't college professors. Though I'll concede sometimes on those rather crap-tacular 'Top 25' lists.
Disclaimer: This is not in defense of GS (I have nothing for them), but just claims of bias and misinformation in general.
That, and ASE doesn't go, "XEELAW the killing!
And I don't care either way if this makes their service(s) better or worse. If it makes them better, w00t. If it makes them worse, I can live without them.
exactly, on both counts... <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
I do believe gamespy sold out incredibly though. isn't gamespy arcade filled with ads and stuff? I haven't used it in years. quakespy ruled... but now, the all-seeing eye takes the cake... no-frills. I really wouldn't miss either IGN or gamespy at this point.
for my gaming news, I go to gamefaqs.com, which gets their gaming news from gamespot.com...
I don't use the gamespy reviews sites except to pop into planethalflife occasionally for a laugh at Frag's arrogance.
IGN can go hang. I hate intrusive marketing with a passion. Isn't that the site that puts up full page adverts for games before you reach the article ? Nobs to that. I wouldn't be surprised if they've got full page Flash ads and loads more down the side of each article. I'd rather find some niche little site with some .jpgs down the side and nothing else. Some advertising you simply have to put up with (billboards, TV commercials etc...). However, with sites like IGN (and gampespy for that matter), I vote with my feet. Besides, the last time I looked, I think you need scripting for the site to work, and I have that turned off by default.
Fileplanet. Yuk. For the popular downloads, I'll just use the blueyonder ftp site. Good ol' blueyonder. Or wait for a day or two. Also, I think having no scripting kills fileplanet's site.
So all this doesn't bother me much - I just don't use any of these site's services. It will bother me if I'm ever forced to use their services. The net is a wonderful thing, but it will suffer if Gamespy/IGN/Fileplanet become a monopoly. For example, what if NS 3.0 could only be released through fileplanet ? What if the NS forums could only be hosted on the Gamespy network ? Sure, that looks unlikely for the time being. But then, in the past, Microsoft weren't a monopoly either.
<ul>
<li>They are very, very biased. Moreso than Gamespy even...
<li>They want me to register to view screenshots. Screenshots. WTH???
</ul>
So yeah, I have my reasons... <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yoru reasons for dissing Gamespy seems valid. However, you just sound like a whining, spoiled kid when it comes to IGN. Register? Oh please. Did you know that you gain access to their large Vault-network including boards with that? The vault-network is IGNs version of "Planet". How they treat their "customers" I don't know.
Biased? Well, I see that word come up all the time. I don't see huge signs of BIAS. This is a general request to this thread's readers: I'd really love to have some solid examples of bias shown to me, instead of people just firing off the word at every opportunity. It's becoming like the word "ethical" - everyone uses it but noone really knows what they mean.
Apart from this, have you <i>ever</i> seen a site monopoly on <i>anything</i>? Hell, even Google faces competition. Most of my gaming news comes from sites like <a href='http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/index.php' target='_blank'>Gamers with Jobs</a>, and nobody can push them out of the business, 'cause they aren't <i>in</i> it!
So, let them merge as much as they want (I can by the way promise you with a pretty high certainity that this merger, like pretty much any single one of them, will not work out), what the hell do I care?