While working on a tags system, we came to the conclusion that we need to work to improve data related to games before we proceed. A number of the tags that we would be looking to add would be basic information that shouldn't be seen as a variable or non-required.
By this I mean Developers and game Genres. I'm proposing we begin to take extra data in for game submissions for these fields, using pre-filled drop downs.
An example will be that under Game Name: we'll include a Developer(s): and Genre(s):
We'll then include links to browse all developers and genres on the top navigation of the site. This will provide the user with a page similar to the home page of a console, and a letter navigation to the same effect.
We would begin with a number of obvious massive companies such and Nintendo, Konami, SEGA, Capcom etc. but also allow people to add new developers which would be added to the drop down list. As staff we will need to be on top of this, as we won't want multiple divisions of the same company to come up on the site. However, I'm also concerned that we might get a TONNE of developers appearing in this list, what with the number of indie titles we have. I initially proposed that we limit the system to only pre-defined companies, and have an "Other Developer" selection (similar to Other Systems as a console). However this will likely cause some issues with us picking who to include as a big enough company to give their own section. If a game is by an "Other Developer" should we allow a user to put the name of the developer in still? That way it can still be found later should we decide to put it as a major dropdown item?
Thoughts on how to handle this?
I think that Genres should be all pre-defined. I know many games have no real genre (Katamari is a good example) so we can't cover all bases but all of the majors ones. We can poll users here to compile this list too.
Maybe for Developers we have a threshold of "it need x number of games" to appear in the list, so anyone added as an "Other Developer" can have that count be checked and we can decide whether to include them in the drop down.
Let us know your thoughts.
By this I mean Developers and game Genres. I'm proposing we begin to take extra data in for game submissions for these fields, using pre-filled drop downs.
An example will be that under Game Name: we'll include a Developer(s): and Genre(s):
We'll then include links to browse all developers and genres on the top navigation of the site. This will provide the user with a page similar to the home page of a console, and a letter navigation to the same effect.
We would begin with a number of obvious massive companies such and Nintendo, Konami, SEGA, Capcom etc. but also allow people to add new developers which would be added to the drop down list. As staff we will need to be on top of this, as we won't want multiple divisions of the same company to come up on the site. However, I'm also concerned that we might get a TONNE of developers appearing in this list, what with the number of indie titles we have. I initially proposed that we limit the system to only pre-defined companies, and have an "Other Developer" selection (similar to Other Systems as a console). However this will likely cause some issues with us picking who to include as a big enough company to give their own section. If a game is by an "Other Developer" should we allow a user to put the name of the developer in still? That way it can still be found later should we decide to put it as a major dropdown item?
Thoughts on how to handle this?
I think that Genres should be all pre-defined. I know many games have no real genre (Katamari is a good example) so we can't cover all bases but all of the majors ones. We can poll users here to compile this list too.
Maybe for Developers we have a threshold of "it need x number of games" to appear in the list, so anyone added as an "Other Developer" can have that count be checked and we can decide whether to include them in the drop down.
Let us know your thoughts.