Current Events > Ouch, less than 2 months till launch, Gamefaqs pulling less people concurrently

(+) Yeah! (+)

than they did 3 years ago, mid way through the current gen.

I have no numbers account for the PS4/Xbox One launch, but certain it was higher.

2 years ago when I was active, we had 1800 people at night, 2200 during the peak hours (US time)

4 weeks ago we were recording 1200 people during peak time, 880 during off hours.

Now we are in peak time at just over 1700 people.

I think we'll rise a little higher at the launch with player counts dwindling in years afterwards.

Trend pointing to people mass leaving, what do? bye felicia?

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Series S is what everyone is excited for

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at least i always got luelinks to fall back on

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People aren't getting excited over consoles announced with no games or games that barely anyone cares about? That's fucking shocking.

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fuck gamefaqs

Conflict posted...

Gamefaqs has been obscure for many, many years now, congrats on just now noticing this

We've been pointing at this trend since 2010, don't play coy.

It's becoming alarming though. About a week ago, I was in a topic with one of the top faq/guide providers for the site. He mentioned he's getting thousands of hits a month and that his guides aren't going anywhere soon.

However; more and more people are just clicking for the guides or the answers, nobody's staying to make accounts anymore. This is an update, not a report, on the continuing decline of Gamefaqs numbers.

Also: you're just mad that I finally have more karma than you.

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Ill miss this place. I already miss what it was.

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Conflict posted...

What?

Your account is 2 years older than mine. You're supposed to have more karma than me

no excuses

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Blame Error1355 and SBAllen for people getting fed up and leaving.

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Orlando_Jordan posted...

Blame Error1355 and SBAllen for people getting fed up and leaving.

For letting people make 20000 accounts and troll forever and ever making people that did get banned for petty reasons (with only a single account) feeling alienated? looking@u franklin

Pssssh, naw bro. Fake news.

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Ever since I joined the website.

2003: GameFAQs is dying.
2004: GameFAQs is dying.
2005: GameFAQs is dying.
2006: GameFAQs is dying.
2007: GameFAQs is dying.
2008: GameFAQs is dying.
2009: GameFAQs is dying.
2010: GameFAQs is dying.
2011: GameFAQs is dying.
2012: GameFAQs is dying.
2013: GameFAQs is dying.
2014: GameFAQs is dying.
2015: GameFAQs is dying.
2016: GameFAQs is dying.
2017: GameFAQs is dying.
2018: GameFAQs is dying.
2019: GameFAQs is dying.
2020: GameFAQs is dying.

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Error1355 posted...

Ever since I joined the website.

2003: GameFAQs is dying.
2004: GameFAQs is dying.
2005: GameFAQs is dying.
2006: GameFAQs is dying.
2007: GameFAQs is dying.
2008: GameFAQs is dying.
2009: GameFAQs is dying.
2010: GameFAQs is dying.
2011: GameFAQs is dying.
2012: GameFAQs is dying.
2013: GameFAQs is dying.
2014: GameFAQs is dying.
2015: GameFAQs is dying.
2016: GameFAQs is dying.
2017: GameFAQs is dying.
2018: GameFAQs is dying.
2019: GameFAQs is dying.
2020: GameFAQs is dying.

If you leave, GameFAQs will probably stop dying.

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Error1355 posted...

Ever since I joined the website.

2003: GameFAQs is dying.
2004: GameFAQs is dying.
2005: GameFAQs is dying.
2006: GameFAQs is dying.
2007: GameFAQs is dying.
2008: GameFAQs is dying.
2009: GameFAQs is dying.
2010: GameFAQs is dying.
2011: GameFAQs is dying.
2012: GameFAQs is dying.
2013: GameFAQs is dying.
2014: GameFAQs is dying.
2015: GameFAQs is dying.
2016: GameFAQs is dying.
2017: GameFAQs is dying.
2018: GameFAQs is dying.
2019: GameFAQs is dying.
2020: GameFAQs is dying.

i remember like in 2012 CE maxes out at 55 pages but ok

Error1355 posted...

Ever since I joined the website.

2003: GameFAQs is dying.
2004: GameFAQs is dying.
2005: GameFAQs is dying.
2006: GameFAQs is dying.
2007: GameFAQs is dying.
2008: GameFAQs is dying.
2009: GameFAQs is dying.
2010: GameFAQs is dying.
2011: GameFAQs is dying.
2012: GameFAQs is dying.
2013: GameFAQs is dying.
2014: GameFAQs is dying.
2015: GameFAQs is dying.
2016: GameFAQs is dying.
2017: GameFAQs is dying.
2018: GameFAQs is dying.
2019: GameFAQs is dying.
2020: GameFAQs is dying.

You have a point

But they'll probably be right one of these years

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Wait...How can you say "gamefaqs is dying" from the years 2003-2012? The contests, the consoles coming out, you guys even tried to sell merchandise! gtfo with that shit.

If anything, there was a consistent rise in accounts being made, year over year, since I've been here in 2001, ending in the early 2010's.

It's only in the past 8 years or so that I've noticed a trend of ?'s closing their accounts.

Not only did CJAYC rip the soul out of the site when he bartered the deal with CBS, but now the mods are trying to erase and rewrite Gamefaq's history as well.

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https://www.similarweb.com/website/gamefaqs.gamespot.com/
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Deathjester posted...

https://www.similarweb.com/website/gamefaqs.gamespot.com/

I feel like this is backing up my data. People ARE just using the site for the guides and not making posts on the message boards. The average site usage is just over 2 minutes.

Sad face

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Conflict posted...

? blocks closing their accounts isn't indicative of a website dying, its the overall decreasing activity and FAQs generally becoming a dated medium when you have wikis and videos to look at for specific information now.

absolutely, there are many factors included that are not even being mentioned that are bound to be factors in the site's decay as well.

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GameFAQs should have gotten on board with video game streams and video guides. But nooo...

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Orlando_Jordan posted...

GameFAQs should have gotten on board with video game streams and video guides. But nooo...

Is this site even structured to withstand the bandwith required to store millions of video files to be viewed at any time?

I'd think that Gamefaqs would have to be rebuilt from the ground up for that purpose....

Sadly, Gamefaqs would have made a KILLING off of those videos and the ads they produced.

Like, if Gamefaqs did that, I'd have to officially begin buying stocks as I'd definitely own a portion of this site if it was publicly traded, ever.

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weekoldhotdog posted...

However; more and more people are just clicking for the guides or the answers, nobody's staying to make accounts anymore. This is an update, not a report, on the continuing decline of Gamefaqs numbers.

This makes sense. The forum format is dying across the web in favor of social media, and I honestly believe that the GameFAQs boards will be closed by the end of the decade (the FAQs may remain, either as a relic here or moved to another site).

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Orlando_Jordan posted...

If you leave, GameFAQs will probably stop dying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzhHCOQntZg

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Like Dark Souls, gamefaqs is dying, is dead and can also never die.

Solar_Crimson posted...

This makes sense. The forum format is dying across the web in favor of social media, and I honestly believe that the GameFAQs boards will be closed by the end of the decade (the FAQs may remain, either as a relic here or moved to another site).

I too, have suspected this for about a year now.

I think that Gamefaqs with boil down the message boards as a liability with it being a cesspool of political arguments, racist comments, and bronies.

As such, the powers that be will pull the plug on the message boards to provide for a "cleaner" image for gamefaqs.

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Conflict posted...

And then you have websites like Reddit, platforms like Discord and Twitch, etc. that have risen over the years and are way more popular and accessible for social and casual video game discussion.

Imagine if Gamefaqs had jumped on the the streaming thing with their own channels.

People would be banned left and right for crazy ass shit lmfao

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I mean dying can take a while. Most of the time new accounts are just alts of some dude who doesn't want shit on his main.

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Even ResetERA which popped out not too long ago has more traffic, more industry insiders/interviews/celebs, etc.

Pathetic.

weekoldhotdog posted...

I feel like this is backing up my data. People ARE just using the site for the guides and not making posts on the message boards. The average site usage is just over 2 minutes.

Sad face

The large majority of visits to the site has always been to the main site; specifically the guides, with the most likely reason being spending a few minutes to look something up and then going back to a game or something else, which is what's expected to happen. The average visit duration is always going to be small no matter how much time users spend on the boards.

Also, the overall number of visits to the boards is no less than it was years ago, if not more. The number of current users is less because the internet is providing a lot more for people to check out these days, so there's just more popping in and out.
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I'd be interested to see when peak usage was for CE and the site as a whole.

literally everything dies that error touches

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Conflict posted...

Gamefaqs has been obscure for many, many years now, congrats on just now noticing this

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Tryhaptaward posted...

Even ResetERA which popped out not too long ago has more traffic, more industry insiders/interviews/celebs, etc.

Pathetic.

It is more influential in the cultural zeitgeist, but it has less traffic. The forums are also much slower and less active (since Resetera mods ban any little thing that triggers them). It may look more active since it only has 4 boards compared to the 1000s on here.


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Need to bring back Gold accounts.

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TheDarkCircle posted...

fuck gamefaqs

Basic truth.

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Oh, it's this topic again.

It still sucks.

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weekoldhotdog posted...

than they did 3 years ago, mid way through the current gen.

I have no numbers account for the PS4/Xbox One launch, but certain it was higher.

2 years ago when I was active, we had 1800 people at night, 2200 during the peak hours (US time)

4 weeks ago we were recording 1200 people during peak time, 880 during off hours.

Now we are in peak time at just over 1700 people.

I think we'll rise a little higher at the launch with player counts dwindling in years afterwards.

Trend pointing to people mass leaving, what do? bye felicia?

IF Gamefaqs closes, I can understand why.
The majority of the users left on this site are insufferable and very toxic and have chased off A LOT of the normal people over the years. Yes, it's pretty bad (the account I am using is from 2005, but I've been lurking on this site since 1997) and I've seen a lot of bulls*** over the years where normal people get bullied and even moderated over bulls*** but trolls walk away fine.
That's the MAIN reason numbers of users have dropped dramatically.
While I will NOT miss the message boards (well, to a degree. There are a FEW boards and users on Gamefaqs who I think are awesome. Also, as bad as Gamefaqs can get, it's 100% better than Reddit, Resetera, etc), there is something I will miss and that is...

undefined posted...

If the site closes, I hope it'll be saved in its most recent form in an easily accessible way. It'd be awful if we just lost all the walkthroughs and reviews here.

The walkthroughs and reviews and even the code sections here are VERY valuable. I know a lot of people just check Youtube these days but the written walkthroughs especially are very important and contain info not found anywhere else and are exclusive to this site. I feel it would be important for the FAQs (written walkthroughs), codes, and reviews to be backed up on some other website incase Gamefaqs goes down.

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Dark_SilverX posted...

Series S is what everyone is excited for

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1QzZ15-L38
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I just realized I was a ? block because of this topic. Huh..

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where users

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