Current Events > Why is GameFAQs dying?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Earlier, I made a threat asking if GameFAQs is dead, and a lot of people said yes. Why is the site dying?

Threatening questions arent cool

if all the old guides were updated to html instead of plain text with ascii art maybe the site would be more alive

It wasn't modded well and lost an entire generation. It is a ghost town and I don't see that changing sadly

Bad moderators through the 2010s

Reddit is better

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oxY89F5oU-I

We can't always fight nature, TC. We can't fight change. We can't fight gravity. We can't fight nothing. My whole life, all CE ever did was fight.

Youtube and people getting older

Wrong question. Gamefaqs should be dying. But it's not.

You should be asking why is gamefaqs undying.

You know what?

Hot take: it's not dead until the last user logs out forever. This site can be alive with a relatively small, but dedicated, userbase

Tappor posted...

You know what?

Hot take: it's not dead until the last user logs out forever. This site can be alive with a relatively small, but dedicated, userbase

You're ok Tappor. I like it

Because I started making threads about the site dying, and then it caught on so everyone's doing it.

The real answer, social media and group chats like Discord killed message boards

Because back in the 1100s, Pious Augustus in his Lich form cast a binding spell that forced giant stakes into GameFAQs flesh, initiating the longest and slowest death in history.

No modernaization. Makes it hard to attract the new crowd.

The vibe here use to be pretty neutral back in its heyday, where everyone was an awkward teenager & young adult, thus didn't really care about politics yet. As time's gone on and folks have aged into adulthood, taken on new responsibilities, and have had much less time to intereact w/ GameFaqs...the people who do have the time to spend all day on here have taken over the "vibe," and thus, have shifted the culture of GameFaqs to be a place where only a certain niche of people can thrive.

Shifted from "cool place to chat about nerd interests with diverse people from all around the globe" to "safe haven for long standing internet denizens"

That's as nice as I can put it. But a place like 4Chan or ResetEra (two sides of the same coin) can survive off appealing to a very niche userbase. GameFaqs simply can't. In order to grow and flourish it needs to be a place that 99% of the mainstream audience can use without fear of persecution.

In a nutshell, GameFaqs would have to modernize the site to appeal to a younger demographic, while making a "play nice" rule to allow all discussions, so long as both sides are cordial. Or they could go the other route, and institute strict topicality -- meaning, get rid of boards like Current Events & Politics, and just focus on games & nerd interests.

This is as nice as I can say it. I've made tons of analytical posts in the past filled with long exhausting rants that nobody reads as to why GameFaqs is actually dying off. However, in a nutshell, they need people to use the damn site; and what's preventing people from doing so is it's archaic structure, and niche culture.

STEROLIZER posted...

This is as nice as I can say it. I've made tons of analytical posts in the past filled with long exhausting rants that nobody reads as to why GameFaqs is actually dying off. However, in a nutshell, they need people to use the damn site; and what's preventing people from doing so is it's archaic structure, and niche culture.

When you think about it, no one in a position of power really cares. Sure there's a guy who runs the site but I see no evidence that he actually has a passion for this place.

Isn't GameFAQs owned by a key site now lol?

It is missing so many of the features modern social media sites like Reddit have. One great example is having an 18+ filter to post porn, violence, or content with cursing. Sure that isnt for everyone but that should be an option for those that want it.

Also the board is still geared to a niche which is gaming and hasnt tried get the interest of the non-gaming community which is like the majority of the population.

Anyone else ever go board hunting and find super old topics and read through them? You can find some buried treasure.

Reddit and uptight mods not liking fun

Well I'm sure many still come to the site without having a member account.

Hell I did from 1998 to 2002.

It's always a hoot when people talk about "dying GameFAQs" and they mean the boards.

And not that other thing that people come here for.

CyricZ posted...

It's always a hoot when people talk about "dying GameFAQs" and they mean the boards.

And not that other thing that people come here for.

A lot of the newer games dont get FAQs as fast as they used to.

CyricZ posted...

It's always a hoot when people talk about "dying GameFAQs" and they mean the boards.

And not that other thing that people come here for.

Lol.

MelbuFrahma4 posted...

A lot of the newer games dont get FAQs as fast as they used to.

One will.

#IshinSweep

CyricZ posted...

It's always a hoot when people talk about "dying GameFAQs" and they mean the boards.

And not that other thing that people come here for.

The boards are indeed dying, but the FAQS have been dead & burried for a while now.

Youtube.
Why read long convoluted faqs when you can watch a specific descriptive video in minutes.

Forums in general are dead are they not?

CyricZ posted...

One will.

#IshinSweep

Just cleaned up some missing things in Judgement from your guide (been using them since 0) - turned on YouTube to watch some Froob, and I'll be damn if he didn't pull up the same guide.

ToucheTurtle posted...

Forums in general are dead are they not?

Yes. I just visited gamespots forums and there were threads on first page from several days ago on their most active board. It was unreal.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I mean, looking up a FAQ is lazy too.

Lvaneede posted...

The real answer, social media and group chats like Discord killed message boards

This. Forums everywhere are much smaller than they were 10 years ago. The sad thing is GameFAQs is still one of the largest forums on the web, and probably the most active video game forum.

BabyFAQs discussion forums turned most users to reddit, discord or 4chan where they could actually say something without being modded for no genuine reason

zoomers would rather watch a 30 minute video with a 5 minute intro and ads to find one thing in a game rather than press Ctrl-f on their keyboard and find it in 1 second

Of all the websites I went to as a kid, GameFAQs is the only one thats still active.

Kloe_Rinz posted...

BabyFAQs discussion forums turned most users to reddit, discord or 4chan where they could actually say something without being modded for no genuine reason

zoomers would rather watch a 30 minute video with a 5 minute intro and ads to find one thing in a game rather than press Ctrl-f on their keyboard and find it in 1 second

Reddit and 4chan both have mods that will mod people for no reason or inconsistently. Discord also has tons of mini-fiefdoms and drama.

As you allude to in the rest of your post, it is the nature of forums that turn off zoomers and people who only really got into the Internet after the proliferation of smartphones.

YellowSUV posted...

Reddit and 4chan both have mods that will mod people for no reason or inconsistently. Discord also has tons of mini-fiefdoms and drama.

As you allude to in the rest of your post, it is the nature of forums that turn off zoomers and people who only really got into the Internet after the proliferation of smartphones.

Depends on the subreddit. Its easy to find subreddits with sane mods. And you dont get banned for talking about things like emulation

poisoned

Kloe_Rinz posted...

Depends on the subreddit. Its easy to find subreddits with sane mods. And you dont get banned for talking about things like emulation

You can find cool smaller subreddits, but they really aren't that active. Once a subreddit gets too large it typically gets take over by power mods (many big subreddits are all run by a relatively small group of mods). Reddit in general also has been cracking down on emulation and piracy talk.

I actually do like small subreddits, the nature of Reddit's nesting comment format is not conductive to large discussions.