Weekly Retrospective: 11/04/10

So, here we are, another week gone by. I’ll skip the waffle and just get down to business.

Earlier in the week I decided to switch hosting, with the aim of having more flexibility with the site and a more reliable service. Whilst GoDaddy was fine for the amount of traffic we get, it’s not great when you want to build a more complex site. Sure, all the tools are there for everything you would need, but mostly at additional cost.

The fantastic price they advertise on the front page of hosting sites is what you get to begin with, but as soon as you need better email accounts, some sub-domains and general bits and pieces, the monthly cost can soon rocket. The switch went smoothly and SG survived the move onto the new server. What didn’t survive, however, was the chat box; whilst it was a nice experiment and good for the odd chat, the plugin broke and so it’s now gone. It didn’t get a huge amount of use whilst it was there, but if we ever need a chat box again in the future it shall make a return in some shape or form.

Now, seeing as we’ve now got a bit more flexibility, I thought I’d try out something that I’ve always wanted to: having an imageboard. More of a test than anything else so I can have a bit of a play with the software, they can be pretty funny at times. Use it as much or as little as you like; whilst it’s less formal than the forums (you can post anonymously, for instance), the same rules still apply. Just have some fun on it and it’s awesome for posting pictures, so it’s great for having a photoshop/paint competition, challenge, or just posting anything that’s funny. As I said, they’re mainly just a test at the moment, but if they get popular then a bit more emphasis will be putting them to good use.

In other news, I’d like to welcome another new member to the team: C_Stewie. He’ll primarily be helping Hodgi with the video content, including gameplay videos, montages and anything else that takes his fancy. Whilst we’ve locked him inside the video room, he may escape and make his way into the articles section, so you’ve been warned.

Lastly, I’d like to say a little something about gaming ‘journalism’ as a whole. Whilst we as a site don’t cover everything, we naturally keep up with what’s going on in the gaming world, whether it’s news, reviews or articles. I don’t speak for or talk about anyone in particular here, but it’s shame that the quality of an article isn’t always related to how popular it will be or how much recognition a site can get. Looking through the pending articles on N4G, for example, you’ll always see pages and pages of fantastic content which takes hours to approve because people simply refuse to acknowledge it. Check the front page, however, and you’ll see many stories with ‘hit baiting’ titles, typically related to the next big hit in a franchise or a console or software comparison.

Clicking onto these sometimes leads you to a very good piece, perhaps with a questionable choice of title, but good nonetheless. More often than not, however, you’ll arrive at a poorly written article which is full of factual errors and fanboy bait, which has probably been knocked up in a few minutes. Once again I don’t speak for or talk about anyone in particular here, but the next time you’re looking for an interesting read on the net it may be best to skip the obvious and click on the unusual. You’ll be surprised at what you can find.