[Scarlet]

I will admit I've posted some ridiculous things when it comes to the reviews of products on the front page that has barely anything to do with the intent and purpose of this website. I was going to include some criticism on that, but I think myself and several others have to realize that we need to learn to ignore those posts instead of trash on them, as I'm realizing that they are necessary for income to keep this website going.

I will say to this point that there's no kind of sponsorship or financial incentive for the things we cover or review. Speaking personally I try to cover things that I think I can at least find an interesting angle for. For the things I would consider fringe (the office chair I looked at recently as an example), I try to make it relatively clear what I feel the reason for it being here is. In that case it was because when we've previously covered gaming chairs, people brought up ergonomic office chairs as a better alternative in the replies.

It is challenging if you think something is too far removed. On one hand I would prefer to know as general feedback, but on the other it can end up a bit of a dogpile where that becomes the focus. It's something worth thinking about if nothing else, so don't feel bad about criticising it, especially in this thread. I'd rather know than not while we're actively asking for feedback.

 

[Kioku]

Done. Curious as to how this will impact the future of the site, but I’m not holding my breath on any major changes.

 

[Jayro]

I love seeing the hardware reviews and kind of wish they would just get their own column on the front page instead of being mixed in among all the gaming news topics.

But that's just me. Love it here!

 

[N10A]

Regarding the "inb4 dmca" posts, surely that borders on spam, right? Like if you're the kind of guy who shows up to threads just to post the same stupid dmca joke everytime you're not actually adding anything of value. I understand that you don't want to editorialize the things that people post, and I don't want that either, but I also wouldn't mind if "repeat offenders" got handed warnings from the mods.

 

[Scarlet]

I love seeing the hardware reviews and kind of wish they would just get their own column on the front page instead of being mixed in among all the gaming news topics.

But that's just me. Love it here!

From what I know about the site behind the scenes, custom things like that would be a challenge, but for my curiosity what kind of separation is it that you'd be interested in? Hardware news vs gaming news? Or is it more specifically the news and editorial content around hardware? I question whether anything could be done right now, but maybe some system that could have a filterable box based on the tags on front page posts could be feasible? Just throwing ideas out there really.

 

[Vorde]

My main source of unbiased gaming news, that also reports on hacking and homebrew news.
Good community as well, although I don't interact as much as I used to. Not as much time in the day anymore.
The reviews of products are likely my biggest complaint, a lot of it is random handheld android devices for mobile gaming, or emulation. It's neat, but it seems like every month it's a new one that's the same thing.
Anyway I love GBATemp and hope to see it continue for many years to come!

 

[Deleted member 702243]

All I wished is for guides on how to remove homebrew for stuff cause there's no other way to know except from somebody who's absolutely knowledgeable..

tbh that might be more of a community problem than a site problem, though I guess this specifically asks about community, so...

the problem isn't necessarily the lack of guides, it's that people will behave like "my way is the only way", and anyone who might want something differently gets shunned. so don't even bother asking the community on how to cleanly remove custom firmware from a console for example, because instead of getting actual helpful responses on it you'll just get dozens of people telling you that uninstalling is stupid/useless/whatever other negative adjective they can think of

which leads to the lack of guides, which can technically be addressed by just making them, but the problem still remains that guides like this will just get the same "this is stupid/useless/whatever and you shouldn't uninstall cfw/etc" replies until these people get bored of it and it stops getting replies, never to be seen again once it leaves first page. so the community attitude is what should be addressed, before anything like this could work

Regarding the "inb4 dmca" posts, surely that borders on spam, right? Like if you're the kind of guy who shows up to threads just to post the same stupid dmca joke everytime you're not actually adding anything of value. I understand that you don't want to editorialize the things that people post, and I don't want that either, but I also wouldn't mind if "repeat offenders" got handed warnings from the mods.

same with the "stability" "jokes" every time there is a firmware update, and the terminally-online behavior where every update news post gets immediately filled with hate for Nintendo daring to update their software. even if it's just a rebootless update that doesn't affect anyone because all it does is update bad word filters. me caveman me must get angry or whatever, whenever the words "nintendo" and "update" are seen together in a sentence

 

[LightyKD]

A section purely for game matchmaking would be nice. Maybe even a section in our profiles to list friend codes and platform screen names?

 

[Scarlet]

A section purely for game matchmaking would be nice. Maybe even a section in our profiles to list friend codes and platform screen names?

The second half of that does already exist actually:

It's at https://gbatemp.net/account/ if you scroll down to the bottom.

 

[LoggerMan]

The site should modernise the name, call itself DSTemp from now on...

 

[subcon959]

Addium for people that really hate the political section. This is your chance to voice your concern about it now!

How about yanking the subforum and stuffing it in a group instead?

 

[Kioku]

tbh that might be more of a community problem than a site problem, though I guess this specifically asks about community, so...

the problem isn't necessarily the lack of guides, it's that people will behave like "my way is the only way", and anyone who might want something differently gets shunned. so don't even bother asking the community on how to cleanly remove custom firmware from a console for example, because instead of getting actual helpful responses on it you'll just get dozens of people telling you that uninstalling is stupid/useless/whatever other negative adjective they can think of

which leads to the lack of guides, which can technically be addressed by just making them, but the problem still remains that guides like this will just get the same "this is stupid/useless/whatever and you shouldn't uninstall cfw/etc" replies until these people get bored of it and it stops getting replies, never to be seen again once it leaves first page. so the community attitude is what should be addressed, before anything like this could work


same with the "stability" "jokes" every time there is a firmware update, and the terminally-online behavior where every update news post gets immediately filled with hate for Nintendo daring to update their software. even if it's just a rebootless update that doesn't affect anyone because all it does is update bad word filters. me caveman me must get angry or whatever, whenever the words "nintendo" and "update" are seen together in a sentence

tl:dr - Don’t criticize Nintendo lest you become a caveman.

Nintendos updates are memeworthy at this point. The DMCA shit posts are obnoxious, though.

 

[TheZander]

Being here since 2008 I coalesced my thoughts thusly : I believe that integrating a more synergetic paradigm shift in gbatemps approach could significantly enhance the overall strategic alignment of the site. Embracing a holistic framework while optimizing gratemps core competencies will undoubtedly lead to more scalable solutions. Additionally, fostering an environment that encourages cross-functional collaboration and iterative innovation can drive substantial improvements in gbatemps key performance indicators.

 

[BraveDragonWolf]

I'm here everyday mostly for some news and to look at some quality memes.

 

[AmandaRose]

Personally I would like to see the reviews stick to just system hardware and software. Don't really care for reviews about gaming chairs or mobile phones ect.

Also a return of monthly quizzes/competitions would be awesome. 3 or 4 years ago we had them all the time then @T-hug left us and they pretty much disappeared from the site. With the exception of one a year or so.

And a return of the podcasts would be amazing as well

 

[raging_chaos]

Speaking personally I try to cover things that I think I can at least find an interesting angle for.

I'd like to see more focus on retro consoles that aren't currently getting highlighted, such as the major resurgence the Sega Saturn has been experiencing in recent years. From fan translations to multiple ODEs, to undiscovered content and cheat codes, a lot has been happening lately. Multiplayer Burning Rangers? An unlockable Clockwork Night 1 found in Clockwork Night 2 that uses the CW2 engine? These make for interesting reads, even if you aren't interested in the games themselves. The latest hype has been around Saroo, which tends to eliminate load times in most Saturn games. Yes, it is a niche console, but other niche systems with similar news could also be highlighted to keep things fresh.

 

[Xdqwerty]

Page 10 is glitched so these are the scores I wanted to choose:

• News: 7
• Forums: 7
• Reviews: 5
• Tutorials: 7
• Downloads: 6
• Groups: 5
• Blogs: 4

 

[Xzi]

For the most part I only have positive feedback to give, sites like these are becoming few and far between as the internet becomes more homogenized into an AI-social media hybrid hivemind. The customizable front page layout here is a 12/10. I'm sure there will be no shortage of Switch 2 coverage, but I'd like to see more Steam Deck-focused articles to coincide with that and in the meantime, and more roguelike/soulslike game reviews.

 

[DJ-Yoshiman]

Oh, damn, from a place that shared roms to today that's actually a devolution.

Given the recent circumstances occurring with ROM sharing sites, it's better than not being a website at all.

 

[KingBlank]

Now beyond the scope of the main post, I wanted to weigh in with my own personal opinions and ideas.

Chief among these would be something of a post rounding up, organising, and summarising press releases for a given week. In my mind this could include AAA updates, upcoming indie games, interesting tech, and even be a place that emulation handhelds could be brought up in a somewhat peaceful way. Where topics garner a lot of attention, future updates on the subject could be revisited as individual posts separate from the roundup. That way relevant topics stay on top, and the roundup-style posting would remain meaningful for not duplicating information. This is something I’ve started to put together, so I’m eager to see if it pans out beyond sounding like a reasonable idea.

Next, I feel like something of a review and editorial content suggestion box could be a nice idea. If there’s a bit of tech or a game you’re particularly curious about, it’s useful for us to know. It’s easy for a lot of interesting stuff to fly under the radar in terms of reviews, and as a team it can sometimes be difficult to see good content beyond our own usual interests. Outside perspectives are always useful. The same goes for editorial content really. If for example you’ve seen me review a handheld and think it’d be good to see a separate post going further in depth on a topic not touched upon as heavily in the review, it’d be great to hear about it. Nobody on the editorial team is paid for their contributions here, and we all have jobs and obligations outside of the site, so we might not be able to cover everything that would be suggested. Having said that, there being direction of what people are actually interested in genuinely helps so much.

My last point will probably be the most controversial, but I really think people need to lay off with the DMCA posts. To me it kills a lot of the spirit for a site like this. It feels like people don’t care about the homebrew projects anymore, or those ROM hacks that people have put copious amounts of effort into. When more than half of the discussion devolves into “inb4 DMCA” instead of actually talking about the topic at hand, I just feel a little defeated. I’m not saying Nintendo or other companies aren’t going to take down fan games, hacks, whatever in the future. When they do there’ll probably be a news post from us saying so; I guess I just want people to actually enjoy these things again. Could we just make a DMCA thread in the General Gaming forum, or even EOF that people can contain this to? I don’t want to be a person to stifle discussion on a forum of all places, but surely people must see they’re already doing this themselves after a certain point?

But yeah, that’s me. I’ve been writing here for the past seven years at this point and I’ve still got a lot to learn. I really like GBAtemp, and I want to write things people are interested in. As I said in the main post I’m happy to answer any questions people might have about how things are run, or how I write my posts. I’m really hoping we can get some good feedback and ideas that we can run with to make the front page something everybody can get onboard with.

That first point in particular I really agree with, I go other places for 99% of my tech news these days, I'd love for GBATemp to have more of it.

Until I did the survey I did not realize that random user's could have their posts promoted to the main page, that makes me think that maybe I'd like to start posting news that excites me.