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This needs a hook:
CONTENT MANAGEMENT FOR THE ENTIRE GAMING COMMUNITY.
That should help
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It started out, I was thinking about some kind of server registering system for Quake 4 Files (I've also been thinking about how the quake 4 section of filefront is also called Quake 4 Files, but I'm not sure if that counts
), that would work like this:An admin decides to register his server. He fills out a form on Quake 4 Files, providing the server IP and name, admin names, doesn't really matter, generic server information, and he gets his very own directory for his server. In this directory he can upload all his own unique files. All those files are listed along with how many times they have been autodownloaded on a dynamically created page which also lists all his server information. Basically he has his own little unique file space for his server, that's the point.
Then I start thinking, what the hell is the point of that? So he can upload his own unique versions of files, who cares? That's not a very big thing. So he has unique auto-download stats for his server, who WANTS that? Who would register a server FOR that? What the hell is the point? I've got this idea in my head, and it's mostly just "man, I could make a really cool dynamic script and these 1337 forms and do all this manipulation of the fileserver etc. but it would be of no real use to anyone and a real waste of space." I mean, all those files might as well just BE on the main site. I just wanna do some more cool stuff.
So, still wrestling with this, I start wandering around disheartened. I'm looking at some post mentioning that q4max stats (or whatever) script (which I am really impressed by btw) and q4mon (the server monitoring device written in perl by that guy) right next to eachother. Then I started thinking wow, tons of people are gonna have these two things on their website, possibly some clan or server based website where there's a forum with links to their server tracker and stats pages. All those sites are so similar. For that matter, all gaming-related sites are so similar. So many of the mod-developement sites I've been to look exactly the same with aesthetic changes. Then I started thinking about the community linking these things together. Then I started thinking about this kind of massively collective modularization. Then I started thinking about MySpace (except not stupid). Then I started thinking about taking an entire community and putting it under one roof. In this case, a gaming community.
Imagine this:
You go to a forum, and it has one of those "Most Recent Posts" boxes, like on esreality. It shows in which thread the most recent changes have taken place. Now, replace all those threads with dynamically generated web pages, and give every game, mod, server, clan, team, player, it's own thread. That box gives every single person in the community their shot at the publicity. They automatically have viewers. Every single person on this site instantly has a link to some guy named "1337gokusnip0r" on the page they are viewing because of a single post, and they can be viewing his stats in an instant if they take the slightest interest in what they see.
A website, under a single domain name, divided into sections containing sub-sections containing capsules, but built from the capsules up. A user requests an account, and is prompted for the type of account.
Be it a mod? Be it an individual? Is it a server hosting company?
If it's a mod, would you like us to supply you with space to host various releases, a generic news page, and a forum? Anything else you need? Would you like to link it a to an account for the official server running the mod? Would you like an automatically generated list of other accounts for servers who are listed as running your mod?
If it's an individual, what's your ingame name? Any aliases? Would you like us to link this account to the accounts of your aliases? Would you like your stats to be recorded and displayed? Would you like your account to have links to the servers you frequent (dynamically generated of course)?
If it's a clan, would you like to check out accounts for tournaments for your game? Do you have a server? How about creating an account for it, and having all of that information, tracker, stats and all, right on your clan page? Forums are a must, right? Sure, you can have whatever and however many sections you want for your forum, full forum functionality (phpbb is open source, isn't it?
). Try this one on for size: A shopping cart for your merchandise?You can see where I'm going with this. It's basically an evolution of the blogging/wiki/overall community vector. I mean, all these sites, Quake 3 world, esreality, that delta ctf site, personal profiles, other stuff that I don't know about because I'm a total noob, are parented by THE INTERNET. They have their own domain names and are fairly seperate despite being linked together by THE INTERNET. So we add a buffer between these modules and the vast expanse of nothingness. No longer are these people walking around in a cafeteria with their eyes closed bumping into things. This is basically a content management layer.
Plus it's fully skinnable
I realize there are drawbacks to this. There would be a lot of competition with the big names... Not really competition, but people might be drawn away from this service by the familiarity of their local forum. Also, there is only so much this can do. It's kind of just about easy access to information... I mean everything. Easy access to everything involving the gaming community (I guess... I'm still iffy as to the scope of this. Maybe one game for starters, maybe all of gaming for starters. Maybe cities will be next). But how much easier will it be? Assuming Everything walks up and uses our service, I suppose we would cover it by making a bunch of news posts on the front page on things that have been deemed "Of Interest." We would probably also have "Most Recently Created Modules [or capsules or sites or profiles or whatever name sticks]" and "Recently Changed Modules [including adding content, new posts on forums, changing other stuff, any excuse to get the name on the front page]" and then some major sections. There will probably be tons of ways to group stuff. It's just a huge information gathering and publicizing endeavor. Whether people will come here or stick to something like gamespy for their information, who knows.
I also tend to think "people like having their own website," but this thing is free (probably ad-driven =\ how else would it work? Still non-profit though) and would be as customizeable as possible. I don't know, I think I'm done. This post was probably too long for anybody to read, and sorry for the terrible quality, haha, hastily written. The point is, YES THE INTERNET IS CAPABLE OF DOING THIS. Feedback?
Sorry, I shouldn't have gotten him started on all this q4 community stuff...