GameMaster System?

[Genesis Knight]

FAQs can be good sometimes, but often they're missing that little tiny piece of info you need, and the email address included inside is almost always dead. >.>

Forums would be an option, but on GameFAQs its just a bunch of nimrods; besides, nothing's better than a personal tutor!

So what if we incorporated into the Master List a Game Master contact? People who think they've got the knowledge sign up to adopt a game. A GM link is put up next to the game in the Master List, and when someone needs some help they just click the link. (It'd be a MailTo deal with Melf as a target.) The Q would go to Melf, who would route it accordingly.

[Drixxel]

That's an interesting idea. That certainly would offer more complete aid to anyone struggling with a particular game, granted someone had signed on as a Game Master for it. But unless every game in the master list had a Game Master attached, it wouldn't be as useful a replacement as the current system of post-game-question-in-forum-await-eventual-response, and while I could understand a game like Phantasy Star II having a designated all-knowing master, Columns doesn't strike me as being a game needing the same type of guru.

But there could be an isolated discussion forum just for game assistance, granted it got to the point where the Genesis, Sega CD and 32x discussion forums were flooded with questions from people stumped in a particular game. That way, all board members would have a chance to offer their advice, and presumably at least one of us would know what the hell we were talking about.

[Melf]

I think any questions about Genesis, Sega CD, or 32X games can be asked in their respective forums. Adding a new forum for tips and advice would only splinter the subject matter for each system, and could possibly confuse our readers. Keeping everything in each system's forums serve to maintain info easily accessible.

[Genesis Knight]

Oh-kay.

*crash and burn*

[Drixxel]

Oh yeah, Melf, I completely agree with you. The Genesis, Sega CD, and 32x forums are perfectly fine for any and all discussion pertaining to each, be it a solicitation for gaming assistance or otherwise. What I meant was that once the Sega-16 forums are up to thousands of members, keeping things all neatly organized will obviously be of greater importance, and more forums generally means better organization. I don't see a need at all for an individual game assistance forum yet, but who knows, maybe some day if the board is overtaken by hordes emmigrating from GameFAQs seeking game progression wisdom. I really dig the fact that the focus here at Sega-16 is one of general gaming discussion instead of game assistance, and hopefully that doesn't change once this place gains in popularity, which it surely will.

[Melf]

but who knows, maybe some day if the board is overtaken by hordes emmigrating from GameFAQs seeking game progression wisdom.

Start laying the sandbags now! :P

The next version of the boards will include sub forums, so I plan to consolidate and reorganize when traffic picks up. We can the include game aid sub forums within each systems's main forum.

Honestly, that much traffic is a problem I wouldn't mind having right now!

[Genesis Knight]

As a side note, I wasn't suggesting subforums. It would be an email system with Melf as the router and volunteers as the recepients. Or just a straight-up email link system.

[tim333]

Honestly, that much traffic is a problem I wouldn't mind having right now!

How are you paying for your hosting? THAT could become a problem you don't want to have.

[Melf]

Thanks to the great folks at Got-Next, we're in no danger of running out of space or bandwith. We could handle the traffic without any trouble.

[Mel]

I look forward to seeing traffic increase.