Content Ideas

[Brasel]

I've been thinking about the future of my YouTube channel and growing my Internet brand. I've really been wanting to open a video game website blog, similar to Kotaku, but more than just journalistic articles. I'd love to use the site to compile reviews on old and new games, opinion pieces on the current video game industry, podcasts, video segments (top 10 lists, lets plays, reviews, etc.), and other fun content. I graduate in two months and I'm going to have a lot of free time for pet projects...free time that I haven't had for the last 10 years.

I know that AGN was going through some changes a few years ago, and Dark Dragon had a website redesign commissioned, but it still hasn't seen the light of day. I wanted to test the waters of the staff here to see how people would react to using AGN as the base for my idea. We could integrate the existing community with the website, and include content and reviews on new Zelda Classic quests, among our other projects like Final Fantasy Classic. I've built a decent sized network of like minded gamers on Twitter recently, and I'm sure I can get a lot of new people in to help out with content. If we wanted to, we could see about getting some advertisers to help circumvent hosting fees and maybe eventually generate some profit if we become popular enough. We would need to aggressively market the site on social media like Twitter, Instagram, etc.

I've been administering some Word Press sites for work recently and that is how I was thinking to at least get started.

I've been thoroughly enjoying writing reviews and creating videos, and I really want to delve into this more and more. If AGN isn't interested in doing this, I can definitely make a start from scratch, and I'll always promote AGN's products and link people here.

Let me know what your thoughts are or if you have any questions.

[CJC]

Okay, what would you be planning to 'synergize' away from AGN in the process? Is this strictly an additive idea, or do you want to prune things as well?

If AGN were to move into any sort of revenue generation (from advertisement banners most likely), it would need to be revenue generated in the interest of what we can supply to the gaming community. By which I mean: it needs to be related to the reviews, not Zelda Classic.



I'm not against the idea but I'm not completely sold on it yet. I don't mean to sound like a sheep, but I want to see how the other staff members feel about this before I cast a vote.

[King Aquamentus]

I'd be glad to join in on this actually. That said, Zelda Classic has for a long time been a huge part of what AGN is all about. If something else grows out of it, the two sides need to be able to coexist pretty well

[Brasel]

It would be purely addition. Nothing would be removed from AGN. Advertising would all be gaming related, not necessarily geared towards Zelda Classic.

Basically we'd add a main page again, and have a dedicated staff to start posting reviews, podcasts, videos, etc.

[King Aquamentus]

I like that idea. I've been curious for some time about getting into that sort of thing but I don't know much about it.

[CJC]

When you phrase it like that, yeah, I can get behind that.

[Dechipher]

We've had initiatives like this before, and it always winds up dwindling. I certainly don't want to quell any ambition or momentum, but I just want to point out that we used to have semi-regular reviews on the main site, but it never really blossomed. That doesn't mean it can't now.

That said, with services such as IGN seeming to move towards more frequent video-based reviews, text-based reviews could be more welcome (I hate having to load videos. I don't have time to sit through all of your splash screens!)
Offering reviews of ZC quests would definitely be a good unique draw.

I think another game project would be awesome, but I can't contribute anything other than music to it, so I can't really push much for that.

Something like ZC, with similar nostalgia factor, but no copyright hangups, could be really cool. The quest creation mechanic is the strongest part, and something with that scope could easily put this place back on the map again. It's just hard to get people that are dedicated/competent/creative without being able to pay them.

[Brasel]

I remember the reviews and I kind of wished they were still around. I didn't get into them at the time for whatever reason, but like I said before, I'm going to have a ton of time soon. I've really enjoyed doing videos lately and I want to start doing written reviews as well. I'm going to end up doing it one way or another, and I just wanted to maybe drag AGN along with me on my journey if it would let me.

Also: I don't do video intros because I feel the same way. I can't stand sitting through them. I have one intro on my main page if you aren't subscribed, and that's it. If you're a regular watcher, you don't need a reminder every time you load up one of my videos.

[SUCCESSOR]

I like the idea but then again I have liked a lot of ideas that have fallen flatter than a flourless pancake. I really want to AGN actually become more than just a forum again. I have had a few ideas unfortunately I lack any skill in Web design and frankly we have no one around who does with the time/desire. I think your ideas fit AGN. In fact, if I remember correctly something like that was attempted. If I was the one making the decision on whether or not we go through with this I would like to see:

Content providers: I know we can count on you to provide at least the content you have been. Honestly, I would really love to see another few people who would be willing to regularly pitch in content of some kind. This wouldn't be impossible either. We have some members here who record and stream. There are also some members at Pure who do record, stream, review, and even write articles and stuff like that. AGN also had a member who did video reviews of shows(and maybe other things) that were pretty darn good but I can't remember who. This is all moot if none of these people are willing or don't have the time to contribute.

Community support: This is a big one. Is anyone really going to care if this succeeds or fails. Thats a problem with a lot of great ideas that pop up here at AGN. We're a bunch apathetic bastards. I'd love to see some people actually excited about the idea. Having people that actually care and "tune-in" helps drive the project. I would hate to see a few people put a lot of work into something and then lose heart because it seems like no one cares. I understand this is beyond just the AGN community and would involve social media and other such things so its not all up to us lazy AGNers to back it, but I think you know what I mean.

Structure: Some kind of plan and organization; a real model of how/when of sorts. This would obviously be a WIP sort of thing but I really just dislike grand ideas that get people excited and then never show any practical application. It would also help to know that the entirety of it isn't all going to be dependent on a factor that might just never happen such as "no one wants to make the webpage." Also how would someone who is interested in being a part of this get involved... etc.

Then again the idea of any progress being made on AGN is something I support. So, I guess its all moot. As far as advertizing is concerned I see absolutely no reason why we shouldn't have it on AGN's main page. ZC has it's own site and the forums obviously shouldn't have ads plastered on them. That is a matter for Kolt, DD, and possibly WarLord to decide on though.

This is getting to long and I kinda forgot where I was going with it at this point. So here is my late reply that I have been meaning to post for days.

[Brasel]

I honestly have the full intention of getting a whole business plan together and mapping everything out. This isn't something that I want to take lightly.

I have had some experience working with Wordpress over the last year at my job, and I think I could get a decent main page put together if that's what we end up using. I'm also posting my videos to a review site that also uses Wordpress. Wordpress is incredibly easy to pull together and manage. Contributing content to a Wordpress site is almost as easy as it is to create a thread here in the forums.

As far as having time and energy to do it: like I said, I'm going to have a ton of it soon and I really want to put my energy into something I love. I've been writing and filming these reviews for almost six months now and I still love doing it. I'm always thinking up new ideas and jotting stuff down on notepad on my laptop.

I absolutely feel that the admins need to have a say on the advertising aspect of it. This doesn't actually have to come right away, and could be a phase that happens further in the future.

I can come up with a complete plan within the next month or so. I'll get some of my own content together, test out launching a private Wordpress site to have some sort of prototype deliverables to show, and try to see if I can come up with some more contributors.

I have a few personal friends who are interested in helping out with this idea. My sister is a highly ranked FPS player in the US and has been toying with doing some let's plays and live streams. Her boyfriend actually works as a technical artist for nVidia and is interested in writing up some educational pieces on working in the games industry and graphics card technology. I've got another few guys I know personally may be interested in putting together a podcast. The deal is that a lot of the content providers that I know aren't members here. I'd LOVE to get some of the ZC reviewers and let's players to contribute, and with a place as easy as Wordpress to post their videos, I'm sure they would like to contribute.

[King Aquamentus]

If I recall correctly, the reason those review died off was because of one of many hacks which destroyed AGN. When the website was once again restored, War Lord's reviews system was not restored with it.

Brasel, I don't know how the future stands but I would be highly interested in contributing to this once again.

Similar to ScrewAttack, a blog system for users could be nice. Also, a more advanced review system than we had originally. I actually think GameFAQS has a more advanced review system than what we did.

In short, we may need more memory.

[erm2003]

If I recall correctly, the reason those review died off was because of one of many hacks which destroyed AGN. When the website was once again restored, War Lord's reviews system was not restored with it.



I am recalling the same thing. So it's not like we stopped the reviews and stuff because of a lack of interest, probably more frustration because everything was lost and it would have had to start from scratch.

I am in favor of anything that can keep discussion flowing and has the potential to draw in new and productive members.

[King Aquamentus]

I am recalling the same thing. So it's not like we stopped the reviews and stuff because of a lack of interest, probably more frustration because everything was lost and it would have had to start from scratch..

It wasn't even frustration. We just freakin lost the facilities and War Lord wasn't around.

[Brasel]

Brasel, I don't know how the future stands but I would be highly interested in contributing to this once again.

Good deal.

[King Aquamentus]

I'm not too worried about videos because youtube, but should we have regular news updates and interesting articles?

"10 THINGS ABOUT METROID: OTHER M THAT ARE ACTUALLY KIND OF OK" - read more

[Brasel]

Oh definitely! I'm thinking of doing video game character analysis articles soon. Others I have thought about are articles like which is the best game in a particular series, what the hell is going on in the Metal Gear Solid storyline, etc.

[Brasel]

This is just an example of my writing. I'm going to be posting my articles at Gaming Rebellion while I hone my craft a bit. I'm still going to get a plan together on how we can start adding my proposed content.

http://www.gamingrebellion.com/2014/11/video-game-reflections/

[Brasel]

Here is what I'm thinking about starting over the next few months. This is a rough outline and as I get closer to finishing up deliverable number 1, we can set target dates on the rest.

1. Put together a Prototype Wordpress Site with some example content from things that I already have.
2. If the prototype site is accepted, we will likely want to investigate the feasibility of linking vB users to the Wordpress site. Not sure how or if this can be done, especially if Wordpress and the forums exist in two separate locations. We can talk about this when we get closer to #1 being finished.
3. Develop a staff structure. Administrators/Editors, Senior Contributors, Contributors...
4. Get the content contributors rounded up and get them started on projects. The administrators or "editors" can be responsible for coming up with assignments to contributors, and contributors are encouraged to bring their own ideas onboard as well. These can be articles, essays, podcasts, video reviews, lets plays, etc. I may be able to get a podcast together, so I'd like first crack at that content.
5. We will need to set up a DNS redirect so that www.armageddongames.net (http://www.armageddongames.net) goes to the Wordpress site as the main site. There will be a very clear "FORUMS" link on the main site.
6. Contributors will be held to weekly content. They don't need to submit content that belongs in the same series every week, but they will need to post something. For example: I could submit a video review every two weeks, and on the off weeks, post an article or some other written content.
7. Hit social media hard and often. Post something to Twitter/Facebook/whatever each time content is posted. Engage in conversation with people reached through social media. Be sure to comment on content posted to the site to stimulate conversation.
8. Network with other video game blogs/sites/etc. See about collaborating for certain projects.
-Long Term
9. Once we grow our userbase, look into advertising from video game companies or from complementary products. Complementary products such as PC hardware, Doritos/MTN Dew, or other geeky stuff like movies/TV shows. Hopefully this can lead to cool stuff like free review copies of video games, invitations to major events such as E3, interviews with major game developers.

Content Ideas Include:
-Video Game Reviews
-Video Game Story or Character Analysis
-Lets plays of new and popular video games, retro games, AGN developed games.
-Live Streams
-Podcasts
-Video Game news
-Interviews with popular letsplayers or streamers
-Interviews with developers - including the AGN devs. :)

If there is anything I missed or anything you want to add, let me know. How does this look?

[King Aquamentus]

a few suggested amendments:

1 and 2: I'd test the connectivity of vbulletin and wordpress ASAP. Nothing sucks more than assembling a nice prototype and having a big rift between it and the AGN forums.

5: If it is necessary. I realize that at some point you will need to communicate considerably with Ctrl-Alt-Delete, so why not see if there is possibly a more direct approach?

6: This sorta answers another question I had, but for clarification: I could for example one week talk about the real life versions of Goldeneye stages, and the next dissect the garbled voice samples from Ikari Warriors II?

7: Although Social Media is as essential as water, man can't live on it alone. AGN needs effective marketing too.

8: SCREWATTACK.COM AND GAME GRUMPS PLZ

And that's about all I really got to say at this time. For content, I'm a veritable fountain of ideas ranging from funny to "oh interesting". See the above examples? Besides, content regarding Zelda Classic will totally be a thing too.

Some content off the top of my head:

-Why Schala is just as bad as Magus
-Ikari Warriors II: "kick a clown, that's right" ?
-Scripting: At what point is a ZC Quest no longer a quest?
-Swords and Fantasy: Zelda in the 80's
-Canon in the Mushroom Kingdom: Why everything you know about Mario is a lie
-Why Nintendo doesn't make more of your favorite game (and why that's a good thing)
-Top 10 things that didn't suck about the Super Mario Bros movie
-Top 10 things that didn't suck about Metroid: Other M
-The Confusing Geography of Hyrule

Hey Tony, what do you think about opening the forums to this kind of content now, and then importing it over to the site when the time comes?

[Brasel]

I guess getting the rest of the forum members an idea of what's going on wouldn't be bad at this point. It may allow several contributors to surface. I'll answer the rest of your points when I get home tonight.

[King Aquamentus]

Looking forward to it

[Brasel]

1/2/5: I definitely understand there being potential problems with Wordpress and the main site being hosted somewhere else entirely. The reason for my wanting to do it this way is that I don't really know how much access I'd be aloud to have to the hosted server where AGN is sitting. Doing it this way would make it a lot easier for me to have full control over the main site without enroaching on the rest of the AGN content if the powers that be (Warlord, Kolt, Dark Dragon) don't want me to have access. Doing a quick search suggests that it won't be impossible to pull off. We have enough IT minded people in the staff that it would definitely be feasible.

6: Definitely right on that point. As long as you'd be contributing something per week, it's all good.

7: Social media is where I've had a lot of success recently. My YouTube channel is starting to get some notice from more popular channels, such as RerezTV, and I'm not even 6 months into this yet. Other forms of marketing are certainly acceptable, but I'm not as versed in those areas. I could do things like try and post or hand out flyers at local game shops and host local gaming events in the STL area.

8: Those are some elite people, and I'd love to get to that point. Hopefully we can some day.

Your content ideas are spot on. Those are the kinds of things I'd definitely want to include.

I was initially all for mentioning this to the whole AGN userbase, but after some thought, I'd really like to get the input of the other admins. @War Lord (http://armageddongames.net/member.php?u=38500) @DarkDragon (http://armageddongames.net/member.php?u=1) @ctrl-alt-delete (http://armageddongames.net/member.php?u=40755) @Gleeok (http://armageddongames.net/member.php?u=42714) ShadowTiger
If this isn't feasible or the other admins aren't on board, my feelings will not be hurt at all. I can certainly move forward without AGN.

[ctrl-alt-delete]

Pretty busy through the end of the year.

Kind of skimmed the thread--AGN and ZC definitely need a true main site, but all of us have been too busy to produce anything.

I can get FTP access to you no problem, but we definitely need to have a full blown plan first.

[Gleeok]

I'm probably in the same boat as cad; busy with other projects, bringing the 5th quest to a close, and all the other holiday season nonsense coming up, so I'm unlike to contribute anything, really. I do agree that ZC definitely needs it's own site regardless of any other changes that are made.

Other than that I'm all for anything positive around here. Not too much has been done in the last year or two, and although ZC 2.5 has been finished and the forums are running smoothly again, everything else has become a little stagnated. I'm all for anything that benefits the community, and it sounds for the most part like this would be community driven.

[Brasel]

Thanks for the input guys. I really don't want to make any moves over the holidays, for sure. I'd rather wait until after the New Year to move forward with anything.

I'll work on a solid plan over the holidays, along with a mock up site as proof of concept.

[King Aquamentus]

We could begin really doing stuff in January. In the meantime there's no harm in playing around with what we can do now.

If nobody objects, I am going to begin a series of threads in General Entertainment to serve as articles. If you need or want filler for the prototype, feel free to use them

I may also apply my degree towards something useful here, and construct some new visual content for Armageddon Games.

http://www.fonts2u.com/nes-controller.font here's a font that I don't think gets used very often but looks quite nice. What do you think of it?

[Brasel]

Sounds good, man.

I also love the font.

[King Aquamentus]

Looks like its free to use as you see fit, so I'm gonna grab it. Feel free to do the same.

I have to ask before getting into anything on a Graphic Design level, what exactly are your primary messages to send to potential visitors? These will influence content created.

[ShadowTiger]

I like the font, but the "L" and "i" tend to merge together to become a "U" and that can get pretty hard on the eyes. Still worth investigating though. :shrug:

I'm always onboard with an idea that allows AGN to be more than what it currently is, and allows it to be of more use to a wider variety of people. I could even go so far as to call them consumers at some point, though that's likely a point well into the future.

I tend to prefer to think of it in terms of "What can AGN offer the world that no other site can?" What isn't elsewhere that isn't too useless?

What do people tend to gravitate around? I know that I always seem to get sucked into Buzzfeed articles because I like to see what I have in common with them, and what I've encountered over my scant few years as a mortal that matches up with what they write about. Everyone loves to do that.

So is this a thing about what other people already think? Or on what people should think. Or is it somewhere that doesn't even lie nearby to either of the two?

Whatever it is, it also needs a personality. Remember reading any particular cracked .com article, and the writer is making these truly, truly snarky comments in the middle of each article, with a little image punctuating their thoughts in a visual form, with its own little subtitle? Or when jacksfilms (The Youtube film artist.) goes all 4th wall? We need to find a "voice" that the reader will hear in their head when they read any particular article. I feel that this is extremely important. It ensures people will remember what they've just written, at least for one reason or another.

[King Aquamentus]

I tend to prefer to think of it in terms of "What can AGN offer the world that no other site can?"

This is a big part of that "what are your primary messages to viewers" question above. This info is key to creating some good stuff.

[Chris Miller]

I'd definitely like to help out in any way I can. I'm not really up on all the newer games around these days, though.

I could do a retro LP/speedrun for the site once in a while if it would be helpful.

[Brasel]

Lets plays and speed runs are encouraged. :)

As far as the original content goes, having interesting and original articles or videos will go a long way, I think. Most of the "interesting articles" online these days that aren't on sites like Cracked.com, are top ten list slide shows, and those are annoying. The stuff KA has been posting in the Video Games discussion forums is looking like a good start. I'm hopefully getting new equipment for my videos in the next few months as well, so I'll be able to up the quality of my game too. I also have a few articles that I want to write, but with all the other stuff I've been doing, I haven't gotten around to them yet. I really think we have some quality stuff on it's way. AGN also has assets in Zelda Classic and the other projects which we would definitely be able to use. We will definitely need someone to review and showcase high quality Quests on a regular basis. That's one of the problems I think the main Zelda Classic site has now, there isn't enough showcase of what you can do and the games you can play.

[Brasel]

There is a good chance I'll be upgrading ALL of my equipment in a few weeks. Camera, capture card, computer, video editing software, etc. Once I get this done, I'll start working on the plan. I should have a deliverable by January.

[CJC]

I'm thinking of starting some "WIWD" (What I would've done) discussions, actually. It's your typical "things that I would have done differently" rants on video games and movies. I was wondering... should I be augmenting these sorts of posts with visual aids (Pictures, mainly). What are your thoughts?

[Brasel]

I think putting in some visual aids really helps make the overall experience feel a bit more fun. If you don't want to, though, that's not a problem. I think it's definitely a bonus to have those sorts of things, but it doesn't detract from the article if they aren't present and the article is good.

[Brasel]

I'm opening this discussion up for everyone who is a part of the board at this time.

[King Aquamentus]

I'm in agreement with Brasel on that. Its a big boon too if you have videomaking skills for that sorta thing, but let's be honest: who really does? Whatever you come up with will be fine I'm sure.

[Brasel]

I've been thinking about this a lot, and I wanted to have some sort of plan to move forward on by now. I don't have anything right now, but that's not to say I'm abandoning the idea. I want to work on some more videos for the next few months to see what my new schedule will allow. I had a busier holiday than I anticipated, and I'd really like to get some more videos done and some more research in before jumping into this.

[King Aquamentus]

I have as well, and other things have also come up that take some dedication. Don't feel too bad.

[Brasel]

I don't. There is absolutely no timeline on this, and taking it slow and feeling out the process is completely fine by me. I've been on such strict time crunches for everything else I've done in the last 5 years that taking something slow and steady is just what I want.

[Brasel]

I've been working with Gaming Rebellion lately and providing them with articles and I've gotten a good bit of insight behind undertaking the ideas that I originally had. That being said, the work that goes into managing a site like that is huge, and I'm not sure I'm up to the task of spearheading something similar here at this time. It's hard enough generating weekly content without having to manage a huge website on top of it. I'm sorry to disappoint anyone who was REALLY interested.