iPhone Games Forum Split

Hi guys,

The iPhone game forum has massive traffic, making it difficult to keep up. The first page of topics only reflects the last hour or so of posts.

So in interest of splitting attention more evenly, I think it makes sense to split the forum into sub categories. Based on how this forum is used, I think it's best to have the following split:

Upcoming Games
New Games (Out for less than 1 week)
Older Games (Out for longer than 1 week)

Unfortunately, this will require some manual movement of threads from New games to Old games over time. But overall should help exposure for all games. Depending on how that breakdown works in practice, we could change the "1 week" period longer.

thoughts?
arn

I would also add a sub forum called "Coming Soon". For games that are not yet released. EDIT: And another one where devs can post promo codes.

Of course, it will be a lot more work for you site admins and mods...

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Last edited by snow_mani; 02-21-2009 at 05:04 AM.

I think "Upcoming Games" would handle the "Coming Soon"

arn

Hah! I missed the Upcoming Games!

Yes , I agree, alot of traffic. I think, as you mentioned, maybe 2 weeks for "new" releases.

EDIT: is there any way that the one for promos can be "locked" to non-member lurkers or "code snipers"???? Please. I'll even change my sig.

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Last edited by rIcHrAnDoM; 02-21-2009 at 05:42 AM.

How about topics for apps like Pocket God, which is getting weekly updates at the moment.
Will it be in the Older Games group, or will it be pushed back to the New Games with every update?

I assume that the Older Games is meant for topics that are not so active anymore, since the hype is often in new/upcoming games topics. But Pocket God is different.
I understand that this is an exception and you need to create general rules that work for most of the games. But still in order to create such a system, it's good to think about the exceptions and how to deal with those.

When I wake up and read up on the forums, there's often 4 pages of new topics. I'm in Europe, so it may be different for people in the US. I think that in a week, there are 8-16 pages of new topics that are popular for a little while and than fade to the background.

Are you thinking about moving topics weekly (all out, and new stuff comes in) or on a daily basis? It would be a LOT of work. Maybe then you'd have to make a rule for "One topic for each game", which would also create a large discussion (if you're allowing for a discussion, that is).

Not an easy decision.

I think the Older Games would be exactly for something like Pocket God. I think the interest in existing games is very different than interest in brand new games. A major game update would get a new thread in the Old Games area. Only 1.0 versions of games would appear in the New games section.

At it's simplest level I think that threads could automatically be moved from New to Old after a certain timeframe, but the time frame depends on how many thread that would be in practice.

arn

so looking at the thread list now

upcoming

metal gear solid touch
zen bound
IGN covers Bailout Bonanza

new

geodefense
idracula
the quest
shooter
snake XT
puzzle quest free
aqua moto racing lite
rouge touch
vector tanks
fusion

old

pocket god
space x update
mafia
bobble surfer
imafia
arvale: journey of illusion
vase craze
edge

"Old" feels... well... old . We aren't talking about abandonia, but about games, who are a few weeks or months old. "Old" does not fit as a description. Many of us didn't even start playing these "old" games, because of so much new stuff... And the chance to take a look at "old" games goes to zero, when we call them "old" games.

That looks really good.