Hamma has written an editorial on Fan Sites and why he believes their future is limited.
Fast forward around 10 years where Facebook and Twitter are the norm. Videos and live broadcasts can be setup at a whim. No special equipment is required to live stream anything you want from your own home. To interact with the developers all you need is a Twitter account and about two seconds of time to compose a tweet. Social link sharing sites can create vast communities with a simple click of a button. I see this as the watering down of true community. This is blessing and a curse because since we were already established these sites benefit us as well.
Check out the full editorial here and post your thoughts on Fan Websites and Communities here.
34 comments
2013-02-26 03:25 PM
Latest Comments
| 2013-02-26 06:08 PM | ||
| Babyfark McGeez |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites I hate twitter and i only use facebook to keep in touch with friends i cannot meet otherwise. Forums are imo still the best way to get together for a specific topic, and since the official forum is a hostile cesspit (like pretty much any official game forum) i use this one instead. Unofficial game forums won't die out, i'm fairly certain on that. And if they do, i still won't use twitter. 
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| 2013-02-26 06:10 PM | ||
| ChipMHazard |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites
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| 2013-02-26 06:17 PM | ||
| Rahabib |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites
Viva la forums! |
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| 2013-02-26 06:18 PM | ||
| Mox |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites Twitter, FB and Co. offer no real content and no real discussion. Just some words with no depth. It will never be a proper substitute for a forum. |
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| 2013-02-26 06:18 PM | ||
| SixShooter |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites
Great write up Hamma. 
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| 2013-02-26 07:00 PM | ||
| Anderz |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites I think the decline of fan sits is partly related to the decline of mod tools. It used to be that fan sites were the primary news outlets for community based projects, such as full conversion mods. But without many games shipping with mod tools, that's died off. Still, community created video content has thrived in recent years, and I honestly think PSU could do more to highlight that side of the community. |
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| 2013-02-26 08:30 PM | ||
| Mordelicius |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites Game fan sites will remain relevant as long as there are: - Long term MMOs - Moddable games I just visited an old game fansite I used to frequent that's been around since 1999. Because of the modding community and the longevity of the gaming series, I was shocked to see 260+ guests viewing alone aside from the members logged in. As for the current importance of PSU, it may not get as much exclusives as newer corporate channels but it's influence on the development of PS2 is much stronger. I can't picture the state of PS2 without the input from this community's forum. Anyway, the internet just keeps reinventing itself. When the granddaddy of internet hub, AOL, died, its personalized hub facet eventually reincarnated to Myspace, Facebook and Twitter. The news/content aggregation portion reformed into Digg and Reddit. While Google is still Google after it killed all those search engines  . So, basically if one is looking for stuff in the internet, people used to find them off AOL (channels, message board, chat, im), digging through Yahoo or using the pre-Google-dominated search engines. Now, that the old guard has imploded everything is blooming in their own specialized niche universe. Before the social networking explosion, there basically are three gaming sites: Fan sites, Official sites then Review sites. Now, if one is looking for "Planetside 2", PSU may get a alot of hit from Google or maybe a crosslink from Twitter. Before, the fan sites, review sites and official sites share links feeding off each other's traffic. Now, social networking is basically undercutting much of the middle-man large fansites in terms of propagating information. Also, the smaller fan sites simply recrystallized into blogs or twitter pages, while the bigger sites are still around due to two thing I've mentioned above: MMOs and Modding. |
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| 2013-02-26 08:38 PM | ||
| ChipMHazard |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites
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| 2013-02-26 09:00 PM | ||
| Assist |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites
I hate having to go to Twitter to figure out big news for shit. Hamma, you're dead on with social media taking over. I don't think it's a good thing either. I see why developers use Twitter, Facebook, etc, but they should be doing what SoE attempts to do and use their fans sites. Twitter certainly has its uses, but I think NEWS worthy stuff should be laid out on forums and fansites. I see some of the dev's at SoE do it right when they link to a story on a website where they made a post. That's how you build a community. Twitter is NOT a fan community, and personally I feel the same way about Reddit, it's a great place to put a link to a reliable website and that's all. It's similar to what mass media and the internet has done to Newspapers. How many people do you see read a Newspaper anymore? People go to websites that stream headlines and then sort through to what they want to read. I know I do, without fark.com I don't think I'd know what happened in the world. The problem is that the fansite lifetime is not based on the fans themselves but the product they're a fan of. If that company doesn't recognize the fansite then they're irrelevant. The company decides whether or not their fans stick around and I think with the last bitch-fest from certain people it gives good reason to worry about the appeal of PSU. I came to this site originally because I saw a developer posting here. It made me think that this is a place that developers read so when I come up with asinine ideas they may possibly read them. The problem is some people weren't educated with the great films in history: |
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| 2013-02-26 10:01 PM | ||
| ChipMHazard |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites
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| 2013-02-27 12:19 AM | ||
| Micro |
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| 2013-02-27 03:21 AM | ||
| SwiftRanger |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites A proper fan site's task is to be critical but foremost to channel all the worthwhile community and development stuff into a nice overview. Internet and social media are evolving but not everyone can keep tabs on what the devs said on Twitter, FNO, the Something Awful forum, SOE Live, Command Center, the official forums, Reddit and even here. Someone has to filter the relevant stuff and put it in one place. Imo it's your "job" to compile that information because whether a visitor to PSU is a PS1 veteran or a PS newbie doesn't matter: we're all absolutely starved for new information, PlanetSide 2 is in a development stage all the time and that's what makes it so exciting (even more so than with PS1 imo). And if you ask me, PSU is doing a great job already but compiling what has been said could still use some work as certain details still slip through (I've tried to do similar things for other games under other aliases in the past but you have to maintain such compilation threads). It's not easy since words sometimes get retracted by devs and the game is in a constant flux. And SOE is really talking all the time which is good but it's harder for its fans that way  . For example: with all due respect for FNO, it's an awesome concept, but seeing 2 hours of video each week to extract the worthy dev quotes/answers and new content footage there is something I can't bring myself to every time.PSU should post such things alongside with what the community comes up with; launching valued feedback and suggestion forum threads for the developers, akin to what Reddit has consistently (and remarkably) been very good at for PS2. Youtube-flicks with great tips and tricks also belong here. All the while there still needs to be a civil behaviour towards everyone (not easy to enforce either). A random gameplay stream of a big outfit leader with often questionable ethics for example is the "other" end of the community, PSU shouldn't go there. That's the part of social media I don't think you have to be jealous about, a regular fan site just can't cope with that. It's also understandable though that people follow those streams because if they're not getting their info fix of developers then they'll want to see feedback from people playing the game and also watch more tricks of how to become a more effective XP whore. In the end the folks who are looking at those streams will still come back here if you provide them with new information about the game or something that will enhance their playing experience (the stats API for example). I think the best proof that PSU isn't doing bad at all is that with each GU more visitors flock to the site to see the reactions about how the game is. You're the diablo.incgamers.com of the PlanetSide 2 community because you're the oldest fan site and you still remain critical of the game too. And we all have to stay critical since PS2 could be so much more. We'll get there though, I am sure of that. EDIT: as for big PC gaming sites not linking many stories anymore; they aren't used to the F2P model and the constant stream of new information bits. They won't dig as deep as PSU because what they'll find of new details is something that doesn't warrant a newspost for the general audience. Only with big updates will they get into action and that info is available to everyone, not just PSU. It's hard to get exclusive info yes, still, when you're at a live event I think that's a chance to make a stand. Keep up those interviews with hard questions, sites will pick those up eventually. |
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| 2013-02-27 09:23 AM | ||
| Hamma |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites Good post sir - well said! |
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| 2013-02-27 10:10 AM | ||
| Thunderhawk |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites I must say, I do rely heavily on PSU for cutting out the waffle from FNO and just highlighting what the Devs said during their segment. I am not that excited about watching some outfit do their thing on a server somewhere, and much rather had anything the Devs say (Luperza and Jimmy) all in one place to read. I think the community of PSU (not just the owners who do a great job) do very well in collecting that information and posting it on the PS2 forums for us to read. Thanks for that service guys, it saves me watching hours of Twitch video just in case a Dev says something 3/4 of the way through that I would find interesting. |
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| 2013-02-27 11:39 AM | ||
| Hamma |
Re: Editorial: Decline of Fan Sites Glad to hear! 
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