Forums > MobyGames > Announcement (the old site is coming back)
MobyReed (386) on 12/18/2013 11:05 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
Hello MobyGames!
Long story short: my name is Reed, and my company Blue Flame Labs has acquired MobyGames from GameFly.
First things first - I'm happy to announce that the MobyGames you knew and loved is coming back in the VERY near future - hopefully as soon as later today! Yep, the site design is being rolled back. Poof. Adios to the redesign. Then we'll be working on fixing any bugs and various improvements, depending on what the community is looking for. I'll make a new thread for that, but feel free to start making suggestions. We'll also be working with Corn Popper and all contributors. This will be a community effort.
Also coming aboard is Simon Carless (investor) who helped me acquire MobyGames. He helps to run the Game Developers Conference and Gamasutra.com and is a former game developer himself. He's taken a long-term interest in the site's wellbeing, and is also going to be helping out in his spare time to make MobyGames even more definitive and recruiting other folks to fill out some of the missing areas.
Who am I? I'm a game designer and web developer. I've been working in the games industry since 1998, starting off at Impressions Software (where I created the official web sites for Pharaoh, Caesar III, Zeus, etc). My MobyGames profile is here. Although the bio is pretty outdated. :)
Over the years I've built dozens of game related web sites, including Drawception, VGBoxArt and GameTab (back in the day). I'm a life long gamer and have been visiting MobyGames since… well, forever it seems like.
The goal is to give the site some much-needed love and attention. MobyGames has long been an authoritative source for the games industry and we want to make sure it continues to be exactly that. The redesign a few months ago did not go well, as you know, so the very first course of action is to reverse that. Going forward we'll continue to improve things along with your input. I sincerely hope that those of who you have left recently will come back. We need you.
Let's bring back MobyGames!
-Reed
Edit: And now the rollback has completed. Please post if you find any bugs.
lilalurl (733) on 12/18/2013 11:48 PM · Permalink · Report
Good news.
My only suggestion is more communication, compared to the previous management. Unexpected issues/delays/whatever can be accepted as long as they are clearly stated as soon as possible (and not 6 months later...).
Looking forward to the future of MG under your management.
Iggi (36291) on 12/18/2013 11:51 PM · Permalink · Report
This... just sounds too good to be true...
However after all those communication disasters in the last few years I'm cautious and won't believe any announcement until I can see it with my own eyes ;-)
If your announcement should really be true then it would be one of the best Christmas presents I ever received :-)
billy thekid on 12/19/2013 12:31 AM · Permalink · Report
Wow Great News! I was about searching for an alternative cos i couldnt view any game covers anymore but since u bring back the old Design, that would be great!!! Thx guys
Cavalary (11448) on 12/19/2013 12:40 AM · Permalink · Report
If true, and if the outcome will match the posted intent, this would be awesome news! Of course, at this point I rather tend to be of the will-believe-it-when-i-see-it-and-maybe-not-even-then mindset regarding this place, but here's to hoping.
Indra was here (20750) on 12/19/2013 12:52 AM · Permalink · Report
I sense the MobyDark beckoning me forth from the shadows. What sorcery is this?
Trixter (8954) on 12/19/2013 12:58 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
I am almost weeping, I'm so happy.
I've known Simon since our demoscene days, but I had no idea this was in the works. Thank you, Simon! And thank you, Reed, thank you both for taking this on and investing in the future of the site.
Luis Silva (13443) on 12/19/2013 12:56 AM · Permalink · Report
I might even restart contributing after a long hiatus out of good faith.
The Fabulous King (1332) on 12/19/2013 1:05 AM · Permalink · Report
happy unbelieving face
This is amazing. These past 3 months were just... Thank you.
This is awesome!! I just... thank you.
F-ing merry christmas to everybody.
Finally I can go back to reviewing.
Fred VT (25949) on 12/19/2013 1:32 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Foxhack wrote--]Okay, serious reply now.
Does this acquisition also include all related MobyGames site accounts - Twitter, Facebook, etc?
Because this REALLY NEEDS TO BE MADE KNOWN TO EVERYONE. [/Q --end Foxhack wrote--]
The MG facebook always kinda sucked...
j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】 (102319) on 12/19/2013 2:31 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Foxhack wrote--] Hentai game of the day, by Oleg and Indra. [/Q --end Foxhack wrote--] "You like this."
Foxhack (32098) on 12/19/2013 1:36 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Fred VT wrote--] [Q2 --start Foxhack wrote--]Okay, serious reply now.
Does this acquisition also include all related MobyGames site accounts - Twitter, Facebook, etc?
Because this REALLY NEEDS TO BE MADE KNOWN TO EVERYONE. [/Q2 --end Foxhack wrote--]
The MG facebook always kinda sucked... [/Q --end Fred VT wrote--]Facebook sucks, period.
But the page had some okay features, like the game showcase.
MobyReed (386) on 12/19/2013 1:38 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Foxhack wrote--]Okay, serious reply now.
Does this acquisition also include all related MobyGames site accounts - Twitter, Facebook, etc?
Because this REALLY NEEDS TO BE MADE KNOWN TO EVERYONE. [/Q --end Foxhack wrote--] Yep, it does - will be updating those soon. Just want to make sure that everything is working well with the rollback first.
chirinea (47516) on 12/19/2013 1:40 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Foxhack wrote--]Okay, serious reply now.
Does this acquisition also include all related MobyGames site accounts - Twitter, Facebook, etc?
Because this REALLY NEEDS TO BE MADE KNOWN TO EVERYONE. [/Q --end Foxhack wrote--]One of the first things is to fix the news publishing on Twitter to include a link to the website. The way it is now it just copy-pastes the headline.
Owen Faraday on 12/19/2013 1:34 AM · Permalink · Report
This is amazing. I registered an account for the sole purpose of saying thanks to Reed for taking an interest in this hugely important resource. I use MobyGames for work most every single day and I'd just grudgingly accepted that that awful new layout was here to stay. I'm hugely relieved that it's not, miraculously.
Reed, are you the same Reed that used to run GameTab?
Pseudo_Intellectual (66542) on 12/19/2013 1:42 AM · Permalink · Report
Wow, what kind of work do you do? 8)
MobyReed (386) on 12/19/2013 1:45 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Owen Faraday wrote--]This is amazing. I registered an account for the sole purpose of saying thanks to Reed for taking an interest in this hugely important resource. I use MobyGames for work most every single day and I'd just grudgingly accepted that that awful new layout was here to stay. I'm hugely relieved that it's not, miraculously.
Reed, are you the same Reed that used to run GameTab? [/Q --end Owen Faraday wrote--] Wow, did you use GameTab back in the day?
But yep, that's me. Until I sold it to Ziff Davis.
Owen Faraday on 12/19/2013 2:56 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Reedx wrote--] Wow, did you use GameTab back in the day?
But yep, that's me. Until I sold it to Ziff Davis. [/Q --end Reedx wrote--]
I loved GameTab. I've been giving serious thought to using OpenFuego (http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/07/introducing-openfuego-your-very-own-heat-seeking-twitter-bot/) to make a GameTab 2.0.
I'm Owen Faraday, I run Pocket Tactics, which is an iOS & Android games site for core gamers. I link to Mobygames maybe 10 times a week. Let me know the next time you're in London, Reed! I'll buy you a beer. :)
MobyReed (386) on 12/19/2013 8:56 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Owen Faraday wrote--] I loved GameTab. I've been giving serious thought to using OpenFuego (http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/07/introducing-openfuego-your-very-own-heat-seeking-twitter-bot/) to make a GameTab 2.0.
I'm Owen Faraday, I run Pocket Tactics, which is an iOS & Android games site for core gamers. I link to Mobygames maybe 10 times a week. Let me know the next time you're in London, Reed! I'll buy you a beer. :) [/Q --end Owen Faraday wrote--] Ah, very cool! I've been to Pocket Tactics a bunch of times - I really dig what you guys are doing there.
And same offer to you the next time you're in SF! :)
Daniel Saner (3503) on 12/19/2013 4:00 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Reedx wrote--][Q2 --start Owen Faraday wrote--]Let me know the next time you're in London, Reed! I'll buy you a beer. :)[/Q2 --end Owen Faraday wrote--]And same offer to you the next time you're in SF! :)[/Q --end Reedx wrote--]
Let me extend the same offer if you ever happen to stop by in Zurich!
In fact, that goes for any long-time MobyGamer :)
Foxhack (32098) on 12/19/2013 2:05 AM · Permalink · Report
And this just got tweeted by Jason Scott.
https://twitter.com/textfiles/status/413489875867152384
If he thinks this is a good thing then there's no doubt about this being a good thing.
Arthur Dent (133) on 12/19/2013 2:27 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
Mobygames is back! Yayy!!! And just recently i came to terms with the fact it's dead. Please re-work the approval system. I stopped submitting new content after having to wait months for approval (only to be told that my screenshots where off a few pixels in resolution and thus, are not "legit")
j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】 (102319) on 12/19/2013 2:30 AM · Permalink · Report
I think you've already given us more information and honesty in the last day than we got from the previous management in over three years. That said, you've got an uphill battle ahead of you restoring the community and goodwill. I will say that I have a lot of respect for Simon, and I'm now cautiously optimistic for the site's future, but I'm not quite ready to dive back in yet. I hope my apprehension at resuming contributions is unwarranted. :)
Say, has anyone told Oleg yet?
chirinea (47516) on 12/19/2013 2:33 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start 雷堂嬢太朗 -raido.jotaro- wrote--]I think you've already given us more information and honesty in the last day than we got from the previous management in over three years. That said, you've got an uphill battle ahead of you restoring the community and goodwill. I will say that I have a lot of respect for Simon, and I'm now cautiously optimistic for the site's future, but I'm not quite ready to dive back in yet. I hope my apprehension at resuming contributions is unwarranted. :)
Say, has anyone told Oleg yet? [/Q --end 雷堂嬢太朗 -raido.jotaro- wrote--]I thought he'd show up eventually, but since we've got our inboxes again, it's time to flood him.
Tony Rayo on 12/19/2013 3:57 AM · Permalink · Report
This is great news and I love the background that you guys share from GDC to websites I highly respect. Oh just a head's up, I went to reset my password and the SSL certificate expired on December 2nd of this year, so maybe take that on the to-do list for the paranoid among us =p.
GAMEBOY COLOR! (1990) on 12/19/2013 4:08 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
It's like a dream! My heart is doing donuts of joy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY0QLmiwa8E
Best way to describe it I think. :)
Daniel Saner (3503) on 12/19/2013 4:01 AM · Permalink · Report
Well, I don't know what to say. First of all, I guess "thank you!" Very cool that while all of us were moaning, someone actually picked up the phone (and wallet) and did something about it! Very much obliged indeed.
Also, I concur with Jotaro. You took the time to come to the forums and make an official announcement, you're letting us know who you are and what's what, state why you're interested in the continued existence of the site, listened to and actually honoured the community's wishes (roll-back). That's, right off the top of my head, four things that GameFly didn't bother to do in three years, which you did in your first few hours. I think you could call that a good start.
And hey, just to piss on everyone's parade again, let's not just go and forget the last three months—it would be great if in the mid-term, some of the burning questions regarding licenses and contingency plans could be discussed. GameFly couldn't give a flying one, but at least they demonstrated the importance of it. Only good thing to come out of that disaster.
j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】 (102319) on 12/19/2013 7:44 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Daniel Saner wrote--]And hey, just to piss on everyone's parade again, let's not just go and forget the last three months—it would be great if in the mid-term, some of the burning questions regarding licenses and contingency plans could be discussed. GameFly couldn't give a flying one, but at least they demonstrated the importance of it. Only good thing to come out of that disaster. [/Q --end Daniel Saner wrote--] The current short-term and longer-term plans are what I'm personally waiting to hear about before I dive back in. What's the immediate focus beyond rebuilding the community? Bug fixes? Policy changes? Usability improvements? Is the long-term goal to maintain the site mostly as-is, build new functionality, or upgrade and refine what's already in-place?
I'd love to see some of the more restrictive parts of the database -- like my old chestnut, credits and developer AKAs -- ripped out and rebuilt from scratch to account for limitations we've run up against in the 15 years since it was originally built. Of course, I'd also be plenty happy to just see some of the smaller feature requests implemented, or at least acknowledged. (Small being from the user perspective -- not knowing the current state of the code, I can only imagine what the implementation might take. ;)
MAT (241141) on 12/19/2013 4:15 AM · Permalink · Report
There are no words for this. So sudden, so looking promising. Best XMas gift ever!
Well, I can say without a doubt, that I'm back on contributing/approving stuff alright. Just need to soak in the feeling of all this being real first :)
Truly unbelievable.
Rik Hideto (473431) on 12/19/2013 4:51 AM · Permalink · Report
BEAUTIFUL!
Alaka (106770) on 12/19/2013 4:57 AM · Permalink · Report
Thanks for actually listening to the majority of the users and rolling the site back to its less broken but at least still functioning state. Hopefully the new owners will run it better than the old guard did.
Best wishes to those who decide to continue to contribute. I think I'll hold off for now as there's still a lot of questions unresolved and a lot of good will that needs to be earned back. The rollback was a good start at least.
p.s. You need to add the PS4 and XBOX ONE platforms. They're little known consoles but are still important in the grand scope of gaming history. :D
Highretrogamelord89 (174) on 12/19/2013 5:22 AM · Permalink · Report
It is so amazing that the old, more colourful site is finally back. :)
Now browsing through games is fun again! :)
Foxhack (32098) on 12/19/2013 5:32 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start MAT wrote--]Not to mention no more ever-spinning picture loading :D [/Q --end MAT wrote--]Seriously, whoever coded that spinny atrocity and decided there would be no links until everything loaded needs a punch to the face.
Barring that, some UI usability courses.
Daniel Saner (3503) on 12/19/2013 6:02 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Foxhack wrote--]Seriously, whoever coded that spinny atrocity and decided there would be no links until everything loaded needs a punch to the face.[/Q --end Foxhack wrote--]
I once opened the site in Internet Explorer. There, the placement of the spinners was off, they were displayed below the frames. So you could actually click the links, but it messed up the layout (further).
Also: game lists displaying more than 5 games at once on my 1080p display again!
Patrick Bregger (303488) on 12/19/2013 6:44 AM · Permalink · Report
I am happy. And now I know why I suddenly had 2500 new emails today :)
Patrick Bregger (303488) on 12/19/2013 7:34 AM · Permalink · Report
On the other hand, I got used to having free time.
Havoc Crow (29907) on 12/19/2013 6:59 AM · Permalink · Report
Wow, a Christmas miracle of our own! Big thanks to Mr. Reed and his company.
Nick LaLone on 12/19/2013 6:59 AM · Permalink · Report
This is great news. Over the years i've sent a few inquiries about getting more robust access to Moby Games' Databases for academic use but they have never been acknowledged. Will the new Moby Games be more willing to aid academics?
Indra was here (20750) on 12/19/2013 7:09 AM · Permalink · Report
Hello Nancy. :p
vileyn0id_8088 (21040) on 12/19/2013 7:35 AM · Permalink · Report
I'm speechless. Didn't see this coming! Let's hope the old approvers decide to come back on board.
Simon Carless (1834) on 12/19/2013 8:22 AM · Permalink · Report
Hey folks - Simon Carless here, just chiming in from the UK where I'm on holiday right now (I'm normally based out of San Francisco). Just wanted to thank Reed for his stupendous work on the transition and for the work I know he's going to do on improving the site, fixing bugs, etc.
Regarding Mobygames (where, yep, I have a profile too) - I've loved the site for pretty much ever, and have tried to get involved in it before, but the time was never right.
Although I worked out that the folks I work for during my day job (who run GDC and Gamasutra) didn't really have a good commercial reason for buying MobyGames, I was able to pass GameFly along to Reed and help his company make the acquisition.
I've known him for a number of years, used to use his site GameTab a lot back in the day, and - as you can already see - he is eminently trustable to take the MobyGames torch forward, being a game developer who cares about the industry, but can also run large database-centric websites. So.. roll on the new (old? new!) MobyGames...
MZ per X (3017) on 12/19/2013 8:08 AM · Permalink · Report
Great news, indeed! I wish the new owners all the best in rebuilding and improving this site.
Personally, I won't contribute to a commercial project ever again. If the downfall of MobyGames taught me one thing, it's this. And commercial Mobygames still is.
András Gregorik (59) on 12/19/2013 8:20 AM · Permalink · Report
This is huge.
All the daydreaming that went on for months and months on these forums and on the Facebook MG forum... you just went ahead and made it real. Congratulations.
Daniel Saner (3503) on 12/19/2013 3:54 PM · Permalink · Report
Scaryfun? How can you have 11,000+ points and I only just noticed that you're on the site? :) Really glad to see you're here too! As far as I'm concerned, your knowledge of classic PC games is legendary :)
ElevatorAction (137) on 12/19/2013 8:49 AM · Permalink · Report
Excellent! The good old Mobygames is back! The previous one was such a pain to use.
András Gregorik (59) on 12/19/2013 9:48 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Terok Nor wrote--]but please understand if I won't jump fully back in right away. I need to hear more about what the long-term plans are. [/Q --end Terok Nor wrote--]
Especially since Cornpopper is still granted admin rights when he's clearly no friend of this site and community.
As discussed earlier, Oleg and Indra would be the best admins this site's ever had. For your consideration, Reed and Simon.
Patrick Bregger (303488) on 12/19/2013 10:34 AM · Permalink · Report
Corn Popper can be certainly blamed for many of the negative things which happened to the site during Gamefly reign (at least, he failed in his job of being the middleman between company and community). Even before Gamefly, he failed to communicate. But for all his failings, which ultimately lead to MobyGames' downfall, he also put a lot of good, honest work into the site. To say he is no friend of the site is preposterous.
András Gregorik (59) on 12/19/2013 10:57 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Patrick Bregger wrote--]To say he is no friend of the site is preposterous. [/Q --end Patrick Bregger wrote--]
Still, 9 out of 10 community members don't like him because he's plain unhelpful and unfriendly, just going through the motions. He'll obviously stay, but he could use some openness and good vibes.
Kabushi (261510) on 12/19/2013 9:24 AM · Permalink · Report
Thank you! I was actually thinking that the guys behind Gamasutra would be a perfect match for MG and now it happened!
I'm looking forward to a brighter future for the site.
And btw, I do remember you Reed from Nile Online. You were lead dev on that?
MobyReed (386) on 12/19/2013 9:47 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Kabushi wrote--]Thank you! I was actually thinking that the guys behind Gamasutra would be a perfect match for MG and now it happened!
I'm looking forward to a brighter future for the site.
And btw, I do remember you Reed from Nile Online. You were lead dev on that? [/Q --end Kabushi wrote--] Yep, that was my last project at Tilted Mill before I moved to SF.
majutsushi (467) on 12/19/2013 9:37 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
This is great news, and you seem to want to do the right thing. But after people have seen what can happen if this site is just passed around as a corporate asset there are some things that IMO should happen that are much more important than bugfixes:
-
All of the user-generated content should be placed under a free license like CC-BY-SA. Since this is all contributed by people in their free time this should really be a basic requirement. In addition a way to download all of the data in a sensible format would be great, like StackOverflow is doing it with torrents.
-
The governance of the project should be given to a foundation that anyone can become a member of, to prevent corporate politics from harming the site again. Even if you and your company have the best intentions, you never know what is going to happen in the future.
-
The website code should be released as Open Source so that other people can contribute to it without having to rely solely on the main developers for new features and fixes.
I don't know how realistic these things are to actually implement (especially the second one), but at least in my opinion they are really necessary in order to make MobyGames the reliable, independent source that it should have been from the beginning.
SGruber (3811) on 12/19/2013 10:32 AM · Permalink · Report
I can understand the problems with the content being "locked" as a corporate asset and the reluctance of contributions due to this. And I agree that moving this into some sort of "public" hands should be a long term goal.
But I think it is also only fair to remember that Blue Flame Labs bought Mobygames with real money and some monetisation should be made possible to at least reimburse them.
A possibility would be to create a Mobygames foundation or something similar which works as a NPO, charitable organization/non-profit association to govern the content. (But I do not know how California law is in this regard). The Wikimedia foundation, while being based in SF now, was created in Florida. But the law shouldn't be that different... (Some could argue that this should have happened from the start, but, something I have to remind myself regularly, Moby is four years older then Wikipedia!)
I'm not from the industry, but from what I gather the key players in this deal seem to be stand up guys with a great interest in keeping the site alive and growing. So, for now, I am willing to put my hopes into them. (And people are willing to put up countless hours of content on youtube for google to make profit off, hopefully they are also willing to put that effort into something more worthwhile ;-) )
Foxhack (32098) on 12/19/2013 1:24 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
[Q --start majutsushi wrote--]This is great news, and you seem to want to do the right thing. But after people have seen what can happen if this site is just passed around as a corporate asset there are some things that IMO should happen that are much more important than bugfixes:
-
All of the user-generated content should be placed under a free license like CC-BY-SA. Since this is all contributed by people in their free time this should really be a basic requirement. In addition a way to download all of the data in a sensible format would be great, like StackOverflow is doing it with torrents.
-
The governance of the project should be given to a foundation that anyone can become a member of, to prevent corporate politics from harming the site again. Even if you and your company have the best intentions, you never know what is going to happen in the future.
-
The website code should be released as Open Source so that other people can contribute to it without having to rely solely on the main developers for new features and fixes.
I don't know how realistic these things are to actually implement (especially the second one), but at least in my opinion they are really necessary in order to make MobyGames the reliable, independent source that it should have been from the beginning. [/Q --end majutsushi wrote--]
In my opinion, the site data should be licensed out to commercial game sites (sites that SELL games) for a fee to help out with server costs. Other sites should be able to use the data for free with the proper permission.
And definitely have a clause somewhere that says "if the site dies, the data is released."
Cavalary (11448) on 12/19/2013 2:48 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Foxhack wrote--] In my opinion, the site data should be licensed out to commercial game sites (sites that SELL games) for a fee to help out with server costs. Other sites should be able to use the data for free with the proper permission.
And definitely have a clause somewhere that says "if the site dies, the data is released." [/Q --end Foxhack wrote--]
+1 to that. If you earn money from our content, you pay money to us; if you don't, you don't.
And data release in case the site can't be maintained in its current form anymore should be a given after what happened.
MichaelPalin (1414) on 12/23/2013 8:07 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Foxhack wrote--] "if the site dies, the data is released." [/Q --end Foxhack wrote--]
Not good enough, the site could be left in an undead state and still screw everyone.
Daniel Saner (3503) on 12/19/2013 3:45 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
[Q --start majutsushi wrote--]- All of the user-generated content should be placed under a free license like CC-BY-SA. Since this is all contributed by people in their free time this should really be a basic requirement. In addition a way to download all of the data in a sensible format would be great, like StackOverflow is doing it with torrents.[/Q --end majutsushi wrote--]
I didn't dare say it as straight, hehe, but that's pretty much what I was going for with my "but..." comment further up. Considering the importance of MG as a historical resource, which it seems the new owners recognise, this should be a long-term goal.
A dual licensing model would definitely agree best with MG. Free license for non-commercial use, paid services for everything else. Many other sites and projects demonstrate that this works very well, the most prominent example probably being IMDb. A big business operation under Amazon now, but as a private user you can still download regular dumps of all the data (few people seem to know this). Commercial users pay for things like API access etc. The commercial users pay the bills, as they should, while the project as a whole is allowed to benefit everyone.
If I understand MG's current legal terms correctly, they've been set up so that the owners could even choose to do this without the whole relicensing process, renegotiating with the original contributors of all the data, which usually ranges from complicated to hard to impossible (although others have pulled it off too).
Evil Azrael (250) on 12/19/2013 9:13 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Daniel Saner wrote--] A dual licensing model would definitely agree best with MG. Free license for non-commercial use, paid services for everything else. Many other sites and projects demonstrate that this works very well, the most prominent example probably being IMDb. A big business operation under Amazon now, but as a private user you can still download regular dumps of all the data (few people seem to know this). Commercial users pay for things like API access etc. The commercial users pay the bills, as they should, while the project as a whole is allowed to benefit everyone. [/Q --end Daniel Saner wrote--]
Finally getting an API for third party access was my first thought, too. Can be secured with something like the Google API keys. Free for small, non-free for more heavy users :-)
Nick LaLone on 12/19/2013 5:11 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start majutsushi wrote--]This is great news, and you seem to want to do the right thing. But after people have seen what can happen if this site is just passed around as a corporate asset there are some things that IMO should happen that are much more important than bugfixes:
-
All of the user-generated content should be placed under a free license like CC-BY-SA. Since this is all contributed by people in their free time this should really be a basic requirement. In addition a way to download all of the data in a sensible format would be great, like StackOverflow is doing it with torrents.
-
The governance of the project should be given to a foundation that anyone can become a member of, to prevent corporate politics from harming the site again. Even if you and your company have the best intentions, you never know what is going to happen in the future.
-
The website code should be released as Open Source so that other people can contribute to it without having to rely solely on the main developers for new features and fixes.
I don't know how realistic these things are to actually implement (especially the second one), but at least in my opinion they are really necessary in order to make MobyGames the reliable, independent source that it should have been from the beginning. [/Q --end majutsushi wrote--]
I would absolutely love to see this become a more open source wiki ideology-based thing (not necessarily based on wikipedia. Really, I just want to see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Database_download
something like this for Moby Games. It would have been so helpful when I was finishing my Masters.
Lain Crowley (6629) on 12/19/2013 9:40 AM · Permalink · Report
Wow. It's a christmas miracle.
Van Tigellin on 12/19/2013 10:22 AM · Permalink · Report
HOLDING TIGHT, LOVING RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lights out party (87289) on 12/19/2013 11:27 AM · Permalink · Report
Wow. Nice. Never expected this.
Karsa Orlong (151775) on 12/19/2013 12:53 PM · Permalink · Report
Buyout, knew it!
Now can anyone bring back Oleg and Sciere? :)
me3D31337 (62147) on 12/19/2013 12:55 PM · Permalink · Report
I was on my Pad this morning and notice I had a large bunch of emails (at 4:00am)?? Thought what spam has gone ballistic this time but didn’t check it yet. I accidently hit an old MG bookmark (fumble fingers 4am) when what to my wondering eyes did appear.... But the original Mobygames homepage, and 8 approvals, oh dear…. I thought for a moment I must be sick! So I sprang from my Pad to see if it’s true, away to the Windows I flew like a flash, tore open Firefox and hit the bookmark fast! It was a rather surreal holiday moment!
Reedx I don’t know all the details yet but if only in the holiday spirit of giving you have provided many of us a nice gift who have loved and labored in so many ways in support of MG site over the years…. THANK YOU! As a long time contributor (and rather reclusive forum thread voice) I will exercise pause awaiting more context and details of this wondrous holiday gift!
Again THANK YOU!
Jo ST (24038) on 12/19/2013 1:15 PM · Permalink · Report
Excellent news that the old design is back. Moby is usable for searching again.
Thanks for the effort Reed and Simon.
But I still wait to restart contributions until long-term plans are unveiled. New owner who is even communicating is a huge step forward, but still an owner who can shut-down/remove/sell the site with all the community work any time he likes.
VladimIr V Y (45) on 12/19/2013 5:09 PM · Permalink · Report
Great! I hope people, who left will return soon. And approval of contributions will be resumed.
Starbuck the Third (22601) on 12/19/2013 5:27 PM · Permalink · Report
Wow! Was not expecting this.
As you've removed GF from the picture and the site has been rolled back, enough good will has been generated for me to make a return.
Many, many thanks!
BdR (7206) on 12/20/2013 12:45 PM · Permalink · Report
uhm.. you know that .gif picture is of a mass murderer, right?
GAMEBOY COLOR! (1990) on 12/20/2013 3:02 PM · Permalink · Report
In the world of memes, it's hard to remember why or where stuff came from. He probably has no idea. I remember when all the nazis in /pol/ (The whole board.) couldn't stop singing this guys praises back then. 4chan spreads misinformation once again. Can't say I'm surprised really.
666gonzo666 (67815) on 12/19/2013 7:59 PM · Permalink · Report
yay ^^ great. ^^
Simon Carless (1834) on 12/19/2013 10:03 PM · Permalink · Report
Just a further communication here - thanks for all the good, positive comments, and Reed is just starting to fixing things in real-time. Gamefly is being very helpful and the site is still hosted on their servers for a contractually agreed term after the acquisition - so the server shift will be the next bigger thing to happen (but should happen fairly seamlessly!)
To clarify on some of the comments over longer-term ownership of data, Daniel Saner's suggestion is going to be the one that we're most likely to try to move towards in the longer-term.
("A dual licensing model would definitely agree best with MG. Free license for non-commercial use, paid services for everything else... Commercial users pay for things like API access etc. The commercial users pay the bills, as they should, while the project as a whole is allowed to benefit everyone.")
Right now our goal is to work with approvers on getting through the approval backlog (while being careful to only approve things that work!) and to catch up on particularly some of the newer formats and games - which is why we just added PS4 and Xbox One. From there, there's lots of work on modernizing and improving the site to do.
But please have patience because Reed is working with an old and complex codebase and we have a lot of catching up to do. Thanks! :)
Morten79 (1) on 12/20/2013 2:43 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
It's a true miracle. Words can't describe how happy I am now seeing the good old MobyGames site AND logo, the world has new meaning again. This is soo freaking awesome! This is the best early Christmas present I have ever had. Yubii!!! I hereby send all my love and best whiches too all MobyGames fans. Also a big congratulation too the new and proud owner of this great site.
Bye Bye GameFly we'll never miss you :D
Katakis | カタキス (43087) on 12/20/2013 5:10 AM · Permalink · Report
Oh, thank you very much!!! You guys are awesome ;)
Now we need to convince Oleg to come back here again.
Run along, GameFly, and don't let the door hit you on your way out.
Vladimir Ivanov on 12/20/2013 11:46 AM · Permalink · Report
My sincerest thanks and a lot of respect and good karma to you, sir. Hats off to Blue Flame Labs!
is_that_rain_or_tears (634) on 12/20/2013 12:05 PM · Permalink · Report
This is a very mirthful event; MobyGames is back, dawn follows night once again.
I wish the site's graphics will be kept as they are for years and years, while modernising and bettering site's features. I wish Corn Popper to be... discharged from any role. Sciere or Sciere and Indra would be the most fitting to do what they used to before, plus what Corn Popper would've had to but never cared to do, and guide the contributing community with dedication and wisdom — which someone else among the top contributors pitifully lacks, while not deserving to be mentioned however :) —. Besides, we could vote to choose the admin or admins of the site.
Rik Hideto (473431) on 12/20/2013 12:36 PM · Permalink · Report
I don't know who the f*ck is Corn Popper but let's see the numbers. 69582, so in certain way he deserves respect, at least on MobyGames.
You (autumn_gloaming) have 3...? So what the hell...
Rik Hideto (473431) on 12/20/2013 1:16 PM · Permalink · Report
I said... "in certain way". But well, if the majority of the MobyGames users/contributors dislike or disrespect Corn Popper... then... a change is needed I guess.
Daniel Saner (3503) on 12/20/2013 8:17 PM · Permalink · Report
I would like to jump in and defend Rob a bit as well. While I was also very frustrated with his lack of communication post-acquisition, especially considering he was supposed to be the community liaision, I also agree we shouldn't ignore that he's done a lot for the site over the years.
In my opinion there's two main questions when asking whether someone should be admin. First, do they have the site's interests at heart? I think he very clearly does, you don't dedicate that much of your time for that many years, paid or unpaid, to a project you don't want to do well. And the complementary second, have they ever or would they be likely to abuse their admin powers? Which I think is a clear 'no' as well.
Correct me if I'm suffering from selective memory here, but I thought the issue was never that he hurt the community or made bad choices, only that he didn't always clearly state why he had to do what he did (or couldn't do what he didn't do). I'd give him the opportunity to improve on that bit. I certainly don't think that he should be the only admin (and no project should have just one), there are some other names already dropped who would deserve it and do well in it (and be accpeted by more of the community?) But Rob would have my vote of confidence to stay in his role nonetheless.
Havoc Crow (29907) on 12/20/2013 10:33 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
Fourthed. I saw him more as the stressed guy who's always tasked with bringing nothing but bad news... I don't remember if I had lashed out at him, but I apologize if I had,
Katakis | カタキス (43087) on 12/20/2013 11:07 PM · Permalink · Report
I am in the processing of re-writing my KQ walkthroughs, and he was quite happy to send my current walkthroughs back to me.
So, of course he deserves respect. But I bet he regrets selling MG to GameFly.
Unicorn Lynx (181769) on 12/21/2013 5:40 AM · Permalink · Report
Rob might not have been the best communicator, but he has always been a devoted contributor and approver who has done heaps of work for this site. I hope nobody here has forgotten that.
If he still wants to continue he has my warmest support.
Speaking of which, can anyone reach Sciere and Kabushi?
j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】 (102319) on 12/21/2013 6:08 AM · Permalink · Report
Sciere is definitely around, he approved some credits for me yesterday.
Patrick Bregger (303488) on 12/21/2013 8:24 AM · Permalink · Report
I completely agree. For all his faults (and we all have those), they have nothing to do with his actual work on site itself. Let's not forget he was basically the only one working the correction queue for the longest of times. You don't stay that long working on a site like this if you don't love it.
Yes, he certainly played an unhealthy part in the Gamefly disaster, but except his lack of communication I still think little personal blame falls on him. So the conclusion should be to have a different setup where Rob is not the only one to be the spokesperson between community and owner, but there is absolutely no reason to chase him off. Even if you don't love him, you still can work with him.
However, we should not forget how the previous owners tricked us after the Gamefly sale. We should not forget that MobyGames was not exactly flourishing before the redesign. We should not forget we already had an uprising before Gamefly because of lack of communication and progress. We all should draw our lessons not only from the redesign but also the years before.
This change of ownership is definitely the best thing which could happen to MobyGames - even if Gamefly had a change of heart, the bridges would have been burned. Personally I feel this is the chance to make MobyGames great again. But this is not decided now with the return of the old design but in the next six to twelve months.
Игги Друге (46654) on 12/22/2013 2:48 AM · Permalink · Report
I don't think anyone has ever minded Corn Popper's work as an approver, but as an admin, he has been more of an enemy of the site.
Corn Popper is the last survivor of the gang that sold the site behind the backs of the entire community. He has been abusive toward approvers, as needlessly secretive as you can expect of a military man, and has stood in the way of progress since 2006.
Please do keep him as an approver, and even as an admin. But remove his veto so that he can no longer say "no" or "do it my way" in the face of approvers and contributors.
If Mobygames must remain a despotism, let's at least install an enlightened despot instead of this medieval tyrant.
Corn Popper (69017) on 12/21/2013 10:23 PM · Permalink · Report
Thanks to everyone that still has confidence in my abilities as an admin... I know I am not a PR guy and may not have communicated well on certain things but I have always had the best intentions for the site.
I was in a sticky situation throughout the whole GF experience. As I said before, when we were going ahead with the sale of the site to GF we were under an NDA. The prospect of selling the site could have been put to the community for ideas to help it out but we just didn't go that route... After the sale we were still told not to say anything as GF had some other things in the works so they didn't want to make it public.
I did communicate all the changes I could that I was told. We did have the redesign initially go throw with approvers QAing it and a lot of the bugs were fixed and I verified them and posted about them. That programming was done by a contractor that GF brought in. In between that time I was let go from GF and I happened to get mobilized for the Navy. I still did side work on the site for GF but in a limited capacity. Somewhere in there that programmer was released from contract. What happened to that code? I don't know and no one could honestly say what happened to it. What got released was obviously an early version of the redesign that didn't have the fixes in it. After that another contract programmer was brought in to fix the code which was a bad case for him as he had no idea what the old site was like and had to start fresh which is why the fixes that did make it in took so long. After weeks of no progress GF was then looking at rolling back the site design but I couldn't say for sure as upper management was deciding what to do. Probably a month or so after that you now see they went another direction and sold the site. I didn't know that until the day before the roll back.
In the turmoil that the site has gone through... for better or worse... I believe things happen for a reason.
For now it looks like I'll be sticking around in the volunteer admin role like I previously was before and helping the new owners along.
Again thanks for the support personally and for supporting the site. Good to see people come back
Daniel Saner (3503) on 12/22/2013 12:49 AM · Permalink · Report
I didn't know you were no longer actually with Gamefly. But boy, that company sets an example for managerial incompetence if I ever saw one. I obviously wouldn't know who was responsible for losing the first programmer's work. But deliberating about the situation for weeks on end, when it was so obvious how devastating delays of just a few days or even hours can be to the future of a community-driven site. It's also an understatement to say that MG obviously never was a priority project for them. I don't know if the well-being of the site was even a factor in their decision to sell, but maybe they at least had the sense to realise that they didn't know what to do with it, and that it would be better off in someone else's hands. New ownership could've gone either way this time around as well, but I think the particular straw we've picked (or were picked by) right now is a very good one.
The new management has communicated very openly and directly from the beginning, so I'm sure the pointless gag orders are a thing of the past. I'm glad that you're going to stay on the project
András Gregorik (59) on 12/21/2013 10:33 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start hydao wrote--]I don't know who the f*ck is Corn Popper but let's see the numbers. 69582, so in certain way he deserves respect, at least on MobyGames.
You (autumn_gloaming) have 3...? So what the hell... [/Q --end hydao wrote--]
That's a lamentable view of relative worth you have there, based on points and numbers, rather than the more elusive but more important yardstick of "emotional presence".
For instance, I have been a faithful visitor of the site for around 13 years. MG has consistently been one of my favorite sites all these years, yet I have less than 100 points. Does that make me a pariah?..
Rik Hideto (473431) on 12/21/2013 10:46 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
[Q --start András Gregorik wrote--] [Q2 --start hydao wrote--]I don't know who the f*ck is Corn Popper but let's see the numbers. 69582, so in certain way he deserves respect, at least on MobyGames.
You (autumn_gloaming) have 3...? So what the hell... [/Q2 --end hydao wrote--]
That's a lamentable view of relative worth you have there, based on points and numbers, rather than the more elusive but more important yardstick of "emotional presence".
For instance, I have been a faithful visitor of the site for around 13 years. MG has consistently been one of my favorite sites all these years, yet I have less than 100 points. Does that make me a pariah?.. [/Q --end András Gregorik wrote--]
The other guy (who's a member since Sep 21, 2013) said something really mean like "I wish Corn Popper to be... discharged from any role.", so when I saw his number "3" (he's now 19 though :P), that was the first thing (or view) that came to my mind... if it's lamentable or not, well it REALLY depends. I have more "views" about this but who cares.
Daniel Saner (3503) on 12/22/2013 12:57 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
Far more significant than a low contribution score is, in my opinion, the fact that they didn't create their account until after the redesign. Quite in general, I don't think that having been an active member of a community for three months, that others have been part of for 10-15 years, is enough to know who should be leading it. Especially for a project like ours which has gone through several crises and turbulent "eras" over the last years. I don't mean to be admonishing, just spilling my thoughts.
patrick selten (2378) on 12/20/2013 1:58 PM · Permalink · Report
This is great news, just went back to mobygames to find a cover and noticed the old design came back. I thought i was looking at some old buffered pages. But it turned out to be the "new" mobygames look. Great news, hope we can get this site back to it previous glory.
Nightson Blaze (799) on 12/20/2013 3:32 PM · Permalink · Report
What happened here is a fucking miracle.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66542) on 12/20/2013 6:44 PM · Permalink · Report
It's great seeing all the no-point users representing a usually-silent (majority?) portion of the site's ecology coming out here to blink in the light and make an unprecedented public remark.
Rola (8482) on 12/20/2013 7:09 PM · Permalink · Report
I also would like to thank the new owners for bringing the site back from clinical death.
I see that the entry on MobyGames at Wikipedia got updated, but not completely, can anyone see to it? Also I'd remove the "bad news" from the intro section and leave it only in history section (it had served its purpose, no need to bring it to the front anymore).
Giu's Brain (503) on 12/20/2013 7:42 PM · Permalink · Report
The first time the main page loaded it took me a few seconds to realize that the old site is back! Honestly, it took a moment for my brain to register what was going on.
Whatever the future may hold for this website, at least it's gotten rid of that awful redesign. :)
Daniel Saner (3503) on 12/20/2013 7:58 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
That is an accurate depiction of me on my first visit to post-Gamefly MG.
Certainly the scenario I would have expected the very least. I would have been much less surprised to find a closure notice, or a domain parking page, or just being redirected to the Gamefly main site without notice.
It certainly wouldn't have been like Gamefly to admit wrongdoing and roll the site back, and I didn't think that they would let go of the site either.
Unicorn Lynx (181769) on 12/21/2013 4:29 AM · Permalink · Report
Oh... My... God.
Good thing I'd still masochistically visit MG from time to time, driven by morbid fascination for ruin and decay. And now... I thought I was dreaming.
Reed and Simon, accept the gratitude of a MobyGames veteran who's been with the site for twelve years and whose favorite hobby you have restored. You've done the seemingly impossible.
This is a Hanukkah miracle, a Christmas miracle, so big thanks to Almighty from my Christian wife and the Jewish myself! :-)
So now... I'M BACK!!!
Woohoo!!! hugging everyone
j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】 (102319) on 12/21/2013 4:44 AM · Permalink · Report
Huzzah! Good to see you, Oleg! I was starting to think we'd lost you for good. :)
Fred VT (25949) on 12/21/2013 3:32 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start YID YANG wrote--]Oh... My... God.
Good thing I'd still masochistically visit MG from time to time, driven by morbid fascination for ruin and decay. And now... I thought I was dreaming.
Reed and Simon, accept the gratitude of a MobyGames veteran who's been with the site for twelve years and whose favorite hobby you have restored. You've done the seemingly impossible.
This is a Hanukkah miracle, a Christmas miracle, so big thanks to Almighty from my Christian wife and the Jewish myself! :-)
So now... I'M BACK!!!
Woohoo!!! hugging everyone [/Q --end YID YANG wrote--]
Welcome back! Now things really look like they're going somewhere. I don't know if you are aware, but many of us suggested that You and Indra be the next ones to be promoted as Admins...
jean-louis (79000) on 12/21/2013 6:37 AM · Permalink · Report
Many of us should be back now. I even noticed joyvalley approving some of my contributions.Really great news from MG.
formercontrib (157501) on 12/21/2013 7:48 AM · Permalink · Report
Great things happened, i'd really thought: That's it! So, actually huge thanks to Reed and Simon for resurrecting MobyGames :)) ... But we should not forget, that a lot of things went really wrong within the last 2 years at least, and many of them weren't the result of Rob Lim's anti-communication or the "work" of GameFly. Whatever will happen to the site and it's content in the future, noone knows, i hope that we all - contributor, approvers, admin, site owners, everybody involved in this legendary project uses this unexpected Christmas gift given to us all to make Moby flourish once again. Recognized almost everybody back active on the site within the last few days :) I hope we're all willing and able within the next weeks, or better months - taking a look at the queues, to send the whole community tons of new approval notifications resulting in new motivation for everyone to contribute many, many more in the future (Special Thanks goes to Karsa Orlong, who never gave up, even when things looked more than only terrible - with a one-man-show he was able to reduce my own pending contributions of more than 10.000 to less than 9.000 pending contributions in these horrible days). I don't need a lot of changes and new features for Moby overall, but should we approvers been willing and able to clear a lot of contributions, it could bring free-time for Reed and Simon to work for the site's backgrounds.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New (MobyGames) Year wishes Thomas (joyvalley).
Daniel Saner (3503) on 12/21/2013 5:34 PM · Permalink · Report
Also many, many thanks to all the extra effort the approvers are putting in right now! I think the site hasn't been this actively updated for years. I see batches of stuff coming through that has been in limbo for years. Those backlogs are doomed. Great work guys!
Danferno (680) on 12/21/2013 6:34 PM · Permalink · Report
At this point, this message can be little more than a "me too", but I'm glad to see things are on the upturn. While I only contribute bits and pieces, I enjoy the fact that I'm somehow contributing to the recorded history of gaming. I've always been uneasy there was no guaranteed way that the site's massive collection of information could survive the site; infamous September drove that point home. Hopefully, once the immediate functionality concerns, hosting, ownership transfer, administration, etc are take care of, the data licensing can be looked at. Thank you Blue Flame Labs.
Nowhere Girl (8680) on 12/21/2013 8:08 PM · Permalink · Report
Unbelieveable. (You see, I have been so disappointed by the redesign that I just stopped visiting the site - without as much noise as some of the major contributors, but with a lot of sense of my work too being in vain... - so I only noticed the old site being back.) OK, MobyGames is back and so am I.
Tomas Pettersson (31846) on 12/21/2013 8:32 PM · Permalink · Report
Well, this was indeed a nice suprise.
SpecMaster (2241) on 12/22/2013 5:12 PM · Permalink · Report
I was wondering why my Game Boy credits and game got approved....know and behold we're back! Really happy for the veterans on here because their hard work was fucked around by GameFly and understandably they were pissed and had a right to be. I COULD have contributed if I so wanted to, because I was new and felt I had a lot to contribute, but I didn't want to be disrespectful at the same time, all of a sudden people's leaving and I sort of "sneak up and take advantage", all of a sudden I'm no.1....didn't want it nor liked the sound of it, so I boycotted out of respect to those who've worked hard for years.
But happy days all normality has resumed!
Genki (1855) on 12/23/2013 1:41 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
YESSSSSS! Old Mobygames is back, whohooo!!! Thanks to everyone involved in acquiring the site and bringing back the old page design! :) I have my MobyDark Theme back, yay, so happy! :D
Hope there are still enough ppl on Mobygames to add new content and that not many people were shooed away from the redesign!
So, adding games and credits can be continued now? Sorry, no time to read the whole thread atm ;)
Thanks for the info! :)
Fred VT (25949) on 12/23/2013 2:57 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Genki wrote--]YESSSSSS! Old Mobygames is back, whohooo!!! Thanks to everyone involved in acquiring the site and bringing back the old page design! :) I have my MobyDark Theme back, yay, so happy! :D
Hope there are still enough ppl on Mobygames to add new content and that not many people were shooed away from the redesign!
So, adding games and credits can be continued now? Sorry, no time to read the whole thread atm ;)
Thanks for the info! :) [/Q --end Genki wrote--]
The majority of contributors and approvers I know are back in action. You're not the only one pleased by the turn of events ;)
Pseudo_Intellectual (66542) on 3/4/2014 4:16 AM · Permalink · Report
Sometimes in the name of progress, different parties can make the same mistake in the same way.
Indra was here (20750) on 3/4/2014 7:36 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Genki wrote--]I can't discover where I can set my MobyDark theme! Can you tell me about that, please? Thanks again! [/Q --end Genki wrote--]It's gone, but the denizens of this place managed a workaround. Go here to install the MobyDark!
vileyn0id_8088 (21040) on 3/4/2014 9:25 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Indra was here wrote--]It's gone, but the denizens of this place managed a workaround. Go here to install the MobyDark! [/Q --end Indra was here wrote--] And when Indra says "here" he means here. :-p
Indra was here (20750) on 3/4/2014 11:21 AM · Permalink · Report
O_O I knew old age was bad, but this is the first time in my life I forgot to hyperlink. I'm not even forty years old yet! -_-
Genki (1855) on 3/6/2014 5:12 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
Wow! Thanks @ vile_r and Indra for your reply, cool that there is a workaround! I'll try it...
Edit: ... aaaand works (and just for mobygames.com - everything is MobyDark (even better than before) now on MobyGames! Perfect! Brilliant! Thanks much again! :)
OrcishGrunt (114) on 12/23/2013 4:41 PM · Permalink · Report
Hello, new user here.
Because of this I have decided to enter the land of MobyGames and become a user. I would not have done so if it were still in the hands of GameFly. Thank you for saving this site!
Daniel Saner (3503) on 12/24/2013 12:53 AM · Permalink · Report
Welcome aboard, glad to have you here!
Let's hope you've arrived just in time for a new golden age of the site :)
Giuseppe Puglisi (1096) on 12/23/2013 5:04 PM · Permalink · Report
Oh gawd, this will be a very happy christmas indeed!!
Thanks for doing the RIGHT THING.
MichaelPalin (1414) on 12/23/2013 7:37 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
Thanks a lot!
It seems that mobygames is in more trustworthy hands right now, but there is still a very important question to be made here. What will be the license for the information stored in Mobygames? The main lesson I have learned from what has happened around here in the last months is that one should not contribute to any collaborative project unless it has an open license that would allow for a fork of the project in case the owner of the site goes evil. Therefore, I still will not be 100% confident about the future of Mobygames if the material is copyrighted and "owned" by someone.
P.S.: I haven't read the previous post yet, so maybe the question has been made already.
chirinea (47516) on 12/23/2013 8:14 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start MichaelPalin wrote--]P.S.: I haven't read the previous post yet, so maybe the question has been made already. [/Q --end MichaelPalin wrote--]Read this short thread, Palin.
GTramp (81961) on 12/24/2013 7:56 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
I can't resume working on WIPed entries and I can't delete WIPed entries. Is this a bug left from the new (-old?) redesign or is it just me?
Update: it's working if clicking from the main page, but not woking if I check WIP entries from my profile.
PCGamer77 (3158) on 12/24/2013 3:56 PM · Permalink · Report
Wow, what a shock to visit MobyGames and see it looking like...MobyGames!
Thanks to the new owner(s). I'm really looking forward to making this site a regular websurfing destination again. I'll try to contribute what I can in the near future.
some dood on 12/25/2013 2:30 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
Finally! Awesome... I hope Gamefly stays in its dark place far away and never comes back out again ;)
EDIT: Hmm. This was my first forum post ever, since I finally brought myself to register an account ages ago.. Yay :)
The site was so perfect before I never felt the need to voice anything before. And the mess that Gamefly left was so unspeakable I didn't dare comment (would have been only flaming anyways)..
Thanks, Reed. I hope your generous investment even pays off financially someday.
Cabeza2000 (689) on 12/27/2013 11:54 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
User 21046 reporting back.
For me this site is like the gaming Wikipedia, it has always been my favorite gaming site and I am happy to see it back.
Stanley Draken on 12/30/2013 12:04 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
I just watched the Hunt for Red October, one of my favourite Movies then i tought of the gameboy game of the movie i played back in the day.
So went to Mobygames to see if they got screens of it, when i typed the url i thought o boy not the the bloody navigation again but when it loaded
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mlm7_0urboc/UB5vZezctTI/AAAAAAAACHE/q4AwO3oQI2c/s1600/carl-winslow.gif
Then i realised YEAH THE OLD SITE IS BACK !!! :D
Ricky Derocher (22661) on 12/30/2013 1:49 AM · Permalink · Report
Miracles do happen! :-)
Paolo Landayan on 12/30/2013 4:51 AM · Permalink · Report
We need to cleanup the whole site, because some of the titles are misleading as "Adults-Ony" and some glitches
Pseudo_Intellectual (66542) on 12/30/2013 4:13 PM · Permalink · Report
I think that's just applying American standards of adult-ness to European games. Headshots, all clear, but pixelated frontal male nudity? Keep that off the frontpage!
Pete Rocha (54) on 12/30/2013 5:51 AM · Permalink · Report
What fantastic news! I hadn't even heard this site was sold or rolling back to the old design until clicking on a random game link just now.
Reed, Simon, you guys are saints. Best of luck to you!
blakegriplingph (544) on 1/1/2014 5:14 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Reedx wrote--]Hello MobyGames!
Long story short: my name is Reed, and my company Blue Flame Labs has acquired MobyGames from GameFly.
First things first - I'm happy to announce that the MobyGames you knew and loved is coming back in the VERY near future - hopefully as soon as later today! Yep, the site design is being rolled back. Poof. Adios to the redesign. Then we'll be working on fixing any bugs and various improvements, depending on what the community is looking for. I'll make a new thread for that, but feel free to start making suggestions. We'll also be working with Corn Popper and all contributors. This will be a community effort.
Also coming aboard is Simon Carless (investor) who helped me acquire MobyGames. He helps to run the Game Developers Conference and Gamasutra.com and is a former game developer himself. He's taken a long-term interest in the site's wellbeing, and is also going to be helping out in his spare time to make MobyGames even more definitive and recruiting other folks to fill out some of the missing areas.
Who am I? I'm a game designer and web developer. I've been working in the games industry since 1998, starting off at Impressions Software (where I created the official web sites for Pharaoh, Caesar III, Zeus, etc). My MobyGames profile is here. Although the bio is pretty outdated. :)
Over the years I've built dozens of game related web sites, including Drawception, VGBoxArt and GameTab (back in the day). I'm a life long gamer and have been visiting MobyGames since… well, forever it seems like.
The goal is to give the site some much-needed love and attention. MobyGames has long been an authoritative source for the games industry and we want to make sure it continues to be exactly that. The redesign a few months ago did not go well, as you know, so the very first course of action is to reverse that. Going forward we'll continue to improve things along with your input. I sincerely hope that those of who you have left recently will come back. We need you.
Let's bring back MobyGames!
-Reed
Edit: And now the rollback has completed. Please post if you find any bugs. [/Q --end Reedx wrote--]
Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you so much for joining the Moby family, Reed. I've been quite frustrated and ticked off at how ridiculously long it took for my submissions to be approved, and it didn't help that most of the other veterans left the site in protest.
I've been a user at VGBoxArt for more than five years already, and since you did quite a 'swell job at managing the site I'm sure you'll be welcomed here by the MG community. :)
ZakG on 1/1/2014 11:31 AM · Permalink · Report
What a fantastic change. I had pretty much stopped using the site due to it's issues.
I guess a good lesson of change for changes sake not always being needed?
Anyway thanks to the new owners for the news and let's hope this is all going good places. Your news caused me to create an account just to say thanks and i've posted the news on GoG, RPS and Qt3 forums.
Cavalary (11448) on 1/1/2014 12:06 PM · Permalink · Report
Already posted on GOG at least just as it happened :)
BostonGeorge (751) on 1/7/2014 1:02 PM · Permalink · Report
I .... I ... I .... I cannot believe the miracle. Thank you so much. You have saved a milestone here :)
KunkaKunka on 1/15/2014 2:51 PM · Permalink · Report
Great news. I may be not a old member but i was there plenty of time when i was still a little brat, looking at all these amazing screen shots from games that i wasn't able to play ;) This MobyGames is the one that i remember and will always love, so thank you so much guys for bringing it back!
MediaCult (190) on 1/23/2014 10:48 AM · Permalink · Report
So great news! :)
Actually, my interest in gaming took at giant fall after the site "broke".
Now that it's back on-line I can feel my enthusiasm growing again. This is definately the most serious place for games on the Internet, and I love some of the gaming threads here as well (for example the gaming journal - one of the only places online where people chose games from all years, for all consoles and PC as well, and give 'em a try :)
I appreciate it very much :)
Rafael Aguilar on 1/24/2014 7:03 AM · Permalink · Report
OMG!! I would have never expected this, thank you guys for bringing this site back to its former glory!!
DarkBubble (342) on 2/6/2014 6:10 PM · Permalink · Report
Holy crap! I hadn't visited in a couple months and was shocked when I came here begrudgingly to track down a game someone can't name. This is great news!
Just checked around outside the forum to see how the rest of the site looks. Thank you for saving MobyGames from GameFly! Keeping my fingers crossed you guys respect the users, especially since content depends on them.
I think I'll contribute again.
lurker on 2/16/2014 11:12 AM · Permalink · Report
Hello, just wanted to add my thanks as well! Have been using the site for years, mostly for old games and part of the charm was MG's retro look. Naturally I was extremely distraught with the revised "look" and after checking in a few times, I had pretty much given up on it and really didn't expect this anymore. So thanks a lot!