tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922857679980740630.post6264634118771490624..comments2024-03-27T10:35:46.596+01:00Comments on Ravalation: The Torhead closure within the fanscapeRavanelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03447777640056476366noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922857679980740630.post-3676971755329171752015-03-27T01:44:51.012+01:002015-03-27T01:44:51.012+01:00That's interesting news, thanks for sharing! I...That's interesting news, thanks for sharing! If that database could be updated automatically through datamining, that would remove the problem that all those MMO wikis are fighting: the manpower needed to process all the stuff. I wonder if it's possible to automatically add the info most people are after (namely, how do I get this item?), though. We don't know if item tooltips on mousing over as it worked with Torhead are a possibility either, but then again, simply having an up-to-date database available would be a major upgrade from the situation as it is.Ravanelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03447777640056476366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922857679980740630.post-88549253474088448142015-03-22T20:30:26.179+01:002015-03-22T20:30:26.179+01:00This is sad news :( I used Torhead a lot while dis...This is sad news :( I used Torhead a lot while discovering new stuff (it's not usual to me to bother my guild mates with questions about items that will be answered with terms that would generate more questions...). Anyway, I alreeady noticed that Torhead was lacking some urgent updates...<br /><br />- MurderBaalrechhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09463049159935244101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922857679980740630.post-72998435745544378792015-03-22T15:01:48.141+01:002015-03-22T15:01:48.141+01:00That's awesome news, Shintar! I felt horrible...That's awesome news, Shintar! I felt horrible able Torhead closing especially after I discovered that they will be closing the day after Inwon Ootinicast's Tip of the Week for urging people to search for companion conversation affection gains there. I personally loved Torhead and am sorry to see it go away. I am excited about Miner opening a new database though. That guy is pretty funny if you listen to him on Torocast. Anyway. Sad news for Torhead, but hopefully something better will come along-even if it isn't as all-inclusive I hope we can get sites that are devoted to individual aspects of the game that were as inclusive as Torhead. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922857679980740630.post-65350466782589105922015-03-21T19:02:09.860+01:002015-03-21T19:02:09.860+01:00Haha, don't worry, I understand. I still make ...Haha, don't worry, I understand. I still make comparisons to WoW myself... your first game leaves its mark. ;)<br /><br />I've since seen some comments by SWTOR Miner that seem to indicate that he's working on an item database of his own that would be updated through his datamining... I'll definitely keep an eye out for that.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922857679980740630.post-87458302898934880602015-03-21T18:48:44.285+01:002015-03-21T18:48:44.285+01:00I'm so sorry to hear that. It must be heartbre...I'm so sorry to hear that. It must be heartbreaking to hear about it after having put so much effort into the website. I must say that their policy on updating sounds a bit redundant, from what I hear from you. Letting new content wait for two weeks before approving isn't exactly optimal and far from stimulating for the people putting in the effort to submit it in the first place. No wonder the website became outdated so quickly. <br /><br />It's really a shame the SWTOR-wiki (yes, that existed as well) never got enough of a fanbase to hit off. It was set up by people that were involved with the LotRO-wiki and would have followed the same format. I sometimes miss the LotRO-wiki days: we had a nice contributor community going on there, hanging out in IRC together now and then. After submitting a few pages we'd give more contribution rights to contributors; they were always implemented right away and didn't have to be approved beforehand. The goal was always to provide the best resource for the players, not to make profit. The website only started using advertisements when the site expanded and the upkeep for the server became unbearable by the owner. I'd still be hanging out there if the game would be any good. /fanpage contributor nostalgia<br /><br />Hehe, I'm terrible; this is a SWTOR post and I just keep going on about LotRO in the comments. I'll shut up now, I promise! ;)Ravanelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03447777640056476366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922857679980740630.post-24773588444330271822015-03-21T13:10:51.882+01:002015-03-21T13:10:51.882+01:00Oh, so you did play LotRO after all! My apologies....Oh, so you did play LotRO after all! My apologies. I don't have to feel bad about boring you to death with that wall of text about LotRO then. ^^<br /><br />But yes, you are right, the <a href="http://ravalation.blogspot.com/2014/01/lotro-captain-hunter-and-champion-enter.html" rel="nofollow">decline</a> of that game started earlier. It passed recently in <a href="http://ravalation.blogspot.com/2015/03/lotros-transformation-from-behind-scenes.html" rel="nofollow">this article</a> so I didn't want to go into that all that much here. It was surprising how long many blogs stuck around and kept writing about the game. For me personally, it was also hard to <a href="http://ravalation.blogspot.com/2013/08/lotro-requiem.html" rel="nofollow">say goodbye</a> to the game.<br /><br />Your observation about blogs announcing sales in the Store is interesting. Maybe that's why I could get vaguely annoyed by blogs with a fanboy-attitude. I was already getting showered by the Store in-game on every turn, I didn't need the blogosphere to do the same.Ravanelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03447777640056476366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922857679980740630.post-7378680236415379312015-03-21T09:00:11.510+01:002015-03-21T09:00:11.510+01:00Oh no, I didn't even know about Torhead closin...Oh no, I didn't even know about Torhead closing until I saw your headline on my blog roll! That's quite depressing news... I had the code for the item tooltips on my own blog too, which is why I kept pointing my item links to Torhead even after they became worse and worse about updating. I do think the site was stuck in a vicious circle of not generating enough traffic so they didn't want to work on it, and the lack of updates causing it to generate even less traffic. Personally I went through a phase of <a href="http://swtorcommando.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/doing-my-part-for-community.html" rel="nofollow">trying really hard to support the site</a>, uploading nearly 500 screenshots in the process, but even then my work would sometimes sit in their approval queue for weeks until someone bothered to press a button to let it go live.<br /><br />So I guess all things considered their shutdown is not surprising - they were one of those "old school" fan sites from launch that clearly hoped to make big buck if SWTOR turned out to be the next World of Warcraft. I guess they never got over that disappointment, and we need fan sites that are happy to support the game as it is - like you said, there are many of those now. Still, I'll miss having a full-fledged database... I don't think any of the other sites has a quite as comprehensive list of <i>everything</i> in the game.Shintarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758343475446510635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922857679980740630.post-86559370892147807232015-03-21T05:56:51.599+01:002015-03-21T05:56:51.599+01:00I do understand regarding the LOTRO community. Ea...I do understand regarding the LOTRO community. Early on, the community was really excellent and enthused about every aspect of the game. The developers were accessible and they did some remarkable things. Patience was one of the very best community relations persons I've ever seen. The big schism began with Moria, which I personally loved. It seemed that people could no longer agree on anything, and because it was all so close knit, it got personal. <br /><br />The sale to Warner Bros. was the first nail and free to play sealed it. <br /><br />I noticed many blogs felt that they had to support the game by announcing sales in the LOTRO store, and discussions of lore and how to play the game went away.<br /><br />And many bloggers branched out to talk about other MMOs, or they stopped writing altogether.Atherenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04773969634802702992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922857679980740630.post-5852086227989627942015-03-21T01:17:10.187+01:002015-03-21T01:17:10.187+01:00I've thought the same. You could see this happ...I've thought the same. You could see this happen when LotRO went downhill. That MMO had an incredible loyal and enthusiastic fanbase and there were sooo many blogs, especially compared to its population, which was always much smaller than, say, WoW. With the decline of the game, after the class skill revamp of the Helm's Deep expansion in particular, many old time blogs started disappearing with their bloggers moving over to other games or stopping gaming or blogging altogether. A division among LotRO blogs emerged: some criticized the game, others disapproved of any negativity and kept up their pink glasses. I think the transformation of A Casual Stroll to Mordor into A Casual Stroll through MMOs was a big blow to the LotRO blogging community. That blog/fansite was very popular. Having a huge fanboy attitude and never criticizing the game, its discontinuation was a big surprise to everyone.<br /><br />Enough about this LotRO stuff, though, it's something you didn't play and probably don't relate to. But it is the example closest to my heart that reflects exactly what you said.Ravanelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03447777640056476366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922857679980740630.post-91131666250557280632015-03-21T00:07:43.223+01:002015-03-21T00:07:43.223+01:00I've often thought you could tell a lot about ...I've often thought you could tell a lot about the overall health of a game and it's player base by how many fan sites and blogs are dedicated to it. It is never a good sign to find most sites out of date and blogs abandoned. <br /><br />I think you can learn much about what may have gone wrong with a game from reading the last blog entries.Atherenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04773969634802702992noreply@blogger.com