| | | Author | Message |
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ryanflucas
  
| | #1 posted August 18, 2008 at 12:28am (EST) |
I follow GTZ, Goozex, and CAG. I spend the majority of my time here, followed by CAG, then Goozex to get rid high value games.
I just saw this post today for upcoming CAG 2.0:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com
The CAG Game Collection system has been coming along nicely (along with a bunch of other huge features), but since the collection system is what I hear most requests for it's the current top priority. The basics of the new system have actually been nearly complete since the launch of CAG 2.0, but I haven't considered it ready since there are still too many things lacking. I want to make sure that it's the best game collection system around by far, and for that I'm going to need some suggestions on what you want to see included.
Here's a quick overview of what we've already got in CAG game collections:
Basic Functionality
* A sortable list view of your game collection (or anyone else's, for that matter) - sortable by platform, name, genre, and date added.
* Game browsing - a list of games in the database, searchable by name, platform and genre, and sortable by all the usual fields.
* When adding a game to your collection (or editing an existing record), you can specify case/manual/disk condition, price paid, whether or not you're playing it now, whether or not you've beaten the game, and region. Whenever you add a game to your collection there's an extra field for any other comments. (Suggestions for additional fields are welcome.)
* See a list of all the other CAG users who own a specific game. (With the option to view only those with copies on the same platform, or across all platforms.)
* Game forums - threads related to a particular game are listed at the bottom of a game view page.
* Miscellaneous stats. See the most popular games, genres, and platforms, as well as a bunch of other stats.
Trade Lists
* When adding a game to your collection (or editing an existing record) you can flag it as available for sale or trade. If you're willing to sell the game, you can input the price you're looking for.
* Trade list viewing, view a list of all the games someone has available for sale or trade. Sortable by the usual fields.
* See all the CAG users who have a copy of a specific game available for trade/sale.
* Bargain bin - see all the games CAG users are willing to sell for less than a specified amount.
* Friend trades - see games that your friends are willing to trade/sell.
* Region based listings. UK users can filter out all non-UK content, US users can filter out all non-US content.
Wish Lists
* Wish list viewing, view a list of all the games someone has on their wish list.
* Trade matching - we'll automatically compare your wish list with games other CAGs are willing to trade or sell, and show you the best matches.
* Trade assist - found someone with a game you want? Trade assist will compare their wish list with your game collection, and show you matches. You'll instantly know what games the trader wants, and you have. We'll even include the approximate values of the game so you can use it to gauge whether or not the trade is fair.
User Reviews and Ratings
* Text based reviews from CAG members, viewable on the game view page.
* Specify what you think the game is worth, we display the average value throughout the game collection system.
* Choose a rating for the game, out of "Excellent", "Good", "Average", "Bad", "Terrible"
* Your recent reviews, ratings and valuations are displayed on your profile page.
Obviously I'm skipping a lot of detail, but those are the main features of the new system. Here are some of the things are currently being worked on:
* AJAX game searching for rapidly adding games to your collection.
* Step by step status updates for game sales/trades. (You can mark when an item has been shipped, submit a tracking number, and this information is available to the buyer.)
* Game lookup bbcode for posts. E.g. [game]Gears of War[/game] posted anywhere on CAG will turn it into a contextual link - clicking it will display a panel containing essential stats about the game (e.g. CAG rating, "what it's worth" price, and a summary of people who are trading/selling the game.
* Revamped user profile page to better accomodate integration with all this new data. (Including things like what you're playing, recently beaten games, etc.)
* A more robust feedback system, that includes trade/sale history.
Suggestions for new features are more than welcome, post them below and I'll update the list with the ones that we choose to implement.
Update 08/17/2008
New featured based on suggestions are listed below. Regarding the inclusion of up to date retail prices for games, that's something coming later.
New Features
* XML/CSV export of collection, trade and wish lists.
* AJAX one-click adding through the system to instantly add games to your collection/trade list/wish list without leaving the page.
* Downloadable games (you won't be able to add these to your trade list).
* Easy access to your list via www.cheapassgamer.com/trade/username
* Text-only version of the list for mobile devices.
* Cataloging field for users who organize their games.
* Permissions for your lists. (Show to everyone/friends only/no-one else).
* AJAX one-click conversion of wish list items into your collection.
* Email notification/RSS for new games being traded that are on your wish list.
Coming Later
* Import data from CSV/XML.
* Collection compatibility - find people with similar tastes in games.
* CAG deal system integration.
* CAG-O-Matic 2.0 (John needs more sleep edition) integration.
* iPhone version.
* UPC integration.
* Hardware lists.
Really far down the line
* Import from other sites (this would take some serious thinking through). For users with really huge collections, I might have to do imports on a case-by-case basis.
* Integration with a little side-project I'm working on (iPhone app related)
|
I like the idea of friends lists and the bargain bin. The page formatting for iPhone grabbed my attention since I use a iPod Touch (same os but no phone) for Internet access on the go, but I doubt he would have that implemented any time soon.
I'm expecting they will run into some of the same problems GTZ has had over the years, but it's interesting to see how it turns out.
 | DefaultGen
  
 
| | #2 posted August 18, 2008 at 12:53am (EST) |
I demand maps of states and countries we've traded with.
Trade me your Steel Battalion / Tekki games, imports, promos, and anything else related!
Latest GameTZ Podcast | _kate_
  
| | #3 posted August 18, 2008 at 1:39am (EST) |
I've been thinking for a while now that a site redesign might be a good idea. I like the site itself now that I'm used to it, but the interface doesn't really draw in new users.
 | ryanflucas
| | #4 posted August 18, 2008 at 1:48am (EST) |
_kate_ wrote:
> I've been thinking for a while now that a site redesign
> might be a good idea. I like the site itself now that I'm
> used to it, but the interface doesn't really draw in new
> users.
I think this was discussed a few years back if I'm thinking right. While both GTZ and CAG are not setup entirely the same way, I'm wondering if its the same conceptual mySQL code structure underneath, and that CAG is basically running some sort of fancier theme overlay?
| Discover
 
| #5 posted August 18, 2008 at 2:02am (EST)
edited August 18, 2008 at 2:05am (EST) |
To be really successful, every link must be a big bloated clickable image! | kzn
 
| | #6 posted August 18, 2008 at 2:28am (EST) |
Screw redesign. If it's not broken, dont fix it. Part of the reasons why I like GTZ is the simple yet effective design that doesnt take a decade to load. The friend list idea has been floating around though, but we dont want to turn into MySpace now, I dont think.
 | mmm40x
| | #7 posted August 18, 2008 at 2:32am (EST) |
>We'll even include the approximate values of the game so you can use it to gauge whether or not the trade is fair.
I'll be interested in seeing how accurate this is and how it will keep pace with the actual retail price fluctuations. I'd also like to know what their source(s) will be. | bill
 
| | #8 posted August 18, 2008 at 6:14am (EST) |
Thanks for the info.
Partly, I feel validated that CAG is adopting some of the same stuff GameTZ has had for years.
Honestly, I don't know a lot about CAG. They are/were mostly just a collection of forums, right? Focused on finding good deals...
It's really quite a long list of new features. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
I suspect this will make Goozex nervous. I think CAG is more popular than GameTZ and Goozex combined (according to Alexa anyway). I'm assuming Goozex has real expenses with a full staff and investors and such. So, I assume they have to succeed big in order to survive long term. I know Goozex is popular, but I wonder if it's enough.
All along, competition hasn't really been a problem for GameTZ, so I try not to let it worry me. We've always had competition. Many have fallen over the years. I've been conservative with GameTZ mostly and it has survived. I haven't made the push for investment and major growth by adding staff and doing a lot of marketing. I've kept it low-key with close ties to the community of people who use it. GameTZ is kind of a grassroots trading site. It doesn't take so much for me to keep GameTZ running, and I'm trying to keep it that way. So, we should be around for many years to come.
Sometimes I think I should redesign GameTZ too. But, it's a tricky thing. If we were to actually get down into details about what we should change, I suspect we'd quickly find that we don't all agree. But, of course, I'm open to suggestions as always. While I joke about being lazy, I have kept adding features to the site over the years, and most have been suggestions. I admit that design isn't something I'm great at. | BoB
 
| | #9 posted August 18, 2008 at 8:21am (EST) |
blah i resist change
dog, you never played FF8? - Vdub | MightySlacker
| | #10 posted August 18, 2008 at 10:51am (EST) |
Unfortunately, the one thing CAG can't redesign/change is all the high school lowballing ice cream mans that think their $5 clearance game is worth more than your $5 clearance game.
I still remember the guy that went on a long ass rant about how no one that got Disgaea from the magical $5 Circuit City clearance would sell it for a decent price and that everyone was a scalping dickhead. Someone sold him one for a reasonable $20, and 3 days later he was selling it used for $35.
Not to mention, have you seen the stickied threads about scammers? When someone starts ripping, they take a BUNCH of people, not just a few. There's not any checks in place besides allowing people to use common sense, and we all know how much that works. Goozex will refund you, and while we don't have much, youd be surprised how much something visual like a star works better than a number rating.
Dave
Morph can finally R.I.P.
[19:01] <heatdolphins45> don't question my authority MightySlacker, i have done over 250 sucessful trades on 3 different websites... | bill
| #11 posted August 18, 2008 at 11:00am (EST)
edited August 18, 2008 at 11:01am (EST) |
Goozex refunds in points, right? ...that's one advantage of a point-based system, "insurance" is free.
Though, I guess you could argue that it may lead to inflation/devaluation of the points.
I've been using switchplanet a little in the last few months (mainly because they gave me a big pile of points after peerflix died), they have a real inflation problem.
I think GameTZ does a lot of stuff right. ...but, I'm biased. Still, it's frustrating to use switchplanet because they are lacking so many things. I really miss offer/trade records when I'm there. | Sid_Ceaser
 
| | #12 posted August 18, 2008 at 11:43am (EST) |
Put a little crown on the GameTZ logo, because it is, and forever will be, the King(tm)
 | Yamas
| | #13 posted August 18, 2008 at 11:56am (EST) |
Sid_Ceaser wrote:
>
> Put a little crown on the GameTZ logo, because it is, and forever
> will be, the King(tm)
>
>
>
>
>
mackey wrote:
> One day you'll see the trade: bill gets: $50 Walmart
> Gift Card, BoB gets: GameTZ.
Check out the GameTZ Freebie Forum | robanddiana
| | #14 posted August 18, 2008 at 12:27pm (EST) |
I always try to trade on GameTZ first, then Goozex 2nd. Haven't tried any other sites, but a big concern is always how bad trades are handled. I like the way TZ and Goozex handle them. On TZ, it's like a bad scar that stays with you, and on Goozex, both parties are protected (as long as they don't see abuse).
That would be my biggest concern before trying any other sites. My next biggest concern is maintaining more than 2 games lists (I have enough trouble maintaining 2)
Anyone have any experience with CAG or TGN (Trade Games Now)? | Forgotten_Freshness
| | #15 posted August 18, 2008 at 12:41pm (EST) |
CAG is balls. GTZ 4 lyfe nicca.
Sorry, that was the 9th grader in me (he's constantly trying to escape, his parents miss him).
 | invisibleink
| | #16 posted August 18, 2008 at 12:56pm (EST) |
cag sucks. goozex sucks. they both wish they were gtz
 | ryanflucas
| | #17 posted August 18, 2008 at 1:37pm (EST) |
mmm40x wrote:
> |>We'll even include the approximate values of the
> game so you can use it to gauge whether or not the trade
> is fair.
>
>
> I'll be interested in seeing how accurate this is and how
> it will keep pace with the actual retail price fluctuations.
> I'd also like to know what their source(s) will be.
Cheapy-D used to run something called cag-o-matic that would track retail price changes in games online. Since 2.0 it's been taken down, but I'm thinking its the same algorithm applied differently. From what I remember it was based on Amazon AISN's, upc's and game titles across a few different merchants (Amazon, Circuit City, Best Buy, Gamestop, EB, PlayAsia, etc.) Maybe the idea is to send out a web crawler to grab the retail prices and then make averages based on the data.
| Forgotten_Freshness
| | #18 posted August 18, 2008 at 1:45pm (EST) |
Just use www.videogamepricecharts.com
The values are surprisingly close to the true average.
| ryanflucas
| | #19 posted August 18, 2008 at 1:51pm (EST) |
I never made one successful trade on TGN. It seemed like it took way to long to pend a trade. Not the system, but the quality of members. CAG I've done 6 trades on. It's easy to pend trades and such, but not nearly as organized as here. I find that theres much more bargaining going on, and most users know exactly what they want and don't browse much. The main thing with CAG is the CAGCast podcast. It's like having a big flashing advertisement sign in the pod casting directories for your site. They started doing corporate sponsorships on the pod casts, but nothing too huge yet (occasional Gamestop, Navy, Army ads). They do have some draw from it though, since they are able to get major gaming industry people involved (Major Nelson for example) but I think it's because many of it's members run their own blogs related to gaming or work in the industry.
| kzn
| | #20 posted August 18, 2008 at 2:16pm (EST) |
I especially like how these sites are just now doing things like GTZ, but GTZ never jump the gun to copy them.
FTW.
Realistically though, you're already pulling prices from Amazon, how hard would it be to get it from other sites, too, Bill? If they're there, it could be like Pricegrabber when you click a game, it'll pull up a list of merchant and you can sort by prices. Then after that you can just implement a stats table to the homepage on whatever is consider as a "deal" or low price game, or whatever game has the price dropped (I imagine this is close to impossible?). People find deals all the time (ie the Find of the Week topic), they can just contribute and the deal can be posted on the front page, like Slickdeals and stuff. And you already have the Hot Deals forum, split it some more, you'll have yourself a CAGpro! Voila! Im not sure what you said about the buddy list feature though, plus the bio page is already set up so that you can put in whatever the hell you like. Add more fields with more characters available and a photobook (everyone is gonna need their own slice of the server's storage pie I assume), and you'll have yourself a myspace too!
Hire some people. Or dont. GTZ Forever.
| bill
| | #21 posted August 18, 2008 at 2:18pm (EST) |
Forgotten_Freshness wrote:
> Just use www.videogamepricecharts.com
That's interesting... it may even be worth GameTZ subscribing to their pricing guide... | John
| | #22 posted August 18, 2008 at 3:10pm (EST) |
Goozex handles "bad" trades well (i.e. like "insurance") only when they go REALLY bad. Much more common is condition/incomplete problems -- and Goozex, in my opinion, handles those horribly!
Say you request an item as Complete only -- the full package. Some idiot ships you disc-only instead. What can you do? Well, you can give him a NEUTRAL for that! You can't even give him a bad rating and you won't be getting any refund or points back! What kind of a system is set up so that you can list things as complete, ship disc-only, and not even get a bad rating for doing so??
- John...
I kissed a girl.
(And I liked it.) | BoB
| | #23 posted August 18, 2008 at 3:20pm (EST) |
precisely why i stopped using goozex.pc games without cd keys are umm hmm ummm i dont have any nice words to finish this sentence sorry.
dog, you never played FF8? - Vdub | Grenadier
| #24 posted August 18, 2008 at 4:17pm (EST)
edited August 18, 2008 at 4:17pm (EST) |
BoB wrote:
> precisely why i stopped using goozex.pc games without cd
> keys are umm hmm ummm i dont have any nice words to finish
> this sentence sorry.
CD keys are required at Goozex, even for disc only trades. Any game arriving without a needed cd-key is allowed to be marked as a negative. (Unplayable game or somesuch.)
Click here to join Goozex and get a free game! | BoB
| | #25 posted August 18, 2008 at 4:33pm (EST) |
oh great so some yanker escaped on me?lovely.
dog, you never played FF8? - Vdub | robanddiana
| | #26 posted August 18, 2008 at 6:10pm (EST) |
John wrote:
> Say you request an item as Complete only
> -- the full package. Some idiot ships you
> disc-only instead. What can you do? Well,
> you can give him a NEUTRAL for that! You
> can't even give him a bad rating and you
> won't be getting any refund or points back!
> What kind of a system is set up so that
> you can list things as complete, ship disc-only,
> and not even get a bad rating for doing so??
>
>
>
I'm with you there; there's no recourse. I also feel on Goozex, there should be a category for disc + case. I think more users would request games without a manual rather than disc only.
In addition, I'm all for simpler is better. You can get lost on sites like Goozex. They are trying to improve that though. . . | kzn
| | #27 posted August 18, 2008 at 6:14pm (EST) |
I get lost on CAG too, actually. I'd just look at the frontpage, and the videogame deals occasionally. the ignore feature here cant be beaten.
| bill
| | #28 posted August 18, 2008 at 6:26pm (EST) |
we get people who are confused by GameTZ too | kzn
| | #29 posted August 18, 2008 at 6:30pm (EST) |
they deserve to be shot.
| Gonchi
| | #30 posted August 18, 2008 at 8:20pm (EST) |
I like GameTZ just the way it is. | DummyP
 
| | #31 posted August 18, 2008 at 8:37pm (EST) |
Let's go to war with the bastards. An all out assault on their forums! EAT THE RICH
--
I'm single again ladies. So shave that head bald and let's do this.
| BoB
| | #32 posted August 18, 2008 at 9:37pm (EST) |
rich?cheapyd sells burgers someplace i bet.i say that because ive masturbated to a guy at bk that looks just like him tmi alert
dog, you never played FF8? - Vdub | DummyP
| | #33 posted August 18, 2008 at 10:14pm (EST) |
Bob, why is it everytime I read your mangled keyboard mashings, I get a migraine?
--
I'm single again ladies. So shave that head bald and let's do this.
| BoB
| | #34 posted August 18, 2008 at 10:21pm (EST) |
because i hate you you fudging no iq scoring fudgewad my posts are designed to grind into nothing and strike gold
FUDGING GOLD DUDE
or its cause im fudgeed up whatever
dog, you never played FF8? - Vdub | DummyP
| #35 posted August 18, 2008 at 10:26pm (EST)
edited August 18, 2008 at 10:26pm (EST) |
I hope one day you wake up and think to yourself, "I think I'll have a rich, creamy, Arsenic smoothie."
--
I'm single again ladies. So shave that head bald and let's do this.
| BoB
| | #36 posted August 18, 2008 at 10:29pm (EST) |
if i could sip it from your poorly formed cranial cavity id be so down
dog, you never played FF8? - Vdub | BoB
| | #37 posted August 18, 2008 at 10:30pm (EST) |
like down syndrome
dog, you never played FF8? - Vdub | BoB
| | #38 posted August 18, 2008 at 10:30pm (EST) |
sorry i was typing too fas t to adjust my english
dog, you never played FF8? - Vdub | DummyP
| | #39 posted August 18, 2008 at 10:31pm (EST) |
BoB wrote:
> if i could sip it from your poorly formed cranial cavity id be so down
>
dog my crnial cavity is sexytime.
--
I'm single again ladies. So shave that head bald and let's do this.
| kzn
| | #40 posted August 18, 2008 at 10:33pm (EST) |
I bet you bill could hack the crap out of those sites. Believe it.
| | |
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