True or false?

True.
---
nm14 - FAQ writer for GameFAQs

True And False or False Nor True.
---
The killer, karmic©, charismatic, cryptastic©, clever Kirby!
FAQs: 24 (2003KB) | CRP: 43180 | Images: 6

Boards seem a lot less active than they used to be. Just a slump I guess. I know it'll probably be a while before I get back to doing anything.
---
No signature at the moment.

FAQing may be going down the drain, but I will never stop contributing, and I have no plans to take a break yet, either.
---
The world before the fall... Delightful is the light of dawn... Noble is the heart of man...

From: Koritheman | Posted: 2/7/2006 7:50:15 PM | Message Detail
FAQing may be going down the drain, but I will never stop contributing

Even if you are very lucky, you are still likely to stop contributing after 110 years.
---
--www.prepaidlegal.com. We made equal justice under law a reality in North America.

I didn't say anything about 110 years, get real. :P

I'll probably retire like 10-15 years from now, but as of now, I've got no intentions of quitting.
---
The world before the fall... Delightful is the light of dawn... Noble is the heart of man...

True.

The boards are really flagging at late, although the Whats New page seems to stay the same. Must just be the community.
---
32/42 Full Circle | Y.T.W.S.R. |
The FAQer Profiles and History - http://homepages.tesco.net/vicky.reynolds1

People get busy, particularly the people of this board. But there are always new people submitting new FAQs, so it's not dead.

---
Devin Morgan | CRP #3579
NES Completion Project: http://faqs.retronintendo.com

For me, it's true, but mostly because I've been sick for a few weeks and decided to take some time off. Can't wait to get my full strength back though.
---
It's not the size of the dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the dog!
NO ONE GETS INSIDE OUR CIRCLE! - Shadow Ranger

I haven't done any FAQ writing in over a year. Whoo. But I'll still hang around these parts >.>
---
Old loves, they die hard... Old lies, they die harder
o.O Push button to turn on. Play with button to drive wild...

All the "old school" FAQers have grown up, with most in college now or beyond. Their activity has obviously slowed down. There hasn't been an equally talented pool of young writers to take their place, so I would agree that the overall group of FAQers is weaker than it was a few years ago.

Still, there are numerous guides for even the newest games going up, so there's hardly a shortage of writers.
---
How does an Advanced Meta-Mod feature sound? Take a sample tour:
http://free.hostdepartment.com/A/Admiral1018/AMMS/AMMS_Intro.htm

There hasn't been an equally talented pool of young writers to take their place, so I would agree that the overall group of FAQers is weaker than it was a few years ago.

I agree with that, just I didn't want to be the one who said it first.

As for the newer folks continuing on with FAQing, it's surprising to see newer games being covered entirely by new faces (Castlevania DS for instance; all new authors there).

---
Devin Morgan | CRP #3579
NES Completion Project: http://faqs.retronintendo.com

From: The Admiral | Posted: 2/8/2006 1:16:48 PM | Message Detail
All the "old school" FAQers have grown up, with most in college now or beyond. Their activity has obviously slowed down. There hasn't been an equally talented pool of young writers to take their place, so I would agree that the overall group of FAQers is weaker than it was a few years ago.

Exactly. I don't really care what anyone says or how anyone feels about it, it's completely true. Name ten writers that had the insane buzz about them that Devin, Dallas, Marshmallow, Astroblue, Sulpher, Nemesis, Schultz, Megura, MetroidMoo and myself had at the present time. There is no such thing. =)

I do hope that a new generation of FAQers come along that are as good as we were when we were all that young, but alas it may never happen. Who knows? All I know is that in that list, there are three people who still actually write anything for GFAQs. Some of us have gone on to do this stuff for money. Others have simply moved on.

For the latter, that sucks, but that's the way life goes.

Hmm. In the future, I wish to write tons of FAQs, to help people with alot of video games that I play. I plan to contribute a ton of reviews, and cheat codes. Eventually, perhaps even some Game Saves. However, I am planning on finishing my Paper Mario guide completely. Very soon.
---
Xbox Live Gamertag: Rlwinst
MKDS Friend Code: 249170-860038

I haven't been writing much as of late. It's mostly the insane amounts of schoolwork I'm stuck with this year. I'll surely get some writing done during the summer.
---
Y.T.W.S.R. | I.W.W.H.T.Q.
Haunted and haunting, we are all followed by shadows...

I've really had no motivation as of late to write, but after today, I think I found my motivation to start FAQing again.
---
RO Server I play on: www.deliverance-online.com
Forum name: Skylight

I still recall the shock I felt when I found this board after writing around 10-15 FAQs and seeing my stuff being picked into the variouis categories of FotD.

As for strength of the new writers, I say that the strength is there, but they no longer write the quantity that many of the "new writers" from a few years ago used to, but the quality is still there.
---
66 FAQs for games never covered at www.GameFAQs.com.
Now with a NES FAQ for each letter of the alphabet!

I might FAQ more, but my hobbies are many. And since I started AFTER I entered college, I've had to deal with that.

When I get out, I will try to do more. I've been itching.
---
No matter what they say, or what threats they make, or wars they start, always, always, always, MAKE 7UP YOURS!!

I rarely work on the weekdays, but that may change in several days.

---
If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you.
If you can't see Chuck Norris, you may be only seconds away from death.

Maybe it's just these boards that make it seem like FAQing is going down the drain, but overall it looks like it has gone down a bit.
---
Complete FAQs/Guides Contributed: 7 [794 KB]

While I agree with Colin that there hasn't been quite been a special pool of writers to replace the big original guns, that's not to say there hasn't been a fair amount of great writers since. Zoopsoul, antseezee, Meowthnum1, me frog, War Doc, THayes, StarFighters76 (for maps) A l e x and countless other writers have since filled the gap. Not forgetting that certain writers like Devin, Steve, Brian, Andrew and Engel are still going strong.

I think the FAQing community is feeling it now that many of the current generation of writers are slowly going, and there doesn't seem to be many fresh new writers to replace them. But as Admiral and Devin said there is no shortage of new writers and in time this place will pick up again.
---
32/42 Full Circle | Y.T.W.S.R. |
The FAQer Profiles and History - http://homepages.tesco.net/vicky.reynolds1

I must admit I'm getting categorized into the "grown-up" category. I haven't touched a single video game in a month and a half, and sparingly play a PC game every week or so. Granted, it's not that the love for FAQing is gone, it's just that I've placed a higher emphasis on hanging out with friends, staying in shape, and focusing on my work at hand. Maybe this is the meaning of life?
---
http://www.antseezee.com/ - Writer of 57 FAQs
[.-.] RIP Kao Megura ["-"]

I'm a new writer. My biggest problem is focus - I just can't focus on one game for a long period of time. I'll play it for a few hours, max, then go to the next game. Also, writing for newer games is a bit overwhelming, especially since I'm still getting the hang of writing. I've gotten a couple of minor ones done for the sake of practice, but I have yet to do a full guide on a game that doesn't take more than a half-hour to completely finish with and an hour to write. Although I do have a large quantity of notes to fall back on...maybe it's time to dig them up and write something for a game that hasn't been worked on yet. I think what we need is for the "old guard" to pass on any helpful advice that they can to the up-and-comers to keep the level of quality there.

Seems more likely that the newer writers just haven't become regulars here in the contributor forums.

---
This is horrible. I care.
::Elite Rogue:: {//=|RDoN|=\\}

From: Devin Morgan | Posted: 2/8/2006 9:02:42 AM | Message Detail
People get busy

If you have time to post on GameFaqs you are not busy at all......
---
I hate trolls

I'm relatively new, late summer 2004 without much material yet. I'm going to continue writing as long as I enjoy it. There's never going to be any buzz around me, and I'm never going to have 'renown' simply because of the games I write. I write for the games I love and that's what I'm going to continue to do - even though I have some more known projects in the works.

Perhaps in this way I don't contribute to the 'scene.' I write primarily for old guides on defunct systems, so I likely won't be a sterling source of inspiration for anyone down the road. And I'm completely fine with that.

These boards, I didn't even bother with until I joined the NES Project - and I only talk to four FAQers total outside of them. A lot of people aren't going to know they're here, and joining a older community like this can always be intimidating. The Message Boards aren't the best indication of FAQing because of this, not everyone's goin g to bother with them.

---
585467 Centipede | Complete FAQS: 38
http://ccc.domaindlx.com/CoolZomb/ Zombies! (Warning: Blood, etc)

I think that those saying that the activity on the GameFAQs message boards is decreasing are mistaken. Many game boards are flourishing, as are some social boards.

The key point, and one that has been raised, is that the FAQing community is in decline - at least, the FAQ "social scene" is. I remember when people used to value their KB count more than their salary, when heated debates pervaded the FAQ board and the newly born FCSB and then degenerated into flame wars (some elitist writers - forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe CMoriarty was one of them - were fiercely anti-new talent). Every hour a few new topics would hit this board.

And then, as Admiral mentioned, the "old school" writers began to leave, and the "new generation" had a different outlook on FAQing. I think the nature of the games covered and the attitude of the newer authors doesn't lend itself to that fierce need to outdo fellow FAQers. The competitive spirit that encouraged so many to churn out KB after KB is no longer present, and I think that the FAQer social scene has suffered as a direct consequence.
---
"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it." - George W Bush

If you have time to post on GameFaqs you are not busy at all......


And why do you figure that?
---
Xbox Live Gamertag: Rlwinst
MKDS Friend Code: 249170-860038

From: RevivedHypro | Posted: 2/10/2006 5:09:31 AM | Message Detail
From: Devin Morgan | Posted: 2/8/2006 9:02:42 AM | Message Detail
People get busy

If you have time to post on GameFaqs you are not busy at all......

I've been busy as of late, but find a few spare minutes to check the boards out.
---
RO Server I play on: www.deliverance-online.com
Forum name: Skylight

there is a huge generation of young writers. Its just not that all writers head to gamefaqs, they head to ign, neoseeker, etc. *Shakes fist* stupid anti-fist shaking laws. Anyway, I'm part of the new generation, and for the last year and so, i've done 7 guides. I would do more, but school restricts. I just think that real life education has a higher importance, cutting people off computer games and back to school.
---
Lois: Peter is it safe to be firing real guns at each other in the house?
Peter: Alright alright, nobody fire at Lois, she's scared. - Family Guy

The reason I haven't been really doing any FAQing since like late 2004 to about now is cause I've been focus with my life, not only that I've had things happen I didn't expect to happen. Not only that I've been thinking about moving out of New York to maybe to Tennessee.

---
CRP: 12949 | FAQS: 13 | KB: 852
FAQ Outlaws |

I think another thing we have to realize here, is that the entire FAQing community is not limited to the FAQ Contributor boards on this site _only_. The people who post on this board don't even make up 1% of all the existing unique contributor recognition pages today. Plus, there are other writers that may submit work here, but post more actively on other sites instead. It's not as bad as we may think, since new people contribute new work to the site every single day. That fact alone makes it tough to say we're on a decline, I think.

---
Devin Morgan | CRP #3579
NES Completion Project: http://faqs.retronintendo.com

Devin DOES have a point.
---
Xbox Live Gamertag: Rlwinst
MKDS Friend Code: 249170-860038

From: warfreak | Posted: 2/10/2006 3:29:45 PM | Message Detail
there is a huge generation of young writers.

I bet most of you are not even 20 yet

There is nothing as "old generation" on GameFaqs
---
I hate trolls

He said "young writers". He didn't say anything about a "young generation".
---
Xbox Live Gamertag: Rlwinst
MKDS Friend Code: 249170-860038

Sadly, I think so. Nowadays, the FAQing community is more interested who can notch up the most KB or amount of FAQs over each other rather than helping out gamers who genuinely need help on the games that have no coverage.
---
Ryan SHABBA Harrison!

This board is dead. FAQing is not, and it's in no way limited to this board.
---
Woof. Visit board 571756.
#32454 ;; FAQs: 32 - 5650KB ;; I.W.W.H.T.Q.

I would say it is just a slwo time... the same that was experienced in 2003 when an outgoing group was slowly replaced by many of the regs who populate the boards today. I am sure Dev or Steve could cite other slowdown periods, followed by an influx of some newer board faces.
---
66 FAQs for games never covered at www.GameFAQs.com.
Now with a NES FAQ for each letter of the alphabet!

Well, not everybody here knows me, but some do. I'm relatively new to the FAQing scene, but my MKDS FAQ is in progress, and I plan to FAQ as long, if not longer, than veterans such as marshmallow, etc. did. I just enjoy doing it. But yeah, just cause people FAQ, DOESN'T mean they HAVE to post here.
---
The world before the fall... Delightful is the light of dawn... Noble is the heart of man...

Community discussion about game writing is at a lull in general. It's happening among the reviewers, too. Pendulums swing and right now we're headed in the wrong direction. If a few energetic people take interest, everything will swing the other way.

With that said, I do feel that FAQ writing is as hot as ever. GameFAQs is the biggest site of its kind, but it's not the only game in town. New sites (and older sites like IGN) are aiming to spread the wealth so that GameFAQs isn't the only place to find great guides. Forum alumni are being interviewed by MTV and other mainstream media. To say that FAQing is dead or dying is wrong. It's just changing from what we once knew.

---
HonestGamers
http://www.honestgamers.com/

As for me, I've a few FAQs in the works, I really should work on my RUNESCAPE FAQ a lot more than what I first planned

*is an alt of Imationdaman*
---
-----Everything one day's gonna be Reloaded-----

While I agree with Colin that there hasn't been quite been a special pool of writers to replace the big original guns, that's not to say there hasn't been a fair amount of great writers since. Zoopsoul, antseezee, Meowthnum1, me frog, War Doc, THayes, StarFighters76 (for maps) A l e x and countless other writers have since filled the gap. Not forgetting that certain writers like Devin, Steve, Brian, Andrew and Engel are still going strong.

I have to object to my inclusion in this group (at least in contrast with the other), because a.) half of my FAQs are absolute garbage, and b.) A lot of the writers included in the list (by which I mean I know myself at least) were writing before some in the original list (e.g. I was writing before Bri Bri), so there are some anachronisms in the list.

But you do have a point.
---
Randomize()
"Women are like Voltron - the more you can hookup, the better it gets." | Y.T.S.W.R - I.W.W.H.T.Q

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

I'm relatively new to GameFAQs compared to a lot of other contributors so I can't comment on the state of things now compared to then. I have noticed that for the most part the active(ish) contributors are all top notch and a lot of the on and off contributors are too. It's rare to see anything in the What's New page that could be described as bad. That is probably due in part to the work of the admins but it says a lot about the contributors as well.

I write for the games I love and that's what I'm going to continue to do

Well said, I'm the same way. This is all just a hobby and so long as I'm having fun then I'll be around. Hopefully I never do anything that takes away from the level of integrity the contributor community has. :)

I write for the games I love and that's what I'm going to continue to do

I feel the same way. Right now I'm writing for two of the three NES Wizardry games. I know not many people are going to ever read them, or even need them. But I love the games, and writing these guides is fun. If I were to write a guide for, say, FFVII, I'd throttle myself, because I just can't stand to play the game. Yet many people love it and would probably like to read another quality guide, despite a likely abundance thereof. I just couldn't be bothered to play a game long enough to do a full guide for it if I don't enjoy playing it. To me, it defeats the purpose.

i mean you can't just contribute on kb count, that is use pointless, just insert a large amount of * and & and a lot of spaces . Contributing based on guide count is basically pointless if you don't decide to help, and it won't be accepted in the first place. I'm not 20 yet, but some of the posters are right, gamefaqs is not the only site to post guides on.
---
Lois: Peter is it safe to be firing real guns at each other in the house?
Peter: Alright alright, nobody fire at Lois, she's scared. - Family Guy

Actually, FAQing is more like a hobby to me.

I never stop hobbies, and I expect to write well into the far future. Admittedly, it is stopped for now - just too many things to cope with, but I really think that I won't stop anytime soon.

I'LL BE BACK

---
All active Virtual-On pilots; VOGZ wants you! A club dedicated to the game, helping beginners and veterans alike.
<<http://www.vogz.cjb.net>>

I actually stopped writing here years ago, but thanks for the mention anyway.

I don't think there's a shortage of good writers, I just think there's not a lot of good ones coming here and thus nobody can kiss their asses and hop on their bandwagons, professing their undying love for them when they actually have no talent whatsoever.

Hey, remember kids, I made it to the final 4 in one of the tourneys once. I crushed Snow Dragon like 20-4 or something. Then I stopped coming around here that frequently and people forgot who I was, and I lost to Snow Dragon in the next tourney. If you think ass-kissing doesn't take place around these parts, you're naive.

-Zoop
---
"if the Special Olympics had a message board posting event, GameFAQs would take the gold" - Snow Dragon