The Big News (TNL is black. And this time... it's personal)

[Frogacuda]

i think it's a much better idea to tailor the content to the audience that's here so long as it isn't inaccessible for the new reader.

That is the idea. That doesn't mean everything we write is going to be caustic and sarcastic, but it will have a personality.

And we should also remember the other side of TNL, which is that there are a bunch of "hardcore" gamers here that know their shit, and that's why we have guys like NeoZeedeater on board. We're going to be playing to that side, too.

I don't think either of these things are "unprofessional" though, so much as they are niche. We're still going to make sure people can write, that stuff is tightly edited and well paced. That's what "professional" means to me, more than a particular tone. I want a polished product, but I don't want to compete with IGN.

[burgundy]

i agree. and i think that is understood now.

[Dyne]

please stop using the hardcore term Frog.

[Frogacuda]

I said it in quotes and acknowledged the term has lost its meaning, cut me a break.

[burgundy]

haha, that's how i used "professional"

[Dyne]

I said it in quotes and acknowledged the term has lost its meaning, cut me a break.

was this before, or after the edit

[Frogacuda]

was this before, or after the edit

It was before you made your post at all in post 184

[Dyne]

your mom!

[Scourge]

in what could be an absolute watershed moment for TNL, i think dyne actually made an excellent point here. i think one of the problems with the content here in the past is that too much of an emphasis was put on appearing to be "professional," which was fantastic for the TNL writers who parlayed their experience here into pro jobs all over the industry but ultimately forced the site into direct, unwinnable competition with the juggernauts like IGN. i think it's a much better idea to tailor the content to the audience that's here so long as it isn't inaccessible for the new reader.

We're lucky (well, not lucky, but you know what I mean) to have built in traffic from having been around for a long time and having members who were integral parts of the gaming journalism community. Dyne's point could cut either way. I think he meant that he'd prefer the front end to not be so injoke/meme heavy so that it's only preaching to the choir (current members who understand how tnl is), which would again put tnl in direct competition with sites like ign.

However, the opposite might not be very inviting to prospective members. For example, the best dvd site I know is http://www.dvdinmypants.com/. But the entire place is based on injokes and memes and thus the community there sucks balls and I think the traffic for the forum is really small. We'll always have a big forum community, but if we're looking to expand by attracting people with our front page content, some real balance on the front end will have to be found.

Hm, we should throw dvdinmypants a bone and partner with them for movie content here. I like that place but never go anymore because the community sucks.

[dave is ok]

A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES LOL