7 ms·

Stack Overflow's new Gaming site is in public beta

31 points by mwsherman 16y ago

pinksoda 16y ago
It's incredible how he keeps expanding into viable markets. Has he opened any "stack" sites that didn't get immediate traction?
- spolsky 16y ago
  it's not incredible, it's by design :) We only open the sites that we know will get traction (through the "Area51" process, see http://area51.stackexchange.com http://area51.stackexchange.com). Right now it looks like we've got about 10 sites that are pretty much guaranteed to work, then we'll probably take a couple of weeks to study the data in detail to see what the real success factors are.
  - city41 16y ago
    What entails the "beta" part of a new stack exchange site? The platform is proven to be rock solid and the only changes appear to be in visual design. Or is it just an extra precaution and sites leave beta quickly?
    - spolsky 16y ago
      There is a 7 day secret, private beta so that a few hundred super-committed people can fill up the site with questions to set the tone, and establish a system of tags. That way when the public beta hits, the site is already stocked with a bunch of appropriate questions. After the private beta, there is a 60-90 day public beta. The purpose of this is to make sure the site really survives and doesn't just get a burst of activity and then disappears. Sites which still have a lot of activity at the end of 90 days become permanent sites... sites which don't would be closed down. The public beta also allows a community to start to develop.... in addition to setting a tone for the site and deciding what kinds of things are on-topic, they work on picking a permanent domain name, a logo, a graphic design, and electing moderators.
  - GrandMasterBirt 16y ago
    Um, is this more about gaming hardware issues, or the games themselves because we still have gamefaqs.com
    - city41 16y ago
      There's also still experts-exchange, usenet and various forums for programming questions.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
  - edanm 16y ago
    As someone also working on building a community site, I hope you or Jeff could one day write down some thoughts on creating a community from scratch. Considering your IMO truly amazing successes, I'm sure you have a lot to offer people like me.
    - johns 16y ago
      Step 1: Get popular. Step 2: Turn followers into early adopters. Step 3: Profit.
      - edanm 16y ago
        I was hoping for something a mere mortal like me might have a chance at. If the first step is "Get popular"... :)
    - michaelbuckbee 16y ago
      I would highly recommend listening to the Stack Overflow podcasts, they cover in great detail the design decisions behind the site and how it all came together.
wheaties 16y ago
The best part about this site is that people coming to it will understand that they aren't getting access to the developers (unless they come to visit.) That should rule out half the trolls. The other half will be down-voted.
- jmatt 16y ago
  Excellent point. Nothing is more frustrating than forum posts that are clearly trolling for dev responses or to make statements they hope devs will see. Ironically most of these questions should be directed at producers and designers not developers. Yet the catch-all name sticks.
mattmaroon 16y ago
Very cool. I was just wondering where to post a game design job opening.
- dieterrams 16y ago
  If I'm not mistaken, you'll want to wait for the Game Dev version instead: http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/2825/game-development http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/2825/game-developm...
  - Keyframe 16y ago
    Private Beta is underway http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/ http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/ Will open for business on July 21st.
barmstrong 16y ago
Great CSS design.
jmatt 16y ago
We'll see how many gamers actually jump through the hoops and confusion that is openid. It's one thing to get programmers or IT to use it and adopt it. It's a whole different story to get an average gamer to use it. These are the same distrustful stubborn people who have been getting hacked for decades by giving up too much personal information. In addition many gamers don't want their game identity anywhere near their real identity. This is compounded by those same gamers being the most active participants and most ardent in their attempt to separate game and real identities. Now - even though technically they should prefer openid over normal login - that doesn't mean they'll roll with it. There is a lot more involved in making a decision when it breaks convention like their login. Clearly I prefer the direction that HN and most other startups are going - away from openid. I don't like or agree with limiting users to openid for years old 'industry politicking' reasons. But in the end I use the content and don't give back, so the loss is on the community and site not me. On most stackexchange sites that don't have critical mass, simple decisions like this can still cause a huge problem. EDIT: Grammar Syntax ...
- michaelbuckbee 16y ago
  The UI surrounding OpenID has gotten better in the last year. In the vast majority of cases it's not you pasting some URL, you just pick the provider you are already using to login with and go. Jeff has posted some stats (kinda dated now) about the utter dominance of people using their existing Google ID to log in with: http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/31021/what-openid-providers-should-we-feature-on-the-login-page http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/31021/what-openid-pr...
  - k7d 16y ago
    in such case, from usability standpoint, why not design login screen with Google ID in epicenter and other login options as secondary. would be less confusing to average non-techie
Dilpil 16y ago
Funny how about 1 out of 10 posts is about dwarf fortress.
- michaelbuckbee 16y ago
  If ever there was a game that could really benefit from a strong and vibrant question and answer community it would be DF.
k7d 16y ago
the niche has potential, but what's the deal with domain name? it could use some imagination and 24 characters is just little too much

31 points by mwsherman 16y ago

It's incredible how he keeps expanding into viable markets. Has he opened any "stack" sites that didn't get immediate traction?

spolsky 16y ago
it's not incredible, it's by design :) We only open the sites that we know will get traction (through the "Area51" process, see http://area51.stackexchange.com http://area51.stackexchange.com). Right now it looks like we've got about 10 sites that are pretty much guaranteed to work, then we'll probably take a couple of weeks to study the data in detail to see what the real success factors are.
- city41 16y ago
  What entails the "beta" part of a new stack exchange site? The platform is proven to be rock solid and the only changes appear to be in visual design. Or is it just an extra precaution and sites leave beta quickly?
  - spolsky 16y ago
    There is a 7 day secret, private beta so that a few hundred super-committed people can fill up the site with questions to set the tone, and establish a system of tags. That way when the public beta hits, the site is already stocked with a bunch of appropriate questions. After the private beta, there is a 60-90 day public beta. The purpose of this is to make sure the site really survives and doesn't just get a burst of activity and then disappears. Sites which still have a lot of activity at the end of 90 days become permanent sites... sites which don't would be closed down. The public beta also allows a community to start to develop.... in addition to setting a tone for the site and deciding what kinds of things are on-topic, they work on picking a permanent domain name, a logo, a graphic design, and electing moderators.
- GrandMasterBirt 16y ago
  Um, is this more about gaming hardware issues, or the games themselves because we still have gamefaqs.com
  - city41 16y ago
    There's also still experts-exchange, usenet and various forums for programming questions.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- edanm 16y ago
  As someone also working on building a community site, I hope you or Jeff could one day write down some thoughts on creating a community from scratch. Considering your IMO truly amazing successes, I'm sure you have a lot to offer people like me.
  - johns 16y ago
    Step 1: Get popular. Step 2: Turn followers into early adopters. Step 3: Profit.
    - edanm 16y ago
      I was hoping for something a mere mortal like me might have a chance at. If the first step is "Get popular"... :)
  - michaelbuckbee 16y ago
    I would highly recommend listening to the Stack Overflow podcasts, they cover in great detail the design decisions behind the site and how it all came together.

wheaties 16y ago

The best part about this site is that people coming to it will understand that they aren't getting access to the developers (unless they come to visit.) That should rule out half the trolls. The other half will be down-voted.

jmatt 16y ago
Excellent point. Nothing is more frustrating than forum posts that are clearly trolling for dev responses or to make statements they hope devs will see. Ironically most of these questions should be directed at producers and designers not developers. Yet the catch-all name sticks.

mattmaroon 16y ago

Very cool. I was just wondering where to post a game design job opening.

dieterrams 16y ago
If I'm not mistaken, you'll want to wait for the Game Dev version instead: http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/2825/game-development http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/2825/game-developm...
- Keyframe 16y ago
  Private Beta is underway http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/ http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/ Will open for business on July 21st.

barmstrong 16y ago

Great CSS design.

jmatt 16y ago

We'll see how many gamers actually jump through the hoops and confusion that is openid. It's one thing to get programmers or IT to use it and adopt it. It's a whole different story to get an average gamer to use it. These are the same distrustful stubborn people who have been getting hacked for decades by giving up too much personal information. In addition many gamers don't want their game identity anywhere near their real identity. This is compounded by those same gamers being the most active participants and most ardent in their attempt to separate game and real identities. Now - even though technically they should prefer openid over normal login - that doesn't mean they'll roll with it. There is a lot more involved in making a decision when it breaks convention like their login. Clearly I prefer the direction that HN and most other startups are going - away from openid. I don't like or agree with limiting users to openid for years old 'industry politicking' reasons. But in the end I use the content and don't give back, so the loss is on the community and site not me. On most stackexchange sites that don't have critical mass, simple decisions like this can still cause a huge problem. EDIT: Grammar Syntax ...

michaelbuckbee 16y ago
The UI surrounding OpenID has gotten better in the last year. In the vast majority of cases it's not you pasting some URL, you just pick the provider you are already using to login with and go. Jeff has posted some stats (kinda dated now) about the utter dominance of people using their existing Google ID to log in with: http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/31021/what-openid-providers-should-we-feature-on-the-login-page http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/31021/what-openid-pr...
- k7d 16y ago
  in such case, from usability standpoint, why not design login screen with Google ID in epicenter and other login options as secondary. would be less confusing to average non-techie

Dilpil 16y ago

Funny how about 1 out of 10 posts is about dwarf fortress.

michaelbuckbee 16y ago
If ever there was a game that could really benefit from a strong and vibrant question and answer community it would be DF.

k7d 16y ago

the niche has potential, but what's the deal with domain name? it could use some imagination and 24 characters is just little too much