The Mercy Side: A GameFAQs Rant

A narrowed down version of this is available on the GameFAQs message board here. It's narrowed down because GameFAQs have a character cap, another stupid rule in a box full of stupid rules.


I hate GameFAQs. Not the site, but the way it is run. They have such stupid double standards about everything.


I just requested my two most recent Top 10 lists (Top 10 Levels in Platformers and Top 10 Games on the Game of the Decade List) for my site to be submitted on GameFAQs. They reject them. The reasons? The former because it "lacked content" and the latter was rejected as "everyone's list would be different". It's funny because, the latter list is quite irrelevant now anyway, as GameFAQs never bothered to actually look at it until today, 19 days after posting, 7 days before the tournament finished.  Thanks guys.


What really gets on my nerves about this is that there have been lists FEATURED that have narrowed topic lists (about a certain game or console) AND lists about what certain people think, in their singular biased opinion that is just as irrelevant as mine, what they think the best games of the decade were. I remember seeing a featured article about "the best games that got knocked out in the first round". Yet my list, about the best in the entire 128 games listed, not 64 of the first rejects, didn't get accepted. But this persons list is okay, it's actually more than okay, it gets featured. That's double standards.


Oh, and another thing? You'll see my username on the message boards is "TheManThatYouFe". It's quite funny really, it should actually say "TheManThatYouFear" but GameFAQs never prompted me to maybe change it's oversized name. It just got accepted, and narrowed down. Also, I was a lot younger when I made this account, and since then go by my alias "JohnnyMercyside". If you look, I have done reviews and lists under JM. But wait, I can't change my name on the boards. Why? Because GameFAQs don't care to. Wow, that's really caring for the users of your site eh? So if people on the message boards wanted to see my work, they wouldn't find it. Why? Because GameFAQs can't be bothered to have a function to change board usernames. But they have a function to change usernames on the site?! It's absolutely backwards. So because of GameFAQs' refusal to enable a changing board nickname function, I have two names on the same site. That's consistency.


GameFAQs don't care about the people who make their website so incredibly popular, ie,the users. Haven't you noticed? To make things change, you have to do petitions. What sort of site will only listen to a "petition"? Every idea is rejected unless it's in petition form, and even then, they reject them, unless many many people fight very hard to make their request heard. Everything is "reject reject reject". They have so much power as they're such a popular website and so many people use their material, and why do they have so much power? Because they're an independent website. No one is above them, so you can't complain to anyone apart from them, and all they do is shrug and click the big metaphorical "reject" button.


You probably think I'm really ranting, and probably may even suggest, why don't I not post on GameFAQs? I've been using the site for about 11 years, and despite my disgust about how things are run behind the scenes, I love so many things about it, it's helped me with my video games and provided me with entertainment for a long time. I love POTD. I love Top 10 lists. I love reading the reviews. The content of GameFAQs is top notch, but that's the thing, it's all user generated. It's the people who come on here that make it great, not the people who run it.


So I will continue to use the site, unless GameFAQs block my IP address and/or account for "not staying in line". It's a brilliant website. But the people in charge there, the people with the power, don't care about the users. They don't want to change anything, they don't want to help. Yet they want you to post your good hard work on here, to keep the battery running. It's double standards, it's not the right way around things at all. If you follow the rules, if you stay in line, GameFAQs is a nice place. Yet if you have a problem with something on the site, they don't care. If it wasn't an independent site, if it was business, they wouldn't get away with it. But they are not, so nothing will change.


Nothing will change and I've probably wasted all this time ranting and raving for nothing. But I don't care, as I'm hoping some people actually start agreeing with me, and actually start to realise that YOU are the reason GameFAQs is there. YOU are the reason the site is so good. And YOU should have the power to change things. You SHOULDN'T have to fight for it, it shouldn't be an uphill struggle. Every suggestion, every request for change, should be seen as a positive thing, and politely given time to debate, by both the users of the site and the team behind it. Not petition. Petition is a strong word and it's also a strong form of action, it's a word attached to fighting, to rebelling. People rebel because they want change. Why should we fight when we are all capable of discussing concerns, discussing issues? The problem is only one side is talking. GameFAQs just have this large hand ignoring you. So, will the post on the message board be wiped under the carpet? Probably. But I most certainly hope not, and I hope some people actually agree with me, and I hope we can start to change how things work. GameFAQs needs to stop being "my way or the highway".


Yours, lacking faithfully, JohnnyMercyside, NOT TheManThatYouFe.


Date: 6/1/11