- Joined
- Dec 16, 2014
- Messages
- 140
Hi TAZ community.
This will be a long post, I hope this is the right place to post. Combination of asking for feedback, just sharing my ideas and my thought-process etc.
I've had several websites/forums over the years (mostly for specific PC games or PC game guilds), but one that have always stayed on the back-burner was having a board game community website. That was simply because I knew that it would require a monstrous effort, and I'd need a big budget. (as there is currently almost a complete monopoly situation with boardgamegeek). But now the time has come...
Also, I have previously managed my board game club by using various other tools, but neither have worked well.. And I just didn't see any platform where I could get it all in one package. (club, member management, tournament brackets, modern website & forum, event planning and so on).
I am well aware that any new website in these times need to really provide something unique and a great experience, to be able to compete with established sites like BGG, or something like Reddit. (r/boardgames has 2.7 MILLION subscribers. How do you compete with that?).
So I asked myself, "why should you visit our website and use it? What do I offer, that Reddit or BGG doesn't do (or do well enough)?"
Most important:
- Emphasis on the social aspect of board gaming, with unique features tailored towards this.
Of course the forum is there, but also managing your own board game club (either local club, or online), with it's own page, member roster, event calendar, private discussion area etc. You can also play in/host tournaments for your board game nights, with the system managing brackets, entries, statistics etc. It is planned to allow you to either join as club vs club, or individually. (getting this custom integrated).
- Modern, clean and responsive design, which works perfectly on any device.
This is a huge issue when using BGG. The website is a mess (a billion different menus and functions, but you can go years without knowing half of what each do or where they are), it's horrible to use on mobile (prepare your zooming efforts), the design and layout is from the early 2000s. So yeah..
But some don't mind it that much, so this is obviously not enough.
- Board game database, with plenty of filtering and sorting options, and all relevant information about every game is shown/linked to on the details page.
This isn't unique to our website (BGG has a massive one, you'll never surpass the raw amount of information stored there), but it is vital that we provide a useful and elegant database of games, to provide to the visitors. This will be tightly integrated with other parts of the site, for example XF MG galleries linked to X game in db. Same goes for XF RM resources linked, and forums linked. All showing on the game details page for each entry, to provide the best user experience and finding everything on one page.
A solution like this does not exist currently for XF (not even close), so I have contracted a developer to make a custom addon here, to get the best possible solution. I knew this beforehand, hence the high budget needed.
- Unique content, feature articles/guides/reviews.
This is also very important. Most hits to BGG (well over 50%) are from Google/search engines, and you need to have a high SEO rating to succeed here. Quality content is vital in such regard. I have my own editor plans, and I have another friend who will do pieces here. This isn't expensive, just requires lots and lots of work/time..
- Board game marketplace, where you can sell board games, accessories, request for buying something special etc.
Another feature that isn't unique, but it is a part of the complete eco-system, and to elevate the whole package.
Any other things.. =) (also got some more plans, but they are further away from being ready).
One account, modern platform, sub-systems being well integrated, unique features for board gamers. Etc. That's the mantra.
Thoughts? =) Something missing that I should be thinking about? Do you love board games, does this sound interesting? Or are you satisfied with the current options?
This will be a long post, I hope this is the right place to post. Combination of asking for feedback, just sharing my ideas and my thought-process etc.
I've had several websites/forums over the years (mostly for specific PC games or PC game guilds), but one that have always stayed on the back-burner was having a board game community website. That was simply because I knew that it would require a monstrous effort, and I'd need a big budget. (as there is currently almost a complete monopoly situation with boardgamegeek). But now the time has come...
Also, I have previously managed my board game club by using various other tools, but neither have worked well.. And I just didn't see any platform where I could get it all in one package. (club, member management, tournament brackets, modern website & forum, event planning and so on).
I am well aware that any new website in these times need to really provide something unique and a great experience, to be able to compete with established sites like BGG, or something like Reddit. (r/boardgames has 2.7 MILLION subscribers. How do you compete with that?).
So I asked myself, "why should you visit our website and use it? What do I offer, that Reddit or BGG doesn't do (or do well enough)?"
Most important:
- Emphasis on the social aspect of board gaming, with unique features tailored towards this.
Of course the forum is there, but also managing your own board game club (either local club, or online), with it's own page, member roster, event calendar, private discussion area etc. You can also play in/host tournaments for your board game nights, with the system managing brackets, entries, statistics etc. It is planned to allow you to either join as club vs club, or individually. (getting this custom integrated).
- Modern, clean and responsive design, which works perfectly on any device.
This is a huge issue when using BGG. The website is a mess (a billion different menus and functions, but you can go years without knowing half of what each do or where they are), it's horrible to use on mobile (prepare your zooming efforts), the design and layout is from the early 2000s. So yeah..
But some don't mind it that much, so this is obviously not enough.
- Board game database, with plenty of filtering and sorting options, and all relevant information about every game is shown/linked to on the details page.
This isn't unique to our website (BGG has a massive one, you'll never surpass the raw amount of information stored there), but it is vital that we provide a useful and elegant database of games, to provide to the visitors. This will be tightly integrated with other parts of the site, for example XF MG galleries linked to X game in db. Same goes for XF RM resources linked, and forums linked. All showing on the game details page for each entry, to provide the best user experience and finding everything on one page.
A solution like this does not exist currently for XF (not even close), so I have contracted a developer to make a custom addon here, to get the best possible solution. I knew this beforehand, hence the high budget needed.
- Unique content, feature articles/guides/reviews.
This is also very important. Most hits to BGG (well over 50%) are from Google/search engines, and you need to have a high SEO rating to succeed here. Quality content is vital in such regard. I have my own editor plans, and I have another friend who will do pieces here. This isn't expensive, just requires lots and lots of work/time..
- Board game marketplace, where you can sell board games, accessories, request for buying something special etc.
Another feature that isn't unique, but it is a part of the complete eco-system, and to elevate the whole package.
Any other things.. =) (also got some more plans, but they are further away from being ready).
One account, modern platform, sub-systems being well integrated, unique features for board gamers. Etc. That's the mantra.
Thoughts? =) Something missing that I should be thinking about? Do you love board games, does this sound interesting? Or are you satisfied with the current options?
