Roadmap for 2013: Here’s what you can expect from games.on.net in the new year
By Cas Bitton and Tim Colwill on December 24, 2012 at 2:23 pm
We have been working hard to make games.on.net the number one destination for gamers in Australia, and we agree that there is still a significant amount left on our plate to address.
If you have critical ideas or suggestions that can be considered we would love to know, — bonus points if you’re a developer yourself, and it’s possible to assist us in seeing those ideas come to life. So please do leave your comments below for discussion or for a more direct approach, via our contact page.
Let’s get into it!
Game servers and Network:
- Major upgrade and migration of games.on.net and 3FL infrastructure into TCAdmin 2 management system,
- Possibilities are endless with an extensive feature set that will see the games.on.net server environment scale with ease.
- Further develop our relationship with gameservers.com
- Our most recent accomplishment is delivering unmetered BO2 access to all iiNet Group customers!
- Automation and server management enhancements utilising both TCAdmin 2 and gameservers.com technologies to deliver the most reliable game server experience in Australia.
- Continued enhancement of Internode CDN to benefit the delivery of Steam Content.
- Internode has worked closely with Valve to deliver the vast and incredible content offered on Steam via the Internode Content Delivery Network. Utilising our CDN allows iiNet Group customer’s exclusive access and the fastest way to download unmetered content directly from Steam.
- Re-establish and Integrate stats.games.on.net into regular games.on.net website, along with all 3FL servers.
- Establish accurate current server listing page, with statistics to display slots, peak, players etc
- Open API connecting directly to our game servers
- Day/Week/Month Peak and active player counts, for each game type/overall
- Google chart api use or similar for displaying metrics
- Integration of each game listed to our file library
- Automatic and dynamically updating, the old site server page was manual to add/remove servers from the list (they did a basic query once configured)
- Server status: online/offline
And plenty more that is yet to be announced!
Editorial:
We’re working hard to ensure that games.on.net is the best PC gaming website in Australia, and we intend to keep pushing for that goal. You can expect an ever bigger focus on the PC into 2013, with more build guides, more tweak guides, and more hardware support and reviews.
We’re also looking at expanding our video content, and publishing more video reviews to give you a better idea of exactly how the game looks.
Finally, we’ll be scaling up our community involvement. The Community Soapbox section has been popular, but we’ll be doing more than that. Look forward to more Community Reviews, round-table discussions on issues, and more.
Community Game Nights and Steam Group:
As you may know, we’ve retired our unofficial but long-standing IRC channel, and moved our official admin support into Steam. There’s a number of reasons for this, including convenience, flexibility and ease of use.
We’re pleased to announce that since the change, membership in our Steam group has grown by 20%! We look forward to growing it even more.
So why should you join? Starting on 04/02/2013, we’ll be implementing the first of many Community Game Nights with a rousing session of Team Fortress 2. There’s nothing better than the games.on.net community spirit, and getting together to play games really highlights just what a great community we have.
We’ll also be looking at running regular Community VS. Admin Face-Offs — look for more information on those soon.
Competitions, and cheaper games for all Australians!
As you know, games.on.net recently announced our partnership with Green Man Gaming. Moving into 2013, we’ll be able to begin rolling out great deals for games.on.net members that allow you to bypass some of the world’s most inflated games prices and pay reasonable amounts for your games.
You can also look forward to more competitions in 2013. We’ve already been regularly giving away some fantastic hardware, and 2013 is going to be no different. In fact, it’s going to get even better.
File Library:
We will continue to work hard on improving our file library, above and beyond our recent release. This will be improved and expand much further than a simple (extremely limited) search. We’re talking:
Improved search and navigation.
Alphabetical listings. Search the games.on.net file library by application title, using a clear A-Z list navigation menu. Browse by genre (Action, Sports, RPG), Company (Activision, EA, 2K Games), or Platform (PC, Mac, iOS, Xbox 360).
Put games.on.net to work for you, by utilising RSS Feeds for individual file, application and company pages the latest content is delivered instantly to you.
We will be offering dynamic RSS feeds for:
- Individual applications, listing the latest file content for specified application
- All file library content – Most recent
- Video and Multimedia content
- Game Demos
- Client Patches
- Full Game Clients
- Mods and Maps
- Most downloaded files – For current week/month
Look forward to a clear visual presentation of genre, platform, content type (video, mod, full game client etc). Search results and main file library listing will display content type to provide a visual marker to the visitor for visual cue.
URL Restructuring
At present the file library offers URLs in a very ugly and unfriendly manner for both customers and Google. For example a file URL such as this one: http://games.on.net/file/50521/ would become a little easier to decipher, into something such like: http://games.on.net/file/50521/World_of_Tanks_8.0_Update_Teaser_Trailer
We will also be rolling out this change for all Application and Company pages located in our library. For example: http://games.on.net/app/6709/ would be changed to: http://games.on.net/app/6709/World_of_Tanks
And more!
The future
We’ve got a lot more coming up in 2013 than just what you see above, including some top-secret stuff we just can’t talk about yet. Stay tuned into next year for all the details.
We have launched our first ArmA 3 servers! Please come and play on them
Shoot your mates in the head on our servers, for SCIENCE.
We’ve relaunched our Minecraft PVP server: get all the details here
Let the bloodletting begin.
You can use the following bbCode
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I love being part of GoN and am thrilled with the direction Tim and team are taking us. Greater community involvement is simply amazeballs and I look forward to being part of the reviews/round-tables and will even update TF2 justfor community game nights.
Free cake for all!
Regarding the ‘Community Game Nights’, please do GTA 4 nights again! It all stopped happening after I bought my copy of GTA :(
GoN in 2013 looks awesome!
You forgot planning for next year’s Steamy Secret Santa…
An edit button for comments on news isn’t in there? Shame.
Must say, looking forward to the server work, should be good to see the fruits of the labour!
Critical Idea: The return of Refried! :D
If you want to become Australia’s number one destination for gamers, I think the site still feels like it needs a major overhaul. Currently, it feels like a (rather professional) blog, rather than a proper news site. I hate to use IGN as an example, but it’s a site where lots of news is immediately available to the reader, and it’s a lot easier to pick and choose what you want. On GON, it feels like anything older than a day or two ago is pretty much lost forever. There are more easily defined sections, and clicking on a game page will much more easily show you related news stories.
Anyway, that’s my 2c. Also, bring back the polls from the IGN days. They’re always fun.
edit button please
I haven’t been into TF2 for aaaaages, but for a GON community event? Sure, why not? I hope these community events will include some of the less popular games as well though in future and won’t just be mainstream FPS games (TF2, COD, BF ect.)
ausjoker,
yes, the main page definitely needs to extend the amount of articles shown on each page. At least double IMO.
+1
Very happy with the green man gaming news, but didn’t know until now because I was on holidays for a week and didn’t spot the first announcement!
lordapophis,
Cake is a lie!
Nice updates peeps.
+1
As long as any work on the CDN returns it to an unauthenticated mirror I will be happy, if its good enough for mirror.internode.on.net than its good enough for GON!!
Yep agree with this… unless i’m checking more than once a day i tend to miss things. Also +1 to soapbox. That first one was great… but i missed the rest (if there were anymore).
I still dont like having this comments section separate from the forums. There’s no way to search for them or find whats popular as with the forums. Also these discussions just get lost amongst other article posts. If there was some way to merge the comments section with the forums that would be great.
Community reviews? If it’s what I think it is (or better) then i’m keen! :D
Can’t wait :D
have a good Christmas!
Good stuff guys, sounds great! Have a nice Christmas :)
I think everyone is on board with an edit feature that would be very nice to have.
As far as features go, the point raised about posts being lost very quickly (ie once they fall off the front page) is a poignant one, for people who only visit maybe once or twice a week they either have to trawl the pages looking for info or they simply head to a different site where it is more accessible.
I enjoy the articles in general here and the writing is of a high standard, if you want to get it to a bigger audience, maybe try making it a lot easier to look at older news items. Maybe a small section along the side with links to this weeks news or something of the such?
This and fix the comments area, so its on the forum again.
The way it is now just sucks, can’t even edit, much less continue a discussion easily once its off the front page or search it.
All sounds good, havent had internet with internode for a few years now though… any chance on outdoing some of the competition anytime soon? 60$ p/m unlimited adsl2+
IMO we implement a “rep” system like bb.com has, Skitzor can get the old band back together to stomp some foo’s.
Srs though, that would be a bad idea :D
I would like to see a clear line drawn between editorial and advertisement. Maybe tag with “promoted item” or something obvious.
[Like] Good work boys!
Sounds like a great year ahead!
A small criticism though… does the site’s layout break for anyone else when resizing the browser? The background seems to move away from the news column for me.
Looks like GMG got a little too much exposure, and now it has to start price descrimation, yay… a special price for ANZ customers, e.g. was for $49 for Xcom, and now it is $71.99. Merry Xmas Aus.
http://www.greenmangaming.com/s/au/en/pc/games/strategy/xcom-enemy-unknown-anz/
Barderlands 2 – $71.99
http://www.greenmangaming.com/s/au/en/pc/games/rpgs/borderlands-2-anz/
There have been a couple of comments on this and I want to set things straight.
We do not do advertorial or sponsored content.
Every review is just that – a review. We receive a product from a company, we do a independent review on it, no money changes hands.
If there is a sponsored giveaway, such as the EB Games cards or the Razer hardware, we make it very obvious who is behind it and what they are offering. We take ZERO money from them, we are just passing on the giveaways.
If there are banner ads, they are independent of *any* editorial content. If you read back, my large review of their gear was still critical of it while ads were shown.
If we are covering a company or an indivdual, in the case of my GameRanger article, there is no money or sponsorship there.
I am not familiar with those reviews and was not commenting on them.
Its just I got the sense lately with GMG stories and advetisements, it all could get a bit blurry.
I was not implying anything more.
It is a great site and I was just offering a suggestion.
Lookin’ good there GoN!
What advertisements? Do you mean the constant references to GMG? GoN have clearly stated they’re in a partnership with GMG that provides discounts to GoN community members so that should clear that up.
If there was something else just name it and put it out there… while not exactly hyper-conscious of the need to prove themselves as independant, you’ll find that Tim & Team pretty much just write what they think in every case that isn’t stated otherwise.
Understandable. The GMG partnership is a new direction for GON and it has been designed with our members in mind.
I didn’t mean to seem aggressive in my reply, I’d just seen a few posts around this topic and wanted to put it on the record.
On this years list of fixes ?
http://i47.tinypic.com/34e7ype.jpg
So.. fix the news discussion so that it’s not crap, and add an edit button. Still don’t get why the people in charge are so reluctant to address an issue that many members feel strongly about. Otherwise, it’s all smooth sailing.
I have mentioned on a number of occasions that we are working on adding an edit button. There are a number of WordPress plugins that purport to do this, but they all have problems, like allowing you to edit other user’s comments which is… not ideal. I probably should have added it to the list above, you’re right.
We also have some improvements planned in the future for allowing people to keep track of discussions better, so hang tight on that as well.
sounds great guys. I dont get on as much as previously but when i do check game news it is through GON.
Attaching this back to forums again would be great but thanks Tim, Cas and all others for the effort thts been put in and is still going.
I may venture off clan server for a GON TF2 night :D
I honestly expected to get at least one email from a developer, or likeminded critical thinking member of the site regarding this announcement. My door is always open.
What can you do for GON that would make a real difference and benefit our members?
I’m always happy to work (I mean actual work, not just a feedback email or comments on the forum) with members of the community to make games.on.net better. It would be fantastic to see a few people take pride in something they have made and worked on to contribute real changes that reflect what our members have wanted.