Game Banshee Walkthroughs

mjl1297 · Post by **mjl1297** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 2:40 am

Any chance the editors or moderators would consider posting their walkthroughs in downloadable zip format? That would be a great addition to the site!

jakkomik · Post by **jakkomik** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 8:05 am

The simple fact that they make them so complete is allready very hard work (unless they get them from other sites, I would be then very dissapointed). So you can get the same walktru's on other sites which are downloadable. And if you want to download, you therefore want to use it regularly. I find this outrageaous.

Post by **BuckGB** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:26 pm

This is a request I see in my inbox almost daily. Although I'd love to release downloadable versions of all our walkthroughs free of charge, the site's revenue structure is completely dependent on advertising. The only way we could afford to release downloadable versions would be by selling them for a small fee, and that's a headache I'm not ready to tackle just yet - if ever.

Shodan · Post by **Shodan** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 4:03 pm

I'd pay for it. I don't even need to think about it. Heck, if I ever figure out how to use Pay Pall (and get over the fear of online money transfers) I'd definetly want to donate some to GB.

I haven't been active much in the forums (only recently registered) but I *have* been consulting these AMAZING walkthroughs for quite a number of years. So, yeh, no doubt in my mind.

mjl1297 · Post by **mjl1297** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 4:22 pm

I agree with Shodan. I'm not exactly sure what jakkomik's point is but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he means it's an "outrageously" good idea.
A well conceived and meticulously detailed walkthrough is worth a paid download as either a pdf or zip file. Those who don't want to pay for it can continue consulting them as they are currently being offered. I wasn't advocating a change in the website's format.
Kudos to the creators on walkthroughs that obviously took a LOT of time and effort. This gamer sincerely appreciates it.

jakkomik · Post by **jakkomik** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 3:13 am

That's sort of what I meant!

mjl1297 · Post by **mjl1297** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 1:37 pm

Gotcha' dude!!

Good to know we're on the same page jakkomik!!

jopperm2 · Post by **jopperm2** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 9:54 am

I think offering walkthroughs on a paid basis is a good idea as well. You will still always be able to beat out the prices of printed media and continue to provide the walkthroughs free online.

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 10:21 am

But Buck will need an entire structure to receive the payments, and this costs a lot. So the question is: Is it worth to sell a walkthrough that not even all players or member will want to buy, and that will probabily be shared in the internet as quick as you blink your eye and the cost structure to sell the walkthroughs will be already working and raising the costs of this website?
I really think its not worth it, economically.

jopperm2 · Post by **jopperm2** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 12:17 pm

You may be right there.. I'm not sure if it could be done.. It would be cool though.

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 12:27 pm

[QUOTE=jopperm2]You may be right there.. I'm not sure if it could be done.. It would be cool though.[/QUOTE]

Well, i agree completely with that, it would be very cool indeed.

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 5:26 pm

Keep in mind that a lot of the time, commericial distribution of guides and walkthroughs are subject to copy write laws, expecially in the gaming industry. If Buck were to sell the walkthroughs from the site, he could potentially find himself in a bad position.

Personally, I'm against the idea of selling the walkthroughs, considering that every hit that comes this way helps Buck in the longer run, and will do so longer than a one time sale of a walkthrough.

Darrius · Post by **Darrius** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:10 pm

selling walkthroughs=good idea=illegal (I think)

Call me ignorant/stupid, but I don't see how it would be so hard to make the walkthroughs downloadable. I'll use KotOR II:the Sith Lords as my example.

First, make every page for a section into a file that includes both text and the local area map in it. Then group them based on what planet they are on. Then put it all in one big folder and make it downloadable from the website.

So you have one big folder(Knights of the Old Republic 2 Walkthrough) then you have 12 subfolders(intro+FAQ, prologue, peragus, ebon hawk, telos, dxun+onderon, nar shaddaa, dantooine, korriban, loose ends, end game) then you have each area in the proper folder(I'm not listing all of the areas because there are 65-75 areas)

Post by **BuckGB** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 12:27 pm

[QUOTE=Darrius]selling walkthroughs=good idea=illegal (I think)

Call me ignorant/stupid, but I don't see how it would be so hard to make the walkthroughs downloadable.[/QUOTE]
Selling our walkthroughs wouldn't be illegal unless we had copied information from a copyrighted source (like the official strategy guide). Otherwise, I don't think sites like GameSpot could be providing their guides to paying subscribers only.

The problem isn't creating a downloadable version of the walkthrough, but instead the coding that would be required to make each one pay-per-download and to "rememeber" if a user had previously purchased a copy. On top of that, I'm sure the guides would wind up being shared illegally. Like Luis mentioned, it may not be worth it economically. Definitely something to think about down the road, though, if we have the resources to do it.

Brynn · Post by **Brynn** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 7:52 am

Another thing about walkthroughs: I found a little mistake in the IWD I walkthrough, sent an email to report it, but as far as I know, nothing happened about it. Is there anyone to look after this? If not, I think it'd be a good idea to have the moderators do that! They probably know the whole game by heart anyway, wouldn't be a problem to correct little mistakes.

Would that work?

Post by **BuckGB** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 5:09 pm

[QUOTE=Brynn]Another thing about walkthroughs: I found a little mistake in the IWD I walkthrough, sent an email to report it, but as far as I know, nothing happened about it. Is there anyone to look after this? If not, I think it'd be a good idea to have the moderators do that! They probably know the whole game by heart anyway, wouldn't be a problem to correct little mistakes.

Would that work?[/QUOTE]
I'm the only person updating the more dated walkthroughs, and since we get a variety of submissions for different games, I usually categorize them for future updates. Chances are I just haven't updated the Icewind Dale walkthrough since your submission or the advice was already located elsewhere in the walkthrough.