Looks like everyone is back from their Thanksgiving excursions.

So far, I have 12 people on my spreadsheet. When should we try to hold our chat this week?

Monday-Wed. I am available after 7pm central time

Thursday I am available whenever (got the day off)

Friday after 10pm central time (got the late shift)

Saturday after 7pm central time

thats my schedule for the week

I'll try and be there, but honestly I'm incredibly busy right now, so if I don't make it, can someone just send me a log, and I'll post a response here? I'll try my best to be there in any case.

Well I actually have a life, so I tend to go out on nights/weekends, but if given enough notice, I can do just about any night. I work during the day, so I can do just about anything during that with the exception of IM's, as our firewall blocks that. I can do "instant emailing" if you will during that time if need be.

Are you saying we don't have a life? I really do but I never plan anything... if i go out its spur of the moment. If I know of something coming up I'll know to be home

Just started reading this thread and it's good to see people generally excited and enthusiastic about this. I'd also like to see how this follows through so I'll jump in on the IRC chat if you hold one. However, I thought I'd jump in here and play a little devil's advocate. =)

I don't mean to shoot the idea down or anything, but I think you guys need to really be sure what you are getting into. I've worked as a journalist in the gaming industry for quite some time for both professional and fan sites and speaking from experience, it's nowhere near as easy as some of you may think it is. And by saying that I'm taking into account how hard some of you may think it is.

Usually the key to all this is commitment. You need several people who are completely commited to it just about every day otherwise it starts to lag behind. With game reviews, I understand what everyone wants, but executing it is going to be harder. Not only do you sound like you want multiple opinions, but trying to get the commitment out of people to get those opinions on a timely manner is extremely tough. People will flake and you have to keep that in mind. Another thing I've noticed is that generally people on this forum are more casual gamers and aren't generally knowledgable about the industry or other aspects of the video gaming. Nothing wrong with that, but that could hurt credibility.

Another thing to worry about is bandwidth. If you don't have constant pictures and video clips, people are likely to go elsewhere despite the quality of the content in writing. As a result, having even a moderate amount can really hog up bandwidth and give you one hell of an expensive server bill. Having the right balance of media vs how much your server is going to cost is going to be important.

Also, you're going to have to be careful on how you screen people. While many people claim to be unbiased, it's more often than not that it's harder to find people who really are on the level with all systems rather than have a slant for another. Sure it's ideal to have that type of staff, but in reality it's much harder to create.

A lot of your ideas and goals are ideal and great, but in reality, a lot of them will be hard to achieve if not impossible. Again, I'm not here to say don't do it, or to shoot you guys down. Just after all the posts here, I thought I'd throw in the other side of the argument about factors you may be overlooking or had not even considered. A lot of people have this idea and many people fail to follow through so it's a hard goal to achieve, especially among simply casual gamers.

I will do my part. That is being an avid READER

But whatever you do, please, please, PLEASE don't put all of those stupid pop-up ads that seem to just keep going and going and going... and also please don't put one of those "vote for us on the top 50 sites" crap on there!!!

The schedule during the week works for me...

What about Geoff? Since we'd be using his domain name, he'd probably need/want to be involved.

Why don't we say Wednesday at 7 CST?

I could probably make it Wed. evening. If not just start a new thread with the summary of the chat for those who missed it. I'm pretty busy with school and work and don't really have a set schedule. Like I said above, I can help with writing on a pretty limited basis. I might have more time next semester, but I'll have to wait and see.

Works for me...

OK... So 7 CST on Wednesday it is...
How do we want to do it? IRC or AOL?

I don't have IRC availability as of now (my computer went kaboom) so AOL is sadly my only choice. That's my vote.

I am also without irc I have yahoo, and aol. not sure if im gonna be home wed night but i will try

i don't do IRC so I'm for AOL

OK, so it looks like it is AOL for tomorrow evening...

Does anyone know how to set up an AOL chat?

How ironic that I have AOL and don't know how to use it...

I don't know how to set it up but ask around in the otter farm. I've been sent chat invites from some of the others before.

When I want to chat on AIM, I go here. http://www.aol.com/aim/aimexpress.html

It does not require you to install AIM on your computer, so no annoying AOL stuff all over the desktop (sorry AOL users )

It's uses some java and works very nicely.

No AOL or IRC here, just ICQ and MSN Messenger. But like I said I'd only be able to write on a very limited basis because I'm already busy, so it's not a big deal if I miss the chat as long as someone posts a summary of what was decided in a thread here.

I won't be able to make the chat, as I am usually on the freeway at that time...

Let me know what happens.

Peter

Should be online for the chat tomorrow, or I will at least do my best to be there. mrmedoes is my IM name.

OK... I figured out how to set up a buddy chat. Look for stromvogel on AOL starting at 6:45 CST. I'll organize the chat and post the name of the room here.

My AIM is SkinnyWhiteDork.







stop laughing...

I'll toss my hat into the ring. I have writing, editing (used to edit the high school paper ), and Web development experience (managed a major website for over two years). Depending on how it turns out, I could help manage it, edit content, write reviews... whatever.

I own a GBA, Saturn, SNES, and Dreamcast, but I also have access to a GameCube. I'm most interested in portable gaming, however.

Right now it's pretty hectic for everyone in college, what with finals and all, so things might be slow going until the semester's up.

Very good points. I think the main issue as far as the creation of the site goes is the fact that people will flake out or disappear. Although there are several people volunteering now, some will back out initially, and some will over time. Everyone's enthusiastic when they don't understand how much of a commitment is required. Hopefully I'm wrong, though!

As far as the credibility issue goes, many volunteers are casual gamers, but it seems like we have some "insiders" as well. And the wide exposure of the site (via its connection to DVD Talk) would bring in more people.

I'm not sure Geoff's considered this. DVD Talk, while not quite gasping for air, is seemingly always under financial pressure from the server load. VGT is bound to be even worse.

Yes, but I'm not sure the major sites are so concerned with that.

I think that the scope needs to be considered more than anything. There are a lot of games out there.

But I don't think you are considering the exposure that the site will have. Many sites drop out of existence because they can't get a following. VGT would have a built-in audience -- the subset of DVD Talk that's interested in gaming.

It might also be worth mentioning that a more than a few industry insiders read DVDTalk frequently, and a few of us even post from time to time.

Granted some people are under tighter PR leashes that others, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have some connections already.

-Naan