Hey everyone,

I'm kind of wondering, why is there no option for users to add games themselves? I obviously understand wanting to limit griefing, but I think the approach RateYourMusic does is perfect: you can add releases that you can 'use' immediately, but they go into a moderator queue where either a moderator approves or denies it, or other users vote on it. It would speed up database creation and eliminate waiting-time untill a game gets added.

From my very basic understanding of the database setup: It would be a huge pain in the backside to implement letting a user have a game in their collection that no one else could until after some verification process took place. Not to mention the amount of work it would add to "fix" any duplicates, mistakes, etc... that would inevitably be created by users. Not necessarily griefing intentionally, people just make mistakes or sometimes don't fully understand how a system works before diving in. Or sometimes syntax just proves to be a pain to parse and causes problems with searching.

As for a queue? Well, technically, users "add" the game to the site via the thread and the moderators do the verification process from there before adding it proper. It's not fancy, but it's functional. :P

In an ideal setup I personally would love to see a Requests page where people could submit what they want added. Whether it's a new game, request an update for a game's details (descriptions, links, pricing, release info, alternate box art, etc...)

All of the active requests would be visible right from the page, allowing users to see the current workload, and give moderators quick access to internal links to get things done, including the automated requests via steam import.

Unfortunately, it would be a pretty low priority for moho_00 to implement, since there are a ton of site features that are still being actively worked on before new things are added to his plate. Especially when the current system works as is.

I might've worded it incorrectly. Everyone can use a release on RYM as soon as it's added, it just gets added to a queue where users and moderators give advice on fixing/adding information untill it's good enough to get 'passed' so it's confirmed good.

That or just give select people curator role ;P

Allowing everyone to add games has popped up a lot over the years and I've evaluated it a number of times. Ultimately, the work involved in developing infrastructure / interfaces, as well as the administration of the data, just doesn't justify the potential gains. As @dhobo mentioned, it's not so much users entering "bad" data intentionally, it's that mistakes can be made and I would need to build code around handling basically any sort of data mistake to keep it clean. Even with the setup we have now, we run into duplicates or situations where we need to collapse / expand game entries. These are fairly infrequent and I handle each situation based on its unique circumstances.

On top of all of that is that we've sort of evolved into having a fairly unique way of collecting data to best support collectors AND gamers at the same time. It makes it impossible to import game lists from other sites and it can be difficult for a new user to know exactly what entries we need to support the data model we're building (which continues to evolve).

The good news is that at this point, most of the new game requests come through the Steam import.

How about you don't add games, you just let a user have a local, user-viewable-only copy of a game. Like HowLongToBeat does.

What is the process to propose a game that is not yet in the list.. Game that I suspect a lot of users are using... For example, Ridge Race on PS Vita!!!

@Loic - We have a thread for requesting new games: https://www.completionator.com/Forum/PostList/6?page=162

When we enter new games, the only things that are required are the name and an image. Additional data like release info, genre, developer / publisher, etc may or may not be entered, depending on time constraints. For example, Ridge Racer on Vita is loaded here, but without all of the additional data: https://www.completionator.com/Game/Details/21626