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From: CJayC | Posted: 6/3/2003 9:53:38 PM | Message Detail

Some important changes are going to be happening to GameFAQs this summer, but it's all for the best. At the end of it all, we'll have a faster site, more updates, and I'll be able to leave the house without worrying about getting paged out when the server crashes. For more information, read onwards...

From: CJayC | Posted: 6/3/2003 9:54:28 PM | Message Detail

I've been running GameFAQs by myself for seven and a half years now, and it's grown beyond my wildest dreams. From a personal site hosted on AOL with a few guides to the monster it is today, I never expected any of this to happen, and I've really just been along for the ride so far.

If you've been visiting the site regularly over the past few years, you've no doubt noticed that I've always had a backlog of things that need to be taken care of; from FAQs to reviews to e-mail (always the e-mail), and there just aren't enough hours in the day to handle it all. GameFAQs has been my full-time job for almost three years now, and I dedicate between 40 and 60 hours a week to the site, seven days a week, and probably around 350 days a year. Even when I'm on "vacation", I have a pager with me, and I'm always the one person that has to respond to any server problems with the site.

I've handled it so far by myself, but GameFAQs has just grown to the point to where it's just not possible for me to run the site by myself any longer. Even working 60 hours some weeks, I can't stay caught up with all of the new submissions and e-mail I get every day. Working full time every single day without a break is a chore, and I haven't had a pager-free vacation in over three years. There have been days when I just want to hang it all up, to shut down the servers, and run off to a cabin in the woods without any kind of Internet connection at all.

I can't do this by myself any longer...but help is on the way.

CNET, our long-time sponsor, has acquired GameFAQs and will take over all infrastructure work on the site. This leaves me to focus once again on the core of the site: the FAQs, reviews, codes, and all of the other content on the site. I'm not just giving GameFAQs to CNET and running away; I'll be working with (and for) CNET to continue to build GameFAQs into best site I can make it.

GameFAQs can only get better from here, and here's how:

* Hired help. Over the years, people have always wondered and asked me why I didn't have someone helping out. Unfortunately, qualified help (with the experience and knowledge to run a site the size of GameFAQs, with two very large databases, hundreds of scripts, and hundreds of thousands of users) isn't free, and I haven't had the money to hire on full time help. Luckily, CNET does have the capacity to hire professional help, and together we'll be able to take care of the site's day-to-day operations much more easily.
* Faster servers. You've probably noticed that the site can get very slow during peak hours, especially now that it's summer and school is out for many of our users. CNET has the capacity and the tech support staff to handle the growth of GameFAQs much better than one person, and we'll be moving the site to a brand new set of servers to speed things up later this summer.
* More features. With the technical work out of the way, we'll be able to focus on adding new features to the site along with all of the content you've come to expect. I want to make the site more dynamic and user-friendly, and this can make it possible.

From: CJayC | Posted: 6/3/2003 9:54:55 PM | Message Detail

And, in case you're worried that all of these changes are going to be for the worst, here's a few things that will hopefully reassure you:

GameFAQs isn't going anywhere.

GameFAQs isn't going to be merged in with GameSpot or any other site. We're not going to strip out the soul of the site and leave an empty shell for all to see. The GameFAQs you see today is the one you'll see tomorrow.

GameFAQs will still be free.

We're not cutting off any part of the site and making you pay for any of it. From the FAQs to the Message Boards, everything you see today for no charge on the site will be free tomorrow. While we may someday introduce new features that require payment, nothing you see today is going to be turned into a premium service.

You still own what you've submitted to GameFAQs.

If you've submitted FAQs, codes, reviews, or other content to GameFAQs over the years, it's no more CNET's than it ever was mine to own. You still have the right to remove anything you've submitted to the site, although naturally I'd be more than happy to try and talk you out of it. Your work was not sold to CNET; in fact, it was specifically excluded.

I'm not going anywhere.

After owning and operating this place since 1995, my role is going to be reduced back to what it was back in 1995: Updating the site with new content. Naturally, there may come a time when I'm just sick to death of working on the site, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. But, just in case, there will now finally be someone to take over the site should I step out in front of a bus.

If you have questions or concerns about all this, then feel free to e-mail them to the appropriate address. While I can't answer to any confidential matters, if there's something you're worried about with this change, then I'll do the best I can to ease your fears. This was probably the toughest decision I've ever had to make in my entire life, but it's one that I think is the best for myself, as well as this site.

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