Sticky Blog RSS feed - Mod DB

Pwned vs ModDB: A Comparison

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:01:16 -0600

After spending a while bumbling around pwned.com I noticed that there are similarities and differences between ModDB.

Pwned's Positives

The most striking thing on Pwned is the ability to earn "points" which denote activity and overall use of the site. These "points" then can be spent in the store on items like games (25,000-45,000 points), video game consoles (they offer up a Wii for a paltry 200,000 points, and more powerful systems like a 360 Elite and a PS3 for 350k and 400k points, respectively) and this encourages site activity, both through forum posts, posting blogs, and using the "Shoutbox" a kind of constant forum where there's usually always someone to talk to. Adding games that were conspicuously absent from the list will net you points as well. Interacting with others is also encouraged. They even have a forum designed specifically for Stimor and MadKill style spammishness. The community there is also very friendly and I've recieved several friend requests and there is a growing ModDB shootoff branch from there. Bunnyjen, Gin, Krayzie, even BlueWolf is there! It is also home to a host of companies. Rockstar Games has a profile there, and a group that protects gamer rights from government interference is gaining a large following.

Pwned's Negatives

Generally, the only gripes I have are the slightly difficult to use blog poster, which is moderately inferior to ModDB's blog creator, and the strict policies for adding games, but once you know the protocol, even that becomes almost breezily relaxed. Also, there's no modification file, but the site is still in the beta, and something like that could come later on.

ModDB's Positives

A somewhat active forum, and of course, the endless mods. A strong central base of users who know each other and form a kind of loose member confederacy.

ModDB's Negatives

The "somewhat active forum" is losing members little by little and you'll get different answers from different people. Leilei will tell you the n00bs are fucking everything up and everybody who has a member number higher than 1000 will surely burn in the Stygian pits of hell. Newbies will tell you that the older members are relentless in torturing of new members, potentially driving them off for good. The forum policies are also becoming increasingly heavy handed. I dare say it's getting worse than my reign as Forum Moderator and Member Manager, when advertising for a potential sister-site to ModDB as a kind of gamer MySpace is locked without so much as a second thought. Also, of the "endless mods" mostly are for HL, HL2, or BF2 and not everybody on earth owns those games. I don't own any of them, and while the mods in those sections grow in number, mods for games I actually own are becoming more and more scarce, either becoming archived or the mod team closing up shop and effectively scuttling the mod project.

Sticky's Analysis

ModDB has been great. Really. I've grown to love the forum with it's (now-gone) quirky members. But pwned.com immediately captured me with it's friendly userbase and rapid member growth rate. If ModDB can't take some cues and at least try to make the site more user-friendly, more intuitive, and offer more incentives for activity, then I might have to say farewell to the site I've called my homepage for nearly five years. If you'd like to sign up to Pwned, then follow this link and sign up.

Tis Mah Birthday!

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 14:49:02 -0600

I got nifty things. :D My DS was kind of like a present to myself. Sort've. Not at all. I got this sweet watch as well I like the watch, but it needs a link taken out (about one size too big) and it likes to pull my arm hairs out. :( I also got 170 dollars in birthday money, and a 50 dollar gift certificate to Borders, because I lurve books.

Holy Crap! It's me!

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:25:22 -0600

Hi, everybody! Could I possibly be a bloody Englishman?! You cannot die, McCloud. And now for something completely different...

The First Night of Winter Break

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 22:12:50 -0600

After coming home from work (it's fucking amazing how long four hours can seem) I find that Winter Break is...only so-so. From kindergarten all the way through being a junior, every break was greeted with a "YEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!" and me racing hellbent out the school door, practically sprinting to transportation home. Well, as reasonably fast as one fat guy can move. As a senior, I realize it marks the last winter break of institutionalized education. The last winter break of my home for four years. I've been in more places in that school than most students, being on the tech squad and all, visiting transformer rooms, laughing at old people attempting to use technology, and fixing the occasional RAM problem (those damned Gateways...I swear I'm going to start hearing a triple beep in my sleep). However, this ending of first semester marks the beginning of me trying to get into shape. Four classes. Total. I'm assuming two on A-Days (AP Government, College Credit, WOOHOO!, and Tech Support, which is easily skippable) and two on B-Days (ECCR = English, and college credit, and no effort required for a decent grade, and Function-Stat-Trig which I work my ass off in). This leaves a lot of time for weight lifting, and once the weather decides to get somewhat nice, taking walks in the park. Hunting knife required for personal safety. From the start of second semester on, I'm going to try my damnedest to put on muscle and restrict my calories.

I Hate Math

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:34:12 -0600

I truly honestly hate math. There are some people who like math. Good for you! You're the same people that launch shuttles into deep space, make plasma TVs, invent things, and generally make life better. However, what I dislike is the fact that it's a required course in college, which I will be attending by this time next year. Isn't college about following your dreams or whatnot and "finding yourself?" I'd like to roll on through college with a cool 3.7 GPA, but knowing that math is on there my first two years (required courses) it'll probably be closer to a 2 or 2.5, which has an impact on overall graduation, which also has an impact on the difference between graduating cum laude and magna cum laude. The more latin words you graduated with is more you can dump on a resume to seem like more of an important person than the other poor schlubs you're applying alongside with. Don't we get enough of this crammed down our throats in high-school? Granted, I chose to take Functions, Stats, and Trig, but that's to forestall getting rusty at my already shaky math skills, which tutoring (for a hefty fee) is helping, but how well? I don't remember math skills. I just don't. I can remember quotes from Hamlet, or The Raven from Poe. I'm geared toward English and computers. I don't need to know the quadratic formula to determine if a bad stick of RAM is causing a slowdown on a system, or know pi to install drivers to a new NIC card. I'm adept at providing enough humorous filler to get a decent grade on an essay while retaining the page number requirements, and I can damn sure remember video game cheats. Even cheats for games I don't play anymore, which I wish I could forget to make room for other things, but seem to not be able to. So my final conclusion is this: If college really was about finding yourself, you could take what courses you needed, get your diploma, and get the hell out of there with a minimum of fuss. Of course it doesn't happen that way, and we're all taught the same things to form an endless pool of replacement cubicle-dwellers who decided that their soul is worth selling for 16.75 an hour. Reality is a bitch.

I like v4. It's feature-y.

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:12:54 -0600

HAHAHAHAH! This is actually just a test of the system. Real blog entries will follow after this. I suppose this is really more of a "launchpad" post, kind of a kickoff to my inane rants about stuff that nobody cares about but will probably read anyway. And 300 character minimum? THIS IS MADNESS!