Forums > Suggestions > Making it easier to add games from stores
MrMamen (11747) on 11/4/2014 9:37 PM · Permalink · Report
I think the process of importing games could be improved quite a lot. It takes quite a lot of time to create a new entry. So what I suggest is that when adding games from stores like Steam, App Store, Google Play, PSN, and possible a lot of others, some things could be filled out for you, making a submission much faster. A field where you enter the store URL should be enough to give you a great start. Things like Tech Spec could be automatically filled out (probably more accurate than doing it manually). Same with release dates, cover images, publishers, locations, and even titles. It would of course still need manual inspection as there may be additional information missing, and a description still needs to be written.
Another somewhat related suggestion goes to games witch are released on several platforms in the same store. Several steam games supports both Windows and Mac (and even Linux), duplicating the contribution information takes time, and could have been merged into one field. Same goes with iOS games for both iPad and iPhone.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66423) on 11/5/2014 12:06 AM · Permalink · Report
That's, um, a very 21st-century use of the term "store". I know the site still shows a bias toward documentation of rustic indie games that are only obtained in rural exchanges through bartering.
It would probably be possible to write scripts to scrape those sites and import all their game database information wholesale. There are a few problems, however, most notably that they are often full of incorrect information. Our insistence that every piece of info that goes in to MobyGames be vetted by at least two pairs of eyeballs (contributor and approver) is a low but worthwhile bar that must be cleared. Streamlining the contribution process as you describe would certainly be a mark in the "quantity" column, but I don't know if it would help with our quality.
MrMamen (11747) on 11/5/2014 10:38 AM · Permalink · Report
OK, it should have been online stores.
Well a script that automatically collects information would have some additional benefits, making it much more likely that more games are covered. However as you point out there are several disadvantages. Especially with different spellings on each platform, incorrect information etc.
What I suggest is however that it should be a manual process, but with an option to fetch some of the information. If Steam has incorrect information, I would most likely insert the incorrect information myself and use Steam as a source. Cover images, dates, etc is rather safe to import. A manual change of information should still be possible.
chirinea (47507) on 11/5/2014 11:58 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start MrMamen wrote--]What I suggest is however that it should be a manual process, but with an option to fetch some of the information. If Steam has incorrect information, I would most likely insert the incorrect information myself and use Steam as a source. Cover images, dates, etc is rather safe to import. A manual change of information should still be possible. [/Q --end MrMamen wrote--]This could actually work. I mean, if a contributor used something like "fetch information from Steam" and then submit the info, the approver would still have to check that info. It would make the contributor's work easier, so we would get a lot more contributions.
Starbuck the Third (22601) on 11/5/2014 12:23 PM · Permalink · Report
Would it be possible to write a piece of code that essentially works for all sites, not just one that works for steam, but trips up on gog?
Also not all stores necessarily show all the basic info, do they? I know Google Play, for instance, doesn't show the initial release date, only the latest patch.
Cavalary (11448) on 11/5/2014 12:53 PM · Permalink · Report
Don't see how you could make one script for multiple sites, it'd have to be one for each, and even that needing changes when they move things around. Plus, I don't think much information would be found there. I mean, you have game name, cover if you can somehow fetch it (on some... good luck automating that), developer and the publisher of that shop's release. Release date will be tricky either way. And even developer and publisher, they'd probably be named in one way by the shop and a different way here, possibly needing to select from multiple names, or perhaps not matching any in database due to a slightly different spelling and what not. As for system requirements, good luck parsing all the various ways to list them to select options or tick boxes correctly in the way it's done here.